New Companion- new area

I'M BACK IN CHOLULA MOMMA! My companion is Elder Cook. He is one of my best friends on the mission. We just hadn't been comps till now. We came to the mission the same day. He is from Rexburg, Idaho. We are the Zone Leaders in Cholula. We have some investigators-BUT WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE A TON MORE. WE'RE ABOUT TO DESTROY CHOLULA. My companion is a hard worker-obedient. He's a great guy and we've wanted to be companions for a long time. Skyping on Christmas Eve, it should be 6-yeah. I need a picture of Chellie in a Spyro onzie. Sounds like the music at your Christmas Sunday at church was awesome! Pancakes for Chellie’s birthday breakfast! I LOVE PANCAKES. Ask me questions about my comp when we skype! Love you! -Elder Dazey

Transfers!

Sounds like it was an awesome conference! Who knows where I will be when I skype you! I have transfers tomorrow! I only stayed in my area for 5 weeks! This transfer was a week shorter because of all of the Christmas traffic that there would be.

   FEARLESS FOR THE LORD. I THINK SO :D

Well. It has been a fun time in Atlixco. I've learned loads of things. I think that I am ready to continue my journey into new worlds. I am praying that I can be mentally and spiritually prepared for the things that come.

   This week we have been fighting to help some people get baptized. Carlos and Jaqueline have to get married, and after much struggle to find a way we decided to wait until January to get them baptized. Other two families need to still go to church- something that was impossible this week-but for a good reason- there was a temple dedicated in Tijuana so we went to see the dedication. We put some of the Zone's stuff in the storage room this week. 

   MY STOMACH IS ROLLING. I don't know what will happen with my next transfers. But-that's okay. I trust in the Lord ;)

 Anyway- I love you guys! I'll tell you what happens next week.

-Elder Dazey

Full of the Christmas Spirit

      So this week has been awesome. We had some intercambios (splits) this week and I went with Elder Corral and with Elder Mendez. It was pretty cool because I was with my kid again. Also Elder Mendez is just about to go home and he was asking me about sight reading music- so I taught him some basic music theory. We sang songs for our language study that day. We found 16 new investigators this week, finished the week with 9 baptismal dates and loads of other stuff. The sad thing is that although we did a ton to get people to church, only 2 people came, so a few of our baptismal dates fell through.

      Christmas time is here. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. It's the best. It just gives me so many feels. President challenged us to make this Christmas special. So I'm going to do my best. I'm loving the Christmas music. 

      To answer some of your questions, my companion is really cool. He was going to go to an awesome school to play football-but in his 2nd to last game he broke the tendons on the inside of his knee so he decided that that was a sign that he should go on a mission. He is a hard worker- loves sports and is really good at them. We talk a lot- and share tons of stories together. He is very spiritual and has a lot of power in his teaching. He's a funny guy. He loves his family. He's worked hard his whole life. He used to be a firefighter and he is from St. George Utah and previously lived in Las Vegas. We have a lot in common and yet we grew up in different worlds. I love my Comp. :D

      I am going to buy a Christmas tree and some pine scent :D I'm going to try to make this last Christmas special. I'm going to finish Jesus the Christ before Christmas. I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC. 

     During the General Christmas Broadcast from Salt Lake,  I loved Elder Bednars talk about the light of the world and Elder Uchtdorf's about "The Generous One" and I loved hearing the other inspiring stories. I love hearing the General Authorities and Sisters :D

   

LOVE YOU!

-Elder Dazey

   

The Field is White

I´m glad that things are going well. I´ll try to send some more pictures. I love you lots! Unfortunately, I don’t have too much time to write today but I’ll tell you about our crazy week quickly:

We had 3 splits this week. We had a heck of a time with the assistants. Ate chilis today and taught a university class about Mormons. It was sick.

   We had 5 baptisms this weekend, 13 new investigators and we still have 8 baptismal dates and we´re putting 2 more people on date today for baptism. It´s pretty awesome. I love you guys.  

My testimony: I know that Christ is my redeemer though I am still not sure of all of what that means for me. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and a great man chosen by God. I know that God loves us and has made a perfect undefeatable plan. I know that I do not yet have a knowledge of all things, but that I can gain it through

exercising my faith. I know that men can change through the power of repentance. The wonders of covenants and ordinances fascinate me- and drive me to be a better person. The Book of Mormon has changed my life. In that book, we can learn more about the Holy Nature and Character of the Godhead than in any other book. I love this Church and I know that it is true. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Dazey

A Whole New Exciting Energy

Miracles everywhere. Elizabeth, Vicki, Osben, Grisel, and Anahi are all getting baptized this weekend. We've got tons to do- But we're feeling good.
We did some divisions this week. While we were out, we found loads of new investigators and Elder Creager contacted someone that happened to be a member- with 5 kids and a husband that are interested in listening! WHAT? We put some baptismal dates this week, and one of the families that we found our first week is super excited to get baptized in December and is getting all of their papers together to get married.
I feel revolutionized. I feel revitalized. Absolutely Ready. I feel good. This is a whole different world. We've got 5 people getting baptized this weekend, and a ton in December. 

   We had a great Zone training meeting- We talked to everyone about ward lista (Area Book) and how to use them.  (Benji asked us to send several funny pictures last week of him) We used the pictures for a funny introduction.

   SO MUCH TO DO! SO LITTLE TIME!

Love, 

Elder Dazey

 (I asked Benji if they were doing anything  for Thanksgiving and he said) we'll have a zone conference that day and we'll be eating a Texas Barbeque made my an argentine cook!

My new companion is the Zone Leader!

My companions name is Elder Creager. He has been a Zone leader for the past 6 weeks and is really good at it and is now teaching me to be a Zone Leader too. He's really cool- He played football before the mission, and he is really funny. He's a fire-ball. He's a really, really good missionary and I'm learning tons from him. We baptized 3 people this Saturday, (The Luna Family) and we have 6 other baptismal dates, and we think that we are going to get a lot more. We have a lot of work to do!  Everything is going really well. Elder Corral stayed in his last area and is with a disobedient missionary-pray that the Spirit guides him to help him and be his friend. My area is Obrero. It's the ward that shared a building with Independencia, my last Ward  :D It's kinda funny. 

   

   Well, We've got lots of work to do. Things are going well. Hopefully we can get our Zone going. It's awesome. Pray for us. We've got so much to do. 

  Well, pray for me a lot. I have a lot to learn, and it's probably going to get a bit stressful. I'll be praying for you guys too.

Love,

Elder Dazey

PS> I included pictures from our baptism and us being silly in our "Elders mugging someone picture". 

A Transfer with a Surprise?

   Well I am being transferred. You won't get news about changes until next week...but! I got a message from President- "D&C 123:17. Buckle your seat belt." That's all he said. Pray for me D:
 Man does President know how to get a missionary pumped. Let's see what the Lord has ahead. I have no idea what is in store-but I'll be praying.
Elder Corral and I are doing well. We finished the 12 weeks program and we are ready for the transfers. We spent awhile taking pictures today :D We had fun. It's been a good two transfers together.
The district is doing well. We've got some baptismal dates coming up. I was able to finish all of the things I had to, to leave the area well, so I'm not worried.
Our investigator that was going to get baptized-Miguel-is going to get baptized next week. I think he got freaked out about baptism.
I have been super chill this week. I have not felt so good for a while. Tranquilidad. (Tranquility) I started working on my stress and it has made a world of difference. I feel good. I will keep working on it, and hopefully I will stay that way.
Sadly our new investigators this week were hard to get back with, and some of our investigators said that they didn't want to listen anymore :( Hopefully they'll change their minds soon. They are very hooked onto the whole Virgen Mary thing.

   We have some investigators that are progressing well. I'm sad to leave this area.

Love,

Elder Dazey

Winding up Training/ and Day of the Dead-Cool!

   It's fun to baptize. We had a great time. Sadly our second baptism fell through, and we don't know what happened with him. Hopefully we will see him soon and work everything out.

Elder Corral is doing well. In 12 weeks he had to take the lead this whole week. He takes the lead really well. I think that he will be a very good leader. He's funny, charismatic, intelligent, and hard working. Sometimes he gets down a bit and during this week I had to take the lead sometimes, but overall I think that he's going to be awesome.

Well, we're feeling good. Adolfo was baptized, we got our new investigators up to 4 and we'll be working hard to keep it up. I love the work. I'll try to send more photos next week.

If you look up pictures of Atlixco on the Internet and look at all they do here for Day of the Dead, that is exactly how it is here. It's really sweet. And all of downtown is my area- so everything you see there, I am seeing every day :D

Well, cambios (Transfers) are coming up. Next week I will probably be in another area. Craziness.

I love you guys!
PS. The pictures are of our Zone having a Volleyball activity

-Elder Dazey

More Baptisms On the Way!

    Well we are still having difficulties with getting new investigators- but I was looking at all of our numbers this morning from these two transfers-and it made me happy to see how we have progressed. We'll keep working for new investigators. I feel like God is sending us people that are ready- I'm really excited to see what will happen. We have two baptisms this Saturday-Miguel and Adolfo. Elder Corral and I are getting along better than ever. We are excited to be here-and we continue seeing miracles. We organized the hours of the day a little bit better and hopefully that means that we won't waste as much time with people that aren't going to be home.
WOO! So we are feeling pretty good. We have been working hard, and I was a bit worried yesterday about some of the goals we had, but God did a lot in the last minute. I've realized that the work we do is nothing in comparison to what God does. He moves all the pieces-and if we are obedient- he puts us right where we need to be every time. I am ready- I've learned so much this transfer, and I still have much more to learn.
    Elder Corral is doing great-we are learning together and we are doing well with his training. I'm happy, Mom. I'm not as stressed as I used to be- and I feel much more confident. I've realized that the only person who wouldn't want me to feel confident is the devil, and that if I pause and listen to the Holy Spirit I'll be just fine. There are times-even more than half way through my mission that I wonder if I'm doing enough- but I know that the Spirit is working through me- and I know that there is a whole lot more to do. But that's okay- if there weren't tons to do, we wouldn't be here.

   I hope everything keeps going well in NC. I love you guys!

-Elder Dazey

PS>  I'm hoping that Day of the Dead will be a bit cooler here. I need to send you pictures of the city I live in. It's literally the coolest little city.

Learning and Growing and Peace and Contentment

We got to baptize! YES! It was an awesome baptism too. A lot of Montse's family was there and it was awesome. There were like 50 people there! It was a great feeling to see her make that choice. Elder Corral and I are happy. And now Miguel has agreed to get baptized, we just have some teaching to do. Hopefully it all works out.
We had a great meeting with our Zone leaders! We talked about how God directed everything and that his plan isn't always what we expect. The zone leaders are funny :D

Elder Corral and I had a good week.  I'm glad to be here in Atlixco. Who would have thought that one could learn so much. I keep learning-and I am starting to understand leadership and attributes of Christ that I had never understood before. I feel that there are many times that I read the scriptures or preach my gospel, and I don't understand exactly how I can apply those things in certain situations. I am starting to learn them by experience. The Lord is kind and longsuffering. I realize now how to better treat many situations. I'm excited to learn more.
We contacted a lot of referrals this week, but we had no new investigators. We are going to change some things up to make it better. Hopefully we can make new investigators a habit again.
We have a few more people who want to be baptized- so we'll try to get them to that point as soon as possible. I love to see how every person has been found by a miracle. God works so much harder than we do.

   I'm trying to work on my prayers so that I can pray with more faith. Faith is the best. Hopefully we can keep things up this week. We are going to try to set our view higher. There’s a lady doing sign language video call in one of the computers at the internet cafe- it's pretty cool. 

   Here are some pictures of the baptism.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

-Elder Dazey

Baptisms!

    This week has gone really well. We are so excited for Montse- the wife of a member (Noel). She already passed her interview and we are now just preparing for a beautiful baptism. We are really excited.  We met her just a few weeks ago-they had moved into the ward not to long ago. More about Miguel- we have taught him quite a few times. He had had many spiritual experiences before- so he felt right at home hearing about Joseph Smith. We have a new investigator that is a bit strange and apparently (according to brothers in our ward) lies about his whole life to try to seem like an acclaimed professor. We also didn't feel too comfortable in his house after he shared an experience of some dream he had- so we decided not to go back. He came to church. He sat down in gospel principles and began to ask questions about the "secrets of the church." We explained that there aren't any secrets- just sacred things that we would like everyone to be worthy to know. He continued. So Miguel-our other investigator- "empezo a planchar." (it's like setting someone straight with the heat of an iron-ironing them out) Basically he told this guy to stop asking questions and that the missionaries could tell him everything he needed. He began to tell him everything he had learned from us. Although I don't like it when people tell others off in public venues- I was happy that Miguel was protecting his new found beliefs :D Strange right? (And we won't be going back with Gabriel-we tried to be kind and pick up the pieces afterwards-but I think he was offended-and we weren't exactly up and ready to go back to visit him) In that same class an investigator that we had left (Caren) came! She hadn't come in like a month! Out of the blue she was there and asking how she could be baptized. God is the best.

   Things are going great. I had a good fast. 

The district is doing well. We're working towards goals and learning together. I think we're getting some good things done, and we're excited to learn more in the zone training meeting tomorrow.
    We have some other baptism dates coming up-and hopefully we can find a lot of new investigators this week-we'll be working on that. HERE COME ANOTHER WEEK IN THE MISH (mission)! OH YEAH! TIME TO GET TO WORK!
Love,
Elder Dazey

Thoughts on General Conference

The care package you sent was yummy-we ate it during General Conference. Tell the Laurels thanks for the letters-but that luckily I have not read them all yet. Give Sister Chapman a big hug from me because she sends me a wonderful letter just about every month.

 SO WHICH SCRIPTURE ARE YOU PONDERIZING? Mine is Mosiah 4:30. I figured that I should start pondering about the importance of ponderizing-or keeping virtuous thoughts. Man is it exciting! YES.

   CONFERENCE IS THE BEST. I think when I get back from the mission I'm going to listen to straight up conference talks for the rest of my life. I'd be happy :D

How wonderful it is to have living prophets, seers, and revelators to guide us before the second coming of Our Lord. It's great! I loved the talks. I loved the talks from President Uchtdorf (both of them), Elder Hales (Note to self- read after the mission), Elder Holland (I love you Mom- thanks for everything. I can't imagine the pain I've given you at some points in my life. Thanks for always LOVING me. :D), Elder Bednar (  :' D  I loved the part with Elder Hales about only doing that which was most important), Sister Neill F. Marriot (Yay for southern accents-it's been long enough), Elder Larry B. Lawrence (5 stars. I loved it so much. I was just thinking about doing that every day- and keeping the spirit always.), President Monson ( KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. Oh how we love you, President Monson) President Eyring ( I loved the stories from his Dad) WHAT A GREAT CONFERENCE! I wish I could say everything-but I'm glad I can say a little bit- I'm sure that we have all been strengthened by conference. I pray that you are all going to continue feasting on these words-and making the changes necessary in your lives. Will you do it?
I LOVE YOU LOTS!

Elder Dazey

P.S.- I need to hear what scripture everyone is ponderizing- and if you want to share the gospel- post it to Facebook and ask others what they are reading-all of you. Then send me the responses. How long will you PONDERIZE? a month? 2? a year? 20? 

Just a quick note..

Well- I don't have much time- the internet was down for a bit today. Man, that's great news about Chellie working at Jacob Lake. I'm excited that she got the job and that everything is going well. We're going to have two new Zone Leaders! Craziness.

 Elder Bons (The trainee of one of my good Elder friends, Elder Cook) sent me music for a number we'll probably do in a month and a half. It looks fun. It's “I know that my Redeemer Lives” (He plays piano super well)

The work is good. We have two baptismal dates for October- so we're excited and working hard. I'll try to get some good pictures these weeks coming up. It's raining again, and this week it started getting cold.

   Julia looks so GROWN in the picture you sent. OH MA GOODNESS. :´D 

Love,

Elder Dazey 

Growth is Amazing!

   I studied about pride this morning. I was reading in the teachings of President Benson and some other scriptures. My studies have taught me a lot about what I am like, what God wants me to be like, and who I need to be for future experiences in my life. I found that the deep water doesn't get shallow. (That is Benji’s way of saying that when the Lord wants you to be learning and things get hard that it just means  you’re going to learn even more) I'm glad it doesn't :D I love being here with Elder Corral. I am learning so much.
This week was wonderful. We had a great training meeting last Tuesday for new Elders and their trainers. We are very excited to work every day. We are doing well in the 12 weeks program. I think Elder Corral is progressing well. I have found that these principles that I'm learning are totally changing our studies and our relationship. We had a new investigator this week that had been a reference from about 3 months ago, but we were able to work with the member to have a lesson. He accepted another! He began to talk with the member, and said that he was very interested in the church. This same investigator would hide from us before because his mom didn't want him to listen!
We're going to see some more baptisms in the district-lots of interviews. Sadly all of our progressing investigators fell through- we're going to get to work with some of them and find some new investigators this week. 

    Things are going well. Time flies when you're serving the Lord. I can't imagine how fast the other half of my mission is going to be.

We've been working some more with the home teachers this week. The Bishop has had us working with them and so we've been in that process. One of our good friends-David-wasn't going out to visit with us, but he's started back again. (That investigator was his friend. He got pretty excited) I hope that things keep going well with you guys. I'm praying for you and I love you. 

Elder Dazey 

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

It's amazing how important the Sabbath day is. We've found that those who stop going to church almost always start breaking other serious laws of God-The Word of Wisdom, Chastity, tithing (which you can't really pay if you don't go ), and they lower their standards. We were actually talking about that today- About how people are going to need to have a personal conversion and complete with those laws- or it's going to be a toasty time when the Savior comes. I think it was President Hinckley that said that we as citizens of the earth are the reason that businesses open Sundays-because we are the ones that use their services. I love how Preach My Gospel says it- "Our Sabbath-day behavior is a reflection of our commitment to honor and worship God. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants." 

   The Sabbath Day is a covenant that we have between us and "When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected.

    Thanks for everything that you are doing Mom, and for your great example. I'm super excited to have a nephew! Sorry- I told Dad How excited I was about it, but I guess I didn't send it in my letter to you. That's wonderful!

Well- in two weeks we have found 11 new investigators. We have found family members of members that we have always visited that aren't members, and their family never gave the referral. We've been working super-duper hard, and we're getting better every day. We're having lots of fun and learning a lot together. 

And to Ken he wrote: I forgot to tell you last week- but I must thank you for a contact that we made last week. We were passing by a cake shop when I heard "battle horn." I turned and saw that the man was on his computer. I recognized that sound-he was playing Age of Empires. What a surprise. We started talking about the game, and we had a lesson about the Sabbath day in that moment. We found that he was good friends of someone in the ward. He is very open and accepted baptism-sadly the sister missionaries are now going to teach him because he lives in their area, but it was a cool experience- and I thought- Thanks Dad.

 The work is great- and I've studied a few times this week about charity to get myself more consecrated and loving. 

   WANNA KNOW SOMETHING REALLY COOL? WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE YESTERDAY.

So...maybe it wasn't the temple temple-but it was an extension of the temple. Remember when I said that I saw a temple dedication while I was in the MTC? The same thing happened here but with the Mexico City Temple. It was awesome. President Eyring dedicated the temple and Elder Holland was there with him. It was fantastic. We saw the dedication in the stake building which was made an extension of the temple for a day. We also got to see the cultural presentation Saturday night. It was all about the history of the Church in Mexico. They did a great job. One day I'd like to be in one of the church theater presentations.

   Well- We're going to have a meeting for the new Elders and trainers tomorrow. I'm pretty excited. It should be good. Lot's of things are happening! For the first time in all of the time that I have been in this area we have investigators that are progressing. WHAT WHAT! THAT'S SO AWESOME! Hopefully everything will go smoothly. One of them is Atheist but super willing to know-and she already prayed about the Book of Mormon and got an answer- just that she isn't sure. Another has been to church about a million times and accepted baptism-like-accepted-not like a tentative plan-like he already has a testimony. We are so excited. There are Miracles that are happening here. These investigators are ready! I love it! We'll keep working hard and we'll keep learning. I am so glad to be here with Elder Corral. There are things that I wouldn't be learning if I were in any other situation.

 Well, I love you guys. I hope that everything is going well. ALWAYS GIVE REFERENCES. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE MISSIONARIES FIND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND BAPTIZE THEM. SEND THE MISSIONARIES-IN FACT ACCOMPANY THE MISSIONARIES TO THEIR HOUSE AND INVITE THEM. You can see that I feel very strongly about these things. It's wonderful when we find new investigators- but I can't imagine how sad I would feel to find that my friends are accepting the gospel and that I never invited them. Just a thought. I'll be sending so many referrals when I get home. Sorry for the random thought-it's been on my mind lately- because it's already happened many times.

  Love,

Elder Dazey

The first picture is one of those giant things that men swing upside down on. And it's huge! They do a big party here called the Atlixcayotontli- look Atlixco up in youtube-it's cool.

Growth Brings Miracles

I think that I mis-interpreted the tone of Benji’s letter last week. To me he sounded stressed out and frazzled but to him, I think he was expressing renewed determination. I tried to write of encouragement this week and he let me know he is fine and growing through his experiences every day. Here is what he said:

There are not times when I have not put forth my all. I am always trying my best. My best hasn't always been perfect. I'm glad for this service. The thing is that I have changed so much. I treat people differently. I invite better. I am always very happy with the people. Could I be better? yes. The stress is something that gets me to do things better. If I don't have stress, I can't improve. It's something that I think has really helped me this week. As I think about how to get better and I work my hardest and think and pray-That's when the inspiration comes. That's when I know what God wants of me. When I walk until I crawl and I just keep going-spiritually and sometimes physically-that's when the grace comes. That's when the miracles happen. I think that sometimes that's why more miracles happen “in the last 30 minutes”, when I’m about used up. It's always after we've given our all. I stress-but I'm happy. I think about what I can do better so that I can be better. Does knowing that I need to change something bring stress? Yes. Repentance-although it may be repentance of a sin that I didn't know about before- is always painful-but always brings more happiness.

   About the thoughts of what I should have accomplished-you're right. I shouldn't ever think those thoughts. If I'm putting my all-that's enough. I just always like to get better.

   Sorry that I don't have much time to talk about my week. It was good-We found new investigators. Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine. 

Love,

Elder Dazey

Ps. The picture is of the family that the sister brought to baptism this week!

Being Organized and not freaking out!

   I'm trying super hard. Keep praying for me. Miracles are ready to come, I just need more faith. I need to give more love. It is REALLY strange to be almost half way through my mission. I don't like the feeling. It doesn't feel right. I feel like a sophomore. Like a Wise Fool in my spiritual progression. SO MUCH TO FEEL! SO MUCH TO LEARN! I need that. It is a little strange to train again but my companion is learning a ton. Especially of English. I don't think that I have had such good language studies in all my mission. I made a daily schedule and goals for my study-thank you PMG (Preach My Gospel). I am learning a lot from him. From the experience and from his willingness to work.

    Well, this week has been so different. I remember what it was like to train Elder Hale, and so I am trying to do things better. Elder Corral learns fast, and is a really good missionary. We get along really well. 

  We have some plans to start baptizing. I have realized that it is super easy to not focus in the mission with someone so new. We are working hard- just that our conversations are not focused enough. We've already had to make many changes, but I'm going to keep having us make more changes. I realized that I have been obedient for so long that obedience has become second nature, but I can't stop improving. I need to do it.  I have people to help. I'm already seeing many reasons why it was important for me to train someone now. For my sake, for his sake, for the area, and because the Lord will reveal many things that He has not yet revealed to me. I need to listen to the spirit more. I just know that I have many things that I still need to do-and I need some stress if I want to be a better missionary. (I have always functioned better under stress than when things are easy). I got myself organized this week. I got my exercise and diet organized. I got my night schedule reorganized. I got my studies more organized. God taught me a simple plan to start baptizing families. 

   Elder Corral is doing really well. This transfer is going to be amazing. It will change our missions and our lives. I can already feel it. This is a marvelous work. I am excited to one day fall at the feet of my Savior and tell him what I have done. He's blessing us both a lot right now. We are happy. We got a new investigator this week that was the brother of a less active. He started off saying that he didn't want to come to church when we saw him in the street. I almost walked past him. The Spirit told me to teach him. We did. He accepted baptism and we hope to see him progress-for some reason he didn't come to church-but that didn't get us down. We have a plan. We have a vision. We might just need more faith.

  I love you guys so much!

-Elder DAZEY

Learning to love better

So to start out, my new companion is hilarious. He's from Sinaloa, Mexico. His name is Elder Corral. Thngs with our investigators are going well, and soon they'll be going even better. Things are a litttle harder training and district leadering at the same time, but I'm learning to manage it better. The two sisters in my ward were taken out and exchanged. One from another ward was exchanged too. It has rained as much as it was. We were asked to give "father's school blessings" from a widow yesterday. We weren't able to, but I was very touched by the invitation.
    Well my companion and I are excited. Hopefully we can keep it up. This transfer has gotten me thinking again.
Well, Elder Corral learned what obediencia con exactitud (Being exactly Obedient) was when we ran home to get back on time. I took some time to teach him about the area book and how to work with it. We've had some great lessons, and we saw some miracles in the first few days he’s been here. We were able to teach some new investigators. Elder Corral invited them to baptism and got them to commit to a baptismal date. We are trying to get better at gaining the trust of the investigators. I am going to need a lot of practice with that too. We spent most of today with the zone leaders, and he has already gotten to know his leaders and loves them. We have worked, and worked, and worked. We have been tired, and sometimes it is hard to get everything in. We are now more organized and hope to go at this with all of the HEART, might, MIND, and strength that we have. (Sometimes those are the hardest ones) I realized that I need to focus on receiving revelation for my area. I've been here 2 transfers, and if I don't watch out I'll fall into a routine that doesn't have routine baptisms :D
We are going to get some lists printed. We have some, but hopefully this time we can find some of those lost, lost sheep. Elder Corral is a fast learner. He's a good helper and has good ideas. I love him. He's a good guy-and he's funny  :D He was telling me how excited he was to have an American companion so he could learn English-Man he learns fast. He prayed for an American companion. He prayed our companionship into reality. He shared a scripture in English with a member today.
I was talking to Elder Gutierrez today (One of the Zone Leaders) and he mentioned that we need to make sure we have short lessons, and that we gain their trust with our love. I feel like that is something I have always searched for in my mission. I feel like I need to show that kind of love and interest in them so that I can help them accept this message better. Sometimes I forget about that part. Sometimes I feel like there is one Elder Dazey with Missionaries and Members, and that I don't share that same person with the investigators enough.
Well here goes nothing! Let's get to work. I'm always happy to know how I can improve. It reminds me to be humble, and makes me a better person. I love you all. I'm excited for our district leader meeting tomorrow. 

Love, 

Elder Dazey 

The Chance to Train Again!

     Things are going great here. We are working our tails off. I got to do 3 baptismal interviews this week. It was awesome. We had our interviews with President. Man was it awesome. He came to our stake center, and when I walked into his office, I felt like I was on holy ground. He taught me a lot about the power of planning, and we talked about Elder Portillo a bit. I got a call on Thursday. Elder Hale is going to have a BROTHER. Haha-mission family jokes. I'm gonna train again! He get's here tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a picture in the transfers of me, my trainee, Elder Hale, Elder Sosa, and my Uncle in the mission. President told us that we can't tell anyone how much time we have in the mission anymore. I'm excited to see if we can make it 2 transfers without the members of our area figuring out how much time we have in the mission  :D I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm really excited. I love getting a brand, new companion. I keep trying to imagine the many different ways in which he could be, and what he will be like after a 2 week adjustment to the mission. I'M SO EXCITED! I will train him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.
     Elder Portillo and I have been doing well this week. I'm gonna miss him :( We managed to get some great work done with the less actives this week. THESE MEMBERS ARE GOING TO CHURCH! YES! We planned to get more new investigators than what we did, and we worked super hard to do it, but we at least managed one last night in the last hour of the day. She accepted baptism, and happened to know the brother of the Ward who was accompanying us. It was a great lesson! She even had a piano, so we sang a hymn while the brother, who came with us, played.
     I realized that most of the times that we plan, things don't go as planned, but I think that it is good that way. Sometimes I think that God makes sure that someone is not home so that we go with someone else who needs our help at that time. And because we planned-we manage to be in the right place at the right time. We got to visit that sister because another lesson fell through. We hadn't even planned to see her, but we were prepared in that moment to remember her name when she would be home.
It's been a good week, and I'm excited for this one. 

Love, 

Elder Dazey