Week 101: La Ultima...

Well...I can't believe it is over! This week has been really crazy and full of feelings. I'm pretty stoked to see the fam and friends and all! But I'm really gonna miss Peru. Last night we were up in the hills visiting a member and looking over Lima and I almost choked up thinkin of how much I'm gonna miss this place. I've loved my mission soooooo much. I really would be a lost soul if it wasn't for this experience. The mission has saved me and given me the chance to help save others. I know that this is the work of God and I've seen his hand so many times in these past 2 years. I can't really put my thoughts into words right now and I'm just speaking nonsense but I KNOW that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and I KNOW this is the only path to happiness. I know it and I love it!! I feel as Paul said: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

I sure love you guys and will see you soon.

–Elder Hale

Week 100: Hi!

Hey Everyone! 

Sorry for not being too detailed today! This week was crazy because my kid went home. :( His surgery was pretty hardcore so they sent him home to rest for a few months until he can come back to the mission. It was sad to see him go, he was a really good guy and a good, obedient missionary. 

This week I had my last zone conference and my final interview with President. It was a sentimental experience. President Godfrey really is a swell man and so wise! I'm glad that I got to have a close relationship with him. This is my last week and it feels weird!!! Bittersweet would be the word id use to describe it. 

I'm sooo grateful for my mission! I've LOVED it!

– Elder Hale

4th of July

Ceviche de pota!! Only 3 soles. (80 cents)

Choco pancakes

More 4th celebrations

Gotta love 'Merica shirts!

Week 99: Happy 4th of July!!

Hey everyone! 

This week was crazy. We were in the hospital on Wednesday, all day Thursday and all day Saturday because that's when my kid got surgery! They operated on his both legs and he will be in the offices recuperating for a week! So since Saturday, I've been in a tri-companionship with the other Elders in our ward. It's been fun being in a trio! We are all gringos so that's a riot. It's been nuts trying to cover the whole ward though cuz it's huge!

On Saturday, I was alone in the hospital the whole day and so I had a lot of time to think/read/sleep and I had a lot of time to look back on these past 2 years. I had a really peaceful, happy feeling and just felt really grateful for my mission and all the people I've met and helped and all the experiences that I've had. I am sure grateful for my mission. It has changed my life!! 

Well, another cool experience this week was with an investigator named Nicholas that's 18 years old. He is studying to becoming a Catholic Priest/Deacon kinda thing so he wasn't too open to the book of Mormon or restoration at first but we told him to just open his heart enough to ask God if it's true and that God will make him know that this is the only true church. I honestly doubted a little that he was going to humble himself enough to read and pray but we came back and he said "I did it" and he received an answer to his prayers and has a baptismal date for the 14th!! woohoo!

Well, till next week, have a good one! And HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

—Elder Hale

Funny pics of us with my comps glasses.

Last time wearing my "fast and testimony meeting tie."

Week 97: One Month Left!

Hey my friends and fam!!

Man, life keeps on chuggin!! I'm super happy and just trying to enjoy the last few weeks. Sometimes Satan tries to convince me that I'm tired or that I need a break or that I'm justified to wind down a little bit, but the key has just been to kick those thoughts out right when they get in!! Also, I think that I am gonna miss my mission a ton and so I better not waste a moment of these last few weeks! Gotta soak it all up and leave it all out on the field.

This week's highlights....

• Went to the hospital like 3 times for my kid's leg problems, he's hurtin a lot and might have to go home, :/ I really hope not. We are praying for him and hes been a trooper! 
• I fell from a staircase and got scraped up, haha super clutzy.
• I held a parrot and watched it drink oatmeal, haha.

Right now we have 3 progressing investigators that could be baptized in the first week of July. We are praying and working extra hard for them so that they can be saved!!! 

This week I read a lot of the Liahona with the October 2016 conference talks and WOW that was a KILLER conference! I FULLY recommend it, especially these talks:

• Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It? - Cornish
• Abide in my Love - Christofferson
• To Whom Shall We Go? - Ballard
• Joy and Spiritual Survival - Nelson

Also... here is one of my fav vids for all of you fathers out there! Happy late Father's Day!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-002-earthly-father-heavenly-father?lang=eng

— Elder Hale

P.S. Sorry for not sending pics this week, we got hardcore robbed so I don't have my camera anymore but don't worry cuz it was super old and almost broken anyways.

Week 95: Last Transfer

Hey Folks!!! I hope life is good for you guys and you're enjoying summer! It's super cold around these parts right now, I don't appreciate it too much but oh well.

This week had some highlights!! We had a leaders mtng with the Area President (Elder Godoy). It was awesome! He's gonna be one of the presidents of the 70 in a few weeks. The meeting was really spiritual and he talked about receiving revelation for our districts and zones. It was really neat. Also, we had zone conference this week and district meeting on Friday so it was a really busy week going here and there. We didn't have too much time in our area and our numbers this week showed it. :/ We didn't have ANY investigators in church ysterday. It was a heartbreaker. But gotta remember that WE CAN'T GET DISCOURAGED cuz thats EXACTLY what Satan wants to happen, so we gotta put it in gear this week and find solutions and work even harder! We're wroking right now with 2 investigators named Jair and Marvin that should get baptized this month....praying for miracles! 

Well, today we have transfers. I don't think they'll change me cuz this is my last transfer! Crazy stuff. Gotta stay strong till the end!

Love you all, have a great week.

Random selfie with elder BANKS.
(He's 6 foot 8, but looks 8 foot when around Peruvians.)

ZONA COMAS! 

Elder Powell and I just being goons.

About to go contacting with a Chewbacca mask!

Random selfie with my kid as we were waiting for our investigator.

Week 94: Just Pics

Cool Peru hat I bought on p-day.

More pizza.

My poor kid isn't used to hiking up and down hills all day, he gets tired real quick.

Week 93: A Week in Pictures

This is a Jello birthday cake that the mission bought for me! 

It looked super cool! But it wasn't tasty at all, haha! 

But hey beggars can't be choosers, right?

More birthday cake

While cleaning the font for our baptism, we decided we 

needed an ice cream break and they were on sale! YEET!

Elder Powell baptized his phone, haha! 

(It fell in while cleaning the font.) #holyphone

Jimena's baptism!!! I was honestly super nervous that day because she has a deathly fear of water and she's been postponing her baptismal date for more than a month because of it. So, I was nervous that she wouldn't get in the water or that something would go wrong but she showed up, and even though the water was super cold and she was super scared, she cowboyed up and got in! It was honestly a miracle that everything went so smooth! 

The view over Comas (Lima Valley) from our area. 

Glamour shot

My ward! (You can see the huuuugeee cemetary at the end.)

My convert from 1.5 years ago came to our ward to visit me yesterday!! 

His name is Luis and he was an Escogido (chosen one). 

Man, I sure love that guy, he's super strong these days.

Week 92: The Lord's Hand

Hey everyone! 

Just a quick update! Things are going well and my kid and I are finally getting used to the new area and not getting lost. Haha! We've found a decent pool of investigators now too so we are happy! This week the highlights were...

We had a ward activity for Mother's Day that was on Friday! It was a big talent show and we had a few investigators that showed up and had a great time. 

Saturday I got to go to my old area to see my old investigators baptism! She's a champ because she has a crazy schedule at her university and work that basically leaves her with zero time, but she even dropped one of her classes to come to church on Sundays.

Yesterday, when everyone was out in the streets partying and drinking, we still had 2 investigators come to church so we feel really blessed about that. :) We were not expecting them to come but the Lord blessed us with a little surprise! I sure love miracles and tender mercies. I've seen that if I sit back and analyze my day, I can almost always see the Lord's hand working and helping us in at least something specific EVERY SINGLE DAY. :) 

I love being a missionary! Haha, have a great week y'all!

—Elder Hale

My investigator (from my old area) got baptized 

and I got to go support her! Great experience.

Week 91: Just Pics

No letter this week, but we did get more pictures. They are worth a thousand words, so I guess you could say Jarett is a prolific writer, haha! :)

Burning a shirt for Elder Ahuanaris year mark in the mish!

View from the top of our area! Looking over Lima.

A cool drawing that was on our wall when we got here.

A service we did this week in the hills! Built stairs so that
a less-active fam can get to their new house in the hills.

Our new area in Comas.

Week 90: New Transfer...New Kid!

Hey everyone!! Well, now we have less time on the internet so I'll keep it short.

I got transferred!!! I'm not a Zone Leader anymore. I got transferred to Comas and I'm opening up a new area and training!! I have a kid, woohoo! Haha, I am pretty stoked about it. He's from Brazil! He speaks basically no Spanish, so I'll be teaching him a lot. He's a convert as of a year and a half ago. He used to be a straight-up thug, haha. But he's got a powerful testimony and is very obedient and humble! I'm super grateful for that! My area is called Vista Alegre and it has a ton of hills!! Haha, President wants me to end the mission with hard thighs it looks like. We had some pretty cool miracles this week too! On Wednesday we contacted a random guy in the street, walked with him to his house, sat down with his family, and he came to church yesterday, read all of 1st Nephi and now wants to get married and baptized!!! WOOHOO! Haha, it'll be a trick to get them married but well see how it goes! Pray for Jorge!

I am now 20 years old! How crazy! Here in South America, they have a tradition of smashing eggs over your head on your birthday, so this morning when we were playing soccer, my pal Elder Ahaunari smashed one over my head when I wasn't lookin. :)

-Elder Hale

Birthday pic last night with my bday cupcakes!! Woohoo, I'm old now!

They smashed an egg over my head in the morning for my bday, haha!

Gangsta shot.

Pic with my comp and the other Elders in the ward.

My kid by the cemetery at the end of our area!

Week 89: Just Pics

(Jarett didn't send a group letter today and only sent three pictures.)

Zone Picture

Eating a filled squash thingy!

My mexi beard after two days! haha

Week 88: Cool Week!

Hey everyone! 

We had some crazy stuff happening this week! We wanted to unite the zone/shake things up a bit so this week we did a blitz in every area in the zone! (A blitz is where the whole district goes to 1 area for 2 hours and contacts like crazy to get new investigators for that area). It was fun and we feel more of a teamwork spirit in the zone now. 

On Thursday, our 2nd counselor in the Bishopric came to us and told us that we were gonna go on the ward campout for the day with them. We looked at him like he was crazy cuz we thought President definitely wouldn't give us permission...but he called, and he said he'll make an exception for us! Woohoo! So we got to go out of Lima (for the first time!!) all of Friday to the ward campout. We played volley with the ward, chess, soccer, and went to the river! I was super stoked about the river cuz I heard there were trout in it but I was super bummed cuz I didn't have a rod!!! So close but so far, haha. But the best part is that non-members went on the campout and we taught them out there and got new investigators!! YEET! And I was just so stoked to see green cuz there is no such thing as green in Lima. 

Well.... another cool thing is that on Sunday I was walking into the church and a guy walked passed and looked in curiously and asked "Hey can I come in??" and I was like "are ya kiddin?? OF COURSE you can come in!!" and we sat him down in sac meeting and introduced him to the members and he went to my gospel principles class and had a good time! It was just a little sabbath miracle! We're gonna visit him tomorrow.

Well, other than that...all is well!! I love the mission!! Although the older I get in the mission the more tired I get all the time! Haha, walkin 5-10 miles a day will get ya. But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Have a great week and sorry for the long email.

– Elder Hale 

Yangas (The ward campout!)

Yangas (The ward campout!)

Yangas (The ward campout!)

Yangas (The ward campout!)

I FOUND A RIVER AND I HEARD THERE'S TROUT IN IT!

Unfortunately, I didn't have a fishing rod.

River selfie with Elder Kunz.

And the cherry on top pic!