New Area, New Companion

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from down here in Paraguay!

First of all, the last 24 hours have been harder than that of almost all my mission including the airport.  I had to say goodbye to the members and the people in barrio (ward) Oberro, which just sucked, because that neighborhood really grew on me and I found myself at home and amongst my family there.  I had to say bye for possibly the rest of my life.  Before I left we were working with a family called Flietas, the wife is a member, but her husband is not.  I am not sure how they are going to motivate him to come to church because a lot of missionaries have worked with him in hopes of getting him to come to church.

On Christmas Eve, our Mission President told us to be in our house by 7:30, so we decided to take this time to make cinnamon rolls for several member families that have helped us out a lot in our time there. On Christmas morning, we took them around to lots of people.

Anyways changes were today and I am now in an area called Leopardi, which honestly, I do not know where it is at, but all is good.  The church here is a ward and has an attendance of about 110 or so.  It sounds like a great place and the work is moving along well here.  I am here with Elder Davis from Phoenix, AZ.  He is almost done with his mission and still has a great attitude and spirit about the work.

I love this Work.  There is no other opportunity like this.  It really is a blessing.  God is our Father. He loves us and has prepared a way that we can return to Him once again.  This way is through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Salvador (Savior) and greatest brother.  I hope that you do not take this gift in vain, but rather, be smart and do what He asks of you.

I love you all
Love,
Elder Call
disfruten  (enjoy)

Mom, this is the information from the medical doctor.  Have dad translate it for you. Thanks!  Love you lots.   I have not heard any more about it still.

Estos informes son normales a excepción de una pequeña hernia inguinal visto en la ecografia. La hernia necesita una cirugía, pero no es urgente. No recomiendo que esperar hasta que termine su misión (julio de 2016) para tener la cirugía, pero sería bueno que esperar hasta 3-4 meses. No se necesita ir a casa para la cirugía. Se puede hacer aquí en Paraguay a través de un telescopio en uno de los hospitales más grandes, como Bautista. Es necesario que tome una semana o 10 días para recuperarse de la cirugía, pero debería ser capaz de trabajar a tiempo parcial después de sólo 3-4 días.

For those that do not read and understand Spanish here is a general translation:
We are informing you that everything is normal except a small inguinal hernia. The hernia will require surgery and it is not recommended to wait until after his mission completes in July of 2016, but can wait for 3-4 months.  It is not necessary for Dallin to come home for the surgery, as it can be performed in Paraguay using a telescopio in a large hospital like the Baptist Hospital.  It will be necessary for him to take a week to ten days to recuperate from surgery. He should be able to work part-time in just 3-4 days following the surgery.

It's Christmas!

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!! (Just to let y'all know.)

So this past month we have had the great opportunity to work with the movie, “He is the Gift.”  The whole message is so powerful and it is amazing how much more powerful it is when you read the words, rather than just hear the words.  I would have never thought that.
 
Anyways, this time of year we get to celebrate the genuine birth of our Savior!!  Two thousand or so years ago a babe was born, one person to affect the entire world for every generation to come.  His name is Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem. He came to the earth, not to do his own will, but to do the will of his Father.  He suffered in Gethsemane for every trial, temptation, and pain that we will ever and could ever experience. The anguish He felt caused Him to bleed from EVERY pore.  Christ was given to us so that all that believe on Him and come unto Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit may obtain eternal life.

I hope that all of you this day can spend time with your families, in remembrance of your beloved Brother, Jesus.  In Him, we can find the Love, Peace, and Hope, that everyone wants.  I invite all of you to open your scriptures this day and find who He is to you personally and what He means to you.

I love all of you and hope that you have a very merry Christmas!!!

WE already have the best present ever!!!  USE IT

Love,
Elder Call

Important Things

Hello to all

Alrighty, I will start off with the important things:

First of all, we found Liz and Jose on Monday night in their house and talked a little bit with Liz. She was super nice and was willing to let us come back on Tuesday because it was already 8:40 P.M.  and we still had a 35 or so minute walk to get to our house.  We could not stay and talk to her at that time, but Thursday we went there and we were able to convince her to let us into her house, because for this month we have the permission of carrying our dvd player around with us to watch “He is the Gift” with everyone.   For safety reasons we can only watch it, if they allow us to enter the house. Anyways, the video worked miracles in her heart and she realized her need to follow Christ.  Jose, well I am afraid, that he just does not have a desire to do anything of the sort. We were able to pass by again Saturday and we taught just Liz, because Jose, typical Paraguayan man, on Saturday and Sunday was Drunk!! We taught Liz how she can come to know for herself if what we are saying is in fact true. and how she can come to the knowledge of which church is the Church of Jesus Christ or if God even has a Church. We gave her a Book of Mormon.  She was going to come to Church but didn’t =(

We have tried to make cinnamon rolls. . . they Failed!!  They did not rise at all and were just plain ugly. haha So talking with some members we asked around as to why they would not have risen.  We found out that there are like 4 different grades of flour and that it was because we did not use the right type of flour, so we are going to try them again today to see if they work out!

Love you!

Elder Call

Hey, so about the hernia, I was finally able to get a hold of Hermana Agazzani this week and she said that she had not received the estudios (results) that I had sent close to a month ago, but that she was going to go to the officina (office) and find them and call me back within a week and if she does not, for me to call her back.  So I still have two days for the week to be up and then I will call her again. I am trying to be pretty safe, but I don’t like the idea of not working or helping out or exercising.

I just realized that my mission is 1/4 of the way over and I do not like that it is going by so fast, everything just kind of meshes in together.

Love,
Elder Call

Mission Life

Hola everyone,

Medical update really quickly. I am still waiting to hear back from Hermana Agazzani, so honestly,   I´m not so sure what is going to happen but vamos a ver anyways now to the important part.

Dad, Evan, Justin, Mom, Hannah, (and everyone else), how do you get people to allow you to visit them more than once?!!!! They just happen to be not there when we go back to visit them. I am open to any suggestions or advice!

Anyways, Elizabeth, our almost convert, once again did not come to church to be confirmed. We passed by almost every day this week and talked with her and she said that she was going to come yesterday for sure.  Then she went to visit her sister that is pregnant.  I am not sure what more we can do to help her come if she just does not want to come to church.

So Martin, the boyfriend of Gesenia, came to church!!!! He is hoping that by him going to church, it will excite her to also come so cross our fingers that one day she will want to marry him!!! It is kind of funny down here they just expect that the marriage is not going to work and so they do not get married.

Kevin, Jacky, and Brisa. None of them came  to church this Sunday, either. Kevin and Jacky went to a party Saturday night and did not arrive home until 4:30 in the morning; and Brisa, I cannot remember her excuse, but that means that her date of baptism is postponed another week.

I love the Gospel.  It really is the way to a better life. Christ lives and loves every one of us and has a plan for us to help His other brothers and sisters receive the good news that comes from the Plan of Salvation.

I love you all!  Study the scriptures and visit your neighbors.

Love, Elder Call

P.S.
HANNAH is home!  That is crazy, but it has been long enough, I think. Haha. That is good that you put her back to work. Has she picked up the job of cooking yet?  I always loved her cookies.  Every day, other than Monday’s we eat lunch with members. I have not been like bad with the food, so all is good and there is nothing to complain about.
Love you!

A Normal Week

Hi all you

This week has been pretty normal, nothing special happened.

We have done a lot of Family Home Evenings with active members and investigators, part-member families and inactivos, so that we can hopefully strengthen our ward and bring those to the saving ordinance of baptism.  The family of Kevin is changing.  The Dad, Peter, is a member already, but he works only on Saturday and Sunday.  He works in the hospital, but he wants to come back and attend once again because he has seen the change in the life of Kevin, as well as, Kevin’s sister, Brisa, now wants to be baptized and the Mom is a whole lot more open to us and the message, so hopefully, she too, will come.

Gesnia.  Well I do not know about her.  She does not want to get married anymore, so we are still working on that.

I love the video that the Church has made called ``He is the Gift.`` Worth watching.  You can find it by going to http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Elizabeth did not come to church once again =( so we are going to try to work with her every day this week and help her gain a testimony.

Paraguay is awesome, but just as Justin had said when he was down here it has so much potencial (potential), but the people do not take care of it and ruin it.  I really like Spanish. It is fun and although I have a weird accent and the Paraguayans in general do not like us Americanos, for some reason, it is all good.  It makes me sad that 95% of the people here do not know a thing about the Bible or even care to learn about the true and Living God.  One day they will wish that they had.

Love,
Elder Call

LOVE

Hola! America

Transfers!!! I have officially completed the training of the mission!!!!! So the two areas in the Obrerro Branch have been combined into one area.  I am now with Elder Powell, who is from South Carolina.  We started out our transfer with two service projects.  A less active family needed help taking down their wood house to move back to their house that had been flooded out. And, we helped an amazing great-grandma clean up her yard, because she isn't able to do it.

Auydamos a una familia mudarse :)

Since we combined, I have been able to visit a great friend named Kevin and his cousin Jacky. We met in the church because they had been investigators of Elder Powell and then we were able to become great friends. Kevin and Jacky are living proof that children don’t care so much about material things, because the things of the world can bring temporary joy, but it will never last and they will feel lonely. What we as children want from our parents is LOVE AND TIME, because other things don’t ever complete a person. Parents, GIVE your children your time.  It is what every kid wants most. Also, we were able to visit Elizabeth this week several times Elizabeth is a lovely girl she is 17 years old and is incredibly timid.

Mi Primero Bautismo! Su nombre es Gihanina.

Selfie con Presidente Agazzani!

We had divisions with our zone leader and I went to the other area.  Elder Shuman was almost always on the phone and a lot of our appointments fell.  He was super disappointed because he wanted to have a sweet day with me and be able to teach a lot of people. Oh well, things like that happen.

This Saturday, we had the privilege of helping Kevin and Elizabeth walk through the door of baptism.  So we were about to change into our baptismal clothes and the suit we had for Kevin could probably fit like 3 or 4 of him in it and he was in contrary of wearing it, so I permitted him to wear my pants and shirt and I wore the suit. I had the honor of baptizing Elizabeth Caseren and Elder Powell was able to baptize Kevin.

Elder Powell, Kevin, Elizabeth, Elder Call

    Bautismo el sabado pasado! Elder Powell bautizo a Kevin (un kapo), y yo bautice a Eliza!

Elizabeth & Elder Call

Sunday, came and Kevin has continued to walk from the door.  Elizabeth, well she stopped mid way through the door because she was awestruck at the site of the mansion and we are still waiting and trying to help her take the next step.

I love Paraguay! I have found a real purpose and love for the missionary work.

Love your kids and make time for them there is nothing more valuable than the time of parents.

I Love you Mom and Dad.

Love,
Elder Call

THE MEDICAL UPDATE, SENT TO DALLIN’S DAD:

Hey, Padre

So I don’t know the plan with the hernia, but I sent my results to Hermana Agazzini.  She will give them to the mission doctor and he will decide when I need to be operated on or if I can wait. I don’t let it change the work of the Lord though because salvation is far more important. So anyways, there is absolutely no reason for you guys to worry about the facilities or anything like that because something that I learned before the mission is that there is nothing that you need to worry about in life, and then on my mission I have changed that to not needing to worry about anything other than the Salvation of souls, because, everything fiscal is going to pass away in a short time and we will all realize that none of the worldly things mattered.

Dad I love you and hope the best for you!

Love, Your Son,
Elder Call

Grrafiti en Obrero!

LIVE THE GOSPEL

Buenas tarde, mañana o noche  -- (Good afternoon, morning or evening)

Haha!! Sorry about the start of the letter last week my companion told me that I could not tell you all what my circumstances were. But, on Tuesday night, we finally had our phone call to Hermana Agazzani (mission president’s wife) and she had actually wanted me to tell.  So I have a Hernia.  I do not know how I could have gotten it, but I have one, and with the cough that I had it had grown a bit a was relatively uncomfortable.  The doctor confirmed that I have one and says that it has to be operated on. Hermana Agazzani has asked me to send her the test results of the ecografia (ultrasound), the blood and the urine tests,so we will be doing that tomorrow.  It does not bother me anymore, other than I do not want it to grow anymore and get bigger.  Anyways, at the moment it is not going to impede the work of the Lord until the surgery.

Anyways, this week was great we had  Zone Conference on Thursday, which was great.  There was one quote that stuck out to me more than all the others and that was “Una pierde la fe porque no hace lo que tiene que hacer¨ or in other words one loses the faith because he does not do what he has to do! entoces (then) LIVE THE GOSPEL or else you are losing your faith.

Gesenia, finally had her baby.   She is super excited now and does not have nearly the pain that she had.  She did not end up coming to church Sunday though, because, I guess when the baby finally sleeps, you need to take advantage of that time and sleep yourself.  I guess the baby has been keeping her up for most of the nights.

Love you all!!
Love Elder Call

The following is part of the letter Dallin wrote to Ben this past week.  The editor thought the advice given to Ben would benefit everyone that reads it.

…hope your putting effort in your grades but more important than your grades in school is your grade with God.   Keep yourself worthy and be that example to the world. Try every day to put your effort in reading the scriptures.  My favorite book, right now, would have to be Jesus The Christ.  I would suggest that you read that, as it is super cool, because, it explains all the stories of Christ so well. Hey the power of prayer is real.  Use it often and always remember it is not wise to ask for things and then not do the things needed to receive what you asked for.  Love you bud!  You have always been there for me. Thanks

Lots of New Experiences

Hola Familia!!

WOW!  This week there were a lot of new experiences, many of which I am forbidden to tell anything about!!!! Sorry maybe in 3 or 4 weeks I will be able to let you all know=)

This week we found a man by the name of Mariano.  He is about 50 and does not have any children, which is probably the weirdest thing I have learned about someone this past week, because everyone here has plenty of children. Haha.  Anyways, we found him contacting Monday night and found out that he had assisted the church reunions a couple of times many years back. So that was cool.  Last Sunday night we received a phone call from a member that lives in San Lorenzo and received a reference of a family friend that they believed is possessed by a spirit. So yes, we were super excited—NOT!!! I hate encounters with stuff like that. But, ok we went and we taught the family outside things that they can do to help their daughter and niece to rid herself of the spirit.  We gave them a Libro De Mormon (Book of Mormon) and told them to read it to her whenever possible and to sing himnos (hymns) and to pray lots for strength. We visited them again on Wednesday and they said that she was just a little bit better and that she will eat a little bit of food but that she is still really bad.  Bueno, they only read to her a little bit we explained to them that they need to read a lot but we will see.  When we arrived on Wednesday, Mariano was there, also.  I guess they happen to be friends so we were able to teach them together. Sadly the family was not able to come to church this Sunday because they had a family member that was going to baptize their baby in the Catholic Church.  As for Mariano, his sister, ended up having to go to the hospital Sunday morning and he had to accompany her.

We were able to find an incredible family that is inactive. The husband is the only one that is not a member. Maxima is the mom, Linda is the daughter, Claudis and Antonio are their sons. Maxima was born into the church and was active all her life until about five years ago she was in the process of buying a house with her 2nd husband and started to work on Sundays.  No one in five years has ever stopped by and visited them, no one from the branch, no missionaries, no one, which is so sad because they are so receptive and kind.  It was such a blessing we have tried to stop by a time or two since, but no one has ever been home and her husband works until 9 in the evenings Monday to Saturday.  Claudis just turned 12 on Thursday and we were able to pass and share a message with them and eat some leftover cake =)


Love you all! The work is Great!

Stay True to Your God!

Hola Family,

Bueno! Gesenia is doing pretty good but the baby still has not come yet.  She has been in so much pain that we have not been able to visit her this week, but the baby will come.  Then we will help them plan for their wedding and bring her to the waters of baptism.

We were able to find Gregorio who is 71 years old, I believe.  He has a problem with his feet and walking.  He says that he wants to be baptized but the problem is that he lent his walker to his neighbor, who now will not give it back to him.  So this week we are going to have one of the members pass by his house and try to pick him up, then we will know the truth.

We also found Juan Carlos, who has parents that are members.  He is about 35-40 years old and had watched Joseph Smith’s story on the Discovery Channel and believes that he was a prophet.  When we asked him about baptism, he still did not want to be baptized.  Then we explained that there was a prophet on the earth today and ask if he thought that God would want him to be baptized in the church that has His prophet and he said yes, but that he could not come to church this week because he was going to the river with his workmates to fish over the weekend.

This church is the same church that God Himself has established in every dispensation. We as individuals are nothing and as put by King Benjamin, less than the dust of the earth, but through Jesus Christ we can also receive the Glory of God and live forever in our family´s.  Stay true to your God.  The Powers of both sides of heaven fight for your souls but you have to choose now to strengthen yourselves in the Lord.  May God be with you all.

Love,
Elder Call

The Swing of Things

Hola!

Bueno, I have finally gotten into the swing of things down here in Obrerro and am now able to help out in the lessons, which is good.  It is crazy to think that two months ago I could hardly speak a lick of Spanish and now the whole world has changed, granted the Spanish that comes out of my mouth is difficult for others to understand, but, they can understand what I am trying to say if they try hard!  I got to teach the Gospel Principles class yesterday, which went alright. Woo-hoo!

Bueno, on Tuesday we found an amazing family, Migel Angel and Marian.  Migel has cancer and is bedridden, and Marian has been looking for a different religion because they never come and visit with Migel. Marian is looking for a job and is struggling financially but accepted baptism for the 15 of November.  We promised her that as she continues to learn of Christ and make the changes necessary in her life she would be able to find a job.  We set an appointment to pass by on Thursday, but when we did, she had already found a job and works until ten o’clock in the night.  We have passed by their house every day so far and she has been at work. So this was really sad because now we are struggling to find her.

Isaias decided that he does not want to have any more contact with us because his friends and neighbors belittle him about it, so that was disappointing.

Gesenia. Well she is nine months pregnant and is waiting for the baby to come any day now.  The baby is going to be named Nicolas Martin.  She has accepted to be baptized now but still has not read anything that we have given them, and they need to get married before she can be baptized.

Anyways, all is good and enjoy the cool temperatures at home.

Love,
Elder Call

This Week's Adventures

Hello Everyone!

This week was pretty exciting.

On Monday, I got my hair cut, so that was nice because it was getting pretty long and a pain to take care of.

On Tuesday, we had interviews with the President which was great.  I told him that at some point in my mission I would like to serve in Piribebuy, which is the area that Justin also served in. He said that he would try to make it work.  So it might just happen, Justin.  Anyways after the interviews we had divisions.  I went with Elder Wilson from Utah to Barrio Republicano and had some success teaching there.  He is a fun guy that also loves to fish and his dad was a contractor so we had a lot to talk about.

On Wednesday, we had District Meeting and then we moved houses which ended up taking all day. Oh, and Evan, if you think we packed a lot of stuff into the truck when we helped you move, NO, NO, these people know how to load a truck up.

On Thursday, every single one of our citas (appointments) fell through, but we were able to find a couple of people to teach anyways.

Friday, well Friday was almost like Thursday, but we did have one cita that was planned that did not fall through.  It was really good because the whole family, including Menos, the Dad, was there for the lesson and then near the end he came in and wanted to know what we were teaching but then that made the lesson drag on and the interest of the others fell away. They study the Bible every Friday as a family and usually invites a couple of friends to join as well.  It will be interesting if they will read from the Book of Mormon.  We have a cita set up for tomorrow with them, so we will see.  Oh, and I found 20,000 in the street which was nice.

Saturday we dropped Sergio for good now, which was kind of sad.  We tried to find Isaias, because we had not talked with him since last Sunday, but we could not find him and then we asked one of his member friends and she said that he did not want to be baptized anymore and did not tell us anything more.  We were able to find him after Church yesterday and it happens to be that his friends and some of his family are making fun of him because he is hanging out with the Mormons, which just is awful because I do not know how best to help him with that but we are trying to help him out.

Saturday was a civil wedding of one of Elder Woodfield’s convert’s named Francisco Javier and his wife Matilda which was cool.  Gesenia is almost ready to have a baby and is in a lot of pain so she was not able to come to the Church yesterday which was ok.

Anyways I love you all!

Love, Elder Call

Do Not Let the Devil Win!

Dear Family and Friends

This week was full of cool things.  First, transfers were on Wednesday morning.  They do not tell you that you are being transferred until Tuesday night after planning.  So, all of the goodbyes to the members and investigators have to be over the phone which is quite a bummer.  Elder Blackett was the only one in our room that left and Elder Parecho is the new missionary.  Elder Ruis, which I went on divisions with, is now training an American, so he is quite lucky.

Wednesday, Lider and Ginina, (I cannot remember if I told you about them), but Lider is a recent convert as of May and Ginina is not a member yet.  Her baptism was going to be the 11th of October, whoo-hoo!!!! But we were not sure who was going to baptize her because she had at first said that she wanted to be my first baptism, but Elder Woodfield was pushing that Lider should be the one to do it, but she had already told Lider that she would like me to do it, so he was going to let me do it. But after explaining that the Patriarch of the home should be the one who performs the ordinances, Ginina accepted this fact and wanted Lider to do it, but then Lider did not want to do it. =( what to do?

Friday we stop by again to try to get Lider to want to perform the baptism and they were both there.  So we begin talking and they tell us that they had a big fight the day before and have separated.  Lider had slept somewhere else that night.  AGHHHHHH!!!!!! Bad News!  So we, or Elder Woodfield continues to talk (because that day was bad for me and I could not understand well) about the importance of families and asked if she still wants to be baptized tomorrow and she says ''si o si'' which is kinda like ''of course'' and that she still wants Lider to baptize her, but he shook his head and after a little while we left wondering what was going to happen.

SATURDAY, the big day it all happens. We got all ready.  We cleaned and filled the font and the baptism was to start at 7:00 pm, but 7:10 roles around and they still are not there!!! What is going on? Oh, and a key fact our phone charger broke Thursday, so they had no way of getting a hold of us if they decided not to do it.  At 7:20 the members start asking are they going to come or not?? We do not know what to say.  Finally, at 7:35 they come walking up and Lider says that he is going to baptize her!!!!!!!YES!!!! That was good news!  After the baptism, there were a few moments to share testimonies and he gets up and relates that the devil had worked hard on them to prevent this baptism, but now their relationship and love for each other is so much stronger YEEEAAAAHHH!!!! I was so stinking happy that the Devil did not win out on this one.

Anyways, do not let the devil win, because he will try to prevent you from doing good things.

I LOVE you all!
This Church is True and Jesus is our Savior.  Rely on him in all that you do.
Love,
Elder Call

General Conference

Hello Home!!

I hope everyone was able to watch the General Conference sessions this past weekend.  It was definitely a highlight in my week. But, if you were not able or decided not to watch, that is okay because there is this little, big thing that you can do.  You can repent and watch it this week or like right now, because, those were the Prophets of God speaking directly to you and they might just find it offensive that time was not made to listen to them speak the word of God.

It truly is a miracle how much more I was able to get out of Conference when I was not insulating a house and could only hear a few of the words that the prophets spoke between the automatic stapling. My Favorite overall session was definitely Saturday afternoon topped by the talk by Elder Klebingat.

Sergio came to the two last sessions of Saturday and the first session of Sunday so that was good so we could baptize him but then not likely be able to give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost so . . . . We continue to teach him so that when he finds another job he can be strong in the knowledge of the restored Gospel of Christ.

Isaias! When we went to pass by Agustine´s house they said that they were going to come to the Priesthood Session of Conference because they had not eaten yet and needed to do that before.  So, okay, we were fine with that but then they did not end up coming. AHHHH this means that his baptism is another weekend back.  They did come to both sessions of the Sunday Conference, which was good, hopefully, Isaias will take the advice from Elder Bednar and ask to receive a confirming witness from the Holy Ghost that this is true and what he needs, and that he needs to search the scriptures and always live them.

I love all of you who have raised me and influenced me into becoming the person that I am today.  Watch yourself in all things and before you make a decision, step back and look at it with a broad point of view.

I love you All

Love,

Elder Call

Sweet Country of Paraguay

Dear Family and Friends:

Thanks for the update on what is going on back home.  It is great to hear from you all.  Anyways, this week was another week full of blessings and everything is working more smoothly.

Last Monday, we spent the day helping an inactive member build their fence.  His wife is not a member nor is his daughter, so we are hoping to activate them but they didn't end up coming to church.  So that was disappointing, because this Sunday was my favorite so far of the mission.  We taught another part member family, the Filetas, but this side it is the father that is not a member.  He always says that he will read in the Book of Mormon but never does.   He did come to church this Sunday=)

This week during the noche de Rama (Branch Night or  Branch get together) two people brought their friends, one is named Isaiahs and the other is Elaene.  Isaiahs is 13 years old and is a super nice.  He has a baptismal date for the 18th so we are looking forward to that.  Elaene, she is somewhere in her late 20´s and is super receptive but she didn’t end up coming to church which was weird because her son was supposed to be a part of the program.

We didn’t end up visiting Sergio this week and about Berdnarito (or however it is spelled), she told the person that accompanied us, while we were standing there, that she would like to marry Elder Woodfield, so Elder Woodfield refuses to go back there again.

This Sunday was the Primary Program and it was centered around “families can be together forever” and all the little kids were so funny in it.

Anyways, everything is going swell in the sweet country of Paraguay.

I love you All!

Love, Elder Call

A Much Better Week

Hola Family!

This week was a much better week down here in Obrero.  So some of the things that happened this week are: 

      On Monday we went and practiced singing Count Your Many Blessings for the Zone Conference which was Tuesday and once again I was voted “for being on note the best”!! Haha, for those of you who sat next to me in church or at any place where singing occurred, understand what they mean by the best!!

       Tuesday we had the Zone Conference in Central which was so good for me.  The first little while I really struggled understanding what was being said because at our home we speak English and so my mind gets used to English and isn’t able convert to Spanish very quickly, but after the first 20 or so minutes I was able to understand about 60% of what was being said.  It was on gratitude and the need for having an attitude of gratitude which caused me to do some repenting and gave me a new perspective at looking at situations that could be looked at as not so good and seeing the happy side of it and what is possible to learn from it.  We were going to go on splits with the zone leaders but they decided to not do that for the second time.  I was kind of bummed because Ii want to learn how other people teach and their strategies.

     Wednesday was super cool.  We were able to go on splits with our district leaders and I went with Elder Ruis from Ecuador, to their area which was super fun because he is awesome and very nice and humble and throughout the day was always helping me learn Spanish.  As we would walk we actually talked to each other which was a new experience and the way he taught was so simple, clear and didn’t confuse at all.  There was so much to learn and we had fun.  It would be cool if we were able to be companions for the rest of my training.

     Thursday we had a lesson with Kevin and his mom Rosena.  Kevin was baptized the 2nd of August, with his brother Edgar, but the rest of the family are not members.  Kevin is 12 and is a sweet kid.  We taught the Word of Wisdom and asked to them to stop drinking coffee and they said that they would. We are continually working on his mom but she for some reason won’t come to church and the dad is working on Sundays.

     Friday, Kevin accompanied us to an old investigators home named Luz, who is about 30 or so and is half way through a 10 year program for medicine. Luz was almost baptised a year ago but when she told her dad, he told her that she had to choose between religion and school and family because he would stop funding her schooling and kick her out of the house =( Her dad is in the military and is not one who won’t do what he says so we shared with her Matthew 13:44-46 and explained that the church is worth everything and is more valuable than anything possible to obtain in this life and then Mormon 9:19-21 and explained that God is a God of miracles and Elder Woodfield told a story of his mom being tested with cancer, receiving a blessing and when tested again was gone and I shared with her Gage’s story of hearing which really touched her heart and she said she would try for this Saturday to be baptized but she didn’t end up coming to church yesterday.

      Saturday we talked with Sergio and he said that he was able to come to church this Sunday because it was a Jewish New Year, so that was super cool.

        We were also able to find and teach Martin and Geseñia.  Martin is a less active member and his wife is not a member we taught the restoration and committed them to come to church and read together.

      Sunday, was the day of judgment, Sergio was able to come and stayed for the whole three hours he commented that the teachings were so clear and easy to understand, which made me laugh, and his only question was how the organization worked.  Martin and Geseñia came as well to sacrament but had to leave after to go to her brother’s birthday party, which is a huge thing down here.  We were happy that they were able to come. Also, Geseñia is expecting a baby in a couple of months.

Over all it was a good week. 

Thanks for the support.  Trials help the bright days look even brighter.

´´Love everyone´´ and that’s a command!

Love. Elder Call

Successes and Milagros

Hola! Everyone,

This week was a bit rough.  I’m not sure what we need to do to change our lessons but every time I suggest anything to my comp he shrugs it off and we continue to teach in the same manner we have for the past two weeks, but I will tell of the successes and milagros (miracles) that happened this week.

Last Monday, as a district we went to a soccer stadium and spent half an hour or an hour looking at the trophies and the field and then we went and played rugby at the church for about an hour.  Then we were able to get back to work which was nice!!!  We met with Bernardito, who is a single lady that Elder Woodfield and his companion, Elder Blackett, which is a roommate of mine, contacted.  Bernardito is studying law and is actually reading from the Book of Mormon.  As my companion explained, she has had the doubt that Christ didn’t establish one church to be His only true church because she receives good feelings from going to other churches as well.  We have explained through scriptures that Jesus did in fact establish a church on the earth, but I am afraid that she didn’t accept what we had taught. 

Tuesday we weren’t actually able to teach a lesson that day =( SO let me explain, we were given the instruction as a zone to meet at the hospital at 10 in the morning to do service at the hospital but when we had all gotten there we were informed that they weren’t ready for us yet and needed us back at 3, so ok sounds good.  So we went back to our apartment.  That meant we spent an hour of travel time and then we finished our studies and made lunch.  By then, it was time to go back with 20 to 40 minutes of travel each way.  When we get to the hospital, they have this army truck filled with medical supplies that we unloaded.  Now, it was close to 5:30 and they had another truck coming there to be unloaded so we waited until 6:15ish when it showed up.  By the time we finished unloading the second truck it was 8:30.  We traveled home and our day was gone.

The rest of the week was good and I have learned that no matter what, logic doesn’t convince people to change very well.  One thing I hope to improve on over the next several months is being able to discern other people’s feelings and emotions; because that is not something I do very well.

Love,

Elder Call

Finding, Teaching & Walking

Hola! Family and Friends,

We have spent the week finding and teaching and walking. Honestly, I think I thought missionary work would be more physically tasking than what I have experienced, but I guess it is just walking and it is really pretty flat.  Obrero is actually pretty much in Asuncion and it borders the river.  We live with two other missionaries in our pension, which they have explained is the worst pension in the mission.  I don’t think it is bad at all.  I think it helps that I kind of envisioned a much worse situation, so I am totally fine with it.

So far, all the food that I have been fed looks, smells, and tastes delicious.  People here don’t eat many vegetables which I miss. We don’t eat dinners, so I just eat a banana or two before bed.  There is nowhere enough time in the mission to do all the things that are necessary.  I have decided that I will only write in my journal every p-day because by the time we get back to the house and are ready for bed it is already after 10:30.  The members of the Branch are super cool and nice.  We are fed almost every single lunch and it is so hard to decide how much to eat without feeling guilty but also making sure they know that I really like it.  I still think I am gaining weight.

This Saturday I had my first experience working in the rain.  At first you try to keep your shoes dry and then it just doesn’t matter anymore.  Sergio has pretty much come to a stop because his only work is on Sunday.  Elder Woodfield has been out a year.

This work is amazing.  I love the help that I receive from the Lord.  I wish the language could come all at once but that is ok.  If we are patient with those around us and learn how to smile with every bad thing Satan puts in our path, we can come off conqueror when we put our trust in the Lord.

I love you all.  I don’t have time to write you all personally, but I do read your letters and thank you for your support.

Love,

Elder Call

Obrero, Asuncion, Paraguay

PARAGUAY!!!!!

So, I am finally here in Paraguay and it is awesome!  I love it so much. The area I have been assigned to serve in is called Obrero Zone 1.  It is in the outskirts of the city and, as Justin told me, it has a ton of trash, but there are parts that are really quite nice.

I arrived in Asunción on Tuesday and President Agazzani was there to pick us up at the airport. He is a super nice guy and has learned a little bit of English.  He tried his best to talk to us.  It is probably the same difficulty and understanding as when I try to speak in Spanish.  We had orientation which was good and long and then on Wednesday we met our companions.  Mine is Elder Woodfield from LA, California, and is pretty interesting.  He tries to talk to me in as much Spanish as possible, so in all honesty I don’t really know him that well, but he does his best in doing the work. I can almost understand some people if they speak really slowly and clearly.  The old men are definitely the hardest to understand, I still have yet to be able to hear them correctly.  I do my best in trying to follow along with the lessons but they get to speaking so fast that I can’t understand and can only pick out a few of the words and usually they are wrong anyways.  Right now, other than a sweet miracle of rapid knowledge of the language, I need patience to give me and our investigators time to progress. 

We have four hours every day to study and nine to proselyte.  I have met many of the members and the new converts.  On Saturday, we taught an investigator named Sergio, who is actually reading the Book of Mormon, which I guess no one does here and he believes that it is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and pretty much everything we tell him.  But he works two jobs, one during the week fixing electronics, which I guess he makes close to nothing even for Paraguayans and one on Sunday, teaching about electricity in a Jewish Synagogue.  That is where he makes what he does to survive and so he hasn’t been able to come to church. Anyways the people are so great here.  I have been fed almost every day at someone else’s house and so far I have loved the food. It all has been so good.

Anyways, I love you all and invite those around you to come to church please!!!!

Member missionary work is what really works.

Love,

Elder Call 

Editors Note:

If you would like to write Dallin a letter you may go to DearElder.com and send him a letter through the pouch system for free by selecting his mission (Paraguay Asuncion Mission). Letters are printed every Sunday night and sent by the Church's Pouch System. Or you can write him a letter and mail it to:

Elder Dallin Dale Call

Paraguay Asuncion Mission

Casilla de Correo 818

Asuncion

Paraguay

Packages can be sent to:

Elder Dallin Dale Call

Paraguay Asuncion Mission

2881 Del Maestro c/ Caballero

Barrio Herrera

Asuncion

Paraguay

Here are a few guidelines in sending packages:  Keep the package small--the more it costs you to send the package the more it costs Dallin to get the package from customs. Also, putting packages in the padded envelopes seem to have the most success; do not send "new" items.  If "used" items are sent the chances of Dallin receiving the package is greatly increased.

MADE IT TO PARAGUAY

Hey, I made it here in Paraguay safely and that's all I know as of now.  The Mission President and his wife are awesome.  I love my family.

Chau

Elder Call

Truly a Miracle

Hey Familia y Amigos:

I am practically fluent at Spanish now, so that is exciting. Haha, not really, but I get better each and every day. It truly is a miracle how much the Lord helps in learning a language. There is no other way to put it than God has blessed me with the ability to speak and understand a little bit of Spanish. He will continue to help me learn until I have mastered the language. The people here are so kind and willing to help out with learning the language. It truly is such a blessing.

On Thursday we received a new batch of Latinos. They are super cool. The ones in my room are incredibly humble and are just awesome. One of the Latinos that lives in a room upstairs is Elder Ramirez, and he it is absolutely crazy hot good he is at beat-boxing; it is so cool!

We went to a new area last Saturday, and it was so good. There were a lot of people in at least half of our area. The other half just turned out to be massive storage buildings with just a few houses in between them. Elder Parmenter and I did a ton better this week and were able to understand a lot more of the conversations. We were able to answer the investigators questions, too. The first two Saturdays we did not really know what we were agreeing to, so hopefully we did not teach some false doctrine or anything like that. This Saturday we came across a man by the name of Daniel that we got to talking to about normal things. He has a wife and two kids. We did not meet his wife and one of his kids, but we met the other one which was cool. He had a friend over that was downing some alcohol and kept offering a glass to us which of course was always declined. After talking to him for a bit, we were about to leave, but he had just offered us some juice. At first we said, no thanks, but he was sad that we didn't take up his offer and was making sure that we understood that it was just juice. We decided to take the offer, and I am glad that we did! Not only was the juice really good, but while we continued to talk to him, we asked if he attended a church. He explained that he didn't because he didn't think that God had a church on the earth today!!!!! Perfect opportunity to tell him that Jesus has restored his church on the earth today through the prophet, Joseph Smith, and then we bore testimony of the truthfulness of our teachings. It was just amazing. That was definitely the highlight of the day.

Dad, the Churri Pans are so good. There was a thingy on the side of the road, so I made sure I bought one.

I spoke last Sunday. Our topic was on the Fall of Adam and Eve. It went well.

Anyways, I fly out on Tuesday morning early. I can call you if you would like, but I don’t want to try if you aren't going to be awake. I will most likely be at the airport from 4 to 6 in the morning my time. I will have like five minutes to email on Monday, so make sure you tell me what you would like.

I love it here in Argentina. I love this Gospel. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to bring others unto Christ. Hopefully, they will understand the importance of it all.

I love you all. Keep praying and reading the scriptures; it is the little things that matter the most.

Love Elder Call 

Love It

Dear Family & Friends:

My week was good.  We spend a ton of time studying on our own and the rest learning grammar or teaching lessons. I am really struggling with pronunciation, pretty much just like I struggled with English, but oh well; sometimes the people can understand me. I try to improve and get better each day, and I find that I am getting better.  It is such a help to be at this MTC surrounded by Spanish.  I love it!

I love it here. We are like a big family, always doing stuff to bug each other. It is really funny, and I have to be the peacemaker or else no one else would be.  Last night Elder Bentley hid Elder Wilson’s alarm clock in the ceiling of his room and set it for 3 in the morning--little pranks are done like that all the time.  It is funny; as usual I avoid the pranks, so I am happy. So the door to the rooms can’t be locked from the inside so it has to be done with a key from the outside. If the rooms are messy, you get locked out of your room, so Saturday night I decided to lock Elder Bentley out of his room. He and his companion had no clue as to what to do because all the cleaning ladies and teachers had already left, which was funny. While they were downstairs, I unlocked it for them and went about my night. I enjoyed paying them back for stuff they do to the others.

I proselyte with my companion, Elder Parmenter, and neither of us know much Spanish or how to do it. My companion is interesting.  We just do our best and have fun. This Saturday we didn’t find anyone who was receptive to the gospel, but the people are nice and allow us to practice our Spanish with them for a while. While we were proselyting we came across a little ice cream shop which was amazing!  I, of course, got the super Dulce de Leche ice cream because I am addicted to that stuff already.  I brush my teeth at least three times a day, usually five, because I eat so much of it.  I have bought three jars of it, and have gone through them all. I eat so many bananas with dulce because it is soooo good.  I love it.

I love it here!  I have learned so much, both temporal with the language and spiritual with the doctrine.  My testimony of the mercy of God has grown so much. God is all knowing and has been thinking about our generation for a long time.  I am so glad that He has the confidence in us to hold the power of His priesthood.  I love to know that He loves each and every one of us and has provided a way to become like Him and live in His presence again.

I love you all!  Thanks for the support, love and prayers.

Love, Elder Call

Proselyting Was Great!

Dear Family & Friends:

This week was so amazing the highlight being going out on Saturday for proselyting. Even though our Spanish is very poor we were able to contact and have little lessons with a ton of people. We only had 4 hours to proselyte on Saturday so we were trying to talk to everyone.

The fifth person we talked to was named Alvaro, and we met him as he was coming out of his house to leave his bottle of alcohol out on the recycle racks. Dad and Justin, you probably know what those look like. He ended up telling us a ton about his life and how he wanted to change and not drink alcohol. He did something to his back while working construction and alcohol is the cheapest thing to help cope with the pain because he doesn't have the money to have surgery or buy pain killers.

He was really interested in what made our church different and was extremely receptive to our message. He seemed to know a lot about the bible and other religions/churches but isn't currently going to one. When we gave him a Book of Mormon, he felt he had to give us a book in exchange because he wanted to pay for the book. I now have a book that is meant to improve my Spanish grammar and writing. If only I could understand what it said better! 

We ended up talking to him for close to 2 hours so that took up a majority of our time proselyting. It is so hard to understand the language. I had to have the people repeat what they said like 3 times before catching the drift of their story.

Last Thursday all the new missionaries arrived. The majority of them are really good and have a great desire to be perfectly obedient, but then there are a few that are not out here for the right reasons. It is so sad. One of my Latino companions is from Paraguay. He has been teaching us all a little bit of Guarini, but I can't seem to remember. It at all it is such a different language. His name is elder Paredes and he is so stinking good at soccer and incredibly nice. There is also a kid who grew up in Canada, but his parents are Guatemalan. He knows English perfectly and Spanish really well which helps.

The language overall is coming really well. I can't complain to much. I have only been here three weeks, but I am so surprised how much we have learned. Haha. So last Thursday some new missionaries from Provo came down after the MTC, and they hardly knew anything. I am so blessed to be here at the CCM learning Spanish surrounded by Spanish speaking people.

Yesterday we had a fast from English so we only spoke Spanish until dinner. It was so much fun. I love the language! It is incredibly hard, but it is great.

The weather, sadly, has been, in my opinion, on the hotter side, which is sad.

Love,

Elder Call

Second Week Was AMAZING!!!

Editors Note:  To understand the letter that Dallin sent home you have to read the letter his mother sent to him.  Both are posted with the mother's questions in red and Dallin's responses are in black.

Sweet Argentine Sunrise

Dear Elder Dallin:

How was your second week at the MTC or CCM? 

Second week was amazing!!!!

Buenos Aries Temple

Are you able to communicate with the Spanish people better?  Do you have a devotional every week? Or do they replay the one in Provo? 

Devotionals are weird here but still good.  The first week was one from Elder Holland back around Christmas time of 2010. It was good. This week the CCM President talked to us at the devotional.

Do you ever get to leave the temple grounds or the MTC area or do you stay on the MTC grounds?  

We only get to leave the temple grounds on Saturdays to go proselyting which will be super fun and I am looking forward to that so much in two days. 

Do you have to do your own laundry?

On Tuesdays and on Fridays we do our own laundry. 

Have you had a hair cut yet? 

Yes. I got my hair cut the Friday that I got here. The guy who did it finished in under one minute and that is not an exaggeration. Scariest thing of my life!

What are you studying -- The Book of Mormon, New Testament, Preach My Gospel? Are you able to get the pocket size Preach My Gospel or did they give you one that is the 8x11? What is your day like?  What time do you get up in the morning?  

I am studying the Preach My Gospel most of the time and reading the chapters and the verses that they have in there to read. They give out the big ones but oh well I don't end up carrying it around anywhere anyways. Arise and shine is at 6:30.

How many missionaries are there in your room? 

At the moment there are 3 missionaries in my room but by the end of today there will be 8, so it will be a full room.  

Buenos Aries Temple

How many new missionaries came in this week?  Are the sisters that traveled down to Argentina in your MTC district? 

45 missionaries are expected to arrive today making a total of 57 here but a lot of (North Americans) NAs are coming so there won't be as many Spanish speaking people which will be sad, however, there is one from Paraguay that is coming. I am so excited to talk with him about Paraguay!!.

We go to the temple this afternoon so I am excited as always for that.

My CCM Distric

We have gotten into quite a daily routine now and by the end of the day my brain hurts from Spanish. one elder from Peru that came last night had a hernia surgery two weeks ago, so we gave him a blessing in Spanglish he does not know a lick of English though it was good nevertheless.

This is how we know who is in Dallin's District

They finally served Empanadas, which were really good!

All of the North Americans that traveled down with me are in the same District. 

I will send a pic that has all of their names where they are from and where they are going.

Sister Austin, Paraguay Asuncion Mission, Kaysville, UT

Sister Coleman, Uruguay Montevideo Mission, Mesa, AZ

Sister Thorne, Uruguay Montevideo Mission, Syracuse, UT

Elder  Parmenter, Uruguay Montevideo Mission, St. George, UT

Elder Call, Paraguay Asuncion Mission, Grover, WY

Elder Hartvigsen, Uruguay Montevideo West, Surprise, AZ

Elder Bentley, Uruguay Montevideo West, South Jordan, UT

Elder  Henderson, Uruguay Montevideo Mission, Tucson, AZ

Elder McDermott, Paraguay Asuncion Mission, Draper, UT

Elder Rogers, Uruguay Montevideo Mission

Elder Udy, Uruguay Montevideo Mission, Iona, ID

I love you all

Love Elder Call

The bidet

First Week Done. It Was Sweeeet!!!

Hey Familia :

 

First week done. It was sweet!!!!!! At the SLC airport I met up with 4 elders headed for London and two to Argentina, Elder Bentley from South Jordan, UT and Elder McDermott from Draper, UT (Paraguay Asuncion Mission (PA)) and two Hermanas, Hermana Thorne, who says hello to you all and is from Syracuse, UT and Hermana Austin from Springville, UT (also going to PA). The flight over to Atlanta was very full, but I got an aisle seat so it wasn’t too awful.

 

In Atlanta, we met up with four more elders and one more sister; Elders Parmentor from St. George, UT who is my companion; Elder Hartvigsen from Surprise, AZ. Elder Henderson from Mesa. AZ; Elder Wilson from Atlanta, GA (also going to PA); Elder Udy is from Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Sister Coleman, from Mesa, AZ. The flight to Argentina was also very full and really wasn’t fun. Elder Rodgers didn’t look when his flight was so he got here a day late.

 

The Temple here is my favorite temple so far it is sooo sweet we get to go through every p day so I just got done going through it yes totally in Spanish, haha it was great. 

 

The CCM (MTC) Spanish style is sweet there are only 59 missionaries here with 6 districts.  My district has 12 in it, all from the USA. We room with Latinos which are the coolest kids ever I love them, they have so much patience and laugh at/with me all the time.

 

We taught our first IP (investigator person) totally in Spanish on Saturday which I had absolutely no idea as to what the person said at all, but thankfully my companion had taken lots of Spanish classes and knew what they were saying. It has really made me mad that I am the only one in the district that could not understand anything that had been said.  Oh well, I doubt I will ever have the same feelings again as on Sunday and Monday the IP lesson was much better and I could understand more and formulate my own sentences thanks to the power and mercy of the Lord. It is truly amazing how much you can learn in a week. 

 

My companion is Elder Parmentor-- he has a twin brother and he is like 6 foot 5, so I don’t pick on him. Haha

 

The food here is amazing minus breakfast which is cold cereal every day but the strawberry yogurt on the frosted flakes is quite good. The fruit juices are stinking good, especially the apple juice, but still not quite as good as the fresh pressed from Grandpa Call, but still good.

 

My teachers are Melerio and Pedersen who served missions in St. George. 

 

The bathrooms here have bidets which was an interesting experience.  There are 2 rooms of showers on Friday morning I went into the back room and none of the faucets ever got hot so I took a freeeeezing cold shower which was cold but come to find out the other room of showers would get hot.

 

So you know how we planned on me buying a bunch of stuff like that sweet marking pencil and what not here at the "convenient" store?  Well they don’t have one :( they only have a distribution center with garments and literature but that was all, no bueno, oh well, I have made it a week so far and I am still alive. 

 

Please pray for me that I might be blessed with the gift of tongues. I am glad work is still super busy and get out fishing for me!

 

I love you all and all is well here at the CCM.

 

Love, Elder Call