Elder Bridger Hall: BACKSEAT OF BAGELS

Backseat of bagels!

Hey everyone! It's been a really crazy fun week. We had some adventures!

Tuesday was zone meeting and it is always so good. I love President Ballard, Sister Ballard, President Newsom, and all of my good friends! It was so fun because not only did we get to be with our awesome zone all day, I got to see some old friends! Elder Bang, Elder Pugmire, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Cedillo, and Elder Garfield, just to name a few. I love them so much. President had me present some things in front of everybody and that was a little nerve-racking at first, but then I remembered to just relax and be myself and it was great! Sister Ballard and I were talking afterwards and she said, "Elder Hall, thank you for being a good missionary. The happiness and laughter you bring to this mission and your area is contagious. Mary Katherine and Stanford couldn't stop talking about how much they loved it when you and Elder Power taught seminary. You are amazing, thank you!" I was so happy! It was a compliment I was very humbled to receive. I'm glad my goofiness and bad dad jokes aren't rubbing these kids the wrong way hahaha!

Speaking of bad jokes, we taught seminary AGAIN on Friday! Brother Farmer called us the night before and asked for our help in his lesson and we graciously accepted as always. When we showed up the next day, he said, "Oh thank you Elders for being willing to teach! Have a good day!" Then he left. And we were suddenly left with no lesson plan and a classroom full of kids. Let me tell you, they are AMAZING. These kids. Holy cow. They have all become such good friends! (Shout out to Sam, Josh, Isaac, Jacob, and literally everyone we love you!) They teach me so much.

Wednesday night we had a lesson with Des! She is doing so well! It's amazing! We have been calling her every day to check in and she told us she's been reading the Book of Mormon to the cat and she seems to enjoy it. Haha she is so amazing. Watching her be able to take terrible experiences from her past and finally see how God's hands were there helping her and holding her is just incredible. Our Heavenly Father really does love each of us so much.

We had a lesson with Tony this week! We met at the church and gave him a church tour. He is so awesome, man! He is like a total real life hippy! Love this guy to death! He sat down and was telling us how he could feel how the Joseph Smith story was true, and how he could feel the spirit touching his heart as we sat in the chapel, but this church doesn't let him be free. It was really hard to see this guy feel the spirit and be close just to turn it down. He's a great guy though and a real friend, so no matter what happens, we will stay in touch.

Ok. Saturday. We started off the morning picking up our pal Elder Mobley for the day. LOVE this kid. (Even though he's from Herriman and we wailed on each other in football our senior year). We went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast. While waiting in line, this lady walks up and hands a $20 bill and tells us breakfast is on her. It was so nice! Well, right when we finished ordering and were about to pay, this guy steps up to the register and says, "I got it Elders, enjoy breakfast on me!" and paid before we could say anything. Curse Chick-Fil-A and their punctuality! So, we decided we needed to use this $20 and pay it forward. After breakfast, we were driving in our area and saw these ladies struggling with some boxes and stopped to help. Turns out they ran a local food bank and were about to throw away 9 boxes of food they couldn't keep, so they loaded up our car with this food! We called the Bishops of both wards and found out who could use some food and delivered a few boxes! It was so fun, it felt like Christmas all over again!

Well, even after all of our deliveries, we still had a backseat of bagels. So we drove around all day finding homeless people and giving them bagels! It was awesome! One homeless guy was named Kyle. When we offered him some bagels, he said he had food so no thanks. We asked him what he needed then, and he said he was really cold and needed some new clothes, as he was trying to get a job but didn't have anything nice for his interview. We told him to stay put and we drove to the Goodwill down the road. We bought him a pair of new jeans, two shirts, and a jacket. The total was $19.97. That $20 was now paid forward! When we came back and gave him the bag, he looked in and started to cry. The four of us sat on that busy street corner and felt the Savior in the most overwhelming way. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him if he read it, it would change his life. He couldn't wait to start reading. I'll never forget Kyle. I hope we get to see him again soon.

Well, Saturday evening came and we got a call. There were some members at our apartment with a car full of food left over from a wedding and they thought we could use it. For the first time in my life, I wasn't excited to get leftover wedding food! We were drowning in food! We took it with fake smiles. The second they left, we called the young men in the ward until one answered. My boy Sam! He and his family were very excited to receive some high class sandwiches and cupcakes. Not only did they take the food off our hands, and give us some free laughs, Sister Evans also cut my hair impromptu! I was so happy! I look like a normal person again!

This week has taught me a lot about how the Savior sees us. His love in infinite and eternal, and nothing clouds his view of us. My challenge this week for you all is to try to see people as the Savior sees them. As you pray to do this, you will see the pure divine love our Redeemer has for each of us. I love you all so much. Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Hall