Welp, another week has come and gone. Here are some pictures of our adventures. Excuse the ones where I look intoxicated or just plain dumb. I blame those on sleep deprivation.

The family I told you about, Michael and Jennifer? They were baptized on Saturday 17 August. YEAH! That was a really cool experience, we had 6 people baptized on Saturday for our ward alone. (4 of those were the Elders in our ward who are basically Alma and Amulek.) They asked me to speak on Baptism. I didn't throw up on anyone, so I call it a success! Their daughter Tess was in the way back jumping up and down and waving frantically "HI SISTER HALL!!!" Until I said Hi. Our District leaders were there as well as several other sets of missionaries. Over 100 people came to support all the new members! There were 2 others baptized on Saturday from 2 other wards in our zone. It was a successful week!

Unfortunately now that puts us without investigators. Which means we need to hit the pavement and find more! Not my favorite part, but I'll dig it for now! We have a lot of people who know the Gospel is true, they know of the peace that is found in the Savior's love. It's just a matter of getting in the door and letting them realize it for themselves! And everyone we seem to find, the other missionaries typically get, because they live in their area. Bah!

Not much has happened this week aside from that! We teach a lot. There is enough work in our two wards for 4 or 5 sets of missionaries. So we are loving that. We had this one solid girl who is 22. She LOVED everything we taught her and wanted to be baptized the next day!!! And we haven't heard from her since. There are pit bulls in her yard that won't let us up to the door to knock. I can tell you one thing, they probably don't have many solicitors!

We witnessed a high speed chase! In Hemet! (Where the top speed in 35 mph... Cool...) They must have had their entire police force following him, there were 13 going hot, and another 6 following behind non emergent. It was entertaining to watch.

Hmmm. I think that's it. This week hasn't been too exciting! I'm loving the work and ready for more!

Oh, I had an allergic reaction to walnuts again. I now am a proud owner of an epi-pen (will be when it gets here in the mail) I'm under strict order by the doctor to take 50mg of benadryl a day. I sleep a lot.

Anyway, I love you all!

Still no letters. I think our mission office lost them. That's the reason, right?

I read all your emails. I love them all! Thank you for remembering me!! 


(Brother Edit: Sorry for the delay folks, lost Dibe's info. Here's last weeks email! Her Prep days are Mondays, so, there should be a new update tomorrow or Tuesday)

Another Update!

Another Dibe Update! Yay!

Holy cow, I'm in California!!!

This world is crazy!!! There is so much to say, but they put me on an iPad to email. So, sorry this email is lame.

The Mtc was a crazy experience, but I'm glad to be in the field. Here are some things that have happened.

* we had an investigator in the Mtc (they aren't usually real investigators, just fakers) who, I kid you not, fell asleep during our lesson. He was so funny. He'd answer our questions but got back to snoozing. So funny. He committed to baptism. We are rockstars. 

* There were men picketing at the Provo temple when we'd wander about who were preaching all the same things that we preach. He smelled like pot! I really wanted to ask if i could just stand by him so I could feel closer to home. My companion said no though... So I didn't. 

* The food at the Mtc is pretty... You know... Good... I am extremely grateful for my iron stomach! 

* funny story, I walked into one of my first classes and the instructor was pretty exuberant and I almost walked into him. "Hi Sister Hall!!" He said. 

"Do you know me?" I asked suspiciously

*he points to my name tag*

.... "Oh right...." We've been declared BFF since then.

(There is so much I want to say. Emailing on an iPad is dumb)

There are like 3000 different types of palm trees. Some are dibe-sized and others look homeless with lots of dead looking hair... Some look like paradise. It's great.

The lady we live with warned us that they have scorpions and tarantulas and snakes.... I told my district leaders that if I see one, I can't promise not to burn down the house... I haven't seen one yet.... Our home share doesn't like to kill them. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I would have to be the biggest man to step on a tarantula... Seriously. Put a saddle on one of those and we wouldn't need a car!

My companion is sister pack. She is from Idaho falls and she's great. We are opening up this area (Hemet) to sisters. We have a family ward and a YSA ward and it is exhausting on Sundays. Seriously. Church/meetings from 0700-1630 then all the missionary stuff we have to do. It is crazy! But the work is great. I challenged someone to baptism in my second ever lesson. Which according tithe training process, doesn't happen for a long time. So that was cool. They said no, but we continue to see them. They're so close!

Becca: are you related to a Ryan Eggett? He conducted the Mtc choir. I will send you a snail mail letter in response to yours. We only have a little bit of time to email. So stand by!

Eno: I got both packages! Seriously, made my day! Those socks and mints saved my life. Also, I have been emailing the wrong chelsey bramwell... Haha. Maybe she will be baptized now!

Mom: sorry I couldn't call. It was $20 a minute At the airport. Forget that... So sister smart offered to call to let you know I didn't die. I didn't die

Mike: do you know a brother Lyons? He's from centennial and said he knows a Wes gore.

Alex: do not play with tornados! Miss you! Write me a real letter. Kay?

Tess: I won't judge. I ran about 30 feet. AT SEA LEVEL, and threw up. I'm cool....

Mom: I got your letter and I love the stamps. Don't worry about getting me more. I don't go out to eat with the other missionaries so I get to buy my own stamps.

I think that's it. Love you all. Miss you all. 

Alex, don't forget to toss this on the blog. I'll write a real email next week when I have a keyboard and a mouse...

Best,

Di

The littlest missionary with a white girl for

Ps. No pictures yet. I haven't figured that out yet.

Hey folks of Dibe's that read her blog, while she's on her mission, she's asked me to update her blog with her updates. - The Brother Unit

-------

Hey everyone! I've decided to write one leter to update everyone. I only get an hour to email. And since nobody has emailed me, nobody needs individual responses. It's okay that nobody has emailed me. I mean, you still love me an all, right? Right?

Right

That said, if you want an original, individual response, hit me up.

 

Okay. So let me tell you what the MTC is like. ;jkhiluguygihu. <~~~ Just like that. This place is CRAZY! And I'm loving it.

We study. A lot. (8 hours total yesterday) We sleep. a little (8 hours total last night) We also pray a lot. Like 526,872 times a day. Which is good. I have to repent about that many times a day too.

 

Getting here was a pain in the neck. I was a threat to national security with my bum knees. Apparently joking that I was smuggling a big bag of tampons in my checked luggage wasn't amusing. I got pulled to the back room. Greeaaaat. If you see me on CNN in Guantanamo...  Please bail me out. Or bake me a cake with a nail file inside. It worked out eventually. They finally believed me that my knee screws were not secretly made up of heroin.

 

I temple hopped in UT on Tuesday, That was brilliant! We hit Jordan River, Mt Timp and Draper. They are all GIGANTIC!!! That's nuts. We had dinner with Eno and Jonathan that night. That was epic. Jonathan - you didn't kill us! I feel fine!

 

Becca and I went to the Reintjes' from breakfast. I love them! They are the cutest. And Will kissed me! yeah... I got kissed as a set apart missionary. It's okay. He's 14 months old. I didn't hold him. So I didn't break too many misison rules.

 

 

So Wednesday. I got dropped off at 12:30 with miss Shannon Green and right away we were whisked to go get name tagged and drop our stuff off. My key didn't work in the door so we had to carry everything back to get a new key. That one worked. If you are ever having a bad day, wear a name tag around the MTC with a red sticker on it. EVERYONE stops to say hello and welcome you to the MTC. If you don't like people talking to you, don't come to UT. Seriously. People here are friendly.

 

Hmmm. What else. I may have broken my finger today. Yeah, yeah. shush. It's fine. It's "buddy splinted" to the other finger and only hurts if I think about it. Or move it. I was trying to make my bed and it just started hurting, and swelling. I really wanted to have a well made bed, I guess. Maybe I need more calcium in my diet. I don't know. Also, Dr. Nielson gave me an inhaler for free. That was great of him.

 

My district (my group of missionaries) is fun. I'm the oldest and one of the quietest. Weird. Remember when I said 18 yo boys stress me out? That hasn't changed. But they're good kids. Funny. I attached a picture. It should be the one of the girls in my district. My companion is Sister Anderson. We're rocking the Riverside mission. She's got the short hair cut. She's the 6th of 10 kids! 

Sister Larson has dark hair, she was in Jerusalem last semester at the BYU there. I'm jealous.

Sister Bradshaw (I just asked. I'm a jerk...) managed to fit a steamer in her luggage. She's got game. I did not manage that. At all.

The other sister (Hodges....? That's not rights...)  reminds me of Merida from Brave. She's got a CPAP. We bonded. It was grand.

The fellas are 18. yeeeah. They're good kids though. Excited. They made comments yesterday like: "We could be home right now, playing video games or whatever. Instead we're here. Learning the Scriptures. And you know what? This is pretty awesome." Amen Elder. Let me see if I cna remember any of them.

Elder Weinert. He is our new District leader. He's from Philly. (Jonathan, he knows your brother. But is from a different area in Philly. He says hi!)

Elder Roberts. He is Southern. Very Southern. And loves math. I think it was Math. Anyway, nice enough guy.

Elder Childs is from.... UT? I think... He's got a lot of energy and excitement. He's going to Riverside too. We high five a lot. But someone told us that it wasn't allowed because he's an elder and I'm a sister. We do it anyway. It's okay. I repent everytime.

Elder... Miller. is 18. Funny, most of the time. He says things sometimes that impress everyone. But mostly he goofs. He's going to make a brilliant missionary when he settles down.

Elder... uhm... the one that sits behind me is often nervous, but he's a good kid. Lots of heart and a strong testimony. He's going places.

The one that sits in front of me is nice too. We bounce ideas off each other a lot.

 

I'm learning a lot. Mostly how to trust God and let Him make the decisions. That's not easy. My companion is really patient with me in that. Mostly we just wing it and hope something sticks. We get to teach our pretend investigator on Saturday. We decided that she needs to hear about the Plan of Salvation, so we're studying that together. And today we get to nap!!! I miss naps.

 

My teachers are cool. Mostly because Brother Heath reminds me of Brad, the medic from Longmont. I'm not sure why yet, but it makes me laugh. He's a great teacher and gives great feedback. Sister Smith is really encouraging and likes to make things fun and exciting. Which isn't easy when you're on hour 906 in the classroom for the day. That's tiring. But she does it.

 

I don't know. What do you guys want to know? I'm doing well. I'm loving this. I'm jumping in both feet. Participating and being a part of the group.

 

I think that's it. I love you guys! My P-days whilst at the MTC is Friday. So, you'll have to wait until then to hear from me. Can someone pass this along to Uncle Johnny. I forgot to give him my contact info before I left. I'm a jerk.

If you want to email me. Dearelder.com. Mom got one letter there. Just follow the directions.

Or dianne.hall@myldsmail.net

 

My snail mail... mom has. I don't have that on me. If you want to write me snail mail while I'm here, she can get that for you. Email her at Trainlady@aol.com

I think my snail mail here is

Sister DiAnne Louise Hall

JUL 30 CA RIV

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT zip code... (no idea what the zip is)

 

I think you guys are great. I haven't had time to get home sick. Which I hope will remain the case until I come home.

 

Love you!

 

Best.

The Dibester. The Short One.

Sister Hall

 

I'll try to be better and take more pictures!

Lord, I believe

Things I wish I had known three months ago.

· Stop. Look around. Enjoy the ride.

• It's okay to be a prospective missionary, terrified and unsure

• It's okay to be disappointed and confused

• Satan is a jerk.

• Don't expect things to get better. They don't get easier. Satan does NOT want me to be a missionary. He will try to break me. He will not play fair or play nice.

• It's normal to wish Satan had a body so you can punch him in the throat. But hey. You have a throat. He doesn't.

• Budget your time in the beginning and you'll be fine.

• You may think Goodbyes will be easy. They won't be. Buy tissue. Cry. It's fine.

• Go to the Temple. A lot. You will find so much extra peace. Seriously. Go.

• Go again to the Temple.

• There is no such thing as praying too much. Accept that challenge. Pray a lot.

• You will feel like a huge failure. Missionaries sin too. Get back up and keep going.

• Satan knows your weaknesses. He will use them mercilessly against you.

• Don't give up. Don't quit trying. You keep walking. You keep moving ... there are blessings and help ahead.  (Pssst. At the Temple!)

• lead with your faith. Trusting is hard. But it pays off. Trust Him. He's loves you.

• Spend time with family.

• Love the ride. It's a tough one, but it can be okay!

I am down to 3 days before I enter the MTC, 2 days before I fly out to Utah and one day before I get set apart. I am both terrified and so excited!
Terrified because I've never been a natural teacher. Excited because I get to learn.
Terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing.
Excited to serve the Lord.
Terrified to screw up.
Excited to get to succeed.
Terrified of things being harder than my ability to keep up.
Excited to get stronger.
Terrified of being the companion that everyone is afraid of.
Excited to have that companion that everyone loves.
Terrified to leave behind everything I know.
Excited to meet new challenges.
Terrified of not being good enough
Excited to get stronger.

I am ready to love the people of California.

I have been abundantly blessed - the Lord has placed people in my path who have eased my fears and concerns.

I am ready. Scared or not.

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Celebrate!!! Fathers Day!

Today is the day that we celebrate fathers.
We celebrate all that they do for us. Fathers are unsung heroes. They don't always get the praise and love they deserve.

My father wasn't there. And for a long time, that really bummed me out. It took a while for me to realize that the Lord knew that I didn't have an earthly Father figure who was biologically connected to me.

So He put so many men in my life to teach me that which I needed and wanted.
My Mom, who was both mom and dad. She taught me so much about making your own future and not getting stuck in self pity or worry. To trudge forward and do what needs to be done.

Uncle Johnny. Mom's youngest brother. He and I have always been close. Our relationship has always been special to me. He is the man that I never want to disappoint. That I always want to impress and who will always be there when I need a leg up in the world. He is one of my favorite people in the entire world.

There have been many surrogate father figures. Friends' fathers. People who have genuinely cared. For them I am grateful.

But the blessing of Fathers has reached beyond that. I work in a male-dominate career where I am both smaller than all my coworkers but not as strong. And each partner I've had, has shown me a little more about men.

Most recently, my last two partners have shown me not just how loving fathers should be, but how loving men should treat others. And how husbands should talk about their wives, when the wife isn't around.

It is a true testament to me about the love of men when I see how kind and loving men are to those around them.

So. Thank you men. Thank you for stepping up without even realizing it. Thank you for being so amazing and being such examples as to what a good man is and what a good man does.

This fathers day, I honor the fathers in my life. And I honor the men who aren't yet fathers.

Finally, for the Father in Heaven who has loved me, when I wasn't lovable. Who answered my prayers, when I had no idea what to ask for. Who never gave up on me, even when I had given up long before. For my Heavenly Father, who offered His Son, who in turn walked with me through hell, and saw me safely through to the other side (and then healed the traumas, the broken soul and the terror.) For my Heavenly Father whose only desire is to see me succeed and see me again, and offers me the path to do so. Who forgives me when I don't deserve it. And who "wastes" time on someone like me. It's hard to believe that God, the most impressive and powerful and incredible being ever, would spend even a second on someone that doesn't matter. With that logic, I must matter to Him.

I wish "thanks" were enough. Today, when I'm sorely tempted to feel sad that my father wasn't there, or that now he's dead. When I'm tempted to feel hurt that my grandfather is gone, I can't help but feel so loved by the Father who never left. Who never hurt.

I am blessed.

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Unexpected blessings

I once again am astounded by the blessings that I am continually given, even when I don't deserve them, I haven't earned them and I'm not worthy of them. This last month of work I had a new partner. (Which really isn't that accurate, he isn't new to the company, nor was he new to me. Just new to full time with me. It was quite a month. Transfers, dead people, ghosts (I'd say ask my partner, but he really doesn't like to talk about it.), lithium over doses. Broken kids. Wheelchair calls. Drunks. Psych patients. Seriously, I was spoiled. I think I lifted the pram maybe twice. I had weekly Rockstars. And the partner put up with my quarks and shenanigans. It's weird for me. There are days where I talk a lot. Mostly to fill up the silence. There are times that I only talk when I have something to say. But instead of pushing me to open up, instead of pressing me to say what I feel, he simply let me ramble on or sit quietly. If I mumbled or talked to myself, I was often told 'speak up! I listen. I hear you.' After a long line of partners who would get tired of my incessant rambling or excessive silence, to be listened to was a change. What a blessing it was to me to have that experience. This last month, I learned to trust others, to trust myself and to trust God. The last month was tough. Saying goodbye to my friends and coworkers was hard. Saying see ya later to my career was harder. I cried when I threw away my bucket of shame. I cried when my boots followed. But you know what, it's worth giving up. It is worth giving up one of the best things in my life to enhance THE BEST thing in my life. That is, my faith. It's not easy. It really makes my heart sad. But it is so worth it. Even though it makes me sad. Elder Holland said it best in General Conference. Lead with your belief. Do not leave with your unbelief. I have been working hard to trust. Trust that I would make it out onto the mission. Trust that somehow all would work out. But I was terrified. I was afraid that I would somehow mess it all up. That despite years of work to develop skill as an EMT, and years of working hard to get through some deep rooted personal drama would all be for naught. The closer to my mission date, the more panicked I felt. The more like a failure I had become. I had quit a job with no proof that I could make it on the mission. I couldn't sell my car. I couldn't manage anything. Boy oh boy. I was a disaster. But you know what? It worked out. I was blessed in a way that I never thought I would be able to be blessed. It is such a huge testament to me of His love for me, for the people He put in my life. How did I get to be so lucky? Lord, I believe.

It's bad when Satan believes in you more than you do...

Life has been an interesting adventure as of late.

Things are tough. As the days drag closer to the mission, I anticipate it getting more difficult. Honestly, that surprises me. Satan attacks those he knows will do well. Those who will greatly thwart his plan in destroying Father's plan. I am not a teacher, by any means. I am argumentative, not often sensitive to the needs of others. I have read the Standard Works, but can I quote them or even locate scriptures when I need to? Nope. I can't speak in public without sounding exceptionally awkward (unless you want to hear about Grandma getting tased or getting pulled over.) In short, I am not a missionary.

So why is Satan wasting time on me? I don't really anticipate being able to put a crazy dent in his plan to lead the Children of Men astray. I just think it's funny that Satan, the one whose goal is to destroy everyone and to make us all miserable like himself, believes in my ability to be a missionary then I do. That's just funny. And sad. Haha, and awkward.

Satan is doing a good job of stressing me out. Finances. Selling my car. Packing things up. Making sure I have everything I need. Then on top of that, he's doing his best to make me doubt myself. Not that I'm supposed to go on a mission - I know that I am. It's one of the few things in life that I actually do know. But in me. Errant thoughts of things like "Yikes, a good mormon probably wouldn't have had 4 Dr. Pepper's this afternoon." or "That would have been a perfect missionary opportunity." but not noticing until after the person has walked away. Oops. Or "well, that person must never have wanted to hang out with me in the first place. What must be wrong with me?"

These aren't thoughts I normally have! My former (like 4 formers, but that's splitting hairs) had their entire bathroom decorated in Dr. Pepper motif!
You know what, I'm not a missionary yet. The point is to learn to recognize those moments (in time) and then learn to act on them. It's okay not to be there today.
If that person doesn't want to hang out with me, that's okay.

When I was younger, I had a huge chip on my shoulder. Partly because of my past, and partly from teenage angst but I really felt like I related to that song by Mark Willis, "Don't laugh at me" At one point the song says, "You don't have to be my friend, if it's too much to ask." Yeah. That was me. I had a few friends. And while I yearned to be a part of a group, any group. I wasn't. I didn't know how to reach out. I didn't know how to be a friend. Some people are content being alone. I was not one of those. I wasn't just alone, I was intensely lonely. But I learned to let go a little. Realized that I couldn't control everything. Learned to trust the people around me, even if just a little. I started having friends.

Then life got complicated again. My world shattered, hard and fast a bunch of times in a short period of time. Friends were dying, dropping like flies around me; killed in tragic accidents, suicide, alcohol poisoning. I was attacked. My best friends' Grandpa died (who was so much more my grandfather then anyone else had been at that point.) My Grams died. Later, that same best friends' dad (who again, was more father then I'd ever had) died, followed a few short weeks later by my own dad. Then I was attacked again. And twice, the legal system failed me. Both times, I was left to deal with injustice alone. And I clamped inward again. (I like to think that before this life, I must have gotten into a line saying that I was going to get all of my bad days out of the way really early.) Starting from square one. Eventually, I pushed through. I pulled myself out of.. myself. I learned that I'm not like most people my age. This is where Satan gets me. I look at people around me who are always hanging out on the weekends, and I see my ward doing so well with bonding. And I sometimes feel an intense longing. Satan whispers that I don't belong. That I don't fit in. They don't understand me, that they think I'm boring.
I have to remind myself that it's okay. It's okay to be different. I'm a lot more serious by nature. I'm not that person that will ask what's going on this weekend, in hopes to be invited to the party. I won't ask you to sit by me in church. I won't ask for a ride (unless it's 2 am, and walking home would be dumb and unsafe.) I'm not that girl that will invite herself into a conversation. In all honesty, I don't really enjoy parties. I like small groups. Movie nights, game nights. I'm all in for those (and will shamelessly invite myself over for those!)

And again, I'm surprised by how much Satan must believe in me, because really? I'm not that awesome. I can time a joke (sometimes) and am a formidable foe when it comes to prank wars. I feel like I don't give extremely lame hugs. (Need a hug? I've got those!) and once I'm really comfortable around you, you'll probably see shenanigans and silliness.

 In all honesty, I worry about the future. If Satan is trying this hard now to break me, what will the future hold? My mission is either going to make me, or break me. Yikes!

I've learned some pretty great things though,
Up until recently, I didn't see any kind of dating or marriage in my future. Partially because the drama of it all is way beyond me. I don't dig drama. But the other part because I really suck at trusting people.  No really, like all people. It wasn't until January of this year that I really entertained the idea of trusting God. And if you can't trust Him, there literally is nobody you can trust. Then I went to the Temple and got to help with sealing families together for time and all eternity. (That caused a talk-of-shame with the Big guy that went something like this.
Me: "Okay, okay. I get it. This is part of the plan. I have to be obedient. I guess I COULD get married... eventually.."
*zap, zap, zap, zap, zap* (I felt like I was being tased. My heart was pounding so hard.)
 Me: Okay! I got it! I take it all back. I'll get married (mumble, mumble, after the mission) It's possible!)

It's funny, I really don't have these insecurities anymore. They were a huge part of my past, but now? I'm okay with who I am. And the aspects that I don't like, I'm constantly working on changing. I am okay with being a more serious and introspective person. I am okay with not being a partier. So why am I being hit with pangs of sadness when I find out that I've been stood up for plans, or that I was not invited to a party? Because Satan believes in me more then I do.

In other news, the best conversation I've had in a while:
"Whatever, Jesus would've had a kindle if he couldve. Prolly an Iphone too."
"As a perfect texter, would He use proper grammar?"
"And if it's good enough for jesus, why wouldn't it be good enough for you?? You should really talk to someone about this!"
 "Hahaha, that would settle the great Android vs Iphone debate. 'Iphone, the brand Jesus would use!'"

Anyhow, wizarding world of the world wide web. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to remember our Vets and service people; they give up a lot, to fight for us and our freedoms. (PS. Don't spend an hour youtube-ing surprise military reunions, unless you want to cry. If you want to cry and you just can't force the tears out. Go watch.)

Thank you Veterans. Thank you active service people. Thank you for giving up YOUR time, your families and your lives, so that I can enjoy mine. Your deeds are not forgotten.