The General Epistle of Samuel (Christmas and moves)

There isn't a whole lot to say this week. I think we covered most of it in our skype session. It sure was great to see everyone! I am happy to see you are all well and have enjoyed the Christmas holiday. I figured it would be easier to show you what we did for Christmas and Boxing day rather than tell so I sent some pictures. I hope you enjoy them! Just as a short run down of the events. Christmas day we were at the chapel by five am to watch movies with the other missionaries. We pounded out four disney films before going to members' homes for dinner. We went to the bishops and had a lovely traditional English Christmas dinner. Then we watched another movie and went to the Mateers where we skyped. Boxing day we were able to sleep in and then we did some shopping because there were a ton of sales. Similar to Black Friday. Then we watched another disney movie and went to the Fosters and later to the Mateers. It was a great holiday.

We had moves calls yesterday and ours was quite a surprise. I am moving to a place called Deal. I will actually live in Dover but the ward building is in Deal. I have been released from being a zone leader. I'll be companions with an Elder from Australia named Elder Tinao. He is polynesian. I am really excited to move! This next transfer is going to be great and hopefully less stress haha. Well I hope you all have a great week! I love you all.  

Love, 

Elder Dalton

Ward Party

Foster's

Foster's

The General Epistle of Samuel (long week)

We had a long week this week. Lots of things we have been having to deal with. Ashley our only real investigator has disappeared ever since we taught him the law of chastity. Guess he wasn't as solid as we thought. We found a guy while I was on an exchange with another missionary here in Colchester. We taught him the restoration and invited him to be baptised in January and he accepted so we'll see how he goes. Besides that we have been working hard to find people to teach.

This Sunday we have been campaigning to get into members homes to share a Christmas message. We have found that if we use that as a front then we usually get offered dinner as well. This week is full of meal appointments and member visits so it wont be as rigorous as this past week. 

This week seemed pretty long as well since my companion fell ill and we had to spend a lot of time in the flat. He ate at Burger King on an exchange and he ended up with food poisoning. He was sick as a dog and just slept it off. It was nice to take a nap as well. The office gave me a new bed this week too so that was nice. This has been the first few days that I haven't woken up with a sore back since I moved to Colchester. I am very grateful for that. That has pretty much been our week this week. We have zone conference tomorrow so we are looking forward to that. The rest of the week will be lot's of work. I hope everyone's week goes well. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Dalton

The General Epistle of Samuel (#ShareTheGift)

This week was crazy. It started off with a great mission conference with Elder Cook of the Twelve. He spoke on Preach My Gospel and the process of how they developed it. He said many times that the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve firmly feel that that book came from the other side of the veil. It is incredible the amount of time that was spent on this resource. I hope that the members of the church can realize this and utilize this wonderful tool. He left the meeting open to a question and answer session. My companion asked how he maintains his perspective on the magnitude of his calling. He saved his answer for the end. His answer was the most powerful portion of the meeting. Hearing and Apostle of Jesus Christ say authoritatively, "I know the Lord's voice," made my week.

We had an exchange with the assistants the day after the conference. I was able to spend the day in London with Elder Anderson the new assistant. He is from my MTC group. He is a great missionary. We had a great time and found some great people and some great lessons. We made a lot of use out of the church's new Christmas initiative which I'll share more about in a bit. That night on the exchange it was raining. Just before we went to bed the ceiling started to leak. You would thing the most expensive missionary flat in the world wouldn't have a leaky roof. The office was thrilled about that. 

We had MLC this week as well and it was a great meeting. Probably the best one we've had this year. We are in a tight spot right now as a mission. We have a goal of 500 baptisms for the year. We need to have 73 this month. The most we have done in a month is 54 and December is always our worst month. Not this year though. We are going to have an incredible month. At MLC Elder Bright and I were asked to share our story about getting the car impounded and then they announced that every car needs an insurance certificate. Glad we could get the ball rolling on that haha. 

So this Christmas initiative is great. You may have heard of it already but I am going to reiterate anything you may have already heard. The church has just released a new video similar to "Because of Him." It is called "He is the Gift." The church site that it is located is christmas.mormon.org. I invite all of you to watch the video and #ShareTheGift by inviting someone to watch the video. This initiative has been an answer to the prayers of our mission and will be a great way to spread the message of Jesus Christ. I love you all! 

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Love,

Elder Dalton