A Holla for the Hawks (but sadly, it was not loud enough...)

Zone Conference in Woodridge

What's up everyone!?

Really good week here in Woodridge--the transfer process went well and all of the missionaries got to their new areas without problems. The departing missionaries was a little bit of a different story, as their plane was having technical problems, and all of them got home 5+ hours behind schedule (one companionship had to spend the night at the airport), but they all made it home safely. 

My new companion's name is Elder Cluff, and he's from Queen Creek, AZ. He is an awesome teacher, and even better when it comes to instructing groups. Not to mention, he's a stud and a stellar companion! The two of us got to train for about 15 minutes on using Preach My Gospel effectively to the new missionaries that came in this week, and it went really well! We also had the chance to instruct a group about about 55 priests and laurels from the Naperville Stake last night in a youth fireside at the mission home, and that was a blast! I was able to see a lot of familiar faces, as members from the St. Charles and Naperville 1st Wards were there. Ryan Boswell was one in attendance, and it was fun to see him again and talk about his family. We trained again on the importance of Preach My Gospel, and how the youth can study it now to prepare to serve missions.

We had zone preparation day today, and it was one that was different than any other than I've had on my mission, but it was a blast! Brother Manning (WOOOO!) of the Naperville 1st Ward came and gave us a 2 hour lecture on Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and it totally blew my mind. I learned a bunch of things I didn't know before. What was really neat though, is that he taught all of it, but then told us that no matter how cool the history was, or how much our minds were blown, that what was the most important was to follow Moroni's promise and get a testimony of the Book of Mormon that way, because that's the only way to obtain a lasting testimony of the gospel. Brother Manning is the man! AND, he even catered Portillo's pasta and salad for lunch for our zone!

We had a lesson with Toby & Z this week, and hope to put them on date for baptism here real soon! We also met a family of five, and have a lesson with them on Wednesday night, so we're really looking forward to that. Besides that, we've been working with the members a lot, and hopefully a couple of their friends turn into referrals that we can teach soon! When Elder Martino was here, he taught us to ask members about people they knew who were going through life-changing situations (death in the family, break-up/divorce, new baby, moved recently, wayward children, etc.), as those are the people that most likely in a position that cause them to ask the questions of the soul (see chapter 5 in Preach My Gospel). So, if you know anyone that is struggling or going through a change in life, be a friend to them, and they'll probably ask you some questions that you can answer using the Book of Mormon.

Also big news for the week: the people here are pretty fired up after these Hawks games! We finna take the series! Here's a joke for you: Why was St. Louis so Blue? Because THE HAWKS BEAT THEM IN GAME 7! OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! *Turns on Hawks theme song* *Puts on Patrick Kane jersey* *Fist pumps multiple times* *Goes nuts* 

I love you all and hope that you're having a fantastic week! Know that all is well, because the Hawks are gonna take it to the Blues tonight! WOOOOO! #GoHawks #Repeat Just as an added side note, I gave Patrick Kane the S/O in our training to the youth yesterday (yes, it fit in with the training; NO, it was NOT trunkie)! #RepAllDay

Love ya!
Elder Dallas Anderson

#HereComeTheHawks