A seed was planted!

Dear family and friends,

I don't have much time to email this week due to the transfer so I'll make this short, sweet, and simple!

When I get to know new people before a lesson I like to ask them what their favorite Liberian soup is! There's palm butter, casava, beans, pe-pe soup, potato greens, gravy, red oil soup, pumpkin, and last and DEFINITELY least... Tobogee! My favorite is casava but to make people giggle I say tobogee because NOBODY likes tobogee!

There's another dish here I love but I used to hate. It's called Liberian spaghetti. It can easily be made in America so I'll tell you what it is... Liberian spaghetti is tomato paste noodles with cucumber, mayo, ketchup, onion, boiled egg, and sausage! And if you'd like to make it truly Liberian... Put a gallon of pe-pe on it! My goal is to learn how to make each dish! 

Well this things are changing again! Elder James left this morning to serve in Monrovia and Elder Tamfumo left for his brand new area in Bongo. Never before touched my missionaries! I'm going to miss them so much! I'm grateful for Elder James and his dedication to train me so well! As for me... I'm staying here with my new companion from Ivory Coast named Elder Dea! (Drug enforcement agency) The man is dope! He used to be a DJ and he said he will teach me some French! Ah i'm so excited to get to know him!

I am excited to continue the work in this area. Sister Oretta agreed to be baptized on the 10th of November! She has been investigating for 6 years and is now ready to become a member! 

When I first got here there was an investigator (Lets call her Alice) who was about to be dropped by Elder James and Elder Zandemella. After meeting with her once... I felt that we shouldn't stop teaching her rather... Change the way we teach her. The reason they reasonably felt she should be dropped was because she wouldn't attend church and didn't seem interested. I suggested that we didn't teach her with all her distracting friends around. This approach made Alice more attentive and interested! She began to love meeting with us. At first... She couldn't read a word but after daily Book of Mormon study... She can now read clearly without any help! Powerful book!!! I was so happy to see her this last Sunday at sacrament meeting! I'm so glad I followed a prompting and continued meeting with Alice. I don't think I will see her baptism because she's still progressing but... I am certain a seed was planted and that makes me so incredibly happy!:)

I love this work so much! I can already see how the service is changing me spiritually and physically haha!

Sincerely, Elder Hallenberger

PS: Happy to hear about the changes in the ward! Brother Packer is a great guy and I love and sustain him!

Elder Batman

Dear family and friends,

When Ebola was bad in Africa it was especially bad in Liberia. In fact... Bushrod Island (My area) had it worst. This being said, bat hunting probably wasn't the smartest idea Elder Miller and I had. Personally, flying rats don't scare me so when a bat flew into the house... I was very determined to catch it! We were able to get it into a room where Elder Miller and I attempted to wack it out of the air. President Clark probably wouldn't have approved but I wanted to be able to say I caught an African Ebola bat. Eventually, I was able to hit it to the ground where it died an honorable death. It remains there today to remind us of our stellar accomplishment. (I'm totally kidding haha we threw it outside)

We had zone conference this week where President and Sister Clark shared amazing and motivating messages. I love them so much and I always look forward to seeing them. At ZC, I was able to meet the newest senior couple, Elder and Sister Kimball. Elder Kimball's grandpa is Spencer W Kimball's cousin! They are from Utah and have previously served in Liberia multiple times. They are so kind and I already love them so much! 

The other day I went on exchanges with Elder Hinson from Meridian. He is about to go home soon. The man is a machine!!! Usually, missionaries get lazy and trunky near the end of the mission but this is not the case for Elder Hinson! He is a great guy and it was great to spend time with him. We taught many lessons and I learned a lot from him. Great missionary and a great example to me.

This last week was my last week of training!!! I'm officially a missionary! I'm grateful for my trainer Elder James and i'm going to miss him so much! It's anticipated that he will be leaving to another area next week. Once he leaves, I'm left to keep my area up and going! It sounds nerve racking but thanks to my experiences on exchanges... I should be alright!

Our area is legit! Many investigators are simply waiting on marriage licenses so they can me baptized. Unfortunately, they are expensive so we just need to be patient and continue praying for them. 

The mission is DOPE! I'm enjoying every sweaty moment! I love hearing about my friends on missions and my friends preparing for missions. I'm excited for them to experience the wonderful experiences of a missionary! 

I love you all! Thanks for the kind emails and prayers! They are always appreciated!

Sincerely, Elder Batman

Puppy surgery and proselyting

Dear family and friends,

About a year before I left on my mission, I recall a conversation I had with my cousins, Rob and Braden. They are much older than me and have also served missions in exotic places. They were convinced that I would be called to serve in a place where I'd need to face my fear of spiders and insects. They were trying to scare me by showing me pictures of the "Camel spider" and other frightening spiders. This memory came back to me when I saw something much more frightening than the Camel spider. Up in the corner of an old shack was a large black spider with bright yellow legs. It was easily bigger than my hand! That's not even the scariest part... It had a small rodent!!! Ah!! Way worse than any Camel spider haha! Africa is truly jaw dropping! Thankfully... I also remember Braden and Rob assuring me that the Lord will replace my fears with comfort as a result to my willingness to serve diligently. They were right! It's insane how much I've been able to endure regardless of my arachnophobia haha!

We are getting into dry season and my gosh it is hot! While it's getting chilly back home... It's only getting hotter over here. I miss the feeling of being cold and not consistently sweaty!

I went on exchanges with Elder Tamfumo from DRC. He is a great guy and such a good teacher. My area is doing good! Angel went with us to the General Woman's session last week. We later had a good lesson about living Prophets. I had to clarify that we don't worship Russell M Nelson... We honor and follow his direction. 

Okay this next part makes me upset... One of our dogs, Russell got really sick one day and Elder James noticed a large green bean looking thing in the dog's ear. With a pair of tweezers, we tried to remove it but couldn't. I was scared it was a growth but after closer inspection we realized it was a large tick. The other Elders wanted to pull the tick out but I proudly said, "No guys. I'm an Eagle scout and I have been taught to never pull a tick out. The head will stay and get infected. We need to poke the tick's butt with a burning needle. It will release and then we can remove it from the ear." Haha I probably looked like a nerd but it worked and I felt very proud. After we removed the 1st tick... We found 5 more!! The poor dog was loosing brain juice and we didn't even know it! Well after the surgery, we felt pretty cool about ourselves. But GUESS WHAT!? The mission office took the puppies!!! Ah I'm so upset!! I fought to keep them alive and I didn't even get to eat one!!! (Kidding totally kidding)

Not a whole lot to report this week! The work is great! Love you all! Thanks for your kind emails! 

Sincerely, Elder Hallenberger

We got puppies!!

Dear family and friends, 

Long story short: Due to the frequent robberies... The mission office gave us 2 guard dogs for our compound! They are just tiny and harmless puppies and by the time they are mean and aggressive... I'll be in another area. Ah! I'm so excited! We named one Russell (After our dear prophet) and one Doug (After our dear mission president) My buddies serving in the states have Facebook, smartphones, and washing machines but... We have puppies so it's pretty great over here!! These ones wont become a meal haha:)

I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Nahounou from Ivory Coast. He is hilarious and a great elder! He came to my area so once again... I was the leader for the day. It was by far the hottest day I've ever experienced! We went out and walked and walked and walked but in return... We only had one lesson. The entire day of walking in the hot sun only brought one person!!! The lesson was great but it was by far my least successful day. I was tired and discouraged.....

That night during my Book of Mormon study, I conveniently read in the book of Mosiah. I read about Abinadi where he tries his very hardest to convert King Noah and his people. The marvel of the story is that King Noah has Abinadi burned alive and shortly after... King Noah is also burned... Just as Abinadi had previously prophesied. Pretty amazing story but personally... The best part is how one of King Noah's priests named Alma listened to Abinadi's words and was converted. During my study I wondered, perhaps Abinadi was discouraged as he was burned. I'm sure he was in pain but perhaps he was also sorrowful that he gave his whole life and in the end made no difference. Well little did Abinadi know... He made a profound difference! As we know.. Alma went on to convert 204 people. Alma's son went on to convert countless people and Alma's grandsons continued the work. 2,167 years later, Abinadi's efforts are consistently recognized to this day. Perhaps he was discouraged just like I was but after reading his story... I was comforted. My negative attitude about my efforts then became a positive, uplifting, and motivating attitude. I learned a lot from this simple scripture experience. Every soul is great in the eyes of God. Great efforts produce great impacts. The most important is this: Applying stories from the Book of Mormon to your own life will eliminate discouragement and provide positive personal motivation.

Since a missionary's main tool is the Book of Mormon... I have experiences like these EVERY day. One of our faithful investigators is currently struggling to collect the funds for a marriage license and also obtain his birth certificate so he can be baptized. I recently felt strongly impressed to read with him the story of Nephi and the brass plates. Though it wasn't easy and required multiple life threatening attempts... Nephi didn't lose trust in the Lord. He gave his ALL to obey the commandments of the Lord. As a result, he accomplished the difficult and obtained the plates from the wicked King Laban. The lesson for this investigator: Do your very best and let the Lord take care of the rest! He even got a good rhyme out of it! I love the  Book of Mormon. I recently began holding it in my hand as I walk instead of keeping it in my bag. Allowing it to play a massive role in my life has brought me great joy! I know it's the true word of God written by ancient disciples for us... Modern disciples. Don't believe me? Try it yourself!:)

I was able to watch Saturday afternoon session, Sunday Morning session, and General woman's session of conference. I love the prophet haha! He is such a character! I know he was called of God to direct the Lord's church! I'll share more of my thoughts next week after I watch the rest of General conference! 

I love you all! Thank you for your kind words and prayers! 

Sincerely, Elder Hallenberger

PS: I caught a salamander and a tree frog.

Elder Chicken Slayer!!

Vegetarian viewer discretion is advised

I went on exchanges with Elder Miller on Friday! He is awesome! Since we were in my area for the day... I was in charge! At first it was strange but it ended up being a successful day and I learned that I knew my area better than I had thought! We did get lost a few times and we had to back track. I remember stating to Elder Miller, "I am lost and I forgot my Liahona."

Elder Miller is a great guy. He kind of reminds me of Shane from The Walking Dead. He grew up on a farm so he's got a fun way of talking and a lot of cool stories. After spending one day with him.... I did something I had never done before. We bought, caught, killed, prepared, and ate a chicken. Elder Miller wanted something crazy for dinner. Personally I thought the food here was crazy enough. He wanted to make a soup that needed chicken. Well after buying and catching the chicken... I asked Elder Miller how he planned on killing it. He told me to hold the chicken's head in your hand tight. Then he said, "Swing up the chicken holding the head and then whip it as hard as you can." I said I would do it if I could wear his cowboy hat in the process. He agreed. Now, I thought that the chicken's neck would just snap but after whipping the chicken I noticed two things. The chicken went flying in front of me but... I was still holding the head. It's a strange feeling to hold the head of something running around frantically in front of you. The dinner was delicious and I will change my name to, Elder Chicken Slayer.

On Saturday, President and Sister Graham came for a special devotional. Pres Graham is the Temple President for the Accra Ghana temple. He taught at the Provo MTC for over 30 years. President Graham was Elder Neil L. Anderson's teacher in the MTC. He is just awesome and he spoke to the members about the importance of temples. He told all of them to try everything they could to get to the temple. Regardless of the sacrifice. After being in that meeting I feel even more grateful to have 2 temples so close to my home in Meridian. I really encourage everyone to understand the blessings of the nearby temples and attend them regularly. So many people here sacrifice so much to get to the nearest temple so far away. I'm also grateful for General Conference. I never realized how much of a blessing it is to watch and listen to the prophet speak to us live! Sadly, due to my location, we will only be able to view one session of conference and that's a large maybe. This kinda sucks haha but we will get the church magazine in a month or two! I'm told this conference will be insane! President Nelson doesn't mess around! I testify that he is a true prophet and every time I hear his voice I receive that personal confirmation. Liberia temple?... My fingers are crossed!

I don't have a whole lot to say this week but I love you all and hope everything is good in America!

Sincerely, Elder Chicken Slayer