hey guys!
well its been another really awesome week here in el triangulo. things have been going well and elder lucas and i are working really hard to find more people that can get baptized this transfer. one thing that we´ve been focusing on alot lately has been teaching to complete families. i know that the mission is really asking that we do that too because we got a new rule just recently that we cant teach the second lesson to a woman unless we´ve already talked to the husband or tried to teach him. thats really the point of the gospel...to bring families closer together and have an eternal family. so one thing that we´ve been doing alot lately is just trying to talk to all the guys that we see outside of their houses. we´ve actually had alot of success with it.
so we had 2 really awesome experiences that happened this week...on like wednesday, we decided to have exchanges. since we´re zone leaders, we can pretty much do them whenever and with anyone in the zone. so we did it with a companionship, with a missionary thats training this transfer and his ¨hijo¨. but i offered to stay in the area with the new missionary and let elder lucas go to the other area. but now im really happy that i did. so i was walking with the new missionary and we were heading to a lesson that wasnt super fixed. we passed a family sitting outside their house just drinking mate and talking. the dad look at us and said hi. we said hi back and just kinda kept walking. after we walked past him, i kept thinking to myself, ¨why didnt we talk to them?!?¨ then i just had a super strong feeling that we had to go back and talk to them. but i kept walking and wasnt really sure what to do hahah. we got about a block away, and i turned to the new missionary and was like, ¨we´ve gotta go back and talk to them.¨ so we walked back and started to just talk. it turns out that that dad had listened to the missionaries like 7 years ago and he thought that we were the same ones. the wife is a less-active member. but the let us in and we had an awesome lesson. for me it was just really spiritual. one thing ive learned in the mission is that if you ever get a feeling like that, you have to follow it. don´t ever ignore that feeling to do something because its a prompting from the Spirit.
the next experience was actually that same day. so we were both just really excited about finding that family. but we had like an hour or so to just do contacts, so we went to this new area that we started working in like 3 weeks ago. the first door we clap, a little girl comes out and says, ¨my mom´s busy!¨ (trust me thats one of the most common things that you hear here), but i was like, ¨just have her come for 2 minutes...¨ so the girl goes inside to get her mom. the mom comes out and is like, ¨come in!¨ to be honest, it kinda surprised me after what her daughter said. but we went in and talk to her and her son. we had such an awesome lesson. we talked about baptism and everything. they were super excited about it and we could actually baptize like 3 or 4 of them...it was a really awesome day.
mom, sorry i havent been able to read all of email yet so i cant really respond to that much stuff that you said. i just kinda had to skim through it, but im gonna print it off and read it later on or something. but from what i read...i think that the thanksgiving card is really awesome. i really like all the pictures. the one with javier, viviana, nahuel, and i is one of my favorites. that family is so special to me. they gave me one of the pictures right before i left, so i always carry that around with me too. dad, dang bummer week for sports. i think that youre right about the chargers though. for some reason, we can never seem to get things going right off the bat. but i think that we´ll get it going and take control like we usually do. sean, che gracias por el email hoy. en verdad, me ayuda muchisimo cuando escucho de vos (si te voy a hablar en vos hahah porque me acostubre ya haha). pero me parece que te gusta la escuela mucha ahora haha. te vas a divertir. che los deportes van mal ahora porque yo no estoy alla. me van a esperar hasta que yo esté haha. mandá saludos a emily. paige, mom attached a picture of you in one of your games cheerleading. it still really surprises me to see you with dark hair, but i think ill get used to it after a while haha. its just hard to see something different after seeing the same hair color for 14 years. but it looks really good! bridg, thanks for the email from you and dad. sounds like this week was a really good one for ya (cant say the same thing for dad haha). going swimming sounds way awesome! hahah we´re definately gonna plan for some swimming when im home.
so this week is gonna be good. we´ve got meetings all week so it should go really fast...but thank you all for your emails and everything. i hope that you all have a great week. until the next one...
con cariño,
elder ryan hall
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
September 20, 2010 - worn out shoes
hey everyone,
well im glad that you were able to get the pictures that i sent this morning. by now you already know from the pictures that julian got baptized. it was a really cool experience. he got baptized by one of the members on saturday and then was confirmed sunday morning during church. mercedez was able to go to the actual baptism on saturday, but had to miss the confirmation on sunday cause she couldnt leave her daughter at home by herself. i dont know if i ever told you, but her actual daughter whos like 21 has a brain problem. its where like her brain stopped growing. so its really tough for their whole family. they cant really ever leave her alone cause every once in a while she has some kind of attack and if no one is there to help her, she could die. so mercedez had to stay at home on sunday. but julian was really excited. we were super excited for him too.
oh ok so ive got some pretty awesome news. At least its way cool for me haha...so you all remember javier and viviana from alto san lorenzo? well elder mortensen was sent back to that zone in villa elvira this transfer. his area is actually right next to alto san lorenzo, so i always like to make fun of him for basically being sent back to our old area. but anyways, i guess that the alto san lorenzo ward had a party for javier and viviana last friday and elder mortensen ¨just happened to have to go to the church¨. so he got to see and talk to them and everything. i guess he was talking to viviana and she told him that shes pregnant again! he called me this morning to tell me all of this. apparently she thinks that shes been pregnant for the last month or 2, which means that she could have the baby before i go home. but its actually really awesome because for a really long time, the doctors would tell viviana that she would never be able to have kids. then she had nahuel...and now im gonna be a ¨tio¨ to another martinez child. i was way stoked about it. we were laughing so much this morning saying how if its another boy, they better name him like michael ryan martinez or something.
well now elder lucas and i are working really hard to find more people to baptize this transfer. we´ve got a few possibilities. what we´ve been focusing on doing alot this week is trying to challenge like everyone we talk to to be baptized. 2 people that we challenged to be baptized this week told us that they would be baptized (one being susana), but they didnt want us to put a baptismal date yet. but i really like inviting as many people to be baptized as possible. its really helped us to be able to see whos going to progress and who we can kind of pass by less often.
we had a pretty awesome lesson again with susana this week. the only bummer is that she doesnt like us to come by her house more than like once a week. but we were able to teach one of her sons too. susana has a really bad drinking problem. like ever since her daughter died a couple years ago, shes become an alcoholic. now she really wants to stop and she cant. so we were talking with her and her son. we were telling her that the way God loves all of us is alot like how a family loves each other. then we turned to her son and said, ¨you love your mom dont you?¨ and he was like, ¨yeah of course.¨ but the thing that touched me the most was that when susana heard that she spun around in her chair and looked at her son with tears in her eyes and was like, ¨really?!?¨ im just guessing that that was the first time in a while that one of her kids had told her that he loved her.
mom, i think that sending a debit card is something do-able. or if you really wanted to, you could just put it on my debit card. but i think that either way would be fine. thanks for checking all that so fast for me though. dad, so how is the sports life going? it sounds like you still get to go play tennis with brother waldron alot, which is sweet. its nice to know that youre trying to be ready for when i get home haha. im way stoked to play. sean and emily, whats new with you guys? how do you like the new apartment where youre living? paige, im excited to see some pictures of your first football game. it would be sick to be able to see you cheer. bridg, thanks for sending the pictures and email. sounds like youre having alot of fun with alexa.
alright guys, well thats about it for this week. thanks for all your love and support. have a great week. until the next one...
con cariño,
elder ryan hall
Monday, September 13, 2010
September 13, 2010-Greetings
hows it goin guys,
i just wanna let you know really quick that im so glad that kevin johansen and the other missionaries that were with him are all right. its true that the Lord really does bless His missionaries where ever they are. im glad that nothing happened to any of them.
well this is the news on transfer...elder lucas and i are staying together for another transfer! im way excited about it. elder lucas and i get along really well and we both think that there are some good things going on here in el triangulo. it means that im gonna kill him off though cause he finishes up the mission this transfer. im just gonna try and keep him as focused as possible and working hard. hes really not that trunky though so i think itll be all good...but it is kind of a bummer cause elder mortensen is leaving the zone. i was hoping that he would stay, but i guess it wasnt mean to be haha. hes actually heading back to villa elvira where we were together. hes in the area next to alto san lorenzo, called los hornos. i told him that he better be sure to say hi to everyone from the ward cause you know hes gonna see them all.
lets see, so julian is just getting ready to get baptized. we have to teach him a couple more little things this week, but hes getting baptized this saturday. we´re all pretty excited about it. i can tell that hes excited and i know that mercedez is really happy about it too. so things are going all good in that...oh so the other day, elder lucas and i were just walking down this street. there was a lady outside her house so we were walking over to talk to her. we talked a little bit and she was like, ¨so you guys dont believe in Jesus Christ, huh?¨ we just looked at her and pulled out a pamphlet. we were like, ¨who do you see on this cover right here?¨ so we talked about Christ and then started talking about the church. after like 5 minutes she was you, ¨you guys convinced me, where´s your guys´ church?¨it was pretty funny. but we went back to her house like 2 days later and i really think shes one of those people thats just prepared for the gospel. i asked her to be baptized and she said that she wanted to read the book of mormon first, but she really seems like someone whos gonna get baptized soon. her name is susana. one of her daughters died a couple years ago, so we talked about the plan of salvation too. she really liked that and seems super excited to hear more. i really hope that she progresses well. id say that she will. i just feel like the Lord is preparing people for us to find. we just need to keep following the Spirit and act when we feel like the Spirit is telling us to do something.
mom, im actually not sure how much it would cost to get my shoes fixed. im guessing that it wont be too much, but id guess around 200 pesos, which is like 50 bucks. im gonna have to change the sole and get them sown on the sides. the only reason i suggested getting new ones from missionary mall is cause i think that getting them sown here will only be a short fix. im not sure if theyd keep tearing on the sides or not. if you all think that that would be the better idea, ill do that though. oh yeah and be sure to tell brance michaelson that i say hi back. dang its been a long time since ive seen that kid...or really anyone else. but ill be awesome to be able to see him and other guys again when im home. dad, sounds like youre gonna have to start practicing some tennis with bridg if shes gonna try out for the tennis team. i still think that she should go out of the basketball team, but you might be able to change her mind hahah. sean, hope everythings going good up there in utah with your esposa haha. im hopin that byu is doing well, that the padres got out of their funk, and especially that the chargers are all ready to go this year. paige, congrats on making the cheerleading team. you guys are definately gonna have to take some pictures of that. but yeah, sounds like youre having fun...im sittin right next to gub-daddy right now and he says that he got your letter. he wrote you back, but hasnt sent it yet cause he hasnt decided what pictures to put with it. operation ¨gub-daddy es mi cuñado¨ is already under way. bridg, bummer about the volleyball try outs. but dont worry about it cause seriously you can always practice and just do it next year. ya know what would help you alot...playing basketball!. over summer, well practice a bunch in volleyball and stuff so youre all ready to go next year haha.
oh before i forget. i got the package you guys sent. thanks alot! i really havent been able to look through it, but i saw the pictures and the miniature pmg. that was so tight! ive always wanted one of those, so thanks a bunch...alright guys, i gotsta go. thanks for all your emails, for your thoughts, and for your prayers. have a great week. until the next one...
con cariño,
elder ryan hall
i just wanna let you know really quick that im so glad that kevin johansen and the other missionaries that were with him are all right. its true that the Lord really does bless His missionaries where ever they are. im glad that nothing happened to any of them.
well this is the news on transfer...elder lucas and i are staying together for another transfer! im way excited about it. elder lucas and i get along really well and we both think that there are some good things going on here in el triangulo. it means that im gonna kill him off though cause he finishes up the mission this transfer. im just gonna try and keep him as focused as possible and working hard. hes really not that trunky though so i think itll be all good...but it is kind of a bummer cause elder mortensen is leaving the zone. i was hoping that he would stay, but i guess it wasnt mean to be haha. hes actually heading back to villa elvira where we were together. hes in the area next to alto san lorenzo, called los hornos. i told him that he better be sure to say hi to everyone from the ward cause you know hes gonna see them all.
lets see, so julian is just getting ready to get baptized. we have to teach him a couple more little things this week, but hes getting baptized this saturday. we´re all pretty excited about it. i can tell that hes excited and i know that mercedez is really happy about it too. so things are going all good in that...oh so the other day, elder lucas and i were just walking down this street. there was a lady outside her house so we were walking over to talk to her. we talked a little bit and she was like, ¨so you guys dont believe in Jesus Christ, huh?¨ we just looked at her and pulled out a pamphlet. we were like, ¨who do you see on this cover right here?¨ so we talked about Christ and then started talking about the church. after like 5 minutes she was you, ¨you guys convinced me, where´s your guys´ church?¨it was pretty funny. but we went back to her house like 2 days later and i really think shes one of those people thats just prepared for the gospel. i asked her to be baptized and she said that she wanted to read the book of mormon first, but she really seems like someone whos gonna get baptized soon. her name is susana. one of her daughters died a couple years ago, so we talked about the plan of salvation too. she really liked that and seems super excited to hear more. i really hope that she progresses well. id say that she will. i just feel like the Lord is preparing people for us to find. we just need to keep following the Spirit and act when we feel like the Spirit is telling us to do something.
mom, im actually not sure how much it would cost to get my shoes fixed. im guessing that it wont be too much, but id guess around 200 pesos, which is like 50 bucks. im gonna have to change the sole and get them sown on the sides. the only reason i suggested getting new ones from missionary mall is cause i think that getting them sown here will only be a short fix. im not sure if theyd keep tearing on the sides or not. if you all think that that would be the better idea, ill do that though. oh yeah and be sure to tell brance michaelson that i say hi back. dang its been a long time since ive seen that kid...or really anyone else. but ill be awesome to be able to see him and other guys again when im home. dad, sounds like youre gonna have to start practicing some tennis with bridg if shes gonna try out for the tennis team. i still think that she should go out of the basketball team, but you might be able to change her mind hahah. sean, hope everythings going good up there in utah with your esposa haha. im hopin that byu is doing well, that the padres got out of their funk, and especially that the chargers are all ready to go this year. paige, congrats on making the cheerleading team. you guys are definately gonna have to take some pictures of that. but yeah, sounds like youre having fun...im sittin right next to gub-daddy right now and he says that he got your letter. he wrote you back, but hasnt sent it yet cause he hasnt decided what pictures to put with it. operation ¨gub-daddy es mi cuñado¨ is already under way. bridg, bummer about the volleyball try outs. but dont worry about it cause seriously you can always practice and just do it next year. ya know what would help you alot...playing basketball!. over summer, well practice a bunch in volleyball and stuff so youre all ready to go next year haha.
oh before i forget. i got the package you guys sent. thanks alot! i really havent been able to look through it, but i saw the pictures and the miniature pmg. that was so tight! ive always wanted one of those, so thanks a bunch...alright guys, i gotsta go. thanks for all your emails, for your thoughts, and for your prayers. have a great week. until the next one...
con cariño,
elder ryan hall
Thursday, September 9, 2010
September 8, 2010
heyyy guys,
sorry that this email is coming a couple days late. what happened was that we decided to change our pday to today. here in adrogue some of the missionaries in the zone work in the offices. so they always have pday on wednesdays. and we wanted to have a big zone activity together, so we decided to change it for that. so sorry for not being able to write on monday.
im finally sending a couple more pictures for you guys. the first 2 are from the baptism that we had on saturday...thats right, mercedez got baptized on saturday and then confirmed on sunday. it was a really awesome experience for her and we were all really excited. thanks for all the prayers cause i know that she needed that help to be ready for her baptism. now we´re getting ready for her...shoot i totally forgot how to say the word in english...anyway its her ¨nieto¨, julian, to get baptized. we´re teaching him right now. he has to go to church this week and then we can baptize him next saturday. hes pretty excited about it. the other ¨nieta¨, is probably gonna wait for a little while to get baptized. really she could get baptized, but the thing is that she wont really be able to remember anything after a while. she really likes the church and everything. but for me, its not worth it to baptize her just to baptize her. so i think that for now, we´re just gonna wait til shes a little older.
so today has been pretty fun too. we all went and made and asado. then while that was cooking, we played soccer and basketball. president stapley showed up when we were about to finish and he was like, ¨alright we´re playin one on one¨ to me hahah. we only played really quick, but lets just say i still got my game hahah. but it was way fun.
mom, the other picture that im sending you is a picture that we took earlier today. im sending it cause the missionary that im with is named elder gibbs. hes one of the assistants here in the mission. but ive talked to him before and knew that he was from san diego. his family moved to utah a couple years ago. but i was talking to him a little more today and found out that he was living in oceanside. so i was like, ¨wait, what ward were you in?!¨ and he told me that he was in the vista 9th ward. its crazy, he totally knows a bunch of families like the woodmansee´s and the fronks. we also both went to roosevelt. he was a grade older than me, but its pretty sick cause we were both going to roosevelt at the same time. then he moved to utah or something. but i was wondering if you knew his family. he said that theyre a pretty huge family, like 15 or something. dad, whats goin on with the padres!? they´re losin it for us! dang theyve gotta pull out of this funk. sean, dude i hadnt hear that byu was gonna go independent. to be honest, im not really sure how thats gonna work. But dude keep havin fun with all that homework stuff. i cant wait for all that hahah. paige, it sounds like the academy is really awesome. id like to see what its like and everything. i heard that youve got some kind of tryouts this week, so i really hope that all goes well. bridg, i hope that youre volleyball tryouts turn out well too this week. be sure to let me know how it all goes.
alright guys, thanks for the emails and everything. i seriously cant believe that this is already the last week of the transfer. its seriously flown by. im pretty sure that nothing is happenin with elder lucas and i. im really excited to stay here in el triangulo. i really hope that elder mortensen and a couple other missionaries stay for another transfer here too. it would be so sweet. ill let you all know how it turns out. but i hope you all have great weeks. youll be hearing from me again really soon, since ill be writing you this monday.
con cariño,
elder ryan hall
Thursday, September 2, 2010
August 30, 2010
hey guys,
so i wanted to be sure and ask you to tell mckenzie that i got her dearelder today. i was way stoked to be able to her from her and everything. im super excited to hear when she gets her mission call too! thats gonna be awesome...
well the week was all good. we´re trying to just really focus on teaching mercedez the last couple things that she needs so she can get baptized this saturday. but we´ve already done a pre-interview and she didnt have any problems at all. so it sounds like everything is gonna go well and that shes gonna get baptized. the kids cant get baptized this saturday with her cause they havent been able to go to church. but we´re working on that and hopefully theyll both get baptized in the next week or 2...other than that, things have been pretty normal. im trying to think of something that happened this week. ive been having a really good time doing zone meets and stuff. its cool cause every tuesday we have either a zone meeting or a district meeting, so we always go to the church in adrogué with all the missionaries in the zone. i think that one thing ive really started to learn, since being here in the mission is that i really like teaching and talking to people. i always think that its way fun to just be crazy and goofy (just so you all know, ive only gotten worse since ive been on the mission hahah) when we have meetings with the zone. i dont know, its just something that im really having fun with right now.
i really cant think of anything new thats been going on this week...oh but before i forget, i was wondering about something. so my shoes are startin to get a little worn now. they´re kinda startin to break. but i was wondering if it would be better to take pictures or the shoes, send them to you guys, and have you guys get new ones from the place where we bought them, or if i should just pay to get them fixed. like right now, they arent thaaattt bad ya know? but in a couple months, im guessing that they´re gonna be kinda done. so i should probably do one of those things before its too late and they´re just trashed. what do you guys think would be the best?
mom, i thought it was cool cause youre actually reading in the exact same place as i am in the book of mormon. for language study everyday, i read the book of mormon out loud. it was something that i thought would be cool and started back when i was in platanos. so i was excited to hear that you were reading that this week too. oh yeah and your question about the misunderstandings about mormons here in argentina...alot of the people that i talk to atleast recognize the name when we say that we´re mormons. but alot of people have no idea what we believe in or why they even call us mormons. alot of the time, people get confused with what we believe and what jehova´s witness´ believe. its kinda funny cause what we believe isnt even close to the things they believe. but yeah, thats mostly what i hear here in buenos aires. dad, i hear that the padres are slumpin a little bit this week...¨noooooo!¨ we better get things goin again and not turn into the same old padres that we know. we need some padre magic here! are you still doin your situps for every run that we score?. sean, dude no he visto ningun pajaro azul todavia y esto es la verdad hahah. but dude im startin to get that charger fever even though im like a bajillion miles away from there right now. even if we´re losing all our preseason games, that doesnt really mean anything to me. come game time, we´re gonna start dominating. emily, thats for being able to write me this week. its sweet to hear from ya. its true, its gonna be awesome to be able to actually talk to you and meet you for reals in a little while. paige, im way surprised that you arent going to vista anymore! like its way cool and i hope that you really like this new school, but it just surprised me to hear that you werent gonna be going to the good ol´ vhs . but hey, have an awesome time with the academy! im way excited for ya. bridg, keep havin alot of fun at school and hangin with brenna.
ok well sorry i dont have alot of new stuff going on right now. i need to get goin, but i wanna thank you all for the emails and for always praying for me. i really can feel your prayers cause i can see that ive been blessed alot lately, especially since ive been here in el triangulo. i hope you all have a great week. until the next one...
love always,
ryan
so i wanted to be sure and ask you to tell mckenzie that i got her dearelder today. i was way stoked to be able to her from her and everything. im super excited to hear when she gets her mission call too! thats gonna be awesome...
well the week was all good. we´re trying to just really focus on teaching mercedez the last couple things that she needs so she can get baptized this saturday. but we´ve already done a pre-interview and she didnt have any problems at all. so it sounds like everything is gonna go well and that shes gonna get baptized. the kids cant get baptized this saturday with her cause they havent been able to go to church. but we´re working on that and hopefully theyll both get baptized in the next week or 2...other than that, things have been pretty normal. im trying to think of something that happened this week. ive been having a really good time doing zone meets and stuff. its cool cause every tuesday we have either a zone meeting or a district meeting, so we always go to the church in adrogué with all the missionaries in the zone. i think that one thing ive really started to learn, since being here in the mission is that i really like teaching and talking to people. i always think that its way fun to just be crazy and goofy (just so you all know, ive only gotten worse since ive been on the mission hahah) when we have meetings with the zone. i dont know, its just something that im really having fun with right now.
i really cant think of anything new thats been going on this week...oh but before i forget, i was wondering about something. so my shoes are startin to get a little worn now. they´re kinda startin to break. but i was wondering if it would be better to take pictures or the shoes, send them to you guys, and have you guys get new ones from the place where we bought them, or if i should just pay to get them fixed. like right now, they arent thaaattt bad ya know? but in a couple months, im guessing that they´re gonna be kinda done. so i should probably do one of those things before its too late and they´re just trashed. what do you guys think would be the best?
mom, i thought it was cool cause youre actually reading in the exact same place as i am in the book of mormon. for language study everyday, i read the book of mormon out loud. it was something that i thought would be cool and started back when i was in platanos. so i was excited to hear that you were reading that this week too. oh yeah and your question about the misunderstandings about mormons here in argentina...alot of the people that i talk to atleast recognize the name when we say that we´re mormons. but alot of people have no idea what we believe in or why they even call us mormons. alot of the time, people get confused with what we believe and what jehova´s witness´ believe. its kinda funny cause what we believe isnt even close to the things they believe. but yeah, thats mostly what i hear here in buenos aires. dad, i hear that the padres are slumpin a little bit this week...¨noooooo!¨ we better get things goin again and not turn into the same old padres that we know. we need some padre magic here! are you still doin your situps for every run that we score?. sean, dude no he visto ningun pajaro azul todavia y esto es la verdad hahah. but dude im startin to get that charger fever even though im like a bajillion miles away from there right now. even if we´re losing all our preseason games, that doesnt really mean anything to me. come game time, we´re gonna start dominating. emily, thats for being able to write me this week. its sweet to hear from ya. its true, its gonna be awesome to be able to actually talk to you and meet you for reals in a little while. paige, im way surprised that you arent going to vista anymore! like its way cool and i hope that you really like this new school, but it just surprised me to hear that you werent gonna be going to the good ol´ vhs . but hey, have an awesome time with the academy! im way excited for ya. bridg, keep havin alot of fun at school and hangin with brenna.
ok well sorry i dont have alot of new stuff going on right now. i need to get goin, but i wanna thank you all for the emails and for always praying for me. i really can feel your prayers cause i can see that ive been blessed alot lately, especially since ive been here in el triangulo. i hope you all have a great week. until the next one...
love always,
ryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
