Letter #76

Final e-mail home. Sent: Mon 8/25/14 2:53 PM

I can't believe the day has come. I don't know how to explain the feelings or thoughts that are going through my heart and mind right now.
I am really nervous to come home but I am also really excited to see everyone! It honestly does not even feel real. This past week has been such a roller coaster of emotions. I don't really know what to say other than what I know to be true. And that is I know with all my heart that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I've had the sweet pleasure of witnessing it every single day as I meet and teach people about its enabling and redeeming power. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it changes lives. I know it because it had changed mine and I can promise that we can deepen our relationship with Christ as we read from its pages. I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith, for his faith, his courage, and the sacrifices that he made in order
for us to have the restored gospel. I know that our Prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson is also called of God to guide and direct us in these hard times. I am so incredibly grateful for my mission and for the opportunity that I've been given to be one of the Lords representatives for the past 18 months. The joy that I have received from watching people completely change and to better their lives and live in harmony with our Heavenly Fathers will, is something that I
will cherish forever. I love the people of Oregon and will be eternally grateful for each and every person that I have met out here. They have helped me to learn and grow into the person that I am now.
Thank you. Each of you for all that you have done to support me. I have felt your prayers and your love. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the family and friends that I have. I am so blessed.

I have to go to the transfer spot now but I can't wait to see all of you!

See ya tomorrow!

Love,
Sister Hall

 

Letter #75

Sent:	Tue 8/19/14 12:58 PM

Hi Mom!

I'm not sure where to even begin. This past week and this week are insanely busy.

Last Monday we had Zone P-day where all the missionaries got together and played ultimate Frisbee! It was super fun but they probably could have picked a better time of day to play instead of at 1 in the afternoon in the humid Oregon heat! (I also jammed my thumb and it's still hurting. Sister Aguilar thinks I may have fractured it... I think I'll be just fine- it's probably just badly bruised). Don't freak out! Anyway, we also had dinner and a lesson with Sophia that same night! She was so excited for us to come over because she just got a brand new cook book and made dinner for us all by herself. It was super delish and quite fancy looking too! We played a gospel game that we made up and had a lot of fun with that! She is also an amazing piano player and she played a few songs that I was able to record. I can't wait to show you! She's pretty much professional. The piano is one thing I really want to start up when I get home. Right before we left to go to our next appointment, she ran and gave us each a little gift bag with a bracelet that she made and some divine chocolates from a well known factory here in Oregon. I just love that girl so stinkin' much! Tuesday I went on exchanges in Sutherlin and that was pretty great too. There is a return missionary that goes out with the sisters all the time and she spent the whole day with us. She asked if I had any questions about life after the mission and she was able to give me some good advice that I really appreciate. Wednesday we had a wonderful lesson with my all time favorite less active member about how we can relate all things to the gospel. She has been through so much in her life and even though we are the missionaries and have been teaching her, she, I feel, is the one teaching me. I believe the reason I was sent here to Roseburg is because of her and it's been the most amazing thing to be apart of her healing process. She has taught me so much about life just by sharing her experiences and in turn it has helped me to know more about who I am and the person that I want to become and who our Father in Heaven needs me to become. She is someone who will always be apart of my life and has changed me forever. We also saw the less active couple who are going through some really tough situations in their lives right now. The husbands health keeps getting worse and they don't know how much longer he will make it. It breaks my heart every time I see them, especially because they're not that old and he is just the sweetest man with such a tender spirit. Every time we teach them, they listen so intently and have great questions and comments. It's really nice being able to teach people who actually want to listen and have a desire to develop a deeper relationship with Christ. It seems that a lot of people that we run into are so comfortable with where their at in their lives or they feel that what they have is enough when in reality they just don't know that there is something missing. There are so many great and wonderful people out there that teach parts of the gospel and have really great values and that are striving to draw nearer to our Heavenly Father but what they don't understand is- that the fullness of the gospel, all of the truth, is only found within Christ's church, which has been restored to the earth today by priesthood authority. It's not until they listen to the message of the Restoration that they understand that. And it's sad how many members of the church have forgotten it or let their spouse control their beliefs. We met many of them while we went to find part member families but in while doing so found a couple with 47 bearded dragons IN THEIR HOME! It was pretty exciting yet nerve racking. We were nervous to turn our backs not knowing whether or not we'd have one crawling up the other side.


The 47 Dragons

We had a BBQ on Friday for all of our investigators and the investigators that the Elders are teaching! We actually had a pretty good turn out. We even had some entertainment! There was a HUGE Bull Mastif/English Bulldog that kept showing up and every time his owner would come back to get him he would go and sit in front of the grill and wouldn't budge. It was so funny! His name is Titan and has to weigh at least 200 pounds! 


Titan the Bull Mastif/ English Bulldog

 We told his owner Sam to just stay and eat with us and he did! We were able to talk to him about the Plan of Salvation and give him a Book of Mormon and he told us we could come by anytime! After that we went and did another exchange. I went to Winston again and was with a Sister from Orem Utah. She's pretty great! We had a lot of fun and saw some extraordinary miracles!

We were driving down the road and I saw a person with their head down in with their hands in their face. The spirit told me to turn around and go back. We were already on our way to an appointment and I knew that if we turned around that we'd be late to the appointment so I didn't say anything. The Spirit told me again to go back. I couldn't help but blurt out stop! Sister Wood slammed on the brakes and said what?? I said we've got to go talk to that person. She didn't even see anyone but we turned around and walked up to the house. There was a women sitting there and as soon as we walked up she started crying. She said that she's been really stressed out lately and that there have been some hard things happening in her life that she just feels lost and confused. We were able to pray with her, give her a Book of Mormon, and got a return appointment. I've always known to follow the Spirit and I almost always do but that experience made me gain an even greater testimony to never postpone a prompting. The Heavenly Father knows His children better than I do and the Spirit knows when and who they need to meet in order for them to receive the gospel when their hearts are softened. 

When I got back to Roseburg we had a lesson with Walker. Still no change with his mom :( He is such an amazing kid and I know that even if he doesn't get baptized now, he will someday. He knows it's true and knows that it can bless his life. He is very intelligent for his age and I am so impressed with how well he understands the principles of the gospel, especially because he wasn't raised with much religion in the home. 

Sorry for not writing yesterday. Our P-day was moved to today because we had a Conference with Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Seventy yesterday in Central Point. It was a great meeting and I learned a lot from the Spirit. Sister Haugen was there and I was able to talk to her quite a bit! She seems like she is doing awesome in her new area but I really miss serving with her. She really helped me to see things from a different perspective and I'm grateful for the time I had to be her companion. It was really hard after the meeting though when everyone was leaving because a lot of the missionaries i've served with in the past were there and they all kept asking me about going home......  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to see everyone, there's just going to be a lot of things about Oregon and the mission that I will miss dearly. Today my P-day is being cut short because we have a Missionary Leadership Council in Eugene and I have to leave in about 3 hours to get there by 430 (Hopefully I'll be able to see Trevor one last time before I leave- he will be at the Conference with Elder Nielson today when I get to Eugene). I will also be going to Eugene again Thursday with one of the Primary classes in the ward. They are learning about missionary work and will be given a tour of the mission home. Saturday we are going to Winston as a Zone to do what's called a Blitz where all the missionaries go to one area and take different parts of town to tract. It should be interesting! Pretty much I haven't been in my area and won't be in my area at all this week.

You said that I have a 4 hour lay over in Salt Lake..... I have no idea what the itinerary is but that would be awesome if Sarah or MaKayla came to the airport while I was there!!!!!!!!! I would actually love that so so so so much!!!!!!!!!!!! I am out of time but know that I love you and am grateful for all that you do! I can't believe it's SO close. See you soon!
 
I love you!
 
Love,
 
Sister Hall :)

P.S. TELL TREVOR I SAID HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THAT I LOVE HIM SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Letter #74

 

Sent:

Mon 8/11/14 4:12 PM




Me and Lexi! We matched.. On accident :)

Hi mom,
So we had MLC on Tuesday and it was really good. It was also really
hard. There's been a lot of change within the leadership council this
past transfer and all of the Sisters I came out with except Sister
Hancock ( my MTC companion ), and those that came out right before me,
left to go home last transfer.



P-Day Fun!

 

Medford temple trip

There's a lot of fairly new
missionaries in the council now that I don't know and I just felt out
of place or disconnected or maybe just I just felt like an old missionary.  It was weird. A lot of the Elders there have served with
Trevor but it's pretty much impossible to talk to any of them without all of the new missionaries being awkward. I just found out also that
I won't be seeing him for our next Zone Conference, I'm super bummed about that.. unless he's there at the church in Eugene around 4:30. We have a special MLC where we will be meeting with a member of the Seventy.
Things are just different now. I think it's mainly because President and Sister Young have left, and I really formed a strong relationship with them and they were always so understanding and so loving. I guess it's just really been hard getting used to a new mission president, especially when I'm so close to going home. One of the
Assistants to the President is going home with me this transfer and he bore a really sincere testimony about his mission and how quickly 2 years goes by and how he can't imagine how it must be for sisters only getting to serve for 18 months.

It hit me hard that I've only got 2 weeks left.............. I sorta fell apart on the car ride home. It

really does fly by so fast. I feel that Heavenly Father is trying to prepare me to come home though. I find myself getting excited for things that lie ahead and to be with all of my family and friends again.


I didn't realize just how many scarfs
I've accumulated...... :)

After MLC on Tuesday, I went on an exchange in Winston with Sister Abbott ( she's the one that will be flying in to St. George
with me ). It was a very much needed exchange. We were able to get a lot of emotions out and talk about the things we've learned on our
missions. While we were in Winston, we went and visited Sister Maxfield. She's someone that Trevor told me to go see a few months ago. The first thing she said when I walked in the door was, " It's about time!! " Haha! I guess he used to teach there family when he was serving there.
She's got a darling set of year old twins. That should tell ya something! The little boy took my hand in his hands and kissed my hand. Lol it was the curtest thing! It was really neat to be able
to meet someone that he had worked with on his mission too :D



Sister Adair and I on the transfer van

Once a month we have Zone Training Meeting
which is where all the missionaries in the Stake ( which is 22 ) get together to learn about
the things that the mission president and his councilors teach at MLC.
We were able to teach about prayer and it went really well. We didn't have much time to prepare so we depended on the Spirit A LOT. At the
end of ZTM, the Zone Leaders had the 3 of us going home this transfer bear our testimonies and that was hard too. I can't believe how close
it is...
Last night, a member invited us over for dinner with all of her extended family and a few single sisters from the ward and also a non member family that we've been trying to teach. It was super fun and we had a great discussion about step children and step parents because almost every person there is part of a blended family. I've really come to love the people in this ward and will be sad to leave them but, I am also excited to be back in the good ol' Washington Ward :)

I don't know what it is, but I have met so many people and ate so much
food from the islands. We had dinner with the Hawaiian family in our
ward that we are helping with her mission papers and they made us
something called Loco Moco. It was interesting. Haha!

So, you know the lady I told you about that was the only one who
answered her door while we were tracting on that super duper hot day?
Well we set a baptismal date for the 30 of August!! I am super happy
for her even though I'll miss her baptism by 4 days. I knew from the
moment that we met her that she was going to get baptized. I actually
said it to Sister Aguilar the day we knocked on her door. I love how
the Spirit works within people! I just love being an instrument in the
Lords hand and I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity I've
been given to serve him here in Oregon.

Now, matters of business---

That's awesome that Brandon is thinking about going on a mission! I hope he goes through with it! It will definitely change his life for the better.

I hope all is well with Chelsie. I also hope that they don't move too far away if Blake gets a different position.

Tell Kelli that I am sorry that I haven't written her back yet. I am seriously so crunched on time. I really loved her letter and it helped me to know where she's at and gave me a better insight on how I can help the investigators that I am working with. I hope that I will be able to talk with her when I get home about the gospel and help her to understand how to gain faith :)

 Ok. So... I'm not really sure what time I will be arriving at the airport, you know more than I do about all that stuff but I like your idea of just having ice-cream sundays at the house with everyone that comes to the airport! And of course Brianna can come! I would love that so much! I would also love it if you could invite Trevor's family, MaKayla, Grandma Kendall and Grandma Hall, Dad and Sandy of course, Lilian Falepapalangi, Megan Clove, and Rebecca  Francom, and whoever else wants to be there.

I love you so much and hope you have a great week!

Thanks for everything! You are the best!

Love,

Sister Hall :)

Letter #73

Sent:	Mon 8/04/14 2:55 PM

Hmm... Where to start. Well, yesterday was quite interesting.  We went tracting and were having absolutely no luck at all. We were walking on the main road and decided to cross to the other side. We saw a man walking his bike up the opposite side of where we were walking so we then crossed back over to the side that he was on which was the side that we were originally on. He then crossed to where we just were... we followed. LOL! It probably looked like we were stocking him but in reality we just wanted to teach him about the gospel. He stopped, turned around and said, " Can I help you?" It kind of reminded me of the part in Finding Nemo when Marlin was following Dori.... Haha! Anyway, we said that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and that we know that The Book of Mormon can help us to overcome the trials and challenges that we face in this life. He said that he was Christian and that he went to church growing up but stopped going and got into some not so good things. We talked to him about the Atonement and gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read Alma 7. We tried to get his address or phone number but he said he wouldn't be that interested. We gave him a mormon.org card with our phone number on it and told him that if he had any questions to give us a call. We went our separate ways and started tracting again. As we were walking up the sidewalk to one of the houses, we noticed that the front door was open (that actually happens quite often). Right as I was about to ring the door bell, Sister Aguilar said, " Wait! There's a naked man! We quickly walked away. It was the most awkward moment of my life! Besides all of the other times that people have answered their doors naked. I honestly do not understand. People here in Oregon are waaaayyy to comfortable with themselves! We then were on our way to one of our appointments with a less active. As we were about to get out of the car, our phone rings and it's a number that we don't recognize. We answer and the man on the other end said, Hi this is Tony. I just met you about 2 hours ago on the side of the street. He said that he looked through the chapter that we had left him to read and that he was going to come to church on Sunday! It was a total miracle! Heavenly Father knows exactly what he's doing and I am just amazed everyday at how perfectly he guides our every foot steps to put us in the place where we need to be.

We also saw Walker this past week!!! He is the 12 year old that we've been working with forever and are still waiting on his mom's permission. We talked to him all about baptism and asked him what he thought about it. He said, well I think that everyone should be baptized if they really think about it and pray. He is seriously so so ready! Hopefully we will get confirmation this coming week from his mom. Another sweet experience was when we went out to dinner with an 18 year old girl that comes out with us to appointments all the time. She is such a life saver! I think I've actually told you about her before. She's from Hawaii and has been debating on whether to serve a mission or to go to college in Canada. Her family is inactive and she's recently been coming back to church. We've really been encouraging her to serve a mission- she would be incredible! Anyway, at dinner she told us that she had an interview with the bishop and she's getting her patriarchal blessing!!!!! She just received it yesterday and we are meeting up with her later tonight because she said that she wants us to help her start her mission papers for real this time!!!! I just love her so much! She reminds me A LOT of me before my mission.

So...  I received a letter this past week from the mission telling me of my release date and all of the preparations that I need to do before that day comes............. it caught me way off guard and it hit me hard that this is actually going to happen. It still doesn't feel real and probably won't until i'm on the airplane- at least that's what everyone i've talked to has said. It really is such a weird thing. I feel like I'll just be a missionary forever, in a way I will be. Every member a missionary, right? Right.

So, you said that I will be speaking on the 31st of August. What time does your church start? There is a sister missionary in my zone right now that is also going home the same day as I do and will be flying into St.George as well and she said she would like to come to my homecoming talk.

 Well, i've got to run but thanks for all that you do! I hope you have a great week!

I love you!

Love,

Sister Hall :)

P.S. Have you gotten Trevor's past few e-mails? I haven't gotten them in about 3 weeks...

Letter #60

Sent:

Mon 4/28/14 12:25 PM

Hello!
This past week was incredible! Sister Haugen and I saw more miracles this week than ever    before!!

 We had a very Spirit filled lesson with one of our investigators Walker. I don't know if I told you about him or not but his dad just got baptized in November and he already has a stake calling. Walker is 11 years old and the neatest kid I've ever met! We taught him about the restoration last week and when we asked him what he thought and if he believed it was true he said, " Yes. I believe it." We then asked him why and he said, " I don't know, I can just feel it. It's hard to describe." We explained to him that it was the Spirit letting him know it was true. Then after I said the closing prayer, he looked up and said, " Did anybody else feel that? I just got chills up and down my body." All the while he had tears streaming down his face. I have never seen a boy at such a young age feel the Spirit so strong that it has brought tears to his eyes. It was the neatest experience to be apart of. His dad also had tears in his eyes and was just beaming. We felt inspired to invite him to be baptized but his mom is a non-member and we need to get approval from her first because he's a minor. If you could keep her in your prayers that her heart might be softened, it would be greatly appreciated :) Another miracle we saw was while we were tracting. We are serving in the wealthier part of Roseburg and it seems like every door that we knocked on, told us that they are comfortable where their at. It seems that a lot of people feel that what they have is enough and that they don't need anything else. Anyway, we knocked on this one door in particular and a women opened. Her name is Karmen. She listened to every word that we spoke and then told us that she had worked with members of our church in the past and that she actually already had a copy of The Book of Mormon. We invited her to read it and she kind of seemed like she wasn't too interested BUT we said a prayer on her doorstep before we went on to the next house and she too had tears in her eyes when we looked up. It's amazing how the Spirit can touch someones heart so quickly. She told us 3 or 4 times to come back and ran back into her home to grab a piece of paper to write what chapter we wanted her to read in The Book of Mormon! We also went to visit a potential that Sister Payne and I had tracted into. We brought a 18 year old girl with us to visit her and when we had asked if she'd read the chapter we assigned to her she said no. We were bold and asked if we could come into her house right then and read it with her and share more about what we believe. She said YES! And that was another incredible lesson that we had! The Spirit was so strong and she was so curious to know that we had a Prophet and Apostles on the earth today. While sitting in that lesson, something really amazing happened. Something that hasn't happened in awhile. Sister Haugen was teaching and a thought came to my mind about baptism then a subtle voice also came into my mind that said, " She's the one. She's the extra one." Sister Haugen and I had set transfer goals the day before and sealed those goals with a prayer. We asked Heavenly Father to place just one more person in our path that was ready and prepared to receive the gospel and that we could help into the waters of baptism. We firmly believe that Karmen is that one extra person. I love having experiences like that because they build my testimony exponentially. I can't even explain the joy that this work and this gospel brings into my heart. I just love it. We also had a really awesome lesson with one of our sweet less active ladies we are working with. She bore her testimony to us and said that she was so grateful for us coming into her life and that we have given her hope. She said some of the most tender things I have ever heard and that I will cherish forever. One thing that I am learning from her is my true potential and who I am. And it's funny because she is just trying to improve herself and as she does so it helps me.

We met a lady the other day who has gone through some really hard things in her life and is very lonely. We asked her if we could sing her a song and she said she would absolutely love that. She used to sing and play the piano but because of her health she is unable to do so. We sang "Be Still My Soul" and the Spirit was so strong. She invited us back next week and told us that she would like for us to come back every week and sing to her so that will be fun! Another cool miracle was that we met with Travis. Another one of our less actives who is a single father raising 3 young children. He is an incredible dad. We helped him remember the importance of the Sacrament and he told us that we could come back every week as well! We have just been so blessed with so many miracles this past week and I feel especially blessed because I have Sister Haugen as my companion. I seriously love this girl so much! She is 26 years old and was actually called to the Oregon Eugene Mission 5 years ago but things came up and she wasn't able to come out at that time. She is the sweetest Sister that i've met and I am so grateful that she is my companion. She told me that she saw Trevor a few times in her last area and that he was so sweet when she was struggling in training. I actually  get to see him again tomorrow!!!! I think! I hope! We have MLC and we're going to camp Alpine! I'm not quite sure what we're doing but I am stoked!!!!! One more thing that was great was that Elder Packer, President Boyd K. Packer's son came to our stake conference yesterday and spoke. I was able to talk to him a little bit and shake his hand. We also met Elder Doxey. What inspired men they are!

I hope all is well back home. Know that you are all in my prayers. I love you so much!

 

Love,

 

Sister Hall :)

Letter #61

Sent:

Mon 5/05/14 1:12 PM

Hi :)
 

Another great week gone by and I can't believe it's already May! I had a pretty good week!!Monday night the other Sister Training Leaders, picked up Sister Falepapalangi (my STL companion)

Me & Sister Falepapalangi

and we drove up to Eugene! It was soooooo much fun! We stayed the night at the YSA sisters apartment and there was about 16 of us there! It was seriously such a good time! All of my favorite sisters were there that I have previously served with and 8 of us slept on the small floor space where pretty much all of our heads were touching. Haha! We just reminisced the whole time! I could hardly sleep because I was so excited for MLC the next day! We went to Camp Alpine and did service and then had our meeting. And I absolutely love those meetings! I always leave feeling uplifted and edified and like I can take on the world :D I also got to see and talk to Trevor!!!!!! I just love him so stinkin' much!!!!!!!! He seems to be doing really well and it just makes my heart so happy! President came and sat next to me during lunch and told me that he had told mine and Trevor's story to an entire youth conference. I talked to Trevor later and he said that it was true and that he even made him stand up and pointed him out to everyone. Ya gotta love President Young! After MLC, I also saw Trevor 2 other times! Once at the church and another time at the Mission Office! It was great! :) His new companion Elder Harmon used to serve here in my ward so I've heard lots about him and it seems like they are going to be great friends!

The week seemed to have flown by and we had some really great lessons with the people we are working with. Our investigator Barbara is so close to baptism and we hope to get her on date this week! We also had a lesson with the Bruce's! They are a very interesting couple............ BUT very nice. They have a special place in their hearts for missionaries and are really trying to make it back to church. Brother Bruce has a lot of health problems and it's hard for him to get around so that's the only reason he's not coming to church. He actually got a new pair of slacks and set a goal to make it to church by the 1st of June. He is a sweet man and has such sincere desires. I love when people are actually trying and giving it their all  for something that they know is worth it. We went and sang again to our little lady friend. It's really amazing like you said what a simple song can do. When we first got to her house she was really mad and didn't even want to talk but we started singing and she lit right up and actually joined in singing :) Sister Falepapalangi and I went to Grants Pass for exchanges on Saturday and it was an amazing exchange! The sister I was with for the day is new to the area so we went tracting a lot and we met this remarkable man named Steve. We had the best lesson i've ever had with him on his front porch. I felt such a connection with him and I couldn't help but think that I might have known him in the pre-earth life. He asked the most perfect questions and the Spirit was so incredibley strong. He said some things that were really thought provoking and that filled my soul with joy because it made me bear my testimony in a way that made him really ponder all that we were saying and made him feel the spirit so strong that it brought tears to his eyes. He told me that there was something within me and my voice that made him want to believe and that touched his heart in a way that he had never felt. He may sound like a creeper but he was so genuine and real. You don't find people like him very often and I am so grateful for the blessing I had to be on that exchange at that time. It makes me feel a little bummed though because it's not my area so I won't be able to teach him but that's okay. There are great sisters serving there and they will be able to teach him according to his needs. I was on a spiritual high for the rest of the day and Sister Falepapalangi and I had an awesome talk on the drive back to Roseburg. I love that Sister so much! Her and I are going to be best friends for life! :D Oh! And last week my shoes fell completely apart and one of our members saw them and freaked out a bit so she bought me new shoes. I told her that I had other ones and that she didn't need to do that but she insisted.... Another little miracle is, every Friday we have dodgeball and there are now about 7 non-members coming! We found out that they are all orphans living in a foster home just across the street. A few of them we talked to have had such unreal hard things happen in their lives and the oldest is only 16. It makes me feel so sad for them because they are such great great kids. I'm glad the foster parents are allowing them to come into the church for a few hours so that they can feel the spirit and get to know other kids that are in the gospel. The oldest boy asked Sister Haugen and I if we could show him the chapel. We did and it was so neat, he had the biggest smile on his face and tears arose in his eyes. He said that he hadn't felt that way in a long time and that he wished he could feel whole like that all the time. We actually just found out, like the Elders in our ward just called as I am typing and told us that he was baptized 2 years ago but got lost in the shuffle with foster care. Aaah! I can't even explain how full my heart is right now. This gospel and this work is magnificant. I don't ever want to stop doing it. And I won't. Moments like these can never be forgotten and I only wish that everyone could have this experience. Heavenly Father is so good to us. I love Him with all that I am and am grateful to be his servant and His sons representative. I just want to make them proud and give every soul the happiness and peace that I have.

 

Anyways, I hope that all is well back home and that things are going great! I am excited to see everyone on Sunday! I'm not quite sure what time we will be on Skype but our church is from 10-1 so we'll be in church at the same time as you since there is a time difference. It will probably be after 2:00 my time, so after 3:00 your time.

 

I love you!!! Have a great day

 

Love,

 

Sister Lyndsie Hall :)

Letter #68

Sent:

Mon 6/30/14 4:58 PM

Hi Mom!

We just got back from hiking up at Susan Creek Falls! It was so beautiful and we had so much fun! It was just the 4 of us sisters and we made Otai again! Mango this time! 


Mango Otai :)

 So this past week was pretty slow here but we still saw many miracles. One of them being while we were out tracting in an area that we didn't even know was ours. It's a tiny little ghost town out in the middle of nowhere and we found a man named Geoff! He is super humble and has a cute young family :) We have an appointment with him this week and are super excited about it! Another was when we were tracting a random street just before we were about to retire to our apartment. We found a man who has been struggling with his daughter- she ran away from home 9 months ago and hasn't seen here since. At first he was making jokes about the church and being really arrogant but as we started talking about eternal families, the spirit came in really strong and we could feel his heart softening. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told us we could visit him when he was in town. He works in here but lives in Medford. It amazes me everyday when I see how the spirit works within people and can change them. I love being an instrument in our Fathers hand and helping people to understand and accept the Atonement in their lives. This work is so real and Heavenly Father is in every aspect of it. He has shown me so many tender mercies within the past few months that have helped me to see the reasons why I was called to serve here. I love my mission with all my heart and wouldn't trade it for anything.
We also had a lesson with Rick and Mary! I love them so much! They just glow every time we see them! We were able to talk to them about the temple and they are so excited to prepare to go next year! Ah! I just love them! So, guess what?? The other day our favorite less active took us out to lunch and she took us to a place just like Alvaro's! It was super delish and made me feel like I was at home again. It was great!

We also went on exchanges again to Winston! It was pretty successful but also a bit crazy... as always!

So, Sister Marble did come out with me but she is going home the early transfer, which is in 2 weeks. As sisters we get to decide if we want to stay the late transfer or go home earlier. I decided to stay out the full 18 months so that's why she is going home before me. Also you can post most any pictures I send home. You also asked what I would like for my birthday and I'm not even sure.. Transfers are on the 14th and I don't want to accumulate to much stuff so I am going to start sending things home soon. I'm trying to find souvenirs and stuff to send you guys but I'm having a hard time finding a place that sells it. Anyways, I don't have much time but I love you and hope that you are having a good day! It sounds like you are having a fun time with Weston, Wyatt, and Carter! I sure miss them like crazy!

Love,
 
Sister Lyndsie Hall :)