"That is cool about Dad being Bishop! I thought about him a lot yesterday. I think you will see a whole new side of people, Dad. Be prepared, but don't let anything get you down. Just do the best you can and say what the Lord would have you say. Remember that you are called by the Lord. Everyone loves you and I know that you are going to be an exceptional Bishop."
"My week was really long. We have been working so hard and fasting and praying. We haven't really had a lot of success this change. We have found a lot of people but most of them are not progressing. At this point, we don't have any baptism dates, but I am hoping for the best. I think this just might be a trial of our faith. We're going to stay optimistic and help those that are ready to receive and progress in the gospel."
"I went to Santiago again this week. Elder Opazo went to the temple to see two of his converts sealed in the temple. I went on divisions with Elder Fuhriman and it was a blast! I got to also hang out with Elders Smith, Kenison, and Van Dyke. We did an activity where all the missionaries worked in one sector. It was so fun and I got to know the other missionaries really well. Elder Opazo and Callis got back from the temple really late, so we ended up staying the night there. We stayed up a little later and made pizza. The Elders live right in the middle of Santiago in a huge apartment building. When you look out the window, you can see a huge catholic cathedral! ha ha I didn't get much sleep that night because I ended up sleeping on the floor, under a bed, with suitcases. It's funny thinking about it now. Elder Opazo woke me up at 6:30 and told me to leave with him to catch the bus to make it back to our sector before church started. I seriously felt so tired, but it was fun to go work with the other Elders. Elder Kenison was absolutely hilarious! I am sad that he is going home. It would have been cool to get to know him better. Elder Van Dyke is really cool and is from my group. For some reason we keep seeing each other every time I go to Santiago. He is from Utah too. Elder Smith is a mission favorite missionary and is pretty funny. We had a good time talking about our names. He is getting ready to go home too."
"Elder Opazo and I still get along great. About two weeks back we got into our first real argument, but it only lasted about 5 minutes and then we ended with prayer. ha ha I don't think we are sick of each other yet. I have never been around one person so much in my entire life! Everyone in the mission says the same thing.., "The hardest part of a mission is not conversion, but companions." You are with this person all the time and constantly have to bend to make sure that you are working as a team. I love Elder Opazo, but it doesn't matter who you are with; you're bound to get a little tired of them. Heck, if I had to be with myself all the time every day, I would get sick of myself too! ha ha There really isn't too much to report about us. We work really well as a team. Just last night a member told us how good of a team we were. She said that she didn't think we knew how well we compliment each other. She said that even though we may not be seeing the fruits of our labor, we are truly exceptional missionaries and that we have done a great job here. I am trying to help Elder Opazo with his leadership responsibilities. He assigned me a class tomorrow on teaching people and resolving their doubts. I am nervous! I know I shouldn't be nervous, because I should have faith! Speaking Spanish brings me anxiety. I wish I could just be confident with all things, but it is hard for me. I am worrying myself too much about the future. I feel like I am never going to progress fast enough. I want to be more confident with what I have and not worry about anything any more. I have been working really hard developing faith. Faith in the Lord and in his promises. I know everything is going to work out when it is suppose to."
"Well that's about it. I am exhausted and my time is running out! ha ha Now that Elder Opazo is District Leader, we have to be really obedient with the rules, so I only have exactly one hour to do everything. Please keep me in your prayers and I know that you will be beside me every step of the way. Have a great week! Love you!!"
Elder Dallon Smith
Dallon didn't have any pictures to send this week, but he did forward an email conversation he had with President King. The first paragraph is part of Dallon's report to President King and the rest is President King's response to him. We thought it was wonderful and interesting to share.
"I have set goals to learn more about faith and hope and the relationship that they share. I love all the scriptures that say that faith brings about the miracles of God. I know that I don't have perfect faith, but I have been working hard to trust more and more in the Lord. Sometimes, I let my lack of knowledge scare me, but I know that with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, I'll be able to teach the things the Lord wants. I'm trying to learn as fast as I can, so that I can be a part of more peoples' lives and be a part of their first steps to salvation." ~ Elder Dallon Smith
"Faith is an interesting thing. If we doubt, we know we can’t have faith at the same time.
Our faith can be in a variety of things. In the mission field however, there are really only two things that matter: 1) confidence in our own ability to accomplish something; 2) confidence in the Lord / HG to do something for us that we can’t do for ourselves.
1 – This faith is important. It has to do with our ability to speak the language, to contact people with confidence in our ability to be successful, to teach the material in a powerful way – in essence it is the confidence we need in our self to be successful. It is constantly growing as we are learning and applying new knowledge.
2 – This faith is super important, but hard to develop and maintain. First, it requires understanding the will of the Lord – what he will and won’t do for us. For example, he will never force anyone to accept the Gospel; agency is a divine gift which cannot be taken away. He will send his Spirit to testify, he will put people in situations where they will be more humble and hopefully look to God. He says ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find. BUT, it must be according to his will."
Helaman 10: 5 "And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will."
Love,
Pres. King