Big Baptism, Mini Missions, Zero Sleep

MOM!

It was a KILLER week here in the Woodridge 1st Ward, absolutely incredible! I'll just jump into things by the big highlight of the week: Toby & Z's baptism on Saturday! It was a super good experience for them, and the ward came up big in the support, there were probably 45-50 members in attendance. No mess-ups or redo's necessary on either of the baptisms, they both went according to plan! Following the baptism, Toby took Elder Cluff and me, as well as the other Elders that are in the ward with us, to Famous Dave's for dinner, and he treated us to a MASSIVE dinner consisting of brisket, ribs, chicken, corn, fries, beans, Texas toast, cornbread, coleslaw, you name it. That was all included in the party platter at Famous Dave's, and Toby got 2 of them for us to share...#ByeByeCalorieCount

If you don't recall from last week's email, this week was set up to be absolutely crazy, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Besides the baptism, transfers happened Monday through Wednesday, so we picked up new missionaries Monday and took them out to proselyte that evening. We had dinner, and then they were trained by some of the Sister Training Leaders and Sister Griffin later that night. After all of that training was over, Elder Cluff and I had to go to the mission office and work on picking companionships for the youth of the Rockford Stake to go on mini-missions (we didn't receive a call until Sunday of last week telling us that we were responsible for anything in their mini-missions). But we got that done late and headed home for the night.

Tuesday, Elder Cluff and I did some training for the new missionaries and trainers on Tuesday morning on the topic of using Preach My Gospel effectively, headed up the transfer travel arrangements on Tuesday (just FYI, all the missionaries got to their new areas safely), then went in for an emergency dentist appointment on Tuesday. #WaitWhat Yeah, Elder Cluff had a tooth that was bothering him, but fortunately, it was the same problem that I was diagnosed with last year--he's probably been grinding his teeth, and they've become more sensitive than usual. Got that comp unity right there though, you know how we do!

Anyways, back to the transfer madness: Tuesday night, we have the departing testimony meeting for the missionaries that went home, and it was the first time I've ever been to one of those meetings where we've been done before 10:30. So we got to bed that night at an actually decent hour, which was much needed, because we had to get up early the next morning to take all of the departing missionaries to the temple, then to the airport for their flights home. DON'T GET ALL TRUNKIE ON ME NOW! After dropping them off, we went to the mission office so that we could plan out our training for the Naperville mini-missions that started on Thursday. Well, that didn't actually happen, because since some of the restrictions came off of the iPad during this last transfer, there are no more Tech Elders in the mission, so everyone now calls us with their technology questions and concerns. #WhatEvenIsiPad #ReinstatedPretendTechElder #ElderCluffIsTheRealTechElder What happened instead on Wednesday (instead of figuring out mini-mission stuff), is we spend 2 hours on the phone with different missionaries helping them with Areabook and all sorts of other problems (including one tablet that was unresponsive to even a hard reset, that through some crazy luck, I'm sure mixed in with some divine help, we managed to help the missionary reset his iPad over the phone by having him press a bunch of different buttons). Those types of things, as well as a dinner that night, was the rest of our Wednesday.

Thursday was also nuts, because MLC was the next day, and we had had literally ZERO time to prepare for it all week. So we spend several hours in the office putting together statistics, graphs, successes, and struggles for the month of May to present at MLC on Friday. We also hadn't had time to plan out our training for MLC, so we took a little bit of time to do that, but we couldn't spend much time on that because the Naperville mini-missionary kickoff meeting was that night, and we still hadn't planned for that either. So we took the time to plan that out, and headed over to kick it off (the Naperville 1st mini-mission was even complete with curbside drop-off similar to the MTC). Elder Cluff and I trained the youth of the Naperville 1st Ward on contacting, and it was one of the most fun trainings I've ever given, it was a blast! The youth had fun, and we got them all assigned and off to their new areas for the weekend. My companion and I had to go back to the office that night to finish up the MLC reports.

Friday was MLC, so Elder Cluff and I finished putting together our training in the morning, and we were able to teach for 30 minutes in MLC on developing Christlike attributes. It's not a super easy topic to train on, just because it's simple to talk about, but harder to teach the application part of it, but it went pretty well, the Spirit was pretty strong.

Sunday was church and the confirmation, and we had dinner with some members before going to the concluding meeting of the Naperville 1st mini-missions. We had a testimony meeting, and it was awesome the miracles and experiences that each of the youth shared, every single one of them learned something from either the joys that they had or the disappointments they faced this weekend. I don't think I've ever been around a more solid group of youth, they absolutely killed it with their testimonies!

That was our super crazy week! On top of all of this, we helped a couple of non-members move a bunch of things out of their house this week as they are moving to Vegas this upcoming weekend. We didn't sleep much, but that's alright, because 50-Cent said that "sleep is for those people who are broke." Just tryna get those baptisms, you know what I'm sayin'? Haha, for real though, it was the busiest and most exhausting week of my mission, but that don't phase me. Keep powering through, nobody needs that sleep anyways!

I love you guys, thanks for putting up with the length of the email today. Hope that you are all having a great week, and that you're off to a hot start with summer. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you, you guys are great!

Love ya!
Elder Dallas Anderson
#WhatEvenIsSleep #NoSleepGang #IDontEvenCare

Finna Have a Baptism (Plus, Chicago Food Formulas)

Welcoming the new Chicago West missionaries at the airport!

What's up people of the 801!? Wow, I can finally say that without discriminating among people of my own family... Welcome back Mom and Lando!

Elder Cluff and I had a good week of teaching, a fun week of transfer council, and enough energy to work out this morning (Landon still's got nothing on me), which is pretty good after a transfer prep weekend, if you ask me.

All right, so big news of the week: Toby and Z both passed their baptismal interviews this week, and are ready for their baptisms this upcoming Saturday! What's even cooler is that they're already planning on going to the temple a year from Saturday so that they can be sealed in the temple as a family! Now I'm not trunkie or anything, but I'm finna be back for that. Temple attendance and eternal families are what this religion is all about!

This week was transfer preparation week: so for several hours on Wednesday and Thursday, Elder Cluff & I met with President & Sister Griffin and discussed which missionaries needed to move, and what companionships would work well together, stuff like that. On Saturday, that's when stuff gets really crazy: Elder Cluff and I are in charge of putting together the travel arrangements for all of the missionaries involved on Tuesday, putting together information for transfer calls, figuring out the car-shares, making schedules to pick up new missionaries and to get the departing missionaries to the airport, making the transfer calls (there were 60 transfer calls made--about 230 minutes of total call time between Elder Cluff, President Griffin, and myself), the list of tasks is pretty large. 

In the midst of the transfer madness, Elder Cluff and I have also been organizing two mini-missions that are going on in the mission this week--one in the Rockford Stake (23 mini-missionaries), and one in the Naperville 1st Ward (11 mini-missionaries). MLC happens to fall in the middle of the mini-missions, so no zone leaders or sister training leaders can receive a mini-missionary, and that means that every single English sister companionship in the entire mission (besides the sister training leaders) are getting a mini-missionary. We've spent a lot of time putting together emergency contact information for parents of the mini-missionaries, and we might have to make some changes, because the Rockford Stake doesn't think it's logistically possible to get missionaries down to Peoria, because there aren't enough companionships in the Rockford and Schaumburg Stakes to handle all of them, and Naperville is already booked for the Naperville 1st mini-mission.

Luckily, it's not all tedious work--quite possibly the most important task on our board (once we complete everything but the transfer calls) is to go to Portillo's for dinner and to get a Cake Shake. The Cake Shakes pretty much give you the energy and strength to take on the world--it's a must-have if you're in the Chi-Town area.

For all you foodies out there, I've put together a couple of formulas for you--these are clinically tested and proven by experience, so take notes kids:

Sushi = Gets you sick (DON'T DO IT!)

Portillo's Cake Shake = Life (AKA: Pure Goodness; AKA: Heaven)

Today we picked up the new missionaries from the airport and took them back to the mission home before hitting the streets with them and handing out copies of the Book of Mormon to people. The new missionary I was with did very, very well, and we met a potential investigator named Tim, who lives in our area that we hope to start teaching soon!

That's pretty much the report that I've got for this week. Remember kids: Cake Shake = good, sushi = bad. Once you learn that lesson, we'll move you up the scale to the matter of deep dish pizza. Anyways, I hope that things are going well for everyone back home. Thanks for your prayers and support. I'm glad that Lando's hockey situation is going well, and know that he's going to tear it up in his tryouts this weekend in Vegas! Please keep Toby & Z in your prayers this week as Satan works really hard against those that are about to be baptized (just remember Hope's story). I love you all, and look forward to giving a great report next week!

Love ya! Happy Memorial Day!

Elder Dallas Anderson

#Merica #FreakYeah

P.S. 2-year anniversary S/O to my man Brockbank for our Mount Olympus shenanigans, love you homie! #WhoHatesOlympus #WeHateOlympus

Tired but Still Teachin'

Here's a pic of a crazy house we found this week.
It has 5 chimneys, and the whole house
doesn't even fit in this picture.
The building you see in the front right
is an extra garage for the house, that's how big it is.

Hey guys!

So it was a week that left Elder Cluff and I exhausted until Sunday rolled around--we were both sick all week, and three exchanges and a zone conference certainly did not help us retain any energy. Fortunately, we're both feeling better now, all up to par, which is good, because it's transfer prep week, so we'll be crazy busy again.

I stayed in the Woodridge area for two of our exchanges this week, working with Elder Frehner on Tuesday and Elder Clark on Thursday. We didn't have any crazy experiences, but Elder Clark and I taught Toby & Z and gave them a fun way to remember the 10 commandments by using the 10 fingers on your hands. We also had a phenomenal experience with a member that wants 6 copies of the Book of Mormon to give away to their friends (they plan to give them all away within two weeks and invite most of them to meet with the missionaries)--I'll bring home something awesome for anyone who can beat that.

Wednesday was our zone conference in Peoria, which was our worst one to be honest, probably because we were sick, and had gotten up to make the drive at about 5:00 that morning, so we were pretty dead. But all of our trainings were on the topic of helping members be involved in missionary work. Elder Cluff and I are going to try to put together a stake (or maybe ward) fireside for members, and teach them different things they can do to be involved in sharing the gospel in small and simple ways.

For half of Friday and half of Saturday, I worked in Peoria with Elder Carter. We spend a fair amount of time in the southern part of the downtown area, AKA: the hood. It was fun being able to connect with a bunch of the guys in the streets again, because it's a much more relaxed atmosphere contacting than it is around people that are making millions of dollars per year.

Lando better start worrying, because Elder Cluff and I were the heroes (AKA: super-strength studs) today at the family history center. It is being renovated, so Elder Cluff and I had to move a bunch of things around, including a file cabinet that was a couple hundred pounds (not even joking about that). After several hours of moving furniture and rearranging the room, it's all ready to be re-wired in the next couple of days.

Toby & Z have their interviews for baptism this week! We taught them about temples and the priesthood, and several of the commandments this week, and plan to teach them the last lesson on two this week before their baptism on June 4th. Elder Cluff and I are super pumped for them--they're making awesome progress!

That's about all I have for this week! This upcoming week will be a crazy-busy one, as we have transfer council with President, make transfer preparations (AKA: lots of paperwork), make transfer calls, eat at Portillo's (yes, it's a very important step in the transfer tradition), and start directing transfers Sunday through Wednesday.

I hope that all of you are enjoying your week, and that the move for you and Lando back to Utah goes well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you guys, I love you all! 

Love,
Elder Dallas Anderson

The Mormon Messi

Hey guys!

It was a jam-packed week of zone conferences--we had four of them, with a fifth coming up this next week in Peoria. Elder Cluff and I are responsible for training on how to work effectively with members, and helping members build their confidence and excitement to participate in missionary work. It's gone really well so far, especially our meeting on Friday.

Mom would be shocked to know that on Friday, a member took us out to a sushi restaurant where you pick the rolls your table wants, and they keep making them and bringing them out until you aren't hungry anymore. Now for those of you who don't know, I am not a seafood fan in the slightest. So we go to this restaurant, and they don't have a single item on the menu that doesn't involve fish, eel, octopus, whatever. None. So I just have to power through eating crab, tuna, shrimp, eel, and a couple of other kinds of fish. Luckily, there was lots of soy sauce and wasabi to overpower the flavor, and I made it through without getting sick. Elder Cluff isn't a big seafood fan either, but sometimes you just have to take one for the team.

Sad story of the week: Hope was all ready and set up for her baptism on Saturday. The font was filled, and the ward was there and supportive, and not even joking, ten minutes before the baptism, Hope's mom walked in and anti-ed her, and she decided not to get baptized... I hope that she still continues to meet with the missionaries. Satan is really trying her hard, because that's one of the craziest stories I've ever heard when it comes to a baptism.

Other (somewhat) sad story of the week: Elder Cluff and I both started feeling like we have a cold this morning, neither of us are feeling to great. I attribute it to all of the sushi we ate on Friday, LOL. It makes sense logically that it was the sushi, because this is the first time that I've been sick on my mission, and that was the first time that I had sushi on my mission, so there's definitely a direct correlation there.

Now, on the upside, Toby and Z now have a baptismal date for June 4th! We met with them three different times during the week, and they are continuing to impress us! In one of our latest lessons, Z taught us all about the Tree of Life in Lehi's Dream, with all of the surrounding details (mists of darkness, iron rod, Lehi's desire to share the fruit with his family, etc.), he's amazing. And Toby came into our lesson yesterday with a really good understanding of the word of wisdom and law of chastity, and he's already talking about being sealed in the temple a year after his baptism, so we're pretty much all the way there with them!

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Morales in the Aurora (Spanish) Ward this week. #ComoSeDiceWorthless Their ward was having a baptism for a child-of-record, and the member asked if we could fill the font. Now I've never filled a font before, but this took for-freakin'-ever...It was like 3 HOURS to fill the thing. We didn't think it was going to be done in time, so we got like 8 pitchers out of the kitchen and were filling them up with water, only to realize that the water that comes out of one of the kitchen sinks and the bathroom sinks are a light brown color...nasty. Fortunately, the other kitchen sink came out clean, but it poured at approximately 0.003718374 ounces per hour, so we had to find another water source in the church, which turned out to the spout where they prepare the sacrament. 

The only problem with that was that the water came out cold, and we didn't want the water in the font to be cold. So we decide, "Let's throw these pitchers of water in the microwave!" (It takes about 2:30 to heat up a pitcher of water in the microwave if you've ever been curious.) After heating the water, we poured it into the font, and kept refilling, heating, and dumping the water for about an hour or so, the font was sufficiently high enough for the baptism. Now, after all of that work, the member of the Aurora Ward who promised to bring their friend to the baptism showed up without the friend, so we weren't able to stay to watch the baptism. Instead, we went finding, and Elder Morales contacted this lady on the street in Spanish. Now because my Spanish skills are #ComoSeDiceWorthless, I am completely out of the conversation, so I turn my attention to her 5-year-old son who's playing futbol in the front yard. We start passing the ball back and forth and talking for about 20 minutes (all while Elder Morales is talking to this kid's mom). Long story short, the kid was left speechless when I dazzled him with a series of rainbows, step-overs, Waka-Wakas, and roulettes. They pretty much call me "The Mormon Messi," you know what I'm sayin'? #AlsoHumble

Haha, besides that, I copped a sweet pair of pants at Goodwill today, and we hope to get out to the mall this afternoon. 

I hope that all of you are having an awesome week! Remember, don't eat the sushi, because it will make you get a cold. Haha, I love you guys, take it easy! Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!

Love,

Elder Dallas Anderson

#TheMormonMessi

Top Two: Mission Trivia

Disclaimer: Yes, Elder Dallas did call on Mother's Day. No, his mother did not post the conversation in a timely manner. #MomFail 

Top Two Lists


What are the Top 2 demonstrations you've seen of Chicago sports fanaticism?

• One guy painted his entire lawn with the Cubs logo
• Every freakin' car has stick figure people or license plates with a Chicago sport logo

What are the Top 2 foods and/or restaurants you've enjoyed in Chicago?

• Deep dish pizza at Giordano's
• Cake shake at Portillos
• (Bonus: anything at QBBQ)

What are the Top 2 phrases/words you've heard in Chicago?

• Finna. As in, "You finna come to church on Sunday?"
• "You know what I'm sayin'?"

Top 2 words you've heard pronounced differently in Chicago?

• Joliet. People say it jaw-leeyet even though that city has a law requiring it to be pronounced joe-leeyet.
• Bourbonnais. It's supposed to be French-ish: bour-bonnay. But people say ber-BAIN-iss.

Top 2 weird questions you get about Mormons.

• Everyone always asks about polygamy.
• Someone got us confused with the Amish. (Nope, I like to watch TV.)

Top 2 things in your closet that will be out of style when you return.

• White shirts.
• Ties.

Top 2 cousins who will have changed the most by the time you get home.

• Kyle
• Savanna

Top 2 personal habits your companion would mention when describing you.

• I talk in my sleep.
• I am crazy good at exercising in the morning. I do step-ups on the bed!

A Call for Questions: Ask Elder Dallas!

Like Top 10 lists. But shorter.

This Sunday is your chance to get the low-down on Elder Dallas and the Chicago West Mission! During our Skype call, he will answer your questions and we'll post the answers right here on the blog. 

If you don't have a specific question, please suggest a "Top 2" theme for his response. (For example, what are the Top 2 best things you've eaten on your mission? What are the Top 2 questions people ask you about the Church? Who are the Top 2 companions you've served with? etc.)

To be fair, we'll give Elder D a little time to prepare. So...Submit your questions and Top 2 themes right now! On Wednesday night, we'll send him a list to ponder. Then expect great answers next Sunday night.

Click "Comments" at the bottom of this post to add your questions, or email to christy@andworks.com. Happy asking!

Lessons with Z, Exchanges 3, and Counting Calories for Elder D

Here's a photo of me and Z from this week! The kid's a stud!

Hey!

It was another good week filled with lots of exchanges, some good lessons, and even a new diet for yours truly (the #FatGirlProbs were real this week...I ate like garbage)!

To start things off, we had three lessons with Toby & Z this week, and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. They both catch on incredibly fast, and it blows our minds at how much Z knows--he's a prime example why the scriptures say to become as a little child. Here's an example for you: we're teaching the Plan of Salvation, and introducing it by talking about Eternal Life (AKA: eternal happiness), and we ask Z the question, "Can you imagine what it would be like to be happy all the time?" He responded, "I don't know if I'd like it, because then I wouldn't know what it was like to be sad, and I wouldn't learn anything." HOLY COW KID, YOU'RE FREAKIN' 9 YEARS OLD! AND WE HADN'T EVEN TAUGHT ABOUT THE FALL YET! You could say that Elder Cluff and I were pretty pumped about that! We haven't had the chance to put them on date for baptism yet (it's a complicated situation, because they live outside of mission boundaries, so we're trying to figure out the logistics of everything). Long story short though, they plan to move out here into the ward within the next couple of months, which means we can continue to teach them and maybe even put them on date next week, because they're totally ready--they've been reading the scriptures and coming to church!

We went on three different exchanges this week: Exchange #1 was with the Bloomingdale Spanish Elders (in our English-speaking area, thank goodness), and I got to work with Elder David Reyes, which was pretty sweet, because we went to high school together, so it was fun to talk about our different mission experiences with him. Exchange #2 was in Dekalb with Elder Boettcher, where after tracting in the pouring rain for 45 minutes I started off the #FatGirlProbs for the week with a pretzel crust, pepperoni pizza with buffalo drizzle from Pizza Hut, and I ate like 6 pieces... #WorthIt I was grateful for the chance to work with Elder Boettcher, because we had a really cool miracle the next morning which I think is exactly what their area needed. Exchange #3 was here in Woodridge, and I got to work with my former companion, Elder Campbell, who is now serving as a Zone Leader. #ExTechLife Man, Elder Campbell is soooo freakin' funny, there have been very few days that I've laughed as hard on my mission than Friday with Elder Campbell. When you're together with a companion for 6 months, you have some good stories!

Anyways, the member involved in the miracle that we saw on the Dekalb exchange gave us cookie dough, and the mission office put out a huge container of jellybeans, and the whole Pizza Hut experience made me decide that I need to eat healthier than that, because even though I'm eating good things, I'm eating junk food on top of that, and that's a no-go. So Elder Cluff and I figured out how many calories we burn per day on average, and have started a diet counting calories. #CallMeJennyCraig

We've got New Missionaries Training and MLC this week, so that should be a couple of good meetings! On top of that, we hope to have a couple of lessons with Toby & Z, as well as other investigators. Thanks for all of your love and support, the work is going really well! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you at home!

Talk to you Sunday, Mom!

Love,
Elder Dallas Anderson
#FatGirlProbs