Week 9 Raking Leaves

To whom it may concern, 

Today is Pday because we're going to the temple in Palmyra!! How cool is that!? I'm a spoiled missionary. I have a car, an iPad, and get to go see one of the coolest church history sites in the world. What a time to be alive Haha. So why we're going is because An older couple is getting sealed and they've invited us to come!! I'm super excited, but I'll tell you all more about it on Monday when my Pday gets back to normal! Here's what went down this week: 

Monday

After a long time without playing golf, the blessed day finally came. Hah I was so happy to be out there that I couldn't wipe the grin off my face! The course was closed but no one stopped me from teeing off hehe. Anyways I quickly saw why it was closed! The greens looked like carpet and the fairways were well overgrown but hey you do what you gotta do. I ended up shooting my worst round in a while but when you're playing with a wooden driver that Ben Hogan used I guess you cut yourself some slack haha. I bet my Uncle Dave is super excited to be hearing that I'm struggling with my game... Oh well there are more important things! My Colombian companion was so happy to be there too, taking pics and asking a ton of questions about everything! Hah I might not be able to convert a ton of people out here to the gospel but if I can convert a Colombian to golf then I must be doing alright. 

Tuesday

Might have been one of the roughest days of the mission so far! We had nothing going for us!! Hah either no one answered the door or the ones that did were busy doing something else and didn't have time to talk! I was super frustrated cause we were really working hard to find new investigators! To top it all off the one appointment I was looking forward to ended up dogging us. Ahhh we ended up going back to the apartment to regroup and call people to try and set up appointments. After more of the same garbage we'd been dealing with all day I decided that we could at least go serve. I told my comp that I thought we should go rake some leaves. Yes dad, I had the idea to go rake some leaves haha. I figured it wasn't going to hurt anything and I highly doubted anyone was going to be too busy to let us rake leaves. We ended up raking leaves for our neighbor and I think she was super appreciative. She straight up told us that she was happy In her faith but really respected all our church does! It was then that I remembered a quote that goes something like: "We will walk across bridges that we never built, and build bridges we'll never cross." That's probably butchered, but you get the point! I've decided that needs to be my vision for this area, because it's hard to see a lot of success right now in terms of numbers. I'm just trying my best to "build the bridges" so that hopefully someday the Elders after me can see the success! 

Wednesday 

I had an awesome experience going on splits in Warren, PA with our district  leader Elder Miller. Dang I Learned so much!! Hah we were able to see a ton of people and we had a really awesome door step lesson with this guy named Brian. It's nice to finally talk to someone that's willing to change and accept the gospel! A lot of people In my area like to tell us all the reasons why they don't need religion, so it was a breath of fresh air haha! We also worked super well together and he really showed me how to be a better missionary! He taught me so much that I know I need to bring back to Fredonia. We can be so much more productive there I feel like so I'm gonna try my best to bring it all back!

Thursday

We had a district meeting and President Johnson came! He comes every 3 months to do a little personal interview/see how you're doing! It was amazing! PJ (as we call him) is such an amazing man. He truly cares about each one of his missionaries and you can see that! He could remember things I had said the first night I arrived in Pittsburgh  that I didn't think he was paying that close attention too! Anyways we had a good talk and it was such a cool experience to be able to talk to this guy about what it's like to be a new missionary. He ended by giving me the confidence I needed to keep rolling! 

Friday

We had two lessons with some less active ladies In the ward. Elder Renteria and I have decided to be a lot more bold in our teaching with these less actives! It's fine if we go there and share a cute little uplifting message about prayer, but we're not really seeing the benefits of that! After my exchange with Elder Miller I decided that if we're not inviting EVERY less active to come to church and partake of the sacrament we're basically just beating around the bush. Soooo we changed that! Elder Renteria then had the courage to ask this sister what was holding her back from partaking the sacrament and we finally found out the real reason! She had been offended years ago by something someone in the ward had done and has had a hard time forgiving her. She knows it's a dumb thing to be holding a grudge about but still has a hard time getting to church! We testified to her that we know we are in a perfect church filled with imperfect people. Sometimes people do things that don't really reflect the ideas of the church. I think it was something she really needed and looking back on it all of our lessons have lead us to this point! Anyways we committed her to church so we'll see what happens! I also know we need to be so careful in the church with what we say and do! We have to be so cautious to not do anything that will cause people to leave! I think that's one of the saddest things when people are pushed away because of other MEMBERS! We're all trying to do our best! 

Saturday 

We saw THE coolest thing I've seen on my mission so far! Wow it was incredible! Looking back on it I can totally see how the Lord worked with us in very mysterious ways haha! So I'm gonna try and explain this very complicated story and how it will all eventually add up, at least I hope... So We had planned to rake some leaves because I figured on a Saturday a lot of people would be outside raking and it would give us a chance to talk to people! Buuuuut, as soon as we got outside with our rakes it started pouring rain and not a soul was outside. So we decided we would go try and see some people and try to rake later. 3 hours later we end up deciding to visit one of our less active smokers. (I swear all of my clothes smell like smoke now. ) anyways the TV was on but no one came to the door. So we return to the car and I start looking at the list of people we can see and Elder Renteria makes some calls. I then look up and see this lady raking her leaves who's probably In her 40's and looks like she could use some help! I had a strong feeling that we needed to help her, so we got out and with the rake we had, started to give her a hand! After some small talk she told us that she attends some Pentacostal church but is not satisfied with it. She said "I just feel like their should be an easier way for me to know what God wants for me." I was like ohhhhh yeahhhhh you bet there is. Hah she then told us that she has been praying for months to find something better for herself. She wants to raise her family In the truth! A couple other things that were really cool is she said she had planned to rake her leaves earlier In the day, but felt like she needed to wait. She also saw us walking by her house earlier when we were going to the less active and thought: "I wonder who those guys are," but she wasn't about to yell at us from her house so she was so thankful we followed our prompting to go talk to her! I was so happy during the lesson that I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. It's hard to explain the happiness that comes from finding someone who is ready to listen. Ahhh it's great! Long story short, it was an answer to both of our prayers. I have been praying since I got here to find someone who is prepared and I think We finally found her! She committed herself to read the Book of Mormon and come to church so we'll see how it all goes! 

Sunday 

After a crazy busy day, we were driving back from an appointment to try a less active man, when we saw one of our old investigators sitting on a bench. I had never personally met him so I told Elder Renteria that we should go park the car and walk by him and see what was up. He was hesitant to do so, but agreed. Now I see why... Hahah we had talked on the phone and he told us that he wanted to take a: "1-2 year break from studying the Mormon bible." I thought that was a little funny so I wanted to meet him! Turns out this guy is a schizophrenic with a lot of interesting ideas. He told us he's seen Jesus twice, and that the Catholics are baptizing aliens. He also said that he knew Mr. Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true so that was nice haha. He ended up talking our ears off and told us to enjoy our journey. Hah I'm quickly learning that you never know what to expect in Western New York. People out here are just different! Hah but anyways my Spanish is slowly improving which is nice! Elder Renteria and I continue to only speak Spanish to each other in the apartment and I know it's really helping me! Pres. Johnson really left it up to me, he said if you want to learn Spanish you will put in the time and effort! I've tried my best to do that, and even though I'm not immersed in the language, I feel like I'm improving a little bit everyday! 

Tuesday Round 2 

We had an awesome day and got to teach two investigators! Hah that might not sound like a lot to some of you, but before today I'd only had two in all of my mission. So to double the number was very nice.  Hah we taught Lourdes and the Olrogg family. Lourdes is the lady we talked to on Saturday that was super interested in everything we had to say! I love teaching her because she is so willing to do what's right for her family! We also taught the Olrogg family... That is a tough situation... Elder Renteria told me it's the toughest couple he's taught, and he's taught atheists before. Anyways she served a mission but has since gone completely inactive and didn't accept our invitation to read the Book of Mormon. The Husband is a non member but is just a really solid guy! Anyways we taught them last Sunday and it was a little rough. She didn't say much at all, and we could kinda tell she didn't want us there. When we tried to make a return appointment she said that they were never going to turn us away, but that they didn't want to ever go to church. Well somehow we got an appointment for today and we talked about the importance of the family in the gospel. I could see their hearts softening as we talked about it. (They have 3 daughters) I really hope we can continue to talk to them!! He told us he's been reading the Book of Mormon so by definition we finally have a progressing investigator!  Hah it's an answer to prayer! I guess when I got here I expected to be teaching tons of investigators. Boy was I wrong haha. I've just been praying that we could have someone willing to hear what we have to say and willing to change! With the work we've been putting in, we're starting to see 

the rewards! 

Love,

Elder Halls

Pictures: Jamestown District; Don't know what happened here, but welcome to Western New York; Lake Erie