¡Ilumina el Mundo! Dallin Poulson 11/28/2016

Hi friends and family! Hope you all had a great week!

This week we moved houses! It was nice, I wont lie! The old house was destroyed and smelled bad haha. When we cleaned it out I set a box of old ruined Liahonas out by the trash on the street and within 5 minutes someone had taken it! Cool, maybe someone will maybe read them! 

We helped the Stake Patriarch put up part of a ceiling in his kitchen this week. I got to use an electric hand saw. First time in the mission! I think I really like construction service projects, and it looks like I might get more opportunities soon. 

A member invited us to lunch one day to eat IGUANA! It apparently had been cooking all morning because it is a tough meat. But honestly, it tasted like chicken haha. Later she said that it is actually illegal to sell iguana! So that was the first and last time I'll do that! 

This week we found 3 inactive families by contacting! It was pretty awesome! They all received us and want to start coming to church. One was a pretty cool story. We were walking home at the end of the day and it was about 8:30pm and on the way i just walked up the a house and hollered! Welp, what do you know, they were an inactive family! It was pretty cool because it was the only house that we contacted on the way home. We had a great spiritual message and it was great. We are actually going to meet with them tonight.

We taught a pretty fun lesson to a man named Rafael Pineda. He immediately accepted the Book of Mormon and kinda got excited! He didn't quite understand that the Book of Mormon means that our church is the only true one though. He whipped out a notebook full of all his questions and ideas of why the churches are wrong and excitedly told us that all they have to do is accept the Book of Mormon! And we can have the unity of faith! It was honestly fun to watch him get all worked up! We are meeting with him soon, hopefully to help him understand a bit more. He is awesome. 

We had a really good week this week. It rained a ton almost all week but we have rubber boots so that didn't stop us! We had an investigator come to church too!  We have a lot to work on, but ya know, just one step at a time! 

The church released their new Christmas initiative recently!

A really nice video and plan for the month of December to celebrate christmas. I recommend looking it up! christmas.mormon.org

Well have a happy week everyone! 

Heres some pics! Some are from my last area!

https://goo.gl/photos/u3KxYNPY3oHiGhVb8

Dia De Gracias Homies Weston Poulson 11/28/2016

Well well well, we meet again. This week was aight. Thanksgiving was a little rough, elder Foster had a migraine the day before and then all through Thanksgiving so I just had a good conversation with my lamp. BUT the Tatro family being as awesome as they are brought me a feast so I did have Thanksgiving!! yahoo! anyways, I don't really know what else happened.

I got to speak on Sunday and that was fun! It's funny, I get ready, got my bullet points all ready then every time I go up to speak and I just go up and never look at them! Spirit of God I'd say! Pretty cool though! I don't really know what I spoke on. Holy Ghost, Gifts of the Spirit and Repentance lol it was good!!!

I don't know though, nothing too outstanding this week! I did get to play some volleyball at Lands End and it was fun! This branch gets competitive haha everytime I'd do something they would all say something about some rule I was like chill just play haha it was funny they were all about their rules, it made it boring but I get it. Also did our weekly service and got pretty creative on how to empty all the garbagio out the door! It was gun. Anyways, yeah.

This week was little slow but also fast. It happens but the point is that it was GOOD! My study of the book of mormon has been awesome and I am currently in the war chapters and honestly I love em. Captain Moroni man.. he's a boss. Just read when he throws down on zarahemnah and his soldier scalps him haha so sweet! i think when I'm in heaven that captain Moroni and James the Mormon should have a rap battle.

But going along with my study I've noticed that my testimony is strengthened in one way or another. It's a slight improvement but it's improvement nonetheless. It's not the speed or rate of improvement that counts it's just the fact that we improve that counts and that's what I love about all of this! We can just wake up one day and be fully converted to the gospel at all time in all places, it forces us to be patient.

Anyways, I had a good week! Love and miss you all! Peace!

~Elder Poulson The Younger

Heres some pics and vids from this week and some from last. Forgot to mention I went on exchanges with elder Su'a he's from california. He's already freezing haha I love it. HOLD IT DOWN!

Wayamaga Dallin Poulson 11/21/2016

HEEY!

Hey there everyone, hope you all had a great week!

So on Wednesday we had transfers and I got to my new area here in Puerto Cortes! 

The best part is that we had to do some office work up here so I was able to drive the new 2016 Mitsubishi L200 out and drop off all of my stuff and myself right at my new house! I got to skip all the bus business! haha I loved the office and everything but man, i am totally ready to hit the ground running again! 

It has been raining a TON here! So much that I got a bit of a cold from my cold little feet on the second day. I went and bought rain boots and we proselyte in those now! My companion is Elder Herrera from Guatemala (my third guatemalan companion!) He is super awesome! I lucked out and he is super obedient and we have a lot of plans for this area. His last companion finished his mission last change and lets just say there wasn't a bunch of motivation to work those last couple of weeks. SO, we have been contacting people all week! It's been really good. We have found several new people and are enjoying ourselves. I feel really good about this area and companion! It's gonna rock!

This week we did several service projects. One day we wheel barreled a bunch of pieces of cement to somebodies backyard that flooded and they wanted to fill it up with the pieces (I am not totally sure why, but hey, we did it anyway!) Later that day before leaving the house, I asked during our prayer for another opportunity to serve someone during the day. We found a family that was moving in from Tegucigalpa and helped them move their couches and fridge and stuff to the second floor of their house! It was cool to have my prayer answered like that. 

Something cool about this area is that there is another language! It is called Garifuna and it is spoken by some costal tribes. I am looking for a book to try and learn a bit! I think it would be super cool! (my email title is Garfuna for Iguana!)

We had some great lessons this week and it was just a good week! 

I want to share something that our president shared with us this week!

“Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. . . “with … steadfastness in Christ, … a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.” In courageously pursuing such a course, you will forge unshakable faith, you will find safety against ill winds that blow, even shafts in the whirlwind, and you will feel the rock-like strength of our Redeemer, upon whom if you build your unflagging discipleship, you cannot fall.” 

It is a super good quote! I am trying to apply it into my life. 

Sorry I couldn't reply too much again. Ran out of time cause we are moving houses soon. 

Have a happy week everyone!

photos!

https://goo.gl/photos/j1biy5QK6vEP25Tz7

Clapped a Raccoon Weston Poulson 11/21/2016

So this week was full off migraines and meetings haha GOOD WEEK THOUGH!

Didn't get a whole lot of teaching in but we did get in with a really less active member who actually might not be a member so idk about that but it was a great lesson and man am I so grateful to have Elder Foster as my companion, that man is awesome!!! haha He knows literally the answer to any question, deep doctorin or whatever it doesn't matter haha.

So I forgot my camera too so yall are just going to have to deal with it haha I HIT A RACCOON THOUGH! First time I've ever hit something and it was kinda funny. Mom stop reading here and skip ahead but we were driving out in the country on a country road and this huge raccoon thought it could outrun the Corolla... mistake. on the real though, I tried to stop but it got clapped haha that's for stealing all my cats food when I was a kid though!!!! haha Good Time.

Seriously I can't remember much else but this week is Thanksgiving and I've had gratitude be the focus of all my emails lately so this is going to be different this week! In Alma 14 we read about Alma and Amulek and how they are cast into prison. One of my favorite stories, go read it cause I have no time to make this legit and official but I want you to notice how the miracle of the prison walls tombling was wraught. study it. Then when you think you've found it go to Moroni 7 for your answer. I beleive ether 12 as well has one tha'ts better but in Moroni 7:35-37 it talks about how miracles are wrought and how they are still happening today. I love this and I love the scriptures and my testimony grows every day. My heart is filled with gratitude for all my past trials and to have been able to grow from them and also to have grown up in the gospel with my family. I love my family and I love my Heavenly Father and brother Jesus Christ in his name I leave this amen.

Love and miss you all! but I'm going to go play some basketball so PEACE!

~Elder Weston Poulson

La Brigada Medica Dallin Poulson 11/12/2016

OOOOiiiii

Hey there! This week was awesome. I can't remember everything but something super cool was that I got the opportunity to spend almost two days helping set up and translate at a Medical Brigade that they are doing here in San Pedro Sula. A bunch of Dentists and Doctors (mostly from Utah) came down and they set up a very impressive clinic here in a stake center. The whole thing is to help future missionaries come and get their dental work and medical stuff done to be able to send in their papers. The doctors pay their own way and everything! Almost $3,000 each! They work for a good 12 hours a day most days. By the end of it they help about 700 future missionaries from Honduras. They go to two central american countries a year. I think the website is smilesforcentralamerica.com 

Anyway, we helped set it up on Monday and it took a long time! Today they called us and asked us to help translate for the doctors!

I got to help with the oral surgery part and help while they took out wisdom teeth! Elder Elmer FAINTED! It was kinda funny but it freaked out some of the nervous kids haha It was honestly such a cool experience.I got to help a bunch of different doctors and different things.  Worth sacrificing a PDAY thats for sure. 

Due to that i don't have much time to write. But I want to share something that I noticed. Service really is the reason we are here. I have never seen so many working people that were so happy! All of these people were sacrificing their time and money to help others and it was just such a beautiful thing to see and be a part of. It was great! 

OH YEAH! I forgot! I am getting transferred!!!! I am going to the BEACH! It is called Puerto Cortés, a port for Honduras! It's pretty hot there but I  think it's going to be so cool! So I wont be writing until the NEXT Monday, like the 21st of November!

Welp, keep on being the best everyone! 

Adiooooos.

I don't have my camera... so no pics: (But just know I am smiling! 

Dallin

Portunol Weston Poujson 11/12/2016

Once again, I had no idea what to caption this email so I thought I'd just caption it with this haha so in Uruguay they have people who speak Spanish and Portuguese and they call it portunol. kinda like how we call spanish and english spanglish. 

Anyways, this week was alright! My companion ran out of migraine medication so i spent a couple days bottled up in the apartment. Something cool came of it though, I decided to go out and read our Pursuit of Happiness out on our porch thing and get some fresh air. well, I read it all haha I was on like page 58 from Milwaukee then binge read the rest in a couple hours haha its a great book though!

This week I was able to do a lot of studies and what I'm doing this time through the Book of Mormon is paying more attention to people and the story. i find that it has helped me to be able to connect more with whose writing, so I suggest it!

I started a book of gratitude a couple weeks ago and i love it. Made a goal for this month to write ten things daily I'm grateful for (typically from the day before) at the beginning of my studies and I love it! Almost at 300 and it's great!

But yeah, we didn't get out to teach much but Sunday Elder Foster was feeling better so before church we went out and tracted for a bit and taught a few lessons! It was good to get out and get teaching again, no return appointments though! However Sunday evening we noticed like 15 people out on the courts so we stopped by to play with them! It's always funny to cross someone or hit a three in a shirt and tie. Haha it was fun and we talked to James and Mario. Coolest dudes ever. Mario is from Jamaica and has been here for 2 years. HE'S A RAW ATHLETE! Picked up a basketball for the first time two years ago and can ball! Pretty cool. He's not like a Jamaican you see on the Olympics either, he's like linebacker size haha he lifted a ton in Jamaica. Anyways, we tried to exchange numbers but we never have service and he didn't know his number but he has ours! so hopefully we'll get to play ball with them soon and maybe get them to church.

But yeah, that was my week! Wise words from Wes this week is going along with my B of M study lately and also gratitude. When we read the story of Abinadi, he was given the opportunity to take everything back that he said, or be put to death by fire. He wouldn't and he finished his words. This is a great story to read and I highly encourage you all to read it. I believe it's in like Mosiah 16 or 17 but after i read it I was just filled with even more gratitude. I'm grateful for abinadi and for the testimony of the ten commandments that he sealed with his blood. I'm grateful to have that in the B of M and so I want ya'll to find a story or someone your grateful for in the B of M! Study it! It's FUN! haha I know that sounds weird but one of the fruits of the spirit is joy so take my word for it!

Ya'll have a great week! You know I will! Have a Happy Day!

~Elder Weston Poulson

​

Dallin: Hey I did a gratitude thing too! One day during my personal study I was a bit bored and I decided to list off all of my possessions on the mission. Over 350! Blew my mind! Another time I listed off about 100 blessings that i have received and it was pretty easy. Gratitude is cool man. Good email and dope pictures. 

I just picture you doing that Uncle Drew stuff to the guys as you hoop with them bro! Bummer about having to stay in the apartment. Glad you are finding ways to be productive though! (Buy a ukulele :D ) have a good week man!!

Hakuna Matata Dallin Poulson 11/5/2016

Hey Everyone! As I sit here, trying to think of what happened this week, my mind is blank! I usually bring my journal to remind me but I forgot it today. So I might just share some thoughts and stuff!

This week I had a couple of dreams. (No, i am not going to go all hippy on ya!) Some dreams of being at home after the mission. One even involved riding a motorcycle and all that jazz. Talk about baggy/trunky! But actually, quite the opposite! After waking up the second time I had a dream like that and reflecting on it throughout the day I realized that it's going to be really hard to go home! This has become my life for the time being, and the fact that I can't really do it again makes me want to stay here and take advantage of it. The mission's not easy, or even that fun most the time, but it's very worth it. Recently I have gained a lot more of an appreciation for what it is that I am doing out here. Now, friends and family, don't think that I am not excited for the day that we will see each other again! I am just saying that I'm grateful that I have this time right now and then the rest of my life to be with you guys! 

This week we taught several investigators and it went pretty good for the most part. Some new and some older investigators. We have been finding some new parts of our area. One day we finally got into a closed residential but the guards told us that we can't knock on any doors. So we just took all the hand out cards and put something like ´´free yardwork 9898-9889 -the missionaries´´ on them and left them on EVERY DOOR. About 70 houses I think! We did get to know the guards a bit better so maybe some day we'll be able to knock some doors! 

On Sunday we went to teach a man named Max that usually we can't find in his house. I felt like we should go to his house first and he showed up just as we got there. We had a good lesson with him!

Later, we saw a man washing his car and I asked where the rags were. He was confused and I grabbed one and we washed his car with him. He was really cool and brings out his girlfriend and told her to go buy us some baleadas! He asked what we wanted and I mentioned that I can't eat baleadas right now but my companion could eat mine, he said, ''oh what can you eat?'' I said my diet is basically eggs, meat, and veggies. He told his girlfriend, ''you heard him, go buy him that!'' And she did! It was pretty cool!

Today we got down and dirty on PDay and went to the flea markets. We rode a rapidito (little van full of 20 people) to the center and bought some stuff. It was fun! I got a pretty cool hawaiian shirt for 60 cents. 

Aaaand for the rest of Pday we made origami in the office! Good times. Anyways, keep being awesome! Keep on keeping on!

-Elder Poulson

PICS:

sorry about the lack of pictures, my camera's screen broke and it's difficult to use haha

https://goo.gl/photos/kfLEVJcowRHKJPkm9

ps. I feel a lot better this week. Still on the diet thing but i can now eat fruit a little bit so thats nice!

Back In MADTOWN Baby!! Weston Poulson 10/31/2016

 Well I'm back in mad town this week and I'm pumped about it! I love pdays here haha I get to hoop today so that's tight!! Anyways, this week was good, did lots of service, went on two exchanges and yeah, good week!

Tuesday we had interviews with president and we were last so we were there from 12 to 6!! It was good, we are having zone conference and interviews every transfer now so that's cool.

Wednesday we went on blitz's with the zone leaders and I went with Elder Newbry. He killed (was companions with a missionary for their last transfer) Elder Neves so we got to talk quite a bit haha it was fun but we taught a bunch of people and found some new people too! Sad part was that the family I told you about last week dropped us. No idea why it shocked the crap outta me but aye, it happens.

Thursday we go to do some service and it was my kind of service! Been doing quite a bit of construction lately and I'm lovin it! We went to the Tatro's to hang an old barn wood beam for a mantel. Brother Worthington told us to come and it turned out GREAT! He's having us come over this Saturday to paint one wall in his man cave so I'm pumped about that! Maybe go deer huntin again..;)

Friday went on exchanges with Elder Dahlke! he's from Germany, it was good, he's so EXACTLY obedient it's not even funny like I'm exactly obedient but he like does it all. Like doesn't break the speed limit, stuff like that haha it was cool to watch. Anyways, we taught a bunch of people and tracted for like 4 hours so WOOOHOOOO so much fun.

Saturday, we finished up exchanges, went to go tear down some shelves then helped move an RC to another home, out of her old nasty trailer so she can have a good place to live. It was good, took about 4 hours. Felt great to get some fresh air for a while!

Church was good yesterday! FINALLY HAD A SOMEWHAT NORMAL SUNDAY! It was the fifth Sunday so we had a combined 3rd hour.

Anyways, I forgot to do a wise words from Wes last week so forgive me but this weeks is to just go out and make somebody smile or laugh today. Well, don't hold them gun point and tell them to smile and laugh but you get the point. Thanksgiving is coming up which means your all going to see what everyone is grateful for on social media but I promise you if you go out of your way at least once a day to make someones day, your soul will be filled with gratitude!

Thats all folks. Have yourselves a SWEET week!

HOLD IT DOWN! ~Elder Poulson

This week was.. AMAZING!!! I went uhhh... deer hunting:) Weston Poulson 10/24/2016

This week was.. AWESOME! I couldn't have asked for a better year mark! But to start the week off, tuesday we had DTM and it went aight. Wednesday we decided to grab a couple rakes and go tractin'! and it worked REALLY WELL! haha We contacted a referral and also got a new investigator out of it! Annnnnd did some service! Fun service at that!! I'll send a video and some mid work selfies for yall, it was awesome. 

Cool stuff that happened before I blow this email up with a wall of text about my year mark. Last week, Thursday or Friday I can't remember, we went back to follow up with a guy named Cord. He told me the first time that he has been deer hunting quite a bit so to come later in the evening. Safe to say, we bonded immediately on the porch. Anyways, after a few weeks of try by's and no answers we finally went by the other night when we KNEW THEY WERE HOME! hah They left their windows open and they were all playing in the living room and we could hear em! So, we rang it and they all went silent! They slowly opened the door and were like.. "Oh it's just those church guys, we're good" Apparently there was a guy running around Dodgeville with a knife and they were just warned about it. ANYWAYS what I'm getting to is his wife Suzette came out and was SUPER interested! She was saying how she grew up Catholic but didn't think too much of it and how she's more like on the science side of it right now. But she asked if she could set up a time to meet with us. We were shocked... normally we say that haha it was weird but YEAH!! haha So we are going by tonight. We prayed hard that my cold would be gone by tonight but no progress. Also, slight side note, halfway through the conversation cord tapped me and showed me a pic of a buck his father-in-law shot haha We chatted a bit. Those moments are what missionaries live for. Building trust and relationships. 

Moving on. That's not all though, when we tracted with leaves we knocked on a home day-care place and the mom (owner of the home) answered and let us rake her leaves. Well, when she was closed she came out and started talking to us and started asking a bunch of questions about us, about Mormons, and also said how she is super curious about other religions and she said we could come back and share a message. It was funny cause she was like "normally Jehovah Witnesses or other people just come, give you a pamphlet expect you to read it and then they ask if they can come back to explain it to you a week later." at that moment, we knew we did the right thing that day. There was no other way for us to contact her! Anyways, we made a big leaf pile for her daughter and played with her dog for a bit. We'll be going back there soon. Should be sweet. 

Now.. for my year mark. This day was like the greatest day of my life haha We went to the Worthingtons to do some service. We got there at 11 and right off the bat I was BLOWN AWAY!!! So to explain the Worthingtons, he's a die hard hunter, loves the outdoors and owns a REALLY big construction company. He's an owner, so he's like.. a millionare. Anyways, the reason why this is relevant is cause he has a massive shed that is a Man Cave. Like.. he built it as a shed so nobody would see the inside but MAN IT'S SO NICE! He's sided the whole inside with old barn wood and has SO MANY ANIMALS! so insane. I'll send you guys a vid of it but it's all so amazing. Has a memory foam fold out bed in there, a 50" flat screen in the "Gun Room" which will soon have a Jail door from the early 1800's keeping it locked. So cool. Anyways, his bull scored 396. Idk you'll see the vid but I go in there and after a quick walk through of everything I helped him hang a cool header for his door way to his camo room and that was fun to do and also helped side it. Fun getting back into the carpentry. Then (you'll see in the video where there is plywood) we put old barn tin going up above the old barn wood siding. It's like a half and half. it's cool. In the video you'll only see plywood but we put old grey barn tin going up. It's cool. Anyways, he was talking to us and me and him were just talking a ton on what all could happen and he was saying how he wants to put a 70 inch flatscreen in there. (The next day when we went back, he told us his wife approved it!!) That way we can go there for conference. I'm hoping to skype there so I can show my fam!! Anyways, that was like half the day. It gets around 5, and he was like, dinner or do you guys want to go hunting first?? HUNTING! YO! I WENT HUNTING!!! CAN YOU BELEIVE IT???? SO COOL!! You can use crossbows in Wisconsin. So we went hunting and I saw the first deer. And in Wisconsin a deer tag is 12$ over the counter. Have to be 10 to hunt. Anyways so you can shoot 3 bucks (1 per season) and 3 doe's. So as we were hunting, we were up in the blind and he stood up and shouldered his bow but couldn't get a shot off. He was going to shoot a doe. I know it was just a doe but still.. would have been cool. You can buy a tag here for 12$ over the counter and you can get up to 6 total deer. They shoot does for the meat and you get one doe and a buck per season. I think that's how it works. Anyways, that was sweet! The next day we went back to help them out in the morning and we put up some more tin and that, it takes a long time to cut it all and stuff. But after, we had a huge bon-fire. And it was my year mark and I had to burn a shirt anyways so we did it for my ceremony. Let's just say brother Worthington went all out ahha 4 gallons of diesel fuel later, we had a fire! I'll send ya'll the vid! haha good day! 

Anyways, crazy week, loved every minute of it, I'm excited to teach all the peeps here in Dodgeville!! Love you all, Have a Happy Day!

~Elder Weston Poulson

What a Fun Guy! (Fungi) Dallin Poulson 10/29/2016

This week was absolutely fantastic! 

On Sunday, we had a little bit of the best day ever! We had 4 investigators from different houses come to church! FOUR! And the most amazing part? Two of them are in wheelchairs and (luckily I am in the richest ward in our mission) the members helped us bring them to and from church! One was Luis from last week. Anahí came also, she really enjoyed it as well. 

Another great thing happened on Sunday, we taught Balsamina and invited her to be baptised. She said YES! On the condition that we keep teaching her everything and she wants to be baptized in December! She said that she had been praying and got her answer! The best words I have ever heard on my mission by far.  Sunday was fantastic. Even finished it off with a great homemade hamburger without the bun haha just lettuce wrap due to my diet.

Speaking of my diet, it isn't by choice! Due to the fungal infection (Candida) in my gut I have to stay away from basically everything that feeds it. It's called the Candida diet! Basically all I can eat is eggs, meat, veggies (not all of them) and yogurt (unsweetened). I can't even eat fruit! Super fun huh? Turns out when it dies it actually makes you feel worse for a while before it gets better. I am already feeling that so hopefully I am on my way to getting rid of it. It makes me super exhausted and something funny is that I throw random english words into conversations on accident. At the house, it is puro spanglish!  But it will be worth it! There is also the plus side that I am losing a lot of fat along the way! All that weight I gained in the office and before is gone! We're talking a solid 20 lbs! (Not all of it was lost due to this diet, we had been doing a ton of exercise before hand) 

Anyway, thats gross! I am sure you didn't want to hear that one haha I heard that my brother Weston got a cold, same here bro! 

Besides all that, on Tuesday, President invited us to have dinner at his house!!! Woohooo!  It was great! 

This week we found an investigator that came to general conference. We set an appointment and she actually called us a couple hours beforehand to ask if we were still coming! She was so open and nice and it was a great lesson. Her name is Carol.

Anyways, everything is going great! Don't yall worry about me and my health, it won't be long before I can eat another Tres Leches cake haha

-Elder Dallin Poulson

fotitos:

https://goo.gl/photos/bTaM8RUVAiefgN4Q9

Gringos y Guacamayas Dallin Poulson 10/22/2016

Hey there everyone?

Welp this will be my second week in a row writing without very much time! I'm really sorry about that!

This week, we had a lady that we were not teaching come to church because her son was in some legal trouble and thought that she could have him do service for the church. Her name is Patricia and she invited us to come teach her on Monday. We went and we also met her brother, Luis, who injured his foot while cliff diving a couple months ago (he lives in Roatan, a really really cool island off of Honduras) and is still recovering. They told us about the many, many, many problems in their lives and really wanted to know why we have so many problems in this life. That is a hard question to answer! We decided to teach them about the plan of salvation and the purpose of our time here on earth. We explained that we live in a fallen world and because of that, nothing can be perfect. We have spent three lessons with them this week just talking about trials and how they can make us grow.  

I like the analogy of purifying gold. As most of us know, to purify gold, we need a lot of heat. That way all of the impurities will burn away. I asked if they knew how gold was purified and Luis went on for about 10 minutes about how gold is purified and the different karats and a bunch of other stuff! He works in jewelry manufacturing! haha perfect example for him. But I guess why I am sharing this is because that question is kinda hard! I think each one of us have to go through our own process of looking for the answer. It might be through experience, or study, or prayer, or probably a combination of the three. But what I do know, is that even though we suffer at times, it won't last! We will come out of it more pure, we just have to trust that we are in the Master's hands and He is going to make us something we could have never even imagined. Something magnificent! 

I have been reading the book ''Our Heritage''. It talks about the start of the church and all of the trials and hardships and obstacles that the early latter day saints had to go through. I didn't know about most of it and it's really eye opening. The more I read, the more I am impressed that these people knew that what they were doing was right. It is truly incredible what they did and were able to overcome. It is helping me get a better perspective on the ''purification'' process that sometimes we will have to go through. 

This week, we got a lot done in our area! It feels real good. President set the goal to have us leave the office at 3 every day. Which is waaaay earlier than before and we thought it wasn't really possible. But we have been doing it (pretty well) and leaving some stuff for another day but I can definitely see it helping us in our area. Things have been picking up! Its kinda sad that I will be leaving it soon! 

Welp, other than that, we got permission to go to Copan Ruinas today for PDay. We also had to take 6 beds out there (to other missionaries) so we killed two birds with one stone. It was Super fun and a lot cheaper this time because I am now a legal Honduras citizen :D

We went into th tunnels and also a giant museum because it was cheaper. It was really cool. One of the guides gave a tour to Spencer W. Kimball and said he was a really good man. Also has a Book of Mormon signed by him!  We took a pictue with him!

Welp have a fantastic week everyone! Love ya!

https://goo.gl/photos/WeAWzeCWzPuE6PJ78

Pics!!

-Dpouls

(no subject) Weston Poulson 10/17/2016

This week was pretty uhhhh average haha didn't get hit by a car, didn't get any chew spit on me, no dogs biting, no pouring rain or deadly lightening.. just lady bugs in the apartment.. that's it. We have no idea how they get in here but they sure are fun to flick off the walls haha it's funny.

ANYWAYS! Monday was the best pday I've had in MONTHS! Played ball with the elders in Madtown and let me just say this.. I'M TERRIBLE! haha okay not terrible but man, there was a lid on the rim! or I've been out in the sticks for like.. almost 6 months haha all good though, went and hooped today at the park here and found it again, it was fun! Our whole branch basically works at Lands End headquarters and they have really nice courts there so we are going to start playing on Tuesday nights! I AM SO EXCITED!!! The members here in Dodgeville are SO AWESOME! 

Basically some cool stuff that has happened this week was Zone Training meeting. Elder Foster got a migraine half way through so we went to the chapel and I studied some of the BoM. Got subway after, that was tight haha.

We went and tracted on Friday and it went really well! We knocked on this old ladies house and she came out and said how tired she was and how much work in the yard she had to do! I was quick to say "Oh that's not even a problem we're going to do it for ya!" She was more then grateful! Plus, I mean it was only raking leaves and her yard was pretty small so about 10 minutes later, we knocked on the door and taught the full restoration! Went pretty well, me and elder Foster are going to keep going back on the regular and rake her leaves and shovel her driveway when its time. Her name is Arlene  by the way. 

We had branch conference yesterday and it was pretty good! All of the stake leadership came to "The Lodge" and we had a good conference! Still haven't had a regular church meeting in Dodgeville.. it will be a month before I do! haha it's all good though! It's the promised land! I love it here! After branch conference we had a feast! It was wonderful. I love home cooked food:) 

I honestly can't think of anything else, sometimes these weekly emails are just basic, I'm sorry! haha but hey! something really cool has been happening to me lately and I want to share it as my Wise Words from Wes today. 

This past week, in the mornings I was feeling uneasy and pretty stressed out for some reason, who knows. Anyways, I noticed a couple weeks ago that I had been leaving the book of mormon out of my studies. I had just finished reading it two times in a row and wanted a little bit of a break. I remembered something I used to do which was to pray with real intent for God to reveal the truth of the Book of Mormon to my soul through one of the fruits of the spirit, specifically Peace. Without fail it has worked when I diligently studied the book. I also prayed for specific verses to stick out to me in my current situation that would give me comfort and it did. Doing this has strengthened my testimony so much so I have to share it with you all. If you haven't studied the Book of Mormon for a while I'd invite you to do so but to first get on your knees and pray for the spirit to manifest the truth of it to you through one of the fruits of the spirit. I promise you that each time you do this with real intent, your testimony of Jesus Christ will grow! 

Love you all, I hit a year mark on Friday so on Friday think of me cause I'll be lightin up a shirt!! haha I'm so excited! Hopefully gonna make it a blast! 

Have A Happy Day!!

~Elder Weston Poulson ​

1 Year Mark Dallin Poulson 10/15/2016

Well, howdy!

This Friday, I finished my first year on the mission! That has made me do a lot of reflection about this past year. I almost can not believe that it has really been a year! I want to share with you all a couple of the things I have learned in this past year. 

Since day 2 on the mission, I had a ''mighty'' change of heart. You could say that a heart was made soft. I remember just sitting on my bed in the Provo MTC, reflecting on the day and the classes and how we asked for the spirit to guide us. All at once I realized that that feeling in my chest was the spirit. And if I was feeling the spirit, that means that it is actually real. And if the spirit is real, Jesus Christ really did live! I remember I said to my roommates at the time, ''Guys, Jesus is real! I know it!'' I remember Elder Lorenzo and him just smiling as I said that. Man, that was just such a good moment. Ever since then I have fought for the spirit every day. It motivates me, it helps me have confidence. I remember talking to my Dad before the mission and telling him that I was a bit worried about going and talking to people about the Gospel, something that really wasn't part of my personality. He reassured me that it would come, but I never expected the power of the Holy Ghost and how it really could convert me. 

The mission is a giant roller coaster!  Really tall highs and really short lows. One day can be amazing and the next, almost unbearable! I have learned a lot about the importance of gratitude and also the power of positive attitude. 

In short, I have changed, I would say for the better. I have been blessed to be around many, many, many good people on my mission. I have learned lessons that could not be taught in any other way. I guess, without preaching to you all, what I am getting at is that I am finally understanding what the real purpose of this life is. It is to love. No matter what! I aint saying I'm Ghandi or anything! But I know I am on a better path than before! The best path!

Something else that I have grown to understand better is the love that is given to us from our Heavenly Father. He is always there, always! Even when we just messed up big time? He is there to listen. Just had the best day ever? He's still there! Hardest trial of your life? He is definitely there, heck, he has sent you some angels to help you out as well. Man he loves us! Even when we don't believe that He is, He is there. 

The mission has been such a huge blessing to me and to my family. I am so grateful for this opportunity. 

I got one more year to go, I aint lookin to go in reverse! Thank each and every one of you for all the emails and support, you really do help me a lot. You're the best!

Shoutout to Elder Weston Poulson, my broski, He will be finishing his year this week!!! I am so lucky to have had this experience to be able to serve at the same as my brother! He has been a huge help to me. 

As for this week, I almost got bit in the face by a dog! I was by the gate and knocked and all the sudden a dogs face was right next to mine and almost got me! Sucker can jump!!! 

I started a page in my ''Goal book called 1000 Blessings, I might make it 10,000 blessings! I started writing down all the blessings I could think of. Most of which are the great people in my life like you guys! It was a super cool experience, I hope to finish the 1000 soon. Highly recommend that!

This week we found a part of our area has MANSIONS. HUGE! Every house has their personal Guard and so we just talked to them. Some Gringos said Hola to me as we walked past them. Odd experience! But it was nice to find a new neighborhood to teach. 

Went to the doctor and I had to take a..... poop test this week. YEah you know, the poop test.  I guess I have had a fungal something or other in my stomach so I have to go on a little diet and take a bunch of probiotics. It's not too bad though!

We had an investigator family show up to church at the third hour! Some members walked into our class and said that some of our investigators came! Wooooohooo!! 

I burned a shirt as an honor of completing one year! It was a good time!

We actually did something awesome for Pday for the first time in a couple months! We went to another waterfall that is called Ocotillo! It was super awesome and nice to get into nature again. 

Thanks everyone! Sorry for the wall of text!

Elder Poulson

Pics

https://goo.gl/photos/w9AUQ8ZH8XPqKyso6

PS: SORRY I DIDNT RESPOND TO ANYONE, I HAVE 0 TIME TODAY! :)