Sun, 01 Dec 2013
Nevember 25, 2013Hello,
It's been rainy here, too. The locals say that there are fifty-five
"nortes" that make up the rainy season, and that we just passed number
thirteen. We're right on the beach, so the storms get pretty strong.
The upside to the rain is that the weather actually
stays below ninety degrees (for the next two and a half months, or so).
Thanksgiving is a holiday that the Mexican people have yet to
hijack from the U.S., so there really won't be any festivities, but I
bought a new camera, so I should be able to send you some pictures of
the various ways we don't celebrate on Thursday. Or maybe the other
American elder who lives with us will join with me in putting something
together. We shall see.
It was a fine week that culminated in a
baptism, so no complaints there. Also, the weather has cooled down to be
actually fairly comfortable. We're going to be well this week, too. As
long as we keep our feet dry (it's the rainy season). I'm past the year
and still going strong. My companion and I are going to finish out the
year on a high note. I love you and hope the best.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
P.S. The letter is short for time constraints.
Nevember 18, 2013
Hi,
Normally they notify us of transfers on Sunday night, we
get specific instructions via email on Monday, and leave for our new
areas Tuesday morning. This transfer, they notified us on Monday morning
of the transfers, never sent us specific instructions, and told us to
be at the bus station Tuesday before eight (which we actually were
unable to do because heavy rains for two days before flooded the great
city of Coatzacoalcos, and there were no ways to get across the city).
It wasn't so bad for me because my new area is so close. There's usually
not enough time to say good-bye to many people (which is probably one
of the reasons they do the transfers as they do), but we did talk to a
few people before we left. They didn't close my area; they just took my
companion and me out and put our zone leaders in. And I already know my
new companion (Elder Bryan García) because he was my zone leader for
three transfers. He's going home in a month. And he scheduled three
teaching appointments during the day today (I guess he doesn't care so
much about writing home since he's going home soon), so I don't have any
more time right now. I'll see if I can't write something else later in
the day.
Love,
Bryan
(Guess there was no time, because we didn't get another letter)
Tue, 12 Nov 2013
November 12, 2013Hello,
I'm being transferred. The area is called Allende and it's
supposed to be the industrial center of this same city of Coatzacoalcos.
It's in the same stake I'm in now, but a different zone. And, even
though they still haven't published the transfer details and we don't
know for sure, it looks like my zone leader will be the former companion
of my current companion with my future companion being my past zone
leader. Kind of odd, no? But maybe they're just missionaries with the
same last names. We're kind of waiting for them to send us the transfer
schedule which has all of that information on it. It was a good week,
though. It hasn't been too hot, and we had lots of success with
investigators this week. In fact, we've got baptisms planned for every
week of the next month. Too bad I won't be able to see any of them. Oh,
well. I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 04 Nov 2013
November 4, 2013Hello,
It's been a crazy week. My companion is a physical wreck (the
results of many avoidable sports injuries) and on Wednesday he
destroyed his ankle stepping off a sidewalk. So we spent a lot of this
week in our house on doctor's orders. Now he's somewhat better, but
still has an ankle that looks like an orange. A Mexican orange, because
the oranges in Mexico are green, but an orange all the same. We had lots
of investigators at church this Sunday (most of them were old people
visiting their children who live here, but they're still investigators),
so we're feeling pretty happy about everything, but it is frustrating
to be stuck inside. Halloween was a failure. We actually got one group
of trick-or-treaters, but we didn't have candy for them. The woman
escorting the kids tried to give us jobs as English teachers at the high
school where she works, but we resisted. It was hard because she asked
us in English. There were more trick-or-treaters out on the first and
second of November than on Halloween, which I thought was interesting.
The first of November was the Day of the Dead, so our mission president
told us to go to the cemetaries to contact people. It actually didn't
work out that way because nobody wanted us, but it was pretty cool to
see the people and everything. Yes, we had another week.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 28 Oct 2013
October 28, 2013Hello,
Happy Halloween. It's been a good week (or at least we taught
a lot of lessons). Also had plenty of people at church (it was supposed
to be ward conference, but they told us on Sunday that they were
pushing it back to December. So . . . ). Today is a major Catholic
holiday. We also had a zone activity. If you think that's suspicious,
you're not alone. It actually got down into the eighties a couple times
this week, so it was a little more comfortable. And then I got a nasty
cold. But I'm mostly better now. We're happy. Also there are general
authorities coming in the next month and a half, and we may get the
chance to listen to them (or maybe not; they don't let us participate in
a lot of these member events). Que todos tengáis buena semana y estáis
mejores en todas las cosas.
Amor,
Élder Bryan Hall
Sun, 27 Oct 2013
October 21, 2013Hello,
Due to negative client feedback, all sentences will be
non-fragmentary even for artistic reasons. This week in church, we had
unprecedented attendence by members (probably because of the Primary
program), but zero investigators. That was sad. But we are still happy
and excited to keep working. Next week we will have investigators with
us at our ward conference. The weather has been unpredictable and
changeable, but we're all okay. It's a good thing my raincoat folds up
and fits inside my bag. Actually, I haven't worn my raincoat at all this
week, but it's still nice to have. Everything's peaceful. I will write
again next week.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
October 14, 2013
Hello,
Good week. Hot. Sunny. Not many investigators at church. But
we had some good lessons. Made some progress with some investigators.
Looking for new opportunities to teach and working on finding new
investigators. Unfortunately the baptism we had planned for this week
couldn't go through, but we'll see other baptisms in future weeks. Todo
está tranquilo. I love you all, and I'll write you again next week.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
October 7, 2013
Hello,
It was a good week for us; we were able
to teach a lot of lessons and find some promising new investigators.
Conference was also an excellent opportunity for us (even if conference
in Spanish leaves something to be desired). We have more investigators
progressing towards baptism than at any other time in my mission. This
last week has been really hot, but we woke up today to cloudy and cool
with a stiff wind. One of my pairs of shoes has been falling to pieces
for the last couple weeks (it has multiple holes in the soles), so I
sent it to be resoled today (I've heard stories about soles made from
airplane tires that they use here, but the cobbler says he can't put
those soles on these shoes. But he has a pair of "industrial soles" that
are for PeMex boots that he assures me will last forever too, so I'll
wait to put airplane tires on my other shoes if they need it). I
realized just now that I forgot to take a picture of the holes, so I
won't be able to show you what it looked like, but it definitely needed
something. My other shoes are looking fine, though. Hope that all of you
have a good week. Sun, 06 Oct 2013
September 30, 2013
Hello,
Transfers this week. This big news is . .
. nothing. The only change is my district is our district leader and
that's because he's been a missionary for two years and one month (at
this moment he's probably already at home). They still haven't told us
who our new district leader will be, but it's not that important for
right now. We're getting ready for a baptismal service on October
twelfth which has got us pretty excited. There are always a few problems
with getting someone ready for baptism, but that's part of the mission.
The weather has changed from occasionally tolerable to unbearably hot
with temperatures well over a hundred degrees and a scorching sun. We're
still working hard, though. Also drinking lots of water. I've been
drinking about four liters a day. General conference is going to be a
big deal next week, we're right now wroking to get as many people as
possible to attend. My companion's birthday is this month which means
that almost all of my companions have had birthdays with me. If I had
had as many birthdays as my companions, I'd be thirty by now. It's been a
good week, we had lots of people at church and lots of people
progressing. Hope you're all doing well and driving carefully (that
means you, Melody). I love you all, y que Dios os bendiga.September 23, 2013
Hello,
Buenas tardes, todos. I'm here in Mexico for another week.
They were predicting hurricane, but the weather continues the same as
always: sunny and hot. We've had some disappointments this week, but
also some good experiences. We were going to have a baptism, but that
fell through. We did find some promising new investigators including an
American named Mike who we're teaching in English. This Monday the
washing Machine we normally use to do laundry broke down, so we weren't
able to wash on Monday. Or on Tuesday. Or any day until Friday when we
ran out of clean clothes and it became imperative that we do it
immediately. So we found a member who was willing to help us out. The
thing was that on Thursday we were taking a shortcut and we both fell in
a river and got our clothes scummy and black. I don't know what exactly
was in the river, but it wasn't water, and it smelled foul. But we were
already out of clean clothes and there was nothing we could do except
finish out the day in what we had on. But it was alright. And all our
clothes are clean now. That's about it. Transfers are next week, so
anything could happen. Que Dios os bendiga,
Amor,
Élder Bryan Hall
Mon, 16 Sep 2013
September 16, 2013Hello,
It's been a normal week. The biggest thing that happened was
the Mexican Independence holiday which started yesterday and finishes
today. In the church we had a big activity on Friday night to celebrate.
We weren't there very long because, like the good missionaries we are,
we went back to our house at nine o'clock, but we heard that there were
about two thousand people and the activity ended at about one in the
morning. Crazy, right? The weather has been a little odd because there
wsa a hurricane in the Gulf (they usually don't arrive here, but they
still affect the weather quite a bit). We're working hard to get a
baptism ready for the twenty-sixth of this month, so that's been our
principal focus this week. Apart from that, we've been busy with
interviews and things which have taken a lot of our time this past
little while. I'm doing well and everything's perfect.
Love from,
Élder Bryan Hall
Mon, 09 Sep 2013
September 9, 2013Hello,
We've had a fine week. We were both a little sick yesterday,
but all fine now. Church was a little strange: last week we had 150
people. This week we had 80. My first week we had 110. This ward is very
odd. We have a baptismal service planned for the 26th of this month and
we're pretty excited for that. We're working hard and everything is
going well. Unfortunately that's all I have time to say. I love you all.
Élder Bryan Hall
Tue, 03 Sep 2013
September 2, 2013Hello,
It's been a good(ish) week. We've been making progress in
some areas, but not in others. The weather has been interesting, too.
Here, it does rain every day. In fact, it's raining right now. Nothing
really special has happened this week. We did have an unusually high
attendance in sacrament meeting, but only two investigators. One of the
investigators of another companionship in another ward had a heart
attack in sacrament meeting and flat-lined for three minutes in the
ambulance on the way to the hospital, but, fortunately, a member who was
a nurse did CPR that successfully revived him (and for those of you who
may not know, CPR almost never works like that). But that all happened
to other missionaries. Actually, I'm glad it didn't happen to us
because, interesting as it would be, it is not real fun. That's all,
folks.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Wed, 28 Aug 2013
August 26, 2013Well, I finally got transferred. But that's alright. My new area is much smaller than my old one and it's almost pure houses. There really isn't anywhere to buy anything except a Mexican convenience store called 'Oxxo' that's convenient, but fairly expensive. My new companion is Elder Klopfer. He has three months in the mission and doesn't speak a word of Spanish. The house we live in is beautiful. It's big, clean, and climate-controlled. We also have a ward with a real chapel. I still don't know the ward or the members very well, but so far it's been a great experience here. The only problem is that we don't have very much time to write, and I'm almost out of time. Love you all, and I'm sending a picture of my area.
Élder Bryan Hall
August 19, 2013
Hello,
Well, there are transfers this week.
They're sending me to a city in Veracruz called Coatzacoalcos. It's a
Nahuatl name that means "place where the serpent hides." According to
the legend, it's the last place that Quetzalcoatl visited before leaving
with the promise that one day he would return. It's also the most
important port in the south of Mexico, so it should be a lot different
than Reforma, Chiapas, where I've been the last six months (cooler,
too). And they're giving me a gringo as companion. It's been a good week
and a good area. I don't know what more to say, but I'll tell you about
my new area when I get there.Tue, 13 Aug 2013
August 12, 2013
Hello,
How are you all doing? I hope that this
letter finds you well. Here we've been seeing odd weather patterns and
lots of high temperatures. But we've had a good week. We've had a lot of
success in finding and teaching new people. I've spent six months in
this area already and transfers are next week. I have no idea if I'll be
staying here another while or if I'll finally be going. Ni modo. All of
the days are the same, so I don't know what to say that I haven't
already said. I'm happy and working hard. We have some really wonderful
investigators. I love being a missionary. I love my God. I love you who
are waiting for me at home. Be excellent to each other.August 5, 2013
Hello,
How're y'all doin'? It's been an
uneventful week. I got a bit of a cold which is unpleasant. Still
haven't had dengue, though (it's what's going around right now). I
bought a hammock, so I've been sleeping in it the last week (it's quite
comfortable and cool, too). Some of our investigators are getting
married this week, so we're pretty excited for that. And tomorrow is my
companion's birthday (Nineteen already. They grow up so fast). I'm doing
well; the area's doing well; everything is moving along just
swimmingly. I've been on the mission for nine months now. Isn't that
amazing? And in fifteen more months, everything will be over. But here I
am, for now, and I need to make the most of this time while it lasts. I
love you all, I love the gospel, and I love The Book of Mormon. Mon, 29 Jul 2013
July 29, 2013
Hello,
This week has passed quickly. The time
passes quickly when we have plans and things to do and slowly otherwise.
So we do our best to be busy. But, even so, sometimes all of our plans
fall through, and we find ourselves a little lost. However, that didn't
happen this week. Today we got haircuts. And here are some pictures.
Élder Bryan Hall
This is Reforma, Chiapas
Squirrels in Mexico aren't grey, they're black.
This is a tarantula that hid itself in our room last week.
This is a tuna.
(And a note from Jan) (Here are also a couple of pictures from a few weeks ago when I was having technical difficulties.)
Mon, 22 Jul 2013
July 22, 2013
Hello,
It's been a long week, but
here we are. How are you all? Busy? Ah. Que bueno. Entonces. Not much
has happened. We spent a lot of time walking in the hot sun.Sun, 21 Jul 2013
July 15, 2013
Hello,
It's been an uneventful week. We now have
more than two weeks without a working phone. We got completely soaking
wet twice this week. Several of our most promising investigators just
spontaneously disappeared without notice (we hope that they come back
and didn't move to another city or die or something). The family we live
with has asked us to move to a different room in their house. It's
smaller, doesn't have a/c, has fewer electrical outlets, and doesn't
have running water between 7 a.m. and 12 midnight (and sometimes not
even then). Also no closets or toilet seat. We've been moving our stuff
all day and it's not going to fit. That's about all that's been going
on. Espero que sepáis que estoy feliz en esta obra y que sé que es de
Dios. El Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios y tengo el privilegio de
testificar de ello en el mundo. Que estéis bien y contento. Voy orando
por vosotros.Tue, 09 Jul 2013
July 8, 2013
Hello,
¿Cómo estáis? Espero que bien sea la
respuesta. I've had an interesting week. Our cell phone stopped working
last week so we didn't get information about all of the transfers that
happened last week through normal or timely channels and we found
ourselves with many problems related to these and no way to communicate
with the mission. So we spent many hours in our chapel (there's a phone
there) this week. Some of the time we had investigators with us, but
mostly we were by ourselves. Yesterday we went to Villahermosa to leave
Elder López there. He has finished his two years of service and is now
at home. So Elder Hernández and I are alone now. But that's alright. We
had the chance to meet our new mission president, President Morales, on
Saturday. He served his mission in New York, New York and, among other
things, teaches English. So he's pretty bilingual. I'm looking forward
to serving with him. And, that same Saturday, I got a package with a
bunch of socks in it. Which is a really good thing because last Monday a
sudden storm blew my socks off the clothesline and I was unable to
locate all of them (it's a jungle). Without that package I wouldn't have
had socks to wear yesterday or today. So thank you. Wed, 03 Jul 2013
July 1, 2013
Hello,
Many things have happened this week. Our
mission president was released and went back to his house. We got a
third missionary (Elder Hernández from the Sunday Republic has two and a
half months in the mission, including time in the MTC). Our phone
stopped working (and still doesn't work) on Monday. And on Wednesday
night at about ten o'clock, we received notice that Elder Castillo had a
special transfer. So Elder Castillo went to a city called Minatitlán
and we got an elder from Mexico City named López (with 23 months in the
mission, he's going home on Monday). So I'm senior companion now with
all sorts of changes of grand magnitude (and a cellphone that still
doesn't work). And I'm having allergies that are making me sneeze and
sniffle un buen. But that's okay. The weather has been hot with
occasional rain that (sometimes) cools things down. I'm glad to hear
that you're all well and that you're enjoying your summer. I hope you're
not wasting too much time because you don't have school. And Mom, I
love hydroponics. Take care while driving,Mon, 17 Jun 2013
June 17, 2013
Hola,
It's been a pretty good week here. It's
been hot (the rainy season has been pretty hot and dry after the first
week passed), but we've had lots of opportunities to teach, and have
found families who are preparing for baptism. Schools here in Mexico
remain in session until July, so they have quite a bit longer before
they can rest, but I'm so glad to hear that you are making the most of
your vacation. Yesterday was Father's Day here too, and, rather like
Mother's Day, everyone was busy (and Mexico is playing in the World
Cup), so there wasn't a whole lot to do, but we had the best week we've
had in a month. But happy Father's Day, Dad. I really have been thinking
about you all, and I want you to know that I love you and appreciate
all the sacrifices that you have made for me. And, Mom, congratulations
on your new job. I love you all,June 10, 2013
Hello,
This past week was pretty odd. We went to the
mission zone leader conference on Tuesday, slept in Villahermosa, and
continued until late on Wednesday. And then on Thursday we went back to
Villahermosa for a special zone conference where our zone leaders taught
the zone the things we learned at the conference. So our week was
pretty well filled with training and traveling. But we still found time
for teaching. And we had a baptism this week. Not one of our
investigators, but still nice to have a baptism after two and a half
months of nothing. I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and also gave
the lesson in elder's quorum. Both were on the subject of families and
temples so it wasn't too bad even though I was notified of the
opportunity on Saturday evening. That's pretty much everything of note
that happened this week. Cuidense mucho,
Con amor,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 03 Jun 2013
June 3, 2013
Hello,
How is everything going on your side
of the world? Here we have begun the time of rains and it's only a
little hot. I've also managed to stay mostly dry (except one time when
the water was running up to our ankles in the streets) We'll see how
much longer that lasts. There are many people here who need desperately
the message we share but who don't themselves realize what it is that
they're missing. My companion has conjunctivitis right now so he's been
complaining a lot and I can't touch him or my face or anything in our
room. Tomorrow we've been invited to the mission conference of zone
leaders to give a presentation on the state of our work in Reforma. It
will be a bit interesting because we have to spend the night in
Villahermosa, but that's alright. Our work here is continuing more or
less well, we teach a lot of lessons every week, but we haven't had a
baptism in two months. Pero a pesar de todo estoy agradecido por estar
aquí. Espero que ustedes queden bien allá y que Dios los bendiga y que
recuerden la bondad y amor de Él en todo.Mon, 27 May 2013
May 27, 2013
Hello,
Tomorrow are the transfers. President
Castañeda told us on Saturday that we're not dividing our area after
all, so Elder Castillo and I will be remaining together, alone in our
great rattling-empty area. It's a little sad, but we're going to
continue working. Also, last night my futbol team, Cruz Azul, lost
their chance at the finals. But that's okay because, as missionaries,
things like sports don't matter in the slightest. So those are the big
announcements of the week. Oh, and it's rained each of the last three
days. The hot and dry season is now officially over. But right now I'm
pretty glad to be safely in Mexico where the drivers are pacific and
gentle, because I hear that there's been a maniac driving in the streets
of Las Vegas this past week. That's about all I have to say, but I love
you all and wish you providence in avoiding a tragic death at the hands
of my sister.Elder Bryan Hall
(Note from Jan: Melody got her learner's permit this week, thus Bryan's comment about dangerous drivers in Las Vegas. )
May 20, 2013
Hello,
How're y'all doin'? We've had a busy week
here. My companion has been sick, so we didn't get out the first few
days of the week, but now we're doing a lot. It has been unspeakably hot
(so I won't speak of it) but nobody's died yet, so don't worry. We have
some investigators actually progressing now and preparing for their own
baptisms. We're also looking for a new apartment for the new
missionaries in our area (President Castañeda told us yesterday that we
need to find something by tomorrow, so . . . ). Transfers are next week,
and it's probable that I will be moving to a new area. But lots of
things are possible, so . . . .The young men from the branch had their
campout this past weekend and, from what I hear, they had a good time
(even with temperatures in the mid-forties C). The people are saying
that the worst of the heat has already passed, but it seems to be hotter
than ever (I said I wasn't going to say anything about the heat, but
here I am talking about it). I love you all and hope you're doing well. May 13, 2013
Hello, Dolly.
Except I don't know anybody by
that name, so to whom do I write? Quién sabe. Good afternoon, everyone.
It was great to have the chance to talk with you yesterday. Not much has
changed since then: I'm still in Mexico; the weather's still hot; the
water remains undrinkable. But, that's alright, because I don't have any
serious complaints about anything. It's wonderful that people are
coming to visit you, even in the desolate corner of the desert where you
live. I don't really have many summer plans, either. Have a great week,May 6, 2013
Hello,
Well, a lot has happened this week.
First, the big news. We're dividing my area. My companion and I called
our mission president on Friday and explained that our area is way too
big for two missionaries (and a couple other things, too), and he gave
us permission to make the arrangements to have two more missionaries
here. We have three weeks to put everything in order to receive them.
Also, he assigned us a special course of study and exercise as an
'experiment' for the same three weeks. So, we're going to be very busy
in the next little while. The weather has been off and on (more on than
off, the other day the temperature climbed to 50 degrees celsius). We've
made the decision to stop teaching one of our investigators who we've
been teaching for a long time (for a variety of reasons), but we've had a
tremendous amount of success this week (we found 15 new investigators
and taught many lessons with members present). The hope is that we can
continue increasing our efforts every week for the future. Oh, and I'm
probably getting a new missionary to train next transfer. That's about
everything, so stay cool and out of trouble, you guys. Mon, 29 Apr 2013
April 29, 2013
Hello,
I love you all. This week has been a
little difficult. The temperature's rising and all of our work seems to
be falling apart (no one is coming to our classes, some investigators
we've been working with for a long time are rejecting our message, a
third of our normally active members didn't show up at church, and there
were no investigators or less-active members either). But we've seen
some miracles this week, too. We found one family of four that is very
excited to hear our message and accepted our invitation to be baptized
in the first week of June. We found another mother of two who also
accepted the invitation to be baptized the same day. And a teacher who
told us that the Book of Mormon is a gift and so he will read it "por
supuesto" (that means "of course"
. So we continue working and
persevering. Next week is our Branch Conference where we have set the
goal to have 90 people in attendance. To reach that goal we need to do a
lot of things. But that's nothing to worry about because with the
Lord's help we can do anything that may be necessary. Continue working
hard at home, remember to read your scriptures and pray daily, and give
your local missionaries referrals.Sun, 28 Apr 2013
April 22, 2013
Hello,
How are things going for you in your half of the world? Mom,
you're right. The first thing I did when I read that you're teaching
chemistry was laugh. Not that I'm better to qualified to teach it (I'm
somewhat out of practice. I tried to balance an equation the other day
and after about ten minutes realized that I didn't have the right
answer. How does the combustion of methanol balance out?).
The sun is awful, but so far I haven't really burned. I can't wear a hat and sunscreen here is outrageously expensive (when you can find it) so I've been sticking with a policy of avoidance. My tan is pretty well developed on my forearms and a bit lacking everywhere else. Every month we get the Liahona, so there are plenty of resources for us (I did appreciate your quotes, though).
After transfers I have a new companion: Elder Castillo. He's from Torreon, México. We work together pretty well (although we still need more time to get to know each other). There are lots of people to teach, and we keep ourselves pretty busy. The weather here has been a little cooler the last few days, but I expect it to return to being really hot in a short while. The heat does a good job at keeping me tired, though. I love all of you and hope you're reading your scriptures.
Take care,
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 15 Apr 2013
April 15, 2013Hello,
Buenas tardes. I love you all and am thinking about you in this time. This week we had a baptism that went through with no problems at all (and another three that were supposed to happen but couldn't). Also, we have transfers tomorrow, and guess who's moving to the beach! If you guessed me, you're wrong, but my companion, Elder Martínez, is leaving. So I'll have a new companion tomorrow. His name is Elder Castillo and the only thing that I know about him is that he's from México. Of course there are already two Elders Castillo in my zone, so there will probably be some confusion, but that's alright (there are six Elders Martínez in the mission and I hardly ever lost track of him). We're in the second straight week of weather over a hundred degrees (with two months to go), but that's all according to plan (I plan on drinking my weight in water every day). Time is short, and I must baptize, so adieu for now.
Love from
Elder Bryan Hall
Tue, 09 Apr 2013
P day trip with districtHere are some pictures:
This is a buffalo. He is enormous.
This is my district, minus our district leader (he's holding the camera), in a combi.
This is a bat (one of two) that were in the church building this week during our English class.
This is me with an Olmec head. We didn't go into this park (yet), but the ruins inside are supposed to be very special.
This is me.
This is a jaguar.
The end.
April 8, 2013
Hello,
Buenas tardes, todos. I'm writing a bit late today because
this morning we went to a zoological park in Villahermosa (about two
hours away). We had the opportunity to see some animals which were very
unusual and also some that were very mundane (at least for me; I've
never seen mule deer displayed as a curiousity before). My entire
district went, though, so it was a nice chance to spend some time
together without the structure of a normal meeting. This past week we
had a lot of work putting together arrangements for General Conference.
The official word was that we were supposed to go to the stake center in
Villahermosa to watch it, but the vast majority of investigators and
members don't have cars or resources to pay for the hour-and-a-half bus
ride. So we obtained a room with internet and did all the necessary
towatch it there, but it was tremendously difficult to get all the
permissions and what have you. But in the end we were able to watch the
Conference live along with all the others disposed to do so, and we
didn't even have to get on the bus (except to go to the priesthood
session, but that was unavoidable). We also had zone conference on
Thursday (which for my zone is basically the same as district meeting
but with the mission president in attendance), and I received a Dear
Elder from my mother from the 21st of February. So that was really
exciting (I have no idea what took so long since I've received several
others much faster). That's more or less all of the highlights from this
week except for the pictures (I got the pictures). I love you all, and
hope you have a happy week.
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 01 Apr 2013
April 1, 2013Hello,
Buenas tardes! Os quiero mucho. This week has been a little crazy, but today begins a new week, so here we go. I didn't know Easter was this week until Saturday when our mission president brought us our new fridge and mentioned that Sunday was a very special day. You'd think we would have heard about it sooner, but actually, the people here don't really celebrate Easter (Most people don't even recognize the name). The Catholics make a big deal about Good Friday (I don't know what's good about the death of the Saviour, but that's what it's called), but nothing happened yesterday. Well, actually, someting did happen yesterday. Someone died and their funeral procession included every taxi in the city. I had no idea, but there are probably 300. That's a lot of taxis. And because of their position, they stopped all of the traffic in the city. Including the combis (a combi is a little bus that we use to get around the city). So we kind of spent a lot of time walking and waiting (more than usual, that is). We're all pretty excited for General Conference next week (even though we have to change our clocks. Yeah. Even in México), and hope that the weather cools down (it's been pretty consistently over a hundred). With our new refrigerator (which is actually old, but functional) we can have cold drinks in our room, which is very nice. In the week, we had some good experiences with our lessons. We found one inactive member and his family (who aren't members), and we have a lot of hope that they will all come back to the church.
Love from,
Elder Hall
Mon, 25 Mar 2013
March 25, 2013
Hello,
Greetings from México! It's delightfully hot here (hovering
around 40 degrees), and the sun is bright! With the weather report taken
care of, we can shift into the boring stuff that nobody wants to hear
about. Lots of exciting opportunities for teaching and for fun. We
didn't actually get a whole lot done this week because of the heat (the
mission office asked us to stay close to our apartments), but we're way
animated for next week.
We've been working with an investigator who keeps backing out of her baptismal dates (three so far), but I think that we've finally got her on a date that will stick. We're looking for some new ways to work to use our time more effectively, so we're going to start teaching classes of music and English. I don't know how I feel about that (having never taught either subject before), but we're going to do what's necessary.
There's a fair in town which we visited this
morning. Almost everything was closed, so not very exciting. In other
news, the Church has altered the missionary regulations with regard to
email. We are now authorized to communicate with all of our friends and
family (outside mission boundaries) via email. So if you've wanted to
write to me but haven't (perhaps because you've forgotten how the
regular postal system works), now you can! My email is bryan.hall@myldsmail.net. So, to all of my fans, I'd love to hear from you!
Love you all,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 18 Mar 2013
March 18, 2013 two more pix
I couldn't get these two pictures to open earlier, but with Marc's help I will post them now.
Doing laundry with a parrot on my shoulder.
March 18, 2013
Hello everyone,
Greetings from México. I am here, working hard and
finding people to teach. Here in my area, the big problem is with
inactivity, so we´ve been doing a lot of work with less active members
and organizing the branch to do a lot of the work themselves. On
Saturday we got permission to call ward missionaries and also to include
less-active members on the home and visiting teaching lists, so maybe
we'll have more time for our investigators, but there's still a lot of
work to do. The weather has changed from merely hot to sweltering. I
hope something changes soon (there's a rumor of a hurricane; that would
cool things down nicely). We have a couple baptisms (re)scheduled for
this week, and I hope they go through this time. I have some pretty
exciting pictures for you all, so I'll send those next.
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
This is Reforma, Chiapas as seen from the roof of the house of one of our investigators.
A picture of my room.
The circus came to town and brought this cuernas largas. And the cow in back has five legs.
My companion
And finally, a Mexican cat.
Thu, 14 Mar 2013
March 11, 2013
Hello,
Wishing everyone a happy Monday from here in México. Our work
has been progressing apace, and we are doing a lot to improve this area.
Our goal for this coming time is to make our branch into a ward (and
we're almost there). There is lots to do, however, we have 185 inactive
families in our branch that we need to work with. This past week I was
pretty sick (probably the worst cold I've ever had), but we still got
good work done. On Friday there was a baptism (not one of ours, a
member) and there was a very exciting fire behind our church building
that I put out all by myself (we had plenty of water because of the
baptism, so that was good). On Saturday we left the city and taught a
bunch of lessons in one of the colonies (Colonia Carmen). We're
preparing a noche de hogar for the less-active members there, but we
invited everyone we saw to come. On Sunday we had stake conference and
found when we arrived in Villahermosa that it was a very special
conference with Elder Scott and Elder Bednar in attendance. So that was a
highlight of the week (although I enjoyed reading your emails, too).
We're going to continue working this next week to have even more
success. Hopefully the weather cooperates, it's been scorching hot (and
everyone says it's only getting hotter).
Love you all,
Elder Hall
Addition from Jan: Evidentally Bryan has not been getting mail. I've written at least every week but most of that has been pouch and I think these are all at the mission home still. He asked us to send via computer now so I've done that the last two weeks. But I got a surprise phone call from the mission president on Monday night asking why we were not writing to Bryan. This letter implies that Bryan heard from someone, so we will have to get him to clear this up. I think the mission president should talk to Bryan about his short letters that leave me with more questions than answers… For example, this letter makes that comment about the fire. Don't you think that merits at least a paragraph?
Mon, 04 Mar 2013
March 4, 2013Hello,
I am doing well here in Reforma. The last several days have been pleasantly cool, so everyone has been complaining about the cold. We had a baptism in the rain on Friday; there was not enough water in the church's water tank to fill the font, so we had to carry water in 19 Liter buckets (they don't use gallons in México) from our house to the church (it's about 200 meters) to fill it. And then it started to rain, and we spent the whole day soaking wet. But that's alright. One of our investigators got shot and couldn't come to church on Sunday (we'll see how that goes). We are working on getting our branch its own chapel (and not just something rented). There are still some things we have to do, but the purchase for the land has already been approved. The family we live with is building us a house in their backyard and that should be ready for us to move in in another month or so (the way they build in México is very different from the way they build in the U.S. I'm working hard and, so far, I haven't starved to death, so don't worry about me too much. I would like to hear from you, though. Email is fine, I have time to read it.
Love from,
Elder Hall
Mon, 25 Feb 2013
February 25, 2013 againI realize that I failed to mention that my address is Villahermosa, Tabasco, México. Since those I fairly important details to have left out, I´m sending them to you now.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
February 25, 2013
Hello,
Well, this Monday has been pretty eventful. We got up and did laundry (which was an interesting experience with our machine and a centrifugal dryer). We went and harvested coconuts. We rode the combi (which is a fifteen passenger van with seats all up the middle) which is sort of special since we usually walk. And now we're writing home. On Sunday I spoke in Sacrament meeting, taught Gospel Doctrine, and played the piano for the branch choir (which was an interesting experience, to say the least). On Saturday I gave an impromptu speech at a funeral for a woman who I had never met and who wasn't even a member of the Church. We have been working hard (if not necessarily smart) walking many many Kilometers to get to appointments. We've been trying to get a map of the city of Reforma, where we live, so that we can make our travel more productive, but still haven't acquired one. My area makes up a fifth part of the mission, so we don't really get to the outskirts much. That's about everything new since Thursday, but I'll see if I can't send some pictures soon.
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
Thu, 21 Feb 2013
February 21, 2013Hello,
First thing's first: I am, as the rumors report, in México. My plane left from O'Hare at 1:50 on Monday and, after spending some time in Houston, arrived in Villahermosa around 10:00. I found that my new area is called Reforma in the state of Chiapas. Apparently it's some 300 kilometers across (for you Gringos reading this, that's a long ways), the largest area in the mission. My new trainer is called Elder Martinez and he's Ecuadorian. We are living with a very nice (Catholic) family. Because the city of Reforma is home to a huge PeMex (again for you Gringos, that's the Mexican government's oil company) facility, it is fairly well off as this part of the world reckons things (still don't have warm running water in our bathroom, though). Of course, another consequence of the PeMex facility is that the water in the city isn't safe for anyone to drink (not just us Gringos), so everything is bottled. So far, even though everyone keeps complaining about the cold, the weather reminds me of southern Missouri in mid-July. It's hot, it's humid and nobody has air conditioning (except us in our room, and even though we don't spend a lot of time there, it's nice to sleep in the cool). Also, one of the branch members is a professional ice cream/popsicle maker who loves to give us paletas to eat. I still have a lot of things to get adjusted to: the way we work here is a lot different that the way we did things in Chicago (and it's in Mexico), so I need to learn a new way of doing things. I'll send some more information on Preparation Day on Monday, but in the meantime, here's my address:
Misión México Villahermosa
Av. Circuito Cd. Deportiva N° 206
Col. Atasta C.P 86100
That's the mission office where they forward my mail; I don't know how long it will take letters to get to me, so date any letters you send me so I can give you that information (I'll do the same).
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 11 Feb 2013
February 11, 2013Hello,
Well, another preparation day, another letter. For starters, the weather in typical Mid-West fashion is behaving oddly. I mentioned in my last letter all the snow we'd gotten; it's all gone now: yesterday it was pushing sixty degrees and it rained all night so no more. Elder Celis and I have been very blessed with good success in the past week. Even though we had zone conference and new missionary training last week to take up a lot of our proselyting time, we still found and taught as many people last week as we would have on a regular week. It was quite miraculous. The training meeting, even though it took our entire day on Thursday, was very good; Elder Celis and I got many ideas for how we can more effectively find and teach people in our service. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to confirm one of our investigators in Sacrament meeting, which was an exciting experience. I've learned so many things in the short time I've been out in the field; I can't wait to see what is in store for me in the rest of my mission. I know the Lord has a plan for me and that I am meant to be here in field serving Him. Chicago has been a wonderful place, and I have learned things here that I needed to know before I could go to Mexico. But now I'm almost ready, which is provident since it's almost time for me to leave. I have received some of the letters that were sent to me, but not all (including any pictures), so I apologize to anyone who has written me and not received a response. I don't know what my address will be after next week, but I'll send it as soon as I know.
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
Fri, 08 Feb 2013
February 8, 2013Hello,
I'm only writing a quick note, but I have officially received my visa and will be leaving for the Mexico Villahermosa Mission on February 18th.
Love you all,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 04 Feb 2013
February 4, 2013
Hello,
This past week has been pretty good. I got the first mail of
my mission (that was sort of my fault, because I didn't set things up
with the post office so they knew were I lived, but I'm getting mail
again, which is all that really matters). We had an investigator
baptized yesterday, it was an incredible experience. Also, it was the
most well attended baptismal service I've ever heard of. We filled all
three bays of the cultural hall and had more people than in sacrament
meeting (picture to follow). It's been snowing a lot; there's probably
six to eight inches on the ground right now with more falling every day.
Elder Celis and I have been working pretty hard on finding and teaching
people, but our success this week has been down. I don't really have a
lot to say, since I already wrote once this week, but since a picture is
worth a thousand words, I've got a few of those for your enjoyment.
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
This is my trainer, Elder Celis; myself; and Elder Smith who was part of our trio for the first week I was here (but no longer).
This is Freddy, who was baptized last week, and the father of his girlfriend who baptized him.
This is me, our investigator who was baptized yesterday, and the member who baptized her.
This is the best attended baptismal service in all of history.
This cat belongs to a family we've been teaching, and I love him almost as much as he loves me.
Sun, 03 Feb 2013
January 31 2013Hello, I normally wouldn't write on a Thursday, but I have the opportunity today, so here goes: I took care of the problem that was keeping me from getting mail (they were actually holding it at the post office), but I still haven't gotten all of the mail that they were holding back from me. If any letters you sent me do get returned to you, just send them back to the mission office, and this time they will get through to me. To respond to a few of the questions you asked me: yes, they gave me a coat at the mission office, and I've bought a sweater, gloves, and a couple long-sleeve shirts, so I'm no colder than anyone else; yes, my area is Spanish, and yes, we have a car (2012 Toyota Corolla — Silver); Most of our teaching is in Spanish, but most other things are in English (so my Spanish is getting better, but not very fast); yes, I got my baggage reimbursement, but it was in cash (because they're not giving me a missionary debit card because who knows?). On Monday, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get super excited over nothing, but on Friday we got a call from the mission office telling us we needed to be at the Mexican Consulate on Tuesday morning to "pick up my passport." So, Tuesday we went to the consulate only to be told that I wasn't supposed to be there (even though they'd asked for me by name and all of the other visa-waiters I arrived with were there at the consulate), so we drove back home (from the city). But today we got another call telling us we need to be at the consulate tomorrow morning (and the assistants came by and dropped off a super-special envelope that I'm not supposed to open), so I think my visa will be coming soon.
Love to all,
Elder Hall
Mon, 28 Jan 2013
January 28, 2013Hello,
It's been really cold this past week, between ten and fifteen degrees the whole time. Today it warmed up again, though. Right now it's 45 degrees. We baptized an investigator on Sunday; it was very exciting. The water heater in our building doesn't work, so the water in the font was freezing cold (about 45 degrees, we have a thermometer). Elder Celis and I poured about ten gallons of boiling water into the font in hopes of heating it up a little, but no such luck. In addition to the baptism, we had a lot of success last week. We found several very promising new investigators and taught a lot of lessons. On Saturday, we spent most of the day tracting, and after about three hours of knocking doors without success, we left for an appointment. As we got out of the car, we saw a man standing in a park. When we spoke to him, he told us that he wants to raise his children with a strong relationship to God. We have an appointment to meet with him and his entire family later this week. Afterwards, our appointment fell through, and we were about to leave, when I felt that we should knock on our appointment's neighbour's door. Previously, when we had tracted that building, we had knocked on that door twice, and nobody had answered even though we could hear them inside (that happens a lot). This time, however, when we knocked, the door opened. The woman we met inside has eight children from 17 years to six months and a recently deceased husband. I don't think I've ever met someone like her. Elder Celis and I are doing very well as a companionship, and everything's fine here.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 21 Jan 2013
January 21, 2013Hello,
The past week has been really good. We had transfers on Tuesday, so Elder Smith left and it's just been Elder Celis and myself in our area. We fit much better into our apartment with just two (and with Elder Smith's stuff gone, we were actually able to clean the place, and I was able to unpack). We've had really good success, finding lots of new investigators and working to get them ready for baptism. On Sunday, we had a member baptism, which was a great experience. I picked up a cold somewhere, so the last few days have been kind of unpleasant, but on Saturday we found the most amazing new investigator. The only problem is that she's English. We only get to teach her a few times before we have to pass her off to the English Elders. We've been keeping pretty busy which, for missionaries, is a good thing. Elder Celis knows a lot about all sorts of things. He's 27, so he's been around a bit. We seem to be doing pretty well together. I'm excited for my first baptism on Saturday. I hope things are going well at home and you're all healthy, happy, and hopeful.
Love from,
Elder Bryan Hall
Mon, 14 Jan 2013
January 14, 2013Hello,
This is my first preparation day in the field, so I get to email home. This will be a fairly short letter since I already wrote this week, but some things have happened since my last letter. First, we found out where Elder Smith is going after this transfer: Chicago city. We've been working hard and having good success; on Sunday we had four investigators at church, and right now we have two investigators on date to be baptized, one for the 26th and one for the 2nd. We're also making really good progress with a couple, Maria and Leo, who really want to be baptized, too. When we first encountered them, Maria was very interested in our message, but Leo only sat through our lessons because Maria made him be there. In our last visit, though, Leo seemed to have had a great change of heart. Since our previous visit, he had read some of the Book of Mormon himself, and he was engaged in our lesson. After church yesterday, he told us that he'd really enjoyed himself and wanted to come back again. On Sunday, we had three back to back dinner appointments with members — I've been eating pretty well here (and the food is actually good, unlike the MTC cafeteria). We've also had great success contacting this week. We found four new investigators, and twelve potential new investigators. I've met pretty much all of the active members of our branch, now (it helped that Elder Smith has been in this area for six months and wanted to say goodbye to everyone before he left). Now, I just need to work on remembering who they all are. As much as I like Elder Smith, I'm pretty excited for transfers tomorrow, because our car apartment, etc. are not big enough for three elders, and being in a trio is hard in general. I'm looking forward to the coming weeks and the experiences I'm going to be able to have.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Thu, 10 Jan 2013
January 10, 2013Hello,
I am here in the Illinois Chicago mission, It's actually unseasonably warm in Chicago right now, so I haven't been freezing in my Mexican clothes. My preparation day is on Monday, but I am writing this email because I have time on the computer to do some mission things, and I was given permission to email home this week. The field is much different than the MTC; there is much more flexibility in the schedule and more to get done. The President of my Mission is called President Fenn, he is a former lawyer and ex-president of Centurylink. He seems to know the scriptures very well. I have had the opportunity to meet my zone already; we had a meeting yesterday. It's been fairly crazy, meeting so many new people in such a short period of time, but I'm getting on fairly well. My trainer is named Elder Celis, and we're actually in a trio with a third Elder, Smith, until regular transfers next week. I'm in an area called Bloomingdale second which is in a town called Schaumberg a little bit south of the city of Chicago. It's a fairly new area, only about six months old, but the members I've met seem very friendly, and we have several progressing investigators, a baptism scheduled for a few weeks down the road, and some new investigators that we've found since I've been here. Last night we taught the plan of salvation to a man named Freddy who contacted the missionaries last week and told us he wanted to be baptized. There's lots of exciting stuff happening here, and, even though I have been looking forward to Mexico, it's great to be working in the Lord's vineyard.
My mission address is:
1319 Butterfield Road #522
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Anything sent to this address should get to me eventually. I love you all, and am very glad to be out here working.
Love,
Elder Bryan Hall
Sun, 06 Jan 2013
January 5, 2013
Hello,
The exciting news for this week, in case you
haven't heard, is that I got my temporary re-assignment: Illinois
Chicago Mission. Spanish-speaking. I am going to freeze to death. But
it's alright. The Lord will provide for me. I am super excited to get
out of the MTC. I didn't get the super exciting stomach bug that laid
out five hundred missionaries this past week. And I am about to lie down
in my grave. And these plates are full. And I make an end to my
speaking.
Elder Hall
Bryan Elliot Hall St. Peters, Missouri
Page created: 09 November 2008
Page modified: 09 December 2017
