After two weeks off for Christmas break, students at Ogden Deamude Adventist School were welcomed back with a special week of prayer. The week was filled with excitement as Pastor David Solomon Hall Sr., Nevada-Utah Conference youth director, presented a powerful message and spent the week learning the personal and spiritual needs of each student.

Hall shared the story of Jesus, His dying on the cross and saving every person who would accept Him. To emphasize the point, Hall knelt before the students' desks pleading with their hearts as he made the story of Jesus' sacrifice come alive. Many eyes were filled with tears as they experienced Christ's last hours on earth. "His words came inside my heart like magic," said Jose, a seventh-grader. "If you ever meet Pastor Hall, your heart will be changed."

Hall immediately bonded with every child in the school. He made himself available to all by giving out his cell phone number and e-mail address. This meant a lot to Kara, a fifth-grader. "He was friends with all of us — every single kid — by the first day." By the end of the week each student had made a pact to e-mail him regularly. Dallas, a sixth-grader, felt that all schools should have Hall come to their school.

"I started the week not caring," said Sara, an eighth-grader. "I felt like, why does it matter? What's the point? But now I care! I want to keep what's going on inside to last forever! I feel different and I want people to see that."

Hall made them laugh, cry and smile. Hall has made it a priority to visit every school within the Nevada-Utah Conference this year. He hopes to meet every student to determine spiritual needs and formulate plans to fill those needs.