Week 27

hey fam so this week went really fast it was nice we had heaps of set appointments and we are teaching 7 investigators now i do believe its really cool to see the progress and i found out yesterday that in the area i was last in they had 3 baptisms of people i had the chance to teach so that was really exciting also i love to see how the lord has blessed us missionary work is the bomb digity. but ya this week was really good went by fast we were able to teach quite a bit and we got 3 new investigators and in the mission we were blessed with 27 baptisms which is the most the APM mission has had in one month in 12 years so the work is movin forward really well our mission president is keen hes real gun and very onto missionary work. we found out who are new mission president will be his name is President Lindsay from sandy utah he will come to the mission in june so thats kinda cool and this week our area president elder hamula is comin to our mission and even better to our area and he is havin a fireside with us it will be really cool we are havin a little district meeting with him also i'm really excited it'll be really nifty so i think that is all that is new with me my comp is the man he is progressing and growing daily i love this work and i love getting to teach. the church is true for sure i also had the chance to speak in sacrament yesterday on the blessing of having the companionship of the holy ghost it was great i loved getting to talk i hope the members learned also love you guys thanks for everything. Elder Dalton

Week 26

so this week was good we had quite a few set appointments which was a first since i've been here the area is really goin forward now its progressing we are teaching 5 investigators and have an appointment this week with two potential investigators that are really keen he's already been reading the book of mormon so it'll be great i love when we are able to have people to teach and when we are able to find new investigators each week its greats. and we've been playin basketball and throwin the rugby ball around in the morning for morning excercise and thats really helped out to help me have real good days it just makes the days flow better when you get a good work out in the mornin. so whats new with the family this week whats happening in the U S of A this week we had some real hot days we had 3 days when it was about 112 degrees it was hot not use to that but now when it gets down to like 85 or 90 it feels quite cool its pretty weird. oh and the other elders in my ward have set a baptismal date with an investigator so thats really cool and we are hopin to set one or two this week so its been really good we've had lots of tender mercies in this area its been really cool. the church is true and god loves us and watches out for us its really cool to see his hand in the work. i hope all is well Love Elder Dalton

Week 25

so the mission is goin great its fun to be out 6 months it kinda makes me feel like a real missionary ha like i actually know whats goin on and people don't think i'm green anymore so thats been quite nice i really enjoy it. espcially cause now i'm not really scared to do anything that you do as a missionary its all pretty natural now i love talkin to people here but sadly the people here still aren't to talkative its quite hard to get them to stop but when they do i love that. so its been crazy training because he has a really hard time talkin to people on the streets and almost everyday we go city contacting and at first it was hard to get him to even say hello to anyone but its fun to see him progress because now he has had a conversation with 2 people but he still gets a little nervous when it comes to teaching and asking if we can come around so he just looks at me and usually i help him out hes a great missionary and its really cool to see how much he is growin he is quite smart though alot smarter then i was when i came out so thats really good. as for the week it was a good weeek we found one new investigator he's fijian and hes cool as i'm really lookin forward to teaching him we plan on setting a baptismal date with him he seems really keen so thats cool and our other investigators are doin good we have a few set appointments this week with them which is really good i think this is the first week since i've been in the new area that we've had a few set appointments with investigators so i'm really excited cause i LOVE TEACHIN its the best. finding is alright but teachin is the best i love it there is nothin better but thats about it for this week thanks for all that you do and the great examples that you all are. hope all is well and that you have a great week. the church is true i want everyone to know that i know that i'm proud of the testimony i have finally gained in my life because it was not always there but now i know this is the one and only true church of jesus christ and i'm so thankful to be a part of it. so tell the world the great news that the church is true. love you all Elder Dalton

Week 24, 6 months DONE!

so family its good to be emailing once again another week has came and past. and i'm getting older today i was brushing my hair and to my surprise i found a gray or maybe even white hair but then to even more of a surprise i got to looking around and there was like 10 that i counted so i don't whats causing it but i'm getting gray hairs it must be cause i'm so wise haha anyways so lissy to answer some questions i think that the irish accent is pretty cool so i think i might be partail to the irish accent over the australian one although a proper australia accent is quite amazing the irish win though but i like scottish the best i think or a fresh samoan ha theres heaps of accents here. but this week was normal we were able to teach quite a few less actives so that was good and since we've got here i think about 3 less active families have started coming back to church and haven't missed a week so that is really cool but one of our big focuses here is having members pray for missionary experiences or times they can share the gospel and i got to thinking this week as i was talkin to a member whose son just got home from a mission i was thinkin hmmm i wish he would of told you to help the missionaries out and try to share the gospel so then i thought hmmm i need to tell my family and friends ha so i'm not sure if that was a great thought but i did want to challenge or invite whatever ya want to call it to pray for an opportunity to share your testimony with someone that would be interested and then maybe the missionaries could come around and teach that person in your home but ya thats just a thought i had and i wanted to tell yous guys about but thats about it for this week thanks for everything and i do know the church is true no doubt and each day my knowledge and testimony grows especially as i seek to share it with everyone. a testimony that is freely shared is kept but a testimony that is selfishly kept to ones self is lost i love that quote and i can promise that that is true and that if you pray for an experience heavenly father will bless you love you guys love elder dalton

Week 23!

Hello my dearest family and friends so this week was good it went fast pretty uneventful except president smibert came up and visited us this weekend and spoke to the ward and gave some good talks and lessons to the ward about missionary work and helping the missionaries out which is me and my comp oh ya with finding people to teach so that the members can teach with us and fellowship others. so it was really good and the ward is keen they are very excited we have a good family home evening planned for tonight i'm excited and as for a funny story this week we were helping a couple move and i was in my shrit and tie and stuff and they had a little fridge and so i squated down to lift it and to my surprise i guess my pants were tighter then i thought ha "BOOM" i ripped about a 10 inch hole in my crouch of my pants i was laughing very hard luckily the guy is my size and i borrowed some pants but it was a great week we taught a great lesson last night a very spiritaul man he was and the spirit was very strong i know he felt it it was awesome i love teachin so much but i know the church is true and i love doin the work and teaching everyone that i can about the restored gospel of jesus christ. thanks for all you do and the great examples you all are love you guys. Love Elder Dalton

WEEK 22!!

Hello everyone, so as for this week quite a bit happened on the companion side of things so last week we got a third missionary and we were like that for a week and then this week on wednesday night President called me and asked if i would train a new missionary and of course ya don't tell the Mission President no so then on thursday evening my new companion got here and i have been with him now and they split the kalgoorlie area into two areas now so ya its kinda been a busy week which was good but it was cool they let us split the area so that was fun and it made me feel important. ha but anyways my companion is whiter then me which is different never had that happen before ha hes irish hes cool as and gung ho on missionary work its fun to be around him cause he's so excited just to be out workin and such and this week has been hot as it was 100 degrees the past few days and he said in ireland it doesn't get to like over 85 it sounds like so hes strugglin a little bit with the heat and the biking but other then that hes lovin i think but ya its good to be around his excited greeny fire self. he's really cool i'll try to get a picture up next week so ya as for anything else this week nothin to new just really tryin to get the area progressing its still a little slow especially since we split it but in a few weeks the two areas will be even better because we are able to get to all of the city more now so thats good. So we've been livin with the other elders so there is the 4 of us in the one flat which is a bit tight and a little messy and hot but we got our new flat today so thats good i'll be happy to have a little more space again. hmmm i think thats about it except all are bikes are falling apart too ha i'm not sure why but they are so we have spent quite a bit of time babyin them ha but rumor has it that we might be getting a car this week so that would make me very happy cause its just suppose to keep getting hotter here. but thats it for this week we had another lesson with the young lady i told you guys about so thats cool its always great to teach i love it. the church is true guys i know it. no doubt i love teaching and studyin being a missionary is great fun even when you knock on peoples doors and you feel nasty cause your shirt is wet with sweat thats just part of the fun/ love you guys have a great week read your scriptures and say your prayers love ya all. LIVESTRONG Families can be together forever and ours will be together again love you guys. Love Elder Dalton

Week 21 :))

so fam this week was good it went fast we have a few potentials but no new investigators but we did have another great lesson with the same lady and she is really keen there awesome and we are getting another set of elders in the area so i might get split up from my comp after 4 weeks but not to sure yet i'll let ya know next week but thats about it for this week sorry its short but ya and its been really hot then it rains the next day its pretty hectic weather but i kinda like it so ya its bit crazy here and where its a desert it floods pretty easy like the roads just flow with water ha i did a little of biking in the rain the other day good stuff ha so i hope all is well love you guys and remember like dan use to tell us in his emails home the church is true and the book is blue love you all hope you have a great week and i will email more next week. love Elder Dalton

Week 20

So Family and friends this week went by pretty fast and we had a lot of days of contacting people and looking for new investigators so the city of kalgoorlie is pretty dead during the day cause everyone is working or sleeping we are on bikes and we talk to everyone we see and we are only able to contact maybe 10 people a day its crazy slow. so ya we had no investigators when we got here but now we have 2 OH YA ha its cool the work is slow here but its progressing the branch is awesome and i think they like us and trust us so thats cool cause that was one of our goals was to gain back the trust of the members so ya but the only real story that happened this week was pretty cool but it was we'd been goin through the ward list and trying to get in contact with the less actives and we weren't having much success so on saturday we went looking for this one guy and we finally found him and he invited us in and he was planning his wedding so he wanted out of the house so he took us for an hour drive around kal to see what is called the super pit its like the 3rd largest open pit mine in the world its awesome ha but anyways we got to talking and stuff and we found out his fiance however its spelt wasn't a member but she was familiar with the religion and she comes to church and stuff so that was cool then we went back to his house and he invited us for dinner but we were fasting so he said well how bout tomorrow and of course we sadi alright and he said he'd come to church so then sunday came and they were at church and then we went around and had a feed then talked then shared a thought and then we said we'd like to know if she would want to learn more and he was like yes if thats ok with her and she said she wanted to learn but she said she would be hard to convert and i said no worries our goal is just to teach she's the one who has to ask for herself whether it is true or not and then heavenly father will take care of the rest but in my head i was laughing thinking no worries heavenly father can show anyone the truth so it was a really cool experience especially cause we fasted for people to teach and our fast was answered like an hour after we finished fasting. so ya it was really cool i was very excited not gonna lie but ya that was pretty much it for this week thanks for the emails glad to hear all is well. love you all the church is true through and through LOVE Elder Dalton

Week 18&19

so last time i wrote and put week 18 i was wrong it was actually week 17 my bad so last week i got to talk to you guys on the phone so you pretty much know everything that happened. but ya that was the last week so as for this week on tuesday we had a mission p day and we had transfer meeting and my new comp is samoan again hes cool as his name is elder fatupaito hes sweet and the area is hot ha its just real red sand its a hard core desert the first day here it was 40 cel which is like 105 it was hot and we are just on bikes again so we sweat alot its crazy its a crazy mining town all the people are into money here they just work and drink its crazy. anyways after transfer meeting on tuesday we did the haka for president and sister cahoon then we did some skits and stuff and just hung out as a mission then went back to work then on wednesday we had a mission conference with the new pres he is from bribane and his name is president smibert he is just here for 6 months then we'll get a new one. so then on thursday at seven we got a train and headed to kalgoorlie and we got here at 2 it was a long ride but it was cool to see what kind of country is out here i got to see alot of farm country too it looks to be all dry farms but the sad thing was traveling all through that country and i still didn't see a kangaroo i'm starting to think there are no roos here. and then since then we have just been trying to find investigators and get familiar with the ward its weird getting doubled into the area cause neither of us know whats goin on but we are gettin some people to teach now so thats good there is noone on the streets its crazy they say its too hot people are either just working or in there houses but its a good area just the people so far haven;t been to interested but the branch is great like 150 to 200 people and so we are just trying to build a relationship with them. And find through them so we can have fellowship right area. its a great area we are really out in the middle of no where its nice to be riding and see country and hills on the horizon its really cool i like it here just gotta get use to the heat so i think thats it for this week. love you guys love elder Dalton thanks for everything

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