Teaching the Gospel and Taking His Burden

This week has been incredible!  On Wednesday, we got to go to two lessons with President Amato.  Like hear President Amato teach missionary lessons!  It was incredible!  He left us with two new lessons.

One, connecting the spirit to the Book of Mormon.  Nobody wants to read the Book of Mormon when they are all super busy, and they don't understand the language, and it's not very interesting from a worldly standpoint.  However, when we connect the Book of Mormon with the feelings of peace and happiness they feel, they have a reason to read it, and they can begin to really acquire that testimony of Jesus Christ, and His church.  It was so simple, and yet so important!  I loved learning it.
 
The second thing we learned was about how we should pray to receive an answer regarding the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  We had been teaching Galatians 5:22-23, and then Moroni 10:3-5.  That is all true, but a little difficult to recognize an answer, because everyone expects to and does feel the spirit when they're praying.  President Amato taught us a very interesting analysis of Moroni 10:4.  What it instructs us to do is pray and ask "if these things are not true" (emphasis added).  If we then teach at least the content of D&C 9:9, they will understand how to receive a negative answer.  And it's much easier to recognize a negative answer than positive, because who expects to feel bad when praying?  Nobody!  But we know that if we pray, and we feel bad, that it's wrong, so if we ask if the Book of Mormon is not true, we can get a testimony that it isn't not true, or that it is true!  Genius!!  It was such a cool experience!!

Then on Sunday, we had a meeting with Elder Calderon, of the Seventy.  It was so cool!  We were with the ward councils in all of the stake, and it was such a wonderful experience!  We talked about working together with members, and how we are all the same team.  He talked about how we all have lives that are super full, super busy with too much stuff to do.  He then talked about Matthew 11:28-30.  If we want the promised blessing of rest, we need to take upon us his burden!  I had never thought about that part before, and it was really eye opening.  So in order to take advantage of the support and help of Christ in our busy lives, we have to take upon us his work, and his glory, namely, "To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)  It was so cool!!!  The whole ward started to ask when they could accompany us, and give us references, in that very instant!  it was incredible!

Sunday we also had a lesson with a certain Mike.  He was so cool!  He wants to change his life around to give a good example for his daughter and to help her have a better life.  It was so tender to see the love he had for his daughter, as well as the desire to change.  He told us from the start that he wanted to live like a Latter-day Saint, and he came to church, and he's awesome!

Today for P-Day, we climbed a mountain before dawn, up to a Catholic cross, and watched the sun crest over the mountain.  Super cool, and great exercise!  Those are some of the pictures!
I love you all!  Keep changing the world and coming closer to the Lord!

You Have a Hope

This week I had some really sweet experiences. On Saturday we gave a baptismal interview for some Elders in our zone, and while we were leaving the chapel, a little girl comes up to me, and says: "Usted tiene una esperanza," or in English, You have a hope. It reminds me a lot of a scripture from the Bible:

1 Peter 3:15: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

And also Moroni 7, which talks about faith, hope, and charity. I had been praying for these things for about a month, and it was such a cool experience to have a little girl, who I have never seen before, and probably will never see again, tell me I have a hope. Knowing that Satan has no power over little children, and that they are pure, it then becomes basic logic that some of the easiest messengers that God has are little children. So cool!

And then on Sunday, we had ward conference. We went to pick up an investigator, and she told us that she couldn't come because of an emergency with her cousin. So we went away sorrowing, and went to the chapel to greet everyone. We are teaching the owner of a restaurant that is in a lot of debt, so she is working Sundays. Her husband is less active for the same reason. But on Sunday, we saw the whole family coming to church!! They all walked in together and sat down. And then, another family we are teaching, the grandpa, and his two granddaughters walked in!! And the ward conference was so, so inspiring, so full of the spirit, It was perfect! I know it was Heavenly Father blessing our action of faith, getting up early to pick up our investigator, even though it wasn't her time to come to the chapel. That is faith!! It was such a cool experience to confirm our faith, and inspire us to continue working and doing our best!

Also, today we had P-day in a country club! It was half destroyed by the flooding, so we did service Saturday morning, and then today we went back for P-day, and grilled hamburgers, which I made, and then played volleyball! It was super fun, and it looks super cool! Those are the pictures I have :)

I love you all! Have a wonderful life!!

Multizone Conference and Meeting an Apostle

This week was awesome! On Friday we had a multizone conference with President, and it was super powerful! We talked about a training from Elder Anderson called The Urgency of Finding People to Teach, and it was super interesting! It talked about how we need to be more efficient with our methods of finding people, using technology, the members, and finding generally more receptive people. It was super powerful, and our president sang a song, I think from the Children's Songbook, called 'How Will They Know?' It was super awesome!!

I got to give a training on joining forces, members and missionaries, and the cool thing I realized, is that there is no difference! And the only way we can really work effectively together is when we are filled with charity. So we talked about how to cultivate charity in ourselves and in the ward, because if we have that, the ward will want to share what they are experiencing with everyone, and will trust us to teach them, they will want to fellowship them, and help them with everything in their lives! It's the key! It was super cool.

And then. On Saturday. I shook Elder Dallin H. Oaks' hand!!!!! He came to our mission and talked to us, and it was absolutely incredible. I felt so strongly his love for us, and his humility, and his calling as an Apostle and Prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ. He also has a sense of humor, and when he laughs, he laughs with his whole body! He is so, so wonderful! He talked about the number one error teachers make, as analyzed by someone who has been a teacher his whole adult life. That is, assuming too much. When we teach someone, and they don't have a foundation, how can we hope to build knowledge to help them? It was very interesting the way he described it. What called my attention the most, was that just before the closing prayer, he got up and said that the Spirit had told him to make a clarification. He made the clarification, and sat down, and we finished. He wasn't ashamed, or embarrassed, or even uncomfortable. He knew that he was there to speak for God, and when God says you have to change something, you change it! It was such a powerful testimony to me!

 He also talked about the importance of the focus of our lessons being the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not the organizational structure of the church. It was super, super cool! At the end, he talked about things we should focus on learning during our missions, and our lives, things like discipline, obedience, and the gospel. It was such a cool experience! I loved it!

And today, I made La Salsa Besciamella! The only problem is I forgot my camera in the church, so I can't give photos until next week, but it was super good!

Love you all! Keep seeing miracles in your lives, and loving the Lord!

--Dallin

Ministering, Miracles, Changing the World, and Chicharron de Pota

This week has been incredible!  We had leadership council on Wednesday, and it was awesome!  President introduced a new method of collecting indicators!!  We now report daily, and send our indicators as a response to a text message, and the district and zone leaders receive a report automatically by text, and we can focus our calls on ministering, rather than administering.  We can also address problems as they come, rather than addressing all of them on Wednesday or Sunday.  It's so cool!  

We also talked about the right we have to ask for and receive miracles.  The promises in the Book of Mormon are that God is a God of Miracles, and that He doesn't change.  It's really incredible to see the good that we can do with the word of God!  Also, the feeling in the mission is absolutely incredible!  I love it so much!

On Sunday, we had a lesson with one of the young men that accompanies us a lot, and he told us that he thinks the missionaries are absolutely amazing.  He then told me that I was especially amazing, because when I got here, I always said, and I still always say, that we're going to change the world!  Turns out, that one man can change the world is a concept that he has loved since he was a kid, and when I started to say that, he was reminded of the power we have as humans to impact those around us.  It was such a cool moment, and a confirmation of the good we do as missionaries for everyone.  I love this work!

Also, today I made chicharron of pota, and it was so good!  We ate all the same stuff again, but I was able to make it, and it was so cool!  Those are the photos today :)

I love you all!  Have a wonderful. amazing life!