The email this week came later in the day. Dallon and Elder Peterson are busy as zone leaders from the crack of dawn til lights out. Dallon is beginning to look forward to getting out into the mission field. His experiences are becoming more meaningful.
"My weeks are just getting busier and busier! It's been fun to have so many different opportunities to serve. I am super tired today because we had to wake up at 5:30 to get everything done that we needed to. Only in the MTC do you wake up that early to do laundry! ha ha It's crazy."
"Being a zone leader has been a blast for the most part. I think Elder Peterson and I are just ready to get out in the field. One moment you are feeling confident and good and then the next you are feeling the spirit and calm. The next thing you know you are sad because you realize that you have so much to learn and do and you never feel like you'll ever be good enough. It's interesting how everyone handles the switch of emotions but for the most part everything is still good. This last week flew by. It feels like I just wrote the other day. Sorry that my days are so boring! ha ha We really are doing the same things over and over and over and over again."
"Our quartet auditioned and did great! The sister told us we would probably get an invitation to sing at a devotional. We'll see what happens but that would be really cool! As soon as you send back my sd cards, I'll get a recording of us singing. The people in the quartet with me are Elders Mace, Mortenson and Carter. We've had a lot of fun. We practice for an hour almost every other day and while we are practicing, Elder Peterson goes to play the piano with one of the other elders. I am helping him learn how to play "Nearer My God to Thee". He's been doing really well."
"This week we started speaking strickly Spanish. It's been difficult but still fun. My Spanish is definitely improving but I want to learn it all right now. ha ha I've definitely had to work on patience. It seems like that's what I've had to learn the most here. Patience. Patience with the language, companions, leadership, everything! You always have to be patient and being patient all the time can be hard! I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn patience. Man, it is intense here in the MTC. We are constantly being told how to be better. It's cool too because it helps you realize how much more you can achieve and at the same time, I'm thinking, "Holy cow, I've got a lot to do!". ha ha"
"Teaching in the TRC is always a blast. It's funny because our Spanish struggled so much in the beginning lessons and now, slowly but surely, we are becoming better teachers. I love teaching in the TRC because it makes time go by so fast and it's a time when you can actually see how much you have improved. I'm definitely not the best teacher but I have learned a lot and getting much better. I'm also glad because my first week here, one of my biggest concerns was being able to teach with Spanish. Elder Peterson was so much better than I was. Now I think we are about even. It's been cool to see how much I have learned and I love teaching. Even though it's only pretend, you can still feel the spirit testifying of the truth. I love that. I know that the things we teach are true because I have an overwhelming feeling of peace. I love that I get to feel that way every time I teach. I also know when I am in tune with the spirit and when I am not. Elder Peterson and my lessons are so different when we have the spirit with us and when we don't. I know that when we have it, we aren't trying to convince people that what we are saying is true, but we are inviting the spirit in order for the investigator to find out for themselves if it is true. It's cool to see how much of a difference there is. I know that I have the spirit when I open my mouth and the words in Spanish just flow out. Of course, it is still broken Spanish but I get the main point across. We have learned a lot about using the scriptures this week. I love studying the scriptures and applying them to my life, as well as, to the investigators."
"Last Wednesday I had a really cool experience. Elder Matt Ross left last Wednesday, but the night before, he came to my room and just talked to me for an hour. He was nervous about the next day and was just telling me a bunch of funny stories. He is such an awesome friend and it was hard to see him go. Anyway, that night he left at curfew around 10:30 and then came back and asked me to give him a blessing. I wasn't expecting it but I told him I would if he really wanted me to. He said he did so I said a quick prayer and then proceeded to give him a blessing. That blessing was one of the most amazing experiences I have had so far. I know that the words came from somewhere else and that my thoughts were directed by the spirit. I know that Elder Ross is going to be a great missionary in New York. The words that came to my mouth were definitely not my own and they were so powerful. Matt left the next morning at 5:00 and then the next day I got a letter that he had left for me about his blessing. It was an awesome experience."
"I am learning a lot and being here is definitely beneficial. I am working hard for those people that need the gosple. I can't believe that I have already been here for more than a month! I am nervous because I still have so much that I want to know how to say in Spanish! ha ha I know I'll be fine if the Lord is with me. Not going to lie but serving a mission is so much harder than I thought it would be. I thought I would be ready for everything but it's hard here in every way; emotionally, physically, socially, etc. MAN! But I know I'm progressing and that's what I love."
"Let me know how you are doing. I miss you and want to hear from you."
Love Elder Dallon Smith