Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Wow! That sounds like a crazy week! You guys are doing amazing! I also loved this week!

This week we had divisions with the zone leaders, and it was incredible! I learned how to contact in a very rich area! We had been ringing intercoms, and nobody comes to the door that way. Most of the time we just talked to the maids/housekeepers! But I never really knew how to talk to people in the street. My zone leader is the most outgoing, friendly, couldn't care less missionary, and it's awesome! He literally talks to everyone! It's so much fun! So now we are having a lot more success, because we have found the key to this area! It's so awesome! My companion is awesome, and really wants to be obedient, which makes it much easier! I am so happy to be working with him!

Our president is leaving this week! Our new president has already been set apart, and we'll be having interviews and zone conferences to get to know him this week! It's going to be awesome!

Our pension is amazing, and her daughter is about to have a baby, so they had a baby shower and stuff like that, but that means that we weren't able to eat dinner at the pension, so we had to buy hamburgers. I will tell you that there are levels of hamburgers. Some hamburgers are amazing, others are just flat, and others are sickening. I have experienced all of those levels this week! Luckily two of the four times they were amazing! And I didn't get sick :) But I'm here loving life, learning, and loving my Savior. The hymn, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, has really hit me hard this week, as I see changes in everyone. Especially the line, Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do. This is all super real, and really changes lives. Sometimes we fall in a trap of underestimating the power of the Almighty, but he has that title for a reason!! It's so powerful to watch people change their lives around and to see their commitment to the Gospel! I love you all and keep loving life and strengthening your relationship with our Savior!!

Missionary Scriptures and the Plan of Happiness

That all sounds awesome! I'm short on time today, so I won't be writing a ton, but happy Father's Day to Dad!

This week I gave my district meeting about obedience, and I found a scripture that is super powerful!!

Alma 26:22
Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

Thousands of people! It's incredible!

I also found a scripture that is super powerful and eloquent! 

Moroni 9:6

And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

And last thing, I was studying the Condescension of Jesus Christ, and it was so powerful! It really hit home that this is all real, and that he came here for us! That all the promises in the scriptures are real, and this is life! There is no separation between the gospel, and our lives; the gospel is the way to live to be happy! And the promises are immense. My invitation is that you can all read the scriptures and trust in the promises. When we read the scriptures, we should never say, that doesn't apply anymore, unless the prophets have explicitly said so. Miracles do happen, and we are about the Lord's business!  

This is wonderful, and I love you all!

A Principle of Sacrifice

This week has been really interesting! We have a lot of work to do here! I feel inspired, because it's not going to be easy, but it will be worth it! I read a talk the other day that was really, really powerful, that helped me understand what missionary work is, by President Hinckley.

I am learning a ton! We had our last interviews with president before he goes home, and it was powerful! He gave me basically a personal analysis of who I am, and what he expects of me. He also told me something very interesting, that fasting works because of the principle and law of sacrifice, and the reason that we don't fast like crazy in the mission, is because we are already sacrificing! We have a right to the blessings of fasting on our mission, if we serve a mission with the attitude of fasting, that is "anoint thine head, and wash thy face." And that goes hand in hand with D&C 84:80: "And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst."

So really, the mission is incredible! And I began to apply this, and really behave like I was fasting, but all the time, being happy and serving with a purpose, and guess what. We found a whole family to teach! They're not super easy, but we had 4 new investigators in one day! It was awesome!!! The more I learn about being a missionary, the more I realize that it is a commitment of a member, not just a 18-25 year old young adult! It also reminds me of a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland in General Conference, where he said, speaking as Christ, "I need disciples forever."

I invite you all to really work in the work and glory of the Lord, forever. If we really are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are literally representatives of Jesus Christ in everything we do. This is what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God. I was getting my haircut today, and the lady cutting it was a Jehovah's Witness, and she said, shouldn't the members of your church share what makes them happy, to help them feel God's love? It was a really insightful moment, when I realized that there is a difference between baptism and conversion. When we are converted, we honor our baptismal covenant, as described in Mosiah 18.

I love you all, and you are really wonderful people and doing great things! Keep up the good work!

--Dallin

Hot Water, Travel Fare, and Neural Networks

My companion is Elder Viloria, who actually entered the field with me! He's Colombian, and likes to joke a lot! He's a really good missionary, and teaches really well. We live in a nicer apartment, because it's a much nicer area, but it still doesn't have a tank water heater, and the shower-head heater was broken, but we finally got it replaced, so I don't have to use the kettle anymore!

This week was pretty hard. We ran out of travel fare, so we had to walk to another area to give a baptismal interview. We had to walk for 2 hours and 15 minutes. We only had fare for one way, and we decided it was better to walk there in the light, than walk back in the dark! And then, we found out that the mission is in deficit right now, so our budget for travel got cut by 30%! So we're struggling with that, but at least I got to baptize the investigator! It was an investigator from the Sister Missionaries, because we are the only Elders in our district, so she didn't have anybody to baptize her, so I got to do it! It was pretty awesome, but I forgot my camera today, so I can't upload the pictures... Next week! We also have some investigators that are trying to get married, but they have to wait for the city, which is only available in July! It's a long time to be an investigator, ready to be baptized!

I have a comparison that came to my mind this week, and it's part computer science, part biology, but just listen. It has do to with neural networks. Neural networks are one way to model intelligence in a computer. They consist of a network of nodes, or neurons, that are all connected together. What's interesting is that adding one node, increases the potential of the network only based on the connections it makes! So, a node that just sits in isolation can't accomplish anything. As members of wards, and the church as a whole, we do absolutely nothing just going to church on Sunday, and going home again. Only as we make connections with as many people as possible, can we really become part of the family of God, and obtain exaltation. That's part of what it means to live in the world. The network can accomplish much much more, than any single node, and even more than the sum of the nodes! In the church, if we don't connect with others, greeting and getting to know new people, and increasing the size of our network, we accomplish nothing. Everything else that you can do, doesn't matter, because without serving your fellow man, you cannot become the person God wants you to be! So if you feel like you already have your group of friends, and there's no reason to extend the network, please think again! Because there are nodes that try to connect, and get rejected, and leave to find another network. Please don't let this happen! Our job as missionaries is to help the nodes become prepared to enter the network, and the job of the members is to find potential nodes, and integrate and connect with every node possible in order to synthesize a network that constantly improves every single node, and can literally accomplish miracles!

Thanks for reading my little analogy :)
I love you all!