Re-inventing the Wheel (Fake It Unless you Make It)

That is probably the best way I can describe this past week, re-inventing the wheel.  Now, by doing so, I have learned a lot more about wheels but nevertheless, following the blueprint is a lot easier.  Now being the full-time go-to-guy in the companionship, it has made me rethink a lot of things.  In planning, I have always been able to say, `Let`s go see this Less Active and invite her to do roleplay lessons with us to help us teach!`  Easier said than done.  Then we would go, me and my companion, and I would say hello, have some small talk, and then my senior companion would take over and get the good stuff done.  Sadly for me, I don`t have a senior to do that anymore.  So, when I say let`s visit this less active, well, now I need to know what to say and how to do it.  Let`s ask for this in Ward Mission Co-ordination Meeting, well, now I have to know how to say it.  So while I could have learned how to do simple stuff like that or calling people on the phone, now I have to relearn how to do it.  Sometimes I don`t know how to say stuff in Japanese and other times I don`t know how to do stuff in English.  So yes, the stress is real.

Now more about my bean.  There were three elders coming in, one from Japan, a half-Japanese elder from Utah, and a bean from Portugal.  Guess right now which one I got and you have only a two in three chance of being wrong.  I thought I might get the Japanese elder to improve my horrid ability (or lack thereof) to speak Japanese or the half Japanese so that he could be almost as good as me, but, instead I got the one that had no clue of what was going on from Portugal.  Probably the Lord knows that the best way to improve is to just be thrown into it.  Elder Silva (apparently the Smith of Portugal) thinks I am pretty fluent so, on the plus side, I don`t have to worry about my companion judging my crappy language skills!

Left to Right:  Elder Siedschalg, Elder Shawn Hall, and Elder Silva. Shawn was trained by Elder Siedschalg and now Shawn is training Elder Silva.

Apparently he is the third Portuguese missionary to come to Japan but I heard that about Chile too so I don`t know exactly how accurate that is.  But, it sounds cool so I believe it.  He actually is not in a Japanese speaking mission but is instead in a Portuguese speaking misson, which makes no sense whatsoever to my lower than His thoughts human self because I don`t know anyone who speaks Portuguese in my area.  Maybe we will find a bunch.  I have been tempted somedays to just find a bunch of Portuguese and Brazilian investigators so I could just sit back and let my companion do his job but I have a hard enough time finding people to speak Japanese instead of English with me anyways.

We still haven`t been able to buy Elder Silva`s bike because of some of his card problems he has recently been having with the bank so that has put a halt to a lot of things we could be doing because the apartment is in the middle of a bunch of factories where no one lives.  But, we have just been talking to people on the street.  I was doing pretty much all the talking last night so I remembered what the assistants told us about giving our bean good experiences while they are young to speak and testify.  So, I turned to Elder Silva and said, `You got this next one.  Don`t worry though, I got your back.  When you can`t go anymore and don`t know quite what they are saying, I`ll step in.`  So, I stopped a guy riding his bike towards us and he went for it!  Nothing necessarily different was said, just basic stuff about God being our Heavenly Father and us coming to Japan, but it turned about to be the best conversation we had that night!  He wouldn`t give us his phone number but at least we had a good talk and gave him our phone number so he could call back.  So beanchan power is real and I got to use it before I lose it!

Today`s mantra comes from a comment I got from a certain friend on the outskirts of Colorado next to the border of Nebraska: fake it until you make it!  With his permission, I`d like to change Elder Bacon`s words to, fake it unless you make it!  Maybe it is my training experience or just a pessimistic view of life but I don`t think everyone quite knows what we are doing, even 93 years olds or transfer 16 missionaries!  God has always got it though and we are nothing compared to him.  All we need to do is perserver and do what we know how to do and rely on God for the rest.  I guess what I am trying to say is, keep pushing, don`t give up, keep putting forth your effort to live the gospel and help others in your life, and don`t quit because you don`t know everything because you won`t ever make it 100% of the way in this life.  

Keep being awesome everyone, love you all and have a great week!

Bye Bye Yamashita, Bye Bye Ottey, Hello Beanchan

Our recent Assistant to the President would always ask other missionaries as a joke if they had ever thought that their wife wasn't born yet. While not the most serious of questions, I would like to ask a similar question: Have you ever wondered if your next companion isn't even born yet? This question didn't quite occur to me until Saturday morning. My companion Elder Ottesen is flying back to America tomorrow so I knew for sure I would receive a call but it was quite an excruciating wait. Twice investigators called us during the hour of impatience and I almost died with a heart attack. I had no idea what was going to go down but I got a clue when I heard the phone ring and it was a call from President Yamashita. He only calls you if you are in serious trouble so I figured I was in for it. Turns out they hate me so much they are making me senior companion, giving me a missionary straight from the MTC who probably knows no Japanese, and tacking on District Leader for a fun side job. So that was a bit of a surprise! Send an old elder home and receive a new fresh one. I get him Wednesday and don't know anything about him! I know the church doesn't believe in reincarnation but I am expecting a similar companion this transfer as last time. The cherry on top though is that I get to train him for an extra week because next transfer is seven weeks because this one was five.

I thought I would become a father later but why not become the father to a new young missionary right after Father's Day instead of waiting around any longer? I luckily banked on the promise I made to my trainer that I would produce offspring before his death. Now I just hope he gets to meet him before he dies. I thought it would be cool if someone trained twelve times and then have a Joseph of Egypt rivalry going on but I will pass on being the Jacob of that scenario. Well that was random.

So this weekend I have been thinking a lot about faith and the Spirit. All of Sunday was focused on the Spirit: Priesthood was from President Benson, we taught in our English Sunday school class about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and all the talks were on following the Spirit. So I am definitely scared out of my mind to be thrust into a situation in which I have to do everything when I feel like I know nothing. I asked President Yamashita at his last zone conference in a Q&A session what do I do when I just feel like going outside and working effectively is just too far beyond my reach and what can I do to want to work more. He surprised me and simply said, and I quote: Strengthen your testimony. What was that? I guess if I value my testimony more then I will want to share it with others. But I realized this week that I fear failure, I fear going outside and changing nothing. Just working hard without any results. But if I strengthen my testimony, then I will have more faith and I know that something will come about because of me choosing the right. Luckily, Christ and God both fluently know Japanese and perfectly know the Japanese people. I am really just the same as my next companion. I don't know how to help people and change them, I don't know Japanese, I don't know how to teach. But luckily, God does, and he is willing to help us and he will show us the way through the Spirit, if we are worthy. So it really comes down to, how strong is your testimony? Can you believe in Christ enough to change and do what is right no matter what the result? We all falter, we all fail, but God never does. We can lean on him to grow and to do his work.

So yeah, I am scared. I'll miss President Yamashita leading us as we get a new mission president and I will miss Elder Ottesen leading us around but willing, it is Christ who is doing the leading, it is the Spirit telling us what to do, and all we have to do is be in the right place and have the right tools of obedience and faith in order to pick up the Spiritual Wi-Fi hotspots. As Elder Ringwood told us at Christmastime, the problem isn't the message, it is the messenger. So take the leap of faith, step outside your comfort zone, follow the Spirit and wait for the miracles that are about to happen, because I sure will be trying to do the same with my new missionary following behind me.

 Shout out to all the Dad's today and to my dad for being a good example and friend to me!

 Love you all and hope you have a good week!

The Revenge of Ka (Can I call you Ka?)

It all started Friday after District Meeting when I lost the keys to the apartment.  Luckily they were in the senior couple`s car but at the time we tried to jam the window open to get in but it was foolproof.  We forgot to shut the window and the next morning when we woke up, my comp found 15 or so mosquitoes (ka in Japanese), all fat and juicy.  `I wonder why they are so big!`  We found out when we squashed them with our hands that they were fat because they took our blood!  Nice, fine, probably AB negative blood popped out onto the wall and on our hands!  I slept with Off! bug spray and we killed most of them but I am still finding random bumps all over me that itch so that sucks.

I have a homework assignment by the way.  Go to Google and look up the name Riley Ottesen.  You might find some pretty cool accolades and potential to be a big baseball player.  Think of that and then realize that is the guy I follow 24/7.  Yup pretty cool.  He was always humble about his baseball life but the story finally cracked open when he was helping coach a middle baseball team and they asked for autographs.  So yeah, it is pretty legit.  He is going home next Tuesday which is sad so someone new will be chilling with me here in Numazu.  At least we went out and had fun with the district bowling today!  I was 114 for the first game with a strike and then slowly I sucked more and more and only got 81 the next game.  It was still worth it.  This week too a member took us out to ramen and then we took us to a batting cage where I learned I can hit a baseball, just not very far.  Soon I hope to find a way to play basketball so I will continue searching.

My thought for the week is, everything ends.  It has been weird spending time with a missionary that will be home very soon.  It reminds me that there really is end to this mission one day far out there.  I never thought I would graduate from high school but here I am, two years after my graduation ceremony.  It creeps me out but life moves on.  I wish sometimes I would have enjoyed life more earlier on.  I am glad I prepared for the future but also living in the moment once in awhile is good.  So as a missionary I need to be more focused and work harder because one day it will all be over.  My stake president told me to live my mission so that when I get on that plane I will have no regrets.  Everyday, even though that sometimes feels like an eternity, I get closer to that plane ride but each day I have less and less time to help others as a missionary.  So don`t blink because life goes fast.  Take a moment to appreciate where you are in life, a mother of an elementary school kid, a high school student, a grandfather, or even a missionary and just realize the way things are won`t last forever.  So work hard now, live like you were dying, enjoy the little moments in life, and keep on working so that your future is better than your present. 

I love you all and have an amazing week!

Pilipino Love!

BLT in Japan

Exotic Gaijin Bingo

So I have a competition with myself so far on my mission that I need to meet a person from every country.  Ever since I got to Japan, I have been shocked by the numbers of non-Japanese people there are that lived here.  Like, I still don`t know why they have a large minority of Brazilians here.  And it doesn`t stop there.  I have talked with people (most living permanently in Japan or married to a Japanese) from Canada, America, Peru, Columbia, France, Thailand, Germany, England, Guinea, India, New Zealand, Nepal, Malayasia, Singapore, Australia, China, Sri Lanka, Italy, Angola, Poland are the ones I can think of so far.  Last night though we were going to visit someone and on the way we were stopping to talk to people and there were two kids we stopped that had no clue what we were talking out.  They only knew enough Japanese and English to tell us they didn`t know Japanese or English.  They both had soccer shirts on that said Azerbaijan and they didn`t look Japanese so I think they were legit from Azerbaijan.  Don`t know why they were there but there is another one off of my Exotic Gaijin Bingo!

In other news, I went on a companion exchange to Fuji, which, if you know more about Japan than I did a year ago, you might know that it is the city that is home to the grand Mt. Fuji.  It was raining a lot and I was working with a younger elder who was trying to just use parables when he was talking to people on the street so he made an analogy to an umbrella being preparation for the rain as the gospel is preparation for meeting God.  So that was cool.  Other highlight was this kid was just being a punk to us and deflecting off everything we were telling him so I just straight out told (or tried to in Japanese without being offensive) to just pray once to see if God was there and to call us back that night.  No phone call but I am sure he will remember two crazy gaijin riding around on our bikes soaking wet at least.

My companion Elder Ottesen told all the members he plays college baseball (at none other than U of U) so they hooked him up to practice with a middle school to help coach the kids.  So we both went and me being a clown and not knowing the least about baseball I brought jeans.  I did participate in some running, a game of catch, and getting ground balls despite my outfit, poor knowledge of anything, and the diamond being muddy after the rain of the day before.  I still don`t know if the kids were making fun of me by saying good job and nice try after a terrible throw or a slip because of my lack of cleats or if they were being nice.  Good old language barrirers!  And angsty teenagers...  But it was nonetheless fun.

Today`s talk, miracles.  Many of us look at miracles as what Jesus did on Earth like feeding the five thousand and healing the sick and raising the dead.  Those definitely are important and truly spectacular since they help us build our faith in Christ but I think the thought of a miracle being just that is limiting us to see just what everyday miracles we see in our lives.  To be honest, I`ve been a bit disappointed with what you might call a lack of miracles on my mission.  I thought I would just every week write home telling about an investigator we helped overcome a concern to get baptized or a person we found as a minute before 9:00 or how we got a less active to come back after struggling with the Word of Wisdom.  That stuff has never really happened to me all that much though on the mission.  Not saying it can`t but it just hasn`t.  Someitmes to think of my mission like that, it gets discouraging to not really see much change or grand things.  But God told us that it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.  So I think going along those lines a miracle is something of an everyday occurence.  It could be making a train on time, meeting with a former investigator and building a relationship with them or maybe somedays it is even that you stayed on your feet the whole time and survived the day.  So in that case I`ve seen a lot more miracles on my mission than I would have hoped and I am sure everyone sees a miracles everyday.  So keep your eyes open to see the small little miracles that you can`t quite explain or understand and you might be surprised by what you find. 

I love you all and have a great week!

My companion and I in the Ward Bulletin

One Year Older and Wiser Too!!

So here it is, the hump!  One year ago I was a scared-to-death, white boy entering the MTC and a year from now I will be a slightly fatter white boy with more desires to eat raw fish and share the gospel who will be sitting on the couch feeling terrible that he is not dendoing as he watches the NBA Finals.  I am sure most people don`t care about that so I`ll get back to the present Elder Hall on the computer over here in Numazu. 

Not much has happened this past week except for a crazy day adventure to a city called Gotemba which is an hour away by train.  We packed our bikes and carried them with us so we could hunt down some less actives that didn`t know we still existed and then cap the night off with a fun Brazilian dinner.  We had some trouble finding a couple of the addresses because Japan isn`t as easy as 800 West and 200 South and stuff like that in Utah but we talked to some cool people along the way.  One was an older man around 60 who told us he had recently started studying different religions.  That was quite a shock to hear from a Japanese man.  So we switched phone numbers and gave a free gift called `The Restoration` pamphlet and went to go to the half Brazilian family for some dinner.  When we got to their HUGE apartment building of hundreds of rooms, our phone died so we had to stop a group of about six businessmen and women returning from work, who were all in their early 20`s, to borrow their phone in order to call the senior couple in the area so we could get what room they lived in.  We hit it off really well with a couple of the group members and were joking around with them and actually really fluidly switched to the gospel.  We gave them a Mormon.org after they helped us out since they lived aways away but I`m sure their interest was peaked.  Then we spoke way more English than I have in a long time as we ate dinner and talked with a random American couple who were super heavy awesome Christians that are going back to America in a couple weeks.  The rice and beans were delicious and we were treated by the youth age kids playing Coldplay on the piano.  Other than that this week was pretty normal.

For the year mark on Thursday we did eat out at an all you can eat place so while it wasn`t healthy in the slightest, it was tasty none the less.  I can`t believe that I have been out a year.  Sometimes it feels like I`ve been out for a week and sometimes it feels like I have been out for a decade.  Mission life is weird for sure but it is definitely worth it in the long run.  I always thought I would be a much better missionary and person this far out in the mission so it has been kind of disappointing this past week to not see as much progress as I would like and not have done as much as I wanted to by this point when I was in the MTC.  Sometimes that is because I get complacent and am happy where I am but other times it is just a part of life.  I`ve realized speaking Japanese will always be hard, older people will always occasionally ignore our existence as we try to talk to them on the street, and certain things will always be the same.  Waking up won`t get any easier, the pressures of missionary work will stay the same.  In this, I am reminding of a quote that goes something like this `It isn`t that the things you do get any easier, it is just that you get stronger and better at doing them.`  That is pretty true as a missionary.  It is only through Christ`s enabling power of the Atonement that we can be strong enough to overcome life`s trials with our eyes set in an eternal perspective.

So being out for a year, I have come to know a lot of things.  The gospel is a lot more personal now it feels even though I might not be able to share it with people as much as i would like to sometimes.  I`ve come to learn how to be more humble as I try to give it over to the Lord because I can`t do anything most times.  I`ve learned how difficult it can be to watch others not take the neccesary steps to true happiness and I know a little more how God feels when we continually mess up.  I`ve learned that our words don`t matter as much as our actions.  People are driven a lot more by emotions and feelings instead of thoughts; and if we have the Spirit, it becomes much easier for us to help people come unto Christ.  I`ve learned of how close God and Christ truly are to us and that all we have to do is call out to them and be willing to receive their help and do the things they ask of us to do in the scriptures.  It hasn`t been easy but it has been worth, and will continue to be worth it no matter what challenges are continuously thrown at me.  It is all downhill from here so I`ll be able to run a little bit faster than before. 

I love you all and see you all in a year!

The Return of the Bean

So this week has definitely been weird.  It is not everyday that you get to come back to your first area.  Mt. Fuji hasn`t exploded on the little city of Numazu, the ocean hasn`t upheaved itself over the coastline, and the ward here hasn`t apostazed so things are looking about the same as when I was last here last October.  But then again, everything is different.  So basically the senior couple here that just barely arrived a couple weeks before I left has basically just torn up the area (in a good way).  A nine year old girl my trainer and I were trying to help out to get baptized who had a father that wasn`t too kind to the church ended up getting baptized along with her dad and now her dad is a ward missionary.  A less active I never met got re-activated and now pretty much runs our English class for us.  The elders teach an English Gospel Principles Class but it is harder to teach than a lesson in Japanese because of a member who comes to the class to learn English but doesn`t know any.  So in Japanese I have to find what I CAN say but when teaching the class in English, I have to careful what I CAN`T say.  Also, since my Brazilian trainer left, the ward was devoid of an awesome Brazilian influence until a Brazilian family moved randomly into the ward a couple of months ago.  We are taking the hour train ride north to their house tomorrow to cash in on some sweet Brazilian food and an FHE.  Did I mention they have a couple youth aged kids which basically doubled the number of Numazu youth?  So things have changed but a lot has improved.

Probably the best change is that the apartment is not crammed and squished with four elders but the small apartment only fits two of us now.  So that is nice.  Most of the members remember me and are like, `Wow, your back!`  And then I speak a sentence of broken Japanese and that is all it takes for them to think I`ve improved.  So that has been fun to see their reactions.  A couple investigators are the same, a few have fallen off the map and it is my task to find them, and a couple of old former investigators have popped up again.  Whitewashing has been weird but it is not pure finding but more `re-finding`.  All we have to do is follow the previous elders` tracks and the note they left us to make appointments with people and get the ball rolling with lessons and stuff.  We did find a new investigator though our second day here while on the way to visit someone.  His name is Yuta like the state and he told us he has interest in English (which he was very good at speaking) and in Christainity, which is unheard of from native Japanese.  So now we just need to meet with him and bring his interest in Christianity to a desire to follow Christ and BAM!  It should be fun.

So today`s message is about seed planting.  I`ve had a rare opportunity to met with people who I did stuff with a long time ago and be able to see a little bit of the fruits of my efforts in my first three months in the field.  Most investigators we found didn`t progress as much as I wanted them to or even at all and some less actives are still, well, taking a break.  It is weird to see change and compare from when I was here and when I came back.  I haven`t seen any direct results of my earlier work but I can`t help but feel what I did during my first time in Numazu helped out a bit, even if it just meant keeping the ball rolling.  I think back to my other areas to and I feel like I`ve done some good everywhere.  I may never get to see some people or places again but after seeing my bean area again, I can have more faith and hope that when I tried my best in past areas, all worked out and someone was helped.  I don`t think most missionaries get to see the full fruits of their labors and I don`t think most people see the effect of their good deeds and actions.  Something as little as picking trash up on the side of a street or smiling to someone can change a lot.  So I guess the lesson is to just keep on pushing, keep doing your best.  You may never see just what comes of your good actions but trust me, someone else will always be blessed as we do our best by living and sharing the Gospel of Christ.  I`ve been able to see just a glimpse of the results of my actions and I am excited to help out more and improve people`s lives once again in Numazu. 

 Love you all and have a great week! 

Deja Bean

So I got an interesting call this past Saturday morning.  Now as missionaries, we get a lot of calls, whether it be members asking us to help teach an English class, investigators answering a message we left them, or random people wanting to learn English from us.  This was a bit different though since it was in English.  My companion picks up the phone and talks for a bit.  It seems like a serious matter and he hands me the phone.  `Yeah.`  `Elder Hall, how are you feeling?`  `Well a bit nervous now to be honest.`  `No need to be.  Well Elder Hall, you are going to one of your former areas.`  `Are you serious?` I ask as I jump for joy I am going back to Takayama.  Then I realize I was just there before Matsumoto so it probably wasn`t there.  `You are being transferred to Numazu!`  WOW, I didn`t see that one coming at all.  So, I get to do what almost no elder gets to do, go back to their bean area.  I have heard it happening a lot for elder`s last transfers but this is no where close to my dying wish.  `You are going to be with Elder Ottesen and you are white-washing.`  So I am going back with an elder who used to be my zone leader and is on his last transfer.  One elder serving there had to go home sadly because of sickness and they needed to put two new elders in.  So, they put me back because I know the area from beanhood.  So basically what I wanted to happen transfer 3 happened transfer 8 but I am glad because I enjoyed my time in other areas too.  And it will be super cool because I will be leading a lot of stuff because I know the area so it will be good preparation for being senior one day.

In other news this week, my zone leader Elder Bedwell just went home after serving a honorable two year mission.  He stayed at our apartment last night and we had s`mores over a stove flame to celebrate.  It was really weird saying good-bye to him and seeing him walk out of the apartment alone to walk to the train station to go to the mission home to go back to America.  It was really bitter sweet because he was going back home but also leaving behind Japan and the mission experience.  It made me think how one day, it will all end.  I haven`t been able to see that before really.  I knew it would end but I never knew what that really meant.  We often realize that this Earth life isn`t forever yet we forget about what death actually entails.  So it is kind of like that, knowing I won`t see one of my best friends for a year even though he is in a better\not-as-cool-as-mission-but-moving-on-to-bigger-and-better-things place.


So sometimes we feel that Earth life is the only thing we got.  I know waking up at 6:30 just seems like an eternal thing to do but it won`t be.  I remember in 6th grade using our gradation year for our computer password and thinking `2013 will never come.  That is so far away!`  But it has, and 2014 and 2015 too.  So us young-ins might not think so but death will come to.  I`ve come to realize we need to prepare now to meet God because we don`t know when we will or we just don`t realize that that day will actually come.  So Y.O.L.O. should be more like, Y.O.G.J.O. you only get judged once. #finaljudgement  Because the little decisions in terms of Earth life don`t seem so big but they actually matter in the eternal scheme.  So it might be hard now but in the end, it will all be worth it.
This week in order to say good-bye to Elder Bedwell we ate out a lot.  One day, we were so hungry, we could eat a horse!  So Elder Toma (the senior missionary here) decided to spend some money to buy us exactly that!  The Horse Sushi was really good but the egg was better.  Nothing salivates my mouth like raw horse dipped into raw egg and put straight into my mouth!  Not exactly my mother`s cooking but definitely good none-the-less.

So I am transferring but other news is Tommy our investigator with a baptismal date... well, he kind of chickened out a little bit saying it was too soon but we had a good lesson about the purpose of baptism and the interview and why it is important to know baptism isn`t the end of the line.  And speaking of baptism, my favorite 11 year-old investigator from Takayama got baptized this past weekend!  I was super excited to hear about it and that everything went well and that the parents went back to church.  Maybe they will transfer me back there too.  I am hoping that if they do that it won`t be in winter...

Sorry this is long but I love you all!

Enjoy the picture of a super typical Japanese rice field and have a great week!