Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dallas Mission Letters 11/15/2015

Below is a digest of Dallas' letters so far. 
Her email address is
Mailing Address (Mission Home will forward to her)
Sister Dallas Ogden
5900 Grand Ave Riverside CA 92504


Sept 28th
Howdy my family,
The MTC has been the most life changing experience of my life. The spirit is truly here and he keeps punching me in the face with new knowledge of the Gospel and building my testimony in new ways especially about our Savior and His love. The first day here feels like it was forever ago but its been great. As I said earlier I have been learning so much that there is to much to try to tell you in one email. I even think that later on my mission I may need to buy another one😜. My sister companion is amazing and I love her to death. Her name is Sister Pielstick and we are going to the same mission!!! Even in our residence (dorm) there is two other sisters named Sister Lineback and Sister Young that are going to the same mission as me. My district is awesome as well because the Elders are so funny and have taught me many things in our classes. My favorite is Elder McAteer because he is from Scotland and has the coolest accent ever!!! On the serious note he has taught me many things that I have never thought and He knows so much of the Gospel that it pushes me to learn more. On the second day of being here they had us teach our first lesson which was very scary. Sister Pielstick described me as the missionary who listens to the spirit to speak instead of speaking up front which is true. But being here I have felt that my tongue, that once was tied from shyness, is slowly coming undone. Maybe with more practice and being kicked into the field, I will be a better missionary. Today I was able to go to the Provo Temple and watch Elder Scott's funeral, so my P day was shortened a little. I am so excited to go on my mission. I know that's weird to say but it's true. I cannot
wait for Oct 6 to finally be in the field and serve the people of Riverside.

I miss all of you!!! I think of you before I sleep because that is the only time I can think of other things than those I teach and all  I have learned. I hope that everything you do will go awesome and will be a great experience for you to remember....Dad thanks for all the advice about obedience because that has been one of the main things that been a challenge. I need my gum!!!! But as you say exact obedience brings true blessing/ miracles which I and those I teach need. Mom I thought of you today at the temple. What you said about the living water of our Lord being represented by the temples fountain hit me today. I, as a servant of God, will bring that water to the Wheat's (investigators) that need help and strength from the Lord. I promise next week to send a picture to you guys but I hope this email proves that I am alive. 

I love you and miss you all!!!

Sister Ogden

***************************************************************************    
Oct 5th
Hello Family,
These past two weeks have gone by so fast.The days are long but the weeks are quick. Tomorrow I leave at 5:00 am to the airport in Salt Lake. I am soooo excited to leave the MTC and finally serve the people in California. General Conference was an AWESOME and definitely pumped me to go serve. For our Sunday devotional, Vocal Point came and sang to us with their testimonies of missionary work. My favorite song that they sang was Nearer My God to Thee, which touched my heart deeply. Another reason that I am excited to go is that we watched Elder Bednar give a talk called The Character of Christ which I suggest everyone read. It talks about turning out to others instead of turning in to ourselves like Christ. Its a powerful talk! Going to the temple today was very nice because It was a way to pay respects to my Heavenly Father before I go serve Him but also Grandpa. I was glad to hear all of your voices when I called. I am sorry for the circumstances of why I was able to call you guys. Tomorrow I will be able to call when I am at the airport so answer any weird calls on your phones. I sent you pictures that will prove that I am alive and not just a robot on the phone. Here is a picture of me and my companion Sister Pielstick!!! I love her so much because she is as goofy as me! Speaking of goofy, the past two weeks have been a sleep talking experience. Every morning my district sisters tell me that I yell or talk in my sleep during the night. I guess before I left, I took lessons from Colton😜.  Well I have to go but I want to say that I love you all and miss you all the time but the Lord needs me to do His work. The next time I will be able to write, I will be in Riverside California!!! I hope that you  enjoy your adventure in life and continue to face forward towards Christ.
Love 
Sister Ogden

********************************************************************************
Oct 12th
Hey Everyone,
 This week has been full of many new things. First is that my new companion is Sister Roberts and the new area i have been located is Hemet, Valle Vista East. The cool part is that I am on a bike as transportation! It was interesting to learn how to bike with a skirt but I think I have it down! The area here is right near the rocky mountains and there is citrus tress everywhere. We share the apartment with Sisters Cozzens and Turner, who are amazing. Sister Turner calls me her " Rapunzel or Merida"!

We have picked up two new investigators named Judy and Amanda who are both sweet ladies. A small miracle happen to me on the second day, when my tires went flat and I had to go get new ones from Casino Bikes. The owner filled my tires with the green slim stuff but when it cam time for me to pay him, my card decided to not work. The owner decided to let me pay him five dollars short and call it good. God is watching out for me! I wish I could tell you some of the funny things that have happen to me but my time has been shorten because of playing softball with the zone.
 
P.S. here is some of pictures of us in the orange groves

I love you all!!
Sister Ogden

**********************************************************************************
Oct 19th
Hey family,
Sister Roberts & Sister Ogden
    This week has been full of adventures that make me laugh thinking back. First is that me and Sister Roberts went out contacting on the streets in a new neighborhood but what was funny is that one of the contacts we did went completely wrong. The rules to contacting is not to talk to hobos or  to hold hands. Lets just say that all that happened without us knowing or accepting it. So we went by a house that a man came out of his car and began to talk to us. It was great because he wanted to talk about Jesus and the Atonement but he all sudden grabbed our hands and started to pray. His pray was good until he thanked Satan for leading him to Jesus. It became awkward and terrible once we asked him if he lived here and him saying that the people who lived there picked him up this morning from the streets. I JUST TALK TO HOBO!!!

   This week we picked up a new investigator, who reminds me of Papa because he was in the army during Vietnam and talks a lot. His name is Steve and I tried to start the lesson on the Restoration by asking how the picture of Christ on the front of the pamphlet made him feel. That led to a whole hour worth of stories of how Christ affected his life which was great but that is how far we got in the lesson. So we defiantly need to visit again and try to get further in the lesson.

The people in Hemet like to make cat calls when sister Roberts and I are biking which is annoying but it reminds me that we are smoking HOT missionaries! Talking about biking, yesterday we had to bike 2 miles up hill to the church to make it on time to a baptism for Sarah. We didn't plan on going until we got a call from Bear (an investigator) saying that he would go to it. I enjoyed the ride because it felt like I was in a spin class again, just the only thing that was missing was you mom and dad and my my gym clothes!!!

Too Much Excitement
     On Saturday, I felt that I was in a James Bond or especially a Mission Impossible movie. We were coming home from a family dinner appointment when the car in front of us caught on fire. We pulled over and called 911. The man in the car would not get out which caused both Sister Roberts and I to cross the street and yell at him (from a safe distant, don't worry) to get out of the car. The man finally left the car and which was perfect timing because the tires started to explode!!! Here is a cool pic I took and video of it.

I am glad to hear that all you guys are doing well!  To answer your questions about my companion is that she is from Georgia. Her mom is from Germany which is funny because she understands the little German I know. She is really funny and a great teacher for me. The only problem is that both us face is dyslexia which can be a problem when people look at our whiteboard of names. We both have to rely on the two other sisters to spell.


This week has been so spiritual towards the Atonement. My favorite scripture/ ponderize is about the Atonement in 3 Nephi 27: 13-14. That because Christ was lifted on the Cross, He can lift us up in our lives. Even our multi- zone meeting was centered on this topic. I was honored to give my testimony of the Book of Mormon at the meeting . I am so close to finishing reading it but my testimony has grown so much. now looking back, I am glad that I was able to start all over with the scriptures.
I LOVE YOU ALL AND MAY GOD WATCH OVER YOU!!!
Love
Sister Ogden

*********************************************************************************

Nov 2nd
Hey Family,
This week has been the most bizarre. Sister Roberts was sick for a couple of days and I as the Jr companion had to plan, call sub companions, and teach. I was scary but it showed/ tested me on how much I have been learning. Even though Sister Roberts was sick we were able to pick up three new investigators named David, Donna, and Chris. David and Donna was a referral from a member who have been suffering from lots of things but the affect of death around them. It kinda weird to call him David because he is the complete opposite of Dad. Chris was funny because he was dressed as a pirate when we showed.  He Lives shocked us with telling us that he has read the Book of Mormon twice and is working on Jesus the Christ. He even came to church this Sunday!

Halloween was weird because we as missionaries had to be in lock down at the stake center. We played soccer which was a blast and carved pumpkins. But the best part of the night was that we watched The Best Two Years movie. I laughed and laughed so much because so many things that did not make sense before the mission now does. My favorite line that we keep quoting is "Joseph Smith is a pamphlet, I mean a Prophet" I am glad that I have not done that in a discussion yet! 

God shows us tender mercies in our lives but we must acknowledge them. This week has been full of door slams and rude people not willing to give us a chance to share a amazing video of our Savior. But this Sunday reminded me that even though we have time like these we still touched people. Three people went up and talked about the blessing of having both Sister Roberts and I coming into their homes. Sister Horspools talked about how when we read with or to her when she has to do blood dialysis, her spirit was lifted. Bishop Duffin talked about us teaching the Plan of Salvation to Bear and how powerful missionary work is. And when Sister Roberts was sick, she had to be watched by the Kiselburgs which blessed them by watching conference again with her. I am not saying this to brag but it was a testimony builder that even though things may seem to not be working we were able to touch their hearts without knowing. Another tender mercy was that I finished the Book of Mormon! It is truly another testament of Jesus Christ and it words have changed me every time I read it.
Love you all!
Sister Ogden

*******************************************************************************
Nov 9th
Hey Dad and Family,
Sorry I was not able to write a summary of my week as a group but you can read each other emails to connect the puzzle of what happen this week. P-day today was crazy with shopping and playing chair soccer with the zone because of transfers this Saturday. I will let you know the results of the transfers if I will stay which I hope. The only thing I would like to share spiritually that I learned this week is that faith includes confidence!!! I have been working on being more confident with the help of God to become the disciple I need to be!

Love you all
Sister Ogden

No comments:

Post a Comment