The Lord has answered so many of my prayers

This week I feel like the Lord has answered so many of my prayers and done so many miracles that I'm not sure how many more he can perform. But I know I need to continue with faith. He is the same yesterday today and forever and can keep doing as he has done.

We were able to help two new members into the church this weekend. Maria and Rocio her 8 year old daughter got baptized. They were both excited for their baptism and we were excited for them too. They then got to get confirmed after the district conference.

The baptism was a good experience brother Avalos and Rocio that got baptized a few weeks ago gave messages. they did well. they read in the guide for the study of the scriptures. and then gave a short testimony. Brother Avalos even read the list of related terms and explained baptisms for the dead. They are getting practice though and that's the important thing.

This week was really good. Brother Avalos is planing a missionary trip to a rural town. He is actually going out there for other reasons but he told us he is going to share the gospel with a few people he knows out there and invite them to church. He is very excited to always share what he knows with everyone.

The district conference went well. A lot of our investigators were able to come and I think they had a good time. Some of the members were sick and so they couldn't come. but there was the highest attendance we have had with 20 people coming including us and 7 of them were investigators.

Yesica and Sebastian came. They are super excited for the gospel and told us last time we visited them that they are seeing differences. they said they fight less and they have been kneeling to pray and reading the scriptures. They thanked us for bringing more happiness to their lives. Of course they were the ones who invited the happiness in by completing with the commandments. We just showed them how. They are on the road toward baptism.

Also Julia and Miguel came as well with their son Angel. Julia invited her mother in law as well and she came with them to the conference. They have come 2 times to church now and are just waiting on papers to get married. They might have to make some trips out to the places where they were born to get the papers to get married. We are going to be trying to help them out with that.

The 10 year old son of Maria that might be getting baptized soon also came. he seems to be good friends with Angel so we will be trying to help them both want to get baptized together.

One of the coolest parts of it all is that brother Avalos gave us the referral of Maria. we found Julia and Miguel while we were contacting close to her daughter who she had told us where to find her. then Julia invited her mother in law and maria is inviting her kids and other friends and all of this is thanks to the bother Avalos giving away a book of mormon to his friend after many people told him no. We found Yesica and Sebastian talking to everyone while we were in front of the house of her sister in law. We never know who the prepared person is and we can help out a lot as we pray and do our part. We just have to seek. The lord promises we will find.

I don't have the cable to my camera right now so I'll have to send you all the pictures next week.

Love,

Elder Dallin Skouson

It is true that being a missionary really changes you

So, this week was really good. we were able to work super hard and we had a ton of lessons 29 in total. we were able to also have 7 investigators in church on Sunday. we felt very very blessed. we are working super hard and we beat the record of how many people came to church. last transfer we had 18 but yesterday we had 19 that was super awesome. We are going to try to fill the little small bus to go to the district conference next week.

We are super excited this Saturday for a baptism of a woman named Maria and her daughter Rocio. they might end up getting baptized the next week but we are hoping they will be able to make it this week. Maria is stoping smoking so we will have to work hard with her. we also have 2 couples we are teaching Julia and Miguel came to church this week and received a phone call during my companions talk. they cut it off. then they got another one and answered it from their seat. I had to catch the attention with a smile of one of the members with more time so that she didn't look at them a little bit impatiently. I think we were able to laugh a little bit through our eyes as Miguel said yeah right now's not a good time... yeah I'll call you back in a few minutes... yeah we're in church right now... yeah... bye. I guess they will get the idea in the future.

Miguel wants to get baptized. we are excited for him and Julia.

We are also working with a couple named Yessica and Sebastian. they are excited but are seeing opposition. their alarm didn't even go off Sunday morning even though it always gets them up. hopefully they will start to be able to progress.

We are working super hard and are seeing success. we are going to keep trying our best.

So in this area I feel like I've finally figured out missionary work a little bit but i'm already finishing the mission. well I guess better late than never. It is true that being a missionary really changes you. but more especially as you devote it to trying to help others.

Love,

Elder Dallin Skouson

Our actions really do have a big influence in the investigators we teach.

This week we worked really hard. it was a good week and it went fast and well. we were able to have a lot of lessons and meet a lot of our goals for the week.

We were also able to have a baptism this week for Rocio. She is 18 years old, her aunt is a member of the church and she now lives here with her aunt. we are going to work hard with her to help her stay strong in the church and learn the good habits that we all need to be able to make it.

For the baptism we had to go to Saenz Peña. We invited all the members and a lot of investigators and more members than I was expecting showed up. Rocio's aunt, her cousin, a sister from the group and Maria our investigator and her kids were all able to come. Maria really liked the baptism and is now super excited for her own baptism. We waited the 2:30 bus until 3:15 all together in the bus station and then we got there just at 4:05 or so when the baptism was supposed to start. we got everything in order and had a very good baptismal service.

The aunt and cousin gave the messages of baptism and the holy ghost. they just read the scriptures that we gave them to help them out. then they sat down. the 2nd counselor in the branch was a little surprised but he was calm about it all. I was privileged to perform the baptism. Rocio was very happy afterwards.

Sunday it rained a little bit and the taxi driver that always takes Rocio's aunt to church almost didn't show up but we called a different taxi and they were able to make it a little late and we could still do the confirmation.

We also did a lot of work this week with all our investigators. Isabel who needs to get married before she can get baptized came to church and did a fast with us that her boyfriend will be willing to get married with her. We are excited and anxious to see what her boyfriend says. Hopefully she will be getting baptized soon too. Pray for her and her future husband.

Elder Sanchez is a good worker when he wants to be and i'm excited to keep working with him for the last few weeks of my mission.

The work of the Lord keeps moving forward and we can be a great part of that work if we are willing. let every man lift where he stands and do his part. that will help this work come together a whole lot more.

I also am learning a lot about how our actions really do have a big influence in the investigators we teach. if we are well prepared and have the spirit they are going to understand a lot more and be able to progress a lot more quickly.

Love,

Elder Dallin Skouson

I'm going to work super hard this last transfer.

It was great to talk to my family on Mother's day.  They all looked so happy.  I hope you had a great Mother's day. Thanks for skyping with me. it was fun to get to see you guys. thanks for everything. :)

So, I stayed here in transfers. it looks like I'll finish up here in Quitilipi. I did get a new companion though. he is a good missionary from Chile named Elder Sanchez. We are planning on working hard together and we are going to have success. He has about 10 months in the mission.

yesterday we started out well. we were able to work hard and have some good lessons.

We got to know Rocio a few weeks ago. She is preparing for her baptism this Saturday. She came to visit her aunt and came to church then when we visited her she prayed and asked God about the church and now is going to get baptized. We are super excited for her. She has been reading a lot all of the pamphlets we gave her and some of the book of mormon

The tricky part is that we don't have the equipment to do a baptism here in the church building. The missionaries in the past have traveled to Saenz Peña and we are planning on doing the same.

Elder Salas came to visit the mission right before transfers. He spoke to us about how we could possibly baptize every week and also how we can baptize more. We are super excited to put into action what he told us. He related the missionary work to a sink where if there are bubbles in the pipe the water doesn't come out constantly. He said that if we want to have baptisms constantly the lines have to be full going back for weeks. we are going to be working hard to help all the investigators on the way toward baptism. we are going to try to not let any air into the tube.

We were able to go hear Elder Salas with the entire zone and the next zone over where I started the mission in a small bus like what we took with the members to the branch conference. We had a good time but it was a long trip.

The mission is going well I'm enjoying a lot and I'm going to work super hard this last transfer.

Love you all,

Elder Dallin Skouson

I will have to send pictures next week because my camera died.

MOTHER"S DAY 2016

IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!

New convert says, "It's better than anything else you've ever felt."

This week we had more non members than members in church. excluding children under 8 there were 4 members and 5 non members. 4 came for the first time ever and 1 the second time. it made for in interesting testimony meeting. we shared our testimonies and 1 of the recent converts shared his testimony then I got up and shared another testimony briefly and finished the meeting.

The recent convert's name is Brother Avalos. He's about 40 years old and works in a brick yard. He was baptized a few months ago and has a powerful testimony. He shared with his friend the gospel and invited her to church saying that it is one of the best things you will ever see. the peace you can feel inside and the calm. It's better than anything else you've ever felt.

In church he shared his testimony by sharing his experience of his conversion. he was sitting outside and the missionaries passed by in front of his house. He said to God if those are your sons send them back here. They turned around and went to his house and asked if they could come in. He said sure. a few days later they gave him the book of mormon and he started to read it. He said he felt changes in his life. One day he told the 'brothers' (missionaries) that he wanted to stop smoking so they said a prayer for him and he didn't touch another cigarette since that day.

He is a great example of faith and is super excited. he has a vision. he says Brothers, this church needs to be full. We are excited for him and he is sharing the gospel with everyone he can. pray for him that he can get the aaronic priesthood as well.

We are now teaching his friend Maria and a girl named Rocio who is the niece of one of the members here. She lives in a farming village outside the city but came to visit her aunt for a few days and says she is planning on coming more often. she came to church and the activities every time she could. we are excited for her and hope she will be able to keep attending when she can from her house about 70 kilometers away.

we are also teaching a man named Ramon. We found him raking outside his house and we asked him for help to show us the house of a man nicknamed goat. He helped us out and then invited us in to share with him first. We were able to explain the restoration outside his 6 by 6 mud house and then invite him to read the book of mormon come to church and pray. he was very willing and showed up to church the next day. We are very excited for him too.

This gospel is very true and can touch the life of anyone. that includes mine and yours. I have felt that Christ is looking over us and I know that he can help to touch our hearts when we most need it.

A story in the Book of mormon has been on my mind Moroni lifted a title of liberty on a pole that said 'In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children' As the Nephites fought for those causes they were upheld by the Lord and were able to win their battles. Jesus is the Lord of hosts and the God of our fathers. He can help us fight our daily battles.

I invite you all to look more for him in your lives and I know that as you do you will find more peace and joy.

Elder Dallin Skouson