Tender Mercies

It was so much fun to talk to you all! I loved it! It has been a great week! I couldn't write last week because I was finishing up the cinnamon rolls, and it took longer than I expected.

This week something really special happened. President's daughter, Alice, got baptized. The whole thing reminded me of Lydia's baptism, that I couldn't see. But the Lord, in his infinite goodness, gave me this opportunity to see something similar. When Sister Amato was talking to her daughter, in Portuguese, I only understood a little bit. But then I realized that she was using mannerisms very reminiscent of Mom's! As I was watching, I started to have a vision of what Mom was probably like in Lydia's baptism, and I felt the spirit so strongly! It was absolutely incredible.

I know the Lord cares about us. It seems like a little thing. The fact that Lydia got baptized is way more important than me being there, but he knows I missed it. And he provided, through a million factors, that I could be here to see something like it. If I hadn't been in the office, if we had been able to find someone else to clean the chapel beforehand, if I had been distracted, if, if, if. But I was in the perfect place, at the perfect time, to see a miracle. I loved it.

I love you all!

Suffer Little Children

This week has been crazy! We had our Christmas activities on Wednesday and Thursday, and I went to Migrations on Monday and Friday. On Monday, I forgot the identification of one of the sisters that was accompanying her companion, so she had to wait outside for a couple hours, for which I felt super bad, but then, we had to go again because of problems in the system, and when we went back, I forgot my own identification, so I had to wait outside by myself for a couple hours. It was super weird! Although I got to contact the security people, which was super cool! Also, I found out that one of the sisters is from the Galapagos Islands! Isn't that incredible!!

And now the Christmas activity. It was super cool! We started off by eating at Pardos chicken, which is a really, really good pollo a la brasa restaurant (which is basically rotisserie chicken, but super popular down here). We ate, listened to Christmas music, made gingerbread houses, and got Peru jerseys that have "Peru Lima Este" printed on the back. We then went to an orphanage. It was incredible! We went there, and my companion had contracted a bouncy house for both days, and we just played with the orphans, and then sang Christmas hymns and talked about Christ and the gospel. It was awesome! Being part of the office team, I got to go both days, and it was such a sweet experience. I found out that every one of those kids is the victim of abuse of some type or another, or abandonment. It made me so, so sad! I wanted to help them realize that they are special and wonderful as well, because I'm sure they feel or have felt the contrary too many times. It was so wonderful to see how much their faces lit up when they received a compliment, or when they won. It was absolutely incredible! It made me want to have a whole bunch of children, so I can help them all feel incredible. We also got permission to hug the kids, which was awesome. At the end of the second day, one of the little girls ran up to me, and with this massive smile on her face said "muchas gracias!," and gave me a huge hug. It was so sweet and tender, I could not believe the suffering these children had been through, and the things they still suffer. To see all of the light that these children had inside, it made me want to go there every day. It was absolutely an incredible experience. I know that the Lord gives us experiences thus so we can open our eyes a little bit, and be able to really help those that suffer. It was such a powerful call to action, because the only way we can really help these kids is by helping them learn about Christ and his plan for us, as well as teaching their families, so that they can change. I know that the gospel changes and fixes broken homes, marriages, and lives. I could feel the love of my savior for these children when he said "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." It was such a sweet opportunity to feel so close to the kingdom of heaven. I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful week, and wonderful Christmas!!!

--Dallin

Psychologist and Gratitude

This week was pretty awesome.  For P-Day, we went to a member in our ward who is a psychologist.  The thing is, our ward serves almost everyone that works for the area, or the US embassy.  So even though this psychologist is Peruvian, she works with all the ambassadors, church leaders, and famous people from Peru.  So she's basically top-notch!  And when we ate lunch at her house the other week, she said she would give us a free evaluation!  So the 8 office missionaries and the assistants went to see her.  It was so cool!  She told us a bunch of stories, and had us draw ourselves, and our families, and did a visualization exercise where we imagined a forest, and various things inside the forest.  It was remarkable the things she was able to learn by just those simple things!  So she's going to write it all up, and give us tips and pointers for improving.  For free!  It was super cool!

I was also reading 2 Nephi 9 this week, and it is awesome!!  It is incredible to see Jacob's exclamations of wonder and gratitude.  I also loved how logical and well laid out it is!  God is a God of order, but also infinitely merciful.  Some of the most powerful verses in this chapter are a quote from Isaiah, masterfully woven into the conclusion of the chapter:

50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

52 Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.

Let our hearts rejoice in this Christmas season, as we remember the wonderful mercies and grace of our Redeemer, even Jesus Christ!

Love you all!
--Dallin

Doctrine or Psychology

This week has been really interesting. We had zone conferences all week, and then leadership council on Friday, so I haven't been doing what I normally do all week. I got to hear a lot of really good stuff, and we changed some rules! Ever since we got a new president, we've been waiting for that to happen and it finally did. We can now eat with the people!! It is amazing! I'm so excited! It's something I had been thinking about a lot, and now if somebody offers us something, we can for the most part, eat it! It's really a blessing because giving food is such a huge part of the latin american culture, and we feel really bad refusing the food the people have prepared. It's awesome!

We also got to talk to a psychologist in the zone conferences, who talked to us about virtue. It was so interesting! He talked about how if you imagine your favorite food, really vividly, you start salivating. Our minds can't or don't distinguish most of the time between imagination and reality. He talked about how when we have a thought in our heads, we have about 3 seconds to decide if we want to respond to it. If the thought stays in our heads longer than 3 seconds, our bodies will physically respond to it, obviously depending on the thought. So, those 3 seconds are crucial, because bodily responses often function as a positive feedback loop, in that once it starts, it's way easier to keep going than it is to stop. He showed us how in the same way, if we shout "STOP!" in our heads, our mind responds, and all our mental processes stop. If we then fill our mind with virtuous things, scriptures, hymns, The Living Christ, family, spiritual experiences, then we can prevent bad thoughts from having any effect on us.

He made really clear the distinction between temptation, sin, and weakness. Temptation is an opportunity to exercise our agency and faith by trusting in God and following the commandments. Sin is ceding to temptation, and breaking a commandment. Weakness then, is the lack of knowledge, power, and holiness, caused by our mortal condition. We can recognize moments when we are weak, and plan to be strong in those moments, making them more spiritual. We can put up spiritual pictures, we can turn on spiritual music, or we can avoid those moments all together. He talked about how as we do that, our "dominion will shall be an everlasting dominion" (D&C 121:46), and that dominion is a synonym for self-control. It really struck me the fact that virtue is not a passive concept. It's a constant struggle and constantly applied.

I really loved to hear the scriptures applied to psychology. It was another testimony to me, that if we really study the scriptures, look for revelation, and follow the revelation we receive, we will be able to overcome any problem. It is absolutely amazing!!

Love you all!