First Baptism!!!

Hello!

Christmas came early y'all! Elder Mortensen and I were able to have some awesome success this last Sunday with our first baptism! His name is Tom and he's a really awesome guy. Last September his mother passed away and he had to quit his job to take care of his father full time. It's amazing to see how even though as a missionary we are the teachers, we still have much to learn from those we are ministering to. Tom's story is one full of much hardship, but in spite of his challenges, he made the decision to be baptized. We are so happy that he's decided to better his relationship with the Savior by being baptized in His name! It was amazing being able to bring the gospel into his life and baptize him right when the Christmas season begins. 

This week was a good one!

Love y'all and Merry Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Week

Hey y'all! 

This week was a tough one. We didn't have much success and the days went by seemingly slow, but being able to have Thanksgiving this past Thursday was a really nice little break! We ate at a members house and I quite enjoyed the rolls  This week was also transfer week and we lost Elder Layton. It was sad to see him go, but he's going to do amazing in his new area that he'll be doing the work.

Since Christmas is coming up, we'll be able to start sharing Light The World messages too! I've heard that Christmas time as a missionary is really special and I'm excited to see how it'll all work out!

- Elder Dille

Last Second Transfers & Apartment Decorations

Hello Everyone!

So really quick, i just want to say Happy Thanksgiving! :) Anyways, this week was transfer week and it was crazy! We had President Chapman call and tell us that all of us here in the Clear Creek Ward trio were staying. But on Sunday night, he called and made a last second change! He had Elder Layton transferred to Hurst, where he'll be in another trio. We'll definitely miss him, he was the most experienced out of all of us and we definitely loved having him in our trio.

We also decided to make a quick stop at Ross, and we found an amazing picture of Grogu and the Mandalorian, so consequently, we bought it for the apartment:) Our experience has been so amazing out here in Denton and I'm so glad I've been assigned out here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Elder Dille

Elder Carter & Elder Fowler

Hi Everyone,

First things first...I'll get to what has happened this week, but I want to talk about a companionship that served here in the barn, only a couple of months ago. Elder Carter and Elder Fowler were both here in the barn serving in the Clear Creek Ward, the exact same ward I'm serving in! From what I've heard, they were amazing missionaries and had an awesome spirit about them. Back in March, during the big rain season, they were driving home on the highway and a car heading the opposite direction lost control, resulting in a head-on collision. Consequently, both Carter and Fowler were reunited with their Heavenly Father that night. My companions showed me the exact turn where it all happened, and it's along our drive into town every single day. Since then, the barn has been a famous area on the mission, I feel super honored that I've gotten the opportunity to serve in the exact area as Elder Carter and Elder Fowler. I personally believe that this area is so blessed and has so much support from the ward because those two elders are helping us on the other side. In honor of them, we still have all their writings on the whiteboard in the apartment, we also have a picture of them up too. It's a constant reminder to be obedient, drive safely, and to work as hard as they did. 

This week we had a lot of crazy things happen to us as well. We had a lady with dementia think that we stole something from her and it was kinda crazy to help her out and tell her repeatedly that we weren't the people who took her money. We also had a gentleman yell at us and curse us due to our faith; strangely enough, it actually put me in a good mood. We also put a man named Tom on baptismal date, he's super awesome and we are all praying for him that he will be able to have a super awesome experience with this.

Those are just some of the things I wanted to talk about this week. I love y'all and I'll talk to you guys next week!!

-Elder Dille

Four Leaf Clovers

This week has been another good one !

We have been able to find new people interested in hearing about the gospel, and we even found some good luck too! Literally, during one of our days tracting, we found a ton of clover patches. When we were getting ready to leave, we decided to look for a four leaf clover for a few minutes . After about 5 minutes of looking, Elder Layton found one, which was kinda fun for me to see, considering I've never seen a four leaf clover before . 

We have also been able to teach a lot of lessons this week, and the people we are teaching have been really interested in what we are teaching them! It's been really awesome to see how the gospel has been a blessing for these people in their lives! 

It's been getting better each day we go and do the work, and I'm growing to love it more and more!

-Elder Dille

Happy Halloween!

Hello!

It's been my best week so far as a missionary! We were able to teach some really cool individuals and have some fun at the stake Halloween party! The Halloween party was super fun, there was the trunk or treat of course and they also had some fun game booths that us missionaries were able to run for a bit! 

We also got to teach a man named Amos. He's from Kenya originally and came here to the states when things started to get rough for him and his family in Africa. He has some pretty crazy stories too! But it was super cool to see how his experiences in Kenya helped him actually grow his testimony, and helps him be a more Christlike individual. It was totally cool to see how much he loved our message and how happy it made him! 

Another fun thing we did for Halloween was carving pumpkins of course! We weren't planning on doing it, but the Floyd's in our ward had us over, and let us carve pumpkins with their awesome family! (I personally think my pumpkin was the best)

This past week has been really fun and I've been able to see some cool little miracles doing the work 

Talk to all y'all next week!

- Elder Dille 🎃

First Lesson & Tracting

Hello Everyone!

It's the second week out here and me and my companionship trio finally got to teach our first lesson! We taught Jason and Lavina. They were actually being taught by the previous elders in the same ward, but this lesson we were able to put them on a baptismal date! We are hoping that being baptized will bring them closer to their Lord and Savior. 

We also met a really cool lady, Laura during tracting. She already has such an amazing testimony of her Savior due to her many past experiences, and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon too! 

We also met another awesome guy named Robert, he also has a great testimony of God and how much He cares for us. It's been a much more successful week than the last and we have given out so many copies of the Book of Mormon!

-Elder Dille

I Made It Safe and Sound

Hi Everyone,

Well, I officially made it to Texas! My first area is in Aubrey and I live at a place referred to as "the barn." We have a living area in a barn and it's really cool. There's a pond where you can fish and there's horses. I'm also in a trio companionship and my comps are from Farmington, Utah and Ohio. 

I will be serving in the Clear Creek Ward while I'm here and the bishop of the ward is really awesome. His name is Bishop Martino and we have been getting up at 5 a.m. each morning to go to his house to work out with him and his 8-year old son.

I hope I can learn and grow while I am here serving. We have been doing a lot of tracting and a lot of our appointments have cancelled, but hopefully the work will pick up for us soon.

I love you all!

-Elder Dille

This Week Was Super Awesome!

Hello Everyone!

This week was super awesome! I saw one of my old buddies from Weiser, Idaho down here at the MTC. He's going to the St. Louis mission and got here just this last Wednesday. It was also really great to see some classmates from Morgan High here. 

It's been really awesome to feel the Spirit here stronger and much more frequently. It's been helping me teach lessons better and know what to say. We also got to listen to the General Primary President, Sister Craig on Tuesday night! It was really fun being able to listen to a visiting authority in person and her talk was really cool!

Unfortunately, I still don't have any funny stories, but hopefully I'll be able to get some to tell all of you soon! But overall, being able to be here in person is super sweet and I can feel the Spirit so much more!

- Elder Dille

In-Person MTC!

Hello Everyone!

Finally, I'm here! I think that in person MTC will be a much better learning experience for me. Being able to interact with people more and learn in person will help. 

Saying goodbye to my family was hard, but I know that going on this mission will be worth it. I don't have much to talk about yet, but I hope that when I get out into the field, I'll get some crazy stories to share with you guys!

- Elder Dille

The First Week

Hello Everyone!

It's official, the mission has started. Although it's been very challenging for me these past several days, I hope I can eventually learn to become a missionary. All of the elders and sisters in my district have been awesome and I can't wait to meet them all in person next week. 

We get to have really cool devotionals with general authorities and they are really fun to hear from and learn from. Hearing their experiences and how they felt going through their missions is cool. It was also really funny to hear that Elder Gong met his wife at the MTC! 

I hope I can make the most of the next two years, and become a better priesthood holder from this experience!

- Elder Dille