THIS IS MY LAST WEEK!! From Plano, Texas

Hey everyone!!!

THIS IS MY LAST WEEK!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS. 

I can't believe it. Next week there probably won't be a ton of an update but I'll be home soo soon :)

I kind of have a crazy update so hang on! Please don't worry about me, I am doing more than great. 

So basically we lost our car in Plano :( They needed it for another area and our apartment is too far. Sister Acton and I are with different Sister Training Leader comps for the time being. I'm with Sister Gavin and Sister Peterson! They are AMAZING and I love them so much. I'm having a ton of fun with them in Garland. Garland has soo much work. We taught 20 lessons! 10 LTMP's- which I haven't done for a long time. The investigators and members here are so great. 

It's hard to be away from Plano, I miss my area, but it looks like Elders Maloney and Crandell are going to take over which is a good thing because we had to drive 20 minutes every day to just get to our area. President Taylor reassured me I'd get to say goodbye to everyone. They'll find a way! Right now it looks like I'll be spending Wednesday, Sunday and Monday in Plano. Crazy situation and its a bit stressful, nobody really knows what's going on, but it happens! I'm just in this weird limbo part of my life, but it's been an adventure. I can feel my Father with me every step of the way though. 

In Garland we're teaching soo many people! I can't tell you about all of them, but I'll give you some highlights.

James. He is so great! He's kind of a hard core black baptist and is SO funny! His ex wife and kids are Mormon. He is the typical investigator I've always dreamed of teaching! He is basically a black version of someone named Brother Lucas who is a service missionary. He'll be baptized soon enough! He came to church which was a miracle and watched the Christmas Devo with us at a member's home. Speaking of the devotional.... President Durrant said the closing prayer!!! I love him sooo much. Not going to lie, my eyes were open the whole prayer. I miss the Durrants.

Dean- he looks so much like John Cook! He's in his 80s and it took me right back to my days in The Colony. He came to the ward's Christmas party we had on Saturday. 

I love being a missionary during this Season! We get to do so many fun things with the ward and members. The best part is we get to share the message of the gospel and of Jesus Christ! It has been so great to use the "He is the Gift" initiative. I really love that video and we are sharing it with everyone!! 

We have seen so many miracles this week and it has been so great to be with these sisters. I even got to spend some time with Sister Nance! I'm sad I don't get to fully finish my mission in Plano but we are being so blessed for the situation we are in. I am so ready to work my butt off this week. I am so insanely tired but I want to give my all this week. A midst all that is going on in my life, working is the only medicine. I have loved being able to serve here in Texas. It has and will forever change my life. 

I'm so excited to be home and to see and hug everyone!!! 

I'll try to send pics but if I don't..... I'll be home soon anyways and I'll just upload them then. 

Love you sooo much!!!!!!

Sister Dalling

Week 46/47/48 "Staying in Sachse!!"

I Love Jesus Christ, Lyrics written by President Durrant, Music by Elder Clark Evans, and sung by Sister Kristina Dalling (Click on link to see youtube video)

Sister Nance and I :)

and my awesome birthday present from the Leas, mostly Joakim. 

Best Mission birthday ever! :)

Best Mission birthday ever! :) (Part II)

The Leas let us borrow their cooler..for a week! I am seriously spoiled, I thought this was such a trial. I'm learning :)

This bug. Found it in the middle of our kitchen! Ew. 

Blue Bonnet flowers - My favorite!

Week 48: 

Hey y'all!

First and most importantly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA DALLING! I love you so much! You are such an inspiration to me. I feel so lucky and blessed to bear your name here in Texas. Your legacy is unbelievable. I'm so happy I am yours forever and ever!:) <3

Another 6 weeks in Sachse, and I'm so grateful to be here!! I have no idea what the Lord has in store for me, but it will be worth it, I know that.

I really don't have much time today because it's Memorial Day, we only have half an hour.

Let me tell you, we had the most incredible week. We found 8 new investigators and the best news of all......WE HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE! Jacob, from Israel. He is golden. He kept saying how much of an honor it would be to be a Mormon and asking how he could join. Of course we told him it would take a few weeks to understand and accept everything, but he has true desire! He is incredible. He's an expert on the Bible and genealogy.

I really am learning so much about history and the Bible. It's been such a good experience serving in Texas.

Every day we have just been so blessed. We even went to the temple with Joakim to show him around. It is so beautiful with all the spring flowers. I love that place.

Well that's all for now! I'm so happy to have my awesome companion and to be surrounded by so many amazing people.

Keep Jacob in your prayers!

I love you!!!

Love,
Sister Dalling

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Week 47:

Hey y'all!

I had a great week! Really, God has been good. But first, transfer calls are this Saturday!! I have mixed feelings about it, which is good because either way I'll be okay with it. Leaving Sachse would be really sad for me. I've grown to love the people so much here. Also I've learned SO much about myself. I've really become more like the person I am always striving to be. But staying in Sachse would be a trial as well because I'm dying to teach and baptize more. We are working so hard. I've never been more tired in my life, except maybe on finals week. But this is like a finals week that never ends..for 18 months! I know wherever God calls me will be the place I need to go. I'm learning to trust that. Patience is one thing I haven't mastered yet, so waiting for the call is really, really difficult! We'll see!

So this week we found 6 new investigators! It was a complete miracle. We pushed through really hard and the Lord blessed us. I'm always amazed when people let two strangers into their home to hear a message. But it happens and it's great when it does!

One huge miracle is Zach. He was taught by elders for a long time. They stopped meeting with him about a year ago. He lives next door to an awesome member in our ward, who called us up and told us he really thinks it's time to try Zach again. So we called Zach and met with him and he is awesome! We had a really good discussion about the reason and blessings why we have the word of wisdom. He has a testimony of just about everything! We also met the cutest couple who just let us in. They are 84 year old devout Mexican Catholics, but they love talking about God with anyone of any faith. They've been together 60 years and were just adorable. He kept saying she's losing her mind and he's just waiting for the Good Lord to call him home. They are still so in love and serve each other all the time. They even sang a song for us- old people are the best! Oh we also met a man named Jacob. He is from Israel but has lived in Texas for a long time. He's fluent in 4 languages, Hebrew, English, and I don't remember the last two. He's read the Bible in all four! He knows a lot as you can imagine and even knows a lot about our faith. He investigated many years ago. He heard a few anti things that turned him off but really respects the church. He told us that ours is one of the biggest churches Jerusalem has allowed to be built there. He is willing to listen to our message again, so wish us luck! I learn so much from all the faith here in Texas.

I sang President Durrant's song "I love Jesus Christ" at the Carrolton Stake Conference on Sunday. It was a huge honor to be there. President Durrant was one of the speakers and introduced the song, let us perform it, and that was his talk! I still can't believe I get to be the one to sing this wonderful song.  I love my mission president!

Robert and Judy really aren't doing well. Judy is in her last moments. The doctors suggested to Robert that they stop feeding her soon, then she has just 1-3 days left. We visited twice this week. She is in really bad shape, her lungs are filling up with water and they aren't feeding her very much at all because it worsens the condition of her lungs. Robert is so strong and he knows she does not want to live like this. He asked me to sing Judy a song, and I sang I Stand All Amazed. She will be well taken care of when she leaves this life, that I am sure of. It's impossible to be with those two and not feel God's love for them. It is an honor to know such amazing people. Robert is also a recovering alcoholic and designed something called the Marble Cage, it's too help people who are overcoming addiction. It's really a beautiful thing. Go on his website marbleinacage.com to check it out. He's amazing!

Well, that's it folks! I'm doing great, thanks for all the prayers and support!

Love,

Sister Dalling

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Week 46:

Mother's Day was the best!! 

I'm so glad I got to talk to my family. I miss y'all so much! But I know I'm loved and have so much support. This mission would be a lot harder without my family. Mothers are incredible, especially my mom. They have so much responsibility, and seriously have the hardest job in the world. Preparing children to face this world is a daunting task, but so many mothers face it fearlessly every day. I wouldn't be here today if my mom didn't take the time to teach me about my Father in Heaven, my Savior, and the gospel.

So we had a great week! It was pretty slow, but of course we saw miracles. We met someone this week who thought the heavens were still closed and miracles ceased. Their preacher is saying that, I couldn't believe it! I told her to spend a day with us if she wanted to see proof that God is a God of miracles and there is a constant flow of revelation pouring down from Heaven. 

Jennifer and Josh are that nice couple who let us in when we knocked on the door. We met with them again and still had a lot of questions. They are so nice and really seem to have a desire to understand. They let us borrow their mini fridge and are going to feed us dinner tomorrow night! I really hope and pray we can help them understand the restored gospel. They are such awesome people. It always amazes me how God provides. There's so many people in my life that God uses as tools to support me. The Leas are great examples of that. Laura seems to save the day when I need it most. I wish little things like fridges and ant infestations didn't bother me but those little things add up fast! 

Thursday we had kind of a crazy day. I already told my family but its a good story. We were out tracting in the pouring rain. It was really raining hard, but we were having fun with it, getting completely soaked from head to toe. Only 2 people were home after an hour of knocking in this rain. We talked to one man who is now a potential investigator and then right after that we got a text about a tornado warning and to take shelter. We only had 3 more houses so we were going to just finish the street but then the tornado sirens around the city started going off. We ran back to our car, which was probably a mile away. Luckily we made it back to the apartment safely and God filled us with peace and calm, but it was quite the adventure. My first tornado warning in Texas! 

The weather here is so strange. I feel responsible for the tornado warning because the day before I prayed for a thunderstorm so my allergies wouldn't be so bad. God provided! And it's been pretty overcast ever since. Still very hot and humid, but is has helped! The bugs are still disgusting and something I'll probably never get used to. We had to clean all our cabinets out because of the ants. 

A huge miracle on Sunday! Esmirna and her husband and kids came to church! They loved it. We're teaching her again this week. Their family is so prepared. We're REALLY excited about them. 

It was also really great getting to meet Sister Reboquio's foster parents through skype. He's a mission president so as you can imagine, he's super spiritual. He made me cry telling me how grateful they were for me and how my companion would remember me forever. I love serving with this incredible girl! I am so blessed. 

Well I love y'all! So much! 7 more months!!

Love,

S.Dalling

Sister Kristina Dalling

6360 Murphy Rd.

#123

Sachse, TX 75048

or email:

kristina.dalling@myldsmail.net

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 40 from Sachse, Texas!

Women's General Conference was AMAZING! 

It was such an amazing way to end a week of complete miracles. It was so incredible to think about how my mom and sisters were watching it along with me. I felt so close to so many amazing women who have influenced my life in so many ways. I absolutely loved how much they talked about standing as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places. I hope I can always do that throughout my life. I'm called to represent Jesus Christ full time right now, but I hope I can always stand for Him. The errand of angels is truly given to women. And I loved how they invited us not only to love more, but to love better. That was SO powerful. It was also an answer to my prayers when they talked about our true identity and our true nature. I've heard so often about our fallen nature and the natural man is an enemy to God. Thinking about all the times I've fallen short and witnessing so many who have also fallen short and don't even know it- it's taken a toll on me. But when they talked about how our true identity and nature is a disciple of Jesus Christ, a daughter of God it meant so much to me. I also loved how Elder Eyring talked about how we need to see people as children of God, in the way God sees them. He opened up my eyes to just how much potential God sees in me. He said he sees more potential than even what my earthly mom sees in me. And she's one of my biggest fans along with my dad.

So now that y'all know how much I loved the Women's Conference, I'll tell you a little about my amazing week. We found 7 new investigators and received the best news EVER. JOAKIM IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's been taught for like 8 months and has finally received the answer to be baptized. We had an amazing lesson on temples and family history. Man, I love the temple! And after we asked him to pray to know if he should be baptized. The next day he called us and asked if we could meet. We were so nervous, I thought he was dropping us or something. My heart was about to break when he said "sisters, I need to tell you something.." then he said "I want to be baptized and become a member of your church." AHHHHHHHHH. Could not believe it. So he's going to take this next step on April 12! We and all the other sisters who have taught him couldn't be happier. I'd like to say I had something to do with it, but it was all God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

It was just such a good week. And you wouldn't believe the theme of our new investigators. For some reason God led us to 4 teen moms to teach. Two pairs and two completely different houses but we happened to find them all and all of them were receptive. So weird! One is pregnant still and one got married the day before she gave birth. It was really an incredible thing to feel God's love for them as we taught them about The Restoration and about our Savior's love for them. God is so great! He is an awesome God.

Oh and I got to have a surprise call to my parents! President Durrant let me call them while I was practicing the song we are working on. What a tender mercy! And then the Evans- who are awesome- took a video of us and sent it to them. I hope my family knows how much I love them! And darling Emily, I wish I could've talked to you but I will soon.. in May! By the way, I'm only quitting chocolate for 21 days.. so no worries about my easter package! Pack it with chocolate! I am addicted, and so I thought it would be a healthy choice to build some resistance to it. ;)

Well I love y'all! I'm loving my mission! Can't believe this transfer is almost over!

Until next week,

Sis Dalling

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 Valentine's Day!!! (week 33 from Sachse, Texas)

Happy Valentine's Day!!! What a great holiday! God has definitely shown His love for me this week.

In church yesterday, someone shared what their mission president always told them and I absolutely LOVED it. 

Love is the motive.

Faith is the power.

Obedience is the price.

So true! I absolutely love my God! No matter how hard missions can get, serving God in this way is the greatest way I can honor Him. I reached this epiphany while reading President Monson's talk titled "The Lord Needs Missionaries". 

I reach my 8 month mark on Wednesday! Can't believe it!! 

So my week was pretty good. Mondays we play basketball with our Zone and it is so much fun! That unathletic Sister Dalling you used to know is dwindling! I've gotten so much better at volleyball and basketball- you wouldn't believe. I even made 3 shots and that was playing against elders too! Granted, they might've gone a little easier on the sisters, it was still an accomplishment. That's what I get for having a NBA player for a mission president! 

We visited Richard's car shop this week. That was really cool! His mechanics showed us different cars and what was under the car as well as under the hood. This week I was truly convinced I was sent here to learn  from others more than they are to learn from me. It's been like that with Richard and all of the other appointments we had. I am just so fascinated at everyone's' life and experiences- they're all so different. Every experience shapes who we are even if we don't realize. 

We met with a new family- the Sanchezs'. They are so awesome! They have a great faith and family. They are a joy to teach and to be around. Sister Sanchez is full Navajo Indian, her grandma still lives on a reservation. She has some crazy stories about traditions and pow-wows. Brother Sanchez is a professional hunter. He travels the world, hunting animals and shooting footage of it. His videos are under Blind Goat media- look em up on youtube!! There's a super cute  one about his daughter coming on a trip with him. Their house is so cool. On the outside, it's just a small, normal house, but the inside looks like a cabin in the woods. They have animal heads everywhere and all the walls are covered in wood too, it's very rustic! They have a family ranch with horses down the road that we are going to start serving at! Bring on the horse poop! 

So it has been so cold!  We even had snow and freezing rain! I can't wait til I don't have to wear dresses in this kind of weather, builds character though! 

Even though Richard didn't come to church this week (he was sick), we had 2 investigators at church! That was a HUGE miracle. Huge. John came, and he's a friend of a youth in our ward who we are going to start teaching. Also we took Joakim to the YSA ward! It was so fun going to that ward. We are going to share him with those elders, too. His lessons are the most interesting experiences! He is quite a character! 

Anyways, hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's filled with lots of love. Know that I LOVE YOU! 

Love,

Sister Kristina Dalling

6360 Murphy Rd.

#123

Sachse, TX 75048

My Mission Blog Week 28: "Transfer 5 Week 5"

“I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name. …And worlds without number have I created; … and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:3, 33).

My dear family and friends,

I hope y'all had the best New Year! Mine was really great. I've had an awesome week- very up and down but it's supposed to be that way!

I have learned to love goals thanks to my daddy! This New Year's we had a Zone Meeting with President Durrant for interviews. We made some goals we want to accomplish for the next year. One of my goals is to contact at least 10 people every day. That means by the end of the year- or since I go home a little before January- I will have contacted around 3,650 people! That just blows my mind. Another one of my goals is to read The Book of Mormon at least 2x as well as The New Testament. I'm lucky to have a full hour each day dedicated to gospel study. Right now I'm in the middle of Alma.

Since this is my 5th week of Transfer 5, 5 is really on my mind. Our mission President always says STRYve for 5 (sincerely try very enthusiastically). The 5 things represent 5 ways of being obedient as a missionary.

I thought I'd make my own 5 things to STRYve for

1.Be happy-it's a choice you make every moment of every day!

2.Read the Book of Mormon and the Bible every day

3.Obey the Lord, my mission president, and my leaders

4.Memorize a scripture once a week (4 weeks in a month)

5.Love the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, strength, and soul

So my dad sent me an email today and he told me how much he loved looking at the stars and milky way last week. Not even kidding, while we were tracting New Year's Eve, we happened to be out in the country, and I could not stop looking at the stars. They were absolutely beautiful. It made me think about how incredible God is, how amazing His creations are, and how infinitely small I am. And yet He loves me SO much.

This week really was incredible. It was absolutely freezing, but we are luckily all moved in to our new home and we are working with an amazing ward and we are having huge successes!

One of my favorites is Pablo. We tracted into him and he is amazing. We taught him lesson 1, and he just soaked it all in. He is hispanic and has soooo much faith! The whole lesson I was thinking he looks, acts, and talks exactly how I imagine Alma the Younger would. He is amazing. Tracting does work- it's just very much less effective than working through members, thats for sure!

Well I'll have to say more next week because we are about to go to Top Golf! Fun, right? I'm super excited.

I love you!!!!!!!

Sister Dalling

Here's my new address:

Sister Dalling

5936 Sandhill Cir

The Colony, TX 75056

My Mission Blog Week 26: "Merry CHRISTmas!" from The Colony, TX

Hey everyone!!! 

I love Christmas! I love the whole month of December actually. My favorite day in December is the 21st because that's when my Daddy was born!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD. I love you! I am so blessed to have such an incredible dad and family. He's pretty amazing. Although it's so hard to be away at this time of year, being on a mission has brought me closer to my family than ever before. My dad has simply taken care of all the things I can't do at the moment. He spends all of his time devoted to making his children's dreams come true. My future husband has a lot to live up to- that's for sure! ..but of course I'm not thinking about that at all ;) I will always be my daddy's little girl. We were at someone's house for dinner this past week and they had the book "Butterfly Kisses" on a table and it brought back so many memories I've had with my dad. I love him!

Sorry this email is going to probably be a little jumbled, but we have so much to do today in preparation for Christmas! I haven't had any time to send out Christmas letters, so be patient with me, they will come! This week has been really great. We had 8 investigators at church along with a ton of people who hadn't been to church in a while! It was incredible. The spirit of Christmas was so strong. 

The highlights of this week.. hmmm. Friday was our huge Christmas party for all the English speaking missionaries. There were about 200 of us. President asked me to sing a musical number, so I sang O Holy Night. I hardly had any time to practice and the pianist was sight reading, but it went perfectly and luckily the pianist was an incredible player and it just all went perfectly. That was a lot of fun. It was so good to see everyone there. It's so hard making such good friends and only seeing them every once in a while. We also had an option to watch a movie for Christmas.. sadly the movie was chosen for us but it was good. We watched Four Minutes. It's about a track runner who ran a mile in 4 minutes. That's what you get when your mission president played in the NBA. ;) 

So Alex is getting baptized next Saturday! I'm super excited for it. I love their family. 

John is doing well. He calls himself Grandpa haha! I can't ever leave him. Really worried about that in the future. Shirlene is still in the hospital too.. keep them in your prayers. Also John wanted to send his son a Book of Mormon for Christmas with his testimony written in it, and sadly his son didn't allow it. So hopefully we can lift John's spirits this Christmas despite all that! 

We met some crazy people this week! Mostly just some super opinionated, talks forever kind of people. But they are my brothers and sisters so we love em anyway! It's been fun.

Also we are teaching The Colony's star athlete on the football and track team. Yep, he's awesome. He's 18 and his mom is coming back into reactivity. 

Some good quotes:

"Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God. During His earthly ministry, He taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick. He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life. To us He has said, 'Come, follow me.'

"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always. We shall learn to forget ourselves. We shall turn our thoughts to the greater benefit of others"

- Thomas S. Monson (Thank you Quinn!- Merry Christmas)

I love this quote from our Prophet's most recent talk- True Shepherds. 

"There is one teacher whose life overshadows all others. He taught of life and death, of duty and destiny. He lived not to be served but to serve, not to receive but to give, not to save His life but to sacrifice it for others. He described a love more beautiful than lust, a poverty richer than treasure. It was said of this Teacher that He taught with authority and not as did the scribes(Matt 7:28-29). His laws were not inscribed upon stone, but upon human hearts. I speak of the Master Teacher, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of all Mankind. The biblical account says of Him, He 'went about doing good'(Acts 10:38). With Him as our unfailing guide and exemplar, we shall qualify for His divine help in our [lives]. Lives will be blessed. Hearts will be comforted. Souls will be saved. We will become True Shepherds."

I love y'all! I wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

Keep me in your prayers. I miss home a little. 

Love,

Sister Dalling

My Address:

5008 Pemberton Ln. 

The Colony, TX 75056

kristina.dalling@myldsmail.net

Week 24 From The Colony: "stayin in The Colony!"

Everyone!!!!! I get to stay in The Colony another 6 weeks! I can't even believe it. I will have been here 8 months by next transfer. This week is my 6 month mark! Crazy, I know. 

Sister Allred is being transferred to Rowlette though :( My new companion will be Sister Erickson, who seems really awesome. Sis Allred will be missed so much though. No one can believe she was the one who was transferred. 

I also hardly have an update because we've had a snow day the past 3 days. Last Wednesday, I kid you not, it was 80 degrees outside. The next day we had a crazy ice storm.. it got down to the 20s. The streets and cars were covered in 2 inches of ice. No one could walk or drive anywhere. It was the first time President Durrant has ever told missionaries to take a day off, let alone 3. Working would have been impossible though. It's gotten a lot better today, but still really dangerous. At first, it wasn't too bad being forced to take a break, but after a while we got SO bored. They even cancelled church.. So nothing has happened this week. At all. This transfer is lookin to be a good one though! Alex and Jeremy's baptisms are coming up! 

Transfers are really the hardest part of a mission. Elder Rowland and Stewart are leaving :( It's so hard to lose your district once you get so close. It'll be good though! It always is.And I get another transfer with John!

Love y'all so much!

Sister Kristina Dalling

My Address:

5008 Pemberton Ln. 

The Colony, TX 75056

kristina.dalling@myldsmail.net

Letter from Kristina's Mission President Devin Durrant

President Devin Durrant, Sister Kristina Dalling, and Sister Durrant

Kristina's start group (29 strong)