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!