My mission

A shift in my missionary paradigm. My mission was not typical. Past tense. I have been home from my mission for a few days. My mission was shorter than most. But I am still proud of how I served, it was an honorable mission.
There is a stigma with missionaries who return home early. Assumptions are made. Generalizations of sadness and failure. Granted before my mission I unfortunately fell into the same way of thinking. But I have been enlightened through my experience.
There is no sadness associated with my mission being shorter than most. And utterly no sense of failure.  None. It was a good mission. My gifts and talents are just more compatible with a different type of service. My mission is not something that needs to be tiptoed around. I would love to bore you with my excessive mission stories.
My mission and the decisions that I have made regarding it are something I will never regret. I have learned a lot. And will continue to learn from it throughout the rest of my life. I consider missionary work to be an amazing way to spread the gospel. And I commend every single missionary for their commitment. The Philippines is such a unique and beautiful place. So full of its own culture and way of life. I had a lot of wonderful, positive experiences. I know that this Church is true. And I hope to be able to serve my whole life in ways that fit me better. Marami salamat para sa lahat.

Letter from Sister Hall!

Alright summary of my week. It was much better than the first few days.

On Monday after we emailed we headed to Angeles for a zone activity. We literally just sat around for hours and played games. Not even really fun games, like 'what if' but in Tagalog-thus nothing was funny to me. I was confused as to what the purpose was of this 'activity.' Because it felt like we were just killing time. Then all of the sudden everyone is pulling out cameras and people are disappearing  And then they all reappeared with a birthday cake and started singing. Surprise birthday party! It was really nice of them, apparently they had all been talking about it in front of me the other day. But obviously I had no idea what was being said. And then on Tuesday on my actual birthday we went home for our lunch/study/nap time and I was offering up M&Ms for the birthday treat and one of the girls said' well it would be better if we had cake and ice cream.' I thought to myself well yes it would but we obviously don't have any. Then next thing I know they are pulling out a cake and ice cream. So tricky. Well not even tricky. It just helps that I am oblivious to all things. It was super nice of them as well.

Monday night after our zone activity we convinced the ZL to let us come to their FHE because we didn't have one to go to. So we all went to Sister Pinks house. She loves pink, facebook and her camera. The AP's were both there too, so I think we had 10 missionaries. We played these role play games, the sisters tried to sing a song-but one line in we sounded so terrible and started laughing that we couldn't even finish, and they also fed us a big dinner. Since I was the newbie they wanted me to try everything, including the chicken feet and neck. Um... I put it on my plate but I couldn't bring myself to try it. So one of the Elders, that has taken mercy on my well being, ate it for me. But now my comp thinks it is funny to tell everyone that my favorite food here is chicken feet, it is not really funny at all. But oh well. We were at their house pretty late and we were about an hour away via jeepny, but there were no more out for the day. So our AP's drove all of us home in the van, so squished. But it was great because it only took about 20 minutes.

For our service project this week we met with our district and had to take off the outer layer of this stone wall. Hard to describe. Basically it was the most pointless thing, we used hammers and just hammered away. It was so ineffective. And frankly there was really no purpose to it. But oh well. The owners of the house just sat there and watched us for three hours. I literally sweat through my entire outfit. Seriously I keep getting mystified on how much I can apparently sweat. Also apparently this was this was a rare type of service because we usually do something easy for half an hour and then just eat and talk. So it was hopefully a one time wall tearing down activity.

Everyday I get told I am beautiful. So that is a plus. Granted it isn't always but the most trustworthy of people. A lot of the people we talk to on the street say things like 'I won't remember your name but I'll always remember your face,' or 'I will only let you come to my house if she comes (aka me).' So flattered all of the time. I have even been proposed to. One old my probably 60+ asked if I could help him get to the US. Um no. Continuing our conversation I realized that he wanted to marry me so that he could get a green card and then we could just get divorced. Up no thanks. Another lady who was playing poker chased me down and asked my name and begged for my first name. So I told her. No big deal. But now every time I'm on that street she yells Lindsay. And she always questions me about boyfriends and things like that. She pretty much wants me to marry her son. Um again no thanks.

My comp saw a 'white' man the other day so she made me chase him down, although he didn't look American to me. Surprise he was German. And only spoke a little English and a little Tagalog. Somehow he gave us his address. So we showed up at his super nice home later and met his wife who is Philippine so be basically had a lesson in Tagalog, English and German. It was pretty entertaining. 

One of our investigators Jessie, I think I mentioned him last week? We'll I memorized the whole baptismal invitation and our last meeting went well so we invited him to be baptized. He said he believes in the BOM, JS, everything. He has been to church for three weeks in a row. He was a pastor and knows the Bible through and through. BUT.... he wants to have a knowledge of the BOM. He believes it, but wants to completely read and know it all. I told him he won't ever have a perfect knowledge, faith is enough, he has the rest of his life to study. Alas still a no. But he said maybe in a month or even a year after he studies it more. Well okay then. He is pretty cool though.

Another investigator Berline. We passed her on Tuesday said Hi, she investigated a few years ago but wasn't interested enough. So we went on our way. Then suddenly Sunday morning she texted us and asked if she could go to church with us! Well of course.! She loved the entire thing! (funny-it was ward conference which apparently means here that everyone stays and eats a big meal afterwards in the church). Later last night we went to her 'house' I use that term lightly, because it was probably the poorest shack I have been in yet. But we taught her family and they were super interested! So hopefully that goes well this week!

The lifesavers you sent me. Random. But you know how every once in a while you get a really soft one? Well here they are all like that. Sobra masarap! So yummy! Also a member has a little fried food vendor street spot thing. So she had me sample all of her food the other day. Pretty much it was fried sweet potatoes and bananas in sugar. It was a great treat.

The people here are very honest. All of the dogs bark and hate me for some reason. And one of my investigators told me it was because I have crazy hair. Which is totally, true. A bunch of little boys told me that I am really 'long' aka tall. Which is true here, I look like a huge giant. I'm not even tall! I can't send pictures again this week, but when I do you will see that I am now a giant.

Well tapos na. Finished. Everyday I get a smudge better at the language. Everyday is a good day.

Talk to you next week!

Sister Hall

Letter from Sister Hall!

After many hours of traveling we made it to the Philippines. The 15 hour flight wasn't too bad, I slept nearly the entire time. How lovely. And the last hour on that flight we were moved to first class, like the laying down first class. It was lovely. From Hong Kong to Manila I sat next to a lady by myself and talked with her, a good mix of Tagalog and English. Confidence booster. The moment I stepped off the plane into the Philippines I was already dripping in sweat. Well it is what it is. I will literally be sweating for the next 17 months straight. I was even lucky enough to be rejected into the country because of visa stuff, thus I went to a different man and he let me in. But I was stressed for a moment that I wouldn't even be allowed out of the airport. We dropped by the Manila MTC and picked up the local new missionaries then headed to the mission home for the night. Our last night together. It was bitter sweet. The next day we headed to the mission office and were assigned to our new companions and our new areas. My companion is Sister Gaor. She is a few years older than me and quite a few inches shorter. She is relatively nice. Though she speaks some English, there is still a big language barrier. And on top of that there is an even bigger cultural barrier. She isn't very good at remembering to tell me how to do things or what is going on. She has just assumed that I know how everything works, which has been kinda frustrating. Because I am obviously a newbie at everything here. But I'm sure to figure it all out eventually.

My mission president is really great. He was so nice the entire time we were at his house. When we left the MTC we were told over and over to make a great impression on our president. Success. He liked me so much, I was impromptu called up during our meeting the next day with everyone to speak. Lovely. He even told me at one point that I might become a trainer in 12 weeks, literally right when I am done being trained. Umm..we'll see about that.

Tagalog. Some hours I feel good about it, most I don't. I miss about 99.9% of what is being said around me. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out soon. I am alright with religious topics, but other than that it is a lost cause. I can't really hold any kind of conversation, unless I am baring my testimony. So coming here I expected to be in an area out in the middle of no where. A small rural town. Jokelong. I was assigned to one of the biggest cities in my mission. Not at all what I expected. But it has been fun trying to adjust. The second day here I had to travel to a Stake youth conference and teach a big group of youth. That was just great. But all of the little girls loved me nonetheless and kept telling me that I was beautiful. Well thanks. I am not sure if I'll be able to figure out pictures. But every day we ride all over the city in jeep's and tricycles. It is an adventure for sure. We have some great investigators right now. A few families with little kids. One little boy, Timothy. He is a sweetheart. One man who is 50+ and was a preacher, he has been investigating for two years. I really enjoyed talking with him because I can use a bit of English and he still understands. He really wants to know the truth with a surety.

Six years later and I am no longer a vegetarian. Sad, sad day. But alas. I literally would probably be dead of starvation. So I suppose I am just going to have to take a temporary break from it. And in 17 months I'll be one again. The food here is also not what I expected. My MTC teachers got me really excited for it, but so far I have not liked it at all. I ate cheese ice cream the other day. It tasted how it sounds. Granted we haven't eaten much here. So it might get better. We tend to skip most meals because we're too busy working, so I haven't really had dinner yet. But I think we have a few dinner appointments this week! Yay. 

In my apartment we have two other sisters. It is two stories. First story is a little entry with the kitchen and a bathroom. The two bedrooms upstairs. We even have a little 10by10 cement walled yard. We shower with a bucket. And we have to constantly have a fan on us so that we don't die from heat. Even while we sleep we keep our fans on. One night there was a big thunderstorm and we had a brown out (they don't call it a black out here) and the power went out. That means no fans. It was impossible to sleep at that point. But who needs sleep anyways.

Oh no pictures sorry. Just found out they don't have a card reader.

Scattered thoughts.

Every night when we come home at about 9 we try to daily plan. But I literally am exhausted by that time. I have fallen asleep while planning. Everything that I write at night is all over the place. It's kinda funny to look at in the morning.

We have OYM's here. Which just means open your mouth. Basically just talk to everyone. So I OYM's this man the other day and ended up getting his address and cell to return and teach him. I was pretty stoked about it. He has lived in the middle east and just seemed really smart. But my comp didn't really think that he was a good potential investigator. So we'll see if she lets us visit him.

At church yesterday I spoke in sacrament meeting. It went well enough. I think the ward feels kinda bad for me and my lack of being able to speak. But they were all really nice. My bishop and his family are SO great. They spent most of the day trying to help me learn Tagalog. And they found out it is my birthday tomorrow and were so excited. And were trying to make all of these plans. There is a ward party Wednesday, and they have decided that they are going to also make it a birthday celebration for me! I am really glad to be in their ward. During relief society, although I had no idea what was going on, at one point the primary came in and sang to their moms and as a result of being there they gave me a delicious little marshmallowy, cakey, fruity thing. I don't even know how to describe it. Except that it was the best thing I have eaten up to this point.

Despite the fact that this email has a lot of whines in it and a lot of negatives. Just know that I am obviously in a different place, very different. And I am trying to adjust. I really do love being here, it is just a bit hard right now. I know that I am supposed to be in the Philippines and I look forward to every day and being able to improve my abilities as a missionary.

Happy mothers day!

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Hall

Address!

Sister Hall would love to hear from all of you!

Letters

Phillipines Angeles Mission Office

F. Tanedo Street

Barangay San Nicolas

Tarlac city, Tarlac 2300

Phillippines

E-mail

lindsay.hall@myldsmail.net

In the Phillippines!

She has landed in the Phillippines, and it is HOT!

President and Sister Martino!

 Her first companion, Sister Gaor. Serving in the Angeles Zone, San Fernando District.

Pictures!

Letter from Sister Hall!

Hello there.

 

Our schedules were completely changed this week, I believe most of the MTC's were moved around. So know how I emailed you a picture of it last week? Well it is not the same at all. I really don't have Pday today anymore, but they have shown mercy on us and allowed us to spend a few minutes emailing and doing laundry. And we also get our new Pday on Saturday, so basically two Pdays. How lovely. The best part of our new schedules are that we don't have to be anywhere until 7:30 now, instead of 7. That is an entire extra half an hour to get ready, you don't realize how great that is. So nice.

 

Last Wednesday our Elders were asked to help host the new missionaries, but sadly we were not. So we decided to study out front and watch them come in and try to live through those who were actually hosting. While we were sitting there a man came up to us panicked and asked if we were busy because there was an emergency. So here we all are thinking that we are going to have to go do CPR or something on someone. But low and behold they didn't have enough hosts for the foreign sisters! Oh happy day. So we ended up being allowed to host two sisters! They warned us up front that they likely wouldn't speak any English, well that should be interesting. But luckily for me both of my sisters were from Japan but spoke English! It was so much fun being able to host! And we get to do it again tomorrow, because we're some of the oldest here. Monday and Tuesdays a huge chunk of the MTC leaves and it is great because it isn't so crowded. But they are quickly replaced by Wednesday. Just turning out missionaries left and right over here.

 

The field is now open. So great. We have been playing sand volleyball. One day we played Elders vs. Sisters in our district. It was a blast and the sisters won, but obviously we weren't keeping score because that is against the rules... The next day we challenged the other district that has been here with us the whole time to a game. It was so much fun, we have a pretty good team-minus a few. But they had a couple sisters bail and they had mostly islander Elders. That all seem to have an odd talent at scrappy volleyball. After a few close games. We ended up losing, but just barely. And unfortunately the game point went to them on a mistake I made. Dang it. But it was such a great gym time. Hopefully we can get them to play us again.

 

When I was walking over to the field on graduation day I tried to linger outside by the road as long as possible in hopes that you would drive by. Seems that the timing was off.

 

Random paragraph. Thanks for the cookies. Loved the packaging. Loved all of the cookies. And thank you for all of the random crap room card finds. They are cute long. We usually have class with a teacher twice a day and they always start with a prayer. I have discussed this with all of the sisters in my district and apparently I have some kind of sign on my forehead saying 'please always ask me to pray.' I literally pray every single class. My DL calls on my SO much, but there are nine other people in this room. I suppose it is just more blessings for me, I need to work on my Tagalog prayers some more anyways. I have just been repeating pretty much the same prayer over and over. One day this week all of the international kids got to spend the morning at temple square. Thus there were no elders in our class. It was just the sisters and Sister Watkins. Girls day. I can't say we learned too much, but it was a great class. Sister Watkins is totally the kind of person I want to be one day. The islanders obviously come from a completely different culture, where body types are viewed in a different way. This week a bunch of the Elders told me that I look too skinny and that I need to put on more weight. Well I suppose I will take that as a complement. But just how they told me was hilarious. I wish I could imitate their accented voices for you.

 

On Sunday my kasamas and I had to teach what is pretty much the Sunday School lesson on enduring to the end. We spent forever preparing, it is so hard to work as a threesome sometimes. Especially to teach as a threesome. One extra opinion. One extra voice. One more person to coordinate with. In the end our lesson was amazing. We did so great, couldn't have been more proud of my girls. One of the best parts was that we had one of our Branch Presidency sitting in, Brother Willis. He is my favorite person ever. When he talks to me he looks into my eyes and I can just feel him looking into my soul. He is so cool. And he loved our lesson so much. So great. Sorry if I have already talked about him. I cannot remember what I have already talked about. So in sacrament meeting everyone prepares a talk and they just call you up on the spot. This week going in I predicted the speakers in advance. I though it would be one of the tatlohan (my companionship) and Elder Vunibola. Vunibola right on. Sister Marcucci thought it for sure wasn't her so she didn't even bring anything. That meant it was between sister littlefield and I. Well it was one of us. Sister Marcucci. As soon as her name was said sister Littlefield and I immediately rummaged though our papers and handed her parts of our talks. True companionship right there. She did great too.

 

So I feel like this week has been flirt central week. Right when I think I am in a safe place. It is pretty entertaining at times though. Whenever someone in our district (and now our whole zone has caught on) has someone of the opposite sex approach them and start talking, everyone one else starts making annoying alarm and beeping sounds. It has been so funny. Or when our tatlohan is talking with Elders outside of our district the Elders will come over and casually join into the conversation. There is one sister in going to Japan on the floor right below us, we call her flirt alert. She is so over the top and comes and finds the boys in our district and zone. Always. She has even found our classrooms. Our Elders are so sick of her, but she sure does keep things entertaining for us sisters.

Also I am really happy that I only have a week left here. I somehow have made a few Elders become fans of me (don't know how that happened) And they are becoming competitive over it. Pretty much one of them has practically planned out our future together. Well. See ya never after this week. Poor guys. But they should not be thinking like that right now anyways. Silly elders...\

ALSO Brianna. One of my Elders wants to marry you. He is 22 or 23-can't remember. Fujian. And hilarious. Pretty much it is a done deal. So don't make any plans for the next two years. Perfect thanks.

 

You want some more embarrassing stories? Okay. Here's two more for you. Sister Littlefield almost fell on the stairs the other day, but I happened to be in front of her so she didn't actually fall. So later I am walking up the stairs jokingly telling her to please be careful on the stairs. Next thing you know there is a loud clang and boom. Who is laying on the stairs? Oh that would be me. Karma. Even better and entire district was behind me and as I slowly turned myself around to sit on the stairs they were all standing there so concerned for my well being. People from other floors were coming out to see what had happened.  I was fine. Except for my pride. And perhaps a lot of bruises. Later we were again running up the stairs and Sister Littlefields karma came back around and she biffed it. And the entire seem up the back of her pencil skirt ripped. It was a good thing we were in the residence halls. But nonetheless it was hilarious.

 

 

I don't think I really need anything else. I can get basically everything in the Philippines. Shouldn't be a problem. I haven't packed yet, hopefully I am not over. But I will be sending a bunch of stuff home. If my birthday gift isn't too big or breakable then I could fit it in. I've been collecting boxes for my roomies and I to send stuff home in.

 

We got our flight plans this week. We are all together. We have to say goodbye to our Elders in Hong Kong though. And total bummer, one of the elders in the other district that is coming to my mission has to stay in the MTC 2 weeks longer because he had a stomach ulcer.

 

May 6 SLC to LA 

May 7 LA to Hong Kong 

May 8 Hong Kong to Manila 

 

We then stay in the mission home for two days after we get there! Can't believe it is already here!

 

I need to switch computers to send pictures! Kapayapaan at mga magbasbas

Ingat!

 

Mahal ko kayo!!

 

Sister Lindsay Hall