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