1 Baptist + 1 Guatemalteco + 1 Salvadoranian = 3 Mas Bautismos En Texas!!!!

I could not believe it. I kept running it through my mind, thinking about all the times that we parked our bikes in front of their house. All the times that we tried to drive home a principle or teach any facet of doctrine, thinking about all of the obstacles that seemed to come time after time.

Then, I looked back and remembered the first time that we saw him....dancing on his roof one Friday night because he was so drunk. I remember hearing the crunch of broken glass as we walked up to him, beer bottles scattered all over the yard, if you could call it a yard. With "La Que Buena" radio station blaring in the background, he would laugh, take a sip from his Modelo Cerveza, and exclaim his love of talking about "The Word of God."

Elder Moffitt and I, with very wavering Faith on the chances of this man ever listening to us, but having prayed many times to find someone that would be baptized, set up an appointment for when we could come by. We prayed that we could find him at a time when he would sober up a little, but we finally were able to meet with his wife and learn that drinking was not a hobby of his, but a way of life. 

So we continued to pray for this couple as we took advantage of every opportunity we had to come by and teach. As we did so, he continued to express to us his desire to stop drinking along with the damage it's done to him and to his family. As drunk as he always was, we always wanted to drive home one point- that through God, all things are possible.

Then one day, he gave it a shot, and even though he was surrounded by friends and co-workers that continued to drink, he was determined to stop. That one day turned into two and two turned into three until we hit a week. As he made his way down this path, we witnessed how his fight to stop came with a fight to know, a fight to know whether or not all that we had told him was true.

At first he didn't care...he was already an active member of a church in Oak Cliff called "La Luz Del Mundo", a church established by a few Return Missionaries that had apostatized many years ago and began to use the story of the boy prophet Joseph Smith and all his revelations for the riches of the world. Then, when Elder Moffitt left, Elder Duce came into the picture and he started to listen. We began to see that all he had was a desire to search, not a desire to know, but a small spark began to work inside him.

As two very young and inexperienced men taught and bore testimony, we saw his desire to search become a desire to know and we began to see the prayers of his wife being answered before her eyes. He had now gone two weeks without drinking, and after weeks and weeks of him declining our invitation to come to church, he finally committed. And with the help of others, he came. Throughout the process, as we continued to teach and continued to testify on the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon, wondering how he had been overcoming his temptation to drink without it, he finally confided in us that his education consisted of only two years in El Salvador, leaving him unable to do more than write his name.

With a stronger testimony of how his Heavenly Father had helped him progress as far as he had to this point, we continued to come over and read with him, teaching him to the best of our abilities. He reached week three without drinking, and that is when I received a call that I would be leaving Garland. I was being sent out to Gilmer Texas, and with a bittersweet emotions, we went to their house my last night in Garland.

He spoke just like he had before, testifying of the power of the Gospel and the messages that we've shared. He thanked us for the spirit that he had felt and the change we had brought into his life. I was very happy, but still a little glum as I looked back at all the times I challenged him to baptism and how he wouldn't commit if any shadow of doubt still existed. But we had done the best we could and I knew that he would continue to progress farther with Elder Duce and his new companion, so I bore my testimony with him and shared how much I'd love to make it to his baptism. With that and a few pictures, we said goodbye and headed back home.

I never stopped thinking about them and continued to pray for them. Then a few weeks ago, I got a call from Casa Linda, informing me that Renne Hernandez and his wife, Sandra Ochoa had finally committed to be baptized on the 28 of July! I just about started dancing. I felt on top of the world! It was so legit and as I followed up with them yesterday, Elder Duce got to tell me about how awesome the service was and how Sandra and Renne only had to get dunked twice haha. I'm so proud of my Greenie and how he was able to carry the work through, and even more so for Renne and just to see how far he had come. My favorite part is how when you see a drunk guy dancing on a roof, a normal reaction wouldn't be "oh sweet, looks like there's another baptism!", but through God, all things are possible. (Especially in the Texas Dallas Mission!)

So you can only Imagine what an awesome week it's been for me, even more so since we got to Baptize Raigan Maddox, our miracle Baptist that I talked about last week. It had to be the greatest Service I've been to with more support than I've seen at a baptism along with 8 non-members that came (most of them were Raigan's friends that we're going to start teaching thanks to her inviting them.... missionary work is a lanslide/domino effect....so just invite someone!!!!!!!!!!!! Y'all have no idea of the effects it can have!!!)

We also taught the intermediate part and I think Elder Browning and I have this presentation down!!! It's a way legit lesson of the Plan of Salvation, The Gospel, and The Restoration all warped into 12 minutes with piano in the background haha it's getting way awesome! It hit home with some of the nonmembers and opened up a lot of doors for us and was quite the experience! For now, Raigan is on vacation with Lori (her friend that originally invited her to take the discussions) heading up to New York to live out some of my dreams and visit Palmyra and the Sacred Grove. Well I love y'all and hope you can someday get a piece of what its like in The Dream Mission!        

Les Quiero Tanto!!!

Elder Wilson

Rain Makes Mud! Mud Means....Muddin!!!

Howdy yall! Dang it has been quite a baller week fo sho!!! I know I say it all the time...but every time I think about it I just have to say that Gilmer is the chosen Missionary land! Full of adventures, miracles, trials, everything you could want (besides a taqueria-- I'm still trying to get over that....very sad fact...I WANT TACOS!!!!)

 Out of everything that went down this past week I figured I'd start on out with our big miracle of the week. When I emailed yall last week I talked about how we had a pretty intense "Grace" vs "Works" lesson with our Baptist investigator Raigan, who brought out Romans 10 and just vented on how she's already saved. We had to go over everything we taught and put it as clearly and non-offensively as we could, and even though it seemed to make sense logically, it was tough for her to grasp since it was apparently "so different" from what she'd been taught all her life. 

She was kind of flipping out about it, so Elder Browning and I decided to set up another lesson about the Atonement...because if you truly understand the Atonement, everything in the Gospel makes sense. So we assigned her some chapters to get her in the right mindset for our next lesson. When that Tuesday finally came, we sat, ready to lay down a super powerful lesson on the Atonement. We had our opening prayer and then Raigan cut in and said, "Alright before we get into anything too deep, I just had some news for yall." We had been dropped by way too many people in this area and the thought immediately came to our minds..."Oh no...she's gonna drop us too." She then said, "I just wanted to let yall know that I received an answer. I know this church is true, and I'm going to get baptized!" 

She was so stoked when she said it that I almost got carried away and just about started break dancing on the table! But as missionaries we're supposed to keep ourselves in a pretty reverent manner, but maybe they'll change the rules on that someday too! (Speaking of which, I'm going shoppin and I'm gonna get myself some khaki pants booya!) I just love how the Lord delivers at the right time and answered ours and Raigan's prayers! It is quite a thrill hearing about when your investigator finally receives the answer and has the experience where every time their Faith or Testimony is in jeopardy, they will look back and think on that experience and can't deny that it happened. There's really nothing like when they tell you about it and giving it over an email wont even do half the justice, but I'll just let yall know that she got it! 

I want to direct part of this message to the Youth in the Church. Yall really don't know how big of a role yall play in the conversion, retention, and overall effect you have on missionary work! The church wasn't introduced to Raigan four weeks ago when we started teaching her, but it was introduced when she had a friend who decided that she should invite her to a Stake Dance about 6 years ago. Her friend (who is now on a mission in Spain [Hermana Muse]) only did small things like that to make an influence on her friends and to be an example to others. Another friend of Raigan's in our ward (Lori) invited her to take the discussions and Hermana Muse got the word that Raigan was investigating the church and sent her a copy of the Book Of Mormon with her Testimony written on the inside. As Raigan's friends did these small things, her Baptist Barrier (which blocks any Mormon Doctrine) was lowered and allowed her to listen with an open mind to the Doctrine of our Savior. 

In short, the stage for Raigan's conversion wasn't set by us or even recently by her friends, but started a long time ago. So, invite your friends! There are so many activities that we have along with Church every Sunday, so I encourage yall to act on these opportunities! Just because you don't see results instantly doesn't mean it's over! One of my favorite quotes says "No action is wasted in the work of the Lord." That includes every small invitation you make. Remember, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. (Alma 37:6)" So have confidence in our message and our Gospel, and enjoy watching your actions take effect as you become tools in the hands of the Lord. "Pray as if it all depends on the Lord, but act as if it all depends on you"-President Gordon B. Hinckley

Well yall can see that the results of that in this case means another soul joining the Kingdom of God this Friday so we're way stoked about it! 

On another not so reverent occasion we were doing service for Grandpa Bill by putting up another Chicken Coop for him on his 80+ acres of land. This guy always buys new chickens, more than he probably needs but I'm no farmer so I just get the service done haha. But at least we got to continue making our country songs with Red-neck common occurrences and we're about to release our new single "Chicken Wire Anthem." We worked on it for a while with some of his Grandkids that were visiting from France and it was pretty crazy being back on the side of not understanding what they're saying. All we've heard is Spanish and English and we get comfortable in understanding both, but they also spoke Spanish so we couldn't speak in code around them like they were doing to us! Ah dang I've gotta learn Italian now and then I can say whatever I want around them haha. 

Grandpa Bill's property is pretty much a trek from one spot to another, so we had to take the Rhino (Four-Wheeler) and the ATV's out to get around. It may have rained the same day....and we may have found some puddles...and some mud....and we may have possibly gotten a little carried away when we finished our service project....but it was way legit. Probably the best service project I'd done in my life!!! I drove the Rhino while we always had someone in the passenger seat and just for kicks and giggles, we would always have one or two people on the back- hanging on for their lives! It was way to fun commuting around Grandpa Bill's 80 acres in the ravine and all that jazz chasing down cows and what not haha. Well, I'll let yall observe the results of what happened when Elder Browning rode on the back of the Rhino and you can draw your own conclusions on how everyone else looked at the end. 

Les Quiero Muchisimo!!!

Elder Wilson   

Hundred Fold....

I'd like to start out by announcing the baptism of our original G Timothy Mendoza this Saturday at 7:00!!! Todos estan invitados!!! We have it all goin down and much to our surprise, he has progressed better than any other contact we made. And the key to finding him was again...hable con todos!!!  

His hardest obstacles to overcome were the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. We had been helping him out with the Word of Wisdom and he was game for all that going from smoking a couple packs a day to a pack a day to 6 a day to 3 a day to 1 a day and now he's gone weeks without smoking! He dropped the alcohol, coffee, and tea cold turkey and the Lord had prepared him to dominate other drugs since back in the 90's. But the tough one was the law of chastity...every time we brought it up he would just say (and by the way this was the one that I still had as Elder Duce's 1st lesson), "But I've been with my Girl for more than 20 years!!! We got together back before you were born!"

He would progress, read, come to church, and all that jazz, but he would still spout doubts about it and nothing we'd say would seem to push him over the edge. He would always end up by saying "well, I get what yall are saying, but I'll see what I can do." Then I decided it was finally time to see if he was in it to win it. So we brought in a pad of paper and said "So Timothy, have you heard of a Pro's and Con's list?" And then we started to jot it all out. As far as the Word of Wisdom went, there were no cons. When we got to the Law of Chastity, we started with the cons and could only come up with one; Michelle gets mad. Then we moved onto the Pros and just couldn't stop listing all the blessings that come from obeying the commandments, and then I felt impressed to share one of my favorite scriptures in Matthew 19:29 "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

Then he just said "You know what, If that's what the Lord says I'll just give it up." Now whenever things get tough for him, we always just look at each other and I ask him, "Timothy, what do you think you'll get outta this..." and the reply is always "a hundred fold." Like this last week he was tempted and got some coffee. He confessed it to us and told us he'd had it for two days and then he said, "you know what, you guys really ask a lot outta me." Then I said, "Timothy, we've asked a lot of you since day 1, but why do you think the Lord asks this of you?" Then I heard again "so I can be blessed with a hundred fold."

Then we decided to get rid of it sooner rather than later and walked the coffee over to his neighbors, knocked, and eventually handed it on over! We are so stoked to see the progress he's made and know that he was prepared to be put in our path and I thank our Heavenly Father every day that I get to be a part of his work and his glory!

Other story...
So the bus contact is one of my favorite deals to do now and since every time I see President or other missionaries, they ask about how it goes and the results and how I approached it and all that jazz, I decided that it would be just pure robbery if I made it so that others couldn't give the contact a try. So a couple weeks ago Elder Duce and I got on the bus to go to a new missionary training, and since Elder Duce is used to my approach to these things now, he just sat down and waited for me to take over. The beauty of training is that you direct the way that any situation goes, so I started as normal with the "Good morning brothers and sisters! How are y'all doing today?" And then we get people with feedback that just talk about what a nice day it is...so then I commented on that and said "Well as you know we are men of God and actually...my companion Elder Duce has a message that he would love to share with yall." I just smiled and when I sat down. I saw this look in his eyes saying "How could you do this to meeee?!?!?!?"
But he was able to share a broken but still bold message!

So when we got to the training and started talking about contacting, President Durrant grinned saying "Elder Wilson, on your feet. Now tell us about your new bus technique." So I was able to give everyone a fresh new experience from a couple minutes before haha ahhh gotta love life on the mish! Every day we grow in confidence, and my message to everyone is that you must speak with boldness, and that is what will show that you are a representative of Jesus Christ instead of just anybody else. That is what new missionaries need and what I hope the youth can learn so that they can do as the sons of Mosiah and speak with Power and Authority. (Alma 17:3) (The nickname of Chuck Norris' legs...by the way...what other mission has Chuck Norris in it...oh yeah...only the Texas Dallas Mission! TDM= The Dream Mission)

Other Story...
I also have grown to love the fact that most Greenies are obedient! Like when we went to the Valero's house and each of us were handed a Serrano Pepper. I had learned my lesson way back in Oak Cliff just so that I could entertain the Jiminez family and was not going to make that mistake again...so instead I just told Elder Duce to eat the whole thing, and without a second thought he just tossed the whole thing in his mouth!

I just screamed and did my normal flip out as I remembered how painful they are and just couldn't believe that he ACTUALLY did it! Like I've told all my companions to "eat the whole thing"...but none of them did it. Everyone winced as they saw his face...and then when he realized just what he had done- He was grabbing whatever he could to try and cool down the fire as he was tearing apart his hamburger, drinking whatever was placed in front of him and tossing more and more handfuls of salt in his mouth. Well....at least it goes to show that he's obedient!

Later on he explained to me that he figured he'd get pressured into it and decided to try to get it done an easier way...so he said he just tried to swallow the whole thing! Just imagine that...you stomach digesting a full pepper....I think his body would just explode into a small mushroom cloud and that would be the end of it haha. So once he saw that his first idea was impossible, he started chewing and then got the picture... 

Other Story...
500 Mexicans + 20 square yards of a backyard + 4 tables + 8 balloons + 2
grills + 10 cows worth of meat = Party in the Ghetto!!! Yup...welcome to Garland ...our stompin grounds. We were welcomed with open arms even among all the "Tall Boys" and cans from Modelo and Bud Light...80% of the people were less active but we still got to meet and work the refferal factory with the rest of them haha. 

Well its getting painfully hot here...like for reals. But thankfully we still have tornadoes and storms that will come through and rain elephants for about 30 minutes...but we can count on Texas that the sun will come out as the weather goes through its bi-polar changes and dry us out in no time!Elder Duce's Spanish is growing paso por paso...and he's still crashing on his bike weekly...and is currently wearing bandages over his hands and wrists... 

Just got word that Kevin Jara is Deacon's Quorom President! I always knew that kid is a leader. 

Elder Duce is telling me about all this foreign stuff that I've never heard
of before. Example: Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, New
Star Wars, G.I. Joe #2....he told me I'm so old when I said that "Friday" by Rebecca Black is still my favorite song and that "Tonights Gonna Be A Good Night" was played at my Graduation. Woo Hoo for the Black Eyed Peas and their brand new album that came out....wow...back in 2008 5 years ago. Siento como un viejito!
Well I love and miss yall and for some reason can just feel it when someone I know is going to enjoy the beach and the fresh air of California...how it hurts, but how much I loveeeeeeeee it heah in Texas!!!! Yay for humidity!
Thank you so much for your prayers! They have brought miracles around here as we have all worked together to break the mission's record in baptismal dates and shattered it this past week Texas Dallas Mission style with 34 more than the set goal! Makes me think of President Durrants song...
"I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I have the best!
I have the best, I have the best, I have the best, I have the best, I feel so blessed!" 

Love yall and hope yall have an awesome week!!!
Elder Wilson

P.S. I would like to give a special shout out to Tommy for getting baptized
and especially for sending me pictures of the best cousins in the world
doing the baptismal pose! I hear it's catching on!

My Shout Out To The Texas Dallas Mission De La Mision De Texas Dallas!!!

Justin sent this letter in response to a request from the Hardings who were called to serve as Mission Presidents for the Stake Youth Mission Conference. They felt that Justins testimony would inspire those youth to serve a mission when they come of age... 

BUENOS DIAS A LOS MISSIONEROS EN LA MISION DE TEXAS DALLAS! The Lord can only bless so many people by sending them to the Texas Dallas Heaven and how lucky yall are to be a part of it!!! Makes me think of President Durrant's favorite song...

"I'm in heaven

I'm in heaven

In the Texas Dallas Mission

I'm in heaven 

I'm in heaven

In the Texas Dallas Mission

I'm in heaven

I'm in heaven

In the Texas Dallas Mission

I'M IN HEAVEN!!!"  

Well I hope yall feel like you're in heaven because I sure do! So to welcome yall I figured I'd send this shout out and give yall a little summary on what I've been doing out here in the mission field. So far I've sered in Oak Cliff (the ghetto of South Dallas), Greenville (middle of nowhere farm country in East Texas), Plano (the wealthiest community in all of Texas and the 6th wealthiest in the nation), and then we just opened up a new area in Garland (back in the Ghetto but this time in North Dallas!) 

After praying for miracles day after day, we started teaching a felon that has progressed better than anyone I've seen, a family of 5 and then another family of 7 along with so many other people we have been teaching and progressing them towards baptism! 

Just in case you didn't know, we baptize weekly in the Texas Dallas Mission and have been scrambling from baptismal service to baptismal service as the work seems to go faster and faster than I've ever seen it before! 

We are a bold mission. We are a bold mission and contact everyone we see, inviting them all to baptism wherever they may be! 

My companion's name is Elder Duce and he's from Nampa Idaho and it's his first transfer on the mission so we're having all sorts of crazy experiences as he's still trying to learn more Spanish than "Hola" and "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" haha. He's actually 18 years old, fresh out of High School and proof of the faithful response to the Lord's call this past October, just like yall are! 

I hope and pray that yall truly take advantage of this Youth Conference just like I was able to do about 4 years ago! I was called to serve in the Texas San Antonio Mission and I remember that night when I got my real call, as I was waiting to open it, Marcus Vandaventer said "How crazy would it be if you actually got called to Texas like we were in that one Youth Conference?!?" 

So who knows, maybe you'll be lucky enough someday haha but this conference truly was a great experience for me. It helped me to understand a little bit of what life on the mission is like, feel the THRILL of sharing the gospel with others and the excitement of being apart of such a big group going forth in more noble a cause than the world has ever seen before! 

I hope that you feel the bond between you and others as you take part in this great and marvelous work and that the friendships you create here will last forever like mine did. I also want to invite you to bring one doubt, question, concern, or desire to this conference and pray to receive what you're looking for. Please pray EARNESTLY and I know that the Lord cannot deny you an answer due to the valor of your calling! I know that this is true because when I was in yall's shoes, this conference strengthened my Testimony as I continued to learn, practice, and share the truths of the Gospel. I was able to see how truly inspired our leaders are and how ready and willing they are to guide you no matter what situation you are in.  I know that this experience will prepare you to make the decision on whether or not the Lord needs you to set apart 2 years/18 months of your life for full, satisfying service for the Savior. 

With that I join my testimony to that of the First Presidency in saying "The Lord will reward and richly bless you as you humbly and prayerfully serve Him. More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children." (PMG "First Presidency Message") No matter where you may be, I promise you that you will see the hand of the Lord performing many miracles these next few days because this work is his work, and will go forth until it has penetrated every ear and reached every corner of the earth. He will lead and guide every action you make in his work and remember, No action is wasted when you are in the service of the Lord. May he protect you, fortify your testimony, and bless you in all that you do is my humble prayer as your Brother, thrusting the sickle in as hard as I can into the rich field of Dallas Texas, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Letter From President Durrant

From President Durrant

Dear Valiant Texas Dallas Missionaries,

You never cease to amaze me!  Your leaders set a goal in Leadership Council on May 3rd and you met it and exceeded it on May 31st.  The goal was to find 1400 new investigators during the month of May and you all found 1448 new investigators. Terrific!  There is great power in setting a goal and then working diligently to reach it.  Inspiring!  Let me add that for this last week you found 410 new investigators.  Our previous high was 363.  Amazing!  You also contacted 240 referrals.  That is also a mission record.  The previous high was 204.  Fantastic!  And let's not forget our main goal which is to baptize and confirm.  Sixteen people were confirmed this week.  Wonderful!

As I mentioned in my last letter, I would like to ask for a Father's Day (June 16) gift.  We have never had more than 209 baptismal dates at one time in the Texas Dallas Heaven.  We currently have 147 baptismal dates.  I would like to invite each companionship to focus on inviting all your investigators to be baptized.  I would like to see 210 (or more) baptismal dates by June 16.  That gives us two weeks to invite all our new investigators to be baptized.  Would you please do all in your power to help us reach this goal?  If you will, it will lead to many children of our Heavenly Father receiving the "greatest of all the gifts of God."

I love being on the same team with each of you.  We are on the right side with Jesus Christ and we will be victorious. 

Last invitation for today - be kind and forgiving.  I love Ephesians 4:32.  It states, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

President Durrant

Texas Dallas Mission

"Mission of Miracles"

p.s. A Planning Experiment

The Missionary Handbook makes allowances for mission presidents to adjust the daily schedule.  With that in mind, for the next 19 days (starting tomorrow, June 4, through June 22) I want to try a planning experiment.  This experiment offers two new daily planning options.  You do not have to use either of these two new options.  It is fine if you choose to continue to plan at night.  The two new planning options are: 1) Plan at lunch for 30 minutes of your 60 minute lunch break and then return home at the normal hours of 9:00/9:30 or 2) Take an hour lunch as you normally would and then plan for thirty minutes at a time between 2:30 and 4:30 (away from your apartment) and then work an extra thirty minutes until 9:30/10:00.  Either way you are still working the same amount of missionary hours.  The difference that these two new options offer is that instead of planning for thirty minutes at the end of your day, you are planning during your lunch hour or during the afternoon.  Again, if you choose to plan during the afternoon, please do not return home to plan.  This is only an experiment.  There are no plans to make these new options available on a permanent basis.

p.p.s June Calendar Reminders

June 4 Tuesday - Follow-up training at the Meandering Way building from 10 to 4.  Bring your own lunch.

June 12 Wednesday - Specialized training from 10 to 4 for all East Texas missionaries at the Broadway building in Tyler.  Bring your own lunch.

June 14 Friday - Specialized training for all Spanish missionaries from 10 to 4 at the Lake Highlands building.  Bring your own lunch.

June 18 Tuesday - Specialized training for all English missionaries from 10 to 4 at the Meandering Way building.  Bring your own lunch.

June 28 Friday - Specialized training for all Senior missionaries from 10 to 4 at the Meandering Way building.  Bring your own lunch.

p.p.p.s.  Questions and Answers

In response to a few items that have come up recently, I am posting a few questions and answers below.  Please share this information with your companion if he/she doesn't read these weekly postings.

Q. Is it okay to have dinner with members with two companionships or more present?

A. No.  Please eat as a single companionship with members.  The purpose of eating with the members is not to get fed (we can all feed ourselves).  There is a higher purpose.  The Missionary Handbook states, "When you visit, talk to, or eat with members, your primary purpose should be to strengthen them (see D&C 108:7) and help them fulfill their missionary responsibilities. Ask them whom they know that you could teach. Do everything you can to build their confidence in you as a dedicated, powerful servant of the Lord.  ... Meal appointments should be an hour or less and should not interfere with prime proselyting time. Ask the ward mission leader to emphasize having less-active and part-member families and investigators provide meals. Ask members whom they know that you could teach, just as you would in any other visit."

The best way to accomplish the purposes of member dinners as outlined in the Missionary Handbook is to eat with the members as a single companionship.  If anyone would like more reasons why we should not be eating any meals in groups of four or more missionaries, please call me.

Q. But President Durrant, it is a tradition in our ward/branch to feed the missionaries as a group. 

A. I understand.  Now let's end the tradition and help the members understand the guidelines that we've all agreed to follow in the Missionary Handbook.  The members don't know what the Missionary Handbook says.  Each of you do.

Q.  Could you please repeat our mission texting and phone calling guidelines? 

A.  Yes.  They are simple.  Do not call/text outside of your district without your District Leader's permission.  Do not call/text outside of your zone without permission from your Zone Leaders or the Assistants or from President Durrant.  Below is text from our Guiding Principles:

Communication: Please do not call and/or text members and/or missionaries from previous areas of service.  Do not ask members from previous areas to visit you and do not arrange to meet them.  Show all texts to your companion.  Put calls on speaker phone when talking to members/missionaries of the opposite sex.  Avoid "social" texting with other missionaries.

Q,  Can I call or send texts to young women in my ward or branch?

A.  No.  Please do not do this.  Ask your ward mission leader to help coordinate any missionary work that needs to be done that involves the young women of your ward or branch.

Q.  Can I email my past converts of the opposite gender?

A.  Yes, you can.  Below is an excerpt from our Guiding Principles:

Question: Can I write a convert of the opposite sex?

Answer: In response to the clause below from the Missionary Handbook, President Durrant has approved communication via letter or email with converts of the opposite sex while you are still in the mission field.  Do not text or call converts of the opposite sex.  Please inform President Durrant if you have romantic feelings toward any of your investigators, converts, members, other missionaries, or anyone else here in our mission.  COMMUNICATING WITH CONVERTS - Missionary Handbook pages 36 and 37:  "You share responsibility for strengthening your converts in the Church. You may not be able to continue to visit them, but you can write them occasionally and encourage them. An occasional note will reassure and comfort them and rekindle the joy they felt at the time of their conversion. After you have been transferred from the ward or branch, receive your mission president’s authorization before communicating with converts of the opposite sex while you are still in the mission field. Use the mission office address as the return address on any correspondence with converts. When you go home, do not forget those you have taught. At all times live worthy of their trust. Write them occasionally and encourage them to be faithful."

Q.  When should I do service?

A.  Service can be done during the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.  Do not do service outside of these hours and try to avoid serving on Saturdays because they are such good proselyting days.  When you have to choose between teaching or doing a service project, choose teaching.

Q.  But President Durrant, my companion and I have been asked to do service outside of these hours.  What should we do? 

A. Lovingly tell those that are requesting your help outside of these hours that you have other work that you need to be doing from 4:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Finally, please do not ignore the guidelines contained within this document.  If an exception needs to be made to these guidelines (and sometimes that may be the case), call President Durrant to discuss a possible exception.

From the Assistants

Elders and Sisters of the Texas Dallas Mission, fantastic job finding this week! We truly saw the hand of the Lord helping us to reach our goal of 1400 new investigators. We are grateful for the dedication and sacrifice put forth from each one of you to reach the mission goal. Now that we have a large pool of investigators, it’s time to set dates! Right now we have 146 baptismal dates, but by Father’s Day 46 people are scheduled to be baptized which will put our baptismal dates at 100 even. So, from now until June 16^th, all we need is 110 more dates set to hit our goal of 210. That averages out to each companionship setting one date a piece in the next 13 days. Let us follow after the example of Alma:

“And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again.

Elders and Sisters, we must invite everyone to be baptized! We know that the Lord will recognize our efforts and bless us according to our desires. We can do it!

-Elder Chappell and Elder Evans

PS: Our mission just surpassed a milestone of 500 lists! Elder Aidukaitis will be informed this week. Please remember to send in your number of lists to your zone leaders each Sunday night. Our next milestone will be 750. Keep up the great work!

From the Field

Elder Day - Words of wisdom

These past weeks I have been gaining a stronger testimony of how obedience brings blessings. It's so true. When we are following God's commandments and doing what he asks we are more able to be blessed. And we are teaching people about Christ and God and about his Commandments simply to bless them. So if we are inviting others to live the commandments or " keep the rules" we should be doing the same thing. We should be Obedient. 

Elder Benard - Why not work harder?

We also are planning on working even harder, we are working hard, but why not work harder. That is something that my dad would always say to me, during a game. Basketball for example. "When you think you're playing hard, play harder." Now this is my spin on it "When you think you are serving, serve harder." That to me sounds great, why not work harder, the Lord will recognize our efforts and bless us.

Elder Pruitt - Companion compliment

Elder Troseth is great, something I love about him is how much he cares about the people he's been teaching before I got here. He truly does desire their happiness. (Dear Elders and Sisters, I love it when you compliment your companions in your letters to me.)

Elder Brown - Question and Answer of the week

I was once asked by a missionary "Why are you trying so hard to be obedient? Trying to get assistant points?" at the time i didn't know how to answer him, I was just being obedient because i felt like i needed to be, and because i do what i'm generally told. Page 4 of the Missionary handbook answers this much better than i ever could. As you obey these guidelines you show the Lord your love for Him. The only reason i sit here today in Texas is because i love the Lord.  For those of you who don't want to be exactly obedient, please don't belittle those who are trying to be obedient by making fun of them.  You are better than that.

Elder Nunez - From lemons to lemonade

Our area is going well. Except we hit one bump in the road last Saturday. Our investigator didn't show up to her baptism. I was at a loss of what to do, since it has never happened to me. Well I decided to have the baptism without her, it was a short and beautiful serve. The speakers were great and the Spirit was present. We had an investigator couple there, which she loved the whole thing. She is excited for her own baptism. We gave her a tour of the stake building. She told us the whole time of the inner peace she was feeling as we walked through the building. Later, we found out that our missing investigator had gotten an allergic reaction to something and was sick. She should be getting baptized soon.  

Elder Wilson - El valor de "Listas"

Las listas van a quedar todo el mundo!!!!! Lo que hicimos fue buscar por los van a salir o que estan preparando para servir una mision y hacer una lista para invitar personas a su "farewell." Con esta idea, encontramos una familia que tuvo una hija que iba a regresar de su mision de Boise Idaho. Hicimos una lista con ellos, y esta familia estaba estatica! Tuvieron mucho animo que los misioneros van a invitar quien que sea y recibimos muchos nombres, pero tambien la familia envio esta idea a su hija en su correo. Su hija encantaba la idea tambien y explico "la lista" a todos en su zona, y lo que escuchamos es que "la lista" ya es otra forma a trabajar en la mision de Boise Idaho! Por favor agradecer Elder Aidukaitis otra vez!!! Y tambien las Hermanas de Garland 1 ya estan ensenando las referencias de la lista que hicimos. Yay for General Authorities that point Gold Mines out to us!

Sister McDonald - Obey out of love

On Sunday we were talking about Obedience and why we do the things we do. There were three main reasons why we obey: 1. Out of Fear 2. Out of Gain (if you do A, you receive B in return) 3. Out of Love.

Now everyone is on this scale somewhere and so it's hard to sometimes take a real look at yourself and see where you are at. Maybe you are getting up at 6:30 and doing all the things you were supposed to because you are afraid of what your companion will say if you don't, maybe you are at the point where you changed and you are now waking up and being obedient because you know it brings blessings! But how many of us missionaries can say that we are being obedient, solely out of love? Ask yourself, for everything you do during the day. Are you knocking on doors because you know you and your family are receiving blessings or are you doing it 100% just because of your love for God.

Just hearing all this stuff really put a different perspective on things for me. It made me realize that it wasn't just about being obedient.. but what's behind it! I want to do everything out of love, and I know it won't come right away, but there is such a change in EVERYTHING when you obey out of love.

Elder Aokuso - A spirit-filled personal study

My week so far has been really Great. I am really happy to be here in Texas Dallas Mission and i am excited to work in this area I have been assigned by the Lord. I have experienced many Miracles in my Area - the Richardson area. I am Grateful for the Companion that I have to help me and strengthen me to become the best potential missionary that Heavenly Father wants me to become. Today during my Personal studies i read about Mormon. Mormon being at a Young age, lead the Nephite Army into battle with the Lamanites. The Lamanite army had an exceedingly great number of soldiers and they both fought in a great battle. The Nephites were wicked at that time and when they prepared for the war, they were afraid and I guess that they weren't prepared. As they went to war its stated in the Book of Mormon that the Spirit of God was not among the Nephites but they fought with their own strength. When I thought of this, I tried to apply this to my life. It reminds me of being Obedient. If I am not Obedient, the Spirit of the Lord will not be with me when I go out to war - Tracting, Finding etc. I will strive to be obedient and not rely on my own strength and to also be prepared throughout my time here on my mission even after the mission. I really felt the spirit today in my Personal Studies.

Elder Beck - Church tours

Sister Durrant will be happy to know that we did a church tour with Hermana De La Cruz this past Saturday. As we sat in the chapel the spirit was so strong! She had to have felt it. She wasn't able to make it to church yesterday due to work, but last night she was able to come with her family to a baptism that happened in the branch. The church tour worked. We got her back in the church, and she felt more comfortable to be there. :)

Elder Taylor - Church tours

This first part is mostly for Sister Durrant since she gave the training on it, but we mentioned to her that on wednesday we did a church tour with a few Hispanics. well, they actually came to church this sunday and it was awesome!!! so i just wanted her to know that it works. at least it worked for us! so it was awesome! 

Thank you for reading.

JANUARY:               37

FEBRUARY:            35

MARCH:                  66

APRIL:                    35 

MAY :                   41

June 2^nd:                      16

______________________

Total:                     230

Junes Dates:           115

July Dates:           31

Oh The HUMANITY!!!!

Well as some of you may know a tornado has blown straight through the Fort Worth/Dallas Texas area and even though we were biking just as fast as we could to escape it...we still got swept up in the mess and I'm currently e-mailing from a local coffee shop in the middle of Kentucky. But on the real this has been quite a crazy week and I thought yall would enjoy hearing that as I'm catching the wave, I caught one of the mission's first 18 year olds. It's super crazy because out of all the people that came into the mission we only got two Spanish speakers even though about 16 left and it is absolutely insane! 

I just think it's funny that he is coming from the MTC where so many of my friends are kicking it. He actually reported on the same day as Jessicah. He's from the Land of Potatoes (I always mess with him about that...but it's in Spanish and he cant speak it yet so everyone just laughs, he thinks it's a good joke, everyone's happy :) and his name, ironically enough, was one of my slang words back home....Elder Duce! He's a cool kid but I'm not gonna lie...It's pretty tough training him since he has questions and comments on just about everything. And as gung-ho as I was about only 6 weeks in the MTC...I'm kinda re-thinking it looking at my experience with 9 weeks of Spanish and his with just 6...so it's a work in progress, but it is awesome to see him grow as I continue to put him in difficult situations--like surrounding him with 10 Mexicans and just biting my lip while he tries to remember something. You learn things pretty fast when you're stuck in situations like that and I'm not planning on easing him into the mission. 

I talked to him about goals he has for his mission the third night he was out as I was able to see how he worked, taught, and how his Spanish was. So I just gave it to him straight up that if he wants to accomplish those goals he's gonna have to work his behind off and that I'm just going to start him off running. After all, the first lesson I stuck him in was the Law Of Chastity haha not too many people can wave that flag! It scared me half to death when I saw him keeling over during the lesson due to a stomach cramp, and then I just remembered that I hadn't scheduled any time for us to eat and we were just on bikes, so I had to remember when I was in his position and get him some food, but I just want to make sure he learns everything I learned in the past year and can have a mission full of memorable, once in a lifetime experiences.  

 

I especially want to make him as bold as he can be since he's a short kid from Idaho that can't speak Spanish. So what we've been doing is really pushing the "contact everyone we see" and I even did something I've always wanted to try as we headed down to a training this Friday. We took DART down there, and since I was a trainer, I just thought I finally needed to do it and was determined to give it a try at least once. So as we got on the bus, Elder Duce quickly found a spot to sit down, but after swiping my card and boarding, I stood up in front of everyone and said, (this was how I planned it out...I don't remember if it came out exactly this way...but here it goes)  

 "Brothers and Sisters, we are Men of God and have received his promise in the scriptures that there are elect people in these last days that will accept a message about Modern Day Prophets, so we are going to go by each one of you and ask if you are one of the elect." I was scared outta my pants and the look on Elder Duce's face was priceless, but we were able to talk to some people and they anxiously asked us where our church was located and had all sorts of questions, so for all missionaries, it's a contacting idea I highly recommend! 

We were also able to have a baptism this Saturday from our work in Garland 1st, something which I was very Happy for Elder Duce to have since I didn't baptize anyone until my third transfer. I'm so grateful for everyone in the mission that was able to put me in the train of thought that "The Field Is White and Already to Harvest", because after a while here, I thought we'd have more luck panning for gold than baptizing anyone. But thanks to many, I have re-focused on the Lord's promise and we will have another baptism this week from some more work from the Garland 1st area. 

I'm also ingraining in his head that we invite everyone to baptism ASAP and that everyone we see is getting contacted and baptized! I remember when my mission started and "Hard Work" was planted in my head as "how many doors you've knocked", but I'm still going to give him the best I've got and make sure that he reaches his potential! Oh and by the way (I thought you'd enjoy this one Dad) I finally blew out the crotch in my black suit pants. After our baptism (which is quite a miraculous story that I'll share more about next week) I just started thinking, "Wow it feels like I've been out here a while...", and then I just started thinking, "Hmmmmm.....I wonder how long I've been out here....", and as I was thinking, I swung my leg over my bike as I was getting ready to ride and hear this loud "RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!"

It was a blunt answer to my question. It looks like I've got quite a bit of sewing to do. Well we're going to work like baptizing missionaries and are on our way to clean the font for this Saturday! I love yall and thank you so much for your prayers and letters! They really  get me past the hard times which seem to come like a dime a dozen out here in the mission, but the blessings and the good times always out-weigh anything! 

Les Quiero Muchisimo!!!

Elder Wilson         

Estan Atrapando La Ola?!?! Por Su Puesto Estoy Atrapando La Ola!!!

Wow what a week it has been. Well sorry for the cliffhanger Mom but there has been so much stuff going on and it's been so crazy, but way way way successful and quite an eventful week. So last week President sent me on quick notice to open up a new area in Garland! It was pretty crazy and I'm not going to lie, I was way way bummed at first because we had 7 baptisms planned out in Plano as we had worked to get the area ready to blossom, but again, the key to missionary work is just work, so whenever I just work my heart out I get over whatever buggin me. At first It was tough getting started in a new area, but after putting our all into it, we were able to set 8 baptismal dates in a week, my mission high! We also set one during the weekend which puts us at 9 baptismal dates total and more coming up, which is way awesome because now we're leading the mission! Another awesome awesome experience was when we (Only the mission) got to meet with and shake the hands of Elder D. Todd Christopherson, Elder Donald L. Hailstorm, and three other members from the Second Presidency of the Seventy and Area Seventies. It was such an inspiring meeting and it was amazing to feel the apostolic power, messages, and to recieve the apostolic blessings he gave us as his "companions in the Apostolic commission to Preach the Gospel!" He's one of my favorite members of the Twelve because of his simple but profound messages and the perfect wave he has in that hair of his haha. Well Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy came to our Stake this Sunday and we got to introduce him to a bunch of our new investigators! It's like a guarantee to baptism if they meet and shake the hand of a general authority haha love it! We saw each other all the time before the meeting, after the meeting, and at the mission meeting the other day, so we're pretty much on a first name basis as he came u and started shadow boxing me haha. As we were just messing around with each other I was thinkin "I wonder what'll happen if I just call him 'Don'"...but I'll never loose
respect for our General Authorities haha so it was way fun spending all that time with him. He's so going Apostle, especially because of his completely perfect part in that regal hair of his haha, but it was definitely an awesome weekend that I wont forget. Well with all that,
I wanted to give yall a little slice of what brings me the most joy I've felt out here on the mission and give you some info on what's going on in the live's of my best friends here in Dallas! It has been one of the greatest parts of my life to help them learn and participate in the ordinances of the Eternally Saving Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Manuel Jara is already ordained an Elder and is, as far as I've heard it, the new Elder's Quorom Secretary. His family preparing to go through the Temple this September.

As some of yall may know, Jacobo has married an already Endowed sister in Carrollton, and will be recieving the Melckezidek Priesthood and going through the temple the 25 of August.

After teaching Adrian and Berenis Urena, their Father has noticed a change in them, especially after their baptism, and months and months after their baptism (and visits from us relentless missionaries :), he has finally met with the bishop to set up a time in which he can be baptized.

Erika Martinez is happily living the Gospel and is teaching everything we've taught her to her mother and other members of her family! Their baptisms will be approaching very very soon and Erika is preparing her children to serve missions. And to the surprise of many doctors, her child that we blessed at 10 days old is still living, and was somehow miraculously healed from the previously diagnosed heart conditions.

Karina, the mother of David and Henry Arbaiza, is finally working things out to marry Carl! After teaching him for so long as the first family I found in my mission, he'll finally be able to get baptized.

My main homie from Greenville, Jason Walker, has quite some interesting coincidences with me. He was released from the Georgia mission on September 19, 1992. Shortly after his mission...some events happened and he left activity from the church until Elder Larson and I started working with him in his hometown ward of Greenville. A few weeks ago, he was able to go to the temple for the first time in 20 years, and after living a single life, will finally be able to marry the love of his life from back in High School and be sealed for time and all eternity this summer.

Just as we expected, Brittany and Carlos Riveroll are not only diligently dragging their Mom to church with them, but also their Dad! He was far from interested before their conversion, but they are helping their family prepare to someday enter the Temple. Carlos also has been ordained with the Aaronic preisthood and is always helping the Deacons in the sacred ordinance of the sacrament. I won't be surprised when he becomes Deacon's Quorum President anytime soon.

I recently recieved a letter from Tommy and Jaime Phillips explaining how happy they are as an active couple in the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ! Tommy (Previously Jehovah's Witness) has done the Temple baptism for his father and many other family members. They said, "We are so excited to see you at our Temple sealing this October!"

Well, life can be tough at times, but I can testify that the cure to anything is being employed in the service of the Lord.

And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

Well, all I gotta say is..."He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."