He's Home!

So ends this blog.  It is so good to have Dallin home and see him off on his new adventure at BYU.  We are starting a new blog for Carson, who starts his mission on August 23.  

Here is the video of Dallin arriving home on Wednesday, August 10. 

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith"

Dear Loved Ones,

The time has come. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve
a mission, it has changed my life forever. It has solidified my course
of who I will become. I have learned about myself and my relationship
with God. I have learned to love others, serve them, and teach the
gospel. I know that as we set goals, we can achieve them. It is
important to have a purpose.

My homecoming talk will be on August 21st with an open house later
that evening.

"The Furnace of Affliction"

1 Nephi 20:10

"For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction."

The Furnace and Refiner's Fire: This week felt like the Refiner's Fire
with the heat of the Furnace. Not only was it hot temperature wise,
but it was a tough week. Monday and Tuesday we tough with not many
lessons. However, on Tuesday we did have a really good lesson with
Jose Rodriguez. We taught about repentance and he loved it! He said
that we have to follow all the steps and be sincere, we can't just ask
God for forgiveness, say we repented, then do what ever we want. He
loved that this will help him grow and become prepared for baptism. On
Wednesday we had a good district meeting where we planned all the
parts of the church tour in preparation for Thursday night. On
Wednesday night we met with a less active member from the English
ward. He just bashed on us for an hour then we were late to an
appointment with Anel and Alfonso. When we got there Anel was already
asleep but Alfonso said they would definitely be there for the church
tour and that they were bringing a friend. Thursday morning was the
heat. We were outside serving at the food bank signing people up for
distribution. It was fun and I got darker but it was hot. Then later
we set up for the church tour that we were having to help our
investigators feel comfortable at church and take away the fear of the
unknown. No one showed up. I'm pretty sure I grew some gray hair from
being so anxious and going from on side of the building to the other
looking to see who would come. It was a tough experience. On Friday,
Anel and Alfonso fed us dinner. It was fried fish and it was really
good!

"It's like a beautiful woman on a plate" - Elder Acosta

This week was really good! We had members at basically every lesson!

Monday: It was awesome! We had 3 members presents! One of them was a
doorstep new investigator lesson. We had President Allred with us. He
is a former Stake, Mission, and MTC president. He is now in the temple
presidency. So he knows his stuff but it was really good! We had a
lesson with Saieda Benitez and her sister from out of town named
Guadalupe. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. Then we met Jorge
and Osmar. They are two young guys from Mexico up here working.

How Firm a Foundation

This is an amazing hymn!

Alfonso and Anel: We had an amazing lesson last night talking about repentance! They loved it! This is what they needed to help prepare them to accept baptism. They had good questions and understood it all very well! 

Francisco: We taught him the Plan of Salvation. We taught it very simply and he loved it! He was happy to know that he has a purpose in this life and that he can fulfill it and live eternally with his family. 

Elder Acosta is My Final Companion

Willcox is great! Besides the bugs that are make a full fledged
assault on our house, everything is great!

Mike: Mike is an interesting guy. He has a reputation here in Willcox
and so everyone is surprised that we are starting to teach him. He
promised his dying brother, and a member of the ward, that he would
take the lessons. And that is how we came in the picture. He is a
Seventh Day Adventist. It has been really good and we are having to
study the Bible a ton more!

Last Week with Elder Crofts

So we got transfer news...

This was my last week with Elder Crofts. It has been a ton of fun and we have done a ton of work and really brought this area up and out of the dust and built it from the ground up. We went from few investigators when I first got here to now 30! Elder Crofts is a great missionary and I look up to him, he was in a tough situation with a companion last transfer that made working hard. 

I am getting Elder Acosta! He was a fresh new missionary in my district when I was first a District Leader. He is from Ecuador and is a really cool guy! More about him next week! 

Prayers, Bonita, and Member Present Lessons

This week was really good! We saw almost all our investigators and less actives! We are also looking up some more less active men to build the priesthood strength of the ward. This week we also took a lot of members out with us so we had a ton of member present lessons! 

Prayers: This week we prayed a ton for the families that we are teaching and that they will be able to come to church. 

Cows, Rain, and Random Caller

Willcox is still awesome and getting better everyday! We found and started teaching this great family and they are the most prepared people I have ever met!

Perras Flacas Discoveries: This week on "Perras Flacas Discoveries" we discovered a nice "decoration" in a chair next to the door of a trailer. Picture of the doll will be included below. Also, for the second discovery, the body of some toy made to look like an animal! This was found in a former investigator's yard. The best thing is if you look in the background you will see that he used a couple doors as parts of his DIY fence. Picture of this double feature included below. 

The Heat, The Temple, and The People

Oh Arizona... You are so crazy. It is getting into the 100* this week. It is SO CRAZY HOT HERE IT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY! The breeze is even hot! 

The Temple: No pictures yet but we went to the Gila Valley Temple on Saturday! A member from Deming was going for the first time and we got to go! It was a Spanish session so that was cool! When you go to the temple you learn. You also perform sacred ordinances like baptisms for the dead, just like Christ taught. Dalia, the member, was getting what is called an endowment. It is basically a blessing from God of power. We are able to learn, be blessed, and learn the potential that we have as children of God. Elder Crofts and I found names through family history of relatives that have passed on where we were able to do all their work. We did baptisms, confirmations, then endowment. It was a great experience to do it all in one day at one time. 

Identifying and Removing Walls

Hey guys! A bit of a rough week but thats when you learn and grow the most.

Orfilda and Artisema: We went on splits one night and Elder Crofts visited them with Hno and Hna Cuevas. It was a super good lesson! Then the other night we were talking about baptism and they were unsure. We asked if they have been reading and praying and they haven't. It is kind of annoying when we have really good powerful lessons with the Spirit then they don't read and pray!

The Music, The Food, The People

Willcox Transfer 2

This week was pretty good. We were tired, a lot of appointments fell through but we turned it into a great week! We had some great daily and weekly planning. We are becoming the missionaries Heavenly Father wants us to become.

Orfilda: Just amazing! We had a really powerful lesson on Tuesday and we talked about the Atonement and baptism. The Spirit was super strong but she was still a bit unsure. We read from Alma 7 and it is a very bold and powerful chapter.

Transfers... Church Miracles!!!

So first I just want to introduce the church miracle then I will talk about the transfer news!

This week was a really good week! It was filled with success and miracles! The work of the Lord is going forth!

Church: Church was great! Orfilda, Artisema, and Artisema's kids came. Arti's kids are Kerenia, Yara, and Iquer. They came for the whole time and loved it all! We then took them on a tour of the building before they left. They really loved the baptismal font. Also, the branch is super supportive! Our branch president called President Passey to get us and the sisters to stay together here in Willcox! The whole branch has a huge desire to do missionary work and it is amazing! The branch presidency is on top of it!

Homage to the Most Important Women in My Life

Since yesterday was Mother's Day I want to honor my mom. I also want to honor the other important woman in my life, Marlie. 

Mom: Diane, Mom, Ma, Mother, Parental Unit, She who birthed me; what ever the name you use, it can only point to one! Diane Baker is amazing! She has been there when I needed her and when I wasn't sure I needed anyone. She has taught me to love and to serve. She has shown me what a covenant-keeping daughter of God looks like. She has been a solid rock, along with my dad, to show the way for us. She loves to serve and go the extra mile. She doesn't have any daughters but she has shown me what to look for in a good future wife, her future daughter-in-law. I remember when I was little that we would sit on the couch and we would read together. She always gave the best summer buzz cuts and found the sweetest watermelon. She knew that ice cream was part of a balanced diet. She did things for me and my brothers that she didn't necessarily need to do, but she did them out of love and service.  She served a mission to serve her Savior, but she didn't know how hard it would be to send her first son. It was hard to see her cry. She has been faithful in support and expressions of love. She is a great woman of even greater faith. She is my mom and I love her!

The Meeting with an Apostle of Jesus Christ

So this week was a bit tough. We had a great week and it finished wonderfully but it was tough because we didn't see much success in our lessons compared to the past few weeks. 

Conference: Tuesday night we drove into Tucson. We stayed with some other Elders. We woke up the next morning at 5am to be at a church building at 7am. When we arrived we took our first full mission picture with the addition of Elder Holland, Elder Robbins, and Elder and Sister Heyman. Then we shook their hands as we filed into the chapel. The meeting was from 8am to noon! It was so amazing though! 

D&C 31:7

Hey guys! Super good week out here in Willcox! Not that numbers matter, but we have been killing it with numbers too! 

D&C 31:7: So in my studies this week I was reading through the Doctrine and Covenants, holy scripture comprised of revelations given to Joseph Smith. I came across this scripture and I think it applies perfectly to how things are going here for us in Willcox! It says, "Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive you. And I will establish a church by your hand." Over the past 3 weeks here in Willcox I have seen many people with open hearts be placed in our path. We just need to help them take part in the gospel. 

Becoming Preach My Gospel Missionaries

This is such an amazing time to be a missionary! I love it here in Willcox! The work is just exploding here! I love the people that we are finding and teaching! Elder Crofts and I are doing amazing and we are working great together and we feel guided by the Spirit. We are also progressing as people and disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Adilene: Super cool girl! Quiet, but awesome! She is a young single mother that was a referral from a member family. She came to church last Sunday but not yesterday. We had a lesson with her on Monday and we talked about the Restoration and we set a baptismal date. She is kind of shy but she understands super well!

Dream Team, Farm House, and Stitches

So I am in Willcox, AZ! It is a small farming town off the interstate. Elder crofts is great! We are getting along super well! We are both very experienced and ready to work hard and make things happen this transfer! We are the dream team! We were companions in the MTC and now we are together again! We both have grown so much!

Leaving Douglas

This week was a good week!

So we got transfer calls on Saturday... I am going to Willcox to be companions with my MTC companion, Elder Crofts! I am super excited and I feel really good about it. I am sad to leave Douglas but I am excited for Willcox! It is a bilingual area so we teach who we find. The congregation is bigger than Douglas. There is an English congregation separate from a Spanish congregation. It will be super awesome!

"Hello Coke? This is Pepsi."

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Easter!

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That he was born, he lived a perfect life, was baptized to fulfill the commandment of the Father, that He established his church, and performed the Atonement. The Atonement is His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane for our pains, sicknesses, and sins, His suffering and death on the cross, and His resurrection. He rose that all men may rise again! He lives who once was dead! He the Lamb of God! 

This week was pretty interesting. 

Adam and Steve

So this week was a little slow because of Spring Break but it went by fast too! We worked hard and had some great lessons! Also, while I was typing this up, my iPad froze and lost the draft so I have to start all over... 

Ward List: Last Sunday we were given an assignment to clean up the ward list according to a sheet of specific people that needed their information updated. So it has been pretty fun trying to find all these people. It has a ton of finding potential! As we try to find these members we can see if they want to come back to church and we can teach them. We and also see if their neighbors are interested, or if the original member family moved, we can see if the new residents are interested. It is really good for finding. Better than picking a street and knocking the whole thing. 

Following Inspiration, The Restoration, and Gray Hair

This week was a really good week! We saw a lot of miracles this week!

March Challenge! So the mission-wide March Challenge is to teach Lesson1: The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at least one time each day. As of last night, the 13th, we have taught it 16 times! We are ahead and we want to keep up this pace!

March Begins

So for the month of March our mission has a challenge to teach the Restoration lesson at least once each day. So we should finish with at least 31 but our goal is to do more! We are ahead a good bit and we are trying to teach it as much as possible. 

This week was pretty good! It was another tough week but I learn more from the tough weeks. 

Douglas: Miracle on 21th Street

So I will explain the subject line with a picture at the end of the email. 

This week was pretty good! Busy, a bit stressful, but good!

Eugenio: So he is super funny. There are just things he will say or little things he will do in lessons that are super funny. He had is little Star Wars poster/picture thing up on the wall and it fell during a lesson. He did a hand motion at it and said, "I guess I don't have the Force." There were some other super funny stuff but it was a had-to-be-there moment. He is doing well and he is understanding more and more. We were able to bring members to our lessons with him this week and we reviewed the Restoration. We talked about baptism and praying to know if it is right for him. 

Transfer News... Feb 16 - April 5

So we got transfer calls... And I am staying in Douglas with Elder Chiñas! This will be our second transfer together in Douglas and our fourth in total! Crazy!

Please write letters!!!! Since I am staying in Douglas here is my address:

Elder Dallin Baker

1810 E 8th Street #J

Douglas AZ 85607

Holy Milagros!

This week was a great one! We saw tons of miracles (Milagros in Spanish) this week!
It was a great start to the month of February.

Elizabeth, Tony, and Mario: We had a couple great lessons with this nice trio. Mario is a less active member, Elizabeth is his fiancé, and Tony is Elizabeth's son. So we stopped by one night and wanted to share the Plan of Salvation but we didn't have time. So we decided to share a smaller message. In our discussion over what was taught, we kept going into the Plan of Salvation! So it was basically a good intro lesson. Then we went back and taught the Plan of Salvation. It was awesome! I taught clearly and effectively and the Spirit was able to testify of what we taught! Elizabeth and Tony are super awesome and they understand what steps they need to take. We set baptismal dates with them both.

Exchanges, Inspiration, Girlfriends, and Interviews

Hey guys! Hope you had a good week! We had a great week down here in Douglas! 

Exchanges: On Monday, we drove up to Sierra Vista. We were able to play zone sports! We played volleyball and it was a blast because we are all good friends! I had some good moments. Good blocks and a great dive that I caught on video. After, we did exchanges and I went back to Douglas with Elder Ruiz. He is super cool and we became super good friends! We spent the day together on Tuesday. We had an interesting lesson with Eugenio. He was super out of it and was basically half asleep. We also had a good time doing service that morning and had a great lesson with a less active man named Daniel. 

Douglas: Food Bank and Referrals

This week was awesome!

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: We did service with the Food Bank! We helped out a ton and they really needed our help! It was great to help out and get to know the other volunteers more.

2 Car Accidents, but Not Mine

So just to not hold the suspense too long, I am safe and I am a safe driver. I did not get in an accident. An investigator was in 2 car accidents in 1 month. 

PLEASE SEND LETTERS!!!

So I just want to focus on 4 events this week. 

1. The Temple. We were able to go to the temple this past Tuesday! It was amazing! I didn't realize I missed that peace until I walked inside. It has been a stressful past couple of months. The temple was amazing though! I love the beauty and spirit that makes the temple what it is. We learn from the Spirit of God about who we are and why it is important to follow the gospel. We learn more about how God loves us and everyone else! Just being on the grounds outside the temple is amazing too! Definite high point of the week and a good rejuvenation. 

Douglas Transfer 2: Elder Chiñas and Blizzard

Hey guys! Sorry for the poor quality of my past 2 emails. This one will be way better!

So I am with Elder Chiñas again! If you remember, I trained him in like February through April. I am super excited to be with him again as we progress further.

PLEASE WRITE LETTERS!!!! 

Monday: We helped a member move his motorcycle. The battery was dead so we loaded it on another member's truck. It was way heavier than I thought, heavier than Grandpa's Honda Ruckus. Then later we gave a member a blessing. He caught this bad bug from his son. And to finish the day, we visited members so that Elder Penrod could say goodbye.

Week 6: New Year, Baptismal Dates, and Elder Penrod is Leaving!

So we got transfer news and I am staying in Douglas! Elder Penrod is
leaving and I'm getting Elder Chiñas again.

So this week was pretty crazy! Some drama that happened with members
but all is settling out.

Christmas in Douglas

Hey guys! Hope you all had a great Christmas!
Just going to do some quick highlights from the week!

Monday: Elder Penrod and I went to Bisbee to go on a little day hike. It was great! Great views and great pictures. It was so nice to be outside and just soak up the nature! So saw snow!

Douglas, Seminary, and the coming of Christmas

Hey guys! Hope you had a good week!
This week was great! This transfer has flown by and it is scary! Elder
Penrod and I get along super well so it has been super fun! He has
been out for about 4 months now and he has taught me so much! I feel I
have really progressed this transfer!

Monday: Taught seminary at 5:30am. We then did our regular Pday stuff
then just chilled. I made cookies and wrote letters. Later, we did
some knocking and we were able to show the Christmas video a bunch of
times!

Cold weather is here

Hey guys! My week was pretty good! Just a bit on the colder side but
it was great!

Monday: Taught seminary this morning! It starts at 5:30am... Pday then
dinner with the Barallardos. It was so much fun then we did the
Atonement push-up lesson with them. I did the push-ups again. It was
awesome because we bought candy on an individual basis. We got their
favorite candy and put their name on it.

Douglas Week 2: Español and the Drive

¡Buenos días!
Tuvimos una conferencia con los otros misioneros de Español el jueves
pasado y nos animó a mejorar nuestro esfuerzo de usar, practicar, y
magnificar nuestro Español. Entonces, voy a escribir un poquito de mi
carta en Español. No estoy usando Google Translate.

So in English, we had a great Spanish conference with all the Spanish
missionaries. It went super well and we got super excited about
putting more effort into bettering our Spanish abilities. So I will
write a bit of Spanish in my emails. Just so you know, I am not using
Google Translate.

Douglas Week 1: Elder Penrod, the Golden Investigator, and Seasons

Hey guys! So I am in Douglas now! It is pretty awesome! It is right on
the border. Lots of Border Patrol. I am in probably the nicest
apartment in the mission! It is like a condo. We both have our own
bathrooms, a large main room, nice kitchen with a gas stovetop,
washer, dryer, and dishwasher! It is amazing!

SEASONS!!! So it is a little colder down her in Douglas but the most
amazing thing is that there are trees here! Trees that have leaves!
Leaves that change color!!!! I haven't seen leaves change color since
Fall of 2013!

Tucson Exodus: Douglas

So we got transfer news! Tomorrow I am transferred to Douglas, AZ.
Different from Deming, NM. It is right on the US/Mexico boarder with
Agua Prieta.

Monday: Pday! We all went to an indoor trampoline park to celebrate
some birthdays. It was super fun! Then sports. I also bought a
StarWars onesie with some birthday money. Later, we had a carne asada
dinner/lesson cancel which we were both super pumped about. Our
investigators were going to teach us how to make carne asada and we
were going to help them with their salvation.