Elder Halling in El Mina, Ghana

Sorry it has taken me so long to update Elder Halling's Blogg, I lost his password and I just found it. This is a picture from a Missionary Couple who saw the Elders along side the road drinking coconut juice!

10/13/08

Yes, I got Malaria by a mosquito. Malaria was no fun. We stayed in for three days. We played a lot of cards. I taught the guys Kings Corner and Golf. THEY LOVE GOLF!! I KILL THEM AT IT!! hahaha. The last game we played I had 90 point (we played 18 holes) and they had 191 and 189. It was hilaraious. While we were in we made this awesome desert with ice cream and bananas. Don't worry, I am not eating bad. Everyone tells me I am getting skinny and I just laugh.

Transfers were this week and it was crazy. No one in our district moved any where. We have a new Zone Leader Elder Maricu and he is awesome. I love that guy and we just make fun of each other. While we were hanging out in the apartment playing cards Elder Morriss said we use him like a punching bag with all our jokes, so his new nickname is "Everlast". He didn't enjoy that but it is funny.

I AM PAST 2 MONTHS IN THE FIELD!! haha, man, that is weird. 1/12 of the way done with my mission. Gone by pretty fast. This is going to be over so soon. My 2 month celebration included listeing to music and finishing off my Beef Jerkey. You guys, you don't need to send that many packages. I just want a christmas package and that is cool. I will tell you now, that I want a "Perfect Pushup". I have been using it with Wood and it is awesome. I will have some sort of a chest when I get home! haha.

While I was hanging out I taught myself magic tricks and I did them for a family we were teaching. They FLIPPED OUT! It was so funny. They couldn't figure out how we did it. That same family had three of their kids being baptized the next day, so on Saturday we went and played football with them and chopped (ate)fufu. I took a video of that too. I will send home pictures in the next week or two. The baptism was awesome. So many people came! The people we baptism felt so welcomed! The parents of those baptized want to be baptized in a month.

I got the letter from Patrick and Stephanie sent me a package. I love her, she sent me a bunch of pictures. It was a suprise because I wasn't expecting one from her. Its all good.

Yesterday at church our ward mission leader was pulling people over to us in the halls and saying "book an apointment to see their friends". It was so funny and the members were laughing bunch we got a bunch of referalls. After church everything was going slow so me and Wood went to a bible study that these Nigerians hold near our house. It was funny cus they were discussing somthing and I used a scripture from the Book of Mormon. when I was done the guy in charge was like " ok, now lets turn our BIBLES to..." I just laughed. Other than that this week was slow. I hope I am writing in better detail. I got moms eletter that said I wasn't so I am trying harder.

Yea, the Sabeys called every every day to see how I was, then told me you emailed, I just laughed. I got one letter and the pictures of Kristin, maybe the others will come soon. It is hard to only have a few minutes to look at them cus I want to look all day.

Wow, no more coaching, that will be weird. Not normall at all. Guess I have to deal with it. I am happy for you. It is good that things are working out for her. I haven't seen the article, hopefully I will. That is cool about the family.

Malaria is a drag. you feel weak and powerless. You don't want to move at all but you have to cus you have to poop every 10 minutes. Then when it is all over you are constipated. haha. It was horrible.

I love you so much and hope everything continues to look up! Can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love you,Elder Halling

10/7/08

Well, it has taken me forever to respond because this internet connection is so slow. I am responding to both of you so I can write more. This week has been interesting. As my companion and I were walking on Tuesday we both just stopped all of the sudden and looked at this house that we always walk by. We went up and contacted it and the man was so ready to hear the message. He was asking questions that led us to the next part of the discussion. It was nice to see a Ghanian who realizes that all of these pastors are just taking money from people.

Wednesday I had my first Shocker moment. We were preparing to teach a man and we needed to know how to explain why we need the Book of Mormon. I came to the conclusion that we don't and I was really troubled. Everyone in the apartment got in on the discussion and it went until I decided to call President Sabey. We talked on the phone for an hour and he explained that what we need is a living prophet who holds the priesthood. The BofM is a way that we grow closer to God and it is proof that Joseph Smith is a prophet. It really hit me hard and I feel more determined to teach.

Right now I am waiting for a malaria test. Great, I know. It is really hard to teach right now because the 3 new investigators that we got who were all really progressing are moving away. We have a baptism this weekend. A girl and her 2 brothers. Soon we want her whole family. We gave a blessing to a two year old boy who is scared of white men. That was exciting. He screamed the whole time. I really wanted to laugh. We are teaching two Jehova Witnesses and I hate them both. Well, don't hate, but they are annoying. They know the scriptures like the back of their hand. I can go with them, but they are so stubborn that it doesn't do any good. I just need to be more patient.

Transfers are this week so I find out tomorrow night if I will be transferred. Hope not, I like being with big wood. We are hoping we'll be together for 3 transfers cus then we would get all the major holidays in that 3rd transfer. We don't get to see conference for another two weeks. Don't worry about sending me the ensign, I get one every month. I am really excited to see it. Our power went out the other day for the whole night so that was fun. Candle light is awesome. We got bored Saturday night after we ate so we got 30 bags of water and had a water fight in the apartment. It was awesome. Until I realized my stomach really hurt and I might have malaria. Tell Kristin good luck and keep up the good work. I hope she kicks the crap out of Highland.

That is cool that you had the missionaries over. It helps them out more than you think. I love getting F.M.'s (free meals). I am taking pictures of our apartment to send home. I want to ship it out in 2 or 3 weeks. Talk to Wood's mom if she gets pictures cus a lot of the time we just use his camera. I love the beef Jerky. Can't wait to get the next package. If anyone does right I won't get it for a month at least. I will right back as soon as I can though. I miss family guy.

Our water goes out every now and then but we have a pump when that happens. All our baptisms are at our chapel. I hear Isobelle has started cheer leading. That is scary. Oh, and when I get home, the 49ers are going to be the best team in the league. They just need to dump Alex Smith and get a good QB. Good to hear that Marc is doing well in classes.

Love to hear from you all. No Erin, it is not going by fast for me. It feels like 3 months and I am barely at 2. They say once you hit 3 it goes. I hope so. I just need to bury myself in the work. If you go to any NBA games that would be awesome.

I CAN COOK GHANIAN FOOD! We made garden egg stew, kontombre stew, fufu, banquo, man. We even made a killer tomato stew. I can't wait to cook for you all when I get home. YOu will probably hate the food but thats all good. I am hoping to get some more letters from friends at zone conference on Monday. That would be sweet. I am going to take a 1000 pictures and send them home soon.

Love to hear from you all! take care and I love you,
Elder Halling

p.s. hopefully I will be able to bear my testimony in fluent Twi when I call at Christmas. Muhahaha.
p.p.s. let everyone read this, I have a short time to go get my Malaria test.

9/15/08

Well Family,

This way of sending mail is more expensive but I have money left over so whatever. I feel homesick less and less now that I am in the field. 3 or 4 more days and I will have been in the field as long as the MTC. Crazy huh?! I really need to take more pictures. Maybe I will send them home in a couple months when an American Elder goes home.

Like I said in my email, the weather isn't too bad. The Ramataau is coming. It is when the sands blow in and cover the sun causing a dry season. It will be hotter during the day and colder during the night.

So far, I think my favorite part of being a missionary is all the doctrinal discussions we have. We go pretty deep into some stuff I normally wouldn't think about. Don't worry, I am not going to start another church!!

Well, I do cook a lot. It sucks, but I feel cool. Last Sunday we made a big stew and mixed in with rice and noodles all week. The carbs seem to be everywhere! Ha ha. I ate fufu again. It is good if it doesn't have fish because the bones are annoying. They just cook the whole fish and throw it in. I refuse to eat the head.

It's funny, when missionaries get their call we are bummed to go state-side, but now that I am here, I long for many things they get: washing machine, oven, wal-mart, Taco Bell, regular mail service, water running everyday, ugh. Then again it is fun not knowing whether you will come home to electricity or a need to light candles!!

So being a missionary now, I find joy in really weird things. Elder Woodhouse, Morriss, and I wanted to know the verse at the very middle of the Book of Mormon. One night we counted all the verses inside then did the math... it took 1 1/2 hours. The number was the 3,236.5 verse. So we used two verses of Alma 36. It is really cool what they talk about. Really the purpose of the Book of Mormon. this is what we do for fun.

I have now read Our Search for Happiness, Our Heritage, True to the Faith, the first 5 chapters of Jesus the Christ, 3rd Nephi, and have started the Book of Mormon again to see ow long it takes. You could say that I have a new appreciation for reading.

Well, don't want to write all, have to save something for the email. Hope I hear back soon. Love you all so much.

Love Elder Halling

September 23, 2008

That is good that the stickers are adding up for you, time goes by pretty slow here. I need to hit that 3 month mark before I die.

Ghana is a trash can country. They don't have trash cans anywhere so people litter like crazy. It rains every day and it is nuts. Suame, where I am, is the largest car parts market in the world. You can buy anything to do with a car here. People only shake and do things with their right hand cus those who are too poor to buy t-roll (toilet paper) use their left hand.

We had a baptism this weekend. The man's name is Godfree. It was like everything was going wrong that day. The water to the baptismal font wasn'tworking so we carried buckets and used a hose. That was a blast, then Godfreedidn't mention he was afraid of water. It took 10 times before I got him allthe way under. I have his name and the baptismal prayer down by heart.

The currency exchange is really close to 1:1. 1 dollar for 1 cedi. Things are cheaper here but that still isn't a bunch of money. I manage to get by though. We learned how to make Garden Egg Stew last night so when I come home I am going to make you guys some true Ghanian dishes. I am eating really healthy. Every stew we make have tons of vegetables and I get a bunch of manderan oranges for 1 cedi at the market.

I still don't have the package. It should be here within the nextweek. Just don't worry about sending the package by 10 day delivery cus itdoesn't help. 5 months? That confused me a bit. I am trying to stay positive, it gets hard though. I am teaching in a District meeting this morning so I have to go to that.

I hope all is well andI will write next Monday. Elder Halling

Monday, September 15, 2008

3rd row? haha, at least it is flying for you! Nah, things are better out here in the field. Elder Woodhouse is me in a really skinny body. He went to BYU Idaho and has my sense of humor. We just laugh all day and sing music, when we aren't teaching of course. Malaria takes about 3 days. I got sick Tuesday but we still went proselyting. I've lost 2 belt sizes!

Ghanians are not like us. They are racist and everywhere I go they try to charge more because we are white. I have less of that because I am really big. They like me because I am fat and that means you have money here. I walk everywhere, and we are teaching a lot of people. The baptism is this Saturday then we have a family to baptize the 11th of October.

The time is starting to fly. I am learning so much. I have realized how much scriptures I know and the knowledge the Lord gives me. GIVES ME. I can feel the spirit so strong when i teach that every time I speak I feel like I want to cry. I am a baby I know. I can't wait to call on Christmas. I think that will come sooner than I think.

Love to hear from you! Talk to you soon! Elder Halling