July 25, 2011

FAMILY,
I think that dad wrote me about the Taylors being at the Nauvoo pageant. When Elder Phillips and I were working there the other night we were busy talking to some members and there was this lady behind me taking pictures of Elder Philips and I. I thought that it was weird, but after I was done talking she called us over. It was Sister Taylor! I didn't recognize her at first but she told me who she was and we got a talkin. Her and Brother Taylor are working at the medical tent at the pageant. So we walked over to the tent and I found Brother Taylor and said hi.
I also ran into one of Dad's Bishops when he was a Priest. His name was Bishop Mcmin (I don't know if i got the spelling right on that) but he knew Dad and Grandma and Grandpa. He told me of one of the times that Grandma and Grandpa wanted to go on a mission. It was right after they had arrived home from one of their missions and within a month they wanted to go on another. He said that he made them stay home for 6 months to get to know their children and grandchildren again. But when that 6 month mark came they were back into his office to go back on a mission.
I was able to see the Nauvoo pageant for a second time, we were able to get H and E (two recent converts) to Nauvoo on Wednesday, and got special permission to see it again. I think I enjoyed it better the second time.
I've been dealing with poison ivy this week. We did some geo caching with Brother G on p-day and I guess I rubbed up against some poison ivy while searching for the cach. It has been driving me nuts! Our Bishop is a doctor and he said that if you don't treat it right away, you have to just let it run its course until the oils come out of your skin. Its been about a week and starting to get a little better. It should be over this week.
Saturday, Red Cross had a blood drive at the church. Now I'm not one to jump right up and give blood, needles make me a little squeamish. But a member called us up and asked if we would donate. I never say no to members so we agreed to do it. Elder Phillips has given blood many times and was excited to see what treats he was going to eat at the end of it. As for me, I am not a bleeder. I was sitting on that table for 15 minutes while they tried to get blood out of me. I was so tired the rest of the day, not a good idea while a missionary.
The week went by slow, we had 5 referrals from the Nauvoo pageant and 2 of them we got appointments with. One is a 17 year old girl named J who went to the pageant with a friend, and the other is this guy named T. He's a friend of a member. I think that both will be sweet investigators this next week. T's leg was run over by a truck a year or two ago and he has a bad infection in his leg. The doctors are talking about amputating it. I felt the impression to give him a blessing, so we did. The words need not be mentioned here but he felt the spirit strongly. He has been looking for the gospel for years, searching and studying all sorts of religions. We are going back tonight to teach him the Doctrine of Christ and invite him to baptism. I'm excited.
I LOVE YOU ALL. -Elder Hale
P.S. Melanie- thanks for the pictures!

July 18, 2011

FAMILY,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELANIE!!! I don't believe that you are 17....I sent you a card on Friday so I don't think that you have received it yet. It's not a card at all, its more like a statement. You will know when you get it.
On Saturday we went to Carthage and Nauvoo with the Gardner and the Hussy family. Bro. Gardner was stoked about taking his wife to go and see everything! It was an all day thing. We started in Carthage and moved our way to Nauvoo, we had a picnic at the park across the street from old section of Nauvoo. Sister Gardner and Sister Hussy wanted to go "window shop" up by the temple on the main street. Elder Phillips and I headed strait for LDS harvest to get books. Then we just hung out with Bro. Gardner and cracked jokes on everyone, it was fun. Then we took everyone to the temple and walked around and took pictures of everything. Sister Gardner wanted to go up and touch the temple, but we told her the alarms would go off and men in black suits would run out of the temple and arrest her. Once we were done laughing we let her go up and touch it. We went to Joseph Smith's home and saw his grave, saw that blacksmith's shop, the bakery, and browning shop. We then went to the country fair and waited for the pageant to start. It was so much fun with their family. It was the first time that I had seen the pageant, the same with Bro. and Sis. Gardner. At the end they were both tearing up. Their next step is to be sealed as a family , this was a good experience for them. The Hussy's brought a recent convert, A, with them and it was a powerful moment for him. He had been struggling for a while and when the pageant was over, he walked up and told through his watery eyes that he felt something burning inside his chest. He has been through so much, foster home after foster home, abandonment, abuse, adoption, and now he feels God's love for him. It was a great night.
We have been working with two young women, A and J. They are friends of a member and ask so many questions, good questions, which is surprising coming from two 17 year olds. They are really understanding the restoration and why we do what we do. We are meeting with both of them today, A has a baptismal date on the 30th of July and we are going to commit J today. Both of them are going to go to the Pageant on Wednesday along with H, and H's brother and grandma! Its will be a powerful for every one.
I LOVE YOU ALL. -Elder Hale

P.S. A time ago I sent some boxes home with books in them, did you get those boxes? I heard of a missionary who sent some books home and the post office lost his books...just wondering. I probably sent some weird stuff home, but just hold on it until I get home. I will sort and dispose.

July 11, 2011

Family,
Elder Phillips and I have started working at the Nauvoo Pageant. Wednesday we worked in the seating area and greeted people as they waited for the pageant to start. We mainly go around with referral cards asking everyone if they know anyone who would want the soundtrack of the pageant sent to any of their friends. It's a good way to get the missionaries to the door step of non-members. 80 out of every 1000 doors that we knock on and use the members name will receive the gospel. Not very effective, but better than tracting, its only about 1 though tracting. Last year the pageant received 12,000 referrals, kind of crazy. Elder Phillips got one referral the other day but I didn't get any. On Friday, we were assigned to hand out the pageant newspapers at the entry by the parking lot. There were some people in the parking lot handing out anti-Mormon newspapers that looked exactly like the ones the pageant hands out. So our job was to hand out the church published copies and get rid of the anti. It was fun.
We held a baptism on Saturday for M S. I don't know if I talked about her very much, her husband is a member, but has been less-active for a numbers of years. Her whole family came into town to see her baptized. She had a lot of questions and took a lot of visits. After her confirmation on Sunday, everyone was shaking her hand, and she whispered to me that all of this was able to happen because we "saw it through, and stuck in there". It was fun teaching her. She committed her husband to get sealed in the temple in Ireland, and wants Elder Phillips and I to go. I'll have to start saving money now-ish.
Not too much else has happened. The other day we committed two other people to baptism, A P and S L. A's is planned for the 30th and S's is planned for the 19 of Aug. We also had the chance to eat lunch with some members on Saturday. We ate at the Pier, a cool restaurant on the Mississippi.
I LOVE YOU ALL. -Elder Hale

July 6, 2011

FAMILY,
Sorry the library was closed on Monday and yesterday we had a meeting in Iowa City for zone leader council. I think you were asking what ZLC was, its zone leader council. I received your letter yesterday and no, we were not the ones that had to go to the baptismal font in the middle of the night. We received a call from the Hannibal Elders in the middle of the night and they were on their way to the church. They live in a rickety apartment so they thought it would be better it they went to Wal-mart to seek shelter, but they thought they saw a tornado and turned around the other way and their next bet was the baptismal font. We live on the bottom floor of an old brick house. We do have a basement we can jump into if we need, or if we even wake up. By the way the same Hannibal Elders were the ones who are going to ship a turtle home. After the storm, the Mayor of Quincy was thinking about calling the Governor to declare a state of emergency because of all of the costs of fixing everything, I'm not sure if it happened or not.
Some cool stuff happened this week. We saw "Our Story Goes On". It is performed by the main characters of the Nauvoo pageant. They came to Quincy and put on this sweet play about the plan of salvation. We also saw Vocal Point, it's like a BYU group that sings song and music only using their voices. They came to an old folks home, and wow the old grandmas sure loved them. And tonight we are scheduled to work at the Nauvoo Pageant. We were assigned to work there Wednesdays and Friday nights for the next month. We are the ones the walk around and ask people for referrals, probably much like the missionaries at the easter pageant, I don't really know, I'll find out tonight.
Sis G and D were baptized! It was awesome, there was a good turnout from the ward at the baptism, and then a fast and testimony meeting. One of their sons J, and their daughter B bore their testimony. The whole meeting Sis G and I were trying to get Bro G to go up and bear his. We finally talked him into it. That whole family has changed. Sis G is the glue in that family and she is so solid.
Just thought that I would mention this because it blows my mind. Yesterday we received portable DVD players for the whole zone. Every companionship is commanded, by the brethren, to have one and use it in companionship study. There is a huge push for missionary efforts coming from headquarters. The brethren said that this area is ready to explode and our baptismal goal will quadruple if we work with the members. They are going all out to ensure we are the best teachers.

I LOVE YOU ALL.....18 months today, but no one's counting...-Elder Hale