Teaching, Training, and Learning

Found this great photo of Dallin on Facebook!

April 21, 2014

Caramba this week was a tiring one.

So last week the mission baptized 10 people.... it's unacceptable. The weekly goal here is 50. So President is trying everything he can to reboot the mission. That means that the Zone Leaders have to do a ton of stuff too. So basically the whole week we were going to leadership meetings and having meetings with our own missionaries. Let's just say we have a lot of stuff to apply in our work. Tons of new(old) techniques that the missionaries need to learn. I think sometimes as leaders we forget there are some new missionaries who don't really know all the tricks because these things have just become who we are. I think with how much time we've been here we've probably taught over 1000 lessons, and knocked about a billion doors. So sometimes when we're training the missionaries we forget about the little things and the missionaries end up asking a ton of "what if" questions.

The main thing we're trying to change in the mission is the follow-up. President wants us to have a follow up that's more thorough so we know exactly what's going on with the investigators of all the areas in our zone. It's gonna be tough because there are 7 areas and usually an area has about 15-25 people in their teaching group. We also have to know who's been to church and if the people who went to church have been invited to be baptized. It's a real business-like deal we've got going on here and it's hard to check up on everything while we're trying to baptize and teach the people in our areas too. We have leadership meeting with President and all the Zone Leaders and talked about the issues going on. Then we had another meeting with the assistants, District Leaders, and Sisters Treinadoras (Sister Trainers) about the follow-up and problems going on in each area. I feel like as The Zone Leaders in this zone we have a good respect for the missionaries and they respect us too. We gave an awesome training this week and everyone got really excited and it reflected in the numbers from this week. In the zone we have 6 people marked to be baptized.
This week in our area was normal. Well not really. So remember Ricardo who busted his head open and could have been baptized 2 weeks ago at conference?? So we have been preparing him to be baptized for 3 weeks.  This whole week we were just checking up on him to see how he was doing since we since we had taught him everything. Every day we asked him, "You excited for your baptism on Sunday??" ..."Yeah I'm excited..."  So we were just super ready to baptize him and then we went to his house with Elder Quispe to do the interview on Saturday and he had left to go to his girlfriend's house in another town.. What?? We called him and he was just making excuses telling us that he wasn't going to church because he was gonna stay at his girl's house... We got pretty mad. His member neighbors said that every time they saw him after that he kind of hid. He's one of those super quiet kids who doesn't have the courage to say no so he just kind of ran away. We'll talk to him later but it doesn't look like he wants to get baptized after all. It happens. We can only hope that the people accept when we present the Gospel to them.. unfortunately there are a lot of people who waste the missionaries' time and run away at the last minute.

So in our area we have 3 people who can be baptized this week. Roberto, Welrilaine, and Márcia. Roberto hangs out with the young men in the ward. On Good Friday we taught him when he was playing soccer at the church. We went to the church because on holidays everyone in the world is either drinking or traveling. We taught the Restoration and asked him if he doubted that this is the church of Christ. He said, "No because of the name of the church."  If only everyone could be that humble haha. So we challenged him to be baptized and marked him for this weekend. But one thing I've learned with quickly-marked baptisms is that something will happen that will make the baptism harder to get than usual. We'll see... haha.

Well people. It's been real. I hope y'all had a great Easter.. People celebrate Easter here pretty much the same way... except they have HUGE chocolate eggs here with stuff inside.... I mean huge. Maybe I'll get some and send them to you guys. They'll be on sale this week haha., .I hope you all remembered Christ more than usual this past Sunday. He is the Master and our Savior. Love you all. Have a good week!

Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

I found this picture on one of the Sister missionary's blog from a while back.  This was Dallin's district at Christmas time and they were all dressed in blue because they were performing a Christmas musical number at their Zone conference.  

Be Nice to Converts

 April 14, 2014

Alrighty then. This week was tiring and difficult but we had some miracles along the way so i guess you could say it was worth it.

We've literally drained our teaching group and are trying to find new people. It's hard because it feels like we've already knocked all the doors in this area because it's so small. So now we're looking for the little alley-ways that we haven't entered yet. Needless to say, we've found the majority of the alleys and have been rejected. Our main issue is people who don't really want to commit to anything because they're lazy. Also, the Assembly of God is a big obstacle. They're really hard to teach and even harder to enter their homes. We met one assembly lady this week who said "You can go to my house any time you want to debate... I mean to talk with my husband..." I think they find joy in arguing and debating the scriptures, something that I find to be unuseful and a waste of time. Too bad my companion likes to argue.. and is pretty good at it too. 

Something funny: So there are always groups of kids, whether it be boys or girls... doesn't matter. But when we're walking in the road they always ask me what time it is. Then they get all surprised when I speak Portuguese. I don't know how many times this has happened but it's funny as heck because I say, "See? I speak Portuguese too!" haha.

This week we had the opportunity to give someone a lot of hope through the Plan of Salvation. Neumas 'daughter-in-law, Rejane just lost her dad and was just torn up. We always go to Neumas' house to see how she's doing because she is a recent convert, and Rejane has always been there but never really wanted to listen. We whipped out the Plan Of Salvation to tell her where her dad is now and what she can do to see him again(baptism). She got pretty emotional during the lesson and almost accepted the baptism invite. She said that she would think about it. We just hope she doesn't forget about the spirit she felt during the lesson. WE have to follow up with her this week.

Lately we've been preparing a kid named Ricardo for baptism. We marked him for the week of conference but he busted his head open playing soccer so it fell through. It was a disappointment but he'll be baptized this week. He's a cool kid from the interior. So he's really shy but we've opened him up a bit. His neighbors are all members and he loves soccer so he'll fit in well at church. He's 20 so maybe he'll severe a mission. But we don't like to talk about missions with investigators because it endangers the baptism because they get scared.

Neuma, our recent convert is awesome. She is truly converted and very grateful for us and the gospel. She bore her testimony yesterday. She doesn't see very well so she was scared to get up there to talk. She didn't want to fall. But I told her I would lead her up there and tell her when it was her turn because she had already told us that she wanted to bear her testimony. She was amazed that there were seats up there haha she didn't know. But when she bore her testimony it was amazing. She talked about how she was feeling lonely and rejected by the churches she was going to and knew she wasn't on the right path. She was praying a lot for God to send someone to her house. Tons of people were going to her house and inviting her to "accept Christ" but it never felt right. Then we got there and we were teaching her sons' friend without teaching her. But she felt that we were the answer to her prayer and she really wanted to talk to us. So we stopped teaching the kid in her house and she thought we would never come back so she got sad. Then we came back and said that we wanted to talk to her! She got excited and accepted everything we invited her to do. She said that she's on the right path and that this is Christs' church and that it teaches the truth. The whole time everyone in the congregation was crying... including us. It's amazing to see someone you taught be super grateful for the gospel and the service you rendered. It makes our suffering and sacrificing worth it. Because the majority of the time the converts don't really stay super active. It's really hard here to retain the activation. But it's the best thing in the world when your convert bears a sincere testimony. Everyone is really supporting her too, and that makes her feel welcome.

So this week we have the possibility of baptizing 3 people. Ricardo, a member's sister, and a reference we got from the Assistants of a kid who lives here but was going to church in Recife. Oh and the kids' family is less-active so were just gonna set spiritual fire to their house.

Missions are freaking hard. But I can say that it's worth it. It's amazing to see the Atonement working in the people's lives. It strengthens our testimonies as missionaries. Christ lives and loves EVERYONE. Make sure you're all being nice to the recent converts because some missionary worked really hard to baptize that person. Love all of you and hope y'all have a good week.

Love
Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

Post Conference Week

 April 7, 2014

Happy post-conference day. I hope all of you have been spiritually enlightened and your testimonies have been strengthened as has mine.

Not that much happened this week teaching-wise so I'm going to just fill you in on some details on my day to day. By the way, this keyboard doesn't have a comma so don't judge. The Savior taught us not to.

My companion and I are pretty much best friends by now. The transfer is happening right this second in Solidade, Recife while we're here in the computer place. That means I will be with Elder W. Ferreira for more time than any other companion. Good thing we get along because 24 hours a day for 4 months is a little much if you ask me. I mean we're both men..... The members are super legit here. Way humble and totally willing to work with us. The roads we walk on are all just mud and sand. So our shoes by the end of the day are just encrusted. The young men in the ward really like us. We always find opportunities to joke around with them. Then when we ask for them to help us they just jump right on it. On Sundays it's complicated because there are two wards we have to deal with so sometimes we end up ditching each other to try to talk to all the people who need favors from the missionaries. And it's A LOT. Family Home Evenings.. People wanting me to translate documents to English.. new investigators... service projects... it's a mess but it's fun. My diet right now is pretty small and spaced out because we just don't have time to eat. Protein shake in the morning... rice/beans/chicken for lunch... a ham sandwich at like 9:00... That's how we do it in Pernambuco. My workout routine has stayed the same for pretty much my whole mission. Pushups and pullups one day... abs the next... But for the past 3 months I haven't had a bar so my back got weaker. I just bought one(sent a member to get it from the mall since we can't go there) so we're getting back in the rhythm of things. But instead of doing 30 per set.. I'm doing like 20. It's sad. 

I've been a leader of sisters for about 7 months now so I know more sisters than elders. I guess it's not that bad. Sisters are cool. One of the sisters that was transferred today told us that we were the best Zone Leader's she'd ever had... and she has had a lot in the US and here so that was a really sweet compliment. She said we treat them like missionaries instead of just little girls who are sweet and likable. That's what we we're trying to do.

Conference was sick. Superbowl conference weekend with the American missionaries in the English room. It's always a party. There were also a few Brasilians in there but I did a division with Elder Boss to watch the English session. The talks were awesome. Elder Christofferson's talk was rochedo. The doctrine on the resurrection was perfect. I liked when he said "only a God could come back to life... so Christ was a God... God can't lie... So the Doctrine of Christ is true." The conference was also great for the members who are struggling with being embarrassed or scared to be a member of the church.  "Truth will always be opposed".  That's something we have to teach our investigators every day because the Protestants here right books and talk bad about the  "Mormon cult" and some people are ignorant enough to believe it. I can't look at the scine of general conference and deny the truthfulness of the restored gospel. It's just too real and the fruits are just too good. Christ is the head of this church and we are his servants. Let's stop being slackers and just do his will.

Right after conference we ate dinner at Flavio and Edinete's house with the Bishop and his wife. They didn't go to conference but they're already friends with the judge of Israel from this ward. Bishop Gostavo teaches like a boss and they talked about eternal marriage. It's just a question of time with this family. Pray for them please.

Christ lives.
Love y'all.
Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

Teaching and Training

OXE QUE BICHO CHATO DO CARAMBA!

The kids in the computer place just yell this title/phrase all the time.

(I goggled it and it was translated to "Oxe of boring that critter, Dangit!"  I asked Dallin what it meant since that didn't make any sense to me.  He said it means, "Dang, what an annoying creature!"  Well, that sounds a little better!)

March 31, 2014

Bora.

So this week was super long but still passed super fast... I don't know how that's possible, but the mission is just weird with time alright?

We started off the week with an exchange. I went to an area called Massangana to help out the greeny, Elder Gonçalves. They had a lady there who they had been teaching for a long time and really wanted me to mark for baptism. Talk about an impossible task. This lady's son is already a member. I think he's 12. In the room it was the two of them, his grandma, and his sister. Let me describe the teaching environment for you. The member was whacking mosquitoes with one of those electric tennis rackets the whole time... the little girl was crying uncontrollably and hitting her brother, running around pitching a fit.... The old lady was just talking about how good the Assembly of God is, but telling her daughter to get baptized in our church, and the lady we were trying to mark didn't even want to be there. And the whole time everyone is hitting each other. Not even a joke. I was sweating and just about to explode. She didn't want to be baptized so we just said a prayer super fast to get out of there. We thanked them for their manners and we left. Good times right? Happens all the time.

So this week we had Zone meeting so we gave the training. We talked about how we need to teach the people so that they understand. A lot of times the missionaries teach in a way that only the missionary knows what's going on. And the people nod their heads like they know what's going on because they're humble and will never tell you that they don't understand something. We have to pause a lot in our teaching and ask questions... for them to understand, and for us to know that they're understanding. Sometimes missionaries just throw lessons at people and that's not the way to do it. You gotta have a conversation with the people. It's the only way. The missionaries really liked it and said it was a good training. We also talked about the DNA of the mission which are simple things that President established which were being put to the side. Gotta always repeat things to maintain.

This week we had the opportunity to visit an English class. A member from the ward goes to this city class and the teacher has a brother who served a mission. He said the students wanted to ask me questions and hear about the culture in the US. It was pretty cool. I was able to speak English for a full hour but it was super hard. I was saying some little words in Portuguese but I didn't make myself look like and idiot so it was good. We talked about food, culture, school, the language, and at the end, the teacher gave me a chance to talk about the beginning of the church so I got in front of the class and taught the Restoration in English. It was really hard, but really powerful. I cried. The spirit was so strong and the teacher even helped us out on inviting the students to pray to see if it's true. It was great because the class ended right after that and the students left feeling the spirit.

Last night we taught a dude named Elder. He's super legit and we left him with the Book Of Mormon like a month ago but he had been traveling so we didn't have a chance to talk to him.  We went back and he had not read. But the dude is awesome and super interested so we wanted to leave him with something powerful. We destroyed him with the spirit. We talked about the Book Of Mormon and how he needs to know that it is true. We talked a bit about Joseph Smith too and it really put it into perspective for him. Elder Fereira said that God put a lot of things in our heads to teach him. It's true. I said a ton of things that I don't even remember and had never said before. It's amazing.

Our 2 families are being difficult but they're still progressing. Bishop Gostavo is trying the be friends with them and they like him and his family a lot. We like him and his family a lot too. His wife cooks real good. haha.

Well I'm out of time. A lot happened this week but I will just have to put it in my journal for y'all to read later. Love you all. Love the Gospel. And love being a missionary.

Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

Mad Bus Riding and Spiritual Revamping

March 24, 2014

Bom dia.

This week was different. But different is good on a mission where everything is the same every day of your life.

So this week we had Zone Conference and Temple day. Talk about some mad bus riding and spiritual revamping. So Wednesday was temple day. To get there we have to take a bus, a train, and another bus. So we left like 2 hours early. There was so much traffic it wasn't even funny. We were dying with our suits and the waves of people getting on and off the metro and buses. I think I've made the decision that I will never live in a big city because I just get antsy with this public transportation... imagine Japan. Mercy.... The whole time I just think, "stoptouchingmestoptouchingmestoptouchingme".  It's amazing the types of people you see on this public transportation. There are always tons of people on the buses and metros selling gum and candy, giving speeches about their products trying to make the Mentos gum look better than it really is.... and it's always Mentos gum. Every time. I think I've heard every possible advertisement/scam that could be made up about this gum. When you get off the metro everyone runs to get a seat on the bus and you've got to get aggressive and throw some elbows. But usually we end up standing on the bus and sweating like nobody's business. So after this 2 hour journey of sweaty people-watching, you finally get to enter the temple grounds. You would not believe the contrast. The temple is literally perfect. You enter and everything from the city just stops. It's like you're in a bubble. No noise, fresh air, mango trees... It's paradise. And everyone is nice and polite. It really is heaven on earth and something like that could not be achieved if it wasn't a holy place. We got there and greeted some other missionaries who were there and went to the session. We were changing and there were 10 minutes left until the session and the temple worker said the session had closed because it was full. We died inside. We left, ate and I called President to see if we could get into the later session. But usually we can't because there wouldn't be enough time for us to leave and end pday at 6 o'clock. But he let us go in and we enjoyed the session. It was awesome. I wish we could go more often but we only go every 3 months. So we take advantage of it.

The next day we took the bus to go to Zone conference. President talked about how we are scared to mark baptisms because we are scared that our leaders will get mad if the baptism falls through. It's because we baptize more people than we mark. One Elder said that our mission is a mission of miracles and President said, "No, this mission is a mission of fear". He kind of burned us a bit and there were some Elders who presented some pretty wacky ideas but president shut everyone down and said we have to change the way we mark people for baptism.  It's always like that in Zone conference. You always have those Elders who think they know what they're doing and say just some off-the-wall stuff to try to give ideas. My companion and I were just laughing the whole time. President gave a great spiritual talk and the Assistants did practices. Three missionaries from the zone were chosen to do a practice in front of everyone. It was good because there were tons of scenarios and tons of useful scriptures that were used to teach the "investigators". Elder Flemming (Assistant) called me like 2 days before to warn me that I would sing "Come Follow Me.  So I sang the first verse myself and a choir of elders sang the rest. It turned out really good.

The two families we found last week are progressing but a little bit slower than we thought. Marriage is a really weird thing to bring up to people who aren't married. We are two young men telling adults with children that they need to get married. But we feel like both of the couples took it really well and agreed with everything we said to them.

Edinete and Flavio:
Edinete has wanted to get married for a long time, but Flavio thinks that if they get married they will split up after a couple years because that's what happened with their friends. We read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" with them and everything made perfect sense. That's because God wrote it. So we left them off with the challenge for them to talk about it because it's a commandment of God. They agreed, but Flavio is less firm on baptism than the rest of the family.

Antonio and Cristiane:
We pretty much did the same exact thing, but said some different stuff because of the Spirit. They said that they want to build the rest of their house before getting married. huh?? We told them that money wouldn't be a problem and that we would take care of everything. Then we figured out that they didn't understand the Restoration. So we had to teach the restoration all over again to make them understand because Antonio was still asking us why there are so many churches. When we talked about James 1:5, he just lit up. He got super happy that he could actually talk to God to find out which church is Christ's church on the earth. The lesson was great. We said all the right things. Before the lesson I was just dead. Super tired. 8:00 and I wasn't even thinking/speaking straight. But the Lord helped us once again and we taught a powerful lesson.

So we'll see what happens this week with these two families. We have to baptize the parents to baptize the kids too, so really pray that everything goes through. Love the Gospel, and my mission. It's hard, but it's good too. Love you all! Pray for these families please!

Happy Birthday Ashton!
Good luck in the field Landon!

Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

The Mission is Good!

March 19, 2014

Helloooooooo America.

This week was awesome.
I feel like I've found a new confidence this week which helped a ton with our teaching and finding. This past week we found 2 awesome families. Seriously amazing elect families. We're getting them ready to take a dip in the baptismal font.

We baptized a boy this week. His name is Carlos and he's 11. He's been going to church for years with his Aunt but never was baptized so we jumped on him and taught him everything this week. It's always awesome when the Lord presents someone to you when you have nobody to baptize. His family is one of the 2 that we're getting ready to baptize. A few transfers ago the missionaries were teaching them but i think they quit because Carlos parents aren't married. But the family is great. The parents were supportive of Carlos a lot when we were teaching him and the Dad, Antonio, said that his son was setting the example for him by following this way. Antonio really wants us to work with him so that he can be baptized with the rest of his family. There's a little girl and his wife left. We even gave Antonio a blessing so that he could be a good dad and do everything that the Lord wants him to do. The family already has a testimony and they are progressing like bosses. Antonio said he is battling alcohol but he's got a strong will so we'll nip it in the bud. They went to church and loved it. They really want to commit to changing and really being members of the church. It's fun to watch them discover the wonders of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything is new and brings them a lot of hope for the future. The Bishop had a fhe (Family Home Evening) at his house and talked about the Atonement. Bishop Gostavo is a really powerful and inspired man who knows how to speak with the spirit. It would be awesome if we could teach with him everywhere. We could tell that Antonio really wanted to understand the Atonement more and use it in his life. It was good. We're going to mark the wedding and the 3 baptisms this week.

Another family we found was the family of Edinete. We found her when we were teaching her neighbor who lives below her. We had been teaching her neighbor for a while without her progressing and then finally we got to talk to Edinete on the steps that go up to her house. Looked like she was having a tough day and we just talked about church and how God loves us. Her daughter came down and listened too and she had been crying. I guess our casual talk with them had enough of the Spirit for them to want to go to church and mark another visit with us to talk with the dad. So we went back and taught the Restoration to the whole family. Parents, 3 daughters, 2 of them old enough to be baptized. The lesson we taught was very spiritual. The Spirit was just beating down on them and there was no way they weren't feeling it. I felt like the Lord was helping me a lot during the lesson with my speaking and confidence and even remembering scriptures. We taught flawlessly and Edinete even said that she feels something different about this church. She said that the day we met her, she was about to fight with her daughter but she was calmed down and just felt better. Her husband was really into the lesson too. Seems like a really humble guy. He works a lot and just looks beat whenever we talk to him. But he receives us graciously. They don't have a certain church and they are super nice/prepared. After the lesson, Elder Ferreira said that I had never taught like that and that the Lord really helped us out. They went to church and loved it. They said that they would go again. Her daughter came up to me and asked what she would have to do to be baptized... I really wanted to tell her that she could but she's 14! We can't just baptize her yet. We'll just have to baptize the whole family! haha. We talked about marriage with them and they're willing to let us help them out. It's a shame to say but we haven't even challenged them to be baptized yet. We weren't feeling it yet. But it'll happen. We're going to mark the wedding and the 4 baptisms this week. It's going to be amazing! My companion and I are becoming famous now because of all the baptisms that are happening. But it really isn't us who's doing the work. The Lord is literally placing people in our path. It seems like He trusts in us a lot with his children in this area.

I really have reached the point where I can say that I love my mission. Everything just seems really pleasant right now and I find joy in teaching these people the Gospel. My companion is one of my best friends now. The members love us... President is really happy with us... and the Spirit is with us and that's what matters. I really feel like the Lord is happy with us. I would hate to leave this area next transfer because it looks like we'll have stuff to finish that we've started this transfer.  Dang the mission is good!!! My testimony of Christ is tremendous. His Atonement is amazing and perfect. I've been praying for all of you and know the Lord will rain down some blessings. Love you all and remember to open your mouths and talk about Christ. It's the least we can do to make up for the things he's done for us. Love you all!

Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll

Spinning Blades of Death

March 10, 2014

This week was the leftovers from carnaval. Carnaval I think just destroyed every one's excitement because there was just no way to work sometimes. Then, the motivation takes a hit too when you can finally spread your missionary wings again. I felt like my confidence was lowered a bit because it had been like a week since we did contacts. But we'll get the feel back this week.

Something funny that happened this week... Learning experience.  It was like 10:40 PM and I was setting up our monster fan that we got from a member so I could go to sleep(no way to sleep without a fan. I've tried). Anyways... This fan is huge and turns super fast and doesn't have a guard. Also, I think it's meant to have 4 legs but only has 3. I was setting up the fan. I turned it on and accidentally knocked it over. Me, being the impulsive idiot I am, tried to grab this beast, forgetting it didn't have a guard. The spinning blades of death literally destroyed my finger. I tried not to yell because my companion was sleeping. It was the tip of my pointer finger and it was bleeding pretty bad. I rushed to the sink to wash it and slapped a band aid on it with some neosporin and went to bed(after setting up the fan again.) When we woke up in the morning I told Ferreira what had happened and he just laughed. We went to the hall to see the carnage and there were splats of blood on the wall and on the ground. Needless to say my pointer finger wasn't used this week but he's doing better. No need for stitches. Moral of the story: If you don't go to bed before 10:30, the Lord will not protect you from your fan.

So.... WE BAPTIZED AGAIN. Her name is Nair and is 15 years old. I think half of our baptisms in this area have been 15. We inherited her from the Elders who closed the area. They marked her for the day after her 15th birthday which was 2 weeks ago. She couldn't be baptized these past 2 weeks because she went to youth conference.  She's cool. It took forever to find her in her house but she never stopped wanting to be baptized. She's friends with all the youth and I think it helps that her boyfriend is a member. She has a sister too who is 12. She l looks like she's 25. It's funny. But she wants to be baptized. She just doesn't want to have to keep going to church. Completely normal but we can work through it.

On Sunday my companion and I both spoke. It was kind of a last minute thing but it went well. I talked abut the regular "Preach the gospel because its good for you and for other people too" type deal. With a hint of Christlike charity. It was supposed to be 7 minutes but I think I went overboard like 5 minutes. I lose track of time while I'm up there. Next time I'll look at my watch haha.  The Bishop liked it. He said the people were into it. We confirmed Neuma too. She wanted me to do the confirmation. I remember at the beginning of my mission when I was afraid to confirm people in front of the congregation. Now it's a piece of cake. My Portuguese is pretty dang good. The Sisters ask who they're talking too when they talk to my companion on the phone. And that's after a good minute or so.

Well that's about it. This next week will be full of door knocking because our teaching group is empty so pray that we can find some good people to teach and to BAPTIZE.  I'm truly grateful to be here serving the Lord. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. We love the people and the people love us. Now I know what charity truly is. It's loving everyone in spite of everything. We get to know Christ more when we develop his attributes. That is the key to becoming perfect too. We don't see results until we do something to improve. We can't hope to be like him without self-sacrifice. It's something crucial that we must develop to enjoy His love and His blessings more fully. Hope y'all have a great week. I pray for everyone with your needs every day, so I hope the Lord is just raining down blessings on y'alls end!


Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll