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
.
The puppies look like pepper and they are so cute and I know you will
pick a good one. If you want to have a missionary mind just pray over
the decision because I find myself praying in the morning for which skirt to
wear. I know weird but some days I don't know what to wear. 
