Christmas call and Plan of Salvation

I normally know the Elder names but not all of these guys.

 It was so great getting the chance to talk to you all and to have a small time in Spanish fork!  I won’t lie this call I never really thought about what I was going to say or tell.  I just knew I was going to be calling home.  I hope that I didn't just bore you all. Ha-ha just kidding. You guys use such big words and so civilized talking.  Wow I really need to pick up some slack there.  I did take the small time that I had left on my card to call grandpa;  Wow I loved that so much. We didn't really talk much just rather a wish for a merry Christmas and a comfort of I'm coming home in 6.  I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. These past two Christmas’s will be ones that I remember for the rest of my life and look forward to telling even my
own children.

On Thursday was weekly planning again and I couldn't believe that we were planning for week 6 again that would conclude our transfer.  It’s been such a good time with Elder Jones and so fast with everything
that’s been going on.  That same day we needed to go and spend some time with some elders in their apartment and see how they were doing. So he and I packed up our things and headed over there.  We sneaked  right into their house with nobody knowing and we just went straight to setting up our nets to sleep, pulling out chairs and tables to make a tent ha-ha and then the Elders came out and asked "what are you guys doing here?" ha-ha we went though on the right night and upon our sweet luck they were making a cake!  It was so good one of the Elders mother had sent him one. We slept on the tile floor and used some plastic bags which we filled full of air and tied for our pillows.  The next day went completely not the way that we had planned it to. We got our subsistence from the bank and got a call that we needed to meet with
the housing coordinator for the mission and go look at new apartments with him (that killed our plans of teaching) ha-ha we went and looked at a house that was okay but not what we were looking for.  The house
was made from mud brick and had a cement floor.  Kind of looked like my first apartment that I was in when I came on mission.. That thing was awesome!!!  Holes in the floor rats everywhere! What more could a missionary want!  And what an adventure this apartment would be Elder Jones and I talked about. oh yeah and it was literally right by "the bush" just wasn't something that we were looking for.  We then spent the
whole day with some of the investigators home. So we did some small contacting and went home to do followup calls with the zone leaders and spent 3 hours on the phone with them.

On Saturday mourning we were going through our area book trying to find someone to teach and we came across some old records that we decided to keep and I just couldn't throw it away. So we called the man and he was so excited to hear from us.  It had been three months since the missionaries went and saw him or contacted him. Bro. Mave when we saw him he didn't look like he was in too good of shape a little emotionally torn up about something. He told us how the missionaries had came and taught him before and how he liked it and felt at peace.  The man had lost his wife about 6 months ago and is just looking for any sort of hope that could bring him happiness. We gave him a plan of salvation track and told him we would come on Wednesday to talk more about it. During that lesson things hit me hard of the great plan of salvation that our Heavenly Father has for us. I imagined myself with a family and a wife that had just passed away.
What a struggle and heart ache it would be. What would I do?  Truly it would be hard. Especially without the knowledge of something greater to come.  I hope brother Mave reads that track to find the same peace
that I have found in the gospel.  Truly without the plan of salvation what would this life be?  Nothing other than life and death elements turn back to the earth and that’s it.  But with the Gospel there is more, there is the hope and promise of life after death and the opportunity to feel and have all that the Father has!

Today Elder Jones and I are making our way to Freetown for a mission leadership counsel meeting. Where all the zone leaders come together with the mission president and talk about growth and things that are
happening and things that need to be changed and even areas that need to be split etc. It should be quite the adventure!  Going back to Freetown, somewhere I haven’t been for 1 year!  Kinda scary to think about. We will then make our way back here to Bo on Wednesday in the morning and prepare more people to receive this gospel! Even to help everyone receive it! (Yes Caleb EVERYBODY!)  It will be fun to see all those missionaries that it has taken some time to see.

Well, the power just went out and the rest of my email is all lost so I'll just leave you guys at this and talk to you all next week!

LOVE ELDER HALES
Alma 37;6-7