We got to talk to Elder Ballard a few times on Christmas and we were so happy! He called in the morning and was able to see the kids open some of their gifts an it really made the morning. Karly had gotten up early and was in tears because she missed him so bad. He was our “get up early for Christmas” kid. It’s so hard having these boys gone!
Elder Ballard had a great day planned and hung out with missionaries at the church. He is feeling better now and just has a cough, which is so good. He got some of my Christmas packages but the main one wasn’t there yet so he didn’t get all his gifts, bummer! I sent him a gingerbread house kit and a syran wrap candy ball like we play with the cousins for him to do on Christmas with his roommates. But they will have to do it later, which will still be fun. He really wanted Northface slippers for Christmas so we sent him those (and got Joey a matching pair). Parker Pogue has these slippers and Dallin loves them! The Pogues also sent him a Christmas package and so did my parents so he was really loved! Rebeka and Brooke also had some things for him so I am sending those this week so he will have some more things coming soon.
We didn’t get a letter this week but had a fun time chatting. We are so proud of him!
Dallin was so sick this week that he was having a hard time breathing. He didn’t have insurance because it was still set up for out of country. They had a mission celebration and did a 5k run and he was so sick and could hardly do it. He kept it pretty quiet, but by Tuesday he was so ill. Wednesday he could harldy function. He was allowed to call Mike (to figure out insurance) and Mike told him to get to the hospital. So Thursday he went and it was very stressful for him because they didn’t want to treat him because his insurance wasn’t working. He could hardly breathe and was worried. Then a nurse who was a member of the church came in and helped him and reassured him. She then gave him $20 for his needs. It really gave him some peace. He was diagnosed with Bronchitas. Later they had to wait for a few hours at the pharmacy and he noticed 2 guys who looked like they were falling hard on luck. They needed some prescriptions and they were expensive. Dallin ended up giving the $20 to those men. He is such a sweetheart, and serving others even when he was so sick himself. I was a little disappointed he didn’t have more help from the mission home. It’s hard to not call and complain. So we are grateful that strangers helped him and his companion was kind and patient. He is learning so much!
Here is his letter:
Hey my friends! I am so stoked!!!! I got bronchitis this week! Aint nobody got time for that!!!! Yeah I was in bed for a lot of this week but that is ok because the spirit is still strong out here in Arizona. So far in South Pheonix I am learning so much about outlook! How do you view other people? Your circumstance? Yourself as a person? Jesus Christs hand in your life? It is seriously so crazy how our attitudes can be the biggest deciding factor on if we want to find happiness?! Sometimes I feel pretty unappreciative for the apartment that we live in, I want a bigger desk, I want a softer bed, I want more ties, I want this, I want that. How ungrateful? Why can’t I just be happy with what I have? – I am so thankful to my Savior for putting me here to have me realize many things. Going out and finding, there are people that have close to nothing but the clothes on their back out here! And they make it work! How incredible? – I have been given a clean apartment, with hot showers and running water. What a blessing? I need to start acknowledging and expressing my gratitude for what I HAVE. Not what I dont. Also for a couple days I was cooped up, sick out of my mind and I was so frustrated! – I want to go work so bad! I am out here serving you, Lord!? Why can’t you allow me to get better so I can!? – I was so caught up in being annoyed that I forgot to acknowledge everything incredible happening in life! I am still on a mission? I still have all my limbs? I still have the ability to walk? Talk? See? Hear? Just because a couple things were not going my way, I decided to distance myself from the man I am out here serving, as opposed to using that time I was struggling to come closer unto him!? Isnt it always such a blessing in disguise to recieve hardships and pain? How privileged are we are, as gods children, to be given opportunities every single day to choose to come closer unto Christ? When bad things happen, I am working my hardest to ask the question “how can I come closer to Christ by this experience?” As opposed to saying “Christ why are you allowing this to happen to me? Why do I deserve this?” – It is incredible that our father has THAT much love that he can put things in our life to break us down only for a minute, but in the end, build us up so much higher than we could have thought. Please I encourage you to access what you are more grateful for in your life – God will see that you are making the effort to be more appreciative and will shower down more blessings. I love my Lord and Savior! I am forever grateful for the constant companionship on the Holy Spirit. Although it sucks sometimes, I am so thankful that life is so difficult sometimes, because that makes the good moments even better. Please find time this week to open up a paper copy of The Book of Mormon, please, reading out of this book will be far more important than any other thing you do this week. I love yall and cant wait to guys soon!
Winter Edition Red Bull is actually nasty, Elder Ballard
(A couple PS’s for yall)-Dude I’m pretty ticked about what happened to Juice Wrld, make sure you pay your respects this week -I just hit 3 months put here-For those wondering, I am at the point in Spanish still where I cant understand literally anything that anyone says to me right now, its kind of funny when people talk to me because I just got to cheese it until my companion tells them a response lol
First S: I got moved to South Pheonix baby!! We are in the ghetto! It’s so much fun out here lol. We have seen a car blow up, almost got shot, and tried to contact way to many crackheads Second S: Spanish! I got moved to a Spanish area! All of the teaching we do here is in Spanish. I am doing a lot of listening right now but I am learning so much about the language right now it’s crazy. I am writing so much vocabulary lol Third S: SAM HARMER! It’s crazy so I’ve never met this kid before but we live together?! He is so sick he went to Jordan, we are homies now out of no where lol Fourth S: Sick! 😦 Your boi is not feeling to hot, I let a good puke or 2 yesterday which was great. It really isn’t too fun being sick out here but it’s all good. I am learning so much out here. South Pheonix is bonkers! This place already feels like home though. I dont have a ton of time to write, but I am so thankful for all you guys! Thank you for the support I love yall!!!! All love, Elder Ballard
What’s up crew, yesterday I got the news that I am leaving Maricopa, but I don’t know where I am going yet, I don’t find out till Wednesday during transfers. This is so crazy, what the mission does to you. When I found out I was getting transferred, I just sat on my bed and just cried. The amount of friendships and bonds you make out here with people in such short periods of time is absurd. What I have taken from this experience is that, as you guys have all seem from my previous emails, I have had a really hard time at points out here, but I have also had such incredible experiences. I am finding that when you are in the moment, experience such a difficult hardship, you don’t understand that how much of a blessing those moments are. Even though, when I was feeling super down and frustrated, and all I wanted to do was leave, now that I am leaving, all I want to do is stay. I need to begin to understand that happiness can only be felt in the moment you have it. If I keep planning on being happy in the future, the point of happiness and contentment will never come. This upcoming transfer I am going to work on acknowledging where I am at, wherever it may be, and loving it. Me and Elder Dryden are doing a quick Book of Mormon read through right now and I am appreciating the storyline so much more than I ever have. I have so much respect for Adinadi, geez. This spirit is strong out here, I hope it is strong where you are to. The holy ghost is wanting to guide us in our lives, but is waiting for us to call out to him. I love yall!
The week has been long as Elder Ballard was wondering where he would end up for his mission. A member of the seventy came to speak to them and it was very uplifting. Dallin had a chance to visit alot with him. After the conference his mission president approached him and let him know a letter came from the missionary office. It said:
“Dear Elder Ballard,
Hunker down…”
And then went on to say that he will be staying in Arizona for next 4 months while they wait for Bolivia to settle down. He will not recieve a new call until then. We also have a member of the missionary evacuation committee in our ward who helped us understand the process of what is happeneing. He said that they have a team that monitors the international issues for missionaries daily and they are on top of it. He also said that they hope the crisis in Bolivia wraps up within three months so they can reasses where to send all the missionaries who have been assigned to labor there. If it does clear up within a few months they will resend those who have been called back to Bolivia before they assign new missionaries there. There is about 18 missionaries in the states waiting to go to Bolivia, and 63 missionaries who were moved from Bolivia. Some went home early and the rest were sent to Colombia and Brazil. Some even went to Mikeys mission! As you can imagine this was exciting but also hard news because of how much Dallin had been planning on going to Bolivia. But he is in the best spirits so being so brave and so positive. I think this momma has had a harder time with the uncertainty that he had! So all considering he is doing wonderful. We are so proud of him!
We didn’t get a letter this week but we did a great photos. Here they are:
1. I love reading in Nephi 1, so here is an appreciation pic of Lehi
2. Just a little sum light for y’all;)
3. Christmas season
4. I just got this pic of my and elder dryden, it was day 1
NOTE: This week we found out that the issues in Bolivia had escalated and the people there are in a rage. The president who was elected a few weeks ago had manipulated the election to win. People are very angry have been rioting in the streets, ravaging stores and creating an unsafe environment. So the United States pulled all non-emergency Americans out of the country and Bolivia followed suit for the mission of Cochabamba by pulling out all North American missionaries. This has been hard for Elder Ballard and all of us to digest as we await more news.
Ok. Bruh. All I can say is bruh. IT IS A GOOD BRUH THOUGH, BEING A MISSIONARY IS SUCH AN ADVENTURE! AS YOU ALL HAVE PROBABLY HEARD MY MISSION IN BOLIVIA BASICALLY GOT SHUT DOWN, LIKE WHAT?!! Really I am so thankful to my heavenly father for his timing. I am praying for Bolivia and the missionaries there but how cool is it that your mission has this much political unrest??? Hahaha I think it’s actually so sick (not the riots and stuff but the idea of not actually knowing where you are going to be for the remainder of your mission). Anyway, like most weeks this one was filled with a lot of highs and a lot of lows. Like usual, the best way I feel to get my thoughts into email version is by tying out a couple journal entrees: – 11/13/19 (no title)”I don’t want to be out here. I really know I am suppose to be on a mission but I want to go home. I could go to Hawaii l, I could go study the gospel, I could go see my family. I do not, not like the gospel, I just feel so underqualified. I love pondering the Book of Mormon but I just don’t want to do it here. I want to go home. I miss my family. I just got the news that I most likely won’t go to Bolivia. I want to go there. Tempe is great but I want Bolivia. I was prepared to go. I don’t know… – Ok, this is me 10 minutes later, I am ok, we opened up a window and outside was pretty. Satan is scary. Oh my goodness…. he really had me there for a second.” ^^^^^ ok my take away from this journal entree is that discouragement and deception are tools of satan! I want to be out here on a mission! I do not care where I go, I know this is the lord’s work! Seriously satan can have a grasp on us sometimes, and it is scary. I have no figured out a way to fully avoid these situations yet but I am learning to just take a step. Just take a leap of faith in there hard times to read the book of mormon. It helps so much. – 11/15/19 Journal Thoughts “Man, doctrine and covenants is crazy. Joseph Smith really went in. I am reading in S.84 right now about treasuring up continually, the words of life. How great is it right now that all I have to worry about is studying about christ, keep the commandments of christ, and declaring the word of christ? How incredible?” ^^^ When bad moments happen, have the faith to keep them in perspective!!! Bad days are inevitable, they are bound to happen. Just know that this is how heavenly father intended life to be! We cannot have christmas everyday or presents would hardly mean anything! We cannot simply have the best day ever every single day. Alma 34:40-41 gives me strength to endure with patience. All things are in accordance with Gods timing. I realized this week that, in this life we all have wants and we all have needs. What is incredible is that heavenly father knows our hearts, wants and needs too. He knows us way better than we know ourselves. He knows perfectly, how to bless us. It is just up to us to align our will with his and recieve what he had to give us. I am learning that what you want matters to God, but what matters more, is you acknowledging that God knows what you want, more exactly than you know what you want, and the beautiful part about it is that he is willing to give it to you, if you are willing to give what you want up, for God. Seriously, insane how that works, but I realize that more and more everyday, being a missionary. Other news, we put a couple down here, Micheal and Tiffany, on date for dec. 7!!!! I think seriously they are bigger examples to me and my companion than we are to them. The spirit resides in their home, even though they are not members yet. But yes! I love being a missionary. I love reading my scriptures. I trust in God. I know that he knows best even though it is hard to accept that sometimes. I know that the gathering of scattered isreal is the most important work going on in the world today. If you are finding yourself stressed or frustrated this week, go do something for someone else! It will help you more than it will help the person you are serving. I pray for all of you guys, everyday. Thank you for the support. All love, Elder Ballard PS, in the new white handbook I can receive and read emails all throughout the week so if you are feeling the urge to talk, please know I am reading and responding in heart!
Elder Ballard didn’t have alot of time today, but he is happy and healthy. A member took them hiking today and they had a great time, this kind family takes really good care of the missionaries there.
– Just your average cactus covered in Christmas lights
– Our friend miss widow outside of our house – Peace!
– Me & Elder Dryden stopped for a minute and made make shift chains and went over what we would do at the top of a short route lol
– God loves lizards too
– Some Crazy Cacti
– I thought this future school site sign was kind of trendy, maybe someone can use it as an album cover or something lol
What up crew it’s elder dall ball out here in maricopa holdin it down Ok but for real though! I could not ask for a greater gift then the constant companionship of the holy ghost. He is real! Christ in our lives is real! Quick things that happened this week:- I went to the Gilbert, AZ Temple this week, she pretty – A family that we had dinner with made no bake cookies and, dang they were delish- One day we handed out 7 Book of Mormons- I have mastered the art of microwaving top ramen – I re remembered that jogging actually brings 0 joy, into anyone’s lives. In fact I am so confident in my opinion, I am willing to be that your mood will actually worsen after you have experienced a planned jog. I am not biased I promise – Revelation is real! Revelation is real! ♧ Ok a couple spiritual insights from this week:- I recieved some bars of revelation in a prayer this week, “Stop focusing so much on what you are searching for, go out and help others in their search, and in return, you will find what you are looking for.” Just go out and do the work!!!!!- “Being a missionary is not something you do, it is something you are.” – Elder Dryden – “Character is revealed however, in the power to discern other people’s hardships, when we, ourselves, are suffering.” – David A Bednar / Your character is put into action when you look outward toward other people, in the midst of your problems ◇ You know, I apologize for not sharing lots of stories on here, I can always share stories with you after the mission. However, when a spiritual thought or experience happens, I feel it more appropriate to share those as opposed to my stories. That being said as I continue on I will share some crazy experiences, but I like to focus a little bit more on the spiritual side of things ☆ I love you all! So many prayers are sent out by us missionaries, I hope you all feel them. Thank you for the continuous support! ♡ All love, Elder Ballard
PHOTOS:
Our good friend Robert got baptized this week! Our study room. The pogues coming in the clutch with the package. Our little lizard friend that found a home in our garage. & we help put together this walkway at Pacana Park!
Elder Ballard was assigned to serve temporarily in Tempe, Arizona with President and Sister Goaslind. He is happy!
Holy cow, this week is not the first week in the mission that I have been picturing for the last 5 months. I have been expecting bolivia, spanish, cold, shacks, no phones, no bikes, no cars, mountains, no running water & the hardest week of my life. Instead I got Arizona, English, hot, houses, a phone, a bike, zone leaders with cars, flatlands, water at my pleasing & the best week. What a difference!!!!!! Missionary work is the FUNNEST!!!!!!!! Everyone that is reading this GO ON A MISSION! If that age has past then GO ON A SENIOR MISSION! This work is incredible. I am learning soooooo much more than just spiritual things. You learn so much about life out here! I am gitty, this work is just so special, I can’t even put it into words. Bringing other individuals unto the knowledge of the gospel is the best feeling. Be a missionary!!!!!! Wherever you are. Pray to have people cross paths with you so that you can teach them. This work is so important, Christ needs you! Also, I have learned the importance of rules. The commandments are put in our lives for our benefit!!!!! Not for our suffering!! The same rules apply to missionary work. I love keeping the rules!!!!!!! I love having the holy ghost as my constant companion!!! He is the man!!!! Truly, more than ever I have learned, AND TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY….. MISSIONARY WORK IS THE SAME WHEREVER YOU GO! YOU ARE CALLED TO THE WORK! NOT A PLACE. For goodness sake I have been stoked for Bolivia for 5 months and 2 days before I leave they pull a fast one & tell me to Im going to Arizona. Some people may look at that is a disappointment. NO! IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE YOU GO! Zona is the best! The Lord knows exactly what he is doing. I love and trust what He does. I bare simple testimony on being faithful. The amount of miracles in our lives are based upon our obedience and faith. Keep yourself clean to have the holy ghost speak to you AND then exercise your faith that He will. I know He will! I love this gospel. I love missionary work. I love the Lord. Life is good! Let your Heavely Father know how much you love life. He will pour out His blessing to us as we show our gratitude. Also the sunsets out here are crazy, Christ made this world so beautiful :,) All love, Elder Ballard
Photos:
1. The comp!!! Elder Dryden.. seriously the best trainer I could ask for. & HE CLIMBS
2. Last mtc squad pic
3. Hahahah Annalie Ross, the girl who won provos most elidgable got to the mtc 4 days before i left, we are actually homies now lol
4. A church building had all these book of mormons! So sick
5. We found this basketball court, kinda nice
6. One members house had some really friendly birds Haha
7. This house had a turn patch the shape of Utah!!!
8. This is Robert. He is getting baptized this week! We are so proud of him! He had his baptismal interview a couple days ago, look at the shirt he wore for it…… Haha (zoom in)
MOMMA NOTE: It was so fun to talk to him on the phone! He is happy and well. He has running water, a house, and a Walmart close by. He is also riding a bike! There are all things he wouldn’t have in Bolivia and he recognizes how blessed he is. The people are kind and he loves sharing the Gospel.
1-7 met lots of fun people here at the mtc8-9 school friends10 me and elder bartholow taught this mantis the plan of salvation11-16 random pics, still cool though
Hey this email will be pretty short even though so much happened this week! We had sister sheri dew & Quentin L Cook and talk to us this week… holy cow. Quick couple thoughts of what I learned: – The Lord would not choose people to out and serve that he does not count on!- The Lord loves effort – “you are in that unique position that us as apostles are in, to be a full time representative of chirst” This week I have learned more than ever to TRUST IN THE LORD! As simple as that. Blessings and the lords guidance are based upon our faith in him. Today I actually finished the book of mormon for the first time, a common theme I noticed was to have faith. Faith faith faith. I want to share a rather personal journal entry from this week really quick, 10/13/19 – “Tonight about 10-15 gathered in a room together to all discuss needs in our lives. As a group, we are all fasting. Tonight was a very special experience. Fasting is real. Fasting is so important. This week I have 6 TRC’s, I have to read 40 pages in the BOM each day if I want to finish before I leave, this, and another fast, & I am finding out if I am going to Bolivia or Arizona… crazy Haha I love being a missionary ♡” This work is so incredibley difficult but at the same time it is incredibly easy. We have our all powerful redeemer with us at all times. He is our guidance, our light, or hope. I love him. I am forever grateful for his sacrifice. If you are feeling down this week, GO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON OR GO TO THE TEMPLE I promise promise promise with everything that is in me, please come unto christ. I feel the spirit. I have worked so hard to feel the spirit. I know it is real, I felt Him undeniably tonight. I love life. I love being a missionary. I love this gospel. PS I am temporarily reassigned to Tempe, Arizona baby, I am taking off Monday! I love the lord and I could not be more excited to serve Him. All love, Elder Ballard
Elder Ballards Bolivia Mission 