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