The Sons of Old PG

Me and Elder Eddleman, the PG boys!

Hey fam! It’s been a good week here in the 503. We’ve been talking to lots of people and having exciting adventures! The weather was wet and cold for most of the week, but Sunday was a beautiful spring day! Anyways, here is what happened this week!

On Tuesday morning an Elder in our zone needed to go to a doctor appointment in Canby (35 miles away) and he’s on bike, so away we went! Hadfield and his comp stayed in the area and this Elder and I made the trek down there. It was a long drive, but I didn’t mind. It’s good I enjoy driving and I have the patience to deal with Oregonian drivers! (After all, I was trained in Utah!)

Wednesday was zone conference! It was a great day of learning and the best part was that we didn’t have to teach anything! It was so nice to just sit back and enjoy the presentations rather than talking all day long. We played the traditional Jazzminton after lunch and it was a ton of fun! On the way home from zone conference, we got a flat tire. Well, good ol’ Fat Pat (the minivan) doesn’t have a spare, so we slowly drove down the highway to Les Schwab. After pulling out two nails and waiting about an hour, we were back on the road good as new! 

Thursday morning was a rough one at the senior center. The activities director decided to make Faberge eggs with paint, glitter, and stick on jewels. It was a mess. Glitter was EVERYWHERE. The residents were a mess and so were we! I guess it was ok though, because they all had a good time. Even Patricia! Later on in the day we were at the food pantry again and it was a ton of fun. I love food pantries!

Friday was a fun day despite the pouring rain! I was with Elder Eddleman, a new Elder out here in the OPM who happens to be from Pleasant Grove! We’ve never met, though we can talk PG to each other all day. We are both passionate about our little hometown so it was pretty fun to talk with each other! We taught our investigator James and he’s doing great! Reading and praying and asking such great questions! 

We also met with Dana on Friday night and it was so neat! We talked about family history and Dana shared with us some of their family’s stories. Her ancestors were slaves in the south. When slavery was abolished and the Civil War had ended, the government promised each freed slave 40 acres and a mule. Contrary to popular belief, that actually happened! Her ancestors really did receive 40 acres and a mule, which they still own today! Unfortunately the mule is dead though (don’t worry, I asked). It was pretty neat to hear about such amazing family stories!

Then Friday night happened. At about 9pm our phone rang. I picked up to hear a very distressed Elder White on the other end. His companion was having issues breathing and they needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. We were the only elders close by that had a car to take them. We ran to the car and I don’t think I’ve ever driven so manically in my life. We flew down to their apartment and picked them up. I drove as fast as traffic would allow me to the hospital a few miles away. We waited until President Bullen arrived to sit with them and handle the situation, especially because we aren’t even their zone leaders. When it was all said and done, we got home at about 10:45pm exhausted and ready for bed. The good news is the poor Elder (who was a greenie, only out about a week) is going to be just fine, and just had a bad allergic reaction to some medication. 

On Saturday we spent most of the day up at the Woodside’s! They just make my day! It snowed on us and the trees we cut down put up a pretty good fight, but we enjoyed our time there nonetheless. I love that family so much!

Well, we are dying eggs as a zone today in preparation for Easter! I hope you all enjoy this week and look forward to General Conference on Saturday and Sunday!

With love,

Elder Hall

   

t tied my tie a little short         

            

They REALLY don’t like missionaries at this complex

There Were Goats and a Naked Guy

Me and my pal Schugk!

Hey family and friends!! You know, being a missionary in Oregon has brought me so much joy and so many crazy stories. Way more than I ever thought I would have! Stay tuned for that...

It was transfers this week!! Holy cow, transfer weeks as a zone leader are THE WORST. But the saying is true, there is calm before the storm. Transfers were on Wednesday, but Monday and Tuesday were semi normal!

On Monday we went as a zone to a new nature park and found a weird little pond we hung out at for the day. It was fun, I’ll send some pics!

Tuesday was pretty good. We taught our investigator James again and it was so good this time! We didn’t bring a member with us this time and Donald Trump wasn’t mentioned, so we actually were able to have a good lesson without it crashing and burning. We read the Book of Mormon and promised him some pretty neat blessings. He’s such a good dude, I really enjoy meeting with him. Not to mention his hobbies are football and fishing! 

Wednesday. Oh my goodness. It was just a whirlwind! Because we drive a minivan we ended up hauling a lot of stuff. I’m talking like, not being able to see out of the windows stuff. It was kind of ridiculous. After 7 hours of driving and 130 miles later, we finally got home at 10pm. It was good to see some old friends again though! Elder Mobley and his companion Elder Osterhout went to dinner with us and it was good to catch up with my old pal! Man, we’ve been through a lot together!

Thursday was a lot of post transfer aftershocks. We did a lot of running errands and getting people settled in. We did go serve at the Murrayhill pantry and it was so much fun as always! Martha and Sy Cook are some amazing people whom I’ve come to love very much! 

Friday was MLC and it was so much fun! MLC is always good food, good friends, good laughs, good spirit, good everything! Elder Hadfield and I had to do a little training and it went super well! One of my favorite parts was something President Bullen said. He said, “We don’t go up, we don’t go down, we go forward.” I think this principle can apply to so much in today’s world! What a great little nugget of wisdom.

Oh man, Saturday was seriously the best day I’ve had in a very long time!! I pulled some strings and we made our way up to none other but Dan Woodside himself!! I have missed the Woodside family so so much. To see Dan, Melissa, Peter, Megan, Addie, Grady, Starlord, and my goats again was just the best thing ever! The second we walked in that little Addie grabbed my hand and we went off to play just like old times. AH my heart melted I love that little girl so much! We had a manly day up there with Dan, cutting down trees, splitting wood, building a bonfire, and herding the goats. It was heaven!

Then yesterday happened... Haha oh my gosh you guys. So there we were, enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning. I’m reading the Book of Mormon when I hear grunting and yelling from outside. There’s a nice little green space outside our apartment so I’m thinking it’s just some guy playing with his dog or something. But then the more I listened, the more I realized it was very aggressive. I got up and walked over to the back porch. There was a man grunting and yelling and thrashing out on the grass right outside. He continued to scream and yell and thrash around. Then in the 40 degree weather, he took off all of his clothes. And then proceeded to jump into the blackberry patch. That kinda sealed the deal that home dog was on some serious drugs or possessed, or both. The freaky part was that out of nowhere hundreds of crows came and started surrounding him. We never see crows here. I called 911 (for the 5th time on my mission now) and the police and paramedics soon showed up. It took 5 fully grown men to cut away the blackberries, drag this guy out, wrestle him to the ground and sedate him (all while this guy is naked mind you). The police came over and thanked us for calling it in. And then I sat down and enjoyed my breakfast. Haha it was insane! 

Well, despite this crazy week I felt something very strongly. I KNOW God is aware of each one of us. If you don’t believe me, just ask Him. The power of His Son is real, and through Him we can repent. The opportunity to repent is a glorious positive that should never be passed up. I love my Savior Jesus Christ!

I hope you all have the best week, enjoy the springtime!

With love,

Elder Hall

 

Resting with Starlord and Grady after a hard day’s work! 

Dan told me the next time I was there I would be in a minivan... and he wasn’t wrong!

 

Beav West Zone!

                                                          

Me, Elder Hadfield, and my pal Elder Anderson!

                                                                                    

  

Me and the squad last P-day        

Trying to look tough in that shirt...

Seussical the....cultural event

March 13, 2017.  It was sunny last year too!

Hello from the beautiful bright spring day in Oregon! It’s seriously one of the most beautiful days of the year today. I’m grateful for a little sunshine! I’ll be honest, I really don’t remember a lot that happened this week so it probably isn’t very exciting. I do remember we did a lot of running people around, getting them to doctor appointments and other things. 

On Friday we had a great lunch meeting with President Bullen and our stake president as well! We had a delicious lunch and pulled great action items for this upcoming transfer. Speaking of, Elder Hadfield and I will be staying in Murrayhill for another transfer! We are pretty excited, especially since we are finally getting a little traction here. It should be good!

Friday night we got permission to go see the play Dana’s kids are involved in! it was Seussical the Musical and you know, it was good! They did a pretty great job. It was the most diverse play I’ve ever seen that’s for sure! Who knew a Hindi Gertrude McFuzz would work so well? Not to mention the Chinese Mr Mayor and Greek Jojo. All in all we counted seven different ethnicities! And there was only 20 in the cast! Haha it was pretty cool.

This week warrants one of my favorite quotes! It’s from Delbert L Stapley, of the Seventy: “Good habits are not acquired simply by making good resolves, though the thought must precede the action. Good habits are developed in the workshop of our daily lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built. That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life. They are acquired by practice.”

I love you all so much, have a fantastic week!

With love,

Elder Hall

P.S. Happy Birthday to Libby this week! I love you sister!

P.S.S. Sorry, no pictures this week :( 

Romans 8:31

I love this happy face!  My boy laughing in the woods!

An Oregon hello to everyone this week! I hope you had an amazing week! I know we sure did. I can’t believe it’s March already! That’s absolutely nuts! Time is flying by and there’s no stopping it. We had a week full of ups and downs, but thank goodness it was mostly ups!

First of all I just want to say how proud I am of Beav West! We’ve been going above and beyond these last few weeks and it’s so awesome! They are a bunch of hard workers and we are seeing dividends! It is a humbling responsibility to have stewardship over them. I always feel honored to serve them!

Wednesday morning was just so so good. We got to spend the morning at the temple. The spirit was a very tender love from the Lord. i felt a lot of peace! We hit up MOD Pizza after (temple trip tradition) and had a great time with the elders in our zone. I’m just so grateful for the spirit we can feel when we go to the House of the Lord!

If you guys remember Shaun from my email last week, we came out of the temple to a text from him on our phone saying he didn’t want to meet with us anymore. We were devastated to say the least, especially because he was so prepared. We haven’t been able to get in contact with him since. I genuinely hope he comes around and calls us back sometime. That guy felt the spirit, I know he did.

On Thursday we went on exchanges with the assistants. Elder Hadfield went to Market Street with Elder Beck and Elder Coombs came to Murrayhill with me! To say I was excited is an understatement. Coombs and I are very dear friends and always have a great time together! We did a lot of laughing in that 24 hours. 

We hit up the Canfield rest home and did our weekly craft with the elderly. It went pretty well! We didn’t have one leave and everyone actually finished. Pat was still a grouch, but that’s ok! I’m pretty sure she’s warming up to me. We went and served at the Murrayhill Christian Church and their food pantry as well! They are so awesome over there and I always enjoy helping out. And I mean they give us free milk every week in return for our help and that just rocks because milk is FREAKING EXPENSIVE. 

We taught a new investigator named James this week and it was great! He is so willing to read the Book of Mormon and find the answers to life’s questions that he has. We are excited to keep meeting with him!

Friday was a good day as well! We visited some members of the ward having a hard time and it was so good to feel of their strong spirits. One member we have been seeing every week has had a hard 2018 already. Since the new year, he’s lost his wife, his job, and his dog has cancer and has to be put down this week. Sorrow is palpable in that house, but so is the joy of the gospel. It is a unique experience that impresses on my heart every time we go over. 

My sweet Peggy Jo in the ward is doing awesome! Her health is improving and she is able to move around a lot more now! She hopped right out of her bed like a spring chicken when we went over I couldn’t believe it! The gospel is present in her countenance and that is such a neat thing to witness. I love it so much.

Saturday was our day of service! Earlier this week a family in the ward had a pipe burst in their front yard. Of course it was the pipe that was like six feet underground, but they dug down and eventually got it fixed! The next day the father of the family had to go on a business trip and his wife and young family were left with a giant mound of wet clay (it ain’t dirt here in Oregon). We went over and got REAL muddy, but we got it all put back in the holes! It was actually a ton of fun.

Later that day we went to a Referral’s house and did some yard work for this guy. He ordered us a pizza and afterwards we were able to teach him and get a return appointment! It was pretty cool and a lot of fun. I also learned that I HATE the biggest craze in Oregon right now: soda water. It’s freaking nasty. I don’t know how people drink that stuff. 

Ok last thing I promise! The other night we were talking to this guy in his driveway that was bringing groceries in from his car. The house he was staying in was an AirBnb, which is kinda like renting a house but not. I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s people staying there frequently. He says he doesn’t want a Book of Mormon, but we ask him to put it in the house for the other people at least. He isn’t down to do it. Well, he grabs groceries from the trunk of his car and walks in the house. As soon as he’s inside, I stick a Book of Mormon in one of the bags and tell Elder Hadfield to run. We run to the car and drive away just in time to see him look in the bag. It was classic! Kinda sad when this is the humor highlight of your week... Oh well!

You know, usually I try to end on a spiritual note, so I’ll try to end real fast. The Book of Mormon is true. It is the most important message you can hear today. There is literally nothing more important than hearing its message and heeding its counsel. Don’t be ashamed, don’t be afraid to read it. Share it with others. Romans 8:31.

Love you all, have an absolutely wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Hall 

   

      Our zone at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park for P-day

    

                Getting in touch with my inner Oregonian 

    

                      Me and Elder Hadfield at a lake