Dallon spent another week hanging around the pension. His companion is slowly getting better. Although they haven't been able to do as much, the work is still progressing. They are excited to have 4 baptisms scheduled for the next two weeks. President King shared this scripture in his last email to Dallon: D&C 12:8, "And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care." Dallon is learning about patience and has had a lot of time to reflect this week.
"I finally got the package with the camera! I am so happy! I am using the gloves and socks and ohhh man, I am in heaven. Thank you so much! "
"We had another sick week, so I really don't have much to tell you except for the fact that we were able to leave a couple times to do appointments and the Lord has blessed us so much! We were able to place 4 baptismal dates! Whoooo hooooo! I am so happy! Estrella and Alexander are going to be baptized next Sunday and Francisca and Marilia the week after. They are all so cool and I am excited for them! "
"Yesterday, I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting mostly about Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk. I talked about charity and it was really powerful. I shared a story about Dad and what a great example of charity he is to me. I feel like I am getting closer to the ward members. The other day, a family gave me a really cool scarf and slippers. It was really nice of them. I learned so much about people this last week and am so grateful that the Lord has let me be a part of their lives. I just know that the Lord truly loves us and I want to show him that I am doing my best. I am learning that this whole mission is about love. I love the people here because I know that they really are my brothers and sisters. I love my companions even though sometimes it can be hard. Most of all, I love my Heavenly Father. I know he knows me better than anyone else and helps me to be a better person. Because of this love, I can serve others and help them to realize that he loves them too. It has been a bit hard at times, but I feel good about how the spirit has been guiding me to act and behave. I just love that I am learning so much and that the Savior is right here beside me. He is always helping me. "
"Everything has been pretty boring, but good too. I am excited for the future and all that is going to happen. Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf. I love you all so much and think about you often. I know I have the best family in the world! "
Dallon also sent a message to his Dad for Father's Day.
"You have taught me so much Dad and I hope that you know just how grateful I am for you and your example. You have always supported me and just let me be me. I am grateful for that and for the lessons that I will always have because of you. You really are the best Dad that I could have asked for. I want to be just like you. Thanks for raising me in this gospel. That is the greatest gift that you could have ever given me. Growing up and learning the gospel principles has helped shape me for eternal life. Thanks for never wavering and being a strong father. I know that you went through a lot of hard times in order to raise this family. Thank you so much for the things that I know you've done and for the things that have gone unnoticed. I love you and will always be proud to call you my Dad. I hope you had a good Father's Day. "
Elder Dallon Smith
Monday, June 20, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Quarantined!
Elder Balling has been sick this week. Dallon spent most days just hanging around the pension and going stir crazy. He studied a lot and caught up on writing letters back to everyone. He is hoping that his companion will get better soon and that they can get back to work.
"It's been a hard week. Elder Balling had a cold and wasn't able to leave to work. I don't like sitting in the pension because it is really cold and I just have too much time to think about everything. I think being in the pension gives me too much time to not stay positive and that's not good. ha ha However, I got a lot of studying done and it was fun to have some time to write to all of you ."
"I went to the mission leader's home a couple days ago and the family gave me a gift of gloves and a beenie. They told me that they didn't want me to be cold. They don't have a lot of money and I felt horrible that they spent some on me. I had to accept it. Their gift meant more to me because of the love and sacrifice that came with it. I don't know how to thank them. "
"On Friday, I was able to get Elder Balling up to work for half the day. We did divisions and I went with the second counselor, Hermano Mancilla, to teach Estrella. It was so cool! We taught about the plan of salvation and talked a lot about the Holy Ghost. The biggest blessing was when she told me that she had read the Book of Mormon on her own, prayed about it, and received an answer that it was true! Oh man, I was so happy. At the end of the lesson, I was able to invite her to be baptized again on June 26th. She said yes! She is coming to church and is making an effort to be prepared. I think it is so cool to watch how the gospel can change lives ."
"My pension did have changes. Elder McDougal got a Chilean companion named Elder Belmar. He is really funny and we get along great. We are all getting to know Elder Belmar and he is a really nice guy. Right now I love it when they come home, so I finally have someone to talk to. I was able to go play some soccer with the district this morning, which was so fun! It was good to get out of the pension finally. I went on divisions with Elder McDougal. Elder Hollister is the zone leader and called to make sure that I was coming and let us do divisions. It is always fun to get together with the district ."
"I am grateful for my family and for the time I have on my mission. I know the Lord will make everything work out. I won't always understand or get what I want, but he'll give me what I need. I just try to be my best in the moment and hope that it will pay off later. Thanks for all your prayers, love and support ."
Elder Dallon Smith
"It's been a hard week. Elder Balling had a cold and wasn't able to leave to work. I don't like sitting in the pension because it is really cold and I just have too much time to think about everything. I think being in the pension gives me too much time to not stay positive and that's not good. ha ha However, I got a lot of studying done and it was fun to have some time to write to all of you ."
"I went to the mission leader's home a couple days ago and the family gave me a gift of gloves and a beenie. They told me that they didn't want me to be cold. They don't have a lot of money and I felt horrible that they spent some on me. I had to accept it. Their gift meant more to me because of the love and sacrifice that came with it. I don't know how to thank them. "
"On Friday, I was able to get Elder Balling up to work for half the day. We did divisions and I went with the second counselor, Hermano Mancilla, to teach Estrella. It was so cool! We taught about the plan of salvation and talked a lot about the Holy Ghost. The biggest blessing was when she told me that she had read the Book of Mormon on her own, prayed about it, and received an answer that it was true! Oh man, I was so happy. At the end of the lesson, I was able to invite her to be baptized again on June 26th. She said yes! She is coming to church and is making an effort to be prepared. I think it is so cool to watch how the gospel can change lives ."
"My pension did have changes. Elder McDougal got a Chilean companion named Elder Belmar. He is really funny and we get along great. We are all getting to know Elder Belmar and he is a really nice guy. Right now I love it when they come home, so I finally have someone to talk to. I was able to go play some soccer with the district this morning, which was so fun! It was good to get out of the pension finally. I went on divisions with Elder McDougal. Elder Hollister is the zone leader and called to make sure that I was coming and let us do divisions. It is always fun to get together with the district ."
"I am grateful for my family and for the time I have on my mission. I know the Lord will make everything work out. I won't always understand or get what I want, but he'll give me what I need. I just try to be my best in the moment and hope that it will pay off later. Thanks for all your prayers, love and support ."
Elder Dallon Smith
Monday, June 6, 2011
Living on a Prayer
This week's email freaked us out! It is amazing how a sheltered boy is dealing with experiences in a way that we can never imagine. The Lord truly does take care of his missionaries and prayers are heard and answered. Sometimes it is truly difficult to be a missionary's parent. There are no changes for Dallon and Elder Balling, so they will continue to be companions for another 6 weeks.
"Last Monday we made sushi at our pension. It was so fun and I guess out here in the mission there is an Asian Club and I got to be a part of it. I feel so cool. ha ha It was really fun and delicious. The only bad part was that Elder Balling and I had to deep clean the kitchen the next day and it was really disgusting! "
"The youth in our ward are so cool. I love them all. They are strong and help the missionaries out a ton. They all depend on eachother and support one another. They have seminary every day and end up seeing eachother a lot. I love their unity. They also do all of the stake activities and are just so awesome ."
"We had a hard week. I don't know why but we just had a lot of appointments fall through and we had a hard time finding people to teach. I think this week we will start again with new animo. Elder Balling is super sick right now and I don't think we will be working today. Hopefully he will start to feel better. We have two girls that I think will be baptized this month. They are 13 and 11 and are old investigators. They went to church when they were little but became inactive because their Dad was excommunicated. They have been to lots of churches but have always remembered how they felt at ours. They are participating in every activity and are excited to be baptized. I absolutely love it! They go to mutual and church and all the noche de hogares. It's great! They are basically baptizing themselves. "
"The next thing I am going to share is pretty intense. The other day Elder Balling and I were walking to our first appointment when I remembered that we were fasting, so we had to tell the sister to not prepare a meal for us. Elder Balling made a call right then and when he was done a 12 year old kid yelled, "Cellular! " and left his friends and ran right to us. I was thinking who is this crazy kid and then he pulls out a revolver and points it right at me. He told us he wanted our cell phone. Right when I saw the gun, I just automatically turned around and started walking as if I didn't see it. Elder Balling just followed me because he was unsure about what to do. So this kid is like these guys don't get it. He runs in front of me and opens the gun and shows me all the bullets inside. He wanted to prove that it was real because he thought that I thought it was a toy. I just looked at him as if I didn't understand. Since we didn't show any fear, the boy got embarrassed in front of his friends, and kinda chuckled and said that it was all a joke and ran back to his friends. It was awkward for him. I know that I was looking at him with an expression of, "So what? ", but inside I was thinking, "Oh my heck that kids got a gun! ." I wasn't scared until after and actually realized how dangerous the situation really was. "
"Anyways that is what is going on with me. Nothing too exciting. I love you all so much and am grateful for such an incredible family. I'm so grateful for a strong family and to have parents that love and support eachother. I'm grateful for my siblings and for the talents and strengths that they have. I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that they love us and only want to bless us. I love the saying that they have here, "To be Mormon is to be happy ." It is so true. I'm happy that I'm Mormon and I'm happy that I am here in Chile. I know that Joseph Smith truly was called of God to restore the true church and that the Book of Mormon is true scripture. Just knowing that can bring such a peace into our, as well as others, lives. I hope you will always be happy. Keep being you. Your gangsta missionary... "
Elder Dallon Smith
"Last Monday we made sushi at our pension. It was so fun and I guess out here in the mission there is an Asian Club and I got to be a part of it. I feel so cool. ha ha It was really fun and delicious. The only bad part was that Elder Balling and I had to deep clean the kitchen the next day and it was really disgusting! "
"The youth in our ward are so cool. I love them all. They are strong and help the missionaries out a ton. They all depend on eachother and support one another. They have seminary every day and end up seeing eachother a lot. I love their unity. They also do all of the stake activities and are just so awesome ."
"We had a hard week. I don't know why but we just had a lot of appointments fall through and we had a hard time finding people to teach. I think this week we will start again with new animo. Elder Balling is super sick right now and I don't think we will be working today. Hopefully he will start to feel better. We have two girls that I think will be baptized this month. They are 13 and 11 and are old investigators. They went to church when they were little but became inactive because their Dad was excommunicated. They have been to lots of churches but have always remembered how they felt at ours. They are participating in every activity and are excited to be baptized. I absolutely love it! They go to mutual and church and all the noche de hogares. It's great! They are basically baptizing themselves. "
"The next thing I am going to share is pretty intense. The other day Elder Balling and I were walking to our first appointment when I remembered that we were fasting, so we had to tell the sister to not prepare a meal for us. Elder Balling made a call right then and when he was done a 12 year old kid yelled, "Cellular! " and left his friends and ran right to us. I was thinking who is this crazy kid and then he pulls out a revolver and points it right at me. He told us he wanted our cell phone. Right when I saw the gun, I just automatically turned around and started walking as if I didn't see it. Elder Balling just followed me because he was unsure about what to do. So this kid is like these guys don't get it. He runs in front of me and opens the gun and shows me all the bullets inside. He wanted to prove that it was real because he thought that I thought it was a toy. I just looked at him as if I didn't understand. Since we didn't show any fear, the boy got embarrassed in front of his friends, and kinda chuckled and said that it was all a joke and ran back to his friends. It was awkward for him. I know that I was looking at him with an expression of, "So what? ", but inside I was thinking, "Oh my heck that kids got a gun! ." I wasn't scared until after and actually realized how dangerous the situation really was. "
"Anyways that is what is going on with me. Nothing too exciting. I love you all so much and am grateful for such an incredible family. I'm so grateful for a strong family and to have parents that love and support eachother. I'm grateful for my siblings and for the talents and strengths that they have. I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that they love us and only want to bless us. I love the saying that they have here, "To be Mormon is to be happy ." It is so true. I'm happy that I'm Mormon and I'm happy that I am here in Chile. I know that Joseph Smith truly was called of God to restore the true church and that the Book of Mormon is true scripture. Just knowing that can bring such a peace into our, as well as others, lives. I hope you will always be happy. Keep being you. Your gangsta missionary... "
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Companions Elder Balling and Elder Smith |
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| The Ochagavia Zone |
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| Newest members of the Asian Club: Elders Smith and McDougal |
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| Birdseye view of Santiago |
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