week 17

so another came and past just like any other this week went by pretty fast so as for what we did nothin to new except on friday we had a big mission activity that we put on for the stakes and investigators and stuff called carols to the king and we had heaps of songs and we had game i got to play games with a bunch of kids it was great there was about 1200 people there from W.A. so that was pretty cool it was a good turn out and the did tours of the chapel and temple grounds it was sweet. i think it turned out really well it was pretty good except we had to clean it up that night so we didn't get to bed til like 1130 and then we had to go and clean up again in the morning so it made for some long days cause ya get to where ya really like and need your sleep and if it get cut short its no good ha. so thats pretty much it for me for k bug congrats on the graduating thats pretty sweet i bet it feels nice to be done. and glad to hear little cinch is treating his brother good they'll be lots of fun when i get home. but ya not much to say for this week but i'm excited to talk to everyone next week its kinda weird to think that i'll get to talk to you guys next week i'm excited i hope everyone has good christmas plans. Love Elder Dalton
P.S. i heard this cool quote it said "the obsticle you have in front of you is never greater then the power you have behind you." and of course it is refering to the fact that with our heavenly fathers help nothing is impossible. i really liked it the church is true love you guys hope all is well talk to ya in a week and i want annabelle there if thats alright cause my president doesn't care that way i can talk to all my loved ones at once thanks love you guys.

Week 16

Hello Family and Friends,
Did ya miss me the last week? oh who am i kiddin of course ya missed me. so whats new in Idaho? any Snow? it was hot again this week but a good week. so first of kbug i have bore my testimony in sacrament but not talked yet but i have taught a few classes so thats been good. so i met a samoan guy that served in st. anthony and rexburg and even ashton and west it was pretty cool he said he loved the chicken fried stake his alema jan boone i think is how ya spell it but he would of served a good 6 or so years ago probably but it was cool to talk to him for a little bit. we went to a fireside and they sang and bore testimonies on what christmas means to them it was reallly good i love the firesides when they do heaps of singing. so whats new family? you guys are kinda slackin off on the emails you all must be gettin a little busy with the holidays but if its not to much to ask i still like the little emails every week that just tell me how your week went. thanks hmm so this week just one story we were goin to mcdonalds one day and there was this guy sittin on the curb smokin as everyone does here so i gave him a big wave and then the elders were askin if i knew him and i said no but that i was goin go talk to him so when we got out of the car i went over to him and he put his smoke out and came and we started talkin and he told us that he was actually a very less active member and that he was goin through a little bit of a rough patch in his life and that he had actually been thinking about how when he use to go to church he would feel the spirit and it would help him through his week and he was thinkin that it was time to come back to church and then POW there we were goin to get a feed and heavenly father allowed us to meet him and to get his info cause he wants the missionaries to come around. it was pretty cool the tender mercies we see in our lifes are sweet. but that was the highlight of my week it was pretty cool and we had Fluerette one of our investigators come to church so that was good this was a good we were able to teach alot and we did heaps and heaps of service we had service all but two days i think it was pretty sweet. hmmm but thats about it for the week i think i have a few pics from when we were helpin one of our memer families the robinsons put up there christmas stuff it was fun but it was a first to have a to put together the family christmas tree a bit different then just cuttin down and standin it up but it was fun and it was a really rainy day so it was a little cool so it kinda made it feel a little more like christmas it was fun. but thats it for this week i think i get to talk to you guys in two weeks so thats pretty cool. thanks for everything you guys are the best love ya.
Love Elder Dalton

Week 15! :)

Dear Family how are you guys talofa i hope all is well glad to hear that thanksgiving was good. but ya its pretty weird that it is dec 5 and yesterday is was like a 100 degrees it doesn't feel like christmas at all we went to a christmas fireside last night and i was sweating ha its a strange thing and they kept talkin about how some people say its hard to celebrate christmas without the cool weather and that is very true when the cold weather is what your use to but thats ok its still christmas weather your drinking hot coco or ice cold fizzy's (soda) to cool off but ya the fireside was really good i enjoyed it alot i love firesides so to answer kyle no i haven't met any cowboys i'm not sure if there is any in australia haha only city people which is alright but i'm lookin forward to getting to serve in some country areas hopefully. so as for this week nothin to exciting happened just the normal teaching and contacting and stuff we are still workin with a few familes and we still have two baptismal dates and they are progressing so that is very good i love gettin to teach the same people weekly and to see them progress and make those steps to following their savior and i love set appointments with new people too its the best. i think thats about it for this week no new stories or anything just been workin with the same people and stuff which is good but hope all is well guys whats everyone doin for christmas? does everyone have there decorations up? but sorry this week is short again and not to exciting but i love you guys and i'm very thankful for all that you do for me i hope all is well and that you guys are enjoying the season thats something i love about are family is we always knew the true meaning of christmas and its what i love especially now as a missionary but don't ever forget or get to busy for the true meaning of christmas and always remeber what our savior has done for us love you guys have a great week.
Love Elder Dalton

WEEK 14!!!

talofa again another week has past like always and my samoan hasn't improved much but i'm trying. first to answer susy's question no the american missionaries don't really celebrate thanksgiving here my mission president is from canada so he doesn't either but we had a family offer to feed us for thanksgiving but another member who works at red rooster was givin us a feed so we had a feed it was good but it really doesn't feel like thanksgiving and now christmas ha this week it reached 37.8 degrees it was extremely hot and its weird then when someone says merry christmas it makes me laugh cause this is nothing like christmas ha and to see people putting up christmas lights in shorts and a t its pretty funny stuff it kinda takes away the feeling of christmas for me which is good cause then i don't get home sick but we are goin to a members house to help them decorate for christmas so that'll be fun i'm excited for that but i think that was the only question that needed answered but as for this week it was a little rough on the numbers it seemed like alot of our set appointments fell through it was a little discouraging but we went to the shops one day and we contacted people we met a daughter and mother and had a good talk with them and we were able to talk about the restoration and the truthfulness of the book of mormon the daughter seemed very interested it was interesting cause they are buddist so we had to start from the beginning with god is our loveing heavenly father so it was cool to be able to bear testimony again of all that stuff its not the first time that i've got to do that but for some reason this time it was very powerful so to say i could feel the spirit as i bore testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and we were able to talk to this man who said he would talk to us but he didn't want us to preach to him but then he started asking us questions ha he was pretty funny and he likes his beer and wine he said but he asked us what the 10 commandments were and said he is at this bus stop every week at the same time so we can come around and see him again he was a very friendly guy it was a good experience as is everything we were also able to do quite a bit of service which is always good i enjoy that. its always good to get to do some work to help me from putting on anymore weight ha but i can't remember did i tell you guys what we did two pdays ago when we went for a tour of the freemantle jail that is here its like a 100 years old and stuff it was a working prison they would cut out the granite and stuff to build their own cells i thought that was kinda funny but it was pretty cool i have heaps of pics i'll show you guys eventually. ha but ya know how you guys were askin what i wanted for christmas i couldn't think of anything so i asked some my companion and a family in our ward and they asked for hot tamoles or however you spell them and cinnamin bears and the little packets of hidden valley ranch that you make up and twizzlers but you guys don't have to send all those things just a few if thats alright but if not no worries those are just a few of the things you can't get hear that they like oh and reeses puffs cereal ha thanks guys whatever you send is fine though no worries thanks family and friends you guys are the best love ya heaps keep studying the scripts and praying the church is true guys love ya read alma 38 verse 9 its a good one love ya LIVESTRONG Love Elder Dalton oh and could someone email me directions on how to make pumpkin pies thanks love ya

Week 13 :) Happy Thanksgiving!!

talofa that means hello in samoan my new companion is from samoa hes the man hes been out for 9 months and he is sweet we get on great he has a great since of humor its sweet his name is Elder Manu'a. thats about it for him so far ha he loves to sing in the flat but its more like yelling ha its pretty funny hes awesome he gave me a lava lava and they are actually quite nice to wear especially to bed but ya hes awesome. as for the week nothin to different or special this week we had transfer meeting on wednesday and picked up the new missionaries on thursday our district has four new missionaries in it and one new to the mission so we had to go pick him up. so its been a good week all is well we had a cottage evening friday and a ward dinner on saturday they were really good. and ward conference was this week and it was great and we had tea with a couple in our ward last night so that is always good. it was a great week my birthday was good we had district meeting and then we had cake and ice cream and then we had a cottage evening that night and one of the sisters in our ward had gotten a cake so ya it was a great day. so ya thats it for this week not very much sorry. but good to hear about the new baby boy chancey i hope i spelled that right but thats cool tell him hello for me and i hope you all have a great week in nebraska eat some turkey and potatoes for me. and some deer ay thats pretty cool about that dan hopefully she's good eats hope all is well eerything is great here love you guys the church is true and the book is blue love Elder Dalton fa that means goodbye in samoan so fa till next week

Week 12!!

so as of today i am no longer a trainee so my companion went home on friday and surprisingly it was a little sad to see them go i get my new comp on wednesday so i've been with my district leader elder taumalolo until then its been great but this week was bit different cause where elder weber was goin home we went and visited people so he could say goodbye but it was still a great week and its been different since i'm with elder t we aren't in my area so we just go to my area every once in awhile so we have only taught a few people the last few days but its been really good we had a dinner appointment last night so those are always great. hmmm as for answering emails k-bug no we are not having any snow ha in fact we are very oppisite it is quite hot here ha and jesse mae and dan i say its gonna be a little boy on the 18th ;) i'm pretty excited and thats cool for all you guys havin thanksgiving together and lissy glad to here all is well and i'm glad your gonna celebrate my birthday for me thats pretty sweet we have a fireside that night so i'm pretty excited about that and susy q thanks for the emails but i know what ya mean about mom not answerin back i talk to her alot its hard at times i really miss her and wish i could get an email or letter from her but i have a great family who emails me so its all good the sad times come and go i just remember all the good times instead and i just remember about the gospel that i'm out here preaching that families can be together forever and than i remember all the good that is to come but ya that helps me stay happy even though i don't understand life after death as much as i would like too i know its true cause i know this church and the book of mormon to be true its a great gospel i love getting to share it with people and being able to promise them that this gospel will bring them the most happiness and peace in this life and the life to come and to be able to say that this is the only true church with the fulness of the gospel and it is only possible through the church of jesus christ that we are able to return to live with heavenly father and family again. but ya glad to hear all is well and that everyone is doin well i hope you guys have a great week i hope my letter makes sense sorry its short but i'm on a dumb computer that counts time and then shuts off when i'm out so ya i have to be careful of my time but thanks for everything your the best family i'll tell ya about my new comp next weeek but i do know that i'm stayin in the same area so that'll be good but love you guys i hope all is well have a great week. love Elder Dalton Livestrong god speed

Week 11!

so like always another week came and went this week as part of being trained now we have a booklet called the 12 week program that we follow so this week was week 11 of course and as part of week 11 i take the lead in all situations so that was a new experience and i was on four exchanges this week so i didn't really have a choice whether or not i wanted to take the lead i got to anyways so ya it was a great week we taught and shared 26 lessons or scriptures which is the most i've had yet on my mission and we really seemed to help the people more and we did service too so it was a great week and we got fed a few times it was awesome and fast sunday was great and we had a fireside which was great i really enjoy those especially when there is a lot of musical items. i can't really think of anything in specific for a story just had some very good lessons and learned alot in study moroni 7:40-41 are great and ether 12: 4 is good they are on hope i've been studyin the christlike attributes in preach my gospel and tryin to develop them and hope is the one i've been workin on this week its been really good i really enjoy it. rob i hope you guys member him he set a date for dec 31 and he gave up coffee on saturday so hopefully he is still goin strong he's really good i love him but he doesn't have to much faith in himself but we gave him a blessing and it was a good lesson with him and he says he wants to get baptized and he wants to be able to do his work for his father and they want to get sealed so it'll happen it just takes time but thats about it for this week i was on exchange with manu'a a somoan striaght from the island he's the man but we went and saw all our samoan families in my area when i was with him and it was great they would just speak samoan and invite us right in and give us food i kinda hope i get a poly companion next transfer but whatever happens will be great. so i gotta go sorry its short hope all is well love you guys talk to ya next week. love Elder Dalton livestrong always

Week 10 :)

so this was a very good week nothin too different except A BAPTISM but we'll get to that later.its kinda sad how noone celebrates halloween here i never i liked halloween so much til its hot and it doesn't feel like fall and noone celebrates it then ya miss halloween but all good cause i get to be a missionary everyday so thats pretty cool. but no our members don't feed us to often i've only eaten at a members house once since i've been here but a few investigators and one part member family has had us over twice so there really good but we are tryin to build that relationship with the members so its gettin better. hmm so first we had a lesson with rob this week he is a former investigator that we've been teaching for awhile and he smokes and his partner and him aren't married but she is a member so we've been tryin to help him out so this week we talked about faith and trustin in god and we set a baptismal date for the 31 of dec a new years resolution for him i'm very excited he is great he came to the baptismal and he's been at church the last like 5 weeks. so very excited for that so now to the baptism it was awesome there was quite a few people there and since it was a joint baptismal and bother are primary aged the primary sang and did some talks it was great and i got to baptise her so that was a really neat experience and a great first i loved it i look forward to the next baptisms. i'll send a few pics too so thats about it for this week those were the highlights sorry its a short letter but it was a great week i love bein on a mission my companiion goes home in 10 days its pretty weird to think about and that will be the end of my 2nd transfer thats 2 transfers i'll never get back just got to keep livin everyday like i won't get it back and work harder and learn more everyday and i challenge everyone to do the same remember to make time for your heavenly father everyday to thats one thing i know is that if you put your trust in him and work hard he makes up for the weaknesses i have i know the church is true guys and i love it with all my heart the book of mormon is the word of god and it helps me everyday and i learn so much from it love you guys and thanks for all that you do for me your the greatest. love Elder Dalton

Week 9!

so i don't think you guys even like my little jokes in my emails whats up with that? i try to be funny for you guys and you don't even like it. so now i'll just go back to the normal letters. so week 9 is now over i will never be able to go back to week 9 again prettty crazy to think about but this week was good we have a baptism on saturday so thats cool but its a silly as story so she is 8 and her mom is a member and there is no dad in the picture but she was never baptized and we told bishop about it like 3 months ago and he never took care of it and now she turns 9 on friday and is getting baptized on saturday so its a convert baptism for us ha my first on but its cool cause we've been teaching her and her family ever since i got here cause they were less active they've only been back to church like the last 5 weeks so its cool cause really we have been teaching her. and i might even get to baptize her oh and its the jsackman family if you remember me talkin about them. they're great i love them they are super fun. as for the other baptismal dates we had the got dropped so that was a bummer but hopefully we can get back in and try teaching more and rekindle that fire so to say but the one date that is in jan is still good and her daughter will be baptized with her so keep sareena and anthony and jasl in your prayers thanks so we had a specialized training this week that was pretty cool and i don't know if i told you guys but elder taumalolo our district leader has us memorizing 24 scriptures by the end of this transfer which is in 3 weeks i have 2 down its pretty tough but its good it goes with the first talk given in conference good stuff. so we met this lady named bancy on the street last week and she is from kenya and the missionaries taught her there she is cool as and we taught her this week when we were on exchanges and she says she knows the book of mormon is true and she wants to get her husband more involved but he works alot like everyone does here and so she said she would share her testimony with him and the restoration story and have him take the lessons from us and they have a 8 year old boy so thats cool president has issued a mission goal to baptize a family before the year is up so we are excited hopefully this will be on of our families so i'm excited shes great. hmmm so thats about it for this week i think it was a good weeek we have zone confernce this week i'm excited about that. love ya Elder Dalton

Week 8!

And it came to pass in the commecment of the 9th week of the journey of my mission.......ha just kiddin so week 8 is over and it was about like any other so as for kbug the dirt is very sandy and very red and i hear up north its extremely red and the toilets don't flush backwards cause they just like throw water everywhere ha its hetic so sorry about that i was pretty sad when they didn't but maybe someone will have a toilet like the ones back home and i'll be able to see if they flush backwards ha as for lissy the halloween customs i'm not a 100 percent sure about i beleive they celebrate it kind of like they do trunk or treat i believe but not everyone celebrates it i don't think i'm not sure when i get an auzzie companion i'll ask him all these questions and tell dad and wayde hi and glad to hear byu won just so you guys know the all blacks(new Zealand) beat the Wallibies(Australia) yesterday in the world cup and so it is the all blacks against france in the finals this weekend hopefully the all blacks win they've only won it once and they are usually the best time every year but they choke so anyways back to the good stuff this week was pretty normal nothin new taught alot and learned alot like always i almost feel like a missionary i just about feel comfortable teachin people if that makes sense cause i've always felt comfortable but i'm startin to learn alot and remember alot so i feel more confident in teaching that the spirit will be able to draw from stuff i've learned to help our investigators. so one story is we met tariq this week he is from pakistan and he is funny as he's a little weird and likes his smokes and weed and drinkin so thats a slight setback but he wants to quit but anyways he has no christian background at all but he loves to learn and we have talked alot about our heavenly father we are just tryin to help him get a desire to find out if this is all true but we took him to the cottage evening last night and he said he felt like everyone could just relate to him it was pretty good he can be a little hard to follow sometimes though his thought process is out of control sometimes. he seems pretty kean though so thats cool.i'm glad you guys are enjoyin the football i miss that a little bit but i have the rest of my life to watch football so no worries. hmm so as for any more stories i don't think i have anything to exciting i'm tryin to memorize a scripture a day and its goin well so far presdent monson said that if you memorize a scripture a day your whole mission he promised that when you returned you would have a photographic memory but i'm not bein greedy i'd be ok with like a half photographic memory ha so thats the goal is a scripture a day its a little tough but its fun and in conference the first talk given saturday morning was on the power of scripture and of memorizing the scriptures and all over in the scriptures it talks about feasting on the words of christ is what brings a change of heart or what allows the spirit to come upon us in more abundance elder weber and i have talked alot about it and we think thats the key to alot is prayerful study bein directed by the spirit and listenin to what it is tellin you of course thats true for the mission but we think it's extremely important even after the mission cause he is gettin nervous about goin home and losin the spirit so prayful study is where its at. its helped me heaps its crazy i love study now but anyways the church is true guys love ya and serve whenever and wherever you can your the greatest family ever love you guys so much LIVESTRONG Love Elder Jared Dalton

Week 7! WOoHOo!

this week was good no new investigators which is kinda a downer but two new baptismal dates for the endof this month really excited about that fluerette is the young women she is 15 and she is great she is always smiling when we are there and when we ask about how she feels about it all she says she just feels its true she is great and her friend is a less active girl so the two of them seem very excited and the less active girl taby told us she will start coming to church with her so i'm super excited for all of it i can't wait for baptism it'll be great thats the main story for the week though damien and rob are progressing i don't know if you remember them but damien is the 16 your old young man who is trying to figure out what the next step is for himself and rob is an older guy who is startin to come back to church and his partner is a less active member but they said they might get married in dec so thats really exciting i think once he quits smokin he will get married and baptized smokin is all thats holdin him back. but there great i think thats about it for today i gotta go shoppin and go play some touch ha have a good one family love you guys very much read and pray daily thanks for raising me in the church dad and thanks for bein examples to me everyone love you guys LIVESTRONG Elder Dalton

First Pictures in Australia!

Here is Elder Dalton just getting to the mission home in Perth. This is President and Sister Cahoon. The second picture is Jared with his trainer, Elder Weber.

Week 6!! :)

so its the end of week 6 my first transfer call came saturday but don't worry i'm not gettin transferred. ha this week has been good same as any other nothin to great sadly by that i mean there was no great stories to tell but there is one really good thing to tell serena a abariginal lady we have been teachin set a date to be baptized on jan 8 which is great and her daughter will hopefully be baptized then too and hopefully her husband anthony keep them in your prayers please. so this week was crazy weather it was rainy and chilly one day then the next it was 28 degrees which is hot for me they say its like 35 average here in the summer not sure how that is going to go for me cause the 28 degrees was hot as i was sweatin like crazy. so sorry i don't have any great stories but this week i've been studyin mosiah and its a great book i love the book of mormon i've really been able to get into it and i've never been able to before its great. i learn so much more its crazy i love to read which is a new experience for me ha but its great. so to answer cinchy ya i can see the stars here but they aren't as good as back home but i hear in the country they are great and are really bright so hopefully i'll get the chance to see that before the mission is over but the stars are different here of course no big or little dipper but they have what the call the southern cross which is a cross layin on its side its pretty and they other crazy thing here is the moon cause it isn't sideways if ya know what i mean like when there is just a sliver its on the bottom not on the side its pretty cool i'm gonna try and get a picture. so its crazy how fast ya grow to love people here we visit the jackmanns everyweek and they are great i've grown to love them so much the kids are so much fun. but ya its crazy cool how close ya grow to people and so quickly but thats to be expected i suppose cause god loves everyone so much so it makes sense that when ya share the gospel you grow closer to god and people. so we took sis smith and damien to a fireside last night that was suppose to me a missionary based fireside so we thought it would be good for them like the one last week was but it was all about marriage and she is a late 50's single lady that doesn't want to get married again and damien is 15 so not the perfect topic for them but they are great and were honest and said it was boring and to be honest it was pretty boring it was pretty much just a story about this couples wedding would of been great for young single adults but not a good missionary topic for investigators unless they were a couple who was looking for that but even then it was good missionary language if ya know what i mean it was pretty deep i felt bad for sis smith and damien but it was good sorry about that story didn't mean to sound negative but i thought it was a little funny so i thought i would tell ya but i gotta go i'm out of time sorry its short today and not very good or spiritual but the church is true love ya Elder Dalton

WEEK 5! Time goes so fast!

so we just finished up week five of being in perth its pretty crazy its already been five weeks but cool at the same time but i still feel like i don't know anything and i don't like that to much but i'm still learning lots just like every missionary says i wish i would of studied more before the mission. so ya it makes ya feel very inadequate but thats what makes ya wanna learn more and continue in studyin i suppose ha but its been great this week is the same as any other ya got the good with the bad. but yesterday sister smith and damien came to a musical fireside about pioneers with us. which is a huge step for them cause there not to big on bein in public but they are great people its crazy how ya get to love them they are awesome and we invited damien to be baptized and he said he'll pray about it so its great we are goin over to see them tomorrow and have tea(dinner) with them. so there great and we'll talk with him more about it tomorrow and they said they would come to the cottage evening next saturday so i'm really excited about that too. so its general conference this week for you guys ay? its not general conference for us til the 8th and 9th cause otherwise we would have to watch it in the middle of the night ha so they record it and rebroadcast it for us. so i'm pretty excited for that and hopefully we can get some investigators there as well so as for other investigators damien is the only really serious one jake is still doin pretty good but he is goin to uni so he gets caught up in that and doesn't focus on the scripts much but he said he would read 2 nephi 31 which is all about the doctrine of christ and so hopefully after that he'll want to take it more serious and hopefully baptism. there the only two that are really progressing and we have a few less active families who are doin well the best one is the jackmanns they are abariginal a single mom with five kids we see them every week and we play heaps of games with them and then share a lesson with them its hard to get them to sit still for to long i was thinkin we should teach about reference next time with them ha. so ya things are great here the week has been a little bit sunnier but its rainy again today i actually quite like the rain its just on bikes sometimes the rain can get a bit annoying but the days like today when we are in a car and then playin touch i like the rain. ha so we did heaps of service saturday it was great we painted a fence in the park for like 3 hours then we went to a less active families house and they were cleanin up the yard so we helped them for 2 hours it was great i love service it feels good to get to do some work like that. it was real good but i never told you guys when i was doin some service awhile back i was mowin and i ran over a lizard it was huge it was like the size of a rabbit and it had super hard skin it was pretty nasty it freaked me out so random but all the dirt here or what they call dirt is just sand there is so much sand its all so lose the ground like doesn't pack down its weird as. hmm so i think thats it for all the random stuff so how is everything back home? so i think i may of already told you but if you get the time look up mormon messages they are great and if you can watch the infinite power of hope one and any givin by holland or monson or the football player who had the wheely chair at conference til he passed away i can't remember his name now but they are all great i watch them everytime we eat there are heaps of them we have like 100 on cds its great. i've been readin the new testament and i really enjoy it mattew is a great book i really like readin about the savior its the best. so the fireside we had yesterday was great the songs were awesome i love the hymns and church songs in general they are so powerful they made me think of mom last night tho i'm so thankful for the parents that we have on this earth they are such good examples for us in all that they do. i think of mom and dad often and everything they taught me it makes me sad sometimes cause of course i would love to get that letter from mom but thankfully i have a great family and i still get to hear from dad and the family often thanks heaps. and even tho i don't get the letters from mom there are times when i think about her that i know she there with us helpin us out like she always did her and the savior the two best guardian angels you could ask for no doubt. i'm so thankful to be a member of the church and to of been blessed with the best family and friends in the world the church is true the book is blue and i'm so happy to be apart of it. i was thinkin about it the other day ya know how cool it is to have apostles and prophets its the best the stuff we learn about is amazing and so many people don't take the time to listen and see what they could have in there life another challege for us is what mom challeged us to do a few years ago is to sit down every day and take time to notice the hand of god in our lives or the tender mercies of our heavenly father its crazy to realize it all the little things he does for us i've been tryin to do it but its somethin i'm gonna do better at so ya love you guys your the best livestrong oh and guess what i'm finally learnin the articles of faith took me 19 years but i have one through 8 memorized already and i use them in contacting its very powerful its a great way to have the spirit there from the beginning. anyways love you guys your the best hope all is well love Elder Dalton

week 4

so its the end of week 4 in australia and this week has been about the same as the rest some bad and some good. its been raining all week and we are on bikes so it gets a little wet ha but its fun and its suppose to keep raining until wednesday so more fun ahead of us still and the rain can really come down here it'll just be slowly dropping then out of nowhere its like they turned on the faucet. but its good it makes things more fun. so anyways last monday we went to dinner with levi who was a less active but is pretty active now and he took us to this seafood place he works at and i ate clams muscles peppered squid two types of fish ha it was a crazy experience and they weren't to bad except the clams they were rank to fishy for me i almost couldn't swallow them then on thursday we went over for lunch and to teach and i tried so octopus that is some nasty stuff but he eats it like candy there is no fat on that stuff though its like rubber but anyways thats the exciting stuff for food this week. as for a the actual missionary work we have 8 new investigators this week which is good and they all seem very keen so keep them in your prayers please and we are talkin to denise again thats the lady that dropped us a couple weeks back. and sis smith the less active lady says she really wants to know if this is the true church and how god answers her prayers not sure why the missonaries who baptized her didn't teach her this but it sounds like she has been waiting for a sign from god as an answer and so we started talkin about feeling and she was like really? thats how you know? and we were like yes didn't they tell you all of this when you were baptized but its all good we got her attention now and her son is really keen on it too and said he would be baptized but we haven't set a date yet so hoopefully all keeps goin well keep them in your prayers to please there great people she is super fun to be around. on saturday it was a great day we taught 7 lessons and everyone was keen and we got return appointments to all of them so thats good the one that really stuck out was on saturday we had the thought to go and visit one of the members in the ward but when we got there a different guy answered the door and he said come in elders i've been expecting you and he told us the story of how he's been inactive for quite some time and then just recently stuff started to fall into place so that day he said to himself if the elders come around i'll go to church so we were able to talk to him and teach a little bit and bore testimony of how our heavenly father watches out for us and is aware of us so it was really good and he came to church yesterday. and he has been havin headaches alot lately and its startin to worry him so he is gonna go get it checked out but he wanted a blessing and he asked me to do it and i was extremely nervous and i didn't say alot just cause blessings make me nervous cause i don't want to say somethin that isn't gods will so i try to really listen to the spirit so it was a pretty rough blessing but the spirit was extremely strong and he said it was exaclty what he needed and i know it was what i needed to have that experience. but it was a great experience. but the other days were good too we taught alot of people but saturday was just a really good day yesterday or sunday we had a fhe with the farrels they are the family we seen two weeks ago i think it was and we talked about prayer church and reading yesterday and played a game with them it was great they are a really fun family i like them and the mom especially wants to do better with everything she just struggles a little as everyone does. but i think thats about it for now gotta go do some shopping and play some touch as long as it doesn't start rainin to hard. love you guys so much your always in my prayers i hope all is well keep me updated on everything please. love elder dalton LIVESTRONG

3rd pday in Australia!

so i've been out for a month and half already crazy stuff the days just like run together it feels like ya just get a short hour nap inbetween ha its great i love when we are busy slow days are rough so this week was just like any other taught some some fell through some people want nothin to do with us but its all good we decided we need more faith never doubt anything so thats what we are tryin and its workin good so far had a few good lessons but jake the young kid we taught the resto to is back home in sydney for the week so we don't get to see him which is a bummer but its all good. so its tough to think that you guys are goin into fall cuz we are startin summer and i miss the fall big time thats my favorite time of year so here its spring and i bet its gettin close to 85 degrees here now and thats cold for all these guys they say it get to 40 degrees cel they say thats like 115 or somethin i don't know what i'm gonna do. as for what it looks like its a big city like 1.8 million people and little suburbs everywhere its pretty crazy and it turns ya around fast i drove one day this week and i had no idea where i was goin and its weird still to drive on the wrong side of the road but its actually easy to get use to its weird because the way i think is north here is actually south so i'm still tryin to figure it out but all i can see is houses so its hard i haven't seen much except on the flight i seen some of the terrain its really flat and red sand and random waterholes everywhere there trees are cool i'll try to get some pics on here not sure how to do it yet but i'll figure it out eventually and the flower birds of paradise is everywhere here everyone has them in there yard. there pretty and everyone has a dog but there all super fat its ridiculous and all the house we go in are super messy not use to that yet but i am use to the sunday clothes its weird to wear jeans now i love service tho its the best i wish we did more we get to paint a park fence on the 24th i'm super excited. so sorry this letter isn't great today not to many great stories but we did teach a few really good lessons this week and we are hopefully gonna have 2 people commited to baptism this week we have the faith god is doin the rest oh and we are doin the effort of course the church is true no doubt in my mind i don't always understand everyting but i know its all true. there is a great talk about the book of mormon by elder holland i think its called the saving grace or somethin sorry i can't remember but i love it and i want you to know that i bear witness of the truthfulness of this church and the book of mormon and the prophets of this day i'm no special person but i would give my life anytime rather then deny the truthfulness of this church i know its true and i love gettin the chance to tell everyone i seen that i know that and can promise that this church is true that our redeemer lives and it can and will bless everyones life that is willing to follow gods commmandments. just so you guys know the US lost in the world cup which is rugby and its goin on now and man is it hard to talk to people when the matches are on they like the footy and rugby footy is a strange game not so sure about it yet but rugby is great anyways this letter is kinda everywhere.
love you guys and gals love elder dalton

2nd email in Australia!

so this last week was good and rough but as for the questions i am right next to perth everything is in subarbs here and i'm in the belmont subarb area and we ride probably close to ten miles a day i would think some days maybe more and other days less. but no i haven't seen any kangaroos yet which is a little dissappointing but i'm excited to see one the birds are really funny here though they make a weird noise its crazy and there are some pretty colorful ones i'll see if i can get a picture of some and the crows make the weirdest noises. pretty crazy stuff but its cool but when your just in the city and stuff its not that different then the us sometimes its very similiar there is even a ikea ha made me think of lissy and a target and stuff.
so as for the week it was good and rough it had its ups and downs we had one really good day we taught jake a 19 your old guy who is goin to uni here thats college and his grandma is a member but thats about it for his family but we taught the restoration and he was super keen he was just watchin us and askin questions the spirit was so strong we are goin back to meet with him this week so if you want to study somethin(annie cause you were askin) and anyone else get ahold of preach my gospel and study the restoration and really study it its great i love sharin it especilly when ya share the first vission super powerful we met a guy on the street and we taught him this and i told him the first vision and wow it was powerful and he was like ya thats great thats what i've been thinkin cause i've been disappointed with my religion and we got a appointment with him but when we went back he said he couldn't talk and that we needed to come back another time so hopefully it works out. so we were teachin this lady named denise and we have taught her a few times and she came to church and we did some service and we taught her again about church and commndments and blessing from prayer and she hadn't drank for a week then we prayed with her she said it and it was powerful she started to cry and asked heavenly father for help and then after the prayer we sat there talked for a min then like 5 min later she says i don't think you guys should come around anymore i think i'll just keep livin life and die in sin and go to hell thats what she said and i was like i didn't expect that it was like a stab to the heart i think she is just overwhelmed and didn't know what to expect so we are gonna give her a week and she said we could still come around and see her and she would just tell us whether or not she wanted to talk. so ya hopefully it works out so yesterday was a fireside after church so we had some people lined up to go and they all backed out and the last moment so that waskinda rough then we thought about this guy who is 50 years old and is always on the street sellin art i think he is a little slow but a great guy and he is always askin if we have night church so we rode to his house nocked on the door he was on the phone seen it was us put the phone down and asked is there church and we said yes so he went and got changed hopefully the call wasn't important ha but it was great the fireside was great and he loved it it was on courage so he wants to come again. thats about it for the week i get to play some more touvh today thats always fun and we have a fhe planned too so its a good day.

First Pday in Australia!

Hey Family,
First off i'm in Australia its goin on a week. the week has been good but filled with alot of learning which is fun actually. so on thursday i went and got my bike and my drivers lisence and then went to the office met my trainer and had lunch and an orientation meeting my trainer is great he is from california his name is elder weber and he is awesome extremely smart and knows how to talk to people its crazy how easy it is for him to get to know someone then just start teaching when i try to talk to someone it sounds like i have a stutter and can't get anything out ha but its alot of fun to keep tryin i think i've improved a little since the first day at least i hope. so its just him and myself in the flat(apartment) its a pretty small little flat but bigger then the hagerman one ha so on friday we had a few appointments set but they all fell through in the moring but then we had sport night and brought jake an investigator with us to play volleyball and basketball. on and on friday morning we played touch which is touch rugby and it was great i love it there was like twenty missionaries cause they all came down for the transfer and stuff any ways back to friday we played sport and then we came home and slept i really enjoy my sleep lately my body doesn't feel tired but my spirit gets wore out or somethin so on saturday we had a few appointments we taught like 3 lessons it was good the people here are really nice they just don't think they need the gospel in there life but oh man are they wrong ha so saturday was good i enjoyed and we've tracted almost everyday cause we are on bikes we have no car so we ride everywhere and we talk to everyone we pass so i'm tryin to work on that and we went door to door one evening and well the people weren't exactly welcoming but it was good. oh and by the way today is pday its monday here almost 12 but its late sunday night for you guys. so we are 13 hours a head of you so i'm in your future i'm like a time traveler anyways back to topic saturday was good we had like 6 people who said they would come to church. so saturday i don't even remember fallin asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow i was out it was the best sleep ever its weird tho i keep havin dreams about missionary stuff kinda strange so sunday was good we went around and visited to people before church and then walked to church with denise who is a older lady that is investigator and so church is pretty small definitely not island park i think there was probably about 60 people at church but it is a ward and they are great people real nice and they all wanna help out with the missionary work which is awesome so we had three people come to church that are our investigators and on is a family they seem pretty keen so hopefully they'll want to be baptized here shortly but they aren't married and they have four kids and guess what lesson was taught in relief society thats right the law of chastity so hopefully all is well with that i hope so we are goin to teach her on thursday i think so we'll find out so we taught the lesson in sunday school and priesthood so that was fun after church we went and met with patience a investigator i think or she might be a less active talked about paryer it was great she is african and has two twin two year old boys who are crazy it was fun. then we had a dinner appoinment she made veggie soup and it wasn't that bad actually but they are a great couple they are older but supper nice it was great to meet them then we tried to stop by a few peoples houses but they were all dark and it was like 830 so we came home but it was great so today is pday and we are atthe library then shoppin and playin touch this afternoon then we have a fhe appoinment and a few others so it'll be good i'm loviin here so good news my address will be the same address for the whole two years so that'll be nice for you guys only need to know one address for the whole time and you can send packages and letters to it and the address is the one i sent you last week so hopefully you still have it if not i'll send it to you another time only bad part about that is i only get mail once a week so ya but thats cool that way i can stay focused and then have one really good mail day ha
Elder Dalton.

Last pday in MTC

August 17th "... The temple was good I did sealings today it was the children it was really cool. It was my first time so it was cool. Other then the temple we ate at the temple today cause its one that has a cafeteria and it was the best food i have ate since i have left. Ha it was great then we went to class and studied and practiced teaching with our companions it was good I actually like to study now i enjoy it. Weird huh. Then we came to our rooms and now i am writing. So i cant remember if i told you my comment about the email from the lady whose in son went to Perth but i am excited to experience this and see how it'll be. I am excited either way. I hope i get to play Rugby that would make me love it even more. -Elder Dalton"

August 18th "...So guess what, there is this tree at the MTC that smells just like Creme Soda it's the strangest thing ever. But it is awesome. So today is in Field orientation day its were we get ready to go in the field its been going really good. We just got done with it and our back to our room. So our training for when we got to our missions is for three months we go through this book and for most the time we are the ones in charge of teaching and stuff. So this should be interesting but i am excited. Not gonna lie i am a little nervous. But Excited! -Elder Dalton

Letter :)

So the last week is almost the same every day we study, go to class, and teach investigators all our investigators have committed to baptism so thats cool i hope its like this in the field. We had a devotional on Sunday about success as missionaries and how our success comes on how hard we work and if we invited and helped others come unto Christ the rest is up to our Heavenly Father. It was a really good talk I enjoyed it alot! And then on Tuesday we had a devotion on Heavenly Fathers plan for all of us and how we need to thank and recognize what our Heavenly Father does for us. It was really good. I know this church it true Belle. NO doubt. I am so excited for the next two years and then what will come next. I read the email about what Perth is like and I'm kind of excited for it. I know it'll be hard and i am glad cause the harder it is the more i will love it. As far as the language is i am use to that cause i have a teacher from South Africa and down there H*ll and D*mn aren't cuss words and he uses h*ll quite often. He's the best teacher though. As for my companion he is really smart and we have nothing in common at all and i mean Nothing except the choice to serve a mission but thats all we need he is a great guy and a great friend. Ive enjoyed the last week. The spirit is strong. I know the church is true Annie. God speed the right. I am going to the temple now. So have fun.
Elder Jared Dalton

Email. Week two

hey my address is
Australia Perth Mission
PO Box 185
Tuart Hill
W.A. 6939
Australia


thanks for the doughnuts the district loved them i only ate one. I fly out on monday at 9 pm out of salt lake. you probably shouldn't send letters later then thursday or else i probably won't get them but you can dear elder me until saturday.
Elder Dalton

We love letters!!

"..So as for what I've been doing is lots of learning. The first day in here was pretty rough lots of going all over learning stuff, getting to know the place. Didnt really do much besides that the first day. The 2nd and 3rd day had about half the day was learning, other half was more getting settling stuff like immunizations, and meeting our branch president and our zone leaders. Thank goodness for our hour gym time though i really enjoy getting to work out i think i actually might have gained some muscle (Fingers crossed) If not, i've at least gotten toned again. So day 4 and 5 and 6 were about the same ya study alone then have class time for 3 hours then lunch, then zone teaching ( I'll explain what that is in a minute) then more class, then planning session and then night time we get to our rooms around 9:30, and get in bed around 10:15, and sleep at 10:30. The last hour of the day we just chill and read. Not sure why i can't write letters but thats the rule so i suppose ill follow it. I hope it changes in the field though. So zone teaching is when our zone gets together and practices teaching eachother the stuff we have learned. The last hour of every class period we teach an investigator but the investigator is just our teachers but the play the role of a nonmember that is either their friend or family. so it is extremely real and the spirit is so strong in the meetings we have with them. And the they have nonmembers and members that come to the mtc so we can teach them. We are teaching a man named Josh who has had a very tough life but he is the nicest guy ever. Himself and his wife are very friendly and very easy to spend time with. I really enjoy it in fact I might even love it. So today is Pday and we just chill most the day and do laundry till 2:30 then we go to the temple then to dinner then to class so i have about an hour left of hanging out before i go to the temple. Oh. and tell your mom i have only had one soda since i have been here and it was caffeine free and i eat salad and a fruit every meal and take my pills twice a day. Im following her rules....

P.s. I forgot to tell you about our tie exchange. So in class on Tuesdays our district decided to do a tie exchange so when we came to our room we got our ties then we decided to invite the whole floor so we had like thirty missionaries in our room with ties but they didnt really have any good ones but it was fun still. And i forgot to tell you my companion's name is Elder Robinson but i might of told you on that in my first letter but he has a twin brother in our district i get them confused sometimes but their cool.
Elder Dalton

Jared's First Letter Home

Except from Elder Dalton's First Letter; August 3, 2011

It's the first evening here. It's been a crazy day, kinda long and alot to take in, but the spirit is real good...It's going to take some getting used to this studying all day and being indoors, but I got a good companion going to Perth. Also he has a twin brother that is going to Sydney. And we are all in the same district which is kinda cool. I'll write soon. Love you guys lots. The church is true.