Lobster and Transfers!

Hi Mom, Dad, Taylor and Cami!

Looks like all of you had a very busy week. Sounds like lots of fun too! I'm glad I get to read your emails and hear from you, it's great to see how you're all doing. I'm also jealous of you having so much fun! Just calm down please, you're too fun. 

This was a good week for me too! We had lots of lessons and we got to meet with lots of people. We also had a baptism on Saturday! That was great. We're having lots of fun and we're trying to take everything we have happen to us and make it positive. It's not always easy, but making an effort certainly helps. 

One lesson we had last night went super well. We're teaching two new investigators, Manuea and Tiim, who were a referral we received from Manuea's brother Utimawa who is our Branch clerk. It went really well, and they are excited to think about looking more into the church. They were so grateful that we came, that they decided to pay us back with food! SO Tiim got up from the lesson afterwards and walked over to the fridge. He pulled out two live lobsters, bigger than any lobsters I've ever seen. Then, he put them right into a pot of boiling water. And then he gave them to us! That was it. No spices or anything, he just boiled them and then he showed us how to open them and such. I ate the whole lobster tail and it was soo good and it was just pure lobster. Wow. That was the best lesson of the week. They are so nice and they've clearly been very prepared for us to be able to teach them.

Another Conference talk I really liked from last week was the talk by Bishop Gary E. Stevenson about the Olympics and making every second count. He talked about how in the Olympics, 4 minutes are the decision for years and years of practice and pain and work to make it all the way there. He made a comparison that our life is full of "4-minute performances," where so so much rides on something that's very relatively small. He talked about how we need to recognize those moments when they come, and really make them count for all their worth. It was really interesting to me to think about times in my life where I've had a "4-minute performance," and to think about whether or not my performance was medal-worthy. I think obviously, the mission as a whole comes to mind as one of those relatively short periods of time that will have such a big impact beyond just itself. It really made me stop to think about what it means to give your all. Even more than that though, sometmies 4 minutes can literally be 4 minutes, just in a lesson or on a street. It made me stop to think about the value of small experiences and the potential impact that can be had down the road. Preparation is a big key, and I'm going to look at my studies in the morning in a new light, so we can se things as they really are and as they really affect other things around me. It was a very very interesting talk, and it gave me a lot to think about. 

Other than that, this week was just a normal week! Lots of busyness, and lots of things to get done. I'm grateful for eveyone's prayers of support, I really needed them. Thanks for all of your love and willingness to support me through this time. I'm grateful for and love all of you! Thanks again. I will talk to you all next week!

Love, Dal

*During our time online with Dallin he got an email from the APs and found out his companion was being transferred and Elder Raika would be his new companion.  He is from Fiji and is apparently an ace at Kiribati, so Dallin won't be speaking any English for a while.  He is excited for a change!  He also was informed that he should expect to be on an outer island by June.  Sigh.  That most likely means no contact for the time he is there, but we will deal with that when/if it happens.

He had a good week this week and has been working hard on The Rescue within the ward.  They are finding success inviting people to come back.  He seemed more upbeat than he has in the past few weeks and it was nice to hear.  His living conditions are just so rough that I think he is still adjusting to his new normal.  The constant rain for weeks now has made working very difficult, but they are even adjusting to that.  We are so grateful for his service and example and can't wait to hear from him every week!