01/27/14 Love

Dear family and friends and people; 

Honorable Mention:

Birthday package from the Schneiders!!! I got socks that are like pants. ridiculous! I love it!!

Another week in Sun City has come and gone. It was another slow week. My comp is still sick so we didn't make it out the door often this week. 

Some fun things that happened:

I got mauled be three kids. MAULED. It was so nuts. They love sister missionaries. Especially sister missionaries that will play with them and entertain them. It was crazy, 

We drove to Riverside last week. I saw Elder and Sister King, who I just love!

I OYMed an old Lutheran (like 90's) who threatened to hit me. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he'd break his hip if he tried. So he didn't and I walked away. I didn't even bear my testimony to him. Just told him to have a good day. "You lost that argument!" I wanted to shout back "At least I don't have to worry about hip replacements." But I didn't.  I was nice. Sorta

We are out of miles, so we walked almost 6 miles the other day. It was great to get out and move. I was excited. I ran around like a loon. Skipping and shouting hi at everyone I saw. I broke onto a golf course. I hop on "the greens" and hop off. I did it like 10 times. I broke in 10 times! haha. 

I made one of the soups from mom and Tess. SO good! They made soup mixes in decorative bags. and they're perfect. I LOVE it! I made the really Italian sounding one. eFagoli? something like that. Nuts. Actually, there are no nuts int he soups. at all. That's good. 

I think I'm about out of things to say. Sorry for a lame email.

I love you all. I'm grateful for you all

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!

Love and stuff,

Sister Hall

01/20/14 - Sun City

Why hello peeps!

Happy Pday, or in the world of those not on a mission, happy Monday!

Honorable Mentions:

Sister Larsen!

Other Mumsie!!!

Today finds me in a city called Sun City which is full of old people... REALLY old people. For serious, they have golf cart crossings. For Serious. Don't worry, I'll get pictures eventually. It's perfect, the Lord has prepared a lot of people for baptism. He's already put them all in white! (Look at their hair!) We just have to work fast! I'm with Sister Trillo, she is 19 and from Delta, Utah. She's been out a transfer longer than I have been, and was trained by my last Comp, Sister Gowans.

I moved in at 4 last Monday. That was an adventure. Thanks for all the surprises Sister Gowans!!... *twitch* :)))

Here are some fun things that I've seen / done / learned:

• A hawk swooped down and grabbed a squirrel right next to us while we were driving this week. We watched the squirrel struggle as the hawk flew away with morbid fascination. Good times. 
• I was illegally hugged by a member. That happens with old people. I have taken to Sister Gowans' dealing with that. I turn into an awkward fish. limp and stuff. Great times. 
• Our Home share is Momma D. Momma D is the best ever! She's so sweet and thoughtful and buys us groceries when she's out. She has a sign on her fridge that says: "Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you" I love that!
• I offered to be a biking sister. So maybe next transfer I'll be on bike!
• My fame preceded me. I walked into the Bishops' house to meet him and his 9 year old son met me at the door and said "Hi Sister Hall, are you thirsty?"
  "Not really. But thanks!"
  "Are you sure?..."
  "They want to see your water trick" Sis. Trillo said.
  So I inhaled a bottle of water for them. Bishop put it on facebook. I'm glad I'm known for something so great! (Richard Allec maybe Rick Allec on facebok, if you're wondering)
• I was studying this week and found a scripture where Abraham snarked the Lord! Abraham is Snarky!!! Genesis 17:17
• I met a member this week who told me "No brain no pain" when talking about headaches. He never gets them, apparently. Then he told me to "Marry rich, Sister Hall. It's better to be miserable and rich than miserable and poor." haha. Such great advice. He's elderly. (Like 110! - not completely accurate. But everyone is old here. There are like 2 funerals a month here! Nuts!)

This week was relatively slow, my comp had a migraine every day this week. So we weren't able to do much. Although, given the amount of time we were stuck in the house, we still managed 15 lessons. This week is going to be significantly better. Health and stuff are ours. :)

Love and stuff for you peeps. 

I think that's all I got for you. No crazy adventures this week!  

Thank you for all your prayers and letters and love and stuff. I've needed them. Especially with transfers and such!

<3 love="" o:p="">

The Littlest Missionary who could!

Publishers Note:  There were no pictures included with this weeks email.

01/06/14 Birthdays, New Years and Things

2013 is over. Time for a new year! Woohoo!! 

Some going-ons here in the Mish in Sunny Southern Cali: People graffiti silly things, like a stick figure saying hi. So we pose next to them! 

Also, I met a great dane that was just barely shorter than I am. So of course, I had to have a picture with it as well. Mom, please note, the birthday skirt is upon me. See? I do wear them!! Hah! Everyone loved it. 

Finally, I was trusted with the knife to cut the b-day cake. A member bought me a cake! It was vanilla with strawberry filling. Real Strawberries. Yum. 

Let's see. This week was slow. Missionaries hate slow weeks. We tried really hard to work hard. Nobody was home or wanted us to be in their home. Annoying. 

Don't worry peeps. Salvation can wait until you finish heating up your sandwich... I'll just tell Jesus that your Cold Cut Combo was more important than His Salvation... No no. Don't feel rushed... *twitch*

Good times. We met a man who didn't live far from Ernest, the Stick Figure Man. His name was Herb. Or Sarah. Herb/Sarah is a skinny black man. We knocked on his door, whilst searching for someone who had actually requested our presence. Herb was kind and chatted with us. "I knew Romney!" He told us "Sat with him on the airplane. But then they took me off. Said I wasn't safe to be on the plane. Do you know why I wasn't safe?" We looked at each other. Trying to escape without being rude. "There's a bounty on these hands. THESE HANDS" (He thrust them out the door at us) "It's true, the Catholic church wants me dead. Because I'm the missing puzzle piece. I am, and Jesus Christ's Bride is. His Wife. His wife and I are the missing pieces. The End is coming!" (this guy is nuts. We thought, as we smiled politely) At this point he decided to tell us about how people are transformed when they reach a "higher level." (We didn't smell any pot, but it must have been in his tea..) "I only eat broth and noodles now, because I've been transformed. Transformed people don't need food like the rest of you... I've lost 95 lbs because of it! Once. I was a little girl named Sarah. That's who I REALLY am. Sarah. But I've been transformed. And so now I'm Herb. But When people are transformed. They're not really man or woman. But I'm Sarah, a little girl. You just can't see it because I don't want you to!" He thrust his hands toward me like he was going to cast devils from my skull. Nope. They're still there. Ha! Instead, he told us all about the power in his hands, and how the bounty on his hands is nothing compared to the bounty on his head. Over 2 million dollars. Exciting. 

We smiled again. Anxious to get away. So we bid farewell to our new friend Sarah/Herb and left. We made it to the other side of the complex before we had to stop because we were laughing so hard. 

If you are ever worried that Missionary life is boring... Don't be. Especially if you are comps with me. We have adventures daily!

One day this week, we went to go do service at a Less Actives house. We cleaned her house, dishes and vacuuming and stuff. She found a pumpkin in the house that she didn't want. I offered to make her kitchen smell delightful by putting it in the oven and letting it explode. She said no... Wonder why. Instead, we decided that the only reasonable thing to do with it is to draw ninjas on it and ding-dong ditch it on our ward mission leaders' door step. Not just the traditional ding-dong ditch. Ding-dong ditch... Ninja style. 

 Included were ninja rolls. Theme music and darting around like we were so cool. I really hope someone was looking out the door or window and watched us. It was epic. We're pretty cool. Never a dull day for us! 

So for 2013 we had a mission goal of 800 baptisms. In July, the Mission got split and we lost almost half of our missionaries to other missions. (Redlands and Carlsbad, I think) yet, even with that fact, we had 786 baptisms! Missed our goal by 14! 

This year, for 2014, we have aimed much higher. 1,000. The Lord is Hastening His work, so that is so obtainable! We're excited to see the work move quicker, the members work in unity with us. This is a good time to be a missionary. There is something amazing about watching people change. Watching people come closer to Jesus Christ. It gives me much more meaning in all that I do. I hope I don't lose sight of that when I go home. There is nothing more important than Salvation. 

Welp. I think that's about it.

My testimony of the Priesthood grew significantly this week. We got to go to a baptism last night and they confirmed the two boys right there. And it hit me, how lucky we are to have the Priesthood again. 

Anyway, Love you peeps!

Be good. 

Sister Dibe Hall: The littlest Missionary who could

1/13/14 - Transferred...

Hi people! Family and Friends and things!

Well, I did not survive Transfers. I'm going to Sun City. It's a place that apparently is a retirement community. Old people. Lots of old people. But never fear! I have a theory! Old people have already been prepared for Baptism. They're already dressed in White! (Look at their hair...!!!) ha. ha.

Sister Gowans is training a new missionary. She's going to love that. She's done it her whole mission, except for these 2 transfers with me :)

I'm really bummed to leave Moreno Valley. I love it here. The people are great, the ward is really picking up steam to work as member missionaries. It'll be hard to leave them. But, tread along we must. Mostly I'm bummed to leave Sister Gowans. 

My new companion is Sister Trillo. I don't know much about her. She was trained by Sister Gowans and she came out a transfer before me. I anticipate us rocking Sun City. Next thing you'll see is that the city of Menifee (where Sun City resides, apparently) is being translated. No big deal. People in 100 years will have posters on their walls:

YOU can be a Sister Dibe Hall Missionary!

No biggie. 

Let's see. Last P-day was Hippy P-day. So I loved it! I wore my hippy outfit. I didn't shave my legs. We went to a health food store and I got honey sticks. And Natural facial stuff. (We were lazy too. It was grand) and I bought a new skirt. A hippy skirt! Then we went to the World Market. Sister Gowans had never been there. We found scrolls and jewelry. And journals and stuff. It was good times. She's going back as soon as she can. Sun City doesn't have any. And that's painful to hear. But it is what it is. 

This week was really crazy. We taught 28 lessons. Picked up a new Investigator. He came to church. He's progressing well. He'll be a great asset to the ward. He's really giving and caring. 

We had District Development Meeting (DDM) where we talked about setting expectations. Because of setting expectations, we were able to pick up our investigator this week. Epic. It was easily one of the best DDMs I've been too.

Scott moved. We went to lunch with him on Wednesday. We completely forgot to teach anything because we were so bummed. He is now freezing in Ohio. It's 70 degrees here. Just saying. :) (Welcome to the Email, Frosty!)

Um... I think that's about it. Took some pictures with some families here in MoVal. Loved on some people (at an arms' length, of course). 

Oh! One of my favorite families out here, they gave me a USB thumb drive to put all of Sistah Gowans' music on so I could have it too. I'm going to put all the music I have now on it, and then send the CDs home, so I don't have to find a place to pack them (Although I AM getting good at packing. haha) 

Well. I think that's it, here are some pictures from this week: (They are up there. my bad)

Love and peace and things!