Liberia!

No email from Elder Hallenberger this week but he wrote this in a letter to his sister, Jadyn, who is doing a report on the country of Liberia. I (His Dad) thought it was worth sharing. :) 

Liberia is made up of 15 counties. I live in Montserrado. Most of the mission is in this county but Elder Packer recently opened up an area in Sinoe county and earlier... Elder Tamfoumou opened in Bong county. I hope to open a county sometime in my mission because I feel it would be cool.

In Liberia they speak English but its very different. When I first arrived I couldn't understand shit (Not a bad word here). It's called Kalokwa (Liberian English). Chances are.. A Liberian can't understand you either because you are speaking Sereeze (American English). For example, when they are hungry they say, "Myteesha" which means... My teeth are sharp. When they are full they'll say, "Mygufu" which means.. My gut is full. When they greet people they say... "Ya Hello-o!" "How ya spend tha day?" or "How da body?" In Liberia it is VERY common to greet EVERYBODY you see. All day here I say... "Ya Hello-o!" Of course its not just about what you say... Its how you say it. Kalokwa contains a lot of mumbling and quick talking. "How da body" would sound like "lksdfjhsdkmmhhk"

On top of the Kalokwa... There are dialects for each tribe. My tribe is Kru because when I first arrived a ma told me I'm Kru. She said my Kru name is Blamo meaning... First lover. Haha yeah I know. Good morning is... "Dewah" Good afternoon is "Ponganie" and the general greeting is... "Bongodolru"

There are a lot of soups here that are special to each tribe. When they say soup they really mean.... a bowl of rice with some type of substance on top. My favorite is Casava. The one special to my tribe is Palm Butta but... That one can give my stomache hard time! Toboggie is the WORST!!! Literally tastes like a spoonful of baking soda. It will send any white man crying back to the apartment. Stay away from toboggie.

A lot of people here don't have it easy. It is a fourth world country. When I left on mission it was the 3rd poorest country in the world but now... Its unfortunately the 1st. Elder Kimball, (one of the senior missionaries who started the mission after the Ebola crisis) told me that Liberia was on the path to being the wealthiest country in West Africa but when the civil war happened... The country suffered. After the war, Liberia unfortunately was hit with the Ebola virus. During this time, the country was in quarantine. This all made Liberia very weak and poor.

Many men walk around today with one leg or one arm. Its not a birth defect... Its always due to the war. If you believed in Christ... The rebels would cut off your arm or leg. Its very sad and the future of Liberia is much brighter than the past.

Obviously there's much more to tell! Like the word for prostitute is... Obijo. I know that because in Paynesville... They walk around everywhere. On a weekly basis ill be asked to....

Liberia is special and the people here are just amazing andI love them so much! Dont really wanna leave tbh.

Love, Elder Hallenberger

Fun In The Sun

Dear family and friends,

This last week was very successful! I'm absolutely loving the work and my awesome companion, Elder Roundy makes it all the more fun and enjoyable. He's a great and humble missionary. I hope to stay with him for another transfer.

Our investigator, Dave is still working towards a marriage license. Since he works all week, we are only able to see him on Sundays after service. The Sisters at the Hawaii visitor center have been so helpful! They originally gave us his contact and every other night they take the time to read the Book of Mormon with him. I've been keeping in touch with them and they are always excited to hear about his continuing progression. 

On Thursday, we had a zone conference about physical and spiritual safety. We watched a couple of the new safety videos that the church recently released for missionaries and President Clark gave us an amazing instruction about how we can always keep ourselves safe from spiritual danger.

We did a role-play exercise where we practiced the beginning of teaching investigators. Our 'investigator' was our AP, Elder Pollmann. Role-playing usually makes me feel awkward and nervous but luckily, Elder Pollmann was a great actor and he made it easy for us to teach him. He also gave us helpful advice and criticism. I guess I just usually go with the flow, wing it, or simply say what feels right when I teach so when I am being.... analyzed... I panic and wish I wish I had a script. It wasn't too bad though:)

We had an awesome district council on Friday morning! Elder Roundy asked me to conduct the discussion so I decided to talk about how we can more naturally share our testimonies.. on mission and at home. I figured it would be a good topic because we as missionaries share our testimonies multiple times a day. I used the help of an article from the recent Liahona... It gave 5 simple key points to remember when sharing a testimony. Keep it simple, fit the conversation, be prepared, share experiences, stay centered on the Savior, and invite to act. We talked about each one and how we can better apply it to our daily lives as missionaries and disciples of Jesus Christ. We seemed to learn a lot from each other's input.

The work is sweet! Liberia is hot but rainy season will begin soon. This morning a man reached for my wallet but I smacked his hand and gave him the glare until he walked away. Typical morning in Liberia:)

Love you all! 

-Elder Hallenberger

Loving Liberia!

Dear family and friends,

This week has been awesome! Elder Roundy and I make a great companionship and the unity allows us to be successful and have fun! The same goes for the newly changed district. The unity allows the Spirit to always be present!

Elder Roundy makes a great district leader! We went in town on Thursday for his training and on Friday morning, he conducted a profound district council where we learned from each other. I love district council because it allows us the opportunity to spiritually uplift ourselves after a week of uplifting others. I'm excited to continue working with the awesome district I've been assigned.

We are still finding a considerable and exciting amount of success in our area! We have a baptism planned for the 30th of March and many more to come. Like I said before, a lot of our investigators are waiting for marriage licenses so they can be baptized. This is one of the main problems a missionary will find in Liberia. I'll continue praying and being patient. I may not be the one to baptize these people but at least they are on the path of progression.

The work is going great and I love it here in Liberia! Thanks for your support! I love you all! 

Sincerely, Elder Hallenberger

The Biggest Transfer!

Dear family and friends, 

In my area, we get a lot of referrals from members so we hardly ever have time to contact. We have a ton and I'm dedicated to get them all knocked out before I leave. Pinky and Cherish gave us a referral for their brother in Accra Ghana. It's been two weeks since I sent out the referral and the Accra missionaries STILL haven't seen him! If they take any longer... I may need to take another trip to Ghana and do it myself:)

Me, Elder Packer and Elder Booher

Well things are changing again! It seems like just yesterday I got my new companion, Elder Booher. He has been such a great companion and I'm so grateful for everything he has taught me and the success we had together. He left yesterday to be Zone leader in Harbel!

Elder Packer and Me

Elder Packer also sadly left our apartment. Im super excited and proud of him! He and Elder Johnson left this morning to their new area 8 hours away in Greenville! They are opening the apartment and area. They will have to take a plane to Zone conference!! President has been trying to open Greenville for a while now but since it's so far away and in the middle of nowhere... It took some time. I believe a special task like this is only reserved for the very best of us and I have no doubt that Elder Packer and Elder Johnson fit the part. I'm going to miss them and I know they'll do great things in Greenville:)

Aspuria, Me, Elder Roundy, Elder Dea in the back

Elder Aspuria and I are staying put in the Celestial apartment with our new companions! My companion is the District leader, Elder Roundy from Utah. He's such a dope guy and I can't wait to get to know him more! He loves fishing and singing country music so... We'll have a good time:) Elder Aspuria's new companion is Elder Teichert from Utah. He's super fun guy and it seems like our district will remain... The best in the mission:)

I was able to see Elder Dea again when he helped drop off my companion. He seems very happy and it was nice to see him again.

My goal this transfer is to work harder than ever before. The Lord has really blessed me with Elder Roundy because he really has a good energy that will help us reach our goal. I'm happy and excited for this transfer! It seems like things are better than ever here in Liberia! Plus, I bought Elder Jensen's guitar and Elder Teichert said he'll teach me what I need to know so life just got a whole lot better:)

Love you all! Thanks for the support!

Sincerely, Elder Hallenberger 

Below is a video that Pinky Pajibo sent of Elder Hallenberger cooking.