I'm coming HOME!!!

Well this week went by really fast for me. It went by slow at times if I thought about going home. It's crazy that this is the last week of my mission. But you know all missionaries have to go home at the end of two years. We weren't able to meet with Angie this week and didn't keep great contact with her either. But come Sunday there she was with her husband on sacrament meeting. That was such a wonderful feeling to me that she knew where she was supposed to be without a friendly reminder. She gave me a hug at the end of church and was pretty sad I was leaving but I told her I would do everything to come back for her baptism! The missionary broadcast meeting last night was a wonderful meeting and it got me teary eyed at a few times because i knew my mission was coming to a close! The lords work is filling this world and there are so many willing young men and women getting ready to serve it just feels my soul with joy! When I came out on my mission there was roughly around 55,000 missionaries around the world and now there is 70,000 plus missionaries! So amazing!! I'm so grateful for the mission I have served and the people's life's I have touched. I know I was called to come to the Texas Dallas Mission for a reason and for that I am so thankful! Watch out Boise cause Dilan's coming home!!

Working hard even up to the last week of my mission

Things have been going really good here. We had a wonderful lesson with our investigator Angie Davis. We talked about the importance of the sacrament and how it goes hand and hand with Baptism. We talked about baptism and she told us that she wanted to be baptized but wanted to wait until her family can be here. She was bummed that i wont be able to make it but i told her i wanted to try to make it if i could. Not too much else has been going on. I have one full week left on the mission and thats why this letter is so short:) 

2 weeks till I return home: It's a LOVE-HATE kinda thing

2 weeks left. things are starting to become a reality with me coming home and all. its a love hate kinda thing. I am getting nervous about the return home.. its a happy nervous though. A lot of missionaries will say that they never want to leave after 2 years but I honestly think thats a joke. In their heart they want to come home. I am gonna miss texas for the people and Thunderstorms.. not for the heat! It hit 102 today which was probably the hottest day this summer so far. We went to Top Golf again. 

Not too much to report on this week. I am almost finished with my Community Service hours which is nice. I was not wanting to be broke when i got home. i hope all is well and 2 weeks is just around the corner:)

Great week! More discussions, more service and a temple session!

I had a wonderful week this week. We had a lesson with Angie Davis our investigator and we taught the Plan of Salvation. We brought a long a member named brother Clark and when we got there another couple of members were already there ready to fellowship. It was wonderful to see that and know that the members in our ward are there and ready to help. Our lesson was amazing and Brother Clark is a wonderful teacher with a lot of great analogies. I asked Brother Haught (the other member) to invite them to church and it was a sure yes from her! I never felt so confident that they were going to come to church until that night. We did some service here and there this week. Most of it was a a food pantry and then moving in a part member family this last Saturday. On Friday we went to the temple and had a wonderful session! President wanted us to make the 8 A.M. session so we had to be up at 5:30 in the morning to make it. That killed me! haha On Sunday church was great. and guess what... Angie Davis came to church just like she said she would. That was super cool. I had to go to court today to talk to the judge about my ticket and he was super nice to me. Since i don't have a Texas drivers license he was going to review my file and send something to me in the mail within the next few days telling me what i need to do. There was a big tornado storm that came through Dallas this week but i wasn't affected by that. It was in South Dallas. One of the tornadoes was a mile long apparently.. Wow! I have 5 weeks left and i am counting down the days... Literally!

Volunteering for Special Olympics and Meals on Wheels

I had a really great week this week.
Conference eekend was great and i really enjoyed it.. like always. I loved the
boldness from Elder Perry.. I dont think i have ever seen him that
bold. My convert Lacy and her husband drove up today from Duncanville to take us out to lunch. That was super cool to see her. I miss her very much.. by
far my favorite convert:). This week was full of service. We had
interviews with president Durrant on Tuesday and that went well. I am
just sick of meetings and dont really care about taking notes down. I
have 2 months left!! I went on exchanges that night up to Bonham with
a missionary named Elder Hein and that was a little strange. We didnt
have anything in common and didnt really talk that much. Wednesday we
had service at the Melissa Library. I love going there. We go about
every week and help out anyway possible. I hate shelving books though.
On thursday we helped out some other Elders with service for 2
different members... So we split up with them and i went with Elder
Petty. We were asked to help unload a truck of over 3000 pounds of
cabinets but it never showed up so we went to help the other Elders
move their ward mission leader and the worst part about that was he
was not packed at all! I hate when members ask you to come help and
you have to help them pack! We like Investigators... not
Procrastinators!!!

On Friday we helped out with the Special Olympics and had a blast!! We
had to be at the Melissa High School at 7 in the morning to start
cooking Hamburgers and Hot Dogs! We made over 800 each and had to put
them in buns and wrap them in tin foil! This was Wendy's all over
again hahaha. We didnt finish until noon. Saturday was by far the best
service i have done in a while though. We went to the Mckinney Meals
on Wheels which is a place who takes meals to people who are less
fortunate. We were asked to paint their entire office! There was 8 of
us Elders there and we started at 8 and didnt finish until 5:30 that
night! It took forever but had a lot of fun. It seems like Elder
Kruger, Kidd and I were the ones working the hardest.. The other
Elders would take breaks in between and just talk most of the time! I
worked my buns off!!! We had dinner that night with a family is not
members but they have been around the church for 7 or so years and
know a ton of members. The dinner went great and the whole time i was
thinking "why arent these people baptized?" I mean the kids were
wearing Byu shirts and CTR Rings and they said perfect Mormon Prayers
haha. Why they are not baptized is beyond me! But the work still
continues to move forward here in Melissa and i cant wait for my
Valiant Return Home in 2 months!! Hurray!!
 

Habitat for Humanity, Pinewood Derby and Perry Cox's Baptism

We had a really good week this week. On Wednesday we had a meeting in
Dallas with all the English zones in the Dallas area and that was
pretty fun.. But i am not too thrilled to go to them anymore because
its the same stuff over and over again and i already know the drill..
i guess that's what happens when you get close to going home.. I never
though that day would come Ha. Later that night we went to a members
house in the Mckinney 7th ward and we had a huge feast for dinner..
The Holm family definitely knows how to feed missionaries that's for
sure. Thursday was a fun day as we were asked to go to the church and
be the judges for the Pinewood Derby Race.. Oh boy was that fun and
brought back lots of missionaries.. There was this kid that reminded
me of Shea when he kept losing with his whale car and the kid was
acting exactly like him haha.. The pinewood derby can get pretty crazy
especially when you see parents start busting out their video cameras
to see if their car actually won! Theres always one of those parents
haha.

On Friday we did service for a place called Habitat for Humanity and
its a function that helps build houses for less fortunate people..
They have a huge warehouse full of housing stuff and we were just the
muscle and helpers for the day. It was really fun and i enjoyed
helping out and doing some hard labor. Its been a while since i have
done some service that was really good working labor. We attended a
baptism on Saturday for one of the Mckinney Elders and then afterwards
we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch.. I haven't been there since
my first area and it was sooo good! Sunday was a really good day.

Our investigator Perry Cox (the one who is homeless) who Elder Thompson
and I were teaching while we covered the Fairview ward was baptized
yesterday and it was such a neat experience and he even bore his
testimony and it was just such a great experience and nice to see how
far he had come from when we first met him. He has definitely grown a
love for the gospel and he knows it is true because of the blessings
he has received from living it.

New mission car...Ford Fusion 2013!

We had a pretty good week but was really crazy!!! Tuesday was

transfers and that was by far the craziest transfer that has happened
in this mission since i have been here!! Elder Thompson and I are
staying together another transfer until he goes home but we were asked
to go to transfer meeting to pick up the elders coming in to cover a
ward we were covering.. Well we were asked to be there at 9 and so we
were but found out that the Elders covering one of our wards is brand
new and they always have a training during transfer day for new
missionaries. So this meeting wasn't going to be over until 3 in the
afternoon.. So we went to the mission office to hang out and talk to
the senior couples working in the office.. Elder Williams is the one
who is in charge of all the vehicles in the mission and I served in
his ward in my last area.. Well our car was at the end of its life and
needed to be sent back to Salt Lake.. So i pleaded and pleaded and
yanked some teeth to get a new car and the whole time Elder Williams
was hesitant.. But we were there the whole day helping him and finally
he said okay Elder.. lets get you a new car.. So i begged him for the
only 2013 Ford Fusion in the mission right now and this is how he
responded. "Elder.. do you know how many missionaries have asked me
for that car? They are all on bikes now!" So he said that i am lucky
and he gave me the Fusion.. I was leaping for joy!! So as we were
packing all of the Elders stuff in the new car a tire repair kit with
slime exploded everywhere!!! Of course it would only happen to me?!
But we got it cleaned up and all was well haha!! That day was a super
long and tiring day!!!
 
Wednesday we had district meeting which is kind of lame now since
there is only 3 companionship's in our district and one of them is a
senior couple.. After that we went to do service in the Melissa
Library for a couple hours. On Thursday Elder Thompson and I decided
to go see my convert Lacy Long in my last area and so we were there
all day and had a really good time with them.. Its not really
encouraged that you do that in the mission but Lacy really missed me
and it was either that or tract all day haha! On Saturday we helped
Perry Cox move all of his crap off this guys property where he was
sleeping.. Perry is no longer our investigator and we were the ones
there to help him.. His new missionaries were there for like 30
minutes and then bailed.. We were pretty pissed about that. When
Sunday rolled around I was super glad it was the end of the week
because I was tired.. and it was nice to only go to one ward instead
of 2 or 3 like i have done my entire mission!!! Our investigator Erin
Miller was interviewed for baptism last night and passed and will be
baptised this following weekend!!!
 

P-Day missionaries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ogDNHcrZhk

"TOURIST" missionaries and "TRUE" missionaries

I had a really good week this week.. we didn't have district meeting
this week because of a great meeting we had on Wednesday! A member
from the Quorum of the Seventy came to our mission to train us.. His
name is Elder Aidukaitis and he is from Brazil. He gave a really great
training on how we can get more people to teach from our baptismal
dates! It was crazy what he was saying... He also told us that there
is 2 types of missionaries.. Tourist missionaries and True
missionaries. Tourist Missionaries will spend there time taking
pictures of their area and fun pictures on Pday with other
missionaries, etc.. and True missionaries will take pics of their
baptisms and members who helped them find baptisms... That was a
little over the edge for me.. i guess that makes me a middle
missionary because i do both.. the mission is serious but you are
aloud to have fun when you are doing missionary work..

After the meeting we went to this amazing Burger place called Burguesa
Burger.. Burguesa is burger in spanish.. this place is so good.. they
make a mexican burger with a tostada and refried beans on it and it is
to die for!! they need one in Boise!!! or Meridian because its closer
haha.. On Saturday we were with Elder Kaufusi and Elder Petty and they
helped us with some service with this member family who we are
teaching their daughter Allison.. After service Elder Petty wanted to
run home since he had his running clothes on and his companion is
injured so they cant really do too much.. So we let Elder Petty run
all the way home from Melissa to Mckinney which is about 6.5 or so
miles.. He is a college runner and he ran the whole thing without
stopping.. after being on his mission for 16 months and not running
that much since before his mission. I was impressed!!!

Sunday we had a Stake Regional Conference with over 75 wards in the
Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico areas. it was something i haven't ever
seen.. Elder L. Tom Perry talked and Elder Richard G. Scott also
spoke.. This was a neat Conference.. It wasn't in person if that's
what you are thinking.. it was broad casted. Elder Thompson and I
didn't hear anything Saturday about transfer calls which was weird
because we know our area was going to get split.. So we called the
Assistants Sunday and found out that we are staying together for Elder
Thompson's last transfer.. We are so excited! We are only covering 1
of our 3 wards though.. we were a little sad that we weren't going to
be covering the Fairview ward but that's okay.. We have the Melissa
Ward which is the other ward we love! We had a lesson later Sunday
night with Bishop Haas' neighbor Randy and we taught him the
Restoration and he loved it.. He will be baptized no doubt very soon!
Elder Thompson's Birthday was also Sunday.... So Happy Birthday to my
Companero!!!:)

More teaching and missionary work

This week has been a really great week! We had District meeting on
Tuesday and then afterwards we went to Fuddruckers as a district. That
place is super good! If you like Hamburgers you will love Fuddruckers.
On Wednesday we taught our investigator Perry Cox.. I don't know what
we are going to do next with Perry. He has a lot of past issues that
he still holds on to and that's all he ever talks about and he always
talks about not being good enough to live on this world.. We tell him
that in order to change he needs to remain positive and it seems like
he is not wanting to do that. anyways.. that's the update on Perry.

We had a great lesson with our other investigator Erin Miller.. she
lives with members who are great fellowshippers!! We finished teaching
her all of the lessons that she needs before baptism which was the Law
of Chastity and Tithing.. That lesson was Crazy!!! The member and her
kept arguing back and forth but they were just messing around with
each other. We were able to set a baptism date with Erin for March
2nd! We were super excited for that. She goes back to Florida today
and comes back the Wednesday after this one. She said she is going to
soak up everything we have taught her and really pray and think about
what she has learned so she can know that she is doing this for
herself and not for somebody else! which is exactly what we want
too!!! Transfers happen next week and we hope we stay in this area..
We do know that our areas are getting split but i want to stay in the
Melissa and Fairview wards Badly!!

Sunday was a long and tiring day but very rewarding!! We had to be at
ward council at 7:30 in the morning and I am so not a fan of early
morning meetings.. after that ended we had an hour before the next
ward council started for another ward.. and that ward council lasted 2
hours!! Oh boy was that crazy!! it was really good though.. Cause the
whole meeting was about missionary work and I love when those meetings
are dedicated to that! In the Fairview ward sacrament meeting.. it was
a bit strange.. for the first speaker it was this 94 year old lady who
cant make it to church but she is all there.. So the bishop went and
recorded her in the rest home and then we watched her talk on the
projector in sacrament meeting!! That was a first haha.

Also.. There was a youth speaker that called and cancelled so Elder
Thompson and I were asked to stand up and bear brief testimonies on
how living gospel standards has blessed our life! Of course i had to
say something to make the ward laugh.. i always try to do that..
Bishop had announced that his daughter was called to the Boise Mission
and so i had to mention that she was going to the greatest place
ever!!! Everyone got a kick out of that. Later that night we went over
to Bishop Haas' home to teach his neighbor who he has been working on
for years and this was the first time Missionaries have sat down to
teach this man named Randy Smith.. Apparently Bishop and him had
breakfast this past week and they talked a lot about having a purpose
in life and Randy explained that he wants to be a spiritual leader in
his home.. So we taught the Plan of Salvation to Randy and he just
soaked everything up! We should be teaching him again this Wednesday
so hopefully things go good again!

A visit to largest High School stadium in the country

This week was actually a lot better than most weeks here in mckinney..
We had 5 lessons and that was awesome! On Wednesday we had a big Zone
meeting and it was really fun. afterwards we drove to lunch and ended
up driving past the Allen High School Football Stadium.. so after
lunch we drove to the stadium and took tons of pictures of it.. It is
freaking huge! it cost 62 million dollars to build and i believe is
the biggest high school football stadium in the country. Later that
night we had a lesson with one of our investigators Erin. She looks
just like Angelina Jolie! When we got there we had planned on teaching
the Plan of Salvation but she basically told us all about it and so it
was just a refreshing lesson!!! She lives with members because she is
actually from Florida but comes down here for work and thats how she
was introduced to the Gospel:)

We met with Perry again this week. He has 6 cats and the animal patrol was going to come and get them and he freaked out.. he says they help him.. crazy!!! anyways...
we were able to meet with Caleb the investigator that just showed up
to church last week.. so we taught him the Restoration and it went
pretty good. It is still super hard to understand what he is saying
since he is 2 months out of Kenya! He didnt come to church this sunday
though.. Yesterday we met with Erin again after church and had a great
lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved it! we talked about
baptism with her and she said she wants to let everything soak in and
when that does she will most likely be ready!! We are super excited
for her! We went to top golf again today and had a blast!! it was a
lot warmer today than the last time we went. today it was 77 and very
humid!! ahhh!! i am so not ready for a Texas summer to start back up!
not yet!

Being obedient, working hard and being happy

I had a great week.. Elder Thompson and I survived the transfer
meeting and we are staying together. On Tuesday the area Bonham
reopened after being closed for 6 months and my former companion Elder
Ricks was transferred there. Bonham is part of our district.. Well
since Elder Thompson served in Bonham right before they closed it down
we decided we would meet them in Bonham and show them around to try
and help them get a familiar for their new area. We had dinner that
night with our ward mission leader in Fairview.. He is super cool! He
is probably my favorite member here out of all 3 of my wards that i
cover.

We had interviews with our mission president this week and thats
always a treat haha.. It really wasnt too bad though. President
Durrant has us fill out a paper on our levels of obedience, happiness,
companion, etc and then he asks us what we want to talk about and we
basically just talked about me staying focused for the final 5 months
of my mission and we just talked about staying obedient and working
hard.. He also told me that he wants me to continue to grow higher and
not sink the closer i get to going home.. it was a good interview and
i really learned from it.

Saturday we drove out to the boonies and found a little tiny po dunk
town called Weston and got some pictures there. On Sunday we had a man
show up to church and he has been in the states for 2 months and he is
from Kenya! He is very hard to understand but hopefully i will have
more updates on him next week.

Share the Gospel! You can do it in gym shorts and sweatshirts!

This week has been super great! and i am getting along great with my
companion Elder Thompson. We have one more week until transfers so we
will see what happens.. i am hoping to stay with him for at least one
more but there is a ton of new elders coming into the mission soon so
who knows what president has up his sleeves. We had a great new years
eve day! That night we went over to one of our part member families
the Crawfords and were there until midnight.. shhh... dont tell
anybody haha. We went to visit Perry Cox the next day and he was just
sleeping under his tarp. We were actually going over to help him with
some service but ended up teaching him in our service clothes because
that is what he wanted. The next day our ward mission leader had us
over in his huge house for pizza and then we taught Perry again with a
member there. We taught him the Restoration and he had lots of
questions but it was a good lesson.

We had a few service projects this last week. On friday we went to
help out a non-member old lady that our ward mission leader knows.
This lady has cancer and it was good to be able to help her out with
her needs. The very next day we went over to Perry's place with
another set of Elders and then some members from the ward came to
help. We had to move a bunch of perrys junk because the guy he lives
with is kicking him out of his little hut that he made. and the worst
part about this situation was the guy was making him pay to live in
this little shelter that he built as he freezes his butt off! That
made me super pissed to know that! We spent a good 4 hours helping him
that day. He was able to come to church the next day too for the
second week in a row and so he is showing a lot of interest. The only
problem with him is.. since he is homeless he asks for help and
handouts all the time and he isnt aware of anyone elses time except
his.. so that is a little opstacle we have to work around.

The reason this email came later in the day instead of this morning is
because we went to a place called Top Golf! Its a driving range on
Steroids! Literally! All of the golf balls have chips in them and you
hit them in these holes and you get scored.. its like playing darts
with your friends but golf instead.. look it up on the computer its
amazing! One more thing i wanted to add.. this week around 10 at night
we heard speeding in our apartment complex. Me being a "Curious
George" went outside to find out what was going on and there were cop
cars everywhere and they were pulling some guy out of a truck.. well
our neighbors had the same curiosity as us and so they were outside
talking to us about it.. keep in mind that we are standing in gym
shorts and sweat shirts. Well we got to talking to this lady named
Diedra and she asked us if we lived next to the Jesus girls and I said
we replaced them.. we are the Jesus Boys. So we got talking about
religion and had a really good conversation with her about the gospel
and church in general. Either the mission teaches you about talking to
people about the gospel or it really is that simple! You dont need to
be in a white shirt and tie to bring up the gospel! you can do it in
gym shorts and sweatshirts!