Happy Hall-idays and the First Noël

a ville we ported

Merry Christmas- Joyeux Noël! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did, and I had a Christmas vacation (on peut dire) this past week too! I've always had a certain image of Christmas in France- snow on cobblestone streets, horses and carriages, village choirs- alas, we live in 2015 and not the 1800s... Haha anyway, I had the warmest Christmas of my life, and ate more foi gras than I probably should have. (CONTINUED BELOW)

So this past week we left our island home to travel to Lyon for a mission Christmas conference. We spent a day in Nice, and left on a bus from Aix-en-Provence with a bunch of missionaries headed to Lyon. We got to a place in Lyon and got off the bus and rounded a corner and there were all of the missionaries in our

some old friends

mission. I will never forget seeing the faces of all the missionaries I've come to love so much and haven't seen in a long time. It was like how I imagine reunions in heaven will be. We got to hang out for a little bit until nighttime, when we all went to an aquarium where we'd rented out an indoor amphitheater. There we had the privilege of watching Lion King together! We were asked to think about it in terms of the gospel and wow! What a profound movie! If you want to do that, go ahead, I think it's an awesome idea! President Brown talked to us a little about Christ and about a confluence. A confluence is where two rivers meet, and the aquarium is at the confluence of the two biggest rivers in France, the Rhone and the Soane, where living waters come together. But we know who is our living water, it's Jesus Christ, and the temple is the confluence of heaven and earth, where we can feel the presence of our ancestors. It was a very cool learning experience. The next day we had a talent show and got our presents! Then we returned to our petit lil island on Christmas Eve.

We were fed a Christmas Eve dinner by a member

our mission

and it was delicious! A lot of foi gras, some salmon and baguettes, then chicken and potatoes and some veggies and to top it off a bouche de Noel. We were stuffed (but not like the ducks whose liver we ate). (<<That's really funny by the way) Well, after that, we get to the super fun part of Christmas! My grandma gave me some money to use to help people have a good Christmas, and in our search for people, we asked our recent convert, Marie rose, if she knew anyone poor who wouldn't have a very good Christmas, and her reply was kind of sad, "anyone poorer than me? I don't know."

our secret Santa

So we thought and prayed and had inspiration to start a temple fund for her, and drop off a jar with €80 anonymously as a kickstart for her to go to the temple (because it's expensive to get to the temple, especially when you live on an island and not on the continent). We dropped it off with a note, and ran. The next day, Christmas, we were at her house all day with Sylvia and Noel celebrating and she told us that she had a Christmas miracle and explained it. She said that she's going to put €10 in as soon as she gets some! It was amazing to do it and she has no idea it was us!

It was also amazing to skype my family! I love you a lot and it was fun to spend a little bit of time with you! I will extend the same invitation to you all that I extended to them- go to the temple! It is so important! We have them everywhere in Utah and we take them for granted, but there is nothing more calming, no peace more filling, no place as sacred as the House of the Lord. I promise you will be blessed as you find time to go to the temple!

We also had a surprise yesterday when we showed up to the hotel for church and were informed that it will be closed for a month. Well, our apartment is set apart as a chapel, so everyone came chez nous. But it was a mess and so while my companions ran upstairs to clean as fast as humanly possible and make our Christmas, missionary apartment into a chapel, I distracted everyone haha but after a couple minutes, we all went up and they did an amazing job! And just like that, we held church in our apartment. It was a very unique experience.

Well, that is my week. It was more of a fun, vacation-y week. I saw a lot of France, I saw a lot of friends and I felt the spirit of Christmas the whole time. Also I ate caviar, so I'm fancy now. The next time I write it'll be 2016, my "black-out year", the only year of my whole life where I will be able to devote everything completely to serving the Lord and I anticipate doing just that. I love you all!

Thank you for your examples and service this season. Earth truly did see a little bit of heaven this year.

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

our zone in Lyon

The Big Dix-Neuf

Elder Hall is 19 (dix-neuf) years old, and I would like to thank you all for helping me get to this point in life! I had a great birthday, and an awesome week, I can't wait to tell you about it! It still hasn't snowed down here, but I'm not giving up hope! In fact, we (and all of the missionaries in our mission) are headed to Lyon for a special Christmas conference right now. I'm in Nice, and it's colder

up here than on our tropical paradise so there's a chance maybe! I'll tell you about that next week seeing as it hasn't happened yet it wouldn't be worth it right now haha.

our surprise lunch 

So remember our ami who I took the picture with the dead pig? Micca. Well we passed him this week, got to teach him a lesson, and then we passed him again and he was busy, but he said that his friend had passed away so we got to teach him really quickly about how we can see our loved ones again after this life, we read the scriptures in Alma 40 that testify of what happens after we die. He was touched, and said that he can't wait to meet with us again. He has a ton of potential and I know he is someone that the spirit will help us with a lot.

Also, this week we wanted to give back to our amazing ami's and recent converts, Marie-Rose, Sylvia and Noel, so on Saturday we had an all American burger lunch featuring some intense rounds of uno and a heartfelt testimony. We spent a couple hours making the food (which we had bought before hand but Sylvia unknowingly brought us everything we needed for it) and they showed up and we feasted. They really do so much for us, I don't know if we could survive so alone on an island without them, and even if we could it wouldn't be as happy as having such loving people with us all the time!

my breakfast

Now my birthday! I actually kinda forgot about it until the night before, but when I woke up and got ready to exercise, I went into the kitchen and surprise! They had woken up early and made me breakfast! It was really good, and I felt spoiled haha. After a great rendez-vous where I was sung to, we had a little three man party with the decorations and stuff mom sent me and we made a muffin cake and ate patisseries. Then Sylvia came over and we played uno. (Uno has been in good use here haha). It was wonderful and I felt loved all day so don't worry. 

We also had a ward Christmas party after church yesterday and we had 18 people show up. We brought a member down to church who lives pretty far away. He's blind so we usually give him the sacrament at his house but he was so excited to come down. It was a great meal with fois gras and a ton of desserts! I'm trying so hard not to get fat this month haha. 

my breakfast

We are seeing some cool things here. I can't wait to skype my family and tell you all about it face to face! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! Remember that it's about Christ. He came for us. We was born so we could live. He is the light and life of the world. He is our Savior and Redeemer. I love Him.

Joyeux Noël!

Love, Elder Hall

Glad Tidings of Great Joy

Fear not! For behold, I bring glad tidings of great joy! Ça veux dire that this week was full of little tender mercies and a couple big ones! First off I want to just express how much I love the Christmas

season and all the feelings that come along with it. The world turns into a better place at Christmastime! Well, for the most part. And I know I say this every week but time is flying by and I can't believe I am almost 19! I have some good things to raconté this week.  Buckle up! (That's a pun... You'll see).

the before and after of our tree

D'accord! So let's start off with a little Christmas cheer that my dear friends and recent converts brought to the pathetic missionaries this past week. I told you about the Christmas tree made from lights that my mom sent us, and how it stopped working (we loved it while it lasted). Well, our ami's, Sylvia and Noel, saw the poor thing, and being the amazing (and when I say amazing I mean these people probably spend $50 a week on bringing us food and treats, even when we tell them not to, they do it because of how much the gospel has changed their lives. 

Keep that in mind) people they are called and told us they had a surprise. Well, they came to our apartment for our daily rendez-vous and what do they have? A Christmas tree with ornaments and tinsel and lights, and even a little crèche to set up! It was more than any missionary could ever ask for! They literally brought us Christmas. We set it up with them, then turned off the lights and sat in its glow while we talked about Jesus Christ. I was close to tears as I looked at these two humble Corsicans and felt the pure love of Christ overflow in my heart. We weren't on the giving end, we were the ones who received the blessing, but the spirit in that little multi-colored flashing room was incredibly strong.

Noel and I at this birthday party

Now that we've baptized all of our ami's, we needed to find some new ones, so we went porting in an apartment building that Elder Wade felt like we should go. Well, we got a bunch of doors slammed, one guy thought we were the police and when he found out we weren't, he slammed the door twice as hard haha. But on one etage, we had knocked and no one answered so we waited for a little bit just hoping someone would and as we turned to give up, the door opened and a man was there. We taught him at the door and he took a Book of Mormon and invited us back! We actually went to visit him today and he is very open and receptive to the gospel. He has been prepared I think. He's also a charcuterie maker and salesman, which is to say that we raises Corsican pigs, then kills them and makes delicious sausage things. Well he wanted to show us a pig he'd killed so we went down to his

car, he pulled out a bag and voila! I'll send a pic. I can't wait to see him more!

me and a dead pig and micca 

Also, I'm driving a lot nowadays. We went to pick up our ami so we could take her to our house for to teach, and the traffic was pretty stop and go. So I come to a stop and then all of the sudden our car lurches forward twice and my stomach dropped. We got hit. I pulled over and the other car did too and a young mom gets out with her baby. Everyone was ok and the car wasn't too badly hit, even though it was pretty hard. But figures that would happen to me haha that's what my lame pun was from earlier

And just some interesting stuff about church down here. Our group meets in a hotel for 2 hours on Sunday's. Sacrament meeting is first and then there is 30 minutes of Sunday school and 30 minutes of priesthood/relief society where everyone is together. The missionaries are in charge of bringing all the supplies and basically any priesthood aspects of church, but there are a couple priesthood holders here who help out. In terms of relationship to the stake, it's hard but a member of the stake presidency comes down every once in a while. Corsica is an unconventional place logistic wise, but the church is the same anywhere you go, and the members are strong and awesome!

I'm excited for this next week as we approach Christmas! I hope you are all taking advantage of the amazing spirit that comes with it. Something cool is that I found this morning is the link between Luke 2:10-11 and D&C 31:3. As a missionary, I am able to declare the same glad news that the Angels did on the night Christ was born! It's that He lives! He's come to save us, to love us, to help us! This is truly glad tidings of great joy! There is nothing quite like being a missionary here at this time of the year. We sang a Christmas carol to an old lady who didn't want anything to do with us while we were porting and she was actually smiling and laughing before she slammed the door! What fun!  I love you all, have a great week!

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

A White Christmas

What a week! Spoiler alert: we had a baptism this week and this was my first one on my mission, but you get to wait a little bit to read about that. I'll start with some not so spiritual stuff so that when I

tell you about the baptism it's even better! D'accord? D'accord! So this week I got to cut my own hair. I always promised that I would never, but it's just come to that point haha I was pretty scared as I was seeing large chunks of hair fall on the floor, but when it was over and I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to find that it was actually REALLY good! The best one I've gotten on my mission so far! So I was feeling pretty good, and the next night Elder Johnson asked me to trim up the back of his neck. So I go and as soon as I shaved the first part I knew that I'd made a terrible mistake. I cut off probably two inches from the back of his hair. My face was utter terror and Elder Wade and I both lost it. I ended up finishing but it looks pretty funny and I felt bad. That's what pride does.

I hope this picture doesn't scare you, but now you can all remember the real me haha

Also, I got to know Elder Wade pretty well this week because we had to drive up to the top of the island a couple times and then Elder Johnson got sick and while he was sleeping we just had some good heart to hearts. He's a great guy, very funny and stuff, but remember how I said that we are so different yet so similar, that is COMPLETELY true! Also, he taught me how to drive so I've been the conducteur this week and let me tell you that driving in France is basically doing whatever you want and then putting your emergency lights on while you are doing it! Haha but it's fun to drive again. Also, we went running on the beach one morning, and as much as it killed me, it was something cool that I've never done! Especially in December...

This week my family sent me a birthday package with a make-it-yourself Christmas tree and so we decorated and are all in the Christmas spirit! But then the tree died... But it's still awesome and brings happiness and a little home-ness to our apartment. And the Christmas season is so cool! It's pretty warm here so I feel weird, but I can't wait to see the miracles that come from the spirit of Christ being poured out upon the earth. I'm going to talk about Christmas in a little bit too, so hang in there!

The baptism!!

So, at the beginning of the week, we were supposed to have 2 baptisms this week, Sylvia and Noel, the ami's that got married last time. Well, there was a series of events that happened and it turns out that Noel didn't have to be baptized, because he is handicapped in some ways, and is already basically innocent. If you could see the amazing amount of faith that these 2 have, you would love them as much as I do! But Sylvia still got to be baptized, and because we don't have a chapel here, we do baptisms at the beach. I was asked to give a talk on baptism so I did, then elder Johnson and I were witnesses and elder Wade baptized her. Wow, the spirit was SO strong! She was so prepared for this! I actually got the opportunity to confirm her at church. I was super stressed all week and especially Sunday morning because this would be the first blessing I'd ever given in French and it was in front of a ton of people. I had been fasting to give a good blessing, and really was leaving it all up to the Lord. I gave the blessing, and the important parts were perfect because I had tried to memorize it, and the rest of the blessing was good, I felt the spirit so strong, but I was so disappointed in my French. It wasn't what I thought I would be blessed with. As I was think back on it, I realized what a blessing it was to get to confirm someone as a member of Christs true church. I am not perfect, but luckily our Heavenly Father works through imperfect instruments. And the thing that matters isn't my French, it is the fact that a soul was brought unto Christ. That is what this thing I'm doing for 2 years is all about. It's not about me, it's about sharing the amazing message of Christ, and helping Him bring salvation to the children of God who don't know where to find truth. Voila! My first baptismal experience here was just perfect! I feel truly blessed to be here on Corsica.

our little group

And now just a thought about Christmas. What a wonderful time of year where we get to have everything centered on our Lord and Savior! If you haven't seen the new Christmas video the church released, you should. This season, I would ask you all to look for some gifts you can give to Christ. Think of all the gifts He's given you! I promise that as you do this, you will feel the spirt of Christmas stronger than ever! I love you all, I love Jesus Christ, and I love the truthfulness of this church! Have a great week!

Elder Hall

Wedding Bells and a Cheesy Thanksgiving

I have a lot to tell this week! My dad wrote me a couple weeks ago and told me that missions are like mini lives, and I would have to say that after the last couple weeks I've had, he is completely right! This week I got to see the beautiful and coveted Corsica, but the most amazing things I've found here are the people, and we'll get to them later. (PS sorry that was super cheesy. Truly, I am.) I think I'm

going to like it here, and I know I'm going to grow a ton. So without further ado, I present... Corsica! (I'm going to stop being so cheesy now... oh my gosh that's just WAY too much, wow.)

So, my comps are pretty cool. Elder Wade is the one I have never been with before so we're getting to know each other. We are so different in a lot of ways, and then so similar in a lot of other ways it's

actually really funny haha he doesn't quite understand my humor yet but he will arrive. It's weird going from a 5 man apartment in a city filled with other missionaries to being exiled on an island with only my 2 companions. But it's a lot of fun! We have a car and I'm learning the French road rules so I can drive bientôt! It's a whole different world down here for missionaries. We can and do teach in our apartment, our amis just come over and bring us food and we teach them in our living room haha.

me with Sylvia and Noel after the wedding

Speaking of amis, we have 2 extremely amazing ones right now, they're named Sylvia and Noel. Now, you will see pictures of them, but they are some of the most amazing, faithful people I've ever met, and I just love them so much! They are getting baptized next Saturday but before they got baptized, they needed to get married, so this past Saturday we had a wedding! Just so we get this straight, I had a funeral and a marriage in 2 weeks. If that doesn't sound like my life, I don't know what does! Haha but not only was it a wedding of our amis, but we got to be the témoignes! (Witnesses). So we got to sit in the middle and sign the papers after the lady said that they were married. It was quite an honor and a once in a lifetime experience I think! So then we got to go to the after party and it was there that I realized just how much I love it here.

the room and my beau face

First some background, we have a group here in Ajaccio, that means that there are literally 11 members here. Half of them are old and the other half are young and diverse, but gosh dang it these are the most fun, kind people I've

ever met! You know how much I love diversity, and you know how much I love members, so when I looked around our table at all the members that came to support Sylvia and Noel, all their smiles and personalities, I couldn't stop smiling! I am so excited to get to know all 11 of these people so well and I already love them! I wish you could all meet them! Anyways, there was a lot of good food and some dancing and the family members got kinda drunk but it was funny to look at our table with the sparking cider and coffee things still on the plates! I'll send some pictures!

Thanksgiving was not like thanksgiving back at home, but it reminded me about all that I'm thankful for and gave me so much more to be! We decided to make some cookies and deliver them to the members and then film them saying what they were grateful for. A ton of them said missionaries and the church and that was so cool because it wasn't just to add something spiritual, it was literally the thing for which they loved the most! It was such a testimony builder because to be a faithful member of the church here would not be easy, but they do it and they do it with a smile and a thankful heart! That night, Sylvia and Noel brought over some fruit cake and that (as well as a salad before bed) was our thanksgiving feast! I didn't have a lot to eat, but I was definitely fed. (Ok, that was the last cheesy thing!)

our basketball night

Also, elder Wade loves basketball. We went into a print shop one day to try and get my passport photocopied so that I could legally be a witness at the wedding. Well, the guy working saw I was from Utah and asked if we knew the Jazz. Elder Wade got talking to him and long story short he invited us to come play with his basketball team who he coaches, just of younger teenagers. So we showed up and I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself in front of a ton of strangers so I sat out, but while they were all playing, I took the opportunity to film and add some commentary, and it felt like I was back doing what I love! Haha it was a tender mercy in a situation that I thought could only bring me depression hahaha and hopefully we can teach this guy soon!

the Corsican V 

I cannot believe I'm here on Corsica. We actually went to the beach today with Sylvia and watched

the sunset. It is every France, Lyon missionaries dream to be here. I have truly been given a blessing that I need to do everything I can to live up to. The Lord knows what He's doing. He has prepared people and we are going to find them. It's like hide and seek, but the prize is eternal salvation, so we've gotta be good seekers! I know that with Gods help I can sniff em out! haha I love this church. It is so true! I love my Savior, He came to the Earth and I get to tell everyone about it! I love you all, and honestly thank each and every one of you for your support, love, faith and courage. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for me, but until then I'll keep preaching the gospel.

Tellement d'amore,

Elder Hall

waving goodbye to the continent 

Of Corse

Elder Hall with Elder and Sister Sweeney at church in Lyon

Today I took my big adventure out of Lyon for the first time. Yes, it's transfer time again, and with transfers came a huge surprise. I'll explain it all a little later but that's a good enough hook I think! Haha but anyway, it's just regular here, the new regular I guess! There were a bunch of cool things that happened this past week that I'm looking forward to telling you all about, so with that, let'sstart off with an awesome miracle!

On Wednesday, Elder Brown and I didn't have a lot planned, we went connecting for a little bit in the park but it was not very successful. We had a rendez-vous planned at our church so we decided we'd go to the church and get some stuff done before our ami showed up. We got there and were sitting in the foyer area for maybe 5 minutes when we heard a sound like someone was trying to open the door. Well, with all the crazy stuff that's been happening we both looked at each other like "psh, I don't know what to do!" So Elder Brown went and opened the door and there was a little African lady standing out there. We invited her in and she told us that she passed this church every day on her way to work and randomly that day she decided to stop by and see if we were having church, and what luck (wink wink) the missionaries just so happened to be there! We sent her away with a Book of Mormon, our number and an invitation to church.

here's my new gang haha

Next, I told you last week about how Christelle's dad passed away, well this past Friday was his funeral. Now, for any of you that really know me, it would only make sense that I would go to a funeral on my mission because it was a little overdue HA. But it was in an old Catholic cathedral and it was so sad! But there was some Mormon aspects which was pretty funny and also very awesome. One of the prayers that Christelle had to write started with "Cher pere Celeste" which is dear Heavenly Father and for those of you who don't know, Catholics don't say that haha. They also read a scripture from Alma and told everyone it was from the Book of Mormon and then the song that was played when the casket was rolled out was MoTab amazing grace! Haha but Christelle appreciated that we went to support her. I felt the spirit so strong when that last song came on and then I figured out why I love our church!

this is Caesar, he's the best! 

Now for the juicy deets! This week was transfer calls and I was really hoping to stay with elder Brown because I love him a ton! We got them on the way to the funeral and president told me that I would be going to.... Corsica! I'm going to a ville called Ajaccio with 2 companions, and here's the second surprise, they are Elder Johnson (my trainer) and Elder Jesse Wade (Utah Mr. basketball last year). I was not expecting any of that! So right now I am sitting in a ville called Toulon, waiting to get on a ferry that will take us over to Corsica and in the morning I will be on an island! This transfer has a lot in store! (It's like spiritual Survivor) You never know with your mission, but I am someone that hates change so I am pretty shocked haha. But I have had several experiences where I knew that the Lord has called me here because I have a specific work to do. And this thanksgiving season I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be here in France serving the Lord. I'm going to do a little thanks-a-mony vit fait, but I am thankful for Heavenly Father keeping us safe, for His ever loving hand in all things, and for the blessings He so mercifully pours out upon me! I'm thankful for my family and friends and the love and prayers I feel from them all the time. I am thankful for chocolate (especially the Swiss kind), for church members, for coats and for warm showers! 

Have a happy Thanksgiving! I love you all so so much!

Gros bisou!

Elder Hall

Death and Destruction

I'll start out with what you all want to hear the most: I'm alive!

my Asian reference for the week 

This past week has been one of the craziest ones on my mission. That is not an exaggeration, I was on an emotional roller coaster that basically consisted of a sudden drop and some loops haha.

I gave 3 blessings this week, none in French but in English and that was cool. One was to a sister missionary in my ward, one was to a member of our ward, and one was to a dying man in a hospital. I'll get to that story in a minute, but the one with the sister from our ward was so cool because she speaks English, so it got to give it in English, and I could feel the spirit so strong. I said some stuff that I think she really needed to hear but I don't even remember it haha. Heavenly Father was definitely speaking to her through me and it was amazing. Around this time, I got news of the death of my dog, Reggie, who was one of my best friends. That was so hard for me. I tried not to think about it too much but my heart broke when I did. While all of this was happening, we got a message from Christelle that said that her dad had a stroke and was in the hospital dying. We had prayed for him, and then she asked if we could come to the hospital. Well, he was in a ville about 30 minutes away in another sector and zone, but we got permission from our zone leaders and we got a miracle ride from some elders with a car who lived in that ville and got to go. In the hospital room, we explained to her a little bit about priesthood blessing, and asked if she wanted us to give him one. She said yes, and we anointed and blessed him. During the blessing, I had an overwhelming impression that he was going to die, and afterwards I found out that my companion had the same feeling. We finished it and the room was filled with peace and the spirit. We kept texting and calling her to make sure that she was okay and her family was being taken care of, and we got a text on Thursday that Bernard had passed away. I loved that old man, and it was just another thing that affected me this week haha. But through it all we have been able to talk to Christelle about the Plan of Salvation and a lot of miracles have happened this week too, just some cool small ones but I definitely saw Heavenly Father in my life and even though there's been some sad stuff, we've laughed equally as much!

Now the juicy stuff: live from France this is Elder Hall :)

Me in front of Hôtel de Ville 

We woke up on Saturday morning and started getting ready to exercise when Elder Haskin read the text that we got at 4:30 that morning that said that there had been a serious terrorist attack in Paris and we were not allowed to leave the apartment. Well that's when our minds started racing, and since we have the two district leaders in our apartment we were calling all the missionaries and making sure they knew what the directions were. We thought that the Eiffel Tower had been bombed or something, but we slowly got updates and stuff, but that morning was calmly crazy haha we made crepes and just prayed hoping that everything was okay. Eventually we got permission to go to rendez-vous but under no circumstances were we to take public transportation. So we were walking all around Lyon, which was not crowded as it usually is. We were told to stay away from dangerous places, and one thing you should all know is that in souther France, especially in the big cities, the population of Muslims is extremely high, and so we were pretty restricted area wise. But we walked to the institute and taught English class, then had to walk all the way back home before it got dark.

our fancy night 

We were not supposed to be outside in the dark. Then we heard that the Jihadists had called to all the other extremists in France to do the same thing and so our rules are still in enforcement, but we can take buses and trams. It's been kinda intense but I also know that as long as we are obedient, Heavenly Father has promised to watch over and protect us as missionaries. We are still praying for the people who were affected because it's a terrible thing that happened. In ward conference on Sunday, the stake president taught about how Satan is gaining the hearts of people, and in this day and age, if we stray even for a little bit from the path of the gospel, we are opening our doors for him to come in. I've seen some of that as members of the church are turning away, from what I've heard about with the churches clarification of children of same sex couples. The Lord knows what he's doing, and what he's doing is trying to fortify the members of the church during this time of confusion and temptation. The war is on, and we need to pick a side, because we all know who is going to win, and if we don't choose the side of God, we will be dragged onto the side of Satan. Spoiler alert, satan is going to lose. Choose ye this day.

I love you all! Keep going strong! If there is any time, it is now!

Until next week, keep praying. We all know the world needs some good prayers.

Love,

Elder Hall

our zone p day

Seigneur mon Dieu

Family and friends, tis I, Elder Hall, coming to you from France where the work is going great and we had 2 baptisms this week! Now before you get excited, they were not our baptisms, but we are really good friends with the two who were baptized so that was very fun! We are still working hard on the baptismal front, and maybe one day... Haha This week was one of exchange for me, so I didn't get to see our amis really at all, and I missed my own sector and companion, but it was a good week quand-meme!

To start off, I want to tell you about a taco place here in Lyon called MasterTacos, because I had it twice this week. It is an amazing place that makes delicious burrito things, and the employees all know and love missionaries because every 6 weeks when new missionaries get to Lyon, all of them and their trainers go to eat. Also Lyon missionaries go there regularly, and this week they actually catered Zone Conference! I'll tell you a little bit about zone conference later, but I'm getting to the point here. This is just one example of businesses that missionaries frequent where the owners and employees know the missionaries well. Recently, President Brown has received revelation for the missionaries to start doing "business contacting". At all these places where we go, instead of just getting stuff and leaving, we are now talking to the workers, and building a relationship. It's hard because we aren't allowed to just go start proselytizing (I'm not quite sure if that's a word) in a private

business, but a lot of the small business owners here in France are working while we are working too, and so the only opportunity they would have to hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or the

Restoration is if we talk to them in their shops! And the cool thing is, this is working! We have an ami named Michelle who owns a bag shop by our house. He's Chinese but has lived here for a while. We always have a lesson planned so if we are ever walking by and there's no customers in there we can go talk to him. He is super knowledgeable about the gospel because he's been taught for a couple years already, but it's amazing to feel the spirit that can come into an empty shop when the gospel is being taught.

So Zone Conference was so cool! The theme was "Take Aim" and we were taught about how to better plan and use the tools that have been given to us as missionaries to make us successful! As part of the theme, President Brown (who is an avid hunter) took us all outside, loaded his longbow and shot an empty soda bottle that was thrown into the air! It was so cool! I have the coolest mission president ever! But not to be outdone, Soeur Brown later on in the conference, as part of her message took us all outside, gave us little nerf guns and we played an awesome game of Attack, Defend, Surrender. One thing I really got out of conference was that prayerful planning proceeds perfection. This is important because Jesus Christ commands us all to be perfect (which is a pretty lofty goal) but Soeur Brown always says that he only wants us to become perfect in what we are called to do, it's our end goal, what we are always working towards. And so as missionaries, when we prayerfully pray and exercise our faith in planning for our amis, we will be blessed to magnify our callings, and that's one step closer to perfection! So what a great take-away!

our zone at zone conference (I'm always awkward no matter what I do)

Chrystelle came to church this week! She told us some of the hard stuff going on in her life and we know so firmly that the gospel is the one thing that can help her and her family. But she doesn't smoke, drink coffee, and she doesn't even like to bise! She is progressing but there is still a lot of work to be done. I know that with the help of God all things are possible. That's what I rely on 😊.

So back to the baptism, I actually got to sing with my companion and the sister missionaries in our ward and it was a great experience. We sang "Seigneur mon Dieu" which is the French version of How Great Thou Art. The Spirit was so strong after the baptism and then we got to sing and it hit me. I know this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and nothing can make me doubt that. I have a testimony of His atonement, it changes us. It can help us every day if we let it. Sometimes that means giving up our pride, but it will always be worth it. Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and I have that reaffirmed to me every time I testify of the Restoration. The Book of Mormon is true and everyone needs to read it! It's true in English, it's true in French, it's true in Spanish, it's true! I love Christ with everything in me, and I love the people (especially the ones who are nice). I also love all of you! Have a great week! I allez-vous you to read the Book of Mormon this week, and then set some goals for how you can be a missionary this week! You will see blessings!

I'm sorry this email wasn't the funniest, but I learned a lot this week and it's made me better! If you have any complaints, bring them up to the Big Man upstairs 😉

Elder Hall

Happy (Elder) Hall-oween!

I love puns! Good day everyone! Does anyone else feel like time is speeding up? Well I definitely do and I wish it would stop. But this week was so interesting and fun, and Heavenly Father gave us some pretty cool blessings. So without further audieu... let me tell you a little about my Hallo-week. 

I made some funny halloween decorations and then another elder got sent some, so our apartment was pretty festive! We had a halloween party that Ill explain later and so for that our apartment was in charge of making some cake and some pinatas.

Our bat piñatas and costumes

Elder Brown and I made the cake, and then we helped the others make some awesome bat pinatas. I cut out the eyes, and Ill attach a picture so you can see how cool they are! Haha also, we even got to dress up (a little at least), but I tied a couple of ties together and then switched tags with Elder Bleak, the chinese speaking elder, so that Elder Brown and I were the Chinese equipe for Halloween! Haha also, for our morning hymns, we sang a Christmas song but replaced all the christmas words with "hal-ween!" It was all just a ton of fun! Ill explain the climax of our awesome party later on, but first I want to tell you about food.

Elder Brown and I got to eat ratatouille this week, and it didnt look anything like the stuff in the movie, but in fact it tasted a bajillion times better (I assume haha). It was at a members house, and speaking of members, we have been receiving some inspiration lately that our ward needs to be motivated to do member missionary work, so we spent some time coming up with a family mission plan that will be fun and also spiritually motivating. We are going to put it into action this week and hope that maybe we can help some of the members to increase their desire to do missionary work, or at least to grow their faith! 

I want to tell you all about Chrystelle, our ami. Ive already told you a little about her, but we are just becoming best friends with her and its so fun! So her dad, the old french one, saw her Book of Mormon just lying on the table and tried to steal it so he could read it, and she texted us saying "do you think that you can bring a Book of Mormon to our next rendez-vous so that my dad doesnt keep

A member of our ward took this pic of us in the fog on Sunday morning! 

trying to steal mine?" hahaha I was dying and of course we never turn down a chance to give out a Book of Mormon so we signed it as "les missionnaires patissieres" (the baking missionaries) and gave it to her for him. Well anyway, she is progressing so fast and so well! Every question that comes out of her mouth during lessons is perfect! Its amazing! There was a time this week that we found out that her husband might not be ok with her taking lessons, so we were pretty scared. Then God started working miracles and the coolest thing happened! 

Happy Halloween from Elder Hall! 

So the sisters of the other ward put together a Halloween party for saturday night and so we invited a bunch of our amis. The night of Halloween, we went to help set up, and as members, missionaries and amis started trickling in, we were waiting and hoping that ours would show up. Finally I saw a familiar face, and it was Chrystelle and her husband, Joel! We got to talk to them a bunch and introduce them to some of the other missionaries and members, and it was just what they needed! At one point, we even got to explain to Joel about baptism and what exactly we do as missionaries, and asked him if he would like to join us for some lessons with Chrystelle, and he said he would love to! THAT IS A MIRACLE and it was just an answer to our prayers and worries that maybe he wouldnt let her keep going, but he is and Heavenly Father must have big things in store for her! Also, she is going to help me learn French because she speaks french and english and perfectly! She is just the best, I wish you could all meet her and her family! And that was my halloween miracle. Also, some people just thought that we were dressing up as Mormons for Halloween, which in some way is kind of true haha.

So it was a wonderful week, and I hope you all had a good one too! I also got to go porting for the first time this week and it was so fun! We saw a couple miracles there, met a guy who hasnt seen the missionaries in 40 years and gave away 2 Book of Mormons! God loves us all so much! He just wants us to be happy, but we have to do all we can for that! This week, see if you can write down all the little tender mercies you see and I promise you will be happier, see more miracles and appreciate the little things in life more than you ever have! 

I love you all! 

Elder Hall

the Great Escape and Elder Halls Cookie Workshop

I dont know about all of you, but I had an awesome week, which will be shared in the following paragraphs. If the title of this is not a hook I just dont know what is! We shall start with the fun and funny stories and proceed to the spiritual ones and then, as always, I will give you an allez-vous! Now that we have the outline, voila! On-y va!

This week I drank aloe vera, but there was some events that led up to that, namely Elder Halls Cookie Workshop. Remember those awesome cookies I made a couple weeks ago? Also, do you remember the chinese people I spent conference with? Well they love the cookies I make for some reason and one girl specifically, her name is YaLi, wanted to know how to make them, and so Elder Brown and I, along with the other chinese elders in our apartment (who I love) taught her how to make them in a hands on workshop. She came up with the name of it and we had a lot of fun, and even better we got to use the cookies to get Chrystelles address! The next day we went to deliver the cookies to her, because her dad was in town and it was his birthday, so we eventually found her apartment and got to meet her completely french 82 year old father, and american husband! They have such a fun family, and while we were there she brought out some aloe vera and asked if we wanted some and we were like "uh.... I guess" so she put some burning hot water into a cup with some aloe vera jelly and stirred it up and it smelt so good and tasted a little worse haha But we got to talk to her husband a little bit about the gospel and we have become great friends with them! We are planning to watch Meet the Mormons with them at some point soon. 

Also this week I had some seriously intense moments. The first one was while we were on a blitz in Clermont. We had an hour to contact and then we had to be back to the gare (train station) to go to a members house for dinner. Well Elder Guyeaux and I were not keeping track of time and when we saw the sisters get on the bus right across the street from the church there, he realized that the train was leaving in 20 minutes and the next bus wasnt coming for 15 minutes, so we started running. And then we just kept going. And it was all uphill. And the buses werent coming. So we are running and I see the gare and we have 4 minutes until it leaves and and we just book it to the platform and the other missionaries are there and I pull off my sweater and just die. We barely made the train and we found out later that we had run 4 kilometers (a little over 2 1/2 miles) in less than 20 minutes in our church clothes. So I was pretty proud of myself and recognized the complete miracle of that! 

One more: our apartment locked us in for some reason and the door to the outside world would not open. We had to go teach a less active who lives right across the street and hates when were late and so we went to the apartment underground and tried to navigate our way through a maze of garages and doors and there were random stairs going who knows where. I was laughing my head off because we were just opening doors and shrugging and running into complete darkness trying to get out of our apartment. Finally we popped out on this side street and got to teach our less active. So this week has been an adventure!

But also Ive felt the spirit so strong as it was stake conference and a member of the area 70, Elder Homer got to come address the Lyon stake. Everything except for his was in French and I actually understood a good portion of it. He talked about having faith to not sink and when the winds come and the water starts to get choppy, hold on, hold out, keep the faith, and just go step by step, and Christ will help you keep walking on the water. It was an amazing conference and Elder Brown and I got to sing in the choir! It was fun to sing with a bunch of old french people! ;) 

We got to see Frederic again yesterday and he fed us as usual. We felt like he needed a lesson on the atonement and repentance, so we taught him the gospel of Christ and repentance and he said that ever since hes been meeting with us hes seen a change in his life and his relationships, hes wanted to change himself and everything is just clicking! I seriously watched as the Holy Ghost taught him, right in front of our eyes! He is going to convert himself, I know it! He denied our baptismal committment but I believe that as he keep reading and feeling the spirit, he will come to understand! 

I love it here! I cant believe its already Halloween and I will tell you what happens with that next week! But I love you all, and I want you to know that I know this is the true church of Christ, that through His grace we can become better, we can walk on water, and heck, maybe we can even speak French! I love Him, I testify of His reality and love for you all, and I allez-vous you all to try to have a little more faith this week. Try to see His plan for you, and as you do it you can walk step by step towards him! I love you! Have a great and safe Halloween!

Elder Hall

Frenchionnaries

This week, this week. There is a lot to tell you all about this past week! The windows of heaven just burst open and miracles were thrust upon us, so thank you all for the prayers and bonjour! I hope this week has been a great week for you all, too! 

I'm going to go ahead and start with my companion, Elder Brown. I told you a little about what I thought he would be like last week, and not to brag, but I was 100 percent right. Elder Brown is from SLC and he was just born to be a missionary. Our first nightly planning was so awesome, I felt like I was in a bishops interview haha He is helping me be so much more obedient and how to follow the spirit. He always asks me what I think we should do and doesnt budge until I say something, and usually its something that I think the spirit is telling me to do. He is the district leader so that makes me the district monkey and that literally means nothing! But along with him, our ward also got a new DMP which is a ward mission leader. His name is Syo and he is from New Caladonia and he is just the best! At our first meeting, he told us that the work is hastening and so because of that our ward has to shape up in missionary work and fast. We planned a bunch of stuff that I believe will help our ward become better at being missionaries and because of that the amount of miracles we are going to see is going to skyrocket! (Im using the word miracle a lot but thats because theres no other way to describe whats happening here). Also, remember last week how I told you that I thought I was getting fat? Well, that quickly stopped happening the minute Elder Brown got here because now we have a workout schedule planned for every morning and even though its freezing and I look like a new born deer who got hit by a car when I exercise, we do it a ton and now I can eat all the patisseries I want! 

So we saw a lot of amis this week, and guess what? Remember Aaron, the ami who opened his door and told us that he knew what we were saying was true? Well we went by to pass him this week, as we have been doing for four weeks and hes never been home. Well we stopped by, waited for a while, stuck a note on his door and left. As we were walking down the sidewalk we found him walking right towards us! He said hes told his family and friends about us, and he got a phone so now we can contact him! We gave him a book of mormon in spanish and he said the only way he can find out if its true is if he reads and prays about it! THAT IS A MIRACLE PEOPLE! We made some banana bread and took it to him and are seeing him this week! 

We have a new ami named Chrystelle who is so prepared as well. We got to teach her about temples and we had a rendez-vous with her this morning where we felt prompted to share the plan of salvation with her. She said that when she feels like for sure this is true, she will be baptised! Shes also kind of like an older sister and gave us coupons and helped me look for a good coat to wear haha 

Another ami is Frederic. He is 21 and lives on the 16th floor of this apartment building that overlooks all of Lyon and its so cool! Every time we visit him, he insists on feeding us, and he works at a big grocery store so he always has the best snacks! haha He is reading the Book of Mormon and says that he loves it! We had an awesome lesson about the restoration and he said he has trouble accepting absolute truth but we can back up our claims, and we told him that if he prays, God can back up our claims too! He said that he wants to keep learning and find his faith, and I believe that he has been prepared for this. I know that if we can keep teaching him and just hanging out with him (because being friends with your amis is just as important as teaching them!) he will get baptised. 

Everything is falling right into the place where God wants it to be, and I am so humbled and happy that I get to be here to help! I had a conference this week where president talked about how God helps us grow, and its by letting us do things on our own, and if we fail, he will be there to help us back up. He knows what we have in us, our potential, and by letting us fall, we begin to realize it to! A quote I really liked is "The greatest achievements in life will oftentimes follow failure in the same pursuit." So my allez-vous this week is to keep trying! When life gets hard, remember that God is there, and turn it into a growing opportunity. 

I love you all! I love being a frenchionnary and think that its the best thing to be in the whole world! We are seeing the hand of God everyday. I know He's there and loves us, and this is proof that when times get hard, they always get better! 

Until next week,

Elder Hall 

Transfers, Brains and Baguettes

So this week was a big week for me. I hit my transfer mark, that makes 6 weeks here in France, and along with that, there is always a lot of change. You who know me know that change is something I try to avoid like the plague but on missions that is almost impossible to do because you can run but you cant hide (and you probably shouldn't be doing either ;) ). So with that being said, lets get this thing rolling!

We'll start with the food aspect because I realized you guys haven't seen nearly enough pictures of me eating! ;) This week I had my first baguette!

Yes, thats weird because Ive been in France for 6 weeks but when you're busy preaching salvation there is no time for baguettes! (but there's always time for patisseries). So I had it at zone conference, which was very good by the way. We talked about the emphasis the general authorities are putting on sacrament meeting and the sabbath day. Here in France, sacrament meeting is usually the last meeting of the church block, but the general authorities changed that, not just here but throughout the world. So now, in every ward, sacrament meeting is the first thing! Its pretty cool, and I saw a change in the reverence of our meeting yesterday. But I am going to talk about that more later on, we're talking about food here! The baguette was delicious! I ate a whole one with cheese and yum. YUUMMM! I am getting fat, I know it, and if I could read the kilogram scales, maybe I could verify that. Also, they have things here called kebabs which are like calf or lamb meat inside a burrito type thing with different sauces and I got mine and it was also really great! Lyon is the cuisine capital of the world but because of our limited funds, I'll just stick with kebabs haha.

We met with Pecheur again this week. He is Muslim and likes to talk so we don't get a lot of teaching into our appointments, but he is so interested in the gospel. He came to a missionary stake fireside last night and he loved it! President Brown talked directly to the amis and Pecheur felt like it was just for him. I feel like he can commit to baptism soon, we just need to have enough time to teach him haha.

So more about our ward, because I have come to love them so much! I am in the Porte-des-Alpes ward, obviously, and I have just started to learn a lot of the members names. But this past week they had a ward Halloween activity and it was so fun! They had us split up into Harry Potter houses and then play activities and count them for our houses. I got to know my team well and even though we lost a lot it was still really fun! They had some amazing food and a room where they cover your eyes and you touch things. We were all expecting the things to be fake because they felt super gross but lo and behold, we were touching pigs brain, squeezing liver and weird little beef things. They don't mess around here hahaha. But on Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting and all the members here have such strong testimonies! I actually understood them this time, whereas last testimony meeting was my first in France haha. But they are so caring for each other. When someone starts crying during their testimonies, its a race to see who can run up with a tissue the fastest! But a lot of them are first generation converts and to see how strong they are is inspiring! There is a little boy named Caesar who always draws me pictures and he is so great haha.

This week as also transfers as I said before. And it was pretty nerve wracking because I didn't want to really leave the ward and the blooming miracles I was seeing here. President called us and said "Elder Hall, you are going to be... staying right where you are. But you are getting a new companion, his name is Elder Brown." So today, actually a couple hours ago, I met my new comp and said goodbye to Elder Johnson. But Elder Brown is so amazing! He seems like the most obedient, caring missionary. I feel like we are going to be seeing a lot of miracles around here in the next 6 weeks. I'll keep you informed! And with that, I want to give my allez-vous to tout le monde! I know as missionaries we get a lot of prayers and so we see miracles a lot, but allez-vous pray to see the miracles in your lives, and maybe pray for us missionaries to see some miracles too? :) MERCI!I love you all so much! I am so proud of the people you all are!Dieu vous aime, et moi aussi.Elder Hall

our Halloween activity after we had decorated

Cute to Death

Well we find ourselves together on this Monday, after being spiritually fed and the week has come and gone as always! I have a lot to tell you about this week!

Let's start with earlier this week! Remember how we didn't see any of our Amis last week? This week we saw a grand total of... 1! Haha his name is Pecheur, which means "sinner" I'm French but he is so funny! He is so enthusiastic about learning about the gospel! At a pretty spiritual point in our lesson, he tried describing the spirit as follows: "Right now, our hearts and minds are not with us. They have travelled to an alternate dimension, a different universe to be closer to God." And I was like, "You know... I can see it." Hahaha but he came to general conference and is totally going to come to church!

From the top of the Cathedral

This week I went on what we call a Blue Exchange. I went with Elder Arné to Clermont again. It was one of the most fun days I've had here, and we also saw a bunch of miracles. We went contacting for a couple hours and met this lady who told us it was a blessing that we talked to her because she loves Jesus so much and wanted more of him! We took a break to go up to the top of a giant cathedral and took over this beautiful French town! Ahh, it was so cool! After we contacting and doing the work, we wanted to make cookies so we did and 1) it was so fun to make cookies again! 2) THEY WERE SO GOOD! I'm sending a picture so you can see them.

Now for general conference! So the first session for you all is in the morning but it starts at 6 here, and they were broadcasting it at a chapel, but I went to the institute with two of the elders in the trio that are in our apartment, and elder Johnson went with the other one to the chapel so we could be with our Amis. But they are a Chinese equipe so all the amis at the institute with us were Chinese and I love them! They also love me a lot for some reason. Conference was so amazing though! I don't know about you but I heard a LOT about faith, sabbath day observance, and listening to the Spirit. Every talk was so cool! And the 3 new apostles too! Honestly, everyone here could have sworn Bishop Causse would be called but we're a bit biased 😉.

So after one of the sessions, the Chinese people (who heard me singing the intermediate hymn) desired me to sing for them. I refused but they are pretty persistent, and so with some piano accompaniment, I sang "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" by One Direction to a bunch of Chinese people in Lyon, France. They loved it but I can definitely say that this conference ranks up there in one of the most interesting ones of my life haha They gave me a Chinese name which j can neither pronounce nor spell, but it means "cute to death", hence the title.

And for those of you who've heard about the flooding in France, all the missionaries are okay, but it might make transfers next week a little harder... Haha and yes, transfers are next week! 😮

I love you all so much! My allez-vous to you all is to sing for some Chinese people this week lol no. Look for the Spirit more in your life and figure out how you can follow Him more! As we heard a lot of, the more we try to be worthy, the closer we can be to the Spirit, and the more that He can testify to us. Keep being amazing disciples! Have a great week!

Je vous aime!

Elder (cute to death) Hall