Hello everybody, it has been a crazy two weeks.
Pday, Monday, June 10 - We left pday early to go to dinner with Noah and Michelle. She is so fun. She is the nonmember girlfriend of a YSA guy, she is the one who bought her own set of scriptures, etc.
June 11 T - We did our studies, went to district council and then went out to work. We tracted for some elders in Winchester. It was like 106, so many people offered us water and we offered to pray for them. We went to an exchange with the Morgan Hill sisters. We woke up and did our personal studies and then went to the sisters' district council. Sister Vernon and I went to an appointment with a guy in the YSA, Noah, who just returned home from his mission six months ago but is kind of struggling. He asked us to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really cool we got to talk about the experiences he had on his mission and how he taught and why it was important.
We left Noah to go to Cami’s house. She is super cute. We are trying to get her to come to the YSA. We got to know her better. We went to a recent convert, Andrew’s house and got to know him better and shared a message. We are going to teach him his new member lessons.
We came home for a quick dinner and then went back out to go tracting. We had about ten minutes until we needed to exchange so I was like, alright Sister Vernon, let’s see the miracles. We prayed we would find at least one person in those ten minutes. In those ten minutes, two people answered their doors and they were two people interested in hearing about the restored gospel. The first one is Roy. He watched the video about Jesus Christ and accepted a Book of Mormon. The next one who answered, a girl, the same thing, watched the video and we gave her a Book of Mormon. They both seem excited to learn more. My saying for that day was two people in ten minutes. It was really great! Blessings!
We exchanged back. Me and Sister Moore were together for about ten minutes until we exchanged with the hermanas. I stayed in the Spanish ward with Sister Lindstrom. It was really fun. It was really funny. I was not very good at Spanish but all is well. We went to a lunch lesson with a Spanish speaking family. I didn’t understand a single word because they were talking super fast. Actually, I understood many words but could not put two and two together. Hermana Lindstrom taught them about the temple and their goal is to be sealed together as a family. So that was super cool to be there and to smile and nod my head. We left there and did companion study and language study. Sister Lindstrom taught me how to pray in Spanish.
Then we went to work tracting in Spanish speaking areas and picked up a girl named Jessica. She and her sister both are interested in hearing more about the gospel. So that was really cool. We went to a lesson with a cute little girl, Camille. She is so sweet. She is excited to get baptized. We taught her about the Sabbath day. We asked her favorite things to put on a hot dog? We pulled out some ice cream and put ketchup, mustard and relish on it. They were like no, no that is gross. We asked why and they answered because that doesn’t go on a sundae. We talked about the good things we do but maybe not on Sunday. We pulled out caramel, chocolate, and M&Ms and sprinkles and talked about the things Heavenly Father wants us to do on a Sunday. So that was fun. We got to teach her a lesson she understood and enjoyed some ice cream together. She is so excited to progress to her baptism.
We exchanged back and I was with Sister Moore for 10 more minutes. Then we went and exchanged with the Chaparral Sisters.
Friday was amazing, we were able to see a lot of miracles together. We woke up and did our personal and companion study and then did the extra studies. Sister Burton is being trained. We memorized the first vision and practiced using it in a lesson. Then we went out and worked. We went to all the ‘bays’ and actually found Alyssa again. I found her a while ago back when I was in Chaparral. She loves missionaries and loves the gospel but she was engaged to a man who is very Catholic so she was not ready to accept it back then. She is no longer with that guy so I believe she is prepared and really wants to meet with us. We knocked on potentials doors and others who have not been contacted in a while.
We decided to head to the lake. We saw an apartment complex while we were biking up a hill. I asked Sister Burton if she had ever been there and she said no. We went to a specific apartment complex, went straight up to the top floor and knocked on 4 doors. On that fourth door, a member of the congregation answered. She had been having a really hard time and broke down crying. She said she has never read the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and told her we would be sending her scriptures. It was really sweet and I know we were guided to be there.
We met a homeless guy who was walking down the street. He didn’t have a phone or an address. We stopped to talk to him and he listened to us intently. He took the Book of Mormon. He had really good questions and understanding of who God and Jesus Christ are. He will join the church someday. We knocked on more doors and met a lot of crazy awesome people. Crazy and awesome.
We went to see sister Baker, she gave us a little tea party. It was so fun. My day with sister Burton was just so great.
The next morning we went to a sister correlation meeting and then went to a sisters breakfast in Temecula at President Badal’s house. He shared a really great spiritual message on faith. He said even though we are going to a new mission we have to have faith. He referenced the scripture in 1st Nephi when he went to get the plates from Laban. He was led by the spirit not knowing beforehand what he would do. We helped the sisters clean and pack their clothes. The chaparral sisters are being whitewashed into Carlsbad.
I was informed while I was there that Grammy passed away. Grammy is the fighter with breast cancer, my love, I love her so much!
We had dinner with Cody and game night. That was super fun. We had zone correlation meeting and talked about what went well in our transfer and what we want to improve upon. Then we got our transfer calls. Sister Moore and I are staying together. We were so excited we ended up jumping off all of our furniture. Because we are staying here in the Murrieta YSA we will be in the Riverside Mission. It is going to be a party!
June 16, Sunday - studies, transfer/exchange planning/MCM - we went to church and worked on some administrator stuff. I got to call my dad because it was fathers day. Happy Father’s day everyone, all you fathers and future fathers.
We went to dinner with the Kromars and then we made gifts for the sisters.
Monday - we did laundry, printed our pictures and went to old town because we wanted to. Then we went to breakfast at IHOP with the French Valley missionaries. Elder Molen was going home and bought us all breakfast. It was very sweet of him.
We went to the church to sign each other’s transfer journals and hang out. 
We went to FHE which was a nerf war so we couldn’t do anything.
T- We finished cleaning and packing the chaparral sisters. Sister Clayton and I played meg ball and I am winning and will be winning the next fourteen months. Then my heart went down to Carlsbad again. I love those sisters.
We helped the Murrieta zone leaders plan our theme and goals for the transfer. We made cupcakes at a relief society activity. I love the YSA and I love everybody there.
Michelle was there, she is one of our besties, I love Michelle.
W - We took some sisters to a doctor’s appointment. That is kind of what we do, we take care of our sisters. We planned Michaels baptism and went to work in Ortega, that is in the Lake Elsinore stake. We met with the shepherding sister to help plan how to get people who should be in YSA come to YSA. Then we had volleyball night with the YSA.
Th - We went to meet our new mission president, President Hammond. He is awesome. He is very intent on working hard, being obedient and following the spirit. He swears by the missionary handbook. He is going to be an amazing President. I am excited to work with him and learn all I can for the next five weeks and figure out why I need him in my life. There are a few changes in rules. I have a much shorter time to email, so if I don’t email you back that is why. It was cool to meet his wife and the assistants.
We did our zone greets with our zone themes. the Temecula zone’s them is Staying HOT, keeping the greenie fire and it also stands for the acronym Hardworking Optimistic and Teachable. The Murrieta zone theme is “BAck to the Beginning” remembering the greenie fire we had when we came and also, we are new in the Riverside mission so we are greenies in a way.
We also had the opportunity that day to say goodbye to President and Sister Thomas. I know you all know how much they mean to me. I love them so much. It was tender, we had a few minutes of time with just President and Sister Thomas and me and sister Moore to talk and say goodbye. It was something I needed. I just love them.
I learned about happiness, attitude, joy, hard work and boldness from him. I learned from Sister Thomas to not be casual, to take advantage of every moment, to be clean, to be a light and to be a disciple of Christ. That is ultimately what they taught me to follow Jesus Christ and be an example of Him. I am grateful for the last 17 months of my life with them. They will be missed.
We did family history with Michael and then went to institute.
Friday was beautiful! We had Michael’s baptism.
A bunch of missionaries came because he has been taught by a lot of missionaries but in the words of Michael, we were the ones who “got him dunked.” I love that guy. His baptism was beautiful. It was small, which is what he wanted, and spirit filled. His entire family came, none of them are members and none of them are necessarily excited about the church, but his four siblings and parents came. It was really cool because the spirit was so strong. Sister Moore talked on baptism, Sister Eyre did the interlude (while Michael was getting dressed). She shared The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit was so strong. I had the privilege and opportunity to give the Gift of the Holy Ghost talk. Michael was beaming the whole day. He was surrounded by love. We sang hymns and we all felt like we were singing with the angels. We felt the power of the hymns and the words we sang. I wish you all could meet Michael and see his progression. When we first met him he was quieter and shyer. He has always been a happy guy but I have never seen him as happy as the day of his baptism. We saw him the next day to sign his baptismal form. He is just glowing and so filled with the light of Christ. He is full of joy and peace and loves that he made a covenant with God. He loves that he is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He went from being my friend to being my brother in Christ. It was a beautiful beautiful weekend.
we did exchange planning to take care of all the sisters. We helped clean the church and did district correlation meeting.
Saturday I went to Grammy’s funeral. That was really hard, I’m not going to lie. She is not in pain anymore. She is up there being a missionary because she loves missionaries. She is my new companion. I have a few extra companions besides my amazing companion Sister Moore. from the other side - Beau Richie, Cole Merril and now Grammy. I need them. They are helping me on that side while I am searching for people on this side. The funeral was well attended and there was so much love there. I cried a lot. I am so grateful I got to go.
Later, we did service where we cleaned up library books and had game night that was fun.
Sunday, Michael was confirmed a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was amazing. Josh Curtis confirmed him and gave Michael a beautiful blessing. He was so happy. That is my true testimony that I have is what the gospel of Jesus Christ can do for you and what I saw it do for Michael. “Joy comes from and because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the source of all joy.” I truly see that in Michael. He is an example of what the gospel of what Jesus Christ will do for you.
We went to dinner at Noah’s house and Michelle was there. They made us dinner. The elders were there. It was a really relaxed situation. We chatted and the elder’s shared a message about following Jesus Christ. The elders had to go to a meeting but we stuck around for dessert and we were just chatting. That is when the questions started. Michelle asked us about the word of wisdom. She asked us about coffee and tea. It is crazy because that day at church someone talked about the Word of Wisdom. There were actually three talks that were for Michelle, I know that. The first was about the Word of Wisdom and the blessings that we receive by living it. The second was about the nature of the Godhead, who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and who the Holy Ghost is and how all three are important in our lives. The third talk was about becoming converted and true conversion. All three were meant for Michelle. So when she asked about the Word of Wisdom we testified about Joseph Smith and modern revelation and the gift of agency and doing all things in measure and maintaining that gift of agency. The spirit was so strong. She is so elect. She also asked what is the fastest time someone has been baptized. So, that is an excellent question Michelle, do you want to break the record? Haha
It was a great couple of weeks, a hard couple of weeks. It is all worth it. I love being a missionary. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love what it does for us. I loved seeing Michael be baptized and confirmed. I love the spirit that was there. I love the joy he has. We are going to the temple on the 28th with Michael. We are so excited for this second baptismal date. That will be a blessing.
On the 29th, I become a Riverside missionary. It has been an amazing and fantastic 17 months as a Carlsbad, California missionary. Even though there will no longer be a Carlsbad, California mission, I will always be a Carlsbad, California missionary. I am so excited to also become a Riverside missionary and see miracles there and work under President and Sister Hammond. I am super excited to learn from all these amazing people. The church is still true whether you are in Carlsbad or Riverside. That is something we are trying to help everyone else remember, because not everybody is taking it that well. I love this church. I love my mission. I hope you had an amazing couple of weeks. I love you and pray for you every day. I know God is watching out for you.
See you later. Love you, love you, bye!
Sister Dalley
josie.dalley@missionary.org
Sisterjosiedalley.blogspot.com
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