Moustache Monday

It's good to see the elders and their sense of humor!
Dallin got a new companion this week, Elder Gallegos. He is from Peru and speaks NO English. Luckily Dallin is so fluent in Spanish now, they are able to communicate ;) His companion is the senior companion but Dallin is the leader of the area which he said has been hard because his previous companion "ran" the area. We know those missionaries will be blessed for their hard work.
It sounds like Elder Hazelgren is eating quite well in El Salvador. Dallin's zone is the most successful zone thus far and they had dinner at President Glazier's home on p-day. He ate tons of food there and even more at appointments throughout the day. He felt like vomiting from being over-stuffed. Good to know our Elder isn't going hungry!
He has some more baptisms coming up this week. Two of the baptisms are from a family of four. It sounds like the other two of that family will be baptized later.
Elder Hazelgren has a new nickname..."Amazelgren." Apparently he's a really good tree chopper! He is learning the definition of hard work through all his service and missionary work.
This last Friday, our family all received individual letters from Dallin. He also wrote a family letter and at the end of it he bore his testimony in Spanish. It was so neat to read that and see how far he has come already in learning the language. Some of us speak a little Spanish so we were able to understand and translate for the others.
Elder Haze in action....

                                     First baptismal font

 

Three Baptisms

Elder Hazelgren and Elder Vasquez had three baptisms on Saturday! Dallin was very excited to share this news. He shared about Hermana Garcia (hermana is sister in Spanish) and said she has had the missionaries visiting her for four years now and always turned them down and refused to change. Dallin said he and his companion even invited her to be baptized several times and she said no. After General Conference, the Elders shared their thoughts with her and she asked "When is my baptism date?" She had a mighty change of heart. She even asked Dallin to baptize her. Hermana Garcia was very emotional the day of her baptism and Dallin said it was the most spiritual experience of his life. Hermana Garcia said "I don't know how to describe it, but this is the best day of my life."
Elder Hazelgren was asked by another sister to baptize her as well (he didn't mention her name). He said all three of the baptisms were miracles. Hermana Garcia is helping Dallin with his Spanish and he said they are developing a good friendship.
I shared a quote with Dallin from President Lorenzo Snow on missionary work. "There is a way to reach every human heart, and it is your business to find the way to the hearts of those to whom you are called." I thought that quote was very fitting and I'm glad Dallin appreciated it as much as I did.
In April of this year, I was able to go to El Salvador on a dental humanitarian trip. Dallin said that the church building we had our clinic in is where he attends church and plays basketball every week. It was cool to hear that.
Ally and Emmy asked Dallin how the showering conditions were there and he said he showers by dumping buckets of ice cold water on himself daily :/ Yikes!
We are proud of Dallin and loving hearing about the great experiences he is having. It was great to hear about his baptisms and pray daily that he and his companion will find those people who are searching for the gospel in their lives.
Here are some pictures from the baptisms...

                                            Hermana Garcia (Bety Garcia)

               Elders with the 3 ladies who were baptized (Left to Right: Delmy, Milagros, Bety)

                                           Elder Hazelgren, Milagros, Elder Vasquez

Positive Attitude

Dallin was sick this past week but despite that, he still has a positive attitude. He said it was a great week! We were wondering if he'd be able to watch General Conference and if it'd be in English or not. He said all the "gringos" were able to watch it in their own room and it was in English. He really enjoyed the talks on Saturday.
The investigators that watched Conference are already changing for the better. He said several of them have set baptismal dates and he is very excited about that! One of his investigators, Eliseo, was very emotional sharing his experience of learning of Christ and said he wants to get baptized. It's great to see Elder Hazelgren's excitement about this work.
Dallin challenged us all to pick one talk from Conference and apply it in our lives. "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

Workin Hard

The newest commandment according to Elder Hazelgren: Work with urgency. The missionaries have been told to do so and I think it applies to everyone. A great little thought from our missionary. Dallin is also learning how to teach with power and boldness. They've had some investigators that aren't keeping their end of the bargain and Elder Hazelgren said he's had to be bold with them especially since in the Book of Mormon, the prophets taught the people that way.
He loves the climate in El Salvador! He loves the jungle and would probably stay in Central America if he could.
The staple food of El Salvador is called a papusa. Dallin has now figured out that yes, that is the only thing he will eat for two years :) Thank goodness for all the walking they do so he doesn't gain weight!
Elder Hazelgren is learning the power of patience. He's definitely the type who's a "go-getter" and lately his companion hasn't been as focused as he should be which has been frustrating. This last week was a good week he said, very humbling.
Since getting to El Salvador he hasn't had as much time to email so we don't always get elaborations on everything he says. He did say this week that the reason he's so pressed for time is because all the missionaries meet at the Stake Center to email home and they all have to take their turns and they only have an hour to do it all.
Dallin went on splits with his zone leader and was very confident in doing things like where to go, who to call. His zone leader said he's doing a great job.
Here are the two pictures we've received since his arrival in El Salvador...

                                        Elders...(his companion is on the far left)

                                        "Service projects are no laughing matter"

Life in El Salvador

First off, sorry there was no post last week. Dallin didn't send a generic email & we just got a little busy. He tells us in his family emails that his time is limited but he will try to send more emails so everyone can hear from him.
He is doing good, still having culture shock. He said he's struggling with the language but he's very hard on himself so I'm sure he's doing great. The weather is very rainy so he's loving that. His companion and he are getting more investigators; he said there was 8 at church on Sunday.
Elder Hazelgren said last week that El Salvador is very dirty with tons of pollution but he looks out in the distance and it's like paradise. It's really green down there from all the rain. He said he works in the jungle a lot because most of the investigators live so far from civilization.
Dallin also said he's having a hard time sending pictures because they take so long to download but when I get some, I'll post them immediately :)
Also, Dallin celebrated his 19th birthday last Monday, he said it was different than any other birthday but in a good way.

First week in El Salvador

Dallin is definitely having a culture shock. I don't think he knew what to expect and its way different than what he did picture. The filth will take some overlooking. His living situation is very dirty and there are bugs everywhere in his apartment. Apparently his apartment is called "The Palace" and it sounds nothing like a palace. On a scale from 1-5, he rates it at a -3....
He is loving his companion which is an answer to prayer. He really wanted a good first companion so he's very grateful he got one. His companion, Elder Vazquez is from Honduras and he is the best trainer.
They've had several lessons already and each time Dallin is improving with his Spanish. They don't go tracting at all, it's a mission rule. They work off member referrals only. He said he is in the most baptizing mission area but as of his first week, he doesn't see how that's true. He has a good attitude and said they will work super hard.
In El Salvador, they have two seasons; the dry season and the wet season. It's the wet (rainy) season now which makes the humidity worse. Dallin said as soon as he stepped off the plane in El Salvador, he got hit with the hottest, most humid weather he's ever felt. Welcome to Central America :)
The staple food of El Salvador is called a papusa. It's basically a very small tortilla filled with beans, meat and cheese. They are delicious! He said he's probably going to gain a few pounds because that's all they eat!
We were so excited to hear about his first week there and know there will be plenty more crazy stories to hear.
Here are the only pictures we received. He said he had tons to send but apparently he has a lot less time to email now and wasn't able to send pictures home. The pictures we received were from the mission home.

                                          President and Sister Glazier

                             Group photo

**As a side note, I've (Lindsay) been to El Salvador on a dental humanitarian trip just this past April and was able to meet President and Sister Glazier. They are the nicest people I've met and were so excited to meet Dallin. The people of El Salvador & Central America are great people; I'm so excited for Dallin to come to love them as I have. I've also seen the filth and sadness of being in a third world country and its very heartbreaking. It'll be an eye-opener for Dallin to experience that. It sure made me more grateful for where I live and made me realize how much I take for granted.

In El Salvador

Well Elder Hazelgren is in El Salvador! He said he's excited to be a "real" missionary now :) He got there Monday night. We heard from him that morning, but haven't heard from him since. He was going to try and call from the airport but we didn't hear anything. He only sent us a very short email but did say he has lots of pictures to email home. I wish we had more of an update this week, but we're looking forward to hearing from him soon.