Baptisms and Miracles!

This week has been such a wonderful week! We had the baptism of Ethan and Emily West on Saturday, July 19, 2014 and the confirmation the next day. But it was so awesome!! We had about 20 or so non members come to their baptism and they all loved it. Our whole ward pretty much attended and supported them and it was such a powerful spirit filled baptism. Elder Searle and I and the other sister missionaries, sang: "Come Thou Fount" and that went pretty good! We're thinking of starting a Christian rock band called, "The book is blue, the Gospel is true"..Coming to theaters near you!
 I had the chance to baptize them and that was amazing!!!

 The spirit is so strong! I don't feel worthy to have this amazing authority and power from God. I can't believe God trusts little Nice boy Daniel William Dean with all these different things! When I get the chance to do these different priesthood ordinances I get a little glimpse of how much our Father in Heaven truly loves and is so proud of these beloved people. So that was amazing! We also had their whole family come and support them and we're now going to be teaching them the discussions because they all felt the love at this amazing baptism! So miracles are abound!! After the baptism Ethan and Emily were just telling us how awesome and different they felt. How they felt more peace! So great.

  The gift of the Holy Ghost is so amazing! and the chance we have to always have that member of the Godhead with us!! So cool! God is so good and is so merciful and helps us all so much with everything! But it really is a gift and with it being a gift it's our job to always strive to be receiving it. We're very able to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the love and peace he brings but we ourselves have to always be constantly striving to have it with us. And because the Holy Ghost's purpose is the same as the Father's and the Son's, it's like they're with us! Oh man! God is so good!

So that was amazing. I've just continually been working hard and studying and teaching harder! Can I just say how much I really love my studies?? If you pray before and really strive to write down your insights from your reading in a separate notebook and then pray and talk with God thanking and asking if this is what he wanted you to get out of the scriptures... Your studies become so good!!! It's just like when Christ came to the apostles who were fishing and catching absolutely nothing!!! and he told them to switch where they put the net. They listened and they were overflowing with fish!!!!!!

 If we turn our studies to Christ and God and have their hand in helping us study. We will be overflowing with fish!!! Or spiritual insights :). But I have come to the point where I wish I had more then an hour of studies!! Something I would never thought that I would ever say...Before the mission? Reading the scriptures for an hour was out of the question!!! But now that I'm just overwhelmed with God's love for me? Gimme' some more of that blue book baby!

 
Anyways, super spiritual week. Sorry for all the spiritual ventilation. Just had to share how good God is! Anyways I love you all! And things are going so great. I miss everyone so much!! I'm jealous that I can't be dancing with my dear sweet Ashley or swimming in a horse trough with my family and my favorite nieces and nephews!

Save some fun camping trips in the family camper for Elder Dean!
(I'm naming the camper 'Dean Machine', just a by the way)
Love you all!

Tarzan Adventures

Hello everyone! This week has been great! Just like every week! I, as of this morning, on our pday have been trying to catch some bull frogs! Elder Searle and I want a feast of many frog legs. But alas... Our feast consists of... Absolutely nothing. Looks like dinner tonight is Mac and cheese! Back to he drawing board. We've tried everything to catch these frogs. You're supposed to go out at night and blind them with a flashlight but... We can't go out at night. First because of our curfew and second, because we're obedient and proselyte during that time! So we've been trying to conduct different ideas to get the frogs out of their ponds. Today as our last stand we have been draining this pond. And it failed. You can't drain all of the water and 3 inches of muddy murky water is a perfect hiding place for Froggies. So! Yes, back to the drawing board.

Other than our p-day adventures... this week has been great! We're still dissembling a house by hand. It's a slow process but! Probably about 3 more hours and that house will be gone! All by hand mind you. We finished a porch for a lady. Painted and boarded. Not many people know this. But I am quite good at climbing things! Trees, poles, houses, ladders, people, you name it! So my companion has been using me to "monkey up stuff". Whether it's to bend a tree down that we're chopping or to dis-limb it from the top down. But I've felt my inner Tarzan as I've been climbing up stuff. I even got the chance to climb and swing from a legit vine in the jungle!

Investigator wise, we had a huge miracle with our manly man David Williams. We had an amazing restoration lesson with him on Saturday with the Wiggins family and it was... Amazing! A lot of other churches down here believe that Mormons are going straight to heck and that the scripture beware of false prophets applies directly to us. So as he has been interested in our faith, he has a ton of people telling him that and that they'll "pray him out." Good luck praying him out whilst we're praying him in!!! Let's see who's prayers are more listened too!! But he's great and loved that lesson. He came to church with us the next day as well and The meeting.... Was so inspired. God is good! The speakers related Vietnam stories to the gospel. To our big shot Vietnam vet.... Without even knowing he was coming! But he loved the meeting and loves us and it went perfect.

Our other top ones, Ethan and Emily have been doing amazing. They are so excited to get baptized!! We're baptizing them on July 19th and they just can't wait. They've been doing the Book of Mormon 90 day challenge and have been loving it. Emily went put of town this week and was a complete nervous wreck about flying. (She has never flown before. I tried to tell her flying is easy! Until you take off and have no control of the wind and the airplane starts shaking and shakes enough that you crash land with a 98% chance!!!!! of dying.) but we gave her a blessing and she loved it. And you could just see the anxiety leave her. But they've been great. Ethan actually just called us, and asked for a lesson today. Usually we have to pester people over and over for lessons. But! He called us. So we're going over later tonight.

In a world full of so much darkness and a time that's comparable to Noah's, where God sent a flood to destroy all the people, we really have to be so careful. Like in Lehi's dream, the 'waters' of the world are going to destroy us and lead us straight to hell. So right now we have to more then ever "be in the world, but be above it" whatever the waters of your own life are, make sure to be in your ark above the water. Especially now that the ideologies of man are far different then the ideologies of God. Remember, what in this life truly brings you happiness and joy, ideas from God an omnipotent being with so much love for us. Or ideas of man. As for me! I will continuously "boast in my God" I will "deny myself and take up my cross and follow my Savior" to the ends of this Earth. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen