TENDER MERCIES

 
Elder Gerry fell asleep in the car on me. SO FUNNY.

Hey all!

This week has been so hot! Again! Bull crap Oregon is "the perfect
climate" that is not true. I literally never stop sweating. Elder Bang
and I are always drenched, especially this week! All of our
investigators are out of town, along with most of the ward, so we
haven't had anyone to visit. Most of our days have been spent tracting
and street contacting.

The heat does help though, because we knock on someone's door and we
are sweating, and people feel bad for us so they invite us in for some
water. They don't want to talk about religion, but they don't want us
to die. We had a gentleman offer to help us run away from our
crazy-a** church so we could be free. That was good!

Elder Bang crashed on his bike the other day, and I'm a horrible
companion because all I could do was laugh. He tried to adjust his
rear fender with his foot and it got sucked in between the wheel and
bike frame. He stopped pretty quick and fell right over. It was
hysterical! He's completely ok, and so is his bike, so I didn't feel
that bad.

Every Saturday morning we play ultimate frisbee with our ward and it's
so fun! We get our district against the ward guys and we get some
pretty intense games going. It's so much fun! We play on the Sherwood
High football field, and boy does it make me miss my playing days! I
would give anything to play just one more game with my brothers on the
Vikings field. It's been a blessing though, football is a great
conversation starter with people and breaks the ice really easily. We
have a lot of Sherwood's coaches in our ward, so we enjoy talking
schemes and such, even though they are a wing-t offense. (Boo!) but
that's ok, it's still the game!

On Fridays we serve in the senior center kitchen. We make lunch and
serve it. It's so fun to serve the elderly! I love it! This week was
Hawaii Days. It looked like dollar tree threw up Hawaiian decorations.
I loved it!! It reminded me of Grandma Beth and how much she would
have LOVED it. They had tons of performers come and hula dance and
sing. I couldn't help but smile and think of my cute grandma the whole
day.

Saturday afternoon we went with a less active, Blaire, to the temple.
He is so funny! Single guy, really burly, no kids, drives a '95
bronco, has a tiny little bichon frise dog that's his whole life. He
can cuss like no one I've ever met, and I think it's hysterical. We
went to the visitor center and walked the grounds and "got our church
on" as Blaire put it. His testimony is so strong. It inspires me.
After we went to a hole in the wall Chinese place and it was so good.
They were really mean to us though because we were Mormon. Happens
more than you would think here in Oregon!

Laura (our investigator) has been out of town, so that's been hard
this week, but she is so incredible. She has read the Book of Mormon
every day, and prayed every day this week. She wants to be baptized
and teach her son Ryder to God. She's struggling as her husband passed
away a year ago this week. As Elder Bang and i prayed to share a
message with her, we were guided to many different things and shared
them. Every time we shared something, she would tell us she was
praying for help and we always sent her help in that moment. What a
tender mercy it is to be the Lord's servant and bless His children!

Last night, we met with Matthew again, and he has been reading the
Book of Mormon and even watched the restoration video on his own! He
wants to come to church this next week, so we are really excited for
that!

Earlier this week, we went tracting with Elder Richardson and Elder
Gerry, the Edy Ridge ward elders in the countryside. It is absolutely
a dream out here. Wow! Incredible scenery. Anyways, Elder Gerry and I
taught the whole first discussion on a doorstep of someone. They said
it was intriguing, but didn't want to meet again. Good practice
though! The area where we were is the very rich who buy the land and
build their house in the middle. Not to farm, but to get away from
people. Most houses are gated and fenced. There was one house that was
gated and had no trespassing. I found a gate that happened to be
unlocked. We prayed to know if we should go in or move on. After
walking away, I got the distinct feeling to go back. Bravely, I
marched through the gate and up the half mile driveway. Elder Gerry
came behind like a puppy, so scared. I knocked on the door, and an old
man answered. He looked stunned we were there. We did a classic door
approach, and after he said he wasn't interested, but he really
admired that we went out of our way to talk to him, that he never
liked or respected Mormons, but now he could respect our beliefs. Not
your picture perfect ending, but a blessing of following the spirit!

I'll end with my testimony that this gospel blesses lives more than
anything else. If you want happiness, it's through following Jesus
Christ. The Book of Mormon is the truest book there is. Nothing will
help us more than reading it. I love this gospel! Keep praying, keep
believing, keep trying. It may be a climb, but the view is well worth
it.

I love you all! I feel your prayers carry me. From the bottom of my
heart, thank you.

With love,

Elder Hall

A beautiful field in the country the the BIGGEST house I've ever seen behind it.





  
 Temple Visit with Blaire







Our Fall leaf collection