2/17/14 - Getting dropped by investigators ROCKS

Another week has come and gone!

Honorable Mentions:

SISTER HAYLEY BOYD!!!! 

Other Mumsie. 

Do you know how I know the Lord loves me? Hank Smith! Hank Smith CDs have come my way this week. If you don't know who Hank Smith is... REPENT SWINE!!! (haha. I'm funny)

No, but really. Hank Smith saved me this week. So thank you both!!!

Alright, onto the week... It was slow. Really slow. But that's fine... (It's not fine, the Lord is Hastening His work, not Slowing it... Awkward) 

But some adventures:

My Valentine this year is 5. He gave me his last Reese's. That's love. I took a picture, but I left my camera back in my room. Anyway, his name is Kaden and his family is working on being sealed together. Way cool. We'll get to go. :D!!!

Our District meeting was the epitome of teenage vernacular. Here are some fun quotes from our district training. "#GodisaBoss TM Elder Harris." and "#ProsbutnotlikeEeyore TM Hall" We were talking about HOW we can be a missionary and such. and that God does a lot of the work for us. And how if we teach, we need to teach happily. Nobody wants to be an Eeyore. 

Good times. 

We had interviews with President Smart. That was great times. We all cried. I got a blessing. I needed it. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a Mission President. Especially having to deal with a slew of 18 and 19 year olds... Yikes. And girls. Girls are drama and there are tears. And.... I'm glad I'll never be a mission president. and I hope I don't ever have to be a mission president's wife. 

That said, I LOVE President and Sister Smart. I just don't ever want to be in their shoes. Brave souls.... (President and Sister Smart, if you're reading this, for real. MAD PROPS! -which is teenage vernacular for, "you are WELL RESPECTED" - ) 

Uhm... I love things. I love people. The Work is swell. Scriptures are good. I love things like prayer. Testimony's are legit. 

I read this in Exodus this week: "Fear ye not, Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. ... The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. ... The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God"

Don't forget people of my life. The Lord will fight for you.He's got your back. For real, if He'll help me. He'll help you. 

So, I love you all. 

I'm grateful for you all.

Don't forget about the littlest missionary who could!!!

PS: Did you know that in the Civil War, they sent midgets into the front lines to go and bite knee caps? Someone told me that. I wonder in that's legit. If it is. I demand government compensation for the persecution of my people. 

Can someone look this up? 

Also. I still don't know who the voice of Joseph Smith was in the Restoration. Help!

2/10/14 - The week we killed a member

Honorable Mentions!

Shannon!

Scott

Becca

Wilsons!

Mom! (Harry Potter stamps rule!)

~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~*

This week in the Life of Sister Hall

Well, we had to call 911 for one of our members. We were eating at Coco's. (Do those exist in CO? I don't even remember... it's like Denny's but for old people) Anyway, we had walked there. But then I went to the bathroom. When I came out our member was coughing really hard and my companion told me that she was kinda choking and turned blue. By the time I was out there, she was just coughing, but pink. We started to walk toward the exit and she grabbed her chest and started breathing at a rate of 44. So we called an ambulance. They took her to some Kaiser place. (You know how I feel about Kaiser.... ...)

The next day she was home, and she has no recollection of the hospital or ambulance. No idea what happened. But.. that was an adventure. Sister Trillo did great during the whole thing. Afterward she freaked out and had a panic attack. 

Alex, or anyone else who loves me enough to answer. Who was the voice of Joseph Smith in the Restoration video? I think it might be Sylar/Spock. (I've been meaning to ask that for 7 months.. which reminds me! I've been a missionary for 7 months!!! Is that nuts?! That means I'm almost halfway done. That's crazy.)

Nobody told me that the Olympics were starting. Thanks for that. Repent... swine!!! 

Kidding. But for serious. Tell me how that goes. Like who wins and stuff. 

LANCE!!!! I am apparently Intimidating!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I AM INTIMIDATING!!!! That's really funny. You know why? I'm 4'8". HAHAHAHAHAHA

Okay. I need someone to look something up for me. In the Old Testament, they made a huge deal about Esau's twin chillin how one's hand came out and they tight a scarlet thread around it's wrist. What is the significance of the scarlet thread? (I would like a 300 word essay, double spaced... lies. I just want to know and I can't used Google)

We went to a SNF this week to see a former investigator. I had a flashback to Briarwood. I refused to take the elevator. Do you remember that one time that you had to balance in the elevator with the pram and stuff, Lance? Yeah. I took the stairs. He lived on the 5th floor. I got my Cardio. It smelled like my former life. Urine. and death. (Hey! Ian! remember that time you saw an orb when we picked up the corpse? Good times)

Here's my favorite quote this week:

Thoughts are mirrored in your eyes. Keep them Beautiful. 

I'm incredibly grateful for prayer this week and this transfer. I'm so grateful to be able to pray whenever and where ever. I've grown closer to my Savior this transfer than I've ever been any other time of my life. Tender Mercy

All my love and peace and stuff,

The Littlest Missionary who Could

PS. We trail blazed up a mountain today. Well. It was kind of a tall dirt hill. But what it REALLY was, was a tarantula mecca. If you don't hear from me. It's because we made them mad and they've destroyed me. *shudder* I really love tarantulas. Don't you worry. I did NOT try to step on any... I just picture Harry Potter Tarantulas. Yikes. 

PS. Harry Potter stamps rule. 

Shout out to Other Mumsie. for Hank! You are saving my life. 

2/3/14 - A week in Sun City

Honorary mentions:

Sister Pyper!!

Bishop Dixon. 

Alright. This week was Bomb! (That's teenage speak for, "This week was exquisite") 

Why, you may be asking yourself. Let me tell you. 

I got the Swine Flu! Yay!! Okay, so Monday last week I felt okay. Tuesday I woke up feeling a little unwell. Then after I ran on the Elliptical, I thought I was going to die. So I slept through studies. When I woke up, I was pretty sure death was going to make me his. So I asked Mama D if she was going out, to see if she'd pick me up some meds. In an hour, I had Gatorade, Apple Juice, Emergen-C and Zinc. I had a thermometer and and ordered to the top of my bunk bed. Where I went and slept for 3 days. I was so miserably sick. haha.

But I got better. My stomach doesn't feel like it's being wrung out. I don't feel like I'm chocking on elmers glue. I feel better!

Also, this week was great for the work (Really great, not sick-great) Sister Trillo rocked being a solo missionary and the ward stepped up to help a lot. We had a bunch of lessons. 

We also put 2 people on date for baptism! Being a missionary is pretty epic! I LOVE watching people change! In fact, one of the people we put on date knew Scott in MoVal, Small World! 

No other crazy adventures. I have not sprouted a tail or a snout yet, so maybe it was just the plain flu. I'll keep you posted on that . The Nurse said it was either Swine, original or Norwok. Norwalk? Whatever that one is. Yeah. Good times. 

This weeks Tender Mercy was going on Exchanges with our STLs. We got some serious missionary work done and Sister Boden helped brain storm ways for me to be a better missionary and a better companion. 

And we put two people on date for baptism!! I feel like a missionary!!! :D 

Love you!

Thank you for all your prayers and letters and emails,

They really do keep struggling missionaries going. 

Love and peace and things,

The Littlest Dibe who could

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!