Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope you had an awesome Christmas spent with family and friends. We had an awesome week and were able to share Light the World with a lot of people and get into homes we normally don't. I'm sad it's over!
Tuesday
We were able to share Light the World with a few people which was awesome! We got in with a part member family, a less active, and MERLE. He's back on the map folks. He's a funny guy, glad we got back in touch with him. We had dinner with the Ballards and with a change in tradition Elder Parke cooked the food! He likes to make burgers so he bought the meat and we all pitched in for everything else. Nothing quite like burger night. After that we went out for a team up with Bishop Miracle and got to see some more people. That guy is a good one to have on your team. All in all, 'twas solid.
Wednesday
We did a lot of caroling which was awesome! We started off at this community center with a lot of older folks. We sang a few songs and handed out a ton of pass along cards. They seemed to really enjoy it which made me happy. Sis. Christensen (senior couple) decided she wanted to go caroling at the post office. My first thought was wow, this is interesting maybe we could go hit the DMV as well... I didn't think we would be very well received. Turns out that everyone there is tired and stressed and needed a little Christmas cheer. It ended up being great and pretty funny! We went out to find and had honestly struck out, but we had 10 minutes to try one more person before dinner. We ended up going to this less actives house who we weren't even planning on seeing and she pulled in the driveway right as we got there. I love God's timing. Anyways, we were definitely supposed to be there and we had a good lesson with her. Timing is everything! Later that night we got two districts together to do some more caroling. Elder Kotter rigged up a trailer with hay bales and lights and we went caroling in neighborhoods around the church. We again passed out a ton of Light the World cards and found some promising potentials! It was sweet! Missionaries are resourceful and clever, I tip my hat to these guys.
Thursday
There was success to be had. Things were clicking and we got into all the homes that we needed to! We have been STRUGGLING with finding new investigators. I feel like there's a lot of factors that make it tough, but I've been praying that we would find someone and know where to be and we finally found two new investigators!! I'm a firm believer in finding through members whether they're less active, part member, or whatever other category you want to make, that's the gold mine. 80% of baptisms in this mission come from part member families or member referrals, the numbers don't lie. It was awesome to share Light the World with these people and one of the investigators we found wanted 10 pass along cards to share with her friends. It was a great day and I'm pumped!
Friday
We did a lot of service in the morning and early afternoon in Carnegie and the Johnson's house! We worked hard and got a lot done in both places! The Johnson's had us raking their neighbors leaves which is a weird thing to be doing in December, but that's life in PA. That night we got together with a bunch of missionaries in down town Pittsburgh to go caroling and it was awesome!! Hah except for I lost Elder Parke for a little bit.... So when we go downtown we usually park by a missionaries apartment and walk down to the T. (Train that everyone calls the T) We hop on right by Heinz field and then get off right by the point where the three rivers meet. So we're on the T and I'm trying to Light the World and talk to everyone because missionary work right? Anyways I'm talking to these guys about the Penguins because everyone loves hockey and these guys look at me and say: "Hey man, this is your stop!" So I slap 2 cards in their hand and bolt it for the door. Well.... Elder Parke made it out, but myself and the other 4 missionaries we were with weren't quite so lucky. So now I've just left my cowboy of a companion in downtown Pitt. Great. This guy graduated with 17 other people so not much exposure to the big city. Anyways we get off on the next stop and start looking for him. I of course had the phone so he had no way to call us. After some searching we decided he probably just stayed right at that stop and sure enough we found him down there standing like a lost puppy. Haha it was an adventure. We ended up having an awesome night after that and handed out a ton of pass along cards along with singing carols!
Christmas Eve
We got invited by the Crossleys and some other members in the ward to go to an assisted living home to do carols for all the old folks that live there. It was awesome! I felt the spirit of Christmas and they loved it so much. This Christmas and last have been highlights of my mission. The rest of the evening was spent in members homes. First with the Fergusons and then the Taylors. Such good people and we did the traditional stuff of reading Luke 2 and what not!
Christmas
We woke up early to open presents with the Ballards and have a little breakfast. I felt like a little kid again, it was great! We went to church and then had lunch with the Bayles family who kept us laughing! We dropped off the present we made for the Johnson's and they loved it. We had each missionary send in 2-3 sentences of their thanks to the Johnson's along with Merry Christmas to a group email. We then complied all of them in a book for the Johnson's to keep! It was awesome! Skype was great and it was good to see the family. We wrapped it all up with a dinner at the church with the district which was good! Food was not as good as what momma can make, but it was good company. It was good to get together as missionaries!
This was another great Christmas season and it's crazy that Christmas Day has come and gone. I hope we can remember Him always and apply the things we've learned through Light the World! These two Christmases on the mission have been some of my favorite as I've been able to truly focus on the reason for the season. I've gained a new appreciation for the Savior and I'm thankful for that. Merry Christmas and have a good week!
Feliz Navidad,
Elder Halls
Pictures: Market square in downtown Pitt; The tree at the point
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