The Office Grind

1) one of my first contacts in France who got baptized a month ago

stopped by the office to say hi! Fruits of my labor!

Happy Saturday everyone. This was just another week in the office. Its going super fast and when I was shocked to learn that we are halfway through April already. I'll try to make this email as exciting as possible. If it helps to think of it like a song, be my guest.

We spent 4 hours in a storage unit place. We need some more space to put furniture and stuff from apartments we are closing, so we scouted a place out and decided on it. Well they wouldnt let us sign for our association (the mission) so we went through a ton of waiting and document sending, and I actually made quick friends with a 5 year old black kid whose parents were looking too. He taught me how to count to 11 in english and we sang "goutte goutte" a french kids song together. It was nice. Finally we signed all the paperwork but we couldnt sign it under our name so we had to redo it all (if youre still reading in this paragraph I applaud you). Finally it was over and we went back before something else went wrong. 

This is English me

I have had a ton of fun this week with my companion. I appreciate him so much! Elder Lythgoe always makes me laugh, and hes just becoming a great friend. When you go through a lot of crazy stuff with a person, it builds a bond, and being in the office is crazy, even if you cant tell from my emails haha. Elder Lythgoe is good at being genuine. He will just say super nice and meaningful things that are exactly what I need to hear. Im glad I get to serve with him. 

We also got to teach Paul, our Finish french ami from the Congo over skype again! He's very inquirous and asks a lot of questions, but he really wants to know the truth! He keeps asking how he can know, and we keep telling him that if he reads in the Book of Mormon and prays about it, he can know of a surety. And when I say keep telling him, I mean we said it 10 times in our lesson haha So we had an idea, and we thought we could send him a Book of Mormon in Swahili! Thats his native language so we think he'll be able to read it better. We also sent him an old suit that was in our apartment so he can go to church haha. Hes so cool and I can't wait until he gets baptized! 

cleaning the chapel

Speaking of baptism, I dont know if I told you about President Brown's challenge for our mission, but he challenged us to baptise 91 people by the end of this transfer. Thats a ton, but we have accomplished and surpassed every other goal hes given us, getting engages, getting amis to church, and teaching with a thousand members in one month. Its so cool to see how when he sets an inspired goal, and we all go forward with faith (even if its a tiny ounce of faith), Heavenly Father can work through us. I had an overwhelming feeling at district meeting that we will meet this goal. Its a HUGE one, its impossible, but with Christ, nothing is impossible, and we are definitely with Christ. I felt the love of Christ a lot this week, not necessarily for myself, but for others. I remembered how important it is to persevere until the end and to be genuine. The world needs more people to love others and be genuine. Overall, I thought about the enabling power of the Atonement to help us through anything, and that can make negatives into positives. I have no idea how it works, but I know that it does. I love that we have it whenever we need it (for me its everyday), and that in using it, I feel pure and clean and happy. I testify that there is nothing more perfect than the Atonement of Jesus Christ, besides the Son of God himself. Use it, love it. You will see and feel its power.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers. Que Dieu vous benisse.

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

our view