Elder Bridger Hall: I LOVE AMERICA!!!

Me and Elder Erskine on our adventure hike!

Happy 4th of July!! It's my favorite holiday!! I LOVE AMERICA. Us
Halls have a deep love for this great country. I am really missing our
annual flag raising, national anthem, and pledge of allegiance as a
family. What a neat tradition we have! There's no one quite like us.
Well, WHAT A WEEK. Wow it has been so crazy awesome! This a long one,
so buckle up! I promise it will be worth it!

My new companion is Elder Erskine (pronounced Er-Skin). He is from
Salt Lake City and has been out almost 9 months. He's a hard worker
with an incredible testimony! It's going to be a great transfer!

Last Monday was so so bitter sweet! President and Sister Ballard gave
their final remarks to the mission. I got to sit next to my lifelong
best friend, Elder Wilcock for the day and my goodness I love him. We
are so lucky to be in the same mission! The two of us did some serious
tear shedding while the Ballards spoke. It was just so emotional. It
was seriously like losing two incredible parents. They will be dearly
missed.

I came down with a bad cold this week, but don't worry mom! I have
most of it prayed away by now! Haha! I'm thankful for the strength
Heavenly Father has given me each day to get up and keep going,
despite my lack of natural energy. I was so so grateful!

Really quick. I've come up with a comprehensive list of living in Oregon City:
1. Take your shirt off. Right now.
2. Smoke more than your chimney.
3. Steal as many shopping carts as you can and abandon them throughout
the city.

You follow these steps and you will be a real OC resident! Hahaha you
have no idea how close to real life this really is.

I am so excited to be continuing in my assignment as district leader
of the OC district! They best part is with the exception of me and my
companion, my WHOLE district is training! I'm swimming in
greenie-ness! It's awesome though, because they have a fire that can't
be replicated! I'm so excited! Hopefully I don't scar them with my
district meetings...

So last week at church, this lady came up to us and told us her son
wants to baptized, and they need help doing that. Come to find out,
his name is Dax and he is 9 years old. When you're 9, you're
considered a convert, so we are teaching him! Dax is such a sweet
little kid, not to mention he has better hair than I do! He is so
smart! This kid read the first 5 chapters of the Book of Mormon and
could tell us exactly what was going on. He is so awesome! I love this
guy! We are hoping to set a date with him soon.

We taught Cass this week too! She is also such a sweet little 9 year
old. She is ready for baptism! We set a date for August 12th! It is so
exciting! We are very proud of her and we are excited to get her
baptized!

They called a special district leader meeting Thursday so me and
Elder Navarro, the other district leader in the zone, went on splits
to go. We drove way the heck back to my old home, Cedar Mill back in
Beaverton. President and Sister Ballard were there, and it was the
last time I got to see them as a missionary. It was pretty sad. As he
left the meeting, President said, "I love you. Remember to be OPMs.
Now go find teach baptize! HOO-RAH!" And with that, he was gone. I'm
sure gonna miss him.

I got to walk the Brady's chicken, Starla! Wow what an honor and
experience. I'll send pictures!

We went to visit our investigator Ray this week again! He is
struggling with seeing how the gospel will bless him and change his
life, but we aren't giving up! As we were talking, we discovered his
11 year old son Andrew has never been baptized. We asked if he wanted
to be baptized, and he said he's always wanted to, but no one ever
asked him! We set a date for July 29th! It was awesome! We are so
excited for Andrew!

I was so sad to hear of my good friend, Rich Crockett passing away. He
will be dearly missed. I send my love to his family and his
sweetheart, my southern gal, Bonnie. I'm thankful for the knowledge of
the Plan of Salvation.

Sunday was my favorite Sacrament meeting(s) of the year! I LOVE the
patriotic hymns. I couldn't help but get a little emotional as we
stood and sang the national anthem with that beautiful American flag
on the stand. The music kept going as we had dinner with the Chelsons!
They are very musical and we ended dinner with a beautiful rendition
of "My Country 'Tis of Thee". I love this country!!

Yesterday we had a mission conference with our new mission president,
President Bullen! That's why P-day is today. It was so awesome to
finally meet him and his wife! They are amazing! I already feel the
love they have for me. I'm so excited to get to know them more! He
said a few things that really struck me. Both in regards to serving a
mission, they still apply to every one of life's situations. The first
thing he said was, "Isn't it amazing that God and His prophet trust us
with this hard thing?" Sometimes we forget just who has put us in the
situations we are in. The second is this: "The Atonement is real and
it will help us carry what we're asked to carry." Isn't that so
beautiful? What an incredible truth! I am so grateful for leaders who
truly are called of God! I love this gospel. I know it's true. I know
the blessings that come from following its precepts. Have a happy 4th!

With love,
Elder Hall