The General Epistle of Samuel (my final epistle)

                                  

I never thought we would get to this point. A lot of mixed emotions. At zone meeting I was hit hard with the reality of it all. Every zone meeting the missionaries who will be going home bear their testimony to the group. I went first and held it together pretty well. Once Elder Rae started to bear his and get all misty eyed that was the beginning of the end for me. I was doing well during Elder Smiths testimony but as we sang the closing hymn all the memories of my mission came flooding back. I think I made it through the first verse and then I lost it completely. I sobbed through the other four verses of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." 

I recently was reading the story of Elder Heber C. Kimball before he departed from his first mission to England. He visited two villages, for the last time just before he left, where he was met with great success, Chatburn and Downham. It was an emotional event for him to leave many whom he'd come to love dearly as he strengthened them in the gospel of Christ. Some of his words illustrate my feelings for this country and the regions where I've served. "...I was constrained to take off my hat, for I felt as if the place was holy ground. The Spirit of the Lord rested down upon me..." He continues later on and writes of how he has to leave the road many times to wash his face because of his tears. If only there were more streams in Dover. 

I have come to love this place. The experiences had, the lessons learned, the people met and loved, and the spirit felt, is something I would never change for anything. I am grateful to so many of the lovely saints in the areas where I served, for their love and support of the work. I am especially thankful for my Saviour and his enabling power. Jacob chapter four verse seven reads, "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." I know that the Atonement of Christ makes all things possible. Countless times I have felt it buoy me up and make me capable of His work. It is His work. "[His] yoke is easy, and [His] burden is light." As we yoke ourselves in the work of the Lord we are shoulder to shoulder with Him and consequently with one another. I love the Lord. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is our Saviour and Redeemer. His church is restored and we are blessed to be a part of it. I love all of you and look forward to seeing your smiling faces. 

Love, 

Elder Dalton

Sent from my iPad

Good old Kent countryside

We have lunch on the seafront after district meeting every week. This
time it was raining.

Roman lighthouse built in the first century AD

Car mileage lol

Selfie with a member

The General Epistle of Samuel (zone conference etc.)

It was quite a good week for us here in Dover. We had an alright
p-day. On the way to buy groceries we got a flat tire so I had to
replace it in the rain. Elder Claure had never done it before so it
was a good opportunity for him to learn how. We left the car at the
garage to get the tire repaired and to replace the others and to get
some new brake pads. While we waited we used the waiting area wifi and
emailed home. Then we strolled through town looking at the shops and
what not.

The rest of the the week went much smoother. We had a great zone
conference. It was sad though because it was the last one I'll be
attending. I said goodbye to a lot of missionaries I've come to love.
There was a good number of missionaries from my group there so we took
a picture together. While we were taking the picture sister Jordan saw
us and said, "I'm leaving too I want in!" Then she jumped in the
picture. She dressed up as Marry Popins as well. I'll send a picture.
It was a great conference.

The rest of the week was full of appointments. We are teaching a woman
from the Caribbean who has lived in France for quite some time. I can
understand a few words but I don't understand French haha. She speaks
English fairly well so we are able to teach her. Since we've been able
to get a copy of the Book of Mormon in French and give it to her she's
progressed so much faster. She came to church this week and loved it.
We'll keep working with her to help her progress towards baptism.

This week should be busy with appointments to teach and service. Since
he weather is nicer people are working in their gardens more which
means they need more help from us. I hope it stayed sunny this week.
I'm not a fan of constant rain. Well I hope you all have a great week!
I love you all!

Love,
Elder Dalton

Sent from my iPad

This is my favourite place to stop and think.....

Zone Conference!

Dinner appointment, a nice billboard, and an English street (it's two
way as well!)

This is the document that has my MTC groups vows to sprint to the
finish. We'll be giving it to our mission president and his wife on
the last night we are here.

#makeeverylastdaycount

Panorama

Selfie

Panorama

Thinking spot

Pictures from Zone Conference

The General Epistle of Samuel (sore knuckles)

This week was quite good. We were able to find quite a few new people to teach so that has really been a blessing. The weather on the other hand has not been that great. It's been classic English weather so that means sunshine one minute and a torrential down pour the next. Despite the weather we've persevered. 

We've spent a lot of time tracting and speaking with people on the street. I've been reflecting on how this was for me when I first started my mission in Stratford. I remember being so scared to stop people because I didn't know how they would react or what they would say. I was always afraid that I wouldn't know what to say. Over time however I've come to experience the truth of the scripture found in section 100 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 5 and 6 which say, "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." So many times I have had this happen to me. Sometimes the ideas of what to ask or speak about comes to mind. Sometimes the verses of scripture I need will be given me. Even words have been put into my mouth and later I think to myself, "how on earth did I come up with that?!" I know it's because this is the Lords work and he directs it through us. He will not let us fail. 

The coming week will be quite full for us. We have more people to be meeting with plus we will be traveling to London for zone conference which I'm excited for. It'll be interesting how the conference goes now that everyone has iPads. I am so grateful to be serving and I'm thankful to all of you for your love and support. I look forward, as always, to hearing from you all again next week! 

Love, 

Elder Dalton 

Sent from my iPad

Selfie with George at church

My companion and I with the bishop. Bishop is great!

The General Epistle of Samuel (sprint to the finish)‏

It was great to see most of you yesterday. It's always enjoyable to hear your voices. As we talked about plans of returning home and where to work and what not I was reminded of a quote our mission president shared with us on a conference call with my MTC group. He said, "the way you end your mission is the way you begin the rest of your life." With that in mind I've been striving hard to remain focused on the work I'm called to do despite all the possible distractions. Serving a mission is so wonderful!

This week we were able to get quite a lot done. We are working with George whom you met briefly while we were skyping. We usually meet him at the chapel about once a week and play table tennis and follow up on how his Book of Mormon reading is and praying. He is doing well. He's a great kid and has a lot of potential. We can hopefully help him make the covenant of baptism before I return. I'm praying he will. 

We are figuring out how to use iPads as well. There have been a few setbacks due to data privacy laws on Europe so we currently can't use the area book and planner app. Despite the minor setbacks we are seeing the iPads be quite a good tool. Many people are accustomed to watching videos so that has been great to show people different videos that soften their hearts to speaking with us more about the gospel. 

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you all again! Love you all!

Love, 

Elder Dalton

Sent from my iPad

The General Epistle of Samuel (iPads!)

Well this week has been quite eventful for us. On Tuesday we had a mission wide conference in Hyde Park so we had to make the three hour drive into London. I'm the only competent driver so after a three hour trip in, a five hour meeting, and a three hour drive home, I was quite exhausted. We had a great time though and we were able to drive past a few sights in London. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the houses of parliament, the London eye, and across tower bridge just to name a few. We had a great time and learned a lot at the meeting. The theme of the meeting was disciples of Jesus Christ in the digital age. Obviously it was due to our mission receiving ipads but that was hardly mentioned. The greater focus was about agency, the atonement and repentance. There was a great focus on strengthening our testimony of the saviour and how that would help us make good decisions on the internet. It was very inspiring and uplifting.

As I've mentioned we received iPads this week (see picture below). They are iPad mini's and have a lot of blocks on them. I guess the church has learned quite a lot since they first tested them in pilot missions in the US and Japan. We currently can use all the church aps along with other ones like weather, maps, iMessage, email and whatnot. We'll soon be allowed to use facebook and skype to use to teach. The church has developed and incredible app for the pamphlets. I recommend checking it out. It is a great tool and we've seen it help us be more effective. Once they sort out a few legal issues we'll even be able have our area book and planner on the iPads. There is a data protection law here in Europe that doesn't allow personal information to be on the internet so that is what is holding that app back from being released to us. Maybe they'll have it done in five weeks... 

As far as the work is going we are working hard to help people progress. Jo's son George is showing some interest so that is good. We'll be playing some table tennis tonight with him and we'll have a chat to see where he is. It is moving along. I am so thankful for all the blessings from being a missionary. I don't want it to end! I hope you all have a fantastic week. I love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Dalton

service project

service project

sleepy village tracting in the rain!

I'm pretty sure these are weeds but they look nice

The General Epistle of Samuel (clean up)

This week our teaching pool has decreased substantially. Though this means we need to find more people to teach, I am confident that the Lord is preparing us to move the work forward in a way we haven't yet seen. Many times I've experienced the truth of the Law of the Harvest in that, the wheat will be sifted from the tares. Though we are no longer teaching some people. We will soon be teaching people who are prepared to receive the restored gospel. 

This week we have done quite a bit of service for the members of the ward. It is always a pleasure to be around these wonderful saints and help them in any way we can. This ward has helped me learn a lot of things and I have grown to love many of the members here. Along with the members, the people we have been teaching have given me a taste of the joy of bringing even one soul unto Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this opportunity to be serving Him. Seeing His hand in this work is incredible. 

This week should be just as good. We have a meeting in London tomorrow so we'll have a long day of sitting. Plus I have to drive there so we are staying at the other Elders flat tonight to shave an hour of travel off. It should be a good meeting and I always look forward to being in London. It is such a wonderful city. Zone meeting is later in the week and between all of this we need to find and teach. With time narrowing down on me I have been feeling a greater urgency to do as much as I can. As Sister Jordan says, "Make every last day count!"

I hope you all have had a great week and I look forward to hearing from you all again!

Love,

Elder Dalton

My companion found this photo that he had from when I was still in Ipswich.
I accomplished a few photo bombs that day lol

The General Epistle of Samuel (surprise from the mission department.....)

We had a very good week this week. We were blessed in ways we have not seen before. We have had many people coming to us to learn about the gospel. One interesting one started on Monday. We received a text with information regarding an individual wanting a copy of the Book of Mormon as they requested on Mormon.org. We made plans to stop by her after interviews on Tuesday. We stopped by as planned and had a lovely conversation with her and arranged a time to come and teach her again. Before we left I asked how she came across the website (I'm always curious about how people find it) and she told us something surprising. She said she has a friend in Idaho that is preparing to serve a mission and that they had told her to have the missionaries around. She followed through and now we are teaching her. She was surprised to hear that I was from Idaho as well. Small world!

Throughout the week we had many people speak with us and it gave many opportunities to share the restored gospel. We are quite busy now. I am grateful for all the people we have to teach. Now we must sift the wheat from the tares. 

Now for the surprise from the mission department. We had a mission wide conference call a couple nights ago where President Jordan informed us of a mission wide conference that will be held in two weeks in the Hyde Park chapel. We will be visited by a Seventy who is assigned to the missionary department where we will receive training on how to be effective with our new iPads we'll be getting in two weeks. This is quite exciting news since there has been talk of it for about a year now haha. They'll be coming just in time to bring one home ;) It should be an interesting experience. 

That has been our week this week. Thank you all for your love and support. I hope you all have a fantastic week and I look forward to hearing from you next week!

Love,

Elder Dalton

Almost Sent from my iPad

The General Epistle of Samuel (Easter Bunny)

We had a great week this week. We were able to get a lot of work done plus enjoy some conference. Our week was filled with appointments which was nice. We have some investigators that are working towards dates to be baptised on. We are helping them every step of the way to ensure they make it. It is such a wonderful blessing to witness people make steps towards improving their lives and following their Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

This Easter season is such a wonderful time to reflect on the great blessings of the Atonement. In the days following other holidays there tends to be a let down as things all go back to as they were. Easter on the other hand seems to bring a newness to the days that follow. Just as everything changed after Jesus Christ's resurrection, so do the days following Easter. Spring seems to come in full bloom, the weather begins to warm and Earth comes alive. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can do the same for us. It brings a newness to life and a feeling of relief. As we access the Atonement we can feel ourselves lifted by our Saviour. I am so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which includes not only his suffering in the garden and on the cross but His resurrection three days later as well. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. He is the "source [we] may look for a remission of our sins. (2 Nephi 25:26)" I invite you all to read the words of Christ and apply His teachings. Allow his Atoning sacrifice into your life. I love you all and hope you have a marvellous week!

Love, 

Elder Dalton

We had some lunch on the nice "sandy" beaches of Folkestone. 

The view from the rooftop of a restaurant in Folkestone. 

The sign on an old toll house. Thought it was interesting....

A nice bright moon on the way home. The lights in this distance are from France. 

The General Epistle of Samuel (Easter is Coming!)

Well another week has flown by once again. It's crazy to think that March is on its way out. We just moved the clocks forward this Sunday so we are adjusting to the new time. It's nice to have some extra daylight though. People are less grumpy when we knock on their doors at half past seven.

The work is moving forward. Elder Claure and I are getting along quite well. After his first three days he said in amazement that he was learning so many new English words. I guess they don't speak proper English in Stratford lol. He is doing well and his English improves every day. Hopefully by the end of our time together He'll sound like and American ;)

We have a few people we are working with that are progressing. As well the church just came out with the new Easter video complete with special pass along cards. It's a great video if you haven't seen it yet it's on helives.mormon.org. Check it out! This new initiative is working well. Members are always more willing to share a video with their friends so we are hoping for the referrals to flow. 

I am happy to hear that everyone is well and looking forward to Easter. I hope that everyone's week goes well! Thanks for all the love and support. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Dalton

Here's another picture of the white cliffs

Lamb advert

France off in the distance

The General Epistle of Samuel (another transfer over)

Another transfer has come an gone in a blink of an eye. A lot of crazy things have gone on. Unfortunately Elder Tina'o is moving. I am sad to see him go. I have had so much fun serving with him and learning from him. My new companion is Elder Claure from Brasil! I am excited to have another Brazilian companion. It should be a great couple of transfers with him.

This week a lot of work was done. We were able to meet with a family that we haven't seen for a while. Gemma and Steve are great. They have been busy with work but thankfully after we sent Gemma a text on mothers day, they invited us over. Turns out they were talking about how they needed to start coming to church and that Steve needs to be baptised and their daughter as well. Then we sent them a text. Funny how that works out. We began teaching them and set a day for their daughter to get baptised. They are great and I look forward to working with them. 

We are gearing up for another church initiative this Easter. I think it will be similar to last year's "because of Him." This year it's #BecauseHeLives. I'm not too sure what we'll be doing. Probably lots of pass along cards to give out. We'll see how it goes. 

Well I hope that everyone has had a great week. I look forward to hearing from you all again soon!

Love,

Elder Dalton

correction: Elder Claure is from Bolivia 

pictures from our trip to Dover castle. I would show you pictures of the secret wartime tunnels but apparently they want to keep them secret so they wouldn't let us take pictures. Or it was something to do with copyrights. Either or. 

Hogwarts? a bit of wizard chess and broom flying.....