Hi! I hope that all is well at home. It was great to read some emails from all of you. I am extremely jealous of the cold weather. It is always hot here, and I'm still adjusting I suppose. If you want to send some of the snow and cold my way I would be very grateful. I am on Christmas Island after all, and no Christmas is fun without snow. Hopefully that's not too much to ask for.
Thank you very very much to everyone who has emailed me this week! I'm very sorry if I did not reply personally, The internet is occasionally problematic. I just want to express my love to all of you, and tell you it means so much to hear from you! Thanks again.
This was an extremely busy week! We had so much going on, and we should have had more going on. Unfortunately, lots of our lessons fell through. We still were able to teach all of our people at least once, but it was very hard. We had lots of time when we had fall-throughs and backup plans that also fell through. It was hard. Elder Paora was going stir crazy. He likes to work. However, Christmas is not like Tarawa, and the challenge for us is going to be learning to work smarter rather than just working more. We'll get there. I'm excited for our companionship, and we get along very well. One of our goals is to not be a "trainer companionship." Just because I'm new doesn't mean our expectations will be any different. My langauge is continuing to improve. The very hardest part for me is being able to hear. Everyone speaks very quietly, and slurs words a lot. If they talk loud and enunciate, I understand 99%. I just need to work on focusing on their words, and I'll be okay. My accent is okay, and I am pretty good at saying whatever I need to say, it just takes me a while most of the time. I have enough tools that I (hopefully) am becoming more of a help than a hindrance. Time will tell. Moral of the story, we're right on the verge of a breakthrough. I can tell.
This week we have one baptism scheduled for Saturday, an awesome old guy named Ueata. He is the man, and he really is so ready to be baptized. His faith is inspirational. He loves his family and is eager to help them to follow in his footsteps, and ultimately to follow Christ. Two weeks from Saturday, the 8th of March, we have 5 baptisms scheduled (so far). People here are awesome, and we're really pushing the pace. It's been successful so far, and people have been very accepting. The one problem with that is we could easily run out of people in a few weeks here, unless we find new ones to replace. That's a good problem to have though I suppose.
It sounds like stake conference was lots of fun! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Missionary work is important, I'm glad he talked about it.
Packages: None recieved yet, hopefully soon though! Thanks for sending them, I'll feel very loved whenever I eventually get them :) Thanks again!
On to Dad's questions:
P-Day: On p-day, we usually wash the Senior Couple's van in the morning, go to the store, and then go to email. Afterwards, we usually have some time in the afternoon to play a game or two. We're playing rugby this afternoon, and I'm very excited to learn. After that, we shower and teach a lesson before dinner at 7. Pretty great day!
Utilities: We do have electricity and plumbing - most of the time. About once a week we go out for about 5 hours our so. It's city wide though, so that is just something everyone deals with. We do not however have AC because our house has no real walls, so the cold air wouldn't stay inside. But, we sometimes get a good breeze going through the walls to. Stick house has its ups and downs. We have a washing mashine, with a spinner thing to do most of the drying. Then we hang our clothes on the line to finish drying.
Food: Rice. Rice. More Rice. Rice. Just lots of rice. Usually there's things to go with it, like fish or noodles or corned beef or something. But in all seriousness, rice is the main thing. Every meal has rice, without fail.
Transportation: Everyone walks places. We have bikes ourselves, but mine is a total piece of garbage, so we've been walking lately. Everyone here walks anyways. Most people don't wear shoes though, so their feet get super tough. Like hobbit feet almost, but not hairy. It's strange.
Sunrises and sunsets are pretty, we can't always hear the ocean. We have about 14 people right now, almost entirely from referrals. There's no doors to knock anyways :)
Sorry I got short at the end, we're running out of time! I love you all. Thanks for your emails and your love in general. I can really feel it. I'm praying for all of you! See you all in 22 more months.
Love, Dallin
Additional notes from Mom:
*He hasn't received any packages or mail, but is excited to hopefully get a whole bunch at once. He is really craving something other than rice :)
*No way to upload pictures, so we will just have to wait until he sends one of the SD cards home.
*He was thrilled to hear from so many people through his email. He ran out of time to answer everyone, but it really made his week - especially since his birthday is in a few days.
*He is in good spirits and doesn't seem to be as sick. He is getting along great with his companion.
*He was REALLY happy to hear from many of his high school friends. He sure loves you all and told Ed and I to make sure we still take good care of all of you while he is gone! Remember you are welcome ANY time at our house!
*I'm so grateful the language is coming along and he has people to teach. The investigators are amazing and he is so touched by their humility and desire to draw closer to their Heavenly Father. These people do not have much by the standards of the world, but they are rich in love and compassion. He feels blessed to be among them.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers. I know he feels your love and support... and so do I.
Jen
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