Letter from August 27, 2012

Hey all!

Once again, it has been a very crazy week out here in the mission field. I have come to find out that there is no such thing as a normal week in the mission. There is nothing quite like it. You future missionaries will know what I’m talking about really soon. You returned missionaries already know what I'm talking about.

Okay, So I have my new companion Elder Janne. Elder Janne is from Witicha, Kansas. He is 21 years old. He loves to play rugby and football, so he is workhorse. He is a joker too. The first few days with him we just spent laughing the whole time. It is something I needed. I almost forgot that in the mission it's okay to have fun and mess around. I love this guy, it's gonna be a great transfer. Within our first few days together we went out and taught five lessons. We were blessed to set six baptismal dates in that two days time. It was so awesome. After that it was a little slow because Elder Janne got a really bad stomach illness. We weren't able to work as fast or as efficient. It was really slow after that, but it was over all a really good week.

So this week was one of the most stressful weeks. We had planned a baptism for Rachelle. We would go over to her house everyday asking her if she was still confident in getting baptized. She would be like "I don't know." We were kind of worried. Then one day she was like "I’ll just tell you guys Sunday" we then looked at each other and were like we can't do that. We gotta know soon so that we can set everything up for you to be baptized. We came to find out that she was just worried that she was going to be alone. Meaning that she would be the only member in the family, and that no one would support her or anything like that. When we found that out we told her that she wasn't going to be. Because we set a while ago with her sister, Genesis, a baptismal date. Rachelle had no idea about this. Genesis told her that she was going to be baptized. Then Rachelle was like "I wanna be baptized". We were just so filled with joy and excitement. We were stressing to do a last minute interview, and get a program set up. She almost wasn't able to go to church because her mom said no, but then said yes.  There was scheduled another person to get baptized as well. Rachelle didn't want that though. She wanted her own though, but Obispo was able to talk her into joining. We got her a ride to the baptism. Got everything set up, and then I got a call from her very strict mother. Saying that she had no idea that the baptism was going to be occurring yesterday. Even though Elder Larsen talked to her about it.  That Rachelle didn't say anything, and that they couldn’t come to it so they didn't want to do it. My heart sank as you could imagine. We were just waiting for them to get here. Then they had to cancel. We had to cancel her baptism literally last minute. It was heart braking. But we know that we can get her for the next week. So let's hope and pray that it does happen.

But on the bright side, one of our other investigators that we have, Lilia, came to the baptism. She loved it too. She has a date for the 9th of September. We have been teaching her everyday this week. She is reading from the Book of Mormon. She is praying all the time. She didn’t know how to when we first started. I guess Elder Larsen was talking to her about it and she said that this is going to happen to her in just a few weeks. We only have one problem right now. That is her going to church. She has had to work the last three Sunday’s. We talked to her about keeping the Sabbath day. She understands that it is really important to keep it. She is going to do everything she can next week to come to church. We are very excited about her. This is going to be a huge week with her. I have a lot of optimism with her.

We also have Diana. She has been tough to work with. She's been praying and reading from the Book of Mormon. She's doing solid, but before Elder Janne got here she wasn’t wanting to get baptized or come to church. But the very first day we saw her we taught her about the plan of salvation, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 23rd. I think she will be a solid one too for the next coming weeks. We are very excited to teach her more.

It has been a very good and rewarding week. A lot of great things have been happening here in our area. It's another time of finding though. We have a lot with a baptismal date, but other then them we don’t have too many to teach. So it's gonna be another big week. So look out for a baptism picture! I love you all and thank you so much for your support. I know that with faith all things are possible (Moroni 7:33). I know that the Lord is here for us whenever we need Him. I love Him and you all too! Thank you for your support and I can't wait to hear from you soon!!

Elder Dallin M. Ollerton

Letter from August 20, 2012

Hey everyone! 

It has been an amazing week. We have done and seen a lot of miracles this week in our area. We have also had a lot of changes coming this week to our entire district. 

Elders Larsen and Farnsworth have been called to train in their area together. So they will be a trio. So cool. I have been called to be the senior companion in my area. I have received a new companion named Elder Janne. He has just completed his training out in my first ward, Fullerton 6. He is now with me in Anaheim 11th. He is such a workhorse of an Elder. That is very good news to me and to this area. He is like an Elder Larsen. He loves to work and he loves the Lord. You can't ask for a greater companion. We are going to see a lot of miracles this week, and this transfer too. 

So I have been talking about Rachelle and her sister Genesis. They actually both went to girl’s camp this week. They had what you would call an amazing time. Both of their testimonies grew a ton. So we were really excited when we talked to them yesterday. We committed them both to be baptized. They even shared their testimonies in front of a bunch of group of Girls. They were so awesome. I even talked to another young woman that yet and she had people ask her "she is a member right?" she would say no and they were so shocked. They are doing so good. We have a planned baptismal service for Rachelle for this Sunday. She is still not so sure. It's been pretty tough, but we aren't sure what to do. I'm thinking what is going to happen is we are going to delay her date until the 9th. Because that is when Genesis is going to get baptized. So we will see!

Also, we ran into some really cool people while we were trying to find some other investigators. Elder Excell just decided to stop by and talk to them. We ended up teaching them. They told us that they had always wanted to know what church is the true one. We got really excited and gave them a book of Mormon. We came back the next day to see them, and we learned that Liz, one of the people we taught, her father had passed away that night. We taught her the plan of salvation, and she really accepted it. She doesn't have a baptismal date yet, but we are working with her, and her friend, Diana right now. We are hoping that we will get a miracle with them this week.

Also, there is another neighborhood that we stopped by a few times. We taught this guy named Luis about our message. He really did not like it. He told us "there is no way you are going to convince me that your church is right" he asked a lot of questions about the church, Joseph Smith, everything. We answered them all and left. We went back to teach one of his daughters that we had been seeing. We began to teach her. We came to the conclusion that she didn't know who Jesus Christ is. This was a very sad experience for me. How could you grow up and not know Jesus Christ? I guess this is how it is for a lot of people.  It's really sad that they don't know that we have someone who suffered everything for us, so that we may be able to live with our Heavenly Father again. We taught her about the restoration and God. She was amazed. We even asked her to pray, and she did it. This is why I’m here. To help others who don't know about Their Savior, know Him. What He has done for us, and how we can get closer to Him.

This is all I really have for this week. We are starting to see a lot of Miracles in this area. It's growing. It was so dead when I got here, but little by little the Lord is blessing us. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in this area. My companion and I are very young in the mission, we don't know a lot of Spanish, we don't know the area very well, but we are going to go out and work. We are going to see miracles. 

I love you all so much. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know and I will do my very best to get back to you all a.s.a.p. 

Les Quiero mucho. nos vemos

Elder Dallin M. Ollerton

Letter from August 13, 2012

August 13, 2012

Hey everyone!

Wow, This week has been the best week as far as number wise in our area. We taught a lot of lessons and met some really cool people out here.

So the beginning of this week I had about a five second scare. We were

In our apartment on Tuesday morning when all of a sudden I heard a

noise. Then our apartment shook really hard for a few seconds. Afterward I was like "What the heck was that?” I came to a quick conclusion that it was an Earthquake that I had experienced. That is the first earthquake I have actually witnessed. I know that when I was five years old I slept through one, but I had never actually experienced one. It was sweeeeeet!!! Ha-ha I guess there were like eight of them all over Orange County. But after that we were fine and there hasn't been another one since then.

After that day I went on an exchange with none other than my "dad" or my trainer Elder Larsen. As you could imagine I was so dang stoked to go back to his area and work with him. It was a crazy day. He had already had a flat tire on his bike (bike area) and then we went out to ride he got another flat tire. He rode the whole day with two flat tires. That guy is the man. It was a crazy day. We had six set appointments and we taught a ton. It was so good. It was kind of like coming home after being on a trip. Ha-ha But then we came back and moved on into our own areas.

This week we saw a miracle. There was this certain apartment complex that we keep going to so we could find someone to teach there. There is a little six-year-old kid that is always outside playing with other friends that he has there. I always yell at him "Amigo" whenever we pass by. One time we went in and knocked on a door in this complex. He didn't answer. Then there was a girl that was yelling at my amigo to hurry and get inside. She was yelling and cussing and everything. He was trying to carry a big box full of his toys that he had been playing with. I went up to him and said, "Do you need help amigo?" I got the box and carried it to his apartment. We starting to teach the girl and she ended up accepting a baptismal date. It was awesome. We came back looking for her and ending up teaching a different girl. It's the oldest. She accepted a book of Mormon and a baptismal date as well. It was a miracle. They are very humble right now. Their dad is in the hospital right now with Cancer. So they are really open for anything that could help bring a miracle. We promised them it would and they listened. We are struggling with them now though because one of the Girls is moving. The other one said she was reading the book of Mormon and got really sick. So she took that to be her answer that it's not true. So we are going to work with her. I hope and pray that we can find a way to help her.

We are still teaching Claudia. We had a lesson with our ward mission leader the other day. There is a reason why the brethren stress member present lessons. Because without his testimony I think that we would have eventually dropped her some point this week. We are hoping that she gets an answer soon and gets to come to church with us this week.

We also started to teach an older couple named Guillermo and Gloria.

They were very open to our message. They are looking for the truth.

They were raised catholic, but never go to church. So we left them some Books of Mormon and committed them to pray. The hard part with them is getting them to come to church but we are going to get them there. We had a funny experience with them. So we were just talking to them about them and their lives. When I heard some birds they had tweet really loudly. The next thing I know they are flying all over the place in their apartment. It was crazy because they had like three of them. They were grazing my head too. It was awesome! Ha-ha

Oh Rachelle and her sister Genesis are doing well too! They both came to church yesterday. It was the first time in a very long time that

Genesis came. So we are seeing a lot of progress in them. We are hoping that Rachelle keeps pushing for the 26th. Let's hope and pray she does. They are both going to girls camp too this week. So we hope that will be a really big help for them too. Very excited.

Well, transfers are next week so I might be heading out. My guess is that Elder Excell is leaving and I’m getting a new companion but we will see.  Thank you again for all of your support. I love you so much and I’m so blessed! Hear from you all soon!

Elder Dallin M. Ollerton

Letter for August 6, 2012

Hey everyone! 

Another quick week out here in the mission field. it just feels like that every week is giong by faster and faster. I feel like yesterday that we were just here in the library emailing our weekly letters.

So this week as far as teaching was pretty slow again. We have been teaching this guy named richard this week. He is a really interesting fellow. He has no believe in God. We were thinking about dropping him, but then something told me at the end of the second lesson to set up another appointment and then ask him if i could give him a call later the same night to remind him about reading, praying and confirming our next appointment. I called him back and we confirmed the appointment. We went over the next day, and he expressed to us about a lot of problems that he was having right now in his life. He is out of work, he is having problems with his wife right now. He was thinking about getting a divorce with her and everything. When I called them the night before he was actually in the middle of a fight with his wife. He was so upset, but then he was also thinking about us and how we could help them right when i called him. "it was really weird" he said. We taught him about prayer and the power of prayer. He told us that if God was really there he would give him a sign. So i told him to ask and pray to him to ask for work, and a better relationship with his wife. We came back the next day and he told us that he went and prayed. He was very nervous, because he hadn't prayed in over fourteen eyars. But then later on that day he had some experiences and he ended up getting into a better relationship with his wife. He would tell us that after he would pray he would feel something very specail. IT was a very good feeling and he felt positive and hopeful. He has also been getting appointments for job interviews. So He is totally feeling the spirit. but he jsut doesn't know it. Still, he doesn't believe, but its a start. He has made a ton of progress and we are going to work with him little by little.

The other day we passed by a girl that we had dropped earlier in the transfer named Rachelle. WE talked to her about he baptism that she went to last sunday. She really liked it. She said that someday she wants to be a missionary like us. she told us that when she is seventeen she will be baptised and then go on a mission. She's twelve right now. We were like why would you want to wait until your seventeen? she did not know. We taught her about the plan that God has for us, and the blessings that come from making covenants with God. So we agreed to set a date for her to be baptized on the 26th of august. we are very excited and hopeful that she is dedicated to this goal we have made with her. In fact the last time we went over there we saw her older sister and talked to ehr and taught her the plan of salvation. She was amazed that after we die we will get our bodies back in a perfect form and live forever. She told us that she would pray to know that it's true and be baptized if she feels it. We invited them to church. but they couldn't come this week. Because her mom wanted to buy them some stuff. So we aregoing to work with the mom and get them to church. 

Oh yeah and I have a crazy story. I don't know if you had ever seen this dad. So we went out with a member to go and teach an investigator. She wasn't there. So he took us to a less active members house. We went in and started talking about why they were'nt coming to church. first, the dad likes to play soccer on sundays. The next weird part is this. The wife told us that she doesn't want anything to do with the chruch anymore, and that she wants to baptize her kids into the catholic church. When I heard this I was first like "what the heck" This couple have been members for at least five years. The husband holds the Melquisedec preisthood. But yeah...I'm guessing the problem is that the mom (who pretty much is the one who wears the pants of the family) and the family stopped going. They hadn't gone in over a year. I bet that her friends talked to her about being in the church and have kind of converted her back into being catholic. So we are going to try to re convert and less active. Wish us luck.\

We found a sweet family of five last night to start teaching. They are really receptive. Hopefully they will continue to listen and accpet to be baptized.

Haha that's pretty much our week. Oh yeah we've been having a weird infestistation of ants in our apartment. I don't know where they came from, but we have them all over the apartment now, they even got to some of our food, in our bathroom, and everything. Its been kinda gross, but we are going to get it taken care of. 

That's it. Still working hard. I'ts been tough, but we are not giving up in this area. Thank you for your support and I love you all! Hear from you soon.

Elder Dallin M. Ollerton