Temple Baptisms, Developing on Linux, Thanksgiving, & Depending on Christ

This week was pretty awesome for me! I got to go to the temple and help some converts do baptisms for the dead, which was an awesome experience! I got to be part of the confirming process, and it was just beautiful. One of the converts said that every time she went under the water, she felt like she could hear "gracias." It was such a wonderful process!

Then, I was sitting at my desk on Thursday, and President told me he wanted to meet with me. He has implemented this system to get our key indicators daily through a texting poll. So, he told me he wants me to be in charge of that whole system! The web portal, the database connections, the SMS Gateway connections, all of it! I'm super excited!! He said I can develop it all on Linux, and I have a meeting with the guy who is currently in charge of it on Monday, and it's all amazing!

Also on Thursday we had Thanksgiving! Our pensionista is the best!! They made us think they were moving, so we had to come early, and when we walked in, there was a banquet of food on the table! They had turkey, chicken, masamora morada, sweet potatoes, some really good rice dish, russian salad, chicha morada, and it was all amazing! But when my companion saw it, he started crying. A lot. He had gone to an orphanage that day to coordinate some of the activities that we are planning for the mission, and when he saw all that food, he could only think of these kids that had been mistreated in terrible ways, and that they had never had and still wouldn't have a dinner like this. It was a very sobering reminder. 

I am so grateful for everything that you guys have given me! All the food, shelter, opportunities for learning, the experiences we've shared, and the wonderful relationships I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy. I am also immensely grateful to God for everything He does. He blesses my life every day, and I can feel his spirit so strongly during my mission, I know He lives. I know He loves me, and loves all of you. It's an incredible knowledge that only comes through the spirit. He really can help us in everything. I'm so eternally grateful that He loves us in spite of all our mistakes and flaws, and is always willing to help us in every moment. It's absolutely incredible!!

I was studying the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi in my personal study, and I found some scriptures that are just incredible!! I know that sometimes we can't do what God asks, that we're just not good enough, and one of the things I have noticed as a theme is that God promises that we can, if we depend on him. 2 Nephi 7:2-3 is such a poignant reflection of this, because Isaiah is speaking Messianically, and you can really hear the voice of Christ, how he feels when we don't depend on him:

2 Wherefore, when I came, there was no man; when I called, yea, there was none to answer. O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make their rivers a wilderness and their fish to stink because the waters are dried up, and they die because of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

How powerless He must feel sometimes, as He comes, and nobody lets him in, calls, and nobody answers. He, who dried up seas and rivers, that has complete control over, even created the heavens, who delivered the Israelites from Egypt, cannot do anything if we reject him. He can make us everything, He can fill our lives with happiness and peace, and He is the only way we can have happiness after this life. And yet we reject him. It's something that is incredible, sad, and true. But that is the story of this life, to learn how to accept Him in our lives, and apply His atonement. I know that as we develop faith in Jesus Christ, repent daily of our transgressions, and make and honor covenants with God, first among them baptism, that we will be able to stand on the right hand of God at the last day, and be filled with a fullness of His glory and joy. It is so amazing!

I love you all!

--Dallin

P.S. I can't use Google hangouts now, by order of the area, so I will only be communicating by email from now on!

Personal Secretary and Power of the Gospel

My companion is mostly in charge, and I'm learning, but after this transfer, I'll be the only [personal secretary.]  It's pretty intense!! My companion's name is Elder Hidalgo, and he was my district leader in El Augustino. He's awesome! I'm serving in La Molina, close to the mission office. My job is to realize legal procedures, so things like immigration, leaving the country, all that. So that also means I handle all of those processes within the mission as well, so when somebody is going home, I'm in charge of making it happen, start to finish. It's pretty intense! I'm also in charge of making systematic improvements in the infrastructure, which is pretty fun!

This week we found some new investigators, and it was super awesome! The cool thing about my area is that the majority of people who listen to you are pretty serious about their intentions, because if not, they don't have any time. So the percentage of investigators that get baptized is much higher, even when the net number is lower. It was a really interesting lesson where we were very frank with them. We talked about the church of Christ, and it's organization. We also talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and I got to testify that it was true. I felt so strongly in that moment that it is a book of scripture, inspired by God. I know it's true, and that it can change our lives, if we let it. It really does have power, and I notice so strongly when I miss a day of studying it. It just feels wrong. I don't have much more to tell you guys, but I love you so much! Have a wonderful life!!

Personal Secretary and Sabbath Day

11/8/17

I didn't get to write this Monday, because I am now the new Personal Secretary for President Amato. My P-Days are now Saturday. I will talk all about that on Saturday. Love you all so much!

11/11/17
Wow! This week has been crazy!!!  I started as personal secretary on Monday, and that night we went to the airport to send the missionaries home and pick up new missionaries.  Which means I was there all night!  I was exhausted, but it was a cool experience to see all the missionaries that had finished two years in the service of God, and then see two missionaries just barely starting.  It was a really interesting time for reflection.  President Amato talked to me about my role as a secretary.  It was really interesting.  He put a lot of emphasis on our purpose as missionaries: Invite others to come unto Christ.  Even though I have an assignment right now that is a little separate from that, I have the responsibility to work way harder in the little proselyting time I have.  I am super excited!  I've heard the ward's great, and I see a lot of potential!

I'm also working on improving the infrastructure of the office, so that instead of treating a computer like a really efficient filing cabinet, we can actually leverage it to make us more efficient.  It's going to be very interesting!

We had a really interesting lesson with an investigator the other day.  We taught her the sabbath day.  It was so interesting to see how sincere she was!  She has two jobs, one to live, and one as a passion, and the one for her passion often takes time Saturdays and Sundays.  So we taught her the lesson, and at the end, she told us, "I know it's wrong, and I know what I have to do, but it's going to hurt so much.  I don't know if I can do it."  It was so interesting to see in that moment the reflection of the struggle between the natural man, and the spirit.  For the most part, we know what we have to do, but it's so hard.  I was so impressed as I saw her crying and expressing her desire to follow God 100% when she gets baptized, and pleading for help to be able to do the right thing.  When we want to do the right thing so bad we are pleading to God to help us, that is when we see great changes in ourselves.  That's when we follow in the steps of Nephi when he said: "Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?"  That is a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  I came out of that lesson reminded of the importance, the reality, of this war we are waging.  Fighting for the welfare of our souls, and that of every human in existence.  I know this is the church of God.  I know Jesus Christ leads this church, and with the immortality and eternal life of man as the only objective.  That endless joy, and that endless peace.
I love you all so much!

--Dallin