Coming Home

From President Amato's mission facebook page (translated into English):

One more day to say, "See you later!" Powerful missionaries returning to their homes with honor and success! We love them and we will miss them. 🇵🇪❤️

Tomorrow morning we will welcome Dallin home and he will be released from his missionary service.  This has been the best experience for our family.  We are so grateful for Dallin's effort, his faith, his sacrifice, and his example.  His experiences in learning to work and study and love and pray and serve have laid a firm foundation for the rest of his life.  We are truly blessed.

Usurping Power

This week was awesome. We had a wonderful lesson, and one of our investigators started crying, and the spirit was there so strongly. It was incredible! I just absolutely love the mission. I'll never forget this time, and I'll always love the work.

I was reading in my scriptures recently, and I came across a really interesting verse, Alma 43:8:

For behold, his designs were to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by bringing them into bondage.

I think every time I read that verse, I thought it was to usurp great power over the Nephites, but he explicitly refers to the Nephites in the last part of the verse. Therefore, he stirs the Lamanites up to anger, so that he can usurp great power over the Lamanites! Anger then, is one of Satan's key tools to have power over us. If we can avoid anger, we can stay in control, and we can accomplish what we want. I know this is true, and I know that God and Christ live. I love you all!

Unofficial Systems Secretary

Hey!  Sorry for the absenteeism!  I've been in the office working on fixing the systems, again, so I'm the unofficial systems secretary.  It has been pretty crazy!  But today, for P-Day, we went biking on the beach!  It was awesome!  We went with president and his family.  I absolutely loved it!  We also had a really cool appointment with 2 investigators here in La Molina, and they were very sincere!  It was so fun!  I really am loving the mission, and working hard until the end.  I love you guys!  I'll see you in two.5 weeks! 

Baptism and God's Work

This week Flor and her daughter Jasmin got baptized!  It was so amazing!  They are so incredible, and really want to follow Christ.  It was absolutely wonderful!  We also had some people show up to sacrament meeting that ended up being golden investigators!  We are literally seeing miracles!  I know this is God's work, and he works in his way.  It is amazing to see his hand in everything!  I have been struck again this week with how real all of this is.  I know that God actually does work miracles in our lives, and that if we are willing to turn our lives over to him, we will see incredible things!  God is not just a Sunday God.  He is our God, and he is not dead, nor doth he sleep.  He is working and acting without rest to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man, that we might have joy.  I know it's true.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

--Dallin

Baptisms and Growing into the Principle of Revelation

We found another golden investigator this week!  He was a reference, and his friend is preparing to go on a mission!  He wants to be baptized, and then go on a mission! He is super amazing!  His name is Aron, and his mom is from a church that normally likes to fight against us, but she had been praying that young people would come to teach her son the word of God, and we were the answer to her prayers!  It's absolutely the best!  He's going to be baptized July 14th.  Also, we have 2 investigators that will be baptized July 7th, this Saturday!  It's going to be amazing!  These next couple of weeks are going to be difficult for them though, so if you guys could pray for Aron, Flor, and Jazmin, it would help them out a ton!  Thanks so much!  I have been reading a little from the April General Conference, and it is amazing.  I love the talk by President Nelson in the Sunday Morning Session.  It's all incredible, but these paragraphs really stood out to me:

In like manner, what will your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.
Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”

It's absolutely incredible to see the power God is willing to give us if only we are diligent in seeking.  I know that God will be able to help us in every facet of our lives.  Every single one.  God wants us to see miracles.  If we are willing to focus ourselves in every moment on our desires, we will see absolute miracles.  I love you guys, and I love the Lord.  I know he lives.  And the reason for which he lives is to operate in our lives, and help us to achieve exaltation.  It's absolutely incredible!

Baptisms, District Leader, Watch and Pray

This week we found 2 golden investigators!  They came to church all on their own, they loved it, and they are going to be baptized July 7th!  It's so awesome!  Also, our district leader got transferred on Thursday, and President told me I'm the new district leader.  Also, we are now in trio with Elder Mabalot from the Philippines, because there isn't anybody to replace our district leader.  We had 3 baptisms from Elder Mabalot this weekend, and I got to do their interviews.  It was really inspiring to hear their testimonies and see their desire to be baptized.  They have so much potential! 

We live on the first floor of our pensonista's house, so it's really easy to coordinate eating :) We have a sister that does our laundry now, which is a blessing, because coordinating one washer between 8 people was getting difficult!

While reading the Book of Mormon, I noticed something really interesting.  There is a strong focus on watching and praying continually.  We never become sufficiently strong spiritually to stop.  And if we think we are, we are ripe to fall.  We have to always, always be reading the scriptures, and watch ourselves, repenting daily of our mistakes, and constantly improving.  But we aren't alone.  Christ is always there to help us!  He always wants to bless us.

I love you all so much!  Have a wonderful week!

Huaycan

Hey!

I  got transferred!  I'm in Huaycan now!  It's so refreshing to be in a place where everyone is humble and loving!  It's a great environment.  My companion is Elder Perez.  It's so fun to be out proselyting more!  I had a really sweet experience this week with a really poor family.  We had their 10 year old son say the closing prayer, and the father had gotten sick.  He prayed that his father could get better, and that he could buy him something for his birthday, so that he could be happy during his birthday.  It was so interesting to see the trust this 10 year old boy had in his father in heaven.  It was so beautiful to see!

Also, today, after doing my exercise, I made a smoothie that Sister Amato showed me!  It's avocado, coconut milk, stevia, and protein powder.  I had to use regular milk, sugar, and peanut butter, but it was still super good, and super healthy!

Also,  I was studying the scriptures, and I love the connection between Isaiah 55:8 and Jacob 4:10.  We should always trust in the Lord, accept his counsel, and seek understanding from him.  We will never understand it by ourselves, but everything does make sense, and God will help us understand.  I know it's true, and I know God loves us!

Love you!
--Dallin

Hospital, Love and Law, and Fruits of our Labors

I've been in the hospital for most of the week, not for me though!  My companion, Elder Beach, got salmonella, and so I volunteered to stay with him.  He was hospitalized for a few days, which meant we didn't do much.  I did get to hear some interesting talks by President Oaks though!  There is one that I loved called Love and Law, from 2009.  It was so interesting, because it precisely answers a question that we get a lot from atheists, which is "If there is a loving God, why does he allow so many good people to suffer at the hands of wicked people?"  Usually they reference terrible events like the Holocaust, or terrorist events.  It also speaks about the importance of laws, and the importance of a loving parenting style that includes laws and punishments.  It was very enlightening!  Today, I got to go to the baptism of one of my investigators from Chosica!  She had been listening to the elders for 4 years, and finally decided to be baptized!  I was so happy to see their family unified!  I was also able to talk to one of my converts from Chosica, and they are planning on getting sealed in August, just before I leave!!  Incredible!

Love you all!

Multizone Conferences, Consecration, and Goals

This week has been crazy. We've had Multizone conferences all week, and it has been exhausting. We got up early every day to set up, and made sure everything ran smoothly, and then we got to go pick up lunch, which were burritos from about 45 minutes away, so we got to rest in the car. The burritos are made by an English guy, like from England, and he was super cool! He makes everything himself, including the tortillas, the barbecue beef, hot sauce, and everything! It was so good! He said he was inspired by Chipotle when he went to the states, and his boss back in the UK didn't think it would work, but when he moved to Peru, he tried it, and it worked perfectly! It's a huge hit, and it's super good!

In the multizones we talked about some great stuff though! We talked about the law of sacrifice, life planning, and the law of consecration. It was so interesting, because the law of consecration can turn into just a law of outward performances, where we are consecrated for the simple end of being consecrated. When we consecrate ourselves with a specific goal in mind, like finding people to "help... come unto Christ," we have power. It's when we focus on our goals, and understand that that's the reason we're doing everything we're doing, that's when we see power in our lives. When we are willing to sacrifice everything, that's when we are able to see miracles, and we have the power we see exhibited in countless scriptures. It was so cool!

We also talked about how our life plan needs to line up with our patriarchal blessing, and with God's will for us. If we make plans that are not according to the will of God, and we want it enough, He'll let it happen, but we will not be nearly as happy as we would be if we were following His will. Sometimes we end up miserable, even though we got what we think we wanted. Sister Amato, our mission president's wife, had us all draw out a map of our life, and then set our goals for 10 years, 2 years, and 1 year. It was so cool! We were able to really feel the influence of the Lord guiding us in our future! I know He knows us, and loves us, and will help us in everything we ask him for!

Love you all!

Coast Trip, Faith, and Input Forms

This week has been really cool!  We had the best P-Day ever today!  It's Cinco de Mayo today, so we had a party.  

We went down to Lima South (Barranco) with President and his family, and we went to a really high quality ice cream place, with what tasted like Cold-Stone-level ice cream.  

It was super cool, and had freelance French artwork all over the walls!  

Then we went to a place called Burrito Bar.  It had these massive Chipotle-style burritos, which were absolutely delicious!  

And while we were waiting for the burritos, President bought us buffalo wings!  I was thinking of Harrison the whole time!  And then we went with President and his family to the beach! 

It was absolutely amazing!  I haven't seen the ocean in 20 months.  

I had forgotten how beautiful it is, and how alive I feel next to it!  

It was such an amazing experience!  

Going to the coast to me is always a reflective experience, and I felt the Spirit really strongly standing out there and looking at everything.  

It made me realize how powerful God is, and how great our potential is.  

I absolutely loved it!

The attribute of the transfer is Faith, so we've been studying it a lot.  I've been reading through and studying Lectures on Faith, as found on the Joseph Smith Papers website, and it has been super fascinating!  President also approved another book for us to read, called Drawing on the Powers of Heaven.  I haven't read it all, because I don't have a copy, but I did read through and look at all the sources he cites, and he cites a lot of Journal of Discourses, which is on BYU's website.  So I was able to read through some of that, and it's very clear to me that a major part of faith is concentration.  So I'm working on improving that, because I can get really distracted sometimes, and I get really focused, but on the wrong things.  I have loved reading what some of the prophets have said about that!

President is having me work on the input forms some more, and I feel like I am getting real life job experience!  He asked me to add maps functionality to the forms, so I got to research the google maps API, and integrate it with the forms!  I also decided that sharing zip files over and over again was not a good idea going forward, so I created a project on github!  Now I can track all the updates I make and have a central place to distribute the results!  If you're interested, here is the link:  https://github.com/MisionPLE/progreso-new/

I love you all so much!  I promise that as you all keep reading your scriptures daily, you will be able to do anything.  You will feel the Lord in all aspects of your life.  It is absolutely a miracle.  It changes the way you think and act, when you realize that the Lord is there!  It's not, If the Savior Stood Beside Me, He is standing beside you all the time!  It's an incredible thought!

Have a wonderful life!  I'll talk to you next week!

--Dallin

P.S.

Just a word of caution, Drawing on the Powers of Heaven is a great book, but it's not a declaration of doctrine, rather it's a CES teacher summarizing the words of prophets and sharing his experiences.  Also, Journal of Discourses is also not considered a source of doctrine due to the unreliable nature of the transcription, but is very valuable!  We could say that we believe Journal of Discourses as far as it is transcribed correctly :)

Trunky Training and Change

These couple of weeks have been absolutely awesome! On Friday we had what we call our Trunky Training, or our Self-Reliance Training. It was super cool! We talked about analyzing our gifts and talents, and how we can make them attractive to employers. They told us that we should ask our family what gifts our family has, to be able to use that in our search for jobs. What are our family gifts? We also analyzed what our patriarchal blessings said about us, and it was super interesting! They had us make plans for our future and it was so cool to think about how I could accomplish the things I want to accomplish in life!

Yesterday, we went to a pizza restaurant with some members for dinner, and it was awesome! It was like Mod Pizza! It was such a fun environment to get to know the members, and to be able to strengthen our relationship with them! So fun!

I also have loved my study these past couple of weeks. I was reading about Gideon, and it was very interesting to think about. He was called to repentance by Alma, and didn't listen, otherwise he wouldn't have been there with King Noah. But he later repents, and then becomes a servant of God. It was such a powerful testimony to me that God always wants us to change, and as long as we're breathing, it's never too late. I know he loves us, and will always helps us!

I love you all, and hope you have a wonderful, wonderful week!

Hosanna!

This week has been pretty awesome!  We were able to find some really cool new investigators, and have a super cool FHE with them!  One of the members of our ward invited his friends over to his house for FHE, and we had a lesson about Christ.  It was so cool, because that's when we really feel the Spirit, when it's testifying of Christ.  We read 3 Nephi 11:15-17, and it was super cool to think about Christ letting each person come individually and obtain a testimony individually.  It was also amazing to see the effect it had on the people, shouting "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of The Most High God."  We were able to think about how we would respond if Christ were to appear to us.  It was amazing!  I know Christ lives.  I know he loves us.  I know that he is a personal being, who can help us in our lives.  I know that he will help us in our life, if only we come to him.  It is wonderful to feel him, and feel his love protecting and strengthening us.  I love you!

Conference and Ministering

I loved conference!  It was absolutely incredible!  I loved the focus on the Savior, and the really cool new changes!  I've been thinking a lot about the changes that were introduced, and they represent a really cool focus!  It really shows the Lords trust in us as people, focusing more on the end goal, and trusting us to accomplish it.  Before, we were focused on doing our visits every month, and if something came up, we were obviously there to help.  Now, the purpose and nature of our calling is very explicit: to minister!  And the Lord is trusting us to go to him to receive revelation to help his children.  It's absolutely amazing!  It was also amazing to hear the hymns.  I loved to be a part of the priesthood session, when we all stood up and sang "Rise Up O Men of God."  It was so powerful!  I felt the power and strength of the priesthood I hold.  I really know that our potential is limitless.  

Today we also watched Coco for P-Day.  It was super cool!  It's focus on the family is awesome!  It was so cool to see that portrayed in popular media!  It was also cool to be able to understand everything in it!  Even in English, there's a lot of Spanish parts, and it was so cool to be able to understand all of it!  If you haven't seen it, I recommend it!  It's super cool!

I love you all!  Have a wonderful week!

Path of Happiness

This week has been kind of crazy, because we're making a big push with the systems we are developing!  It looks so cool!

 Apart from that, we had a super cool experience this week!  We were contacting everyone, and nobody was really listening, and as we were walking, we saw this kid.  He came up to us, and said, in English, "You guys are from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, right?"  We answered, kind of shocked and amazed that a random Peruvian knew the name of our church so well in English, and told him that we were.  He then told us that he wanted us to visit him, and practice his English.  So, we went to a nearby park, and began to talk to him.  He was super cool!  He knew a lot about the Restoration, and had been receiving the missionaries in Tumbes, another province of Peru.  He wanted to understand what and why we believe what we do.  It was so cool, and I was able to bear testimony as to what I knew to be true.

I really do know that we are God's children, and that he gives us commandments to help us become like him, to enable us to return to him.  That is the reason I am here.  To help others understand the way back to God.  As we realize what the commandments are, we feel the separation from God caused by sin.  We then want to repent, and to be clean, we begin to desire to be baptized, so that we can really change and become like him.  As that baptism is done by the proper priesthood authority, and we continue in partaking of the Sacrament every week, we find ourselves on the path, that will imbue us with happiness and joy, even in the hardest of trials, and we learn what is really important.  I love the gospel so much, and I love you all as well!

Have a wonderful week!
Dallin

Visual Tiles and Fasting

This week has been a little crazy!  We are implementing a new database system, so we were doing a lot of data collection on Wednesday, and it's a really cool system!  You basically collect all the data you want, and then all that data is represented in tiles, with icons and colors and everything, so that you can get a really fast overview of the state of things all at once!  It's from President's old company called VisualCue, which does the same thing, but for sales reps and such.  It's really cool to see President applying his skillset to his calling to make everything more efficient!  It's the best!  So I've spent a lot of time this week on that.

This Friday though, we had a lesson with a referral, and she was so excited to read the Book of Mormon, it was incredible to see.  She was absolutely enthralled!  She is a referral from the Rebaza Family, who are going in June to Trujillo to be the mission president there, so he's super excited to be able to help with the lessons and the work in general!  It's absolutely the coolest!

I also got to study fasting this week, and it was so fun!  It was interesting to see that the fast offering is an integral part of the fast, and as we really turn away from our selfish desires, our body submits to the spirit, and we are able to do what God would have us do.  It was also interesting to read that after 24 hours, the body changes what it's using for energy, and releases some chemicals that stop the hunger.  So, quite literally, after 24 hours, the body submits, and we emerge masters over our body.  It is then when we can unify our spirit and our body in one purpose, and in so doing, "receive a fullness of joy."  The law of the fast is very powerful!  But it also has to be voluntary.  An imposed fast does absolutely nothing.  Maybe make you skinnier, but that's it!  But when we choose to exercise and feed our spirits by fasting, the blessings listed in Isaiah 58:6-11 are incredible!  The Lord will make us like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.  It's absolutely incredible, and has many promised blessings, but Joseph Fielding Smith warns against excessiveness in his October 1912 address, saying that the "Lord will accept that with is enough, with a good deal more pleasure and satisfaction than that which is too much and unnecessary.”  I know God loves us, and I know that Christ lives, and does everything he can to help us every day, to become one with him and Father.

I love you all!  Have a good week!
--Dallin

P.S. Here are the talks I was reading:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/is-not-this-the-fast-that-i-have-chosen?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/topics/fasting-and-fast-offerings?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/04/fasting-with-power?lang=eng

Power to Change and Talking with Father

This week has been kind of crazy!  We had leadership council this week, and it was super cool, because we baptized and confirmed 158 people in February!  To put that in perspective, a couple of months ago, we were struggling to make a hundred.  That's an average of about 16 converts per stake, more or less 3 per ward!  What's even crazier, is the goal for our 10 stakes in March is 376!  It's so cool to be able to meet these people that are getting baptized, and seeing the strength of their conversion, and the happiness in their eyes!  It's incredible to see the power the gospel has to change people!  People are getting married after living together for 30 years, people are overcoming addictions that have plagued their lives, and people who felt a little like a hamster stuck in its wheel, are beginning to broaden their vision.  To think that in March, we have the potential to bring those blessings to 376 people, is absolutely amazing!  We were all super, super excited.  To celebrate this historic moment in the mission, President took us out to Rodizios, all the leaders of the mission.  It was even better the second time!  It was just the coolest experience to really see the growth of "the Lord's Kingdom" (Intro to The Book of Mormon), and to be a part of it!  It is so much fun!

This week I read a BYU speech by Truman G. Madsen, talking about who we are, and it had some very interesting ideas.  It related how Heber C. Kimball, one of the original latter-day apostles, prayed.  It talks about how he prayed with love and warmth, talking "with Father," not talking to "the Father," emphasizing the trust and warmth in the relationship between us and God.  He talks about how Elder Kimball would occasionally burst out laughing in prayer, when praying for a specific brother, and the continued the prayer with: "I’m sorry, Lord, but I just can’t help laughing when I think about Brother Brown."  That's when we have real trust in the Lord, and know he exists.  It was such a beautiful reminder of what we really are, and where we are going.  It was so cool to read that, and analyze my own prayers.  I'm definitely working on making my prayers more sincere, less of an email, and more like an actual, in person conversation.  It is something that helps us immensely to really feel the spirit in our lives.  It was absolutely awesome!

I love you all, and I hope you have a good week!

Birthday Celebration and Life As a Dream

This week hasn't been very interesting, except for the fact that it was my companion's birthday!  We went a really expensive restaurant called Rodizio, which is a Brazilian barbecue.  I would highly advise going to one, any day!  It was super cool!  They have a chip system, where you have a little disk that's red on one side and green on the other.  When you want more meat, you put the green side up, and when you don't, the red side.  So they come around with this massive piece of meat literally on the spit on which it was roasting, and they cut you off a very small piece, and you take it with your tongs.  So basically, you get to eat always hot meat, and very nice cuts of it!  We also got to eat roasted pineapple covered in cinnamon, which was so good!  It was so much fun!

I also noticed a really cool scripture in my study this week:

Jacob 7:26
I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.

This life really is so short!  It's so interesting to hear the prophets describe this life as a dream.  Vivid, and intense, but seems to end in a split second.  It really does put this mortal span in perspective!  We do not have a lot of time, and we have a lot to do.  And on the other side, our afflictions really will be "but a small moment" and then we'll wake up "unto God" as Alma said.  It's going to be awesome, and we'll look back and think, I was so worried about that?  It seems so insignificant now.  But it does depend on how obedient we are here in this life.  How willing we are to continually change in this small moment, before we enter into the eternities.  I know we can do it!

Love you all!

Weak Things Strong

This week has been intense! We had a ton of stuff to do, because we had a training on Tuesday, and zone conferences Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. In the midst of all that, I had to go to migrations to take all the newer missionaries to get their identification card done, and also we have a family that we had to finish preparing to be baptized, so we were meeting with them every day of the week. We also started eating dinner with members 3 times a week, so that we can really involve ourselves in the ward. So basically, we've been running like crazy. But it was so awesome!

The first thing that happened was migrations, which was super stressful, because I had to make sure all the packets were put together correctly for everyone and coordinate all of that, and in the midst of that, I lost a very important paper, without which, I wasn't going to be able to do one of the most urgent procedures. So, I realized there was nothing I could do. I was powerless. I had looked all over, and it just wasn't there. But God knew where it was! So I knelt in my room the night before we had to go, and I prayed that God would put the paper in my office for the next morning, because I couldn't do anything else. So when I woke up at 2:30am to go finish the packets for everyone, I looked in my office one last time, and there it was. Just sitting there! It was absolutely incredible! I know that God knows me, and loves me, and wants me to succeed! It felt like a literal fulfillment of Ether 12:27. God showed me my weakness, and I humbled myself, and then he made my weak things strong unto me. Awesome!

Then in the Zone conferences, we had a lesson about trusting in the spirit, and the keys of the priesthood. As a missionary, as long as we are doing what we should be doing, being a good boy as Elder Bednar put it in an MTC devotional a while ago, we will have the power of the spirit with us. This means that when we testify of something, we should then testify that what they are feeling is the spirit, because it is. And as they learn to recognize that spirit, their testimony will grow and grow. It was so cool! We also had a message from President about trusting in the keys of the priesthood. The person who holds the keys for a ward is the bishop, and we happen to work within those boundaries. So President shared the story of Captain Moroni, and how he asked Alma to know where the Lamanites would attack next. We can do the same, and ask the bishop where those who are prepared to receive the gospel are. It happened in one area, and now they are opening up an in-house chapel. I'm so excited!

And then, today, we had 3 baptisms! It was so, so awesome! Cesar and his family are so, so awesome. Nicole said she felt a heat in her chest, and everyone was super happy! It was absolutely the best! I'll send photos soon. I love you all, and hope you have a wonderful week!

Know This, That Every Soul is Free

This week has been pretty busy for us, but some awesome stuff came out of it! President wanted us to set up a slideshow of baptism pictures on a TV in the office, with background music and everything, and he bought an asus vivostick for the job. I was assigned to make it all work, and I wanted it to be flexible and efficient, so as I did research on different technologies I could use, I decided to use the Windows Subsystem for Linux, or in short, Ubuntu inside of Windows. I ended up running syncthing to sync the pictures and music, mpd on windows, with mpc on the linux part to play the music, and VcXsrv with feh on linux to play the slideshow. It runs super fast, and is super dynamic. It's super cool!

We also had P-Day today, and went to the Zoo! It was so much fun! We got there and saw sea otters, a giraffe, an electric eel, camels, sloths, spider monkeys, etc. It was so much fun, and made so much the better because we went with President and his family! They then took us out to lunch and we got a ton of food! It was so cool!

We also had a super cool lesson with some of our investigators this week! We taught the Word of Wisdom, and Cesar had read it, and had no problems with it at all. His daughter hadn't read it, and when we asked her why, she said she got back late from youth camp. It was awesome! They are just the best! They said that in between our visits, they feel an absence, which means they are really feeling the spirit! And then, the Mom, Francia, a recently activating member, asked for a health blessing, and we explained it, and it was so cool to be able to tell Cesar, "You'll be able to do this for your wife in the future!" It was absolutely incredible!

I also have been thinking a lot about a hymn that we never sing at home, "Know This, That Every Soul is Free." It's super interesting, because it talks about how the way our life goes is up to us, and that God will help, persuade, and "in endless ways be good and kind, but never force the human mind." It was so cool to realize how much he trusts us, because he's not going to prevent us from messing up! We are in complete control over how much we let him help us, and he is always willing to do so. But he will never preemptively help us. It's as we begin to practice that and really see his hand changing our lives, to the extent we allow it, that our faith begins to grow "unshaken" as Jacob says, and we will be able to live happy lives here, and have eternal joy in the life to come. I know it's true, and I love it!

I love you all!

--Dallin

Prayers Answered

This week has been awesome! I have seen a ton of miracles! Being the end of the month, and also the end of transfers, it was absolutely insane!

I don't have a lot of time, but this week, I was able to see the Lord's hand in my life. I had a ton of people to get places, and some of them showed up late, by like an hour. I prayed hard that they would still be able to get on the plane even with all the delays they suffered, and everything always worked out! It was absolutely incredible. I know that the Lord answers our prayers! It was so amazing. 

I love you all, and I promise to write more next week!

Dream Big

This week was super, super busy!  We had a training on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and Leadership Council on Thursday.  It was so busy!  We were running around all week!  On Monday we had a training by Brother Avila, who is apparently the most successful man in Peru, who just happens to be a member of the church.  He talked about how he grew up destitute, and his parents didn't even have enough money to buy him boy sandals, so he had to use girl sandals.  He talked about his whole story, and everything that happened to him.  He talked about how sometimes we are born poor, but that we have no right to die poor.  He talked about how God needs us to be well off, so that we can help build his kingdom (Jacob 2:19). 

For example, Brother Avila told his bishop that whenever someone wants to go on a mission, and doesn't have the money, he'll pay for whatever they need.  He's a great guy!  He talked about how we need to stay focused on our goals, and dream big.  If we ask God for 2 baptisms per month, and we are worthy and work for 2 baptisms, we're going to get 2 baptisms per month.  But if we are worthy, and ask for 50 baptisms per month, we can reach 50 baptisms per month!  We can help 50 people come to a knowledge of Christ and how it is that we can return to live with him.  It's awesome! 

He talked about how his zone leaders would tell him, "Be realistic!"  But he responded and said that the realists in the Book of Mormon were the wicked:

Helaman 16:18:
"[I]t is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come."

It was really interesting to see the Book of Mormon in that light, helping us really see our potential as "children of God.  And if children, then heirs" (Romans 8:16-17).  What can't we do!  As heirs to the Most High?  It really opened up my eyes!  He talked about how we need to really focus on our goals, and keep thinking about how we can achieve them.  When we run out of ideas, that's when revelation comes!  We need to have our minds firm (Jacob 3:2) in achieving our goals, with the end goal being Eternal Life.   It was so cool!  I feel like I can do anything!!

We also taught a new investigator this week!  She is super cool!  She works at the MTC, and she said she wants to know what all the people who live there do.  She wants to know why it feels so good to work there!  It was such a powerful experience!  I felt the Spirit working through me to answer questions in better ways than I have ever done by myself.  It was super cool!  She seems really excited to learn more!  We also taught our investigator with a baptismal date, and his daughter and his son.  They are super excited!  They are learning so well.  They are learning how to return to live with their Heavenly Father.  They pick everything up so fast, and it's just so much fun teaching them!  Can you guys pray for them?  We are trying to help them really feel the Lord's hand in their lives, and helping them make the necessary changes.

Thanks so much!  I love you all!  Have a wonderful week!

Miracles

This week has been awesome!

We had multizones all week, which was pretty fun, we got to listen to some trainings by president and the assistants, and it was super cool! They told us about some miracles they had experienced, and it was super cool! They laid out a plan for how we can have at least 4 baptisms per area per month. President then changed the standards of excellence, to at least 4 baptisms per month. It's going to be super cool to see the results of greater faith and vision! 

We have been experiencing some crazy things in our area as well. This week, almost out of the blue, we are seeing a ton of miracles! There's our investigator with a baptismal date, and we are receiving some super awesome references, and we have appointments with the members, it's absolutely incredible. I feel a little like God was like, "Alright, move over, I'm taking control now." I really feel like the spirit is guiding this work and showing us how we can be successful, if only we can let him and depend on the Lord. It's so cool!

Also, last P-Day, after I wrote you guys, I took a personality test, which was super interesting! I came up as ENTPA, which is classified as a Debater personality. Go figure :)

Teaching by the Spirit

This week we had an awesome experience. We got to teach an investigator, after fighting to set up an appointment with him. He failed us 4 times before we got to sit down with him, but we finally got there, and he and his daughter are going to be baptized the 3 of February. They are so cool!

We also tried out a brand new teaching method. We have obviously taught the lessons using the pamphlets before, but it was interesting to me, the focus on the Book of Mormon from the leaders of the church. We decided to teach the first lesson, using only the Book of Mormon. We taught it using the introduction, and then recited the first vision and James 1:5 from memory. It worked out pretty well, and I think it will help the investigators be able to really get to know the Book of Mormon better.

I have often felt like it was important to leave the pamphlets to move on with the teaching process, but also to leave parts in the Book of Mormon, in order to strengthen their testimony. I think we can teach the contents of the pamphlets, without leaving the actual pamphlets, and focus more on their testimony. It's part of teaching lessons, not people.

The thing I'm realizing here, is how important it is to always teach with the spirit. If the spirit is not testifying, they won't even listen to you. And so we have to use the biggest sources we have of the spirit, AKA the scriptures and our testimony. Like Nephi says, "[The churches of the world] shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance." Which means that if we are to be different, we must teach with humility, and depend on the Holy Ghost, which will allow us to speak. It's super awesome! I felt the spirit testifying that this really is his gospel, and that he is at the helm, directing us. He is the source of our happiness. I love him, and I know He loves you.

Love you all!