Elder Bridger Hall: CUSSIN'

Waiting for the rodeo!!!

Hey everyone! It's been an absolutely gorgeous week. The sun is shining, it doesn't get above 90 degrees, and we've had some adventures! My family probably saw the title of this week and thought, "Oh no, Bridger swore at somebody" or something to the effect. I promise it wasn't me! I haven't said more than 4 bad words on my mission, so ha! The atonement can change people! Haha I'll get to that story in a bit.

4th of July! America's birthday! It was so fun! We went down to the Molalla Buckeroo with our district. We had so much fun! I'll tell you, I've never seen or smelled alcohol like that in my life. I think literally everyone there was drunk. Not to mention, no one believes in clothing anymore. My goodness, it was almost pornographic! People need to stop wearing dental floss for clothing! And boy, you think cowboys have colorful language, just get a bunch of drunk Oregonians in a rodeo. Golly! Elder Itaia, who I've talked about before, was hilarious. He couldn't believe his eyes!! He said, "All of Marshall Island come here. I love America! I'm never going back!" He had us rolling. It was the first time he had ever seen a rodeo, a carnival, or fireworks. It was so fun and it made me appreciate where we live!

Wednesday we went to our investigator's house to teach her a lesson. Her husband greeted us and Sister Wall, our trusty member present and fellowshipper. This man opened a can of who knows what on us. Every cuss word in the dictionary he said. He yelled in our faces for a solid 5 minutes. By the end, I was FUMING. I don't care what you call me or my church or my "cult beliefs", you DO NOT speak like that in front of a woman, especially your wife and this lady who hasn't done anything but smile and be nice. The spirit held me back like a champ. When he was finished, I simply said, "I'm sorry you feel that way sir. We will be leaving now." And we walked out. It was a big deal for me to not stand there and fight back. It was a blessing though, come to find out this man has seriously hurt people in the past. I was grateful for the protection of the spirit that day and for the Holy Ghost holding my tongue.

Of course our appointment after the adrenaline pumping one we got a commonly yelled, "Hail Satan!" on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, that's a usual occurrence for missionaries.

On Thursday we had our first interviews with President Bullen! It was so great. We had a very nice interview together. I could already feel his love for me! I'm grateful for him and his wife. Sister Bullen and I had a very nice conversation as well! She has never been a missionary or done anything like it, so I was answering her questions. It was so fun to get to share the knowledge I've gained out here with our own mission mom!

We taught our investigator Phil this week too! When we went over, we began teaching him and his family about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. About halfway through, Phil got up and left. I was so devastated! Never in my life had I felt such crushing disappointment. I was on the verge of tears, but we kept on teaching. About 10 minutes later, he came back into the room, something a little different about him. He looked me in the eyes the whole time I spoke. At the end of the lesson, I invited him to be baptized and he said yes! We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and he said yes! I about fell on the floor! The spirit was so strong, and I knew that it had called him back into the room where we were teaching. I just love the gospel!

We taught Dax on Friday, and let me tell you, this kid is a freaking genius. He taught us the Plan of Salvation and then told us what he had been reading in the Book of Mormon. We are so excited for him to be baptized soon!

Yesterday in church, we talked about prophets. As we spoke about the first prophets of our dispensation, we talked about what they asked the saints to do. The question then came up: would following the prophet back then be harder than it is now? Then a groundbreaking revelation hit me. The prophet today doesn't ask us to move our homes, he asks us to move our hearts. Following the prophet today is much harder than it has ever been because we're asked to change ourselves rather than our circumstances. I promise as we move our hearts closer to God, to Zion, we will feel the power that comes with being one with Christ. We will be happier. That is the greatest part about the gospel. It is never easy, but it's what will bring true joy. I love you all, have a great week!

With love,

Elder Hall