Happy November!!!

11/3 

Hey everyone!

This week was a little slow but it was a ton of fun! Halloween was so awesome. I'll send a ton of pics. We dressed up with the Plano 4th elders who share our building- Elder Crandell and Elder Maloney. We were cowboys and Indians. Elder Maloney is Navajo so we had authentic face paint and really awesome costumes we made. Sister Greenall sewed my whole dress and we beaded it and put feathers on it. It was quite the costume! Everyone at trunk or treat loved it. 

But it was freezing. 

I wanted to dedicate a whole paragraph on my hate of this cold weather. Riding a bike in the freezing cold in a dress is a joke! It's a joke! It's only like 50 degrees and I'm already freezing and shivering. We'll adjust....but Texas weather changes over night and I was not ready for this! These are my last 6 weeks I get to show my faith and devotion like this though so I'm pulling through. But I am not going to sugarcoat it or tell people I enjoy that bike. Oooooh I am not biking another mile for a long while after this mission. But I do enjoy wearing winter clothes :) and everything else that comes with this season. 

Laron is doing so well! He is officially being baptized November 11th at 7pm. We are so excited! And his family is going to come. They are so happy and proud of him. At the end of our lesson this week, he was sad we had to go because he said he was just so hungry for more truth. He's just been starving for years! 

Our ward mission leader, Brother Thomas has been such a huge help with him. We are so lucky to have such an awesome WML. He truly magnifies his calling and loves missionary work. 

This week Sister Walker put on an amazing Visiting Teaching Conference and Sister Greenall and I sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". Which reminds me- transfers are this week! But I feel somewhat confident we're both staying...but we'll see! I hate the nerves until we find out. 

We need lots of prayers for Denise and her husband Wayne. On their anniversary trip, he got in a serious accident and injured his spinal chord and neck. He was in the ICU for almost 2 weeks and is slowwwly recovering. Denise asked for local church members over there in California to come pray with them and give him a blessing. So I hope even though this is a scary and sad time for them that they will see God's magnificent hand in their lives. 

I just always remember the line from Praise to the Man that says "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven". It's so true!! We are being so blessed here in Plano. Everyone is always telling us how grateful they are for us and what a difference we're making. It means so much when people see and recognize that. I really love being a missionary. I can't believe its almost over! There are hints of Christmas just everywhere telling me I'm almost home! 

Well I love y'all! Can't believe we're coming up on Thanksgiving soon! I love and miss y'all so much!

Love,

Sissy Dalling

Me and Tyler <3 Love this kid! Nothin better than some football in Texas Fall

10/27

Hey everyone!

I'm so excited for Halloween. Can't wait to send yall pictures..we have some great costumes planned! You'll just have to wait and see. 

We had a good week.

Here are some highlights:

Laron is doing AWESOME. We call him Brother Brown- that is his last name. He is like our brother! I just can't wait to see the awesome things God does with him. He came to church again and should be getting baptized November 9th. On Saturday we went and watched him play flag football with the elders quorum. That was SO much fun. He was awesome of course. And we also watched Brother Chappell, Tyler's dad, and got to hang out with Tyler at the game.

Also on Saturday we went to a relief society activity and learned how to decorate cakes! That was so fun too. These women here are such great examples of who I want to be someday! I am so lucky. 

Sunday both wards had their primary programs. That was the most adorable thing ever! Lots of people invited their friends and the spirit was so strong. It was incredible to see the faith and love these children have for the gospel and their Savior. Our church primary leaders are just the best! 

That's about it for this week! Things are going well, but I know I need to have a good balance of focusing and thinking about home and not stressing out about everything. Life is going by way too fast! But I'm ready to hit the ground running and prove to my God that I love Him and will do everything I can to return to Him and bring as many people as I can along with me. I love Him! 

I love y'all! Especially my beautiful sisters- Katie and Sara. You looked SO gorgeous in your pictures. Write me!

Love,

Sister Dalling 

10/20/2014

My Dearest Family and Friends,

 I love you so much! These next 2 months are going to be quite the challenge. It's always a missionaries nightmare to get a call from home bearing sad news about our loved ones. This weekend was very hard for me, finding out my Grandpa Leatham has cancer.. Family I am praying for you day and night! I know people are doing the same for me. I can't tell you how many tender mercies have been sent my way this week. "God will never us forsake". I can't tell you the peace I have found in the Plan of Salvation, that I have an eternal family. I hope I can bring that peace to the people here in Plano.. I need to make these last 8 weeks count. 

I did have a really good week other than that news though. The work is really moving forward here! 

Denise is doing really well! We were totally meant to meet. She's going on her anniversary trip this week so hopefully theres lots to update next time we meet with her! She is so close to the spirit and just wants to help everyone.

I have to tell you about Laron! He is so amazing. He had a couple of lessons around a year ago with Sister Hanson ( my trainer)!  We found him through contacting a few weeks ago. They live a humble life and he just lost his grandma. He's 23 but very mature because of all he's been through. He's so full of faith and hope! He truly wants to be better and is soo receptive. We gave him a second Book of Mormon and he gave it away to someone at work! He is already a missionary! He clicked right away with Brother Thomas, our ward mission leader. There's this other guy named Sam who lives in the complex as well who joined our lesson.. He's an interesting fella.. . He asked about why we don't wear crosses and Laron told him it's because we wear the cross on our hearts instead and glorify the living Christ. Perfect answer!! He came to church Sunday at 8:30am, met the bishopbric. After sacrament he even went up to the speakers and thanked them for their talks!! In gospel principles he participated. We had to leave that ward early because I was asked to sing in Plano 1 ward, but Brother Thomas texted us and said Laron ASKED to be baptized on November 1! I couldn't believe it!! He is totally going to be a bishop or something someday. We were shocked and so excited. It will probably be either Nov 1 or 8. 

Yes, I sang in Plano 1. An elder and I did a duet to "I Love Jesus Christ". It turned out really well! And the best part was that Joakim and Christelle (basically his sister) gave us a ride to it and spent half the day with us. It was so much fun! He will always be my big brother. 

Another fun thing that happened was the great night we had with the Restrepo family. They invited some other elders over too and we had a huge barbeque dinner and watched the long version of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. I just love that family! Can't wait for the day that Sergio is baptized. 

Those are the highlights of my week! Opposition in all things, right? I have a huge testimony about that for sure. 

I love you! Keep those prayers coming.

Sister Kristina Dalling

It's My Birthday!!!! 20 years old.....wow. (Week 44:update from Sachse, Texas)

 Part of my birthday present was this incredible sign. My favorite quote- "In God's plan there are no endings, Only everlasting beginnings." 20 years ago my eternal life with the best parents began.. I'm so lucky! 

All my chocolate... well there's more..but this is what I felt like taking a picture of. And yes that is a Jesus chocolate. And yes, that is organic healthy chocolate in that bag! I found the answer to my addiction! This is even healthy! It has no sugar. Just dark chocolate and honey. My goodness I love it.

4-28-2014

First of all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA LEATHAM! I love you so much! I've loved you since the day I was born, and for eternity before then as well. I feel so blessed to share a birthday with such an incredible woman. I look up to you so much! You are the most amazing blessing to our family. I hope your birthday is so wonderful. I'm sending you hugs and kisses!!

and Yes it's my birthday too! It's been a great one so far. I really do have the best family. All I wanted was a letter from each of them and they definitely exceeded that expectation! And thank everyone for all the birthday email! I feel so loved! Out of all the presents I've been given, probably 90% of it was chocolate. People know me too well. God, love, and chocolate. Those are my basic needs and wants. I love my family and friends! I really have been so blessed to be surrounded by the most incredible people. Wow. Also for my birthday I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON. Wooh! Perfect timing. Wow, I love that book!

I can't believe I am 20 years old. I seriously feel so old today. I am no longer a teenager! I don't even know how to be 20! But I'll take it one day at a time. And now I want to take a moment and admire God's hand in my life. We had interviews this week and Sister Durrant spoke about what a huge blessing the 'age change' was for so many. I thought about it. It changed my life. Completely turned it around. I couldn't help but cry because God literally loves me so much, He lowered the age at the exact moment I needed it. He once again saved my life. My mission is and forever will be the best choice I ever made. I heard a story from someone in our ward. His brother taught the deacons a long time ago and told them if they went on missions he would pay them $500. All but one went, and he said it was worth every cent! It is most definitely. The same man taught a group of primary girls. He gave them each a dollar and said they could spend that dollar or they could save it and if they got married in the temple, he would pay them each $100 if they brought back that $1. What an amazing man! And I love the emphasis on missions. My future marriage would not be the same if I didn't serve a mission, I know that for a fact!

So we had such an amazing week!

We found 5 new investigators. It was such a huge miracle. Two of them are super solid, too. One lady and her family were a referral from the Evans. Her husbands family all joined the church within the past 10 years. Her whole side of the family is Catholic, so they get pressure from both sides. She wants to investigate and see which one fits her family the best. What an amazing mother! Then we are teaching another lady who was a referral from the Bishop. Her story is incredible. So she is 45 and is fighting colon cancer. She goes through intense chemo treatment and it's really affecting her and her family's life. Her biological father died when she was very young. She never knew his side of the family, but 5 years ago she was doing family history work on her father and his side of the family (who are all members) found her! They told her she should get a blessing, so they contacted our bishop. He then asked her the willing and brief invitation and BAM we are teaching her! She is such a strong woman. She really has lived a difficult life. The gospel will help her so much. It's so amazing to be able to know and love her.

Robert hasn't been to church in 3 weeks...pray for him and Judy.. :(

John Cook is pretty sick.. I need prayers.

The Riegals are going to church and the father is taking the lessons! Prayers answered!

Byron ran into anti material...prayers. 

We had a ward talent show on Saturday and Sister Reboquio and I wrote more words to the Cup song/Called to Serve. It was really good, everyone loved it! We also spoke on Sunday. Everyone said they loved that as well! Interviews were great. Those were the last interviews the Durrants will give before they leave! Crazy. They asked me to sing at that meeting as well. I've been able to sing practically every week! I love it! I heard David Archuleta is home.. crazy!

My companion is incredible. She's doing so good! Her life is such an example. Her foster parents are the mission president and his wife of a mission in the Philippines. Her family is in too much poverty to take care of all the kids, that's why she is fostered. She converted to the gospel at age 10 and a lot of her family is less active now. Seriously she is so strong, I love her! She is such a blessing to me. I thank God every day.

Ether 12:27 is my scripture of the week!

"Pure Christ like love flowing from true righteousness can change the world." Elder Holland

I love y'all so much! All y'all and each y'all. Thank you so much for such a wonderful birthday.

Sister Kristina Dalling

 P.S.

Sorry everyone but I had to get evidence of this!

This is my gigantic spider bite. Yep, it's 2 weeks old and still nasty. You should have seen it last week. This seriously looks like it's healed a ton. The story: We were just outside and my arm started itching, I scratched it barely and my skin started peeling. Then I had a huge bump and it was red and my skin was raw. It was disgusting. We tracted into a nurse last week and she said it was a spider bite and that I was super lucky and I should have seen a doctor. Apparently spiders here in Texas can be very dangerous. And this was a huge spider. Those are the bite marks, pretty gross right? Good thing I didn't die! Just kidding ;) It's fine, just kind of horrible looking.

p.p.s. Also! This is completely unrelated but when the group of missionaries that Sister Reboquio entered with came into the mission, one of the new sisters came up to me. She said 'don't think this is creepy or anything but I know all about you! I stalked your blog ever since I decided to serve a mission.' Made my day! Seriously-haha. This is such a small world. Thought y'all would enjoy that! 

"Happy Easter!" Week 43 Update from Sachse, Texas

"Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life."  New Era, May 1975 President Ezra Taft Benson

Losing my life to God was the best thing I ever did. Period. This mission, as Felipe has said, 'is the hardest thing I've ever loved'. And training is the best thing I've ever been nervous for.

My new companion is Sister Reboquio! She is amazing. She's from the Philippines, which is the coolest thing ever! This is her first time in America! It has been quite an adventure teaching her about this country and learning about her country. She speaks Tagalog but studied English in school. Her English is pretty good but there's still a little bit of a language barrier. She's adjusting very well though! She's the sweetest person from an amazing culture. I love Filipinos just from what she's told me. Training is crazy, especially because I'm training her on an entirely new culture too. Her country is a lot more simple than ours. The people are much more harsh here and our way of life is quite extravagant. Being her trainer has taught me a lot more than what I'm teaching her. This is definitely a life changing experience! Her people serve each other all the time and are so respectful, it's so incredible! I can easily say the only hard thing about training so far is my disappointment in our culture.. People don't seem to have enough time for God or to serve and love each other. The way money is thrown around is super astounding to my companion, and it's really opened my eyes. We could really use some humility up in here!;)

The differences in our cultures don't all make me sad though! It's been so fun experiencing things she's never done or seen. I took her to Subway for the first time- she loved it! (Thanks for the gift card mom!) She says everything is bigger in Texas- and she doesn't even know that's a saying! But it's true! She was amazed how big the sky, the sun and moon are. She's never met so many inside, pampered dogs. In the Philippines, dogs usually run around the  streets all the time. I taught her how to use a dishwasher and a washing machine. I want to teach her to drive, but pretty sure the mission wouldn't approve! We bought rice and have been eating that everyday. She's teaching me Tagalog and we are going to learn I am a Child of God! She's really adorable. She has an amazing spirit and testimony. She is a super powerful teacher. Training has really been the best experience! There are so many things, I don't even have enough time to write them all down. One funny story- The first night she was here she was still not sure about what she should and shouldn't do. So we were getting ready for bed and I said my prayer and got into bed. I left the light on because she was still praying and usually the last person to go to sleep will turn the light off. She must have thought we slept with the light on or something because the light was on all night. I was so tired I didn't even notice until 6am! The next day our light burnt out- haha! It's been fun. She watches and does and says everything I do, so it's been a good chance to evaluate all those things in myself. I'm always teaching her new words and she is a great, fast learner!

We have had a great week! It's been a huge blessing to have such fresh faith. I'll have to tell y'all about more miracles next week! I got to sing a song in Spanish at another Spanish baptism- that was one highlight. Gift of tongues in music for sure since I only had 10 minutes to prepare! Oh and one of my favorite highlights- Robert and Judy have been having a hard time recently. She is getting more sick and it doesn't look like she'll be able to be baptized in this life. Robert is so tired. So we asked what his favorite dessert was. Key lime pie. So with the help of the Lea family, we got to make his dessert! He wasn't expecting it at all. It brought tears to both of their eyes and meant so much to them. It was definitely worth all 20 key limes that we juiced. I'm so blessed to have so many incredible people in my life right now!

Also I read the story of the brother of Jared in Ether and wrote down my thoughts. I really got a lot out of this story and wanted to share it with y'all: When we turn to God and rely on His support, He will be there. He will provide trials. He will provide safety, light, protection, guidance to lead us in the right direction toward what He has prepared for us. There may be storms of trials, we may be completely submerged in hardship but He will always bring us back up. Under water or above water, He will always be the light that never dims. We must keep ourselves 'tight like unto a dish' to God and His counsel. No wiggle room. We should praise Him and give Him thanks unceasingly. Then, we must go to work.

President Monson: "Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, He is with us. He has promised that this will never change. May we have a commitment to our Heavenly Father that does not ebb or flow with the years or the crises of our lives. We should not need to experience difficulties for us to remember Him, and we should not be driven to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. May we ever strive to be close to our Heavenly Father. To do so, we must pray to Him and listen to Him every day. We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain. May His promise ever be our watchward: 'I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.'"

Easter was the best ever! Made me cry every time I thought about how incredible it was to spend Easter as a missionary. Talking of Christ, Rejoicing in Christ, Preaching of Christ. He lives! He is Risen! He will come again!

Mahal kita! (I love you in Tagalog)

Sister Kristina Dalling

P.S. I completed my 21 day chocolate fast! And my mom provided the prize. Thanks for the best Easter package! aka chocolate package aka I love you! I have the best family ever!

Forever<3

Write me!

Sister Kristina Dalling

6360 Murphy Rd.
#123
Sachse, TX 75048

Week 42 Update From The Sachse, Texas: "Because of Him"

Click here to watch "Because of Him" video

This is in honor of Frozen. We've heard so much about this movie and the soundtrack is the best thing ever! So we built a snowman at Bahama Bucks ;)

While we were tracting, we knocked on a house with a pet pig! Only in Texas..

Joakim's baptism! Look at all these sister missionaries.. I would call this a sister success ;)

Remember this picture posed way back while we were teaching him? Yep, we created it again on his baptism day! I love these people so much. 

Sunsets here in Texas after a thunderstorm are just breathtaking. I love Texas!

Bluebonnets! True, wild, Texan beauty

Transfer 3 in Sachse here we come! Sister Stephenson is being transferred, and she's really sad about it, but I know she'll enjoy discovering a new area. So I'm going to be training this transfer! I'm going to be a mom (aka the title missionaries give the sisters that train a grennie sister missionary)! I'm super nervous about it. I feel like God is trusting me too much. It'll be a good experience and I know I'll grow a lot from it. I  hope I can be a good trainer! I really can feel her parents' prayers asking God for a good first companion for their daughter. So no pressure!

We had such a good week last week! Joakim's baptism was one of the best experiences on my mission! I've learned so much from him, it was incredible to see him make these changes and show his faith in Christ. He was confirmed Sunday and received the priesthood all in the same day! Couldn't have been a better weekend! For celebration we went to a Japanese sushi restaurant which was unbelievably good! I didn't even know I liked sushi that much. Amazing stuff!

It's been really hard finding new investigators who really have a desire, so I'm hoping the new 'greenie faith' coming in will help with that. I'm so ready to find more success in Sachse! I'm also super excited for Easter! It's such an incredible holiday! The fact that Christ lives changes everything. It's impacted my life in ways I can't describe. Because of Him I am here today. Because of Him I have hope. Because of Him I WILL live again..with the people that matter to me most- my family. I love Easter! And I love Jesus Christ! Also there's a super good Mormon message called Because of Him. Y'all need to watch it. <Click here> And share it with everyone!

So Texas really showed her beauty this week. The bluebonnets are blooming everywhere! They are insanely beautiful. We've been getting a lot of thunderstorms too. And heat lightening! I absolutely love it. God's creations are so incredible.

One of my favorite members from The Colony sent me a letter and included some quotes that I just have to share! I loved it. Thank you Sister Dali!

"Nobody else could do what you can do right now, right here." Sis Dali

"I've learned a few things about this path we're all traveling. We are exactly where we need to be. And crawling is fine."

Much Love,

Sister Dalling

Week 41 From The Sachse

Hey y'all! 

This week we really weren't able to get a lot done with conference, but it was still a great week! I went to the allergy doctor this morning so hopefully that will all be figured out! It hasn't been that bad recently because of all the rain..because of the storms..because of the tornado. Yep, there was a tornado close to Sherman, TX which is like an hour away, but it caused a few days of thunderstorms that were pretty crazy. Tornado season is going to be fun! 

Joakim's baptism is this Saturday!!!!!!! I am so excited! He has become one of my very best friends. I'm so happy God has led him to where he is today. He's such a great example to me of faith and trusting in God. This week is going to be a great one! 

We are teaching this one elderly lady that we found from tracting. She's pretty funny! She's sweet as heck. She loves to talk, and we found out she used to have a best friend who was Mormon. Not sure how interested she is in joining yet, but she is an amazing woman! 

General Conference was so good! I think my top favorite talks were Sister Reeves', Elder Richard G Scott's, President Uchtdorf's, and President Monson's. Overall it was just an incredible conference. One of my favorite quotes is "In [God's] plan, there are no endings, only everlasting beginnings."President Uchtdorf. Amen to that! I feel so grateful to know so much about God and His plan for all of us. 

Also, I'm so grateful God has allowed me to bear my testimony through music a lot lately. We had the song Elder Evans and President Durrant wrote filmed and recorded on Saturday. That was a really fun project! Hopefully I'll have the video soon! Speaking of President Durrant, he was just called as the second counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency! I can't believe it! I have the best mission president in the whole world. He is so amazing. He is such a good example to all of us. Also the Spanish elders had a baptism yesterday they asked me to sing at. It was really special and I was so grateful to serve with my talents. 

Well that's all for now, folks! Hope this week is filled with joy and blessings for all of you! 

Love,

Sis Dalling

p.s. Here are some pics of Jeremy's baptism! 

Week 39 Update from Sachse, Texas!

Hey y'all!

Another week of miracles! To be honest, I've had to really look for the miracles this week, but regardless they were there! It was a trying week.

For example, Tuesday we had 5 lessons planned and all of them fell through or cancelled! So we basically knocked on doors all day every day. It was exhausting! But it builds character- haha.

On Friday, we had Specialized Training with all the English missionaries. It was really great to see everyone! Oh, when I saw Sister Allred, she told me her grandpa passed away two weeks ago. So keep her in your prayers! Can't imagine how hard that must be. So during the training, President Durrant told a story about how a missionary's parents and older brother visited Dallas for business but wanted to see their missionary. They didn't want to distract him, but chose to watch from afar all day. He told two scenarios, the first was of a missionary who wasn't working as hard as he should have been and it made the parents and brother really sad. The second scenario was that they were so proud to see him working with all his might. At the end, we found out the parents were our Heavenly Parents and Jesus Christ, our elder brother. It was such a powerful story. And it really rang true to me. God sees everything I'm doing, He sees all my hard work even though sometimes nobody else does because we don't have success in numbers. God and Christ know my potential and they are with me every step of the way. I really needed to hear that this week!

So Sister Stephenson and I made a goal to contact as many people as we could the rest of the week. In one day, we talked to 100 people. We had a total of 202 contacts for the week. Usually missionaries have a hard time reaching 100 for a total week. It was a lot of hard work and we are exhausted now, but it was so worth it! And it was incredible realizing God and Christ were watching me and were with me every moment.

We even tracted a neighborhood no missionary has knocked on prior because it was gated. As missionaries, gated communities are one of our biggest enemies. I think every missionary gets the police called on them at least once. The police have come twice already in my 9 months! So in this gated community we ran into a few houses that had gates that led up to the door as well. Sister Stephenson and I asked each other if we should still unlock the gate and knock on the door, and after a few moments we came to the conclusion that we definitely should! Why were we fearing what man could do? Why were we scared of a simple gate? My motivation was found in a simple thought that entered into my head "Please don't let a simple gate stop this person from hearing My gospel.. I love this person, and I suffered everything for them so I could heal them. Please don't pass this chance up for them". It felt so good to knock on that door, even though it didn't lead to anything! Christ was rejected too, He was scared too of how bitter the cup was. I can do my simple part in giving everyone the chance to feel that healing, to come to Christ.

So I learned a lot. I grew a ton this week and I am so grateful for that!

Also President Durrant asked a favor of me! He asked an elder and I to make music to a poem President wrote. I'm going to sing it at a meeting in May or June. I was so honored when he pulled me aside and asked! He said I've become the official TDM vocalist. I'm so excited for this opportunity. I love my mission!

Expect more miracles next week!

Love,

Sister Kristina Dalling

Write me!

6360 Murphy Rd.
#123
Sachse, TX 75048

Week 35 from Sachse, Texas: "Declutter Day!"

Declutter Day!

Family and Friends,

We had an insane week!! I don't even know where to begin.

The beginning of the week was really slow because Sister Stephenson and I were both sick.. It must have been a stomach bug. At our lesson with Joakim later in the week I threw up and almost fainted when we were leaving.. BUT luckily we brought a member from the YSA ward who is now Joakim's good friend, Felipe, and he gave me a blessing and I'm all good now! Felipe is from Brazil but he actually served in this same mission, Spanish speaking a couple years ago! Small world. But I'm feeling fine now!!

Wednesday was the craziest day. We got a call from the assistants and found out we were getting another sister added to our companionship that night because a sister's area had to close suddenly. That's all the information we were given. We didn't know who, when, or why. So Sister Walton has joined us here in Sachse! It was all very last minute but we are adaptable. We don't know how long this will last, but most likely until transfers next week. It's very different being in a trio. It definitely comes with its challenges.  Living with one person who has differences is one thing, but throw in another, it's a whole other story. Pray for us this week! It definitely has it's advantages too, but trios are hard stuff. Nevertheless we are seeing miracles every day! Sister Walton is an INCREDIBLE missionary. I know there's a reason she's here, and I have most definitely learned a lot from her. She goes home next transfer and she was Sister Training Leader for months.

Joakim is doing awesome, reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church.  Felipe is awesome for him. On Sunday, it was the funniest thing. We had the most international bench in the church. We had Felipe from Brazil, Joakim from Norway, us, Ally and her sister from Asia, and a friend we brought for them. I love it! We are having way more luck with the YSA ward which is sad because that's not even our ward! But of course it's all for the Lord.

We found some pretty awesome investigators this week! My testimony of tracting and asking everyone for referrals has strengthened so much! We knocked on a house and a high schooler opened the door. His family wasn't really interested but he told us to stop by a few of his friends on that street when we asked who else did he know who would be interested. His friend Jessie is awesome. We taught her the first lesson and she is just so great. She and her family have a very strong Christian faith. She's reading the Bible in 90 days (13 chapters a day) and working on a devotional. She's a freshman in high school. Yeah. She seemed really sincere and genuine. She just said she might not have much time to read The Book of Mormon because of her intense Bible study and homework. That's pretty understandable though. Luckily she only has like a month left. She was definitely inspiring.

We also met a girl named Hope who was just walking her dog. She really touched my heart! We saw her once and told her a little about our faith, but she continued on. We saw her a little later and she came up to us and asked us a few questions about what sets us apart from other Christians. We told her, and she bore her testimony in telling us how she wanted us to really look into it and pray about it. Sadly she thought we were mislead but she was very young, and said she was nervous about 'witnessing' to us because she had never done it before but that we were so nice she wanted us to have the full truth. I loved her courage and conviction, it was very inspiring.

Elder Ellis' visit was so wonderful! It was a lot about enjoying your mission, but doing your very best at the same time. He added even more to my faith, love, obedience saying. He said Faith is the power, Obedience is the price, Love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, Christ is the reason, and Joy is the reward. His wife said "Sacrifice isn't loss- it's merely preparation for something better". I really needed to hear that. They also talked about different levels of faith and how important and powerful faith can be.

Just yesterday we had a huge miracle. We found a family of 5 through tracting that we are now teaching! The son knows the bishops sons who are returned missionaries, and has looked into the church before. So now we are teaching the family! They are awesome. Super strong faith though and LOTs of questions, so we are definitely having to research and study a lot. I'll have to tell you more about them next week. I can't tell you how much I've learned from all the people I've met on my mission. I love it!

So transfer calls are this week.. I know I'm staying though because President Durrant told my Stake President to ask me to sing at Stake Conference, and he did so I at least have another transfer here! Who know who will be my companion though?? Crazy. Transfer 7 here we come... my halfway point! Ah.

So today was declutter day for the mission. Our apartment has had missionaries for 10 years... Everyone and their mom left stuff everywhere so this is a picture of all the stuff we threw out today! Thanks a lot RM's!;) At least it feels a lot cleaner now.

I love y'all soooo much!! Thank you for all the letters and emails. 

Love,

Sister Kristina Dalling
6360 Murphy Rd.
#123
Sachse, TX 75048

Happy Superbowl Week!! (Week 32) from Sachse, TX

So this week was a state holiday for most- the Super Bowl! Everything is definitely bigger in Texas. In honor of the Super Bowl, I reread "Hastening the Lord's Game Plan"  by Elder Gifford Nielson (former NFL Quarterback) . Super good talk. I invite y'all to read it or watch it on youtube.  BYU football coach, Lavell Edwards, said to QB Nielson something along the lines of 'I didn't care what play you made, as long as it got a touchdown'. Similarly, the Lord doesn't care how we do missionary work as members, just that we do it. So Elder Nielson gave some simple suggestions for the Lord's Game Plan.

1.Specifically pray to bring someone closer to the Savior and the gospel each day

2.Pray for the missionaries serving in your area and their investigators by name each day- "Until you know a person's name and face the Lord cannot help you know his/her heart."-Elder Nelson

3.Invite a friend to an activity in or out of your home.

As missionaries, we get a lot of praise from members and other fellow Christians all around who are amazed at our devotion. But. I most admire members who juggle real life with missionary work! It's so amazing and they are truly following the Lord's admonition to follow Him and be fishers of men.

I also read the same talk about Grace as a previous week and this quote  really helped me out.

"The task ahead of you is never greater than the power behind you." So true! The Lord has promised that He will be with me throughout my mission. I should be absolutely fearless.

It was an interesting week for sure! I've met the most interesting people. Missions are the best!

We had two baptismal dates but sadly they are moving to Garland, just outside our area, so we are passing them on to Elder Rowland! But we received a referral from Mormon.org that seems pretty promising. Stay tuned!

The weirdest experiences come from tracting. Basically, in a super rich neighborhood, a lady felt sorry for us and gave me some extra stockings! Yep. No complaints. Then that same day we met a guy who had a parrot. He and his wife happened to be the aunt and uncle of someone who was baptized in Carrolton. They gave us a parrot feather after talking for an hour and we are invited back!

It was a good week, absolutely freezing but great! Love y'all!

Sister Kristina Dalling

6360 Murphy Rd.

#123

Sachse, TX 75048

Highlights from week 1 in Sachse, Texas (Week 31)

The Lewis Family- They've been with me since the beginning! I've grown so close to all these boys, they're like my brothers. This is an incredible family.

The Finlayson Family- Oh my heck I do not know what I'll do without Sister Finlayson. I love her! They were the first family I ever had dinner with on my mission. She was always there for us when we needed someone. What an incredible family. 

Sister Wilson :) I love her! She was heaven sent. She is so talented and loving. She's the medical masseuse who saved my neck, back, and jaw a few transfers ago. Love her! 

The Davis Family- it was so hard to leave them! They are truly part of my Texas family. I'll be back for Jeremy's baptism in March though!

The cutest couple in the world!! TJ and Kayce  

Sister Alleman- my first home in Texas! I will love and miss that amazing family

Kayce!! So glad I was able to be with her throughout her journey in finding Christ. She is truly amazing

The Byrne Family- one of my favorite active families. Debbie Byrne is the one on her mission whom I love and Sister Byrne is the lovely Italian who hosted us for Christmas. Love them!!

The Binghams- one of my favorite 'dinner families' in the ward. Sister Bingham is from Mexico and her husband met her very briefly on his mission there. She makes the BEST authentic Mexican food

I thought I could dedicate a whole email to John. He was by far the hardest person to leave. It was absolutely heart breaking, not going to lie. I couldn't even say anything, Sister Erickson had to speak my thoughts for me as I was saying goodbye. I had to get the pictures before they even knew I was leaving. He knew something was up because he said my eyes looked sad and asked what was wrong. I told them both and we cried together. 

Leaving John is one of the hardest things I've done. I'm not sure what it was, but our spirits developed such a strong friendship. I feel like I've known him for thousands of years. I feel so extremely grateful to know John and Shirlene Cook. To have been part of his learning in the gospel. I promised to write him every single week, and he reassured me he'd see me every day because I was in his heart forever. He also confessed to Shirlene and I that his lung x rays didn't come out very well, and I guess I knew something was wrong. I'm not sure how much longer he has on this earth, but he will always be in my heart throughout distance and time. 

We always sing 'oldies' songs together and we sang "I'll Be Seeing You" one last time- that's our favorite! It was such a hard day for me, and I must admit I am proud of myself for getting through it. He told me to "Just keep smiling. Just smile." And I will always do that. 

I love The Colony!!!! Never did I think I could be the person I am today, and the people and experiences I've had in this area have completely made that possible. I love my mission!

Transfers were so hard!

I'm pretty sure I just conquered the hardest part of my whole mission. So it can only go up! Sister Stephenson is so awesome! She's super cute and fun, so we get along really well :)

Sachse is a super challenging area! I thought The Colony was hard, but Sachse hasn't had a single baptism in 2 years. President has only sent the best of the best missionaries here like Elder Merrill and Sister Duncan. Sister Duncan was here for the same amount of time I was in The Colony and she just left to be a Sister Training Leader. So it's a lot of pressure being in this area. Being senior comp isn't really a big deal at all. It's a little more difficult when it hasn't been my area. Most of what Sis Stephenson did last transfer was tracting. They found a few people who might have potential but we all know there are more effective ways than tracting. The hard part is trying to reorganize and change the way things have always been in this area. It's hard for missionaries to accept an incomer's perspective. I don't know the ward very well, but something definitely needs to change so we start seeing some success. This is The Hastening of the work, I know we can find those who are prepared, we just have to figure out the right way to go about it.

Some of my highlights of the week:

We are working with a man who recently came back into activity, and he has an incredible story! He is taking care of his ex-wife currently because she has Lou Gehrig's disease. They were married 20 years, divorced for 14, but always promised they'd be there for the other if something were to ever happen. She called him a year ago and asked if he could come take care of her because she had been diagnosed with this awful disease. This disease is so horrible, no one in their right mind would even wish it on their worst enemy. Basically, all voluntary motion slowly diminishes to the point when you are trapped in a body that can't even swallow by itself. She is in the final stages it looks like. She can't do anything on her own, has a feeding tube, a suction tube, and the worst part is you have full brain function the whole time. He has so much love and compassion for her. Every 20 minutes or so he has to suction out her saliva since she can't swallow and he watches her 24/7. He has nurses come in every so often so he can go shopping and shower, but he is incredible. She isn't a member and he and his son want her baptized so badly. Obviously there are a lot of complications, so we are working through it. We are going to teach her the lessons and see how it goes. She can sometimes muster enough energy to communicate through blinking, but it's a challenge. It's incredible to see this act of love though.

We serve  at Salvation Army on Wednesdays and Fridays. So many great people work there. And guess what?? Elder Rowland is my zone leader now and I get to see him every time we do service! It's the best! Gotta love tender mercies.

So we are super low on miles for the rest of this month. We walked a ton last week. We tracted a super nice neighborhood full of multi million dollar homes. No joke. All of Sachse is pretty wealthy, but this neighborhood had never been tracted, and we had hours and hours of time with no miles so we tracted it! We didn't find much success if you can imagine haha. We only talked to about 12 people and half of them were the maids/workers.  It was really fun though seeing all these amazing houses. Felt like I spent a day in Beverly Hills, met a few CEO's of companies, huge real estate owners, super successful business owners- no big deal. Would have taken pictures but we'd probably get arrested or something! ;)

So I'm living in an apartment that has housed missionaries for who knows how long. It is pretty gross haha. It's quite a change!

Some other people we are working with:

One investigator is 50 and so great!! They tracted into him a while ago and he is pretty promising for baptism he just has a hard time committing to much. I'm pretty sure it's because he doesn't have a firm testimony that this is the ONLY true church. He thinks any good church is true. We'll see :)

There is this one couple-- I will definitely have to tell yall more about them later. He's from Norway, she's from Africa. She's like his 'spiritual mother'. She's a LA member and he's an investigator. She is basically a false prophetess and they are both Unitarian. So new experiences await :)

Also the mission is creating a 'would you be willing' invitation video to help with missionary work. They asked missionaries who've had experience with this invitation to be in the video. They really liked my part, so they came to our ward and recorded us with some of the members after church just interacting. So keep your eyes open for an awesome video someday!

Lots of great things ahead here in the Texas Dallas Mission.

Love and Miss yall!

My address is

6360 Murphy Rd.

#123

Sachse, TX 75048

7 Months!!! News from The Colony, TX (Week 29)

My mission has just seem to flown by so far. I can't believe I'm already almost halfway done. And I love every second of it!

It has been a very good transfer and it's ending this week.. We'll see what the Lord has in store for me next week! Change- it's not fun, but it's necessary and it is actually pretty exciting. I will never be ready to leave The Colony, but I do realize I'm going to have to leave sometime!

Mon- Top Golf was so much fun! If they have one in Oregon, it's totally worth it. It's like a bowling alley for golfing. That night we also had a really good lesson. We are teaching 7 year olds and 15 year olds in the ward the discussions. We taught The Restoration to this one family who has a 15 year old son. It's amazing to me that no matter how many times I teach this lesson, I never cease to be overcome with the Spirit especially as Joseph's First Vision is recited. The mother commented after the lesson that that had been the most spiritual lesson her family has ever experienced in their home- and they are a super spiritual family to begin with! So that meant a lot.

Wed- We found a new investigator through service! We were driving down a street and saw a lady raking leaves in her yard. We pulled over and started helping her pile leaves in bags even though she said we didn't have to. Because of that, she invited us in to listen to our message. We have taught her three times now! She is wonderful. Her son works with a couple of boys in the ward, too, at Chikfila. Later that night we had a lesson with a less active couple. We met them New Year's Eve actually. They are really nice. The father struggles a lot because he thinks too much about everything. It's not that he doesn't have faith, I'm convinced he does. He just mixes up absolute, sure knowledge because of evidence with faith, therefore he thinks he doesn't have faith in anything. But we know faith is something hoped for and not seen, the evidence is faith. I absolutely love them and I just want to help him realize there is so much to hope for and have faith in! He is in a few bands and they both live on a little farm they built. They make their own cheese and eat mostly organic, he plays guitar and sings, so yes we get along quite well! He got baptized 10 years ago, but sadly it seems he only did it for his wife. It's never too late to find faith though!! So we challenged him to study the scriptures and come to church and focus on things that he can hope are true, since he has a problem with soo many basic principles of the gospel. Faith can start with the smallest of desires.

Thurs- We taught a 7 year old a discussion. We came up with a really fun way of teaching it and afterward he said "Wow, I had no idea learning about the gospel could be so fun!". I LOVE teaching people, not lessons. Meaning, teaching to their understanding and using the inspiration we receive for our lessons. It's amazing.

Saturday- We are teaching this one family and they are good friends with several families in the ward. I tracted into them way back on Thanksgiving and discovered all their friends quickly after. The mother has 5 kids and they have such a great family! They are super strong Christians, amazing family. They would make absolutely great Mormons! She is super skeptical of Joseph Smith though. It's really hard to explain to her that there is more we can add to her faith. She is having the hardest time with The Restoration. It's taking us a lot of study time with the Bible, history, and Joseph Smith. It's exhausting, and I wish I had more resources, but it will so be worth it when it finally clicks with her!

Sunday- We taught an Indian man that we met a few weeks back while tracting. He even invited his friend from work to come over as well. He has a Hindu backround, but seems very open to Christianity. It's really strange starting from square 1, God. He doesn't even know much of anything about the Bible, but he's really close to the Spirit and I know he felt it as we taught him about God and Christ, our Savior.

I am going to have the hardest time leaving this area. This is my home right now. I practically know the whole ward, which is quite a feat. I love everyone so much. I will need a lot of prayers. Especially because of John and Shirlene, I know I'll be able to see everyone else again, but I'm not sure how much longer those two are going to last. Their health is declining quickly. I feel John isn't telling me something about his health. It's heartbreaking thinking about leaving him. Especially because I know he needs my love, he gets so lonely! I'm going to need all the prayers y'all can muster. Luckily, I'm going to the temple on Wednesday, I'm sure that will help a lot.

Now is my time to exercise my faith and trust in the Lord.

Grace has really been on my mind this past week. I read a talk by Brad Wilcox that was excellent. It's titled "His Grace is Sufficient".

"Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us."

"Grace is not the finishing touch, it is the Finisher's touch."

"Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done 'all we can do'. He is with us every step of the way"

I may not have all the answers I'd like to have "but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to His word." Alma 7:8

"I know not by what methods rare, But this I know, God answers prayer. I know that He has given His word, which tells me prayer is always heard, And will be answered soon or late. And so I pray and calmly wait. I know not if the blessing sought will come in just the way I thought; But leave my prayers with Him alone, whose will is wiser than my own, Assured that He will grant my quest, or send some answer far more blest." Eliza Hickok

Love Always,

Sister Dalling