Hey all!
Dang, another fast week! I'm now 3 weeks
away from returning to Utah. I just heard from our secretary that it's freezing
cold over there! It's going to definitely take some getting used to when I get
back! I was out on the golf course yesterday for p-day. It was the first time I
have been out in a while! I went with the one and only President Bowen. That's
right. I went golfing with my mission president. It was pretty legit! It was
Elder Contreras, President Bowen, and myself. We had a blast together! We just
went to a driving range to hit a bucket of balls. We went to the golf course
that Tiger Woods used to hang out on all the time. So that was pretty neat. I
loved being able to spend some time with President. He is the Man! I really
look up to him and I hope I can become like him someday. He's a great golfer.
He learned right before he came out to be mission president here. Elder Bednar
came out here to the field right before I got here and asked him "What do
you do to relieve the stress of being a mission president?"
"Nothing." President
responded.
"Well, lets go shopping."
Elder Bednar said.
I guess Elder Bednar is the man who
really got him going on golfing. He's the right man to do it! It was a blast
and I really enjoyed being with him.
We had a really good stake conference on
Sunday. All the stakes from southern California had a stake conference. They
did this special broadcast from Salt Lake City to all the stakes out here.
Elder Arnold spoke, as well as Elder Anderson and President Eyring. It was all
focused on hastening the work of salvation. President Eyring mainly focused on
working with family members who are not members of the church or are falling
away. I really liked the whole conference! I love this work and it really
pumped up a lot of the members here in the ward.
Tuesday was a hard day for us. We had
about 5 appointments that fell through. We kept on trucking though. We finally
found the Arroyos! Well, We found the father. He was in his van on the phone
when we showed up to his house. He came out and we asked him how he was doing.
He said he wasn't doing so good. He was drunk. We asked him what was going on
and why he hadn't been returning our phone calls or texts. I guess there have
been a lot of problems and long story short he's leaving the house and moving
to Vegas with his brother. They had been ignoring us because they didn't think
we would want to help them deal with their problems. We gave him a good talk
telling him that was the exact opposite of why we are here. He decided he was
going to change because he fell back into his bad habits. He knows this is all
true. Poor guy is just having a hard time. I hope we can help him get over
this hard time in his life. He's really miserable. He was explaining the
problems with tears running down his cheeks. We were really sad
too. He said that now he is going to listen to us no matter what and that
he is going to get baptized. Now he knows of the blessings that will
come through it! We had a great talk on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and
how through Him we ALL can be healed. He's making progress. So now
after he leaves in a few weeks he can get baptized in Vegas and the rest of the
family can get baptized too because the law of chastity problem will no longer
be an issue. Now we are on a search for mom and the kids. I guess they've been
staying at her sister’s home in Santa Ana till he moves out. We really hope we
can find them now! Pray for this beautiful family. I know that through the Lord
all will be made well!
Kately is making some really good
progress. She came to stake conference on Sunday. We visited her periodically
throughout the week with Hermana Lopez (the wife of our ward mission leader and
also in the YW presidency). They took her to conference and she loved it! She
really likes everything about the church. We are going to slowly try to get her
more involved with seminary and mutual as well. We also changed her baptismal
date to the 2nd of Feb. We felt impressed to change it to give her just that
extra week to be able to prep and get her final approval from her mother. We have
seen a lot of progress with her in the short time we have known her. It's
really quite amazing. She's seeing it too. She's not arguing so much with her
mom or siblings. So it’s been really good!
We met someone new this week! Her name
is Elizabeth. She is the daughter of an investigator we are currently teaching.
She is really cool. She really hasn't been too religious in her life. She
opened up really quickly. I believe it's because she could feel the spirit
right off the bat. She told us of a near death experience she had. We were able
to tie that in with the great plan that our Heavenly Father has given us. We
shared a little about it and how the church had been restored to the earth
today. She accepted to be baptized on the 23rd of Feb! That was really exciting
to find her. Her father is also very interested in joining the church too. We
are seeing a lot of progress!
I love this work. This work is just
soooo amazing! I can't believe how fast it's coming to a close. I'll always be
a missionary! I know this is the work of God! I love you all and have a great
week!
Elder Dallin M. Ollerton
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