Oh Happy Day

Oh Happy Day

Transfer News! 

So we got a call last night aaaaannnnnnnnnnndddddd Sister Meata is going to Brampton and I am staying in Guelph and will be TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYYUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm so stinking excited!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I get to train my last transfer! It's a prayer come true! It's just what I need to keep pushing myself to the very end of my mission :D 

So I don't even know what to write to you all about. All I can think about is how stinking excited I am to be training! 

Let's see, some really great news is that we got feed by Sister Martinez and Sol! They feed us SO much! We have an appetizer THEN we have a bowl of soup THEN we have the dinner! Its a stinking three course event! Anyways we got some wonderful news from them :) Sister Martinez and Sol are getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH! :D I guess since Sol has been taking the lessons Sister Martinez has been thinking more and more about getting married and she said she is ready! The bishop will marry them soon but we aren't sure of a date just yet. 

-> also turns out the melon wasn't wrapped in raw bacon but some italian meat that probably wasn't raw haha

I'm not sure if I have ever talked about Phoenix with you guys but he is a member referral from Shirley Ann. He is soooo kind and has such a strong belief in Jesus Christ. He has struggled with Bisexual tendencies his whole life but still has a great relationship with Jesus Christ which I think is amazing! I look up to him SO much! Within the next week or so we are going to teach him the law of chastity. It will be interesting but I feel like it will go well :) 

Also just a clarification, David has never been sealed, he isnt a member of the church yet, but he was saying that he wants to be sealed to his family. So to Jen and the boys :) 

Ok weeelllll I have to run. Sorry this is so short! We have a ton of stuff we need to get done seeing as we have to leave and be in Brampton by 9 tonight! BAH! 

Spiritual Thought: Light and Darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time therefore when you are unhappy (darkness) think happy thoughts (light) and you will be happy! 

A Haiku For You! 

spread good news 

the gospel restored 

truth unfold 

This is a story one of the missionaries sharred that happened to them this week :) I though it was super cute and wanted to share it with you all:

"So we were just tracting down this street and these two little girls just started following us around and joking and stuff. They would just like hide behind cars and things while we were talking to these people. Finally we found some guy that we could actually share and in little bit they came up to us and said, " you make people happy. Give us your cards we want to do that too." So we gave them some cards and they went down the street and started knocking on doors by themselves. They would say, "Hello, we are from the church of Jesus Christ and we want to make people happy. Can we give you a card?" It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. They were just tracting and helping people come unto Christ all by themselves. It was definitely a highlight of the week. "

Guelph downtown! We live 2 blocks to the left of the pic

Decisions Determine Destiny

Decisions Determine Destiny

First off, WHAT THE HECK, MAVERICK WAS IN MY HOUSE!? Holy moly I did not see that one coming! I'm sad I wasnt there to see him but that's sooo stinking cool that you all got to meet him! 

->for those of you who may not remember Maverick was a member from Kingston who we were working with :) He is Awesome! 

Second off, WHAT THE HECK, CARTCH WAS IN MY ROOM? I can't believe I missed seeing him, the dirty dog! 

Shout Outs: I got a post card from the James Hall family and it made my week! It sounds like they are having a crazy awesome adventure :) 

Alright now that I've been able to get that off my chest, on to the week! 

First off....... Jen and David got married! YEEEESSSSS! Aaaaannnnnnd I still had to be a bridesmaid which means that I had to walk down the isle. IT WAS SO AWKWARD!!! I was the last one who walked down before the bride and I was wearing heals for the first time in over a year and I just knew that I was going to trip or something (I didn't thank goodness)! AND there wasn't any music so we just had to walk down one at a time and I'm pretty sure I walked too fast but really it wasn't that bad and I'm just over reacting haha. 

The wedding was nice and David and Jen seemed very happy :) The coolest moment though was when David mentioned to us about him and his family getting sealed together in the temple! AH! My heart just about melted and I got so excited! Teaching this family has been a roller coaster but hopefully with the wedding done and David home we can help them to gain a testimony of the restoration :) We have already seen a big difference in the family with David being home and going to church with them. The few times that we have taught them we have had the parents share their hopes and desires for the family and where they see the family in a few years and both of them recognize that since they have been going to church there have been a lot of positive changes :) 

The boys are doing good. Christian hasnt been showing a lot of interest in learning, he hasn't been reading or coming to church with the family so we are struggling on that point. Other than that the younger ones are thriving! They love primary but arent too fond of reading so we have to figure out a way to make lessons and reading interesting for them. Any suggestions? I was thinking about doing "missionary dates" just like how Dad would bribe us with dady daughter dates when we would read, but then I thought that probably wasn't appropriate hahah.

The Missionary bridesmaids! 

David, Jen and I after the wedding 

Jeremy (12), me and Brian (9). I love these boys!  

Greg also came to church this week :) He got there a little late so we waited outside for him and then after the sacrament we all walked in with his Tim's coffee in hand hahah I couldn't help but chuckle :) He seemed to enjoy church. It was very different than what he was used to but he participated in some of the discussion in sunday school so he seemed comfortable. 

I also took Sister Maeta Bus Contacting! YUUUUUSSSSS! For a week all the buses were free and I missed bus contacting so much that I was just itching to get on one! This was Sister Maeta's first time bus contacting and she was super nervous, so in our companionship study her and I role played different ways to contact people on the bus. I just about died laughing at how uncomfortable she was while we role played, but I assured her that she would be fine as long as she followed the 4 rules of bus contacting  

1. Before getting on a bus pray to know who you should talk to

2. Once you get on the bus survey everyone and go where the spirit directs you

3. Start talking with someone immediately! The longer you wait the more awkward it is

4. Try not to sit down and if you do sit down be prepared to get up and move if they aren't interested. 

Unfortunately we were pretty busy all week so we were only able to get on a bus and contact for like 20 min but it was still really good! She did an awesome job and almost got someones number :) 

Lastly I got fed some weird spanish/european food by Sol this week. It was a melon wrapped in raw bacon..... oh my gosh it tasted sooooo weird! BUT I ate it all and Im still alive! 

Transfers are coming up this Sunday blahhhhh. I am determined to end my mission on the highest of all high notes and I realize that it is going to take a lot of diligence, hard work and exact obedience which normally is easy once I put my mind to it but Satan has been working over time on us to keep us from progressing which is really annoying. However, light will always conquer darkness so I know that it is within my power to make things happen :) 

Well here are some pics! Have a successful week and dont forget your covenants! 

Sister Hall

Out on a hike with Steve! 

Some random building in the middle of Rockwood park

My Burden Light

My Burden Light

First off Jen and David had to push the wedding back to this saturday because they weren't able to get the marriage license and yes I am still supposed to be a brides maid -_-

Next, holy stinking cow can Spanish people talk! We saw Sister Martinez and Sol again this week and man I just dont think it will ever be possible to get out of a lesson with them on time haha! Besides that however Sol was pretty frustrated and discouraged because he didn't receive his answer from God yet. I had a feeling this would happen so we spent the next hour helping him to understand how we receive revelation (and then another 40 min trying to wrap things up and say a closing prayer -_-) In 1 Nephi 15: 11 Nephi gives us the recipe for receiving personal revelation he says: 

"... If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping the my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."

From this we learn that in order to receive answers to our prayers we must...

1. Open our hearts to the will of the Lord. This means we must be willing to act on the answer God gives us 

2. Pray and ask God our question

3. Have faith and believe that we will receive an answer 

4. Work for your answer! We must do more that just kneel and plead with the Lord, we must then get up search for our answer. Keeping the commandments shows God that we are humble and are willing to listen and obey and allows us to be more in tune with the spirit. 

We talked more about how God answers our prayers through reading scriptures and talked more about how his answer might come but that ultimately it comes in the Lords way and on the Lords time but that if he was patient and diligent it would come.

He still seemed skeptical, he thinks he's too old to change how he thinks.. pfft! I told him off and said that if he keeps saying that he is stubborn then that's what he'll be! By saying those things he is blocking the spirit and making it harder for Heavenly Father to reach him. I advised him to focus on the desire he has to know if God is there and let that be his positive motivation. One thing I do know is that when Sol becomes a member he will be one of the most dedicated strongest kingdom builder in all of Ontario! 

Heavenly Father taught me a lesson on the importance of follow up this week. So about 6 weeks ago I met this guy named Greg on the street, talked to him very briefly, gave him a Book of Mormon and set up an appointment with him. It was a pretty average contact and he didn't seem too interested. Well we ended up missing that appointment and when we called him the number wasn't in use, so I just figured he wasn't actually interested. However as the weeks went on he kept popping into my mind. They weren't very strong impressions though so I just put him to the side and figured we get around to dropping by him later. 

-> lol you think I would have learned my lesson by now

Well 2 weeks ago we ran into Greg again! I apologized for missing our appointment and it turned out the number I had written down was completely wrong so we made a new appointment. So this week we finally made it over to his place! We start out with a prayer and then do How to Begin Teaching and begin our lesson. The lesson is going alright but I can feel that there is something missing and that is his interest level. He was paying attention and answering our questions, but his answers lacked depth and interest. We started to talk about Jesus Christ and asked him more about what he knew. He gave us the classic Christian answer about how he died on the cross for our sins. We were about to move on when I felt prompted that we needed to help him understand Christ's personal relevance for him. I cant remember what I asked or how it happened, but we got on the topic of why Christ did those things for us. Greg started to participate a little more and actually started to ask us questions. It lead to him open up about how ever since he was little he felt like something was missing in his life and that for the past 2 years he had been searching for something that would fill his void. We testified of the Saviour and of the cleansing healing power of His Atonement. It was a really cool experience! And I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave us a second chance to talk with him :) 

It was a nice week and I am learning a lot in this area which I am very grateful for :) 

I hope everyone has a stinking fantastic week! Go out and do some good :)

Scripture of the Week:  3 Nephi 27: 16

"And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world."

A haiku for you!

Diligent 

the race against sin

Repentance 

Sister Hall

Our District picnic

Sister Maeta and a crayfish(? sp) she ripped of its arms a few seconds latter... crazy Island people!

Sister Balderson and I :) She is a friend from Lethbridge! 

Come What May And Love It

Come What May And Love It

Shout Outs! 

Grandpa I just wanted to let you know that I worked extra, extra hard to find some elderly people to talk with aaaaannnnnd we did! I can't remember his name but I do remember that he wasn't interested at all and he might have given us the finger hahahah! Sister Maeta and I had a good laugh over it though :) 

Jill- I FINALLY GOT MY BIRTHDAY PACKAGE! I stinking loooooovvvveee the sling shot! In fact if it stops raining today we are going to go and shot pop cans with it : )

The Davidson's- Thank you so much for the letter and the gift cards! It was so generous of you!!! 

Dad- I learned how to check my brakes!!!! 

So much to tell and so little time! 

I would like to start out with one of the most awkward moments on my mission thus far that has happened to me this week. I was at Sister Wagner's home (she is my favorite member EVER!) and we were having dinner. It was wonderful! I was sitting next to her son who is 25 years old and we were all having some ice cream. I turn my head to look at something and the next thing I know Guy has a spoon full of ice cream right by my mouth and before I can do anything he tells me to try some of his ice cream and proceeds to SPOON FEED ME!!! BAH! WHAT THE HECK!? I was stunned. I just sat there not knowing how I should feel about what had just happened to me and now Pralines ice cream will never be the same..... 

We found a new investigator this week :) His name is Richard and 8 years ago he started going to the LDS church in Oakville but lost contact with the missionaries and the church when he moved to Guelph. We were debating on whether or not we should contact him when we saw him because we were just about to head in for the night but we decided to talk with him. Turns out he had been praying for months to find a church to go to and then we "happened" to run into him. We quickly make an appointment to see him later this week and rush inside to make it home on time. 

---> fast forward to when we see him 

The moment we walk into his apartment I see this biiig bowl of weed on his table bahahahaha! Richard is from Jamaica and I'm not surprised in the least. As the lesson goes on the spirit settles in. We testify of the greater happiness that comes from following Jesus Christ and how when we make changes to follow Him we find true happiness. As we testified and taught we could see a change take place in Richard. His countenance lightened and we could see that he had been searching for this :) I just hope that he will really rely on the Lord to make those changes. 

We saw Sister Martinez this week again and her testimony is stronger than ever :) Something I failed to mention last week was that while we were visiting with Sister Martinez her friend Sol was sitting in and we got a return appointment with him. So this week when I say we saw Sister Martinez we were also going to teach her friend. Sol is very interesting. First he says he is too old to change his ways and second he believes in God BUT he also doesn't believe in God... Going into this lesson we knew that we had to be very open to allow the spirit to take the lesson where ever He needed it to go. We started out by talking to him about Who God Is. At first he would just shake his head at the things we would say, it all just seemed too unbelievable, but Sister Martinez was persistent in sharing her lifes experiences with him. She talked for 90% of the lesson. Normally I would start getting annoyed at this but I had this feeling that I needed to let her keep talking. As Sister Martinez continued to bear testimony through her experiences we could see a change take place in Sol. Instead of saying no it wasn't possible he was starting to ask how. It was nearing the end of our hour and we had time to say one last thing so I looked him in the eye and asked him if he wanted to know if God was real. He said yes. We explained to him that just as Joseph Smith prayed to know what church to join, he too could pray to know if God is there. He paused for a moment and told us that he really truly wanted to know and told us that he would pray. The spirit was incredibly strong and I was completely wiped out afterwards and yet that was probably the lesson I had talked the least in on my entire mission. 

As for Jen, her husband to be David got home this week!! FINALLY! We got a chance to meet him and it went really well! He seems like a very nice man- and get this! He used to go to the LDS church as a kid! His mom would take them!!! Back in his home country they used to have the missionaries over all the time! He told us that he's pretty much done it all except baptism. It is incredible how involved Heavenly Father is in each of His children's lives! He truly is preparing every single one of His kids to hear the gospel. Thats puts a great responsibility on our shoulders as members of the church to always be sharing and inviting! 

Lastly I wanted to share this advice for all missionaries (that includes members!)

Golden Rules of Missionary Work

-Realize that every moment of your mission has eternal significance. Don't waste a minute of it.

-Work as though it is impossible to fail. After all, anything is possible with God's help.

-Humbly seek the direction of the Spirit to guide your words and actions.

-Break free from fear and disappointment by working hard.

-Continually build your testimony and share it with everyone.

-Keep an upbeat attitude. Remember, you are delivering glad tidings!

-Never underestimate the power of goals backed by positive action.

-Treat everyone you meet as a Child of God that deserves your love and respect.

-Embrace every mission rule as though it were a message directly from the Lord to you.

-Imagine what the Savior would do and do it.

Have a wonderful week! 

Line of the Week: I had sent an email to my family asking them what blessings they have received from my service as a missionary. This is Jill's reply..

Jill: "In our marriage, especially, we haven’t had any major trials to overcome and I consider that a huge blessing. So don’t come home- I don’t want to lose Tyson!!"

Scripture of the Week: D&C 6: 35-37

"Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen."

A Haiku For You! 

gratitude 

the source of His peace

in all things 

Sister Hall