Danny is serving with his 4th companion and his 2nd trainee. He is currently a district leader in an area that he and his brand-new to the field companion were white-washed into. He is currently in Ridgewood, New York, which is kind right between Queens and Brooklyn. Incidentally, he's about 20 minutes from the town where Deg's dad grew up. (The Valentine clan actually settled New York when it was brand new. I know you were dying to know that.) They had a baptism last week and were scheduled to have one yesterday. Since email day is Monday, I'm not sure if that has happened or not. They have several good new members they are working with and a few families as well. One of Danny's baptisms from his last city actually traveled to Salt Lake recently and met up with Amber for dinner.Amber called her (on D-Man's request) to see if they could get together, and when deciding on location/time, this gal said, "I will drive any distance to meet some of Elder Hall's family. How cute is that! In June, Danny turned 20, and one of the sweet sisters in the ward he was serving in then called our mom to ask what she should fix him for a surprise birthday dinner. She wanted to make his favorite foods so he could feel celebrated on his special day. I think that says a lot about what kind of missionary Danny is. His emails are so funny. He has the greatest sense of humor about things. For example, when tracting into a nasty building, rather than getting moody, he told his companion that it "smelled like the walls were painted with vomit" and then made up a song about it. He is also so humble, too. He is always asking us to pray for his investigators and is quick to recognize the Lord's hand in their conversions/progress. Let me show you some recent pics he's sent. (He broke his camera after about 5 months. I sent him my old one, and oh boy, has he made up for lost time with all the pics he's sending home!)
This is the Lynbrook Chapel in his last area.
Danny pretending to be homeless. On a side note, check out the graffiti. This is the front entrance to one of their investigators' houses.
Danny and his greenies. Elder Graham, his current companion, is on the left and Elder Holbrook, his previous companion is on the right.
I guess it gets hot proselyting in New York...?
When it rains, it pours. If you look at the van behind him, you can see how much water there is. He said when it rains, the streets turn into rivers and you can see stuff floating down them, though usually it's huge, stinky trash bags.
Chrissy, one of Danny's favorite baptisms, and the girl who met up with Amber.
Juan, one of their most recent converts. This kid is solid. Like, quit his job so he could go to church on Sunday after being a member for like a week.
D-Man nommin on some watermelon at the branch's 24th of July party.
I guess a cake fight was in order to celebrate his big 2-0. And his hair still looks perfect, of course. That little cutie.
1 comment:
If I didn't know that first picture was Danny I would have thought it was your old man Scott. They look so much alike. Thanks for the update it is fun to hear how Danny is doing.
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