The Field is White and Ready to Harvest

Hi, hi, hi! It has already been a week! My goodness, I just want to tell you how good God is. God is so amazing. Right now I am just full of wonder and beauty and energy and light because I just got off a hike in his beautiful creations!

We had our president interviews. Man, I just love president. We were just chatting about missions and life. He asks me what my goal is and I ask him what his goal is. We write our goals each interview and then our next interview we write how that goal went and then write a new goal. My goal for last transfer was to make sacred finding time important, focused and intentional and one of my purposeful speed moments of each day. He read what I wrote and says “Yes!” and I was like “Crunch time!” and he was like “Woot Woot!” We just cracked up. He is so helpful with everything. His challenge to be and my goal as a missionary with president Thomas, he says, “Give me any problem and we can make it happy.” We find scriptures to turn around each situation. I love him, he is an amazing man. We always go over during interviews. His wife also, she was showing us her foot surgery scars and an elder snapped a picture.

We went to service where we painted older ladies’ nails. The lady I helped only spoke Spanish and she laughed at me while I tried to form sentences so I made a resolve to do better about studying Spanish.

This area has not seen a baptism in over a year. We are working hard and the members recognize they need to be part of it. Our job is to give the member’s opportunities to share their testimonies.

March 20th my cousin Tess’s birthday. You’re 21? So old! I hope life is well for you. I love you and miss you very much!

We have a really big ward, one of the biggest in the mission, it is hard to get to know everybody on a personal level.

We went to Cultivating inclusion and got to spend time with Braxton again. He is a trip that kid. He made a comment about how the book of mormon is like the bible. We were amazed he looked at it. He is just trying to get on his feet.

During sacred finding time we found Bonnie. She invited us in and it was her, her husband and her little girl. They invited us in and chatted for a minute. They said they were not religious but knew a lot of members from our church. She mentioned her dad passed away recently. After we talked for a minute and they were like “okay we’ve got to go.” We walked away and knocked on a couple more doors. We were feeling weird and uncomfortable. I wondered what was going on. I had not voiced anything yet but but my sweet companion paused and said, “shoot.” I asked her what and she said, “we have to go back.” I answered “you are right we do.” She was like “Oh no, this is going to be awkward.” I was like “Yes! Missionary work!”

So,  we went back and knocked on Bonnie’s door and taught her a little bit about the plan of Salvation. We shared Alma 40 with them. Bonnie said her daughter was saying to her, “Call them, have them come back, I love them and I want to come back.” That was a great lesson for us. They were still not interested but we planted a seed with Bonnie, her husband and her daughter. Even though nothing came out of it yet, we were able to see the spirit work on us. Even though it was weird or uncomfortable in the eyes of the world, it was amazing. The spirit was so strong. I loved it, it was a great experience. I am grateful for my companion for speaking up.

Many mornings for exercise we go to a park. There is a man, Fin, who doesn’t speak english well that walks the opposite way of us. He greets us with “Good morning, have a great day” while he holds our hands.

We did a district dinner and went on a blitz in the Las Brisas area. The first door we knocked on we found a lady who is religious and we gave her a Book of Mormon. She is out of our area but we had a successful night and gave out a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon.

We went to the Henry’s home. They have a couple of boys. Easton is 18 and has been on a really rocky path but has recently started back on a good path. He was teaching me how to play the Ukulele, so me and Easton jammed. In my setting apart blessing it says there will be many diseased or lost sheep and the first reaction of many will be to run from them, but my first reaction will be to run to them. So, I have seen that a lot on my mission in many different ways but this was definitely one of those times. I love Easton and believe he is good kid. He has a rough path but wants to be good. I love Easton and the Henry Family.

We tracted out a whole street on Saturday and guess what, every single person we talked to wasn’t interested. How great is that? But that is ok because the first thing that we want to hear is “Yes!” We want them to listen to us or make a commitment. The second favorite thing to hear is “No.” Then we don’t waste our time trying to move someone from a “maybe” to a “yes” or an “I don’t know” to a “Yes.” The field is white and ready to harvest. It is not brown and ready to water. It is not barren and ready to plant. It is white. We heard a lot of “No”s and we were happy because we could move on to harvesting.

Sister Henry drove us to Grammy’s house. She was in the hospital last week and they released her this week and put her on hospice. She is declining and is no longer on Chemotherapy and now we just wait. I love her.

We ate dinner with the Blairs. They are both return missionaries and have three little boys and I got a really sticky kiss on my cheek.

It was a fantastic week with so many opportunities to serve and people to talk to and so many amazing experiences. I love this work so much. It is my favorite thing every. I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week.

Love you, love you, bye!

Sister Dalley

josie.dalley@missionary.org

sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com

Murrieta in March

I can’t believe it is another Monday and I can’t believe I am talking to you again. We went on a hike, Santa Rosa plateau, they have thermal pools.

We had zone conference. It was so amazing. It was all about repentance and inviting people to repentance and how repentance is a key to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people want to avoid or skip over repentance because it may seem like a negative or condemning thing. We focused on repentance as a gift. President Thomas reminded us we invite people to repent because we love them. This invitation shows love. I learned so much that day. I always leave zone conference with a burning desire to just do it. So we cried repentance to the people from that time forth.

We taught Dora and answered a bunch of her questions.

We went on exchanges. Me and Sister Eyre came out together. We were in the same MTC district and the same mission prep class at BYUI. It was so fun to catch up and work with her. We got to go and work and see miracles together.

We contacted people, tracted and knocked on potential doors. Before dinner we had picked up three people to teach. Joey, loves church and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. Brenda, is religious, has her family with her and would like to learn more. And the third person is Dianne. We talked to her for 20 - 30 minutes about Jesus Christ, his miracles and his love. Everything we said she agreed with. It was super amazing because we could see how prepared Dianne is. She loved it and loves us and she wants us to come back. We are excited to teach her and talk to her.

We went to the hospital to visit Grammy, Jane McFee. She is in her third time going through breast cancer. She is a fighter we love her so much. She is so sweet.

March 14th was our happiness day because it was Beau Richie's birthday. Everyday is a happiness day but that day especially. We focused on making Christ the Center of our lives. I still have that alarm on my phone because of his example.

We helped special needs kids weed the garden at cultivating inclusion. Braxton is always there and asks us about mission life. We got to go to the Fronk’s home and teach them. They are crazy and fun and remind me of my family. We met Hope at the Bleighmayer’s home. I wish you all could meet Hope. She has a few impediments that make her special. Her favorite thing to say is “wahoo.” She makes me happy so we gave her a happi pin. She gave us both a kiss on our cheeks when we left.

We helped at the food pantry and I actually talked about the gospel with one of the workers there. He was amazed I have been serving in California for more than a year without seeing or visiting my family.

We picked up Bobbi, a new person to teach. We showed her a video of Jesus Christ and gave her a Book of Mormon. She is in the Elder’s area but we were able to find her for them to teach.

We returned to visit Beth who Sister Kartchner gave her first copy of the Book of Mormon to, and she said yes she would like us to come and teach. We are super excited about that.

It was a fantastic week, filled with awesomeness. I know I say that every time. We found four new people to teach. We know this area is due for miracles. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven. We saw those miracles this week and are excited to see more in the coming weeks.

Because of the rain, there is a butterfly migration going through California. There are literally thousands. There are poppies everywhere. So amazing. Life in California is fantastic, life in general is fantastic! I love the mission. It makes me happy! I love you all very much and am so grateful for your amazing support. I know God loves you too. Have a great week.

Love you, love you, bye!

Sister Dalley

josie.dalley@missionary.org

sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com

CALIFORNIA GOLD

Hi, this is Sister Dalley, we have a busy Pday so this will be quick.

Last Monday, Mar 4th, we called and emailed and played volleyball. We went to sacred finding time and had FHE with the Moncrief and Anderson families. We taught them we need to fill our lives with good things so when we get shaken or hard things happen, only good things come out. We can be examples in good and bad times.

Tuesday, we went dot smashing. We went to those who have shown interest before and followed up with them. We did our new missionary extra study. We do role playing and practicing and learning for Sister Kartchner. We went tracting and met a guy named John. He is a religious guy and started talking to us about Jesus. He talked about us as missionaries sharing Jesus Christ and his mission. We had a really good conversation but says he doesn’t do organized religion. We visited Brother and Sister Miller, a really cool family, he has a bunch of scriptures memorized.

Wednesday, district council we talked about personal study and being converted. The importance of sharing our own conversion and why we love the gospel. In Alma 5, Alma the younger is talking about his father Alma when Abinadi taught him and he says,

12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

13 And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

I love this because this mighty change is necessary for us to experience ourselves before we can expect others to experience this change.

We went to visit the Santorians and did a Come Follow Me. We were in John and talked about when Jesus turned the water into wine. We had Bruce read all the scriptures. We asked him if he ever read the bible before and he said no but I am going to because I feel the Holy Spirit. It has been a slow progression with them but we are making progress.

We went tracting again and found a lady named Carlyn who invited us to go out to Coffee. She said she wants to adopt me to be her daughter. She is super cute and we are going to meet again with her soon.

Mar 7 was cultivating inclusion which was really fun. We weeded a bunch of rows so they could plant. We tracted the rest of the day. We met so many people and were able to do some good. Working hard, having fun!

Friday Mar 8 we went to the food pantry. I love all the people there, they are amazing. This cute little lady made potato tacos and fed us. They were so good.

We had a district dinner and blitz. We blitzed in the Cal Oaks area. We saw so many miracles in that area. Each of our companionships were able to pick up people for them to teach and referrals and service opportunities.

Saturday Mar 9 we went dot smashing, tracting, working - a busy busy day finding people. We went to dinner with two families at RJ’s Sizzlin Steer. It was super fun. I tried to order a salad but they wouldn’t let me so believe it or not, your daughter, Sister Dalley ordered a steak. I forced myself to eat it.  It made me sick all night.

We saw Ann. She came to church and she acted like we never dropped her. She acts like she is a member but won’t let us teach her about baptism. She wants our help getting “LDS” histories into the Murrietta museums.

We were able to get in contact with Dora and are meeting with her tomorrow.

We went out to La Cresta and Tamaja and found a cool tree in the middle of the road.

There are also beautiful poppies blooming on the hills. We call it california gold.

We had a great week! Sister Kartchner dropped BOM (her first copy of the Book of Mormon). She smiled all night. It is so fun! It made us so happy.

Life is good. Working hard, having fun, living the best life because we are missionaries. I will be praying for you. I love you so much.

Love you, love you, bye

Sister Dalley

josie.dalley@missionary.org

Sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com

We Found Dora!

Monday, Pday - We, the sisters got up super early and went on a hike to Santa Rosa plateau. We saw beautiful poppies and an amazing sunrise and then had breakfast at Black Bear Diner.

Transfer journal signing. I got to see Sister Miles and Sister Stoddard because we took Sister Lee to the mission home. She is done with her mission. She was in my first district and I knew her my whole mission so that was sad.

Sister Briggs said goodbye to everyone. A family gave us scuba watches. The members are so good to the missionaries.

Tuesday, I was passed around all day because my new companion did not come until 8 pm.

We talked to lots of nice people but no one interested. There were 13 new missionaries. We the trainers were sitting in the chapel chatting. All the new missionaries come in quiet and fresh off the plane. President came in and quoted D&C 11:3-4 “Behold the field is white …” We each need to use our own tools to harvest the field. We each need to thrust in our sickles with our might. Anyone who is called is accepted of God. We all have unique stories of how we got on our missions but we are all here together unified in our work.

Sister Kartsner is from Blanding UT, she is 20 and loves writing stories and loves animals. She is from a big family of 13. She went to a year of school in Logan. She is so ready to be here and work. The greenie fire is real but she has a fire of her own.

Stand ye in holy places takes two feet which means it takes 100% commitment. It is so true. We have to be so committed to what we are doing and why we are out here. I love this gospel. It is so great!

We went to Vista again the next day for some awesome meetings and then went to teach the Becks for practice.

Feb 28 - Zone greet! Our theme for this transfer is March Miracle Madness. The scripture we pulled up is Moroni 7:37 “it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men.” We started it off with a fast for our zone and people we are teaching and for our mission.

Each week we have a focus like role playing all the lessons, focusing on the Book of Mormon, etc. Our goal is 7 baptisms. We are all trying to do all we can but we need God’s help so please keep us and our mission in your prayers.

Thursday we knocked on Dora’s door. She invited us in and sat us down. We talked about her religion and beliefs and she has a lot of questions. We were able to teach her a little but needed to leave so we asked her what question is nagging on her the most. She said, “I really want to know which church is true.” We were like PERFECT! That was our miracle we were able to pick Dora up.

We introduced Sister Karstner to the bishop and then taught the Wright’s the plan of salvation for practice.

Mar 1 we had zone breakfast and missionary council at Denny’s. We talked about Alma who was rejected but turned around because of his faith and Amulek was right there placed in his path. He then had a confrontation with Zeezrom who began to ask questions because of the power of their testimonies. Later he calls them to heal him and he is converted. So we need to find our Amuleks and our Zeezroms, those who are placed in our path and those who take more time.

We have an extra hour of study every day for Sister Karstner where we practice and role play and learn. We tracted out a big cul-de-sac and met a lady, Fran, and her husband. They invited us in and gave us cookies and water. That never happens here but first Dora then Fran. Wow!

They asked us a lot of questions. They asked us about the Bishop’s Storehouse which I love because my grandma and grandpa are missionaries at the bishop’s storehouse. A while ago my grandma sent me her talk she gave about the storehouse. I pulled it up and read Fran and her husband her talk. We all felt the spirit so strong as I read her testimony. They were so impressed with us and how our church takes care of people.

Sunday, fun day. Church was awesome. In missionary correlation meeting we talked about those we are teaching and those who our ward missionaries stopped by to prepare them to meet with us. We talked about our 2019 goals.  We shared our goal with them that the members will be willing to do small things and by those small things many are brought unto salvation.

Alma 37:6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

My favorite part of being a missionary is meeting children of God and inviting them to come unto Christ.

I hope you had an equally fantastic week. A talk I want you all to look up is Becoming a Disciple of Jesus Christ, Elder Hales, April 2017

I just really love this talk.

Love you love you bye!

Sister Dalley

josie.dalley@missionary.org

sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com

Priscilla

I am super excited to be talking with you. This week was different.

As far as calling home goes, I can only call family, any family. If you want to talk to me, send me an email with your number and a time I can call. Family only. I love you who are my friends but won’t be calling you.

It was fun calling my family. I definitely felt really weird. I can’t tell you it is my favorite thing but I definitely am excited to be more involved with my family and my family to be more involved with what I am doing here. Thank you for Valentine’s packages!

Sister Briggs was not feeling well this whole week so we didn’t get to do a lot of stuff.

Tuesday we knocked doors. I dragged Sister Briggs around. We went to a lesson with Ann. We were talking about family history and then read 2 Nephi 31 with her. She stopped us and said, “i don’t want to waste your time but I am not going to get baptized.”  So, we kind of dropped Ann. We are waiting until she is willing to learn and to sincerely ask Heavenly Father the question whether she should be baptized. She says she will get baptized if the spirit tells her to. She came to church on Sunday so that is good. That is ok because the field is white and we are ready to harvest. We will plant seeds whenever we can but we are here to harvest.

We went to mutual where we did our rap. The kids were so impressed, that thought we were cool.  I love getting in with the youth because we become their besties and they help us teach their friends at school. There were five inactive boys there and we sat by one on Sunday who asked us a lot  about our missions.

Wed, Feb 20 - At district council we discussed the different resources the church provides and how we can apply them to our missionary program and those we are teaching. We talked about Addiction Recovery, Self Reliance, Come Follow Me, Family History and others. I learned about the addiction recovery program. I watched all the videos and read the booklet. They are so amazing. We can use these resources to improve our lives. It does not have to be substance abuse or pornography but just anything I want to change like becoming more charitable. I have also been studying the christlike attributes side by side with this program.  Looking those with the question, “What lack I yet?”

It has been really humbling and  eye opening to see what I lack and identify the things I need to improve and get over to become what I need to become. We have all these resources. I am able to find so much truth by asking questions and using these resources to find the answers.

Thurs, Feb 21 - We went to the gardening place, Cultivating Inclusion, and spent time with some of the special needs kids. It is such a good experience. They are such lights. I love it.

Exactly one year ago on Feb 21 I was on exchanges with Sister Richie and we put someone she was teaching, Daria, on date. Later, I found out missionaries lost contact with Daria. I don’t know what happened but she did not get baptized. I got a message from Sister Langton that Daria was baptized. It was such a blessing to see this. It has been a long time for Daria. Even though we may not be the ones to see them baptized we are part of their story to help them come closer to Christ. It was a tender mercy for me because I was able to see the freedom and peace that comes with embracing this gospel eventually come into Daria’s life.

Feb 22  We had a trio day, Sister Breinholt came to be our companion. We went to food pantry and then went to Sister and Elder Sately’s home to make cookies for the less active people and part member families and people we are teaching. We made some really bomb cookies and passed them out, they were not the ‘exquisites’ we make at home, but close. I received a call from President that I will be training another missionary. I am super excited to have greenie fire and help her in any way I can. I know that we will be part of each other’s lives for a reason and I hope to help her become a great missionary.

On Saturday Feb 23 - We went to the church as a zone to find out our transfers. Sister Briggs is going to Escondido. I am staying here in Murrieta Oso Oro ward with my new greenie. A lot of change is happening but it is always fun. We visited a few families so Sister Briggs could say goodbye and then we went tracting.

Sun, Feb 24 - we taught little kids at church. They are so smart. I asked who knows what ‘meek’ means and a little guy raised his hand and answered ‘it means being teachable’ Impressive! They were all so willing to learn and so sweet with their little scriptures on their laps.

After church we went to work and it felt great to get out and work hard since Sister Briggs felt better. We went to dinner in a beautiful gated community with our stake president. He had his nephew and his nephew’s wife there, Kyle and Priscilla. At the end of dinner, President turned to Priscilla his nephew’s wife and said “We love you and because we love you, we want to introduce these sisters to you who we asked to introduce our religion to you. Are you willing to talk to these missionaries and learn what we believe?” She said “yes.”  We walked to the living room and gave her the first discussion. We asked her what she knew and how she felt about religion. She told us her story. She is spiritual and desires religion for her life and for her family. She said as she searched other religions and they made her feel guilty and condemned. As we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, she started crying. Then I started crying. I told her Joseph Smith’s account.

I felt the spirit once again testifying it is true. She was crying. I was crying. She said religion talks to her heart even though her brain doesn’t quite get it. We identified that feeling as the spirit. We introduced the Book of Mormon to her, gave her a copy and read her the promise in Moroni. We knelt down together and prayed. It was a really good experience.

President Whittier walked us to the car and said we were perfect for this. He saw something light up in Priscilla. We are going back to teach her again this week. That was a little miracle. I feel like we were able to find Priscilla because we were willing to drop Ann. It was hard to drop Ann because we want to be teaching someone but if they are not progressing we can’t just go and hang out. We were willing to act in faith and move on and now have a new person to teach.

I hope you have a fantastic week.

Love you love you, bye.

Sister Dalley

josie.dalley@missionary.org

sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com