Merry Christmas Everybody!

"Miracle:We had to go to do my huellas (fingerprints for residency) this week and here in Valencia you have to go wait in line to get a number and they only hand out 120 numbers each day. People start lining up the night before! We went very early and spent basically the whole day there. I prayed the night before to be able to talk to someone or make the day useful. I was in line behind a woman named Carmen with whom I started a conversation. We chatted and got numbers and were told to come back in a few hours. Before we separated, I gave her a pass-along card and my companion had a Libro de Mormón for her. She said she had to work and would not be able to come back for the afternoon...but when we went back, she was there! She came up and said that she had gotten off work and got there early and started reading. She said that she usually can´t read and pay attention if there are distractions, but it was different with this book. She loved it and had some questions! We talked and she told me that she knew about missionaries in Bolivia and that it was NOT a coincidence that we met and talked and gave her that book. She is excited to come to church and gave us her number and address. I felt Heavenly Father´s love for her and that we were in the right place at the right time doing the right thing to help one of His daughters find what she has always been searching for but never knew.

Tony was baptized this week! Obion´s husband, so now they are both recent converts. Obion could not come this week because she was out of the city, but Tony still came by himself to receive the Holy Ghost. I can see such a change in him and it makes me so happy!

We had a really good visit with a recent convert, Alex, who has gone through a rough couple of months, but we were able to connect with him through the Book of Mormon and help him see that if we are willing to read it every day, it will help us with every other aspect of our lives.

We shared a lesson I came up with last Christmas in SanSe thinking about what we can give to Heavenly Father as a gift every year--through our weaknesses and character flaws--using Alma 22:18. José and Yannina really liked it and are going to take our challenge to give some weakness up this year and every year. They are amazing!"

OK, so we will "see" each other tomorrow!haha I´m so excited. We had dinner today with Yannina and José. I love them so much, it was lots of fun. 

See you tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Smile! Life is good.

"The biggest miracle is that Tony was baptized even though I was next to useless and stuck in piso/bed most of the week. I guess that is how I am learning over and over again that this work is Heavenly Father´s and it will go forward with or without us-thankfully. We can decide to be a part of it or not. Obion, Tony´s wife, gave a testimony about baptism and especially how it was Hna Oslund who “touched Tony´s heart” and helped him open up to the gospel and it´s true.

I have been reading back through my mission journals and I want to focus more on trying to do the little things-for other people-this makes me feel better and lets them know that I love them.

The magic is back. I hit a rough couple of weeks healthwise and was worried, but that happy-for-no-reason-being-on-the-mission-is-magical feeling is back :-) I was afraid I wouldn´t get it back. Thanks for your help and prayers and not giving up on me or making me feel like I was letting anyone down-I do that pretty well on my own. I love you all and have never been happier to be here."

Thank you all for the prayers, fasting, mental hugs and everything. They made all the difference.

Someday I´ll give you the long version if you´d like, but the reader´s digest version is that after 2 hospital Urgent Care visits, being poked and prodded in BOTH arms so that I look like a heroin addict...I woke up thinking about Nephi. 1 Nephi 3-4, going to get the plates. Plan 1-fail. Plan 2-fail. Opposition, brothers beat him, etc. How can things get worse?! What´s the answer?-"do it my way." The angel says go back and he is led by the Spirit not knowing beforehand what to do. OK, so I had been trying to do things my way and hitting wall after wall and was frustrated. So I decided to pray and then do whatever came. So the crux of the matter was I had been having a back-of-the-mind nagging feeling of just going to a farmacia and asking about birth control pills. It was the option I was not willing to consider....so we remembered that we were in Europe and you can get most anything over the counter. So we pulled some strings, found the ingredients that I recognized and got what I needed. And it was the right answer. It´s not what I wanted, but it is what I need right now. And it has made all the difference and should hold me over until we can figure things out in February when I get home.

Tony was baptized! It was a small affair--he didn´t want a lot of people there, but I almost liked it better than other baptisms I have been a part of. We didn´t get a lot of visits in this week, but we got the essentials done.

Ok, Christmas! When are we going to talk?! The day before is preparation day, so we can get the last minute stuff organized. We really can do whenever, I was thinking in the morning for you...? Like 10am-ish. That would be 6pm for me, right? What do you think? Oh, and is there any way to use a different webcam? The home one is really hard to hear what anyone says unless they are directly in front of it...the ipad maybe? Just thinking.

OHHHHHH! I FORGOT-transfers!...Hna Goodman is training, but Hna Oslund and I aren´t changing :-))))))))) So my mission comps will officially be my trainer, my trainees and Hna Oslund.haha I couldn´t be happier. Heavenly Father knows. He always know exactly what we need.

Back to Christmas, will you sing me a song? A Christmas song as a family? I´d love that :-))) And Hna Oslund wants to talk to and meet everybody (ya i do) .haha should be fun. Let me know! I should be back on email at the end of the week for the informe.

Sorry this is crazy and disorganized. I´m still recovering my brain.

Love you all!

Hna Dalton

Hi :-)

"Miracles: I have struggled a lot this week with how to feel like and be a successful missionary and also slow down to take care of my physical health, especially when I don´t know/understand exactly what I am dealing with at this point. Basically, it boils down to an issue of pride and humility. I am right in the middle of a life lesson about how I react and feel when I can´t be the one leading out or going and doing. I think it is the hardest thing I have faced on my mission so far. But with the greatest struggles come the greatest blessings and learning opportunities. So here´s what I have seen so far...I was discouraged Friday because of how our week had been going so far in terms of numbers and visits, but we had 3 incredible visits that day that were direct and immediate answers to prayers. Every Friday we eat with a part member family and 2 of the kids will be baptized in Dec. But the oldest son has never shown interest past physically being there (sometimes) when we are. We planned to ask the other 2 about why they wanted to be baptized and how to use the Book of Mormon to find answers. I felt so strongly to talk and testify directly to the oldest son and asked him if he´ll ever be baptized. He said he doesn´t know, which was wonderful to hear because it leaves room to find the answer! And it wasn´t an outright “no”--progress. Something changed in him and his eyes during that lesson and he is thinking about being baptized with his siblings.

Next, we met with Obion and Tony, who is still on track to be baptized on the 17^th. He is so happy and has changed so much. The difference is incredible, a 180. He wrote his fecha (baptism date) in on their calendar and came to church. It was one of those moments where you are just so happy that you can´t contain it.

And last but not least, we had a visit with Laura (recent convert, 9 yrs old), where she was supposed to teach us...but she had her cousin over and forgot. So we asked if we could share a scripture with the rest of her family, which are recently reactivated members and menosactivos. Hna Oslund chose to share Alma 7:11-15 about the Atonement. It was guided by the Spirit. We asked them each to think about what Christ´s Atonement means in their lives and the Spirit came and took over. I told them that after a moment of silence I would start. I prayed in that moment to say what someone needed, what would touch their hearts. A sentence from a folleto (pamphlet) came to my mind that says, “All that is unfair in this life will be made up for in the life to come.” So I said it and bore my testimony about it´s truthfulness. As we went around the room, an aunt started to cry and opened up about what I had said and how it was exactly what she was struggling with. We got to know and understand some of her struggles and questions about all the suffering in the world. Now we know how to teach HER.

Heavenly Father knows us. He knows me. He knows how and what I struggle with and He will NEVER say that our best isn´t good enough--even if others, or we ourselves!, try to. If I can remember that every day, the rest doesn´t really matter.

He always finds ways to let me know that I´m doing just fine, even if it doesn´t feel like it every minute--like right now. I wish that I could say that medically speaking things are better or getting better...but I seem to still be in the "patience and humility" stage because things are still the same. I´m waiting. And that´s ok...right?

On a funny note, I´ve gotten really good at making remolacha...I think those are...beets in english? and spinach juice smoothies to up my iron. They are very...purple :-) But seem to be helping. Who knew.

We got to watch the Christmas devotional last night in spanish. SO good. I loved Pte Uchtdorf´s talk--I am going to work on being a "good and grateful receiver" <- that´s my personal translation from my head so I don´t know if that´s what he said in english, but the meaning should be the same I think...I hope.ahaha "With Wondering Awe" was so beautiful...I can´t remember if that´s a real song either. Oh dang, the one with the reed pipe? I need to start english study instead of spanish study!ahaha

I have listened to Elder Richards´ "The Atonement Covers" talk from April 2011. I remember loving it when I heard it at Clark and Becca´s, especially the line "pain is a gauge of the healing process." SO true, especially for me right now. (He is also the seventy who just had a mission tour here.) Check it out.

Life is hard, but that´s what makes it worth it. And I am still loving it, my mission, my companion and being here in Valencia. So smile for me :-) And know that I love you.

Love always,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hello, hello,

Highest highs and lowest lows. Let´s focus on the highs.

"Miracle of yesterday--So we weren´t having the best day after Zone Conference because of my health issues. But we talked as friends and companions and got everything out in the open. Then we went to a visit and it was perhaps the best lesson of my mission to date. We taught a recent convert, her husband who has started listening to us and their friend, who told us before the lesson that her father in Africa passed away yesterday. And the lesson that we planned was ...the Plan of Salvation. We have been reading with them from the Book of Mormon and we decided instead of just teaching the plan, we would read 2 Nephi 2 and teach THEM, as we read and they were learning. The Spirit was so strong and we were able to testify to their specific needs and worries. My companion invited Tony to be baptized again and he said that this time, with us, it has been different and that this church has “won his heart.”We testified that it is the Spirit telling him it is true and he wants to get baptized in December. This is such a big miracle considering that a month ago he wouldn´t stay for our visits and wouldn´t listen. Heavenly Father has prepared his heart to open and accept the gospel at this time and it was through reading the Book of Mormon."

Obion´s husband Tony is going to be baptized!!!!!! And a member Carolina´s son and daughter, Walter and Narda, are also going to get baptized in December when their Dad gets back from Suiza. Miracles, miracles.

The multistake conference was the largest gathering of Saints here in Spain at one time, or so they have been telling us. We met in a convention center (looked like an airplane hanger) and was incredible. Elders Teixeira and Kearon were there and now we have the Cartagena Stake. It was such a unique experience and because of extenuating health issues on my part, we got to drive to the conference with the Pace´s :-))))) We went to Benidorm to check the piso before we give it to the Málaga Mission and we saw Gandía :-)-- answered prayers.

At the conference, Elder Fica (my buddy from up in Vitoria district) is serving in Gandía and introduced me to some people Connor will know :-)-- more answered prayers and tender mercies. I can´t remember their names because we just had time to talk for a minute before the conference started and I wasn´t feeling 100%, but I made sure that we got pics. And..Ximena maybe?...with the baby, she grabbed my arm as I was walking away and told me something I will never forget. Elder Monks and Dalton taught and baptized her. After Connor got transferred, she was going through a really rough patch in her life and stopped going to church and began to drift. She told me with tears in her eyes that she received a letter from Connor that changed her heart and helped her go back to church. She said it was because of him and his letter. I can´t think of a better example of a missionary being in tune with the Spirit and being the rock to help a new member with a shaky testimony to grasp the rod once again and now she is a faithful member and will always remember Elder Dalton :-) If that moment was the only reason I needed to serve here after Connor, it is enough for me.

 

The Málaga Pes. and his wife talked to me and we talked about Logan Bailey, he is doing really well. Elder Richard´s conf was amazing, the multistake conf was wonderful, the Zone conf the next day was my last and it was exactly what I needed-lots of things learned. I wish i had time to share but...life as a missionary.

Sorry I don´t have to time comment on your emails, just know that I cherish them.

Sending much love your way,

Hermana Clarissa Dalton

HEY!

"This week´s miracle is about the priesthood and the power of faith. The husband of Obion, our recent convert, had knee surgery this past week and Obion called us crying because Tony needed a lot of medication and they do not have the money to pay for it--they were not able to get him any of the prescriptions that he needed. We went to visit her the next day and had a lesson with them about faith. Tony has listened to us in the past, but wasn´t really interested in wanting to learn and change to accept the gospel in his life. We shared Alma 32 and talked about how to exercise faith. We told them that we would come back that night with the Elders if he wanted a priesthood blessing and we explained what it was. We stressed that it would be according to his faith. We invited them to pray and prepare. We went back with the Elders and the blessing was a sweet experience and then we went to work the rest of the week. We had a visit with Obispo to translate for Obion Saturday morning and she told us that "Tony now has faith." Then she told us that after we left that night, a Spaniard lady who lives on the same street came over randomly to see how they were and offered to give them the money that they needed to buy the prescription. It was an immediate answer to their prayers and the blessing according to their faith. We are working with the ward council and leaders to help them through this difficult time and it is amazing to see the Lord´s hand in the work through the members.

Laura´s baptism was stressful this week because we had to call so many people to get priesthood holders there, but it all worked out--as it always does with baptisms. And I realized how much I need and depend upon the priesthood, especially the Elders, which is interesting considering what we talked about in the Sister´s meeting with Sister Richards. Laura has changed so much since we started teaching her and I know it is because she is doing the right things and has the Holy Ghost to guide her. I also love seeing the changes it is making in her family."

Thanksgiving dinner was SO good with José and Yannina. They made potato and chicken tacos, chicken with mole (chocolate and chili) and dips--chipotle and guacamole-- and we drank zero-zero(ask Connor) with lemon fanta--they have an obsession--and sparkling cider..shots. ahahaha They are crazy and fun.

We just found out that Hna Goodman´s mini-mission companion has to go home tomorrow because of school stuff so we are going to be a trio again indefinitely...but they are reorganizing and making a new ward here, so I figure that the missionaries will shift, too. We may get more here. We´d love to move to the new ward, but we shall see when we travel to...ALICANTE for the multi-stake conference. It is not in our mission, but we have special permission to go! I´m really excited :-) Should be a fun day.

I have pics from Laura´s baptism, but I can´t send them because we are at a different locutorio. Sorry! Next week.

LOVE YOU ALL,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hey everybody,

"The miracle I want to share from this week was when we went to teach a friend that another investigator told us about. Her name is Violeta and she is from Poland. She lives in the other hermanas´ area so I wouldn´t have been able to meet her if we weren´t in a trio this week, which I am very grateful for. At the beginning of the visit it sounded like she was just interested in a way to practice and learn more english, but we really tried to listen to her and ask inspired questions. It was a very powerful visit and she understood why we were there and was very excited to read the Book of Mormon we left with her. It was very spiritually powerful for me to feel the Spirit guiding us to know how to connect with her and help her realize the things she is looking for in this life and the questions that she has.

Hna Oslund noticed that I was stressed out at church this week and asked the right questions to help me open up and recognize what was bothering me. Then she wrote me a letter thanking me for all that I do. It was exactly what I needed and changed the rest of my day. That´s why we have companions! Laura decided to be baptized this Friday and the Bishop told us that her father will be able to do it since it has been over a year since he has been coming back. We have seen a change in her attitude and desires this month and she is so excited to baptized now compared to a month ago when she wouldn´t talk to us if we mentioned baptism and refused to accept a plan of conversion calendar. Heavenly Father knows when His children are ready and I love being here when they decide and getting to see the difference in their eyes.

We had a good visit with Obion´s husband, Tony, this week. He is getting surgery on his leg, but we found out that at least one of the reasons he has not come to church is that they do not have the money to pay for metro for both of them so he let´s her have the money to go. I think that poco a poco he is coming around.

We were invited to a special ward council this Sunday to discuss a ward plan for next year. We were all surprised when the Bishopric passed out OUR ward mission plan ideas to everyone. They want to use it as the official plan for next year! They were all so excited and focused on missionary work. It made me so happy to see. The Relief Society President said that she wants to baptized 100 people in the ward this year--and she was serious about it! What incredible faith--I understand why the work is moving forward at such an increasing speed here in Spain."

Today is Hna Oslund´s birthday so we ran around Valencia and had some fun. We bought a yellow cake mix and milk chocolate frosting from the American store...it cost like 10 euro but hopefully it will be worth it. haha We are heading over to Laura´s for a Noche de hogar and birthday celebration. The members here are the best and are treating Hna Oslund so well for her birthday.

The mini-missionary came in Saturday. She is from Matorell and is Spaniard. Doesn´t speak a lick of english. I think Hna Goodman is having a rough time with the transition. It´s always hard, but it should be fun to get to know her.

I don´t think hermana trios are any easier than elder trios. To be honest, they might be worse considering how girls are--especially when there are 3! But we worked it out and I am glad to be back to a normal companion, less stressful for me.

Mom-ok. here´s what I´m thinking for Christmas. The most important thing for me is another roll of kinesio tape so that I can keep working almost pain-free. Could you send one and the receipt, please? Granola, more slip-on dress socks, instant oatmeal packs, drink mixes...I really need some good minty gum. No fruity, please. Well, maybe one fruity pack for Hna Oslund. And if you could put in tootsie rolls for Hna Oslund, that would be fantastically fabulous, too. Um, that´s all I can think of...I think anything else can wait a month until February, don´t you? haha Welp, gotta run, as always.

I´m glad to hear everyone is excited for Thanksgiving. We are too! Yannina and José are cooking a mexican thanksgiving for us on Saturday and I am SOOOO excited. She is from Mexico and he is a CR Spaniard. I LOVE them.

And I love all of you!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Wow, it´s been so crazy with transfers. I haven´t had a minute to breathe. We are losing 3 areas here in the south to the Málaga mission so we have some surprises...Hna Oslund and I are whitewashing again! In Mataró! They closed it down a fews transfers back and took the elders out. Sorry this isn´t longer, but we have to run to catch a train.

Love you! Bye!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

　
Ok I feel bad-I´m still comps with Hna Oslund here in Valencia. No changes for us this transfer. Just thought I´d spice things up and see if anyone was paying attention. The other Dalton is opening up Mataró though because we are losing Benidorm. So it was kind of true...but Hna Oslund said I can´t lie like that...who knew she´d be keeping me in line!haha Hna Goodman is training a mini-missionary but she isn´t coming yet so we are a trio for now. Best trio ever!

"One of the many miracles we saw this week was with the friend of a part member family that we work with. She is over for lunch every week but has never really been interested in the gospel before now. But Hna Oslund has a special ability to open people up and make them instantly comfortable with us. There is just something in the eyes of a missionary that people notice and can´t deny-that they are drawn to. We connected with Maria and she came with the family to church on Sunday without us even inviting her! We met with just her personally and she is really searching to know and feel the truth. She told us all about her family and showed us pictures, she even took one of them out and gave it to us to keep :-) I am thankful everyday for the opportunity to be companions with Hna Oslund."

I am sad that Hna Maxwell has to go-I have learned so much from her and her example of Christ every day. El faro is an incredible mission because of the quality of missionaries here and their dedication to our Heavenly Father.

We are trying to teach Obion´s husband, but he is hard to get ahold of and to get to stay for a visit. I think that he is scared to change and give up coffee. We shall see..

A lesson on the Plan of Salvation went well with Collins-he seemed to understand it better. Poco a poco.

Laura´s cousin has a fecha for the begin of December so we are going to prepare her to be baptism with him, if she wants. She knows she needs to be baptized-but something is holding her back. We will find out tonight!

We found a snail in the street and carried him around with us. Hna Oslund got attached, but we named him Gary and used him in a lesson. I think it was a hit. bahahaha

Ah, this keyboard doesn´t work-so frustrating. I had a list for Christmas stuff Mom, but I left it in piso. Sorry. I´ll send you some ideas when we do the informe this week. I hope everything went well in Utah, well on the way back. Sounded pretty interesting getting there!

I feel so good every day and just love everything about being a missionary right now!

Love you,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Happy Halloween and welcome to Nov!

It has been a hard week, but we are pushing through and I think as we continue to grow and work together, Hna Oslund and I will see lots of success here in Valencia.

One miracle story from this week is about Fanny, a woman we met on a bus to corelación meeting. She knew the missionaries is Bolivia. We met with her Tuesday night and it was a very powerful visit. The missionaries found her years ago at a difficult time in her life and she said it´s not by chance that we found her again. She wants to stop drinking coffee, but didn´t think it was possible, but now does and wants to do it. She really opened up to us as we listened and were able to teach and testify about the Plan of Salvation because she has never been able to accept the death of her father. At one point she was talking about how important what we do as missionaries is and she touched my chapa (badge, name tag). It was like an electric shock. Definitely one of those moments I won´t ever forget--just how much it meant to her and really means to me. Neat experience.

Even though we had some rough times this week, I feel like it was successful as I tried to understand and help my companion, and I realized that she is doing the same. I admire how she valued and used fast Sunday as a source of strength.

Obion has been in France, but we are meeting with her tonight and she went to the other ward for church yesterday. She sent the missionaries in France to teach her friends there :-)

Alex now has a triple and is preparing to receive the Priesthood. Collins does not believe that the Book of Mormon is different from any other religious book, but I feel like we are slowly understanding each other...very slowly.haha

Well, for Halloween we decided to have some fun...muahahahaha....and we dressed up as each other. We switched personalities, too. Not going to lie, it might have been my best piece of acting work yet, considering how different our personalities are--it was quite the gem of a day.

Today we traveled to a little city that has a castle with the Elders from Gandía--E´s Fica(who was in my district up north) and E. Buttcane (yes, that´s a real name). It was SO fun.

Connor, don´t worry. Life happens :-) I trust you. Career options, huh? I need to start thinking about that...but I don´t.  ahaha Although, I did decide that I am not going back to Mizzou--Clark, do you need to tell them that for me or do I need to do something?

Mom--way to go with the reactivation and visiting! You´ve always been good at that and I feel like so many people need it. El rescate, the rescue. That is Pte Monson´s theme huh?

Caleb-way to go and get things done with the mission papers/prep. That will help you so much--being active and getting everything done. Heavenly Father will bless you.

Oh man, my foot hurts after the hiking and nonsense today. But it feels so good to be active. Thanks for the love and emails!

MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

HEY!

I think we had the hardest, weirdest and most trying week of my mission so far--and I loved it! It didn´t matter how many things went wrong--and quite a few did!--we kept going and laughed almost the whole time and saw miracle after miracle. Obion was able to be baptized, even though almost everything was stacked against it. She told us after the baptism that she had to go to France for the weekend and wouldn´t be at church to receive the Holy Ghost. It was something she couldn´t or wouldn´t change. I invited her to pray that night about what Heavenly Father wanted her to do and then to make her decision. We didn´t hear from her for 3 days and I assumed she had left and we planned for her confirmation the next week. She called us Sunday morning while we were in consejo de barrio to tell us that she was coming to church. To see the smile on Hna Oslund´s face and her squeal of happiness was, oh, so worth it! We still had to scramble to find someone who could do it in English and inconvenienced the Elderes, but it all worked out and she left right after the Sacrament to go to France. That´s a miracle. That´s answered prayer. That´s faith. That´s why I´m here.

Now that Obion is baptized, we are going to focus on her husband, Tony. He wants to be baptized, but doesn´t want to stop drinking coffee and tea. There are lots of members in the ward that we are going to ask to help us teach him.

Alex is a CR and is preparing with us and the Bishop to receive the priesthood. The Bishop asked him to study some things, so we are focusing on that this week.

We have lots of families to visit from the Bishop and ward. One of our goals this week is to visit or contact all of them.

Another miracle from this week--Saturday was insane from an outside perspèctive, possibly the worst day, logistically, of the mission so far--but I loved it because of how it ended. We got fired on, emergency feminine supplies run to the store, late to teach  English class, missed the train to a far away pueblo to visit the Bishop, got there hours late and he had to leave for a meeting, got yelled at during a lesson from the dueño of an investigator and they proceded to yell at each other and we were the go between, got lost and had to ride a whole bus loop, then missed our stop, missed correlation with the ward mission leader...but here´s why--we talked to 2 families on the bus that we needed to meet. Fanny had the missionaries visit her family in Bolivia and begged us to come over and was incredible. Diana helped us with directions and wants us to come by, too. Sometimes all your carefully laid, yet narrowly-minded plans fall through so that you can do Heavenly Father´s will and plan. :-) Incredible!

Hna Oslund is great. One of the best friends I have found on the mission. She´s another miracle of my mission. That´s real.

Kind of scary about all the health issues in the ward back home. Tell Tricia that I´ve heard breaking a leg is the punishment for not writing a certain missionary. ahahahaha (or not? maybe too soon to joke? you can be the filter and decide...) I´ll pray for her and Emy. I´ve actually had the impression to write them both within the last few weeks. I should do that...

Mom, thanks for keeping me going :-) I love your emails. And Clecca, Haley singing is precious :-) everyone loved it. Ok, I have pics! Finally.

ENJOY!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Alma 37:34

D y C 24:8

Hey!

Fall is in the air! We had a nice rainstorm and it has been pleasantly chilly in the morning and night. However, I think AZ heat next summer might kill me. My body hasn´t been tolerating warm/hot/humid/ heat lately. My pisomates all jokingly tease me it is "menopausia" because they think I go through hot flashes.ahahaha And they call me the viejita o abuelita (old grandmother)...they are hilarious. I´m just slightly nervous it could be true ;-)> It is weird being so much "older" in the mission than everyone else here. Hna Oslund pointed out that I was the oldest in Zone Enfoque...awkward.

Welp, our miracle this week started with District Meeting where we set the goal to teach 20+ lessons this week. We were hitting this consistently in Hospitalet...but considering what we´ve seen here for the past 2 weeks plus all the member visits we are trying to get in, this was a challenging goal. But we were able to reach it! We tried to focus on teaching lessons at every opportunity--even on the metro when Obion, who is getting baptized this week, didn´t have time to stay after church. If you are willing to go the extra mile and do everything you can think of, Heavenly Father makes up the difference. It also helps to have a companion like Hna Oslund :-)

Obion is getting baptized Thursday. We are trying to plan everything ahead, but it is different than I am used to, especially as it will be in English. She is so ready and excited. Her husband wants to be baptized as well, but doesn´t want to keep any commitments or do anything. We are praying that her baptism will help him prepare himself. She also has lots of friends that we want to start teaching as well. We have to find baptismal clothes for her and make some goodies this week for the get-together afterward...hmmmm

Collins is a recent convert who doesn´t like us :-( He won´t meet with us and asked if Hna Maxwell can teach him again. We don´t know what to do, but are going to keep trying. His English is nearly impossible to understand (he´s from Africa) and I think this may be a contributing factor.

José is an incredible and strong CR (recent convert) who is now the 1st counselor in the HHJJ. I loved meeting with him and his wife.We are planning to work through him to help strengthen the youth.

We had a very powerful visit with a strong, but menosactiva (less active) member as well. I did not know she was not attending church--which is probably a good thing because it left the door open for me to listen to the Spirit and be more fuerte (firm). She feels very guilty because of the choices of her son and is punishing herself by keeping herself from taking the Sacrament and being worthy to go to the temple. We invited her to do some specific things and we shall see what happens...

I loved the miracle of the dedication of Alma the Younger in my reading this week. He gives up the judgment seat and everything to serve and teach and be a missionary. You can see the influence of his faith and diligence in his life, the miracles he brings about with his faith, the strength of his recent converts, the growth of the church and the lives of his sons and close associates (Amulek and Zeezrom). I want to be more like him.

This keyboard is driving me insane, half the keys don´t work unless you slam it...so fun...and my camera battery just died so no pics this week :-) sad day, we have some good ones. Welp, next week!

Interviews with Pte Pace were amazing. We talked about a lot of things and I have my marching orders. He gave me a blessing for my foot and it was so...sweet. I got the package with the tape Saturday, same day as the blessing and haven´t had any pains or problems since :-) And we went running this morning! IT FELT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely a miracle!

So I´m happy. I´m NOT hurting. I might be going through menopause heehee. And I have the best companion and piso in the mission. What else could Hna Dalton ask for? Hmmmm, you can guess, but basically I´m doing grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Love you,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

¡Saludos de Valencia!

It is so fun to be here. We have had a week with a little bit of everything.haha I really love our piso. There is never a dull moment and we are having so much fun and always laughing. It is different here teaching so many Africans. I had my first taste of translating spanish>african english and african english>spanish during testimony meeting Sunday. That was stressful, let me tell you. A RC Collins wanted to bear his testimony so I went up there with him, which was quite the experience since I still don´t understand everything he says...or let´s be real, most of it.haha But Heavenly Father knows I have been wanting to build my translating skills, so here we go.

"As we have been visiting members and the ward leaders, they have each given us the name of a family in the ward that is starting to come back. We set up a visit with them. He is a returned missionary, but has been inactive for the last 8+ years. It was really easy to break the ice and we all felt comfortable. We had planned to teach about the importance of the Santa Cena, but during the prayer I felt like we should share an article I had read that morning from the Liahona. My poor companion didn´t have any notice, but trusts me and we went ahead. The article talks about how much we mean to the Lord “¿Cuanto valgo?” We were able to bear testimony and it was exactly what the wife needed to open up. They looked at each other and then invited us to teach and prepare their daughter for baptism. She is 8 years old, but turns 9 in a month and hasn´t treated past missionaries very nicely. The father looked us in the eyes and said, “Esperamos para vosotras.” It was so amazing. They said that they have been waiting for us to be their missionaries. My companion and I both felt it really strong that we need to teach this family. It was a testimony to me that we are in the right place at the right time doing the right things.

I admire Hna Oslund´s willingness to serve me this week when my foot has really been bothering me. She is constantly worrying about me and trying to make me laugh and take care of me. It´s not easy for either of us--for her to serve me or for me to let her serve me--but it is helping us both develop attributes that we need.

Obion and Tony are a couple from Africa who want to be baptized. Obion has come to church fairly consistently, but Tony has not and did not come this week. Obion is progressing in the gospel and he is not. We are trying to find ways to help them arrive at baptism together. It is very different teaching in english, almost awkward. But I like it. And it is great teaching with Hna Oslund again.

Alex is a recent convert who was baptized here a few weeks ago. He is great! We taught him last week and we were late...lost in the new area...and he didn´t have much time. But after we introduced each other, prayed and sang a hymn, he told us that now he was there in the chapel with us he didn´t want to leave and his other appointment didn´t matter. Instead of moving on with the lesson, I stole a moment to make sure he knew that what he was feeling was the Spirit and how important that is. It changed the whole feel of the lesson. He is working to receive the priesthood."

This week was Hna Oslund and Maxwell´s "hump days," halfway marks. We had some fun :-) I´ll have to "leave you hanging" on the stories ;-) HA! Two can play that game, Connor! Cesar really wants to talk to you...I´ll give him your email when you give me the details...

I am waiting for the package. I expect the Pace´s to bring it down when they come for interviews this week. It has really been bothering me...I had to rest last night because I just couldn´t walk on it anymore...or at all. I am going to ask Hna Pace about inserts or a boot if the taping doesn´t work...or I´ll just proselyte in my adidas.haha We shall see, but I don´t think my body can handle so much ibuprofen for an extended period of time...thanks for the prayers. They help.

love you all, can´t believe October is halfway gone! I still can´t believe that Dianna is engaged-and getting married before I get back! And Caleb might leave before I get home...those are hard to swallow but I´m so happy for them.

Smile.

Love,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

I´m a little excited. ahahaha If you couldn´t tell.

Miracle story...so embarrassing..."I love Valencia and the members and my companion and our pisomates. I am seriously so happy :-) I think I just smile and laugh all day long. But the miracle story is from my last area, Hospitalet, right before I left.

So this is embarrassing to admit, but it makes for a great story, so I guess it is worth it. We were heading back to piso after Singing of the Angels and there were 7 of us. We got in the elevator and there was plenty of room so no one thought to check the capacity or say anything. The elevator made some weird noises, started shaking and then dropped a foot. The emergency light started flashing. We all froze and didn´t know what happened. Then everyone looked at me, which is terrifying because I am claustrophobic and had no idea what to do. So I said "Let´s pray"--always my first answer. Good heavens, I never know what to do--I´d be lost and unable to function without praying all the time. We prayed and then tried calling on the phone,...but there was no service, of course. So I decided to pray again and this time I asked that someone would hear the alarm bell I planned on holding down. We held the bell down and right after the prayer, someone heard us and called the Pres. We were stuck in there for 29ish minutes and I was fighting claustrophobia, but we talked and laughed and it helped. Everything worked out and Heavenly Father answered our prayers immediately, again. He never gets tired of us, thank heavens. From now on I will check the capacity limit of elevators before we get in!"

Oh huckleberry, here´s the rest of the letter too:

"I love Hna Oslund! I love the changes that I see in her since we were companions before, especially how much she loves me :-) She teaches me a lot without knowing it. The other night I was talking and goofing around with Hna Goodman and walked back to the room and Hna Oslund was laying on her bed, reading the Book of Mormon and writing down the miracles she found. It really impacted me. She doesn´t get the credit she deserves from other people who just see the funny, crazy side of her, but she tries and works so hard to be the missionary and person she wants to be. I have lost some focus on that and want to follow her example and be more diligent to improve daily. I also LOVE Hnas Goodman and Maxwell. They are so great and I am learning daily about the kind of person I want to be from their examples.

We met some recent converts here at conference and set up visits for the week to come. There are a few progressing investigators in our area, but they live in a pueblo and were unable to come in. We will visit them tomorrow. We are excited to find those who are prepared here! We know Valencia is full of them!

I love General Conference and just love being a missionary! I received so many answers and much personal revelation this weekend. Heavenly Father loves me so much-- I just can´t comprehend it."

Wow, how am I so blessed? It must be all the prayers from family and friends at home because it´s not me. Miracles:

"There have been too many miracles to count this week. I try to write them down and remember, but I feel like I miss so many! (What a great problem to have, right?) I am so blessed by the Lord. Ok, two simple yet profound examples of my Heavenly Father´s love for me and how he knows me personally. Mom sent me some of my missionary pictures while I was in the MTC to give to people during my mission. I had 6 left yesterday. I cut 3 out to give to 2 recent converts and 1 investigator. I put one in Ruby´s triple combination that we gave her after her baptism and another in Maria Rosa´s Bible that we dedicated for her. Her son Julian wanted one for the back of my superman keychain that I gave to him, but I really wanted our investigator, Xavi, to have the last one for the triple combination that I wrote in for him and marked my favorite scriptures. I said a quick prayer and decided to give the last one that I had to Julian. I felt like it was the right thing to do. Xavi came to the baptism that night and I was writing in his triple and decided to check the empty envelope one more time, even though I knew there was nothing in there…but there was another picture!!! When I got back to the piso I checked and still had 3 pictures left. I don´t know how, but I had enough and Heavenly Father knew how much it meant to me and answered my prayers.

I love and live through my music. I prepared my ipod very carefully and meticulously before the mission with only uplifting, edifying songs, all the scriptures in Spanish and English, and the last 4 years of conference talks. I was adding some more music to my ipod in the locutorio from cd's I found in the piso left by other missionaries. But when I got back to the piso, my ipod was empty. All 14GB of music and talks were gone. Nothing. I had a minor panic attack. I sat on my bed and thought for a long time and realized that I had the chance to choose how I was going to react. I could get mad, cry, freak out…or I could let it go, have some faith and know that God is in control and would take care of me. This is how much my music means to me. But I decided to let it go and moved on. Hna Stephenson and I talked and decided it was my test of faith--if I could live and serve normally without my music. I actually forgot all about it during the week--something I NEVER thought was possible for me to do, but hey, life goes on and is SO much more than music. This morning I decided to put a few cd's on my ipod, just so I have something for when I leave to Valencia. I plugged my ipod in…and ALL my music was there. EVERYTHING! I have NO idea how, there is no way logically--I checked the ipod multiple times during the week and it was empty--zero GB used. There is no explanation other than a miracle. Heavenly Father knows me, so well, so perfectly.

I kind of feel like these are selfish miracles because they are just for me, but they are very specific and personal 'divine signatures' that Heavenly Father has written in my life and I will never forget them."

Those miracles are real, I promise. I couldn´t even make them up if I tried. There are so many more that I don´t have time to write, but I WILL write them in my journal. Haven´t missed a day yet and I am filling up journal #3. haha My future self will thank me...maybe.

So transfers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are crazy! Are you ready? Firsties, I went in and talked to Pte this week. There is a lot going on in the mission, especially with the Hnas and I needed counsel, advice and help. Such a sweet experience. We talked about some transfer possibilities and I have been waiting to see what would happen....are you ready?...some changes I was prepared for and some I was not...are you sure?...haha I´m heading to Valencia tomorrow!!!!!!! With...Hna Oslund!!!!!ahahahaha But really! We are going to whitewash and open an area down there. And my daughter, Hna Maxwell, will be a pisomate! As well as Hna Goodman--who is a hero and really good friend of mine. I still can´t believe it. Hna Pazuengo is taking it really hard...but I´m kind of the "rip the bandaid off and roll with it" kind of person...and she´s not. haha Gotta cut the cord sometime, right? She´ll be fine. And my first comp, Hna Farrell, is coming down from SanSe to take my place here! I´m excited and a wee bit nervous and kind of dazed. We have done lots of running around and visiting CRs (recent converts) and trying to say goodbye to everyone. Singing of the Angels should be good for that tonight. I´ll be thinking of Connor the whole time :-)

I´m just...happy. Tired beyond belief and my body is aging and falling apart right before my eyes, but I am so happy that is doesn´t matter. haha And it´s Conference this week. INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! Superbowl for the missionaries. We are inviting everyone to bring specific questions to the conference to get specific answers. DO IT! I am for sure. I am so excited. Test the Lord and He ALWAYS comes through. So the real question is...what do you want to know? 90% of the challenge is always asking the right questions. I can´t wait to hear about your questions and answers!

Thank you all so much for the emails this week--there were so many! haha I love it and they will all be read and reread during the week. Love General Conference. I can´t wait to go in April. I´ve already decided :-) Isn´t it about...time?ahahaha I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hey Mom, thanks for the package. The office is on the lookout for it and will send it on to Valencia when it arrives. I´m excited about the blue tape...but you will be shocked to know that I have a sudden love for bright hot pink. Europe has really worked me over, I know. ahahahaha The 2nd Coming should be any day now--Clare Dalton likes pink!!!!

Hey Everybody,

"We had a miracle this week that came from a missionary saying a prayer and because of her faith, it was answered immediately. The Hospitalet 2 Hnas were preparing for their baptism when we realized that no one had a key for the door to get into the changing rooms and font! We all called everyone that we could think of--Bishops, the custodian, counselors, Auxiliaries Presidencies, everyone and no one could come or was close. We prayed. Then one Hna had the idea to put the key they have for the front door in. It isn´t the right key and has never worked before, but she prayed and told Heavenly Father she didn´t know what else to do and that she was going to her put key in the door and it was going to work…and it did!!! There is no way it was a coincidence or anything short of a miracle and an answered prayer. What incredible faith. It really is the key to everything…pun intended.

We met lots of new people this week and will have many Lesson-- 0's and 1's. We are going to invite everyone to be baptized! It will be a week of miracles, I know it!

We had a woman, Anai, come into the chapel Sunday looking for English class and I invited her to stay for the meetings and she did! We gave her a Book of Mormon and will meet with her this week.

Evelyn and Pabel´s friend, Clisset, came to church this week and when we asked to set up a visit with her, she said she was going to ask us to come and teach her! She also wanted to buy a Book of Mormon and participate in the Talent Show we are having! We gave her her own Book of Mormon and feel like she can be ready for baptism in a few weeks!

The miracles abound in Hospitalet!

In the past 2 weeks, investigators that we met and passed on because they didn´t live in our area got baptized!!!! So exciting! And I got news from SanSebastian about a part member family I was teaching there-- the father finally is ready to change his life and is getting baptized! Some of the best news you can receive as a missionary :-) I almost couldn´t believe it. We are so blessed. I am keeping this short again because I want to email some individual people. Mom, that kinesio tape and instructions for my feet sound amazing. I really need it. I`ve tried to find that stuff here and can´t. Tender mercy.

I love you all and it warms my heart every week to hear about you :-) Keep being who you are, it keeps me going here.

Much missionary love,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hey everybody!

"We had a man named Aurel walk into church this Sunday from Romania. He found out about the church online and came! He was very interested and stayed for the 3 hours. Our Ward Mission Leader accompanied him everywhere and we gave him a Book of Mormon and introduced it. He listened very carefully, repeated back what he understood and said he wanted to read it! It is a miracle and testament to me that Heavenly Father is always preparing people and sometimes they just walk into the path of the church and we get to be a part of it."

Nayelli´s baptism was great! She is really the anchor for her Mom and has such a desire to follow Christ. I can´t remember if I told you this already, but during a lesson we were teaching HOLA (Hermano, Orar, Leer y Asistir a la capilla)  I asked Nayelli why she reads the scriptures--she is in 2 Nefi. She said simply, "Because I trust in my Heavenly Father." Our ward mission leader talked right along with what he thought was the "real" answer, but I stopped him and went back and made sure she knew that hers was the RIGHT answer. As long as she trusts Heavenly Father and does whatever He and the prophets say, she will be just fine. What an incredible answer from a 9 year old. It really had an effect on me. 

Pte and Hna Pace came with us to a visit with Evelyn and Pabel and it was really spiritual--we all felt like Heavenly Father is watching over them and even though they can´t get married until March, they´ll be ok and are on the right path. ALSO--we found 2 new investigators, cousins of Evelyn. One of them, Clisset, I have a really strong feeling about. I can´t wait to teach her.
Xavi is doing well and in school now. He is like a best friend. I love him so much. We are getting there, he´ll be baptized.

Mom, thanks for your email. It was exactly what I needed to hear and read, so thanks. I´m glad you talked at the Institute and you know I love hearing you sing, especially "Consider the Lilies." I can´t wait to hear you sing again :-)  I haven´t walked barefoot in over a year now and the sandals that I have have good support. I bought a new pair of walking shoes, my most supportive ones are trashed, and a pair of Adidas to run in. I hope they help. I have vitamins now, too. So all is good.

I love you all so much and thank you for the prayers.

MUAH!
SMILE!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hi,

Here we gooooooo!

"One miracle we saw this week was through a special fast. We had a visit with our investigator Xavier and a member friend Jonathan. Xavier was sick on Fast Sunday so he didn´t fast. We invited him to fast with us this Sunday and Jonathan asked if he could fast with us too! Xavier came to church in a polo for the first time and was just different. He looks and feels happier every visit since we really opened up to each other and talked about his struggles. He also stayed for all 3 hours and then we broke our fast together with Jonathan after. I love seeing the Gospel work in people´s lives and seeing them change for the better.I love that

Hna Pazuengo is ingoring so much that is going on at home and in her personal life to be here 100% mentally and spiritually. I wonder what it would be like for me if I were in her shoes and if I would be as valient and strong.Evelyn and Pabel received the news that they might have to wait longer, until March to be married, and baptized. I don´t know what to think of this and it hasn´t been confirmed so I am continuing to plan their baptism and having faith. We shall see what miracles the Lord has in store for them, and when.Nayelli is doing great. It is hard to have visits with her because of her mother´s work schedule but she is ready. In a visit this week, I asked her why she reads the Book of Mormon, she´s in 2 Nephi, and her answer both shocked and humbled me: "Because I trust in my Heavenly Father." So simple and pure. That´s really what it´s all about isn´t it? Our ward mission leader tried to move on and give her the "correct" answer but I stopped him and made sure she knew how rigth her answer was and how it impacted me. She is incredible.We had lots of recent converts and less actives come to church this week. This is what we are focusing on with the ward council.

One miracle I found in my Book of Mormon reading was through the "wandering" that we have to do in the life. Heavenly Father mercifully allows us to wander in the wilderness sometimes to build the faith and preparation we need to face our future. Lehi´s family, Moses and the children of Israel, the pioneers from New York to Kirtland to Missouri to Illinois to Utah. It is the trial of faith and fuller´s fire that makes us fit for the kingdom."

The heat seems to be making one more last effort to hang around but I think we are officially in fall here. I can´t wait for General Conference in less than a month! And I really want to go to GC in April, FYI.haha

Yes, I got the package Mom and it was great :-) thanks so much. New clothes! I wear them probably more than I should.haha And I made the cornbread and threw in a can of corn and it was delicious. I ate it all week. Thank you so much! I´m all out of vitamins but I think the Zone Leaders have some that they are taking for me so I will let you know next week. We know I need my vitamins to function.ahaha Speaking of functioning, guess what little fun has snuck back into my life? Plantar fasciitus. SO fun as a missionary, let me tell you. I bought tennis balls and am taking Ibuprofen like candy...doc´s orders.

Church sounds like it was really good. I love hearing about that. The little stuff, you know? So jealous about the FHE! Can´t wait to hear how it goes. I love you and I´m going to keep this short to try and send everybody a little personal email.haha I LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for keeping me going most days.

Smile. It´s a beautiful day.

Love always,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Cómo estáis? ahahahahahaha juerga alert, we aren´t supposed to use the vosotros form, but I just wanted to see if I actually could. It was kind of natural, win.

One miracle among the many that we had this week was with our investigator Xavier. We have had very powerful lessons with him, but he has been unable to take the step of faith to baptism because of some personal issues that he is struggling with. He finally opened up to us and was honest about his doubts and feelings. I felt very strongly through the Spirit that I am here right now because I can help him through experiences that I have had and gone through in the past. Helping him has helped me find answers to things that I have been looking for and dealing with.  It was also not coincidence that this all happened over fast Sunday weekend--an example of the power there is in real intent, prayer and fasting.  It has been a miracle to me and for me.
Hna Pazuengo is very crafty and loves to use these skills in relation to missionary work. I love finding ways to help her use these skills as well. We made cards to hand out to members and less actives that have the points of what we can do during the Sacrament to feel the power of the Atonement and use it in our lives. We have been trying to teach everyone this lesson from you and Hna Pace and it has really changed the feelings about the Sacrament in our ward and members.
Evelyn and Pabel are on track to be baptized; we will find out when today because of their papers. We had a run-through of the baptismal questions and Pabel´s answer and his testimony about living prophets really touched me. He said they hold all the Priesthood keys and that means everything to him.
Nayelli is a shy 9 year old and getting baptized in 2 weeks. She loves drawing things for us and even volunteered to pray to open our Noche de hogar at the church with lots of other youth and young adults. I was impressed.
Catalina is a recent convert who has decided to attend another ward to fellowship her friend who is getting baptized in barrio 2 and she wanted to be able to take the Sacrament every week after our lesson about it. It´s great to see the application!
Marco hasn´t left yet for the U.S. and accompanied us in a visit with other members. We taught tithing and fasting…and he told us he was going to fast for us!!! It was incredible. We also helped him pay his tithing for the first time and I felt so good seeing him progress.
In starting the Book of Mormon challenge (we are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission by 3 Diciembre, specifically looking for and marking miracles--Connor are you in? You are and will always be elfaro in my book!). I found a miracle about Nephi´s example for his older brother Sam in 1 Nefi 2:16-17. When we receive confirmation from the Spirit about truth, sometimes it is not just for us and we need to share it! Nephi bore his testimony to his brother, OLDER brother, and he believed him and it built his testimony, too. That is a miracle.


We had a HUGE rainstorm this week and I about died from happiness. We got caught in it and were soaked and I did some puddle stomping...my companion might have been slightly annoyed...puddle jumper? Yes. It has cooled off and I think we are almost at the end of the humidity, finally.


It has been good and different with Hna Walker. She is Hna Stephenson´s new companion and she was Hna Preston´s companion in Zaragoza. So that is fun. We´ve had some good talks. I really love being here in Barç and around other missionaries and hermanas. I don´t want to leave. I had a dream that Pte asked me to open up Ibiza with Hna Goodman at the end of my mission...it was a great dream. Prophecy? We shall see.ahahahaha so funny!


Well, sounds like everyone loved Labor Day.It has moved up on my list of holidays :-)


Love,
Hna Clarissa Dalton

Howdy ya´ll,
The miracles continue:
"Fátima´sbaptism and all that it entails is my miracle for the week. From June 13thwhen Jesús called us late at night to come over the next day and teach his wifeabout the purpose of life because she was feeling really weighed down, to August 25th--what an incredible journey it has been and will be one year from now when this little family that I have come to love so much is sealed together for time and eternity and ready to receive the blessings Heavenly Father has waiting for them. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the opportunity to be here, now and share a part in their story. Sometimes I wonder if I should have gotten my life in order and repented sooner so I could have served a mission at 21…but my Heavenly Father shows me time and time again that this is my time and I am on the right path."


It was truly incredible. And man, do they know how to eat after baptisms--there were 3 tables of food! I think I have a pic. We as missionaries sang Joseph Smith´s First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount and Hna Pace accompanied us--this hymn is Fátima´s favorite and she was mouthing the words and crying as we sang :-) (and we all know it wasn´t because of my singing abilities...) There were rowdy kids on the floor after the actual ordinance while we were singing hymns...I don´t understand why parents here don´t discipline their children-- pet peeve--but I tried to make them be quiet and then had this idea in the form of a mental image of you, Mom. So I grabbed a big hymnbook and plopped myself on the floor in the front, right in the middle of them and gathered them around me and we sang the hymns together--me tracing the verses with their fingers. It was very sweet and worked fantastically well. That´s what Jesus would have done, right? Shushing them obviously wasn´t the way to go. Who knows, maybe I´m slowly growing up.

It has been weird without Connor, but Heavenly Father is sending me plenty of comfort and signs that we are both where we need to be. :-) It makes me very happy to hear he is home safe and sound.

Mom, I can just see you sitting in class taking notes, awww so sweet! Did you all remember that there is a hidden spare key to the Celica in front of the driver side bumper? Just checking...

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

A sweaty hello from Catalunya,
"My miracle for this week was during and after Fátima´s baptismal interview. We were with her husband, Jesús, in another room waiting and I could tell that he was nervous. We talked to him about faith and how she needs him to have faith in her and encourage her in this time of her life especially. She came out and was just happy. The elders said everything was great and she was so prepared. Jesús was SO happy. We had a lesson after and we asked Jesús to offer the opening prayer. It was so sweet and by the end he was crying. This is as much a miracle for him in his life and for their little family as it is for her personally."
Fátima is getting baptized on Saturday :-)))))) It feels incredible, there just aren´t words. I´ve felt a lot like that this week--just a big loss for words. I feel like I am usually pretty in control of my emotions and reactions, but this week is giving my self-control a run for its money. haha
I got a call from Pte and Hna Pace Sunday night during nightly planning. We were trying to figure out what to do the next day in the morning and nothing was working out or feeling right. Well, then they called and Hna Pace invited us to come over and bake the promised sheet cake for Fátima´s baptism...because a certain Elder would be having an exit interview. It was wonderful. Just cooking and talking and remembering it´s ok to be normal. And to be there and have some time to see and talk with Elder Dalton--it was more than I could have hoped for. They asked us to take pictures with them and they are so cute. I was crying, but held it in until after the pictures, no worries. haha In a couple of hours we have the Singing of the Angels--not gonna lie, I am very nervous. We´ve both been waiting for this day to come and now it´s here and I don´t know how to deal with it. Two sides of me are fighting--the one that wants to stay and the one that wants to come home with my brother.
But the quiet whisperings of the Spirit, which are always there if we ask and then listen, have reassured me that I am not done. I have more work to do. And if there is one thing I, Clarissa Dalton, do NOT do, it is punk out in the middle of the 4th quarter. So I´m putting the game face on and getting to work...tomorrow. Tonight I need a timeout :-) haha OK, ok I´m being slightly dramatic...but only slightly.
I just want everyone to know what an incredible young man is coming home tomorrow. He is not just my younger brother--he is my example, my best friend and my faro. He has done an amazing work here in Spain that will lay the foundation for the future and leave the legacy for all missionaries to follow. Give him lots of hugs and kisses for me when you see him--I did for you this past year. ¡Les toca! I love you and can´t wait to talk to you next week. Hopefully I can send some pics.
MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hna Clarissa Dalton

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhi,
Whew, it´s hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhot. My clothes leave indentions on my skin and hurt because the humidity makes me swell up. Sounds swell, huh?...swell? get it?! ahahahaha It might be affecting my brain as well...unclear...

"Miraclestory: Some members know about Fátima´s fecha now after consejo de barrio and congratulated her at church and she flipped out. It was all just too much for her to handle and she left halfway through church. Her husband came to find us and tell us. We decided to pray and then go visit her. She was frustration cleaning (an automatic emotional coping mechanism for most females or something, or so I´m told--I just go play basketball…) But she was trying to keep it together and couldn´t and burst (literally) into tears. We tried to comfort her and she just kept saying she didn´t want to get baptized. I had no idea what to say so I was praying. We told her not to worry and we wouldn´t talk about or plan her baptism until she told us to and we just talked and she calmed down. We had an appointment with her for later in the afternoon so we told her we would still come back. I felt like we needed some study time after mediodía because we didn´t get it with church. We studied personally and as a companionship and Hna Pazuengo reminded me that we had talked a lot about Fátima while watching "The District" segment about Laura. So we watched it again and decided to watch it with her--it covers her conversion process and how she was baptized even though she initially had lots of doubts and didn´t want to set a date. So we watched it for the visit and she really liked it and was able to relate, which is what she needs with her personality. At the end we promised her again that we wouldn´t talk about baptism until she brought it up with us…and she said that she had thought about it and felt good and wanted to keep her fecha for the 25th of August.   What a miracle!!!
Isaac´s baptism was great and really showed what happens when you have the support of the ward and Bishop. Things ran relatively smoothly and there was such a great spirit there.  His smile is contagious and I can see him as a future missionary. I feel strongly that his strength and example will help bring his father back into the fold."

Wow, what to say about this week? Things are great here and it seems like so many other areas are struggling for whatever reason right now in the mission...but personally, this transfer has been harder for me, even though I know I shouldn´t complain. It has been great and better than any other, but harder than any other, too. I don´t know how to explain it. But we keep smiling and plugging along
:-)

We are not getting the new piso :-((((( the dueña is nuts. (Landlord) so we are looking again. Patience and diligence anyone? Oh well, what can you do? Things will work out when they need to, I just have to hang in there.

Speaking of hanging in there, I can´t believe transfers are this week and I have NO idea what I am going to do when Connor leaves. I have a mental block up...first bad sign. We´ll cross that bridge when it comes...Well, we are in a sketchy locutorio after spending the day with other Hnas which was so fun, but exhausting and now we have to run home to change and go read with Fátima. We are reading with her every day to prevent future breakdowns and cleaning frenzies.  haha  I love her so much. We are the same age! Weird right? I know.
Love ya´ll bunches and thanks for keeping me going. MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Howdy ho,

Vacation sounds so vacationy. haha Glad to hear it was enjoyable and a good break from life. I am uploading pics as we spèak, so they better work and you should have lots of good ones...maybe. We just got back from dropping Hna Abellán off at the train station and are ready to work as a trio--Hnas Pazuengo, Stephenson y yo!

Miracle story for the week:
"The son of our Primary President is almost 10 and not baptized because they have been waiting for his Dad to shape up and come back to church so he can baptize him. He came one Sunday and then has not come back or met with us since. So we have been talking to Isaac and his Mom, Deisy, and last transfer they wanted to wait until December for the baptism because that´s when his birthday is. But we had another visit with them this past week and every visit we have talked about baptism and in this one they told us "We aren´t waiting anymore." Isaac wants the first counselor in the Bishopric to baptize him and he leaves on vacation towards the end of August, so they asked if he could be baptized on the 11th! We said of course! We planned it all out right there with a baptismal calendar and are working through the ward council to pull it all together. Isaac and Deisy have been waiting for almost 2 years and just needed someone to invite them to pray and think about Isaac´s baptism because he is ready and waiting to be a member. This family needs the blessings that will come with this step of faith and the example he will be for his father."

So we are preparing for Isaac´s baptism this Saturday. The Primary is going to sing :-) I am so excited. He really is a great kid and full of so much energy. (And he loves Superman and Spiderman so we get along juuuust fine.) I think Isaac´s baptism and example for his Dad will be key is his Dad finding his testimony again. Fátima is still preparing for baptism on the 25th. Every week is a roller coaster, but that is life and we just keep having visits to bring the Spirit so she can remember why she wants/needs to be baptized. We read 3 Nephi 11 together instead of a "formal" lesson and I think it helped. Their family came to Cinthya´s baptism, but got there late and missed the ordinance. But the Zone Leaders taught a mini lesson while Cinthya was changing and we sang "Las familias pueden ser eternas" for the closing hymn and she said those 2 things really impacted her and she was visualizing her baptism. Momento clave :-) We are trying to coordinate with Hna Pace, who is a phenomenal pianist--reminds me of you Mom--to sing a special musical number. Oh, and did I mention as a trio we are working 2 areas and 2 wards? Yeah, it´s going to be CRAZY until transfers...especially still living in the cra...elder´s old piso :-( but I like things a little bit crazy because you feel and sleep better and it naturally makes you rely on the Spirit more because there is NO way you can do any of it without Him.

OH! I got a surprise phone call last night and Keisy and her sister´s family are coming to Barçelona this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited. We are going to work it out to see them.

:-))))))))))))) I hope Dalleli is with them, too. I think they have also met Connor :-)

Thanks for the emails and love. Mom and everyone else--just send anything to the mission office address. We are close enough to get it just as fast. IF we ever get our new piso, I´ll give you the address. haha

Clarissa Dalton

Spain Barcelona Mission

Calle Calatrava No. 10-12, bajos

08017 Barcelona

SPAIN

Dear world,
I love the end of the month because Elder Dalton comes into Barcy for concilio! We got to spend some time together this morning and I loved it! And here is another miracle story, just in case that one´s not enough for you...

"I have learned a lot this week. Lots of following and learning by the Spirit. First, a miracle story:
Yesterday, we had to rearrange our schedule because some people fired and Fátima had to meet at a different time. It has been hard adjusting to making all the decisions again because Hna Pazuengo is so new and doesn´t feel like she can participate as much in the decision-making process as I think she can. I had a big personal breakthrough in some soul-searching  Saturday and learned that the only way I am going to find the balance I am always seeking in my life is by following the Spirit. True balance is following the Spirit. So how does this all relate? I decided to put what I had learned into practice and asked what we should do and then waited for the answer. I felt like we should have a CR Maria Rosa help us with the visit with Fátima and Hna Pazuengo said she had the same thought during our class at church. Evidence that she is receiving revelation for our area and I need to work on helping her recognize it and having confidence in her. So we met with Maria Rosa and then took her with us to Fátima´s. It was great and EXACTLY what she  needed. Listening to the Spirit takes the stress and pressure out of missionary work. It´s so nice. You just have to ask and then go do."

So...the people on the other end of our new piso are dragging their feet and we have to be out of this one by Wed...so we might be slightly better off than homeless in the Elder´s old piso...which has 25 yrs of Elders damage to it...such as my favorite-no light in the bathroom or warm water...which equals cold showers in the dark or freezing showers by candlelight. Pray for us. Fasting might be necessary.

Just when you think it can´t get hotter...I noticed fior the first time that you can see the sweat on my arm hairs. It dries when I got inside and it white. Then liquifies in the sun. SO neat, right? I know :-)>

I´m kind of jealous about family vacation because it sounds so good, but the sacrifice is worth it. Tell Josh hi! Wowzers. Can´t wait to see him. And the King´s new house-it sounds great. Connor said to remind everyone of the "fall" and the cone of shame.ahahahahaha

We had 10 investigators come to church and 4 of them were new! The members and work here is incredible. We just show up and try to talk to everyone and schedule appointments.haha Such miracles every week.
This computer is so slow, I´m trying to upload pics-we´ll see what we get.

Hna Stephenson and I talk a lot and I´m making great personal discoveries like every day. I love it! Finally figuring lots of things out!

Can´t wait to hear about the rest of the vacation and as soon as we get to the new piso, I´ll give you the address. If not, we are always close to the office so you can just send stuff there.

I love you all so much. Your emails keep me going some days. And the rest of the days it is the memories that we have together that make it all worth it. ¡Siga adelante!

Con amor,
Hna Clarissa Dalton

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!

When we have a baptism, we tell their conversion story and send pics to the Pte and office so here it is...

"Here is Marco´s miracle story: we were heading home one night on the metro with a recent convert. A man sat down next to me and we exchanged pleasantries, but I was distracted with another conversation. I felt like I needed to talk to him, but thought I had more time. Then he got up to leave and I thought I had missed my chance, so I handed him a pass-along card as the metro stopped. He asked me what it was and where the church building was and as I explained, the doors closed and he missed his stop! I felt so bad, but he sat back down and we started talking. We invited him to church and set up a visit. He got off with us at the next stop. I apologized again for making him miss his stop and he said not to worry. It was God helping him talk to me. I was so impressed and then he ran to catch the next metro. We met with him 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks and even though his schedule was busy he always came. He accepted a fecha in the second lesson and every time we taught him something, he accepted it even though I thought he would have a problem. It seemed like every week and every visit something would come that could potentially delay or chang his fecha, but it never did. Even with innumerable setbacks and problems on the day of his baptism and confirmation--he was still baptized!!! I still can hardly believe that he was baptized in 3 weeks, from contact to the waters of baptism and Heavenly Father let me be a part of it. Estamos en el medio de lasegunda cosecha."

I still can´t believe that I have one of THOSE stories, you know? Metro contact, taught and baptized in 3 weeks--we hear and read those kind of stories all the time here, but I just never thought I´d be living one--even when I was living it! I didn´t realize it until I was sitting in Marco´s baptism and afterward when we were talking and taking pictures. I mean, let´s face it--I´m not a great contacter. I can do it and I try, but nothing usually comes of it so I focus on other parts of the work. But I was in the right place, at the right time, willing to open my mouth and follow a prompting--and it has made all the difference in at least 2 lives--mine and Marco´s. So incredible.

Cinthya and her boyfriend, Edu, changed her fecha from this week to next week because he broke his arm, but by then should be able to baptize her. Worth the wait. And another couple we are teaching will receive their papers to get married in Aug, which is what they have been waiting for to get baptized for 2 YEARS!!!!!!!! So they are planning on Sept 29th or earlier. I promised them, through the prompting of the Spirit, that if they pick a date and work towards it, Heavenly Father will do His part to make it happen on or before that date. SO the fechas we have right now are kind of far out...which the District and Zone Leaders don´t really like and are giving me trouble about, but whatever--I´m not here for the numbers! As long as they happen they all count, right?! Areas, boundaries, dates, numbers--blah. I´m here to build up the kingdom and help people get baptized on the Lord´s time. And I´ve never been happier--even though I have been fighting a cold this week and everything has been going wrong on the surface--it just makes the story more interesting. Icing on the cake :-) That´s what makes life FUN--skip the boring parts.

Hey! We found a new piso, finally. We have to move out and move in this week. It will be crazy, but exciting. We don´t know what belongs to the landlord´s and what belongs to the Church´s because our present piso was rented in the prehistoric era, but we´ll figure it out. And the perks of being in change of finding and renting a new piso...the new one has A/C and is in Plaça Espanya, which I hear is incredible at night with lights and fountains and yah--missionaries for years to come will be thanking us :-) muahahahahaha Well, that´s a li'l of what life´s been like here.

Hey, I heard something about a theater shooting in Colorado and Batman and, I dunno, the rumors here are always flying. What happened? And some guy finding gold plates in Mexico and everyone is saying it proves the Book of Mormon is true...like we need scientific evidence for that and it would make a difference...faith?...but what´s it all about?

Interviews with Pte were great. We talked about everything, missionary-related and otherwise. We also got to chat with Hna Pace for a while. These chats took up 4 pages of my journal.haha OH man.

Glad to hear all the July birthdays were wonderful and fun, even if it´s hot. I know, it is here too. Well, gotta run.

LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton

Howdy y´all!

What an incredibly fabulous week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are truly seeing miracles every day, so many, in fact, that I don´t know if I can choose which one to tell you. Ok, just two:

"A couple , Evelyn and Pabel, have been investigators forever, at least a year and love the church and want to get baptized, but are waiting for their papers to go through so that they can get married. They came to church out of the blue last week and we scheduled a visit. They only have time at 9pm on Friday nights. We invited their good friend who is a member to come and they told us that they finally got their papers and can get married in August and want to get baptized right after that!!! The Spirit was so strong in their house and they are prepared and ready to be members. It was a great lesson and we are so excited to see how excited they are for this day to finally come.

Also, we had some empty time slots this week and as I was trying to decide what to do, after we prayed, the name of an active member kept coming to my mind all week. I finally talked to my companion about it and we decided to call and set up a visit even though she is active and comes to everything and it wouldn´t count for "numbers." We told her we didn´t know why we needed to meet with her, but felt like we should. We found out that she was speaking in church AND teaching the Relief Society lesson the next day AND her grandmother is going through a lot of medical problems. She really needed the boost and told us she has been feeling like she needs to organize a family fast for her grandmother, but didn´t know how because they are all in Chile and non-members, but because of our visit, she is going to do it! She gave one of the most sweet, heart-felt prayers I have ever heard in any language. This was a miracle for me and a witness that we should follow all good impressions, even if we aren´t sure why. Heavenly Father knows and He will bless those who will follow the impressions they receive.

Marco is going to be baptized this Friday! He is excited and doesn´t understand everything, but has a lot of faith and is willing to act--Friday night at 7. Cinthya is also excited for her baptism next week and every visit gets more animated and comfortable with us--she is really shy! Dave is a CR (young adult) and the last lesson we had, we invited him to prepare to receive his patriarcal blessing.This week he told us that he talked to the Bishop and is moving forward with this goal! We are so excited for him and the example he is setting to his brother and other CR friends"

Ok, I have to tell you about Fátima. She is wife of a recently reactivated member. The missionaries didn´t even know she wasn´t a member because she always came to church! June 13th, we got a phone call from the husband, Jesús, asking us to come over and teach his wife about the purpose of life and what happens afterward--Plan of Salvation. I told him, "Yeah, we can do that!" :-) She knows like everything, but is terrified of committing to a date...2 weeks ago she chose one...Christmas.ahahahaha So this week we had a visit with her and I was feeling the Spirit really strong and just went with whatever came into my head and heart. She had answered a question in Sunday School that morning about what makes our church different and she said "temples." So I told her how that impressed me and asked what is stopping her from enjoying the blessings of the temple and having an eternal family. She still had the same doubts about wanting to know 100% and not being rushed. But she asked Jesús to leave and told us privately that she thinks she wants to be baptized, but doesn´t want Jesús to know until she is sure and yadda, yadda. I told her, rather forcefully :-), that he needs to know everything she is feeling and thinking more than anyone!!! So when we started testifying about the temple she asked him to come back in. I knew she had to be feeling the Spirit, but her doubts were in the way, so I asked her to think about what if she got baptized in August and how she´d really feel and we were just going to sit in silence for a minute and think--no talking. She still said the same doubts, but something was different. I could feel it. I was impressed to testify that baptism was just the stepping stone to the temple and her baptismal date really signifies the beginning of the year mark for when they can go to the temple as a family and be sealed together. I realized that I had never asked Jesús directly why he wanted Fátima to be baptized and to bear his testimony of the temple. It was so sweet. He told her he wants them to be on the same path and together forever. She knows how important the temple is to him and he is waiting until January when he gets his membership restored and can go to the temple again after 5-6 years of inactivity. She was crying as she told us about how important eternal families are to him and to her. Then ( I was crying by this time too) he promised her that he would wait for her and not go back to the temple in January, but wait until they can go together and be sealed in August 2013. It was the sweetest, most tender promise I have ever heard, in English OR Spanish. They chose 25th of August together for her baptism!!! There are just not words to go along with the feelings of that moment. Engraved in my memory forever. I couldn´t help but follow yet another impression and promise that I will do everything I can to come back in August 2013 to be there with them in the Madrid temple. It was incredible. It makes all the looooong days, too tired to think or walk, sweating all day long, wearing nothing but dresses, getting yelled at and taunted in the street, struggling with the language and all the personal sacrifices worth it. What else matters more than eternal families?! Nothing. And nothing ever will.

The miracles never cease here in Hospitalet.

I love you all and you are in my heart--carrying me through. What miracles have YOU seen today? Find them.

Love you,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hola queridos!

"One of the many miracles that we saw this week was in alesson with a less active family in the Ward. My first week here the ward council suggested that we visit them and we did with the Elder´s Quorum President. The Mother is active and serving as the Primary President.  The Father hadn´t come to church in years and the son is 9 and comes, but is not baptized. I felt a really strong connection to them, especially the Father. We invited him to come to church and he did the next day! But he hasn´t since then and we haven´t been able to visit. We visited them again this Sunday and invited the son to be baptized.They have been waiting for 2 years so that the Father can baptize him, but they don´t want to wait anymore. I felt impressed to invite him to come back and change and repent so he can baptize his only son. I was more fuerte (forceful) than I´d normally feel comfortable with, but it was what he needed to hear. The son is choosing a date and the Father said he would think and pray about it. I feel like this family is key in the Ward and really want to focus on helping them.The miracle was the direction of the Spirit during the lesson and what to say. Heavenly Father is preparing people to return to the Church and it is exciting to be a part of it and feel like an instrument in the Lord´s hands.
I would be lying if I said I wasn´t very nervous about training this time around because my new companion is a native and because I can´t play the “I don´t know what´s going on” card, even though  I still feel like that. But if I know one thing about my Heavenly Father, it is that He loves me enough to kick me out of my comfort zones to mold me into what I want to become, but don´t know how to by myself. So here we go again!
Our investigator, Jefferson, wants to be baptized, but lives in Cornella, so I think the Elders will teach him. But Cinthya still wants to be baptized on the28th and each visit she is more open and comfortable with us. She is halfway through 1 Nefi and always has questions for us. It is a miracle to see the change in her right before my eyes. Fátima´s husband, Jesús, spoke in church and got emotional and Fátima was crying afterward when I talked to her because she´s never seen him like that. She is so close to just deciding to be baptized sooner than December and I can see the Spirit working with her, poco a poco. I am so blessed to be in this area! Marco, a contact from the metro, wants to be baptized on the 20th and is coming to the Singing of the Angels tonight."

We had a training meeting this morning at 9 and we have to go back by 3 to have another meeting with the trainees and then they set us loose.ha...ha *gulp* SO yeah, I am really nervous about training a native. All I know is that she grew up in México, but has been living in León here in Spain. No idea if she speaks english. But if not, we will be studying english and spanish together!haha Yup, I am feeling super inadequate, especially when I think about trying to explain things all the time in spanish, especially to someone who speaks it perfectly...Oh well, I gotta get through this wall sometime, might as well grab a sledgehammer and get to work.

Mom, I am SO excited about the primary thing!!!! Especially because I have been thinking about and looking for a way to help the primary here and the President Hna Deisy (the Mom of the family above) This is a tender mercy and an answer to my prayer!!! Way to go Sister Hales!

I love being here in Barcy and so close to the Paces. They came to an dinner visit that we had with 2 recent converts. I already feel so close to them. They have really helped me and touched my heart.

Summer sounds so fun! Awww such good memories. It all feels so close :-) soon enough. I am at that point in the mission where I just love it. Ok, that´s been most of the time for me, but I really do love it and can´t imagine not being here. I have so much to do and learn and so many people to find and time just keeps marching on. Time, my dear frenemy.haha Happy Birthday to all you July´s!!! Mom! Kindle Fire?! Is that what I think it is?! The newest kindle or something? WOOOOOW SUPER jealous. Sounds like it was a great birthday.

We think we found a new piso, it has been rough because nothing here has 2 bathrooms and it is a necessity for 4 sisters. But our contract is up in August, so we don´t have options or time. It´s been stressful. Hopefully this goes through.

Well, I love you all and thanks for the emails and prayers--you will never know the full extent of the support they give me every day. I love you with all my heart,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Hey all,

We are online preparing our informe de progreso so I thought it would be ok to drop you a quick line because it is transfer week and there are...anuncios! Announcements! I will let Elder Dalton tell his part and not steal any thunder, but...Hna Oslund is leaving :-( but not going very far. She is opening the Ayudante´s area in Barcelona for Hermanas with Hna Rejón. SO jealous. Their area is right next to mine. They decided to change the Ayudante´s area to Hermanas.
And there is only one Hermana coming in this transfer--a native! And I am training her. What a surprise!  I really didn´t see it coming and I am still trying to catch my breathe. Oh man. What a wild ride. Love the Pace´s. They are incredible.
So I will email with her, Hna Garcias, this Tuesday, hopefully. Love you! And happy birthday to all you julysies! MUAH!

Keep smiling and enjoy a li'l modern invention I miss called A/C,

Hna Clarissa Dalton

Howdy!

Miracle stories:

We saw lots of miracles in Hospitalet this week. 9 investigators came to church on Sunday!!! A couple was out in the foyer and a member came in and grabbed us. Ana was contacted on the metro a few months ago and invited to church, but has been too busy with work. Now that she has time, she and her husband, Rodolfo, want to come. What a testimony that no effort to share the gospel is wasted and everything is on the Lord´s time. Two other street contacts from this week came to church and are now progressing investigators as well. I feel so blessed to be a part of the segunda cosecha here in Spain and the miracles just keep coming.

Jefferson is the boyfriend of our Relief Society President´s daughter and came to church last week. He wants to be baptized on the 28th. Yesterday at church, he talked to another youth who also wants to get baptized and they are now getting baptized together on the28th! Our job and life is so easy when the members prepare and share the gospel with their friends. I kind of feel lazy, even though we are running around every day teaching members´ friends, spouses and family members. This is what missionary work should always be like! It has definitely changed my outlook and perspective as a member missionary and who I will be for the rest of my life.

Our CR, Angelo, recently was involved in a bad accident at work and shattered his arm in a conveyor belt. He almost lost his life and it has changed him. He has been at every ward activity since then and is happier and just…different. He is 26, but told us that he wants to serve a mission, which may not be possible, but the fact that he is thinking about it and wants to is a miracle to me. The difference in him now and before the accident is a 180º change. It has been a tender mercy to see the ward rally around him as well. God truly does work in mysterious ways."

Also, Hna Oslund and I were assigned to take Hna Pace out with us Friday night. We picked her up, as the end of her first day in the mission, at the mission office. I had been praying all week to be able to show her what this mission is really like and to have the night that she needed to start her mission. (In a prayer right before we picked her up, I might have even prayed that we could help her set the..."pace" of her mission...bahahahahahaha! Nope, still haven´t lost it) Our planned visit fired us...so we called Jesús and Fátima, a part member family we are teaching. She knows everything about the church basically, but is scared of the commitment and responsibility of actually being a member. Well, Jesús didn´t relay the message, so we surprised her. Their 4 year old daughter was crazier than usual and wouldn´t let us sing or pray and was climbing all over everyone and everything. She pulled Hna Oslund´s skirt up and everyone got G-flashed. Fátima didn´t read so we read together in 1 Ne 17 :-) love that chapter. First miracle. But then I put on the wrong conference talk...oops...so we talked about the priesthood instead and it actually turned out better because she has had blessings and really believes in priesthood power. Oh, Hna Pace only knows the spanish she has been practicing since she got her call and I was SO impressed! She prayed and bore her testimony. It was a sweet experience and an answered prayer for me because I received a strong witness that they are the Presidente y Hermana that we need in the mission at this time. The next morning we had a mission conference and Hna Pace publicly thanked us for our visit and how we handled the craziness. Heavenly Father answered our prayers--like He always does! :-) I really love them, especially their relationship with each other and how they lead as one. I`m taking lots of notes :-) on what they say AND on what they don´t! haha

Clecca-CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy moly, I could be home for the birth of my first NEPHEW!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I am determined and people keep telling me that Heavenly Father pays special attention to the prayers of his missionaries...so it can´t hurt right?! Bring on the boys!! Twins?!...Too much Becca? :-) haha Hmmm, I won´t tell you what I pray for...

Caleb-HAPPY BURFDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought about you all day and I think my roomies are all tired of hearing about it.haha And I don´t think all the miracles we saw yesterday were a coincidence, so thanks for being born!haha I hope it was everything you wanted it to be! You are the bestest and at such a special time in your life! Love it, live it and don´t forget it!

I´ll be thinking about everyone on your respective birthdays! Can´t wait to share next year´s with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Eurocup is going on right now and Spain keeps winning so our evenings consist of lots of fireworks, ¡VIVA ESPAÑA! and cheering/screaming. Oh, it´s hard not to be able to watch sporting events.haha Well, here are some great pics recently. You may be surprised to learn that I have become an expert in fan usage and am not seen without one. They are essential. Don´t faint, it´s true.

Welp, see you later.haha just kidding, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

¡Cuidense y les quiero un montón!

-Hna Clarissa Dalton