Week 77 There ain't no love on the bus

Man, this week went by too quick! I didn't document things as well as I should have but it was a really busy week! A few late nights and sometimes you just don't feel like writing a lot. We got hit with a little snow storm this week and I am so ready for some warm weather! PA is so much better in the spring! 

We started out the week with an exchange with the other elders in our ward. They live on the other side of the river and don't have a car. Their area is pretty massive and they use a lot of public transportation. It's a whole new type of animal serving in downtown Pitt! We spent a lot of the day around Pitt campus surrounded by a ton of people going 100 miles an hour in every direction. We were blessed to find a few people that were interested, but it was just tough to talk to people. Everyone on the bus has their headphones in and people literally moved away from us as soon as another seat opened up. Ain't no love on the bus haha, I tip my hat off to those guys. They serve downtown and in the surrounding sketchy areas of Pitt. We did find a brother named Leeroy who seemed to have potential. Hope all goes well with him! 

We continue to find and teach a lot with the hispanos. They're always receptive to hear our message and have us back, but the commitment is difficult at times. A lot of them don't have any way of getting around besides their two feet and they work ALL the time. We keep hoping to find people that are ready to progress, but these things take time! It's fun to find them and we found a family from El Salvador this week! They seemed to like the restoration so we'll have to see if they prayed about what we taught. Both of them don't know how to read! So crazy and it just makes me want to help them so much! 

We taught Aimee Wylie again and she is one of my favorite people to teach! So humble and she makes the gospel feel a lot more personal. It's always refreshing to teach people that are open and honest with you, so I always like going over there! 

We got a little cold spell this week but that didn't stop the good work. I feel like people respect us more when they see us out walking around in the cold so that's always a good thing! 

This week we asked a lot of the less actives we taught to share their testimonies with us and it worked really well! Most of them are converts with very powerful conversion stories! It was really cool to see them recognize the spirit as they shared their story/testimony with us. We truly do grow our testimonies as we share them with others and I was reminded of that this week! Our testimonies truly are the sum of our spiritual experiences. 

This weekend was Stake Conference which is always something that I enjoy. It's always nice to hear from the Stake President and hear a little bit of his vision. This conference was especially focused on missionary work and going to the rescue. They showed us slides that represented how we can go to the rescue and we sure have a lot of work to do. There are about 900 members that need to be rescued in our stake which is a lot! This number is comprised of unbaptized children, less active Melchizedek priesthood holders, and prospective Elders. It just showed me that we should be busy! There are people that need our help and the Stake seems very willing to support us! The missionaries were asked to sing the EFY medley As Sisters in Zion/We'll Bring the World His Truth which is kind of our go to whenever we're asked to sing. It's always super powerful and makes the women folk cry. I always feel the spirit when we sing it though. It's a good time to be a missionary! ☺️

We met with Wilbur and Jessica again and talked a little bit more about faith and the Book of Mormon. They're the ones who don't know how to read but want to so bad! Our ward mission leader suggested that we teach them to read which might not be a bad idea... We're really just trying to help them grow their faith because all Latinos say that they have a ton of faith, but faith is action right? They're humble but these things take time. 

Random stuff 

• I've had two Spanish families tell me that I look super young this week. Sister Reyes said that I looked like I was 17. Thank you? 😂
• Ball continues to be the activity of choice for our morning workout. 
• "Dad, can we go to Utah after Mom pukes the baby out?" -Ammon Bringhurst. We had dinner with the Bringhursts and he told us the story of when his little son asked him that. He said Ammon said it with such certainty... I was dying. 😀

I'm grateful to be here serving the Lord! Things are slowly happening but I know great things can happen as we continue to work hard and teach the gospel! Hope you have a great week! 

Much love, 

Elder Halls
Pictures: Surprised with some snow fall; Awesome bible referral we talked to with Elder Chafin. She was hilarious!; Walking around Oakland; We went and tried some random Asian place for dinner. Pretty good food!