Week 4 MTC

It was so good to hear from Dallin this week, he is starting to really enjoy his MTC experience.  His companion is turning out to be alot of fun and he gets along great with his district.  He says that even though it is so hard, he is having such a great time.  Yahoo!  He leaves on October 20th and we are praying his visa arrives in time.  He would LOVE to hear from you!  His email is dallin.ballard@missionary.org
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Hi my friends!!!! This week we started teaching longer lessons to people, in Spanish. Like, 20 minutes lessons!! So sick Haha it is kind of scary but then you remember that you have the spirit with you and he helps you stay calm so it all works out. 
For this email I just want to share a couple journal entries that were recorded from this week, just to show you really the rollercoaster of emotions a missionary experiences: 
9/29/19 -“I can feel the spirit. The spirit is real. There are Angel’s present. My future kids are present. The grace of God is incredible. 8:15-9:00 PM”
“The power of the priesthood is indescribable. God can quite literally talk through us. Tonight I gave a departing hermana a blessing. The whole time, I was shaking because the spirit was so strong. The gospel is undeniable. I love the Lord. 9:30-9:45 PM”
Oct. 2 Day whatever it doesn’t matter -“Today, not even lying to you was the first day of the mission that I cried. I did it. Spanish is so difficult right now. The whole day I have just wanted to call my mom and cuss out the whole world for being so hard.” (Haha of course I didnt end up doing this, instead I went outside for a while a prayed with all the intent of my heart to god) then “I had a lot of down to earth elders give me advice and it helped a lot. I just need to speak the language more which I haven’t been doing that much. I had Elder Steele, a French elder give me a priesthood blessing. He assured me that I am a son of God and that is with me in all things. He is the dopest elder. After we had a mini devotional, we will be speaking a lot more in Spanish now. I love the lord, he is my strength. I love the gospel. <3”
Oct. 3 Thursday -“God is real. I love the Lord. I love the spirit in my life. I am forever grateful for the companionship of the holy ghost. The gift of tongues is real. The lord is with me. I just talked with elder alvey outside for 20 minutes without realizing it. I can see the improvements in my companions confidence in Spanish. The lord works miracles. I prayed so hard last night for the miracle of peace in a moment where it seemed like there could be NONE, but I recieved peace. God is powerful. Dios es cariñoso, te ama el senor siempre. <3” 
You will experience so much emotion on your mission. But all in all, I have learned that I NEED the guidance and strength of the holy ghost in my life. I bare simple testimony that the lord is waiting with open arms for us to come unto Him. He loves us and gave us the commandments to keep us safe. I love the gospel, I know it to be true, digas estas cosas, en el hombre de jesucristo, amen. ♡♡♡
little PS I am headed off the Bolivia in 2 weeks!!! I am so stoked!!!!
All love, Elder Ballard  Couple bro picsLanguage learning is so hard but so much funGod is REALThe Lord’s work cannot fail! It is His work!