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! :)

OUT HERE IN MADTOWN Weston Poulson 10/10/2016

So to explain my email's title, I'm in Madison today. Madison is where the huge college is. Like The one you guys see on TV that just says "Wisconsin" that's this university. UW Madison. 
Anyways, we are on campus and in the library today, me and Elder Reina worked it out so I could drive half way and he could pick me up so we could have pday here with other missionaries and play some ball! So legit, IDK if I'll be able to do it weekly though, we'll see.

Anyways this week was pretty good! We got some good work in and met with our investigators a little bit too! I know that sentence I just wrote sounds really basic but aye, it gets difficult to come up with new stuff to write weekly haha so deal with it! But this week is kinda a blur so I'll do my best. So to explain my email's title, I'm in Madison today. Madison is where the huge college is. Like The one you guys see on TV that just says "Wisconsin" that's this university. UW Madison. Anyways, we are on campus and in the library today, me and Elder Reina worked it out so I could drive half way and he could pick me up so we could have pday here with other missionaries and play some ball! So legit, IDK if I'll be able to do it weekly though, we'll see.

Anyways this week was pretty good! We got some good work in and met with our investigators a little bit too! I know that sentence I just wrote sounds really basic but aye, it gets difficult to come up with new stuff to write weekly haha so deal with it! But this week is kinda a blur so I'll do my best. 

Wednesday we taught a hispanic man named Tino. He lives in a different area so a senior couple is teaching him but nobody speaks spanish so they drive us out there! It's pretty fun, we get to hang out with the Sass's. They are awesome brother Sass is really funny, just has some really funny phrases haha things like this. "Its about as hard to get them to church as it is to herd cats. " things like that all the time but they are always different! anyways, theyre awesome and we had a good lesson! he said he'd be baptized but no date yet, ill keep yall updated. 

Thursday we tracted a lot and had dinner with the Hansens' that was legit, I love that family.

Basically the week went like that haha but on Saturday we had stake conference and also Sunday! We drove down here to Madtown on Saturday for the priesthood session and it was good! It was kinda like a discussion, I liked it a lot. Then we went out to a dinner appointment with Elder Reina and Christopherson. That was so good we had home-made lasagna. Then had the Saturday night session. It was all really good, we had a big focus on member missionary work. Lots of promised blessings going with it! Also, out of the 18 northern state missions, we came in 3rd for baptisms!!! haha I'm pumped about that!!! We used to be last! Member work really does improve the work A TON! But then we stayed the night with the ZL's (zone leaders house) and that was pretty fun, Elder Reina cut my hair on the sides shorter for me, he did a great job and we all had a good time that night haha
then Sunday conference came around and the same focus was brought about.

So for my wise words from Wes today I'm going to invite you all to find a way to get involved in the missionary work! I know in Utah that can be difficult but just keep in my mind what the lord tells us.. D&C 18:10,15.

10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;          
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and            bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

I don't know about ya'll but that sounds good to me! Even if its just one soul!! ONE!:)
Yall have a happy week cause you know i will!

HOLD IT DOWN!!
~Elder Weston Poulson

¡Mira ve! Dallin Poulson 10/9/2016

This week we had transfers! So it was a crazy couple days here in the office. We had to run at a 100mph for a couple days just to make sure it all went smoothly. 
It actually did go pretty smoothly! I got to go out and work with two new elders that arrived on tuesday. We went out and contacted for a couple hours. I love that opportunity. Most of them say similar things, that it feels like a dream! It really was super weird at first when I got to San Pedro Sula! But man it has been a wild ride and a big blessing for me. They always ask ´´is it always this hot?´´ maaaan it wasn't even hot on tuesday! hahaha but I think I must have gotten used to it at some point because I don't feel like it's as hot as when I got here. 

We had conference this week. Conference is just so great. I was able to feel the spirit so much this past weekend. It was fantastic. I have a ton of notes and starred a couple talks. Now I just gotta get  back to read them again. One part I really liked was the Seventy that talked about having ''Ambition for Christ''. I might write that on my watch or something, I really like the phrase. 

Its kinda crazy to think that I will be completing my first year in the mission this week. WOAH! haha its so weird! But wow, I really love the mission. Is it hard? yes. Is it worth it? Yes. That is what my Bishop told me before I left. He said, ''Nobody said it would be easy, but they did say it would be worth it'' or something along those lines.  It has been hard, but man those small moments where you just feel the spirit with you and you know that you are doing the right thing are what make it all worth it.

Weston has his weekly ''Wise Words from Wes'' so I guess I gotta do my Delights from Dallin (name suggestions welcomed). One thing that impressed me this week was counting our blessings. I literally thought about starting a book with all the blessings I could count. I thought about how I could easily fill up that book and much more. Its funny how we seem to forget about all that God has done for us sometimes, but man, he really has given us everything and will continue to do so as we go on. Especially if we follow him. If you're down, or having a rough day, count some blessings, name them one by one, and you will honestly feel happier. Thats a promise! 

Over and out, love you guys.

Elder Poulson (the older one )

Just a couple pics this week! I didnt have my camera on me too much. 

https://goo.gl/photos/kVXnSEWq7JCFqDtR7