19 more days! Dallon's homecoming is just around the corner. It is so hard for us not to think about every day. Dallon is trying not to be distracted by all the talk around him. We are thankful that he is busy. It is also comforting to know that the Lord's work always moves forward and that there are no lose ends.
"This week we had a great experience because we were able to go to the temple! It was the coolest experience and we had such a blast! We were able to take 9 of our converts and 3 others that had recently been baptized right before I got here. We filled a bus so full that we had to stand up the whole way to the temple. We were singing hymns the whole time. It was so cool and the spirit was so strong. Everyone brought their own temple names and it was cool to watch them go through the whole process. I got to see all of them in the baptistry dressed in white tunicas. I wish you could have seen how awesome it was. The memory will be something that I will never forget. I got to do the confirmations and was a witness. It was so cool to see their happy faces and feel their testimonies strengthened. All the work the past couple months was so worth every minute. Yesterday we had to watch a video about family history and all of my converts were already prepared and gave testimony. I love temples and family history!"
"It is official that Elder Holton is going to kill me and that I will be dying here in Talagante. Everyone is fighting eachother to feed me before I leave. I will be eating pizza, lasagna, chicken, and french fries, every day before I come home. I am so spoiled here, it's rediculous. haha We should have 2 more baptisms too. Luis will be baptized on the 11th. He is such a stud, I can't even tell you. He wants to be baptized and already has plans to serve a mission in a year. I'm glad I got to know him and I know that he will do great things. We also have Andres who we are hoping to baptize on the 18th. He is Marina's son. There is also a couple that we are working with to get married, so that the wife can be baptized. We are hoping for the best. I know we can have great success these last three weeks."
"Elder Opaza just sent me an email! He is such a cool guy. I love him and I am so grateful for the mission that I have had. It's been a blessing to be able to serve. I've had such a great mission. Don't worry, I'm not getting trunkie. I actually feel good about everything. I'm sad that I won't be able to say good-bye to anyone. President won't let us because of some scheduling issues. I'm sad but I'm actually not very good at saying good-bye anyways. I hope that one day I'll be able to come back."
"On Thursday, I will go to the temple again with the six of us that are going home. I'm on death row. I know I'll be home before I know it. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for all of it. I have complete trust in the Lord and I'm not afraid of what is to come. Everyone is sure to remind me daily that I am an old missionary. They always ask how I am feeling and give me pep talks about not getting married right away. haha"
"I'm totally updated every day on the Olympics. Everyone is going insane about them and I am so mad that I am missing them by 2 weeks. Everyone is talking about some Brazilian gymnast who was ranked first in the world and in one second he fell or something and lost everything. I also heard that China is beating the United States in medals, so we better kick it into gear! I love the Olympics! I'm glad you're all doing well. Stay strong and I'll be seeing you soon!"
Elder Dallon Smith