I Swear I'm in the Orem Ward Again.. Weston having deja vu

At first I was like ok woah, this is just like my Orem Ward building!

Then I went outside and saw the scout trailer.. it's Troop 190!!!! haha what???? 

Lake Mills? ..More Like Ptown! Weston Poulson 5/31/2016

Well, Lake Mills is pretty awesome!! I went from being in the smallest area in our mission to the largest! I cover 9 towns out here in the boonies of Wisconsin! You know when you drive out in West Mountain and get into Payson? that's kinda what it's like when we go from town to town! haha we get a Toyota Carolla so that's pretty legit! It doesn't do so hot on the dirt roads though.. hahah here's a pic of my area to give you an idea!

...Just kidding it's not THAT bad but this is my area! There are a bunch of fields and long drives to the cities so that is nice! Much different from the 10 streets I had in my old area in the middle of the Milwaukee hood! haha 

Well this week was pretty interesting! Had to say bye to all the people in Milwaukee and then move to Lake Mills! Right off I was excited cause we teach Spanish AND English! it's weird saying things you want to say in a lesson without the language barrier in there! I like it though! White people are hard to tract though, I will say that but I'm always up for a challenge! We found like 4 hispanic families this week which is a miracle because they had found two in the last 5 months! So all is starting off well here!

We didn't have any investigators at church this Sunday but hopefully we will get some next week! We have some that there parents won't let them get baptized so we are trying to work on the parents a bit!

A member here loves golf and so does my comp! There is a nice 18 hole course right next to my apartment! He has two full extra sets of clubs.. its awesome:)

We have an outdoor hoop in my apartment parking lot so we play 1v1 every morning for our workouts and it's been fun! Munched my ankle a bit but it's healing up well! I will say, shots not the same! haha haven't played in a LONG time! i'll get it back though!

Sorry this email is a little lame but we are working really hard and trying really hard to find a bunch of people and get a teaching pool going here! It's weird because we can't follow up with people immediately the next day because we will be 20 miles away in a different town so it's different! I like it though! 

We did our Spanish study at the lake by our apartment the other night and it was nice! pretty peaceful and quiet! I snapped a pic of a dude just chillin in his canoe!

Not bad eh? hah I'm using a new camera Elder Neves gave to me so the quality will be better! 

Hope you all had a great week! love you all so much! My pday will be on Monday again next week! Peace! Weston

La Oficina Dallin Poulson 5/28/2016

Well, look at this! I am writing on SATURDAY. 

I got called this week to work in the office of the mission as the General Secretary. I take care of a bunch of random things that need to be done. Best news is that I work in air conditioning! Bad news is I only have 2 or 3 hours to work in my area every day. That will be weird for sure. My area is full of really really rich people. That's also very different. 

I live in a giant house now. GIANT. It's a whole new world here in San Pedro Sula. I find myself marveling at the Mall and the McDonald's and the nice grocery stores. Things I haven't really seen too much in the last 7 months! 

I get to drive the mission truck soon! Super pumped about that!

But yeah, P Days for me are now on Saturday. Possibly for the next 6 months.

As for the rest of the week, back in Mochito we did divisions with the ZLs and it was fun! Had a great time with them. I said goodbye to the families I have gotten to know there. One little 5 year old girl, who I have only talked to twice, started crying super hard. Melted my heart! So we took a silly picture :D  

On Thursday I got all my bags and went to San Pedro. I am being taught by Elder Pieper all the tricks of the office before he leaves next week. I live with 7 other people right now! It's wild! 

I was able to teach a pure english lesson on Thursday night. We taught a lady from Arizona that works in the embassy. English Book of Mormon and English Bible. I felt like I was in the states as an English speaking missionary. Super cool experience. We'll keep teaching her but probably in Spanish because my new companion will not be able to teach in english. 

That's all I got for now!     Dallin

Pics! 

https://goo.gl/photos/8wvWmjRpaTKwzUMk7

¡No te preocupes, sé feliz! Dallin Poulson 5/23/2016

First off, we almost got struck by lightning this week! There was a thunderstorm out of nowhere and we were on top of a mountain. I heard lightning and thunder far away and didn't think much. 

Then, FLASHBOOM! A flash of light and half a second later a GIGANTIC BOOM. I almost fell down. Turns out we were like 40 yards from a lightning rod! AAAH. We later visited a family and told them the story and the mother told us that her mom was killed by lightning. Oh. Crazy stuff! 

Another crazy story is that our investigator Manuel, the one with the scar on his face from a bottle, saved a teenager the other day. The kid got stabbed or something and he gave him CPR and drove him to San Pedro Sula. He told us the story way too casually. Like it was nothing! That stuff is crazy!

We gave a member a blessing this week. He disappeared on Tuesday and got drunk and left his wife and daughter without telling them. We shared the parable of the lost sheep the day after and assured him that there is hope and he just has to repent. It was a heavy lesson. But they asked for a Priesthood Blessing and it was a real good experience. They all came to church on Sunday, the first time I have seen them attend since I've arrived. It really surprised me cause we eat there on Tuesdays and he's super nice and I would have never guessed he had a problem. They're doing much better though.

I realize this email is a bit depressing so far so here's the good news!

We had an amazing multizone conference on Tuesday! 3 zones met together with President, his wife, and the assistants and we had several workshops and lectures. It was a powerful experience. It's President Desters last one and he was so sincere in everything. We learned about how important it is for investigators to read the Book of Mormon. Also the character of our Heavenly father and other things. 

We taught temples and temple work several times this week and it was a really great experience. The spirit was with us during those lessons for sure. 

We did splits yesterday with two young men who are filling out their mission papers. It was fun and a cool experience. They already know how to teach the lessons so it was super easy.

We found a cool family yesterday! The only reason we stopped to talk to them was cause they had a super cool little motorcycle and I wanted to know more. We ended up talking for about an hour with them! I knew my addiction to motorcycles would help me at some point! haha

Side note: Don't do squats in the gym on days that you are going to walk up and down a bunch of hills. 

Woooh. That's all folks! I will upload pics and send the link in another email! Dallin

Pics

https://goo.gl/photos/W6dZxAFxdhqp6z1E7

Milwaukee, Its Been Great! Onto LAKE MILLS!! Weston Poulson May 23, 2016

So I got the text yesterday and I'm being transferred to Lake Mills, WI! I'm going to miss Milwaukee a little but I'll definitely miss the members here! Especially Moises, Alvaro and Payo. I'll never forget those three men, That's for sure! I'm going to miss them! 
But onto a new area, keep the work progressing! I'm going to serve with Elder DeSantis. He's white, first of all ahah and also he's from like Skyline for all you playing at home who try to figure it out! haha have fun. 

This week we had Payo's (Juan Pablo) baptism! it went so awesome! We had moises give a talk on baptism. He was really nervous so we all helped him write it out then we just wrote "Testimony" at the end. Well, he didn't disappoint. At the end of his talk he bore his testimony and also said how grateful he was for his little brother Payo to have made the decision to follow Christ's example.
Then what he said next nearly brought the roof down.. *he said it in spanish but.. you get it* "...Payo I'm so happy you made the decision to follow the example of Christ and be baptized and now I want to invite my parents to do the same." WHY DO I GET TRANSFERRED NOW? haha just kidding but man! Moises is so awesome!
We talked to his mom and I think she'll be baptized in the next few weeks!
I'm so excited for that family, maybe I'll be able to go to the temple with them when they are sealed! That would be cool! Something else that was cool was he has given us three referrals. He's a full blown missionary I tell you! He's always talking to people about the church and inviting them it's so cool! And remember.. he's been a member for 2 weeks! Pretty Awesome!:)

Yesterday we were called by some members of the Kenosha Spanish Branch who live in Milwaukee, to give a blessing and the Primary Childrens Hospital. We of course said yes and they picked us up! All day I had been struggling with this headache that would not go away! So I was really trying to pray and ask for it to leave so we could focus on the spirit and the blessing. Well we got to the hospital and eventually to the room of the little girl and her mom. She was in her mom's lap!
The girl looked so sad and the mom seemed okay with what was happening but wanted the girl to have a blessing. Elder Neves was picked to give the blessing and man, the spirit was strong. My Headache left immediately at the beginning of the blessing through the whole thing. By the end of the blessing the spirit was very strong and clear. When it was over, me and Elder Neves both new the mom needed one too. Save some details but it went great! These are the types of experiences you live for as a missionary. I'm so grateful! 

Also I went on Exchanges with Elder Low! He's from Cedar City! It was a ton of fun! He's the one of me and him in a tree! Very hard to get that pic btw.. haha

This week was great! i'm excited for my new area! My new address is..

400 browns ct. #104 Lake Mills, WI, 53551

Hope you all had a great week! I'm going golfing right now so ill talk to you all next week! Hold it down! Love ya!

HECHANDO FUEGO Weston Poulson 5/16/2016

This week was legit! Alvaro is so 
awesome.. I'm going to miss him! thats for sure! But he was baptized yesterday!!! So awesome to see him in the waters of baptism!

 Something cool this week though and a little background story about Alvaro. His son died when he was like 20 or so from cancer, I believe. The man had to leave Mexico to come here to work and provide for his family because it pays more. His other son has blood cancer I guess and has to get blood transfusions all the time and it costs him quite a bit. He is truly an example to me. Saturday night before the baptism we were teaching him and we went with baptisms for the dead last second. A little bit into the lesson you could just see him light up and he asked us if he could be baptized for his son who passed away. How awesome is that? A man who has been taught for 3 weeks, before he is even baptized is excited to do his family's temple work. Then he asked about his mom and dad if he could do it for them. I'm gonna miss Alvaro, he's a stud! The most humble man I've ever met in my life. 

Thanks for your prayers! We sent the referral to Leon, Mexico and now the missionaries down there are teaching his family. Missionary work is legit eh? Bringing a family together from a country away.

Weston

PULHAPANZAK Dallin Poulson 5/16/2016

Yes, I do realize that it looks like I just smashed my head on the keyboard for a subject line! But I promise it's a word!

Had a great week this week! It was Familly Week for the LDS church in the Central American area.

I had divisions this week with my district leader. He taught me how to talk to EVERYONE. Literally throwing little handout cards at people. While not the most promising of contacts, we sure do get a lot more opportunities that way. 

On Wednesday we had a super fun activity! We made an airplane out of sheets and a portable whiteboard. (pícs to come)

My companion and I dressed up as pilots and accidentally crashed the airplane. WIth the help of other members, we took the people to the three different kingdoms that people go to after resurrection. We had a room that was super dark for the Telestial kingdom, complete with howling kids wearing trash bags! We had a Terrestrial room and also a Celestial room with a lesson in each room. It was super awesome! Shame that none of our investigators made it though.

The next day we had a talent show at the church. It consisted of 3 skits from the members and us missionaries. I have a video which I may upload at some point! It was a super good time. 

On Saturday we went to an english class offered at a local school and helped the students practice their English! It was super fun but to be honest, I think my english suffers a bit now! Now I can't speak either language that well!! haha

We've got some good investigators that we are teaching but none of them are going to church! We're really making some progress with two families. They have started to read the Book of Mormon instead of saying they will! 

Had some really great lessons this week, where people are starting to really get it. 

Understanding is definitely the biggest struggle we have out here so I am happy.

My companion and I got super pumped to focus on finding families to teach so  I´ll let you know how that goes.

I was able to baptize Erick Inestrosa this week! Super nice 14 year old boy who is a baptism of the sister missionaries in our ward. He has had a super rough life and he is so happy about his decision! 

We just went to see a super big waterfall called Pulhapanzak! Really pretty! There are caves behind it but it costs a ton to go to them! 

Here´s some pictures! 

https://goo.gl/photos/dqk5ifhaPczJAA8f7

¡Adios! Dallin

It´s pizza, not peeksa! Dallin Poulson 5/9/2016

Hey there! 

Yesterday I got to talk to my beautiful family!! They're the best ever! Happy Mother´s Day momma! We had some technical difficulties but got it all worked out! Hey family, I love you guys so much! You don't even know! Thank each and every one of you for supporting me so much during my life! 

This week was pretty chill and normal. I would say that we have two progressing investigators. One is Manuel, the one with the giant scar on his face from getting hit by a bottle a couple weeks ago. He just understands everything. He reads the chapters we give him in the Book of Mormon. He kind of challenged himself to baptism. He said ´´So I imagine that you guys are here to help people get baptized right? Is that your purpose?  Welp, yeah! That and a few more things! He's a good guy.

The other one, sadly I am terrible with hispanic names so we will call her Sister Hernandez because I forgot her first name! We taught the Plan of Salvation and she just ate it up. She had sooo many questions from the start that the lesson went out of control so we just decided to read the little booklet with her! Really cool person.

Christian Sanchez, who just got baptized, got pulled out of our Ward Movie Night on Saturday by the police! They took him to the station because of a robbery that was committed. We sent a Book of Mormon with him! He showed up to church the next morning, so I guess they worked it out! Hoping and praying things go smooth from here on out. 

We watched The Other Side of Heaven the other night for a ward activity. Super great movie. Definitely recommended. 

This week I studied Faith. Faith and faith only. I read in a book that faith is the most talked about and least understood principle of the gospel. After studying every day this week about it, I realize that I really didn't understand it that much before. I recommend everyone to try and learn more about faith and the power that comes with it. It changed my view. 

Weston and I were skyping yesterday and we both brought up a verse that we like. Turns out BOTH of our favorite verse is Alma 48 17!  

We hauled a bunch of wood on saturday for service! Evidence in the pictures. There was a good picture opportunity so we took it! 

Photos. https://goo.gl/photos/FWVkUSakV3nbyccj8

Bubbye!  Dallin

Christian Sanchez went hunting and his dog killed this wierd little animal. This is him with the animal pelt.

Say Hi to Moises dressed in white!! Weston Poulson 5/9/2016

This week was pretty awesome if I do say so myself! Moises was baptized yesterday!! Something cool is for his interview we had to walk to a house where the zone leader would be so he just hopped on my bike and I took him over! haha it was pretty funny. Not many missionaries can say they took their investigator to their baptismal interview on their handlebars!

Something cool about this baptism is that I gave a talk on baptism at the beginning. It was pretty awesome because I had spent a bunch of time preparing it in spanish and trying to make my notes so i could say it all correctly and in order but once I got up there, it just came to me without an issue. It was pretty awesome to have the spirit with me. I can't even remember what I said, I didn't even look down at all it was a pretty neat experience!

This week we will be having Alvaro's baptism! He is going deaf which is really strengthening my testimony! He basically can't hear a word in sacrament meeting because whoever speaks is usually too scared to speak loud into the mic! I can tell when he cant hear because he either reads a pamphlet or in the Book of Mormon. I've never met or heard of someone this prepared to live the gospel it makes me so excited! 

Yesterday I was able to talk to my momma!!! It was so awesome!! Shes the best mom in the world and I love her so much! It was great to see the whole fam again as well! even the brotha!! 

Also this week during our lunch time we decided to climb a tree so we could see what Wisconsin looks like! yes.. that's how flat it is out here! haha and I cracked out the hammock and its sweet! My family is awesome, love you all, have a great week!!!

¡TODO GAS SIN FRENOS! Dallin Poulson 5/2/2016

Hey there friends and fam!

First off, baptism this week! 

Christian Sanchez got baptized on Saturday! He was late to his baptism so I was a bit worried but he showed up and it went really nicely. He was super happy about his decision. A bunch of people came from the ward and supported him. That was good because he didn't have any family show up. He has a really big reputation for being a thief/burglar over the years. He even has a nickname for it. But the ward is really supporting him and I am happy about that. 

Trust me he was happy! Just didn't smile for the pic hahah

We did some service on Saturday morning! We hauled a ton of broken cement pieces in bags to dump them in the river! It was not the funnest thing in the world but we got the job done! Directly after that we went to help sell some Pastelitos to raise money for the marriage papers for a couple that want to get baptized. 

All I got to say is that my family loves me a lot. I got my packages from them and yall know how to make me happy! Love you guys!

We have been in busses sooo much this week. 4 plus hours for our zone meeting! 3 hours today to go to see the lake!

Speaking of the lake, we went and saw lake Yojoa, the only lake in Honduras!

Super pretty! Also the whole zone was there! 

Spiritual thought of the week just to keep the spirit in your life. 

Its the best thing you can have, sadly its super easy to forget how it feels. Search for it!

Pics in another email, they upload super slow! 

Toodles!

Good Week! Weston Poulson May 2, 2016

This week was pretty awesome if I do say so myself! We have been teaching Moises a ton and trying to teach him everything before next sunday which is when he will be baptized! yes.. baptized! haha I'm so excited for him and to see him make this step to get closer to the gospel!

This week we knocked on a referral and it was just someone the other Spanish speaking elders talked to briefly on a bus and he lived in our area so we went to teach him! Well, he's super prepared and has a pretty rough story but we are so happy to be teaching him about the gospel and how much it can help him! We think he can be baptized on the 15th of May or maybe the 22nd, we aren't sure yet but we will get back to you on that!  That's it as far as our progressing investigators go! Please keep them in your prayers, Thanks! 

This week was pretty awesome though! Me and Elder Neves got some golf clubs at a goodwill and so we are going golfing next pday! should be fun! It's just a pitch and putt course but we are still stoked! We've been practicing our chip shots in the living room! 

Also I went on an exchange with Elder Whitmore! He's from Kamas and he's super cool I love him! I don't even know if I spelt that right but it's near Park City! We had a good exchange and we got free hot tortillas from a dudes house that we knocked on! Pretty funny when people say your wrong and then you teach them, then they give you food. That's why I love spanish work because you somehow get a return appointment too! Hah love it!

Good week though! sorry this email is super rushed but I gotta go! Love you all! Can't wait to see the family this Sunday! Love ya! PEACE!      Elder Weston