Another Step Home

September 17 was the day I was privileged to receive my endowments in the Bountiful temple. Surrounded by my family, I was amazed at how at home I felt while there. It was surreal to have the workers check my recommend and lead me back to places I had never before seen. I LOVED IT! All of the people there were so sweet, helpful, and congratulatory. The best way to describe my experience at the temple is "overwhelmingly good." Among the many emotions I felt while there comfort, overwhelming peace, love, understanding, promise, hope, faith and goodness stood out the most. It felt right, it felt good, and it felt like home. God is so good. I know He cares about me individually and wants me to return to His presence. That is what the purpose of temples and the endowment is all about. My favorite quote regarding the temple is from Brigham Young: 

“Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.” 

That is what the temple is all about, it is about returning home and helping each other back home. The temple is such a treasured blessing in my life and I cannot wait to share my testimony of it with the people of Tennessee.

My Call to Serve

On July 30th I opened a letter that changed my life.

"Dear Sister Hall, 

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Tennessee Knoxville mission. It is anticipated you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Mexico Missionary Training Center on Tuesday, November 22, 2016. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president."

Reading those words, a thousand thoughts rushed through my head and my emotions were swirling. I had been looking forward to this day for as long as I could remember. I was so grateful for the love and support I felt from my friends and family who were there to experience such an exciting day with me. I had just returned from a trip in Alaska that morning and could not wait to open it, so we had people over within hours of flying in. I had very limited service in Alaska so it was up to my mom and Sydney Jones to spread the word. The amount of people that showed up to support and experience such an exciting day with me amazed me! I am so grateful for the family I have and my ward members and friends who surround me with so much love and support. 

People had asked over and over where I wanted to go. My response was always "I'm open to wherever because I think anywhere you go is foreign."

In the back of my mind I kind of thought I'd end up foreign but truly I was ok to serve wherever the Lord called me. He called me to about as foreign as you could get still being stateside! The South had never entered my mind. BUT it was interesting to feel that even though I was involved in a lot of excitement and congratulations and joy around me, I wasn't feeling what I expected to feel. Reading Tennessee Knoxville brought a big smile and a load of shock, my mind was saying "WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!" my heart was saying, "Oh my goodness we finally have a name and a place to go do what we've always wanted to do!" My stake president President Sargent in one of my prep interviews counseled and warned me that there was a chance that I might not have an immediate overwhelming peace and acceptance of my call. I remember sitting across from him thinking "No, I'm sure I will!" But he was right. It has taken me quite some time to feel good and content. Not that I was discontent, it's really hard to put into words my process of accepting my call. I will say though that reading Mexico MTC and Spanish helped make it all come together and feel more complete. Also 22 has always been my lucky/favorite number so the fact that I leave on November 22 is exciting. I know that my call is perfect for me because it was assigned through revelation by someone who knows and understands and loves me PERFECTLY! I know that there are people in Knoxville that need to be taught and influenced by Hermana Hall and I know that I will be taught and influenced by so very many people! 

I am called to serve and so grateful for the opportunity to embark on a journey to teach, and love, and serve as Christ would. Because that's what life is all about, helping each other back home to the God that gave us life.