Letter for June 10, 2013

Hey everyone!

Holy smokes!! It’s been a crazy week and sooooo much stuff has happened. We have seen so many miracles from the Lord this week. I have had a great first week in this area and as a zone leader. We have seen so many great things happen in this zone!

So, we had a baptism yesterday. Wait make that two baptisms yesterday. We had a baptism in our area yesterday, a man named Saul. He is awesome. The previous elders in the area were teaching him and everything. Ha-ha I came in and we taught him a few times and had great experiences with him. Saul is from Chihuahua, Mexico. I guess a member in the Anaheim 11th Ward found him. She works for the census or something like that and was contacting people. She is from Chihuahua as well and that's how they began talking. Out of nowhere she invited him to church and he accepted. He went to a different ward. The missionaries over there talked to him and got his address and sent his name over to us in this area. That's how we got to know him here. He’s really awesome. My comp is from Chihuahua as well and Saul actually knows parts of his family. So that's really neat. He's been going through a lot and has made a lot of changes in his life so that way he could be baptized. Now because of those changes he's going to court and charges are being pressed. But he is firm to the faith. It’s so inspiring. We had a great lesson with him on obedience and how even though life is unfair sometimes we know that the Lord will bless us as along as we are obedient to the commandments. We got him an interview and he passed and was able to get baptized. It was a great and spiritual experience. Ha-ha he already wants to go through the temple, but he will have to wait a year. He's so awesome.

We also had a great experience in another ward. I was called and told that Angel wanted me to baptize him. He is part of the family of Joby, Carmen, and Christian that were baptized a few weeks ago. I had the privilege of baptizing him. What a great and beautiful experience that was. Angel is 13 and can be, you know, a thirteen year old. After I baptized him he was totally calm and felt such peace. It’s soooo cool to see that even a moment in time can really change a person. It was soo good to see their family and see that everything was all good. I hope that they can get the dad now. I know they will. What a miracle of the Lord. I love that family so much and they are so great. I’m so proud of them.

What a great way to start off the transfer huh? The zone did a great job this week. We tripled our numbers in some of the key indicators. We are all really motivated and are seeing miracles. We are having another baptism this week. We are going to have the service tomorrow at 6pm for an investigator named Elsa. She is really awesome as well. I haven’t been able to teach her too much, but she is great person that also has had to make a lot of changes in her life. She has had to give up coffee. That was her biggest challenge. The way we helped her with that is through a substitute that is called "Pero".  It's basically like a wheat coffee drink. She says she really doesn’t like it but it's making all the difference. She passed her interview with flying colors and we are very excited for her too. Those other elders did a great job.

We have had a lot of crazy experiences happen too. Ha-ha my first day as a zone leader we got a call form the assistants to come and help them pick up the new missionaries that were arriving form the MTC. Guess how many new missionaries came? Oh, about 31. Ha-ha can you believe that? You should've seen that sight. Just an escalator full of missionaries. It was soo neat and so powerful. We had to get a U-Haul truck to help get their luggage to the mission office. It was soo neat. While we were driving a handful of them I ran into an elder that was coming from Japan. His name is Elder Halvorson. He asked me where I was from and I told him I’m from Utah. He told me that he had family there and a cousin on a mission in Chile. Ha-ha I was like "Hey! I know some Halverson’s, and one that's on a mission in Chile!" ha-ha we got to know each other and everything. It was sooo great. Ha-ha he's going to be a great missionary. What a small world it is huh?

Well I gotta go, my time is up! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you all soon!

Elder Dallin M Ollerton


This is an excerpt from Dallins letter to me, his dad.

We have seen some great things out here in the field and I’m so happy. I have a great companion, Elder Robinson. He is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Ha-ha seriously he really is. Ha-ha nobody out here believes him until he starts singing the Mexican national anthem. Ha-ha it's so funny. You remember when the prophet Brigham Young sent people to settle in Mexico? Well, he is a descendent of them. So he is from Mexico, but as white as you and me. Ha-ha it's awesome. He speaks perfect Spanish and has been out here as long as Elder Larsen. He’s going home in August. He is 100% cowboy. He loves horses and has trained a few of his own.  He's twenty years old; he left on his mission when he was 18. I’m still younger than him though. We are really excited to be together and I'm really excited to be in this area. He was in the same district I was when I got to the mission. So I already knew him really well. I love it.

Dal