Christmas Day 2010

This was opening Dalan's gift. It was perfect, he did a great job. He gave us his thumb drive full of pictures and a photo keychain that we can download the pictures on. So cool. He also gave Dad a big box of M&M's and Bailey some gummy candy and me he gave Good and Plenty's. I would say he really knows us. It was so fun to talk to him. It made all of our days.

Beautiful Christmas Morning

So glad my big girl still wants to be a little girl. She wanted a magna doodle and was so happy with it. Made her mom and dad smile too!

Pictures Dalan sent home for Christmas

E-Mail 12-28-2010

Hello, so good to hear from you and how things are going there! you are telling me about all this crazy weather there and it is hard for me to believe! we got up this morning and drove up Usery Pass and went on a hike to the top of one of the huge surrounding mountains of the valley! it was awesome! sweet views of the whole valley and wonderful weather! it was about 4 miles round trip so not too bad! steap and lots of shale rock and cactus! :) gotta love it! we got some really kool pics. then we went and ate at JB's breakfast buffet! i feel really fat! haha, i am putting together a package right now with some things in it so hopfully i will be able to get it off today! :)


thats great that there hasnt been much frost in the ground! hopfully it will make for a good up coming year! once the weather makes its change there it will go fast im sure!

I dont have the phone # for my walmart on me right now but it is located on Mckellips and Greenfield if you can look it up?! if not i will let you know next week! but ya i love the moniter! you dont have to deal with all the strips! all you need is the moniter and a poker! :) i could see bailey really liking it! Thanks so much for all you do!

The Butlers came to church on sunday and it was so good! every one came up to them and introduced them selfs and were really friendly! they had a amazing first expirence at church! their kids loved primary and they both loved gospel essentials and relief sociaty and priestood! brother butler made comments in both and partisipated! :) it was so sweet! in opening exercises for priestood he stood up to introduce him self and said "my name is Brother Butler, i am new here, just moved from Chicago, i was a police man for 22 years and thanks to the elders, brother hallows and bishop i am here today with my family and we are looking forward to being baptized!" everyones jaw dropped! it was so sweet! Ryan (Brother Butler) told us afterward that her had no idea what to expect coming for the first time, but that he was really impressed and he even has a stonger desire to get going into it all! he asked us if after he was baptized if he would get a calling. we told him that he would eventually and he was so excited! :) he said that he wants to teach sunday skool! haha so sweet! the sunday skool lesson was on exaltation...we were pretty nervous on where it was going to go and how deep they were going to take it but they did a really good job with it and the deepest we went was we talked about becoming Gods...haha! they loved it all and are still on strong for the 8th! such a miricle! all the circumstances that have lead them to this point have been without a doubt guided by the Lord! such a wonderful expirence it has been to be able to work with them and see the change and desire! :)

thats about all that is new here, last night we took Tim Riley to the christmas light and saw the movie Luke II and the VC and then walked around all the lights and displays! way kool and the spirit was so strong! he has been less active for 40 years and just randomly has decided that he needs to get back into it! sucha amazing individual! i have talken lots of good pics so i will print off some and send them around! :)

for newyears we will be singing at the temple then i think that the mission is going to do a little something till like 10 of so but who knows? we are just waiting to here how it is all going to work out! but all is going really well here! it was so good to talk to you on Christmas and to hear your voices! thanks for all the love and support! thank you to all who sent me things for christmas! i will get around to writing letters soon, but thank you so much! it was a wonderful day and it has been a amaizng month full of miricles! The christmas on the mission is amazing! some amazing memories and wonderfull friendships that cant be found or gained any other way! thanks for making it possible! :)

Hope and wish you all a happy and safe new year! set resolutions everyday, not just on new years and then remember them and then acomplish it! its awesome to be able to look back on your goals and relize all that you acomplish! :)

Have a good one and keep safe, your always in my prayers! keep enjoying your time outa skool and live it up! keep in touch!

Love

Elder Dalan Lerwill

Dalan Christmas Eve

Verna, Amber, Dalan, & Warren

Trevor, Dalan, Garrett

Dalan was so lucky and got to see Uncle Glade and then the Warren Lyons family on Christmas Eve at the temple lights. They both brought goodies for him. What a exciting time for him. Uncle Glade called us and told us that he had gotten a package off to him and he looked great. I said,oh you saw him and he said yes he is standing right by me. He did not want to cheat on his time but wanted to let us know he would call at 9 the next morning. So cool, it made our Christmas Eve great.
Christmas morning Dalan did call around 10. It was so good to talk to him. He is doing so well and is happy and growing so much. It is wonderful. He says time is going by so fast for him. He is loving being a missionary. He had several lunch and dinner appointments and he said that he would call us back again that night. It was so fun to know that we got to talk to him again. He called that night and he was very very full. We talked about his investigators and he told us about different people he had taught. He told us some more about the Butler family and how he had been praying for a family to teach. He has talked about them in his last 2 letters and we just got his new e-mail today and talks more about them. So I am going to post his letter next.

My Cute Sister's Family

So cute!

E-Mail 12-21-2010

Hello how are you all doing? i hope eveything is going well there for youall and you are enjoying the christmas season! to answer a few of your questions: there is no mission party for xmas but we will be doing somthing for new years after the mission sings at the christmas lights! it will be the last performance of the year so that will be a lot of fun! my foot is doing well! lots better alomost 100% so that is going to be nice! we will probley be calling on christmas day anywhere between 9 and noon, what ever works best for the members we will be calling from! we have lots of plans for that day! lots of amazing families that we will be eating wiht and just hanging out with! :) so it will be alot of fun!


the work is going really awesome! we are teaching some amazing people! this week has been so blessed! we found a family of 5 that we started teaching and they are so solid! they have been reading the BoM as a family and have recieved a answer to their prayers! they are going to be baptised on the 3rd saturday in Jan! they have changed so much and absolutly love the church! their names are Ryan, Earmalene, Ryan Jr, India and rajan! they are a african american family and have been so prepared over the past few months! Ryan told me that the next time that i talked with my parents to tell them thank you so much for supporting what i am doing and having a good kid! haha, they feel really indebted to the ward, the missionaries and our families, they appreciate you all back home and all your love and support in making this all possible so ppl can find the happiness that we all enjoy! thanks :)

We still have alot of spanish work going on right now as well! so many miricles and wonderful ppl! Alma and her family have been to church the past 4 weeks and will be getting baptized here soon so that is way exciting as well! we have several teens that have been coming to church and love the gospel but cant get baptized because their parents wont let them! they say " No Bautismo... Catolico" even though they never go to the cathlic church, their cathlic and wont change! so thats really frustrating but the spirit will work on them and they will come around in time! :) we have faith! so lots of good stuff!

Elder hiatt has supportive family and we are doing really well. he has 5 other siblings and he is the oldest so his parents are doing the same first child thing with him as well! haha i have a weird feeling that i will be leaving at the end of this transfer... who knows though! haha

i have been super stressed latly with lots of things that have been going on within our district and just wondering how i can help missionaries get where they need to be. between that and planning district meetings and all the other regular missionary stuff i have been staying busy! :) Which is a good thing! President Ellsworth has been putting so much trust in me with lots of things and at times it seems a little overwhelming, but it is so wonderful to be on this side of the trust rather than having president not trust me! so its really good. it is wonderful to have such a amazing mission pres. he and i have a such a sweet realationship and it is wonderful. President and sis ellsworth are our mission mom and dad and its is wonderful to feel like i can have a personal realtionship and trust with him so i can turn some where for help. some times as a leader missionaries dont like you because you have to draw the line so it can be hard sometimes, to please God and not just man! if that makes any sence! but things are going awesome and i have so much loving support on both sides, home and here! :) thank you so much for all you do!

the weather here is wonderful! :) yesterday it was in the high 70's but today we have got some cloud cover and chances of rain till christmas! so that is going to be a good relief! :)

we are way excited for christmas! i got a package from nathan for christmas, that was way nice! James is still only writing a few pharagraphs!?!? thats crazy, there are so many amazing miricles that need to be remembered, hopfully he is keeping a good jounal! haha, we get to work the lights on christmas eve! we willopen presents and then go make some phone calls! :) we are excited! hope you all have a very merry one and keep everyone contained in your bust houses! :) i love and miss you all so much but am doing really well here. time is going by so fast its insane! have a merry christmas and i will talk to you real soon! :) take care and be safe! enjoy the white fluffy stuff that i dont have! take care!

Love,

Elder Dalan Lerwill

p.s. you said that yousent me a package last monday with a tape in it?! i could have missunderstood what yousaid but i have not recieved any thing? could have possibly got hung up in the mission home!? just letting you know,have a wonderful day! love, me ;)

Elder Lerwill' companions Christmas Card

We got a great letter in the mail today and a Christmas card from Elder Lerwill and Elder Hiatt. So great. Dalan is doing great. He is excited for Christmas. The Elder's (I suspect in his District) will be coming to their apartment Christmas morning and they are having a fiesta and then eating at several special family's places. On the 14th he said it was 83 degrees there and that we were not suppose to envy him. Well I do! Can't wait to talk to him in 1 week!



Brother's Christmas Cards

It is always so fun to get my siblings Christmas cards. This year my brother's wives did an AWESOME job, as usual. LOVE them both, so cute. Super CUTE KIDS that I get to call nephews and nieces. So lucky for me.

An Almost Perfect Day

Yesterday was an almost perfect day. It was a lot of fun. On Monday Stacy and I will have been married for 22 years. Wow, I cannot believe it. I have now been married for as long as I was single. How crazy is that. I remember when my wonderful mom reach that point and talking about it. I am the luckiest girl in the whole world. Being married to Stacy is my GREATEST BLESSING ever! So in celebration of our anniversary we went to the temple yesterday morning and did sealings. It was a rush to be out their by 8:00 a.m. and we were late because of the roads and slow driving but once we huffed and puffed our way up to the sealing rooms in the Rexburg Temple and slowed our heartbeats it was a great experience. We had an awesome sealer who really talked about these wonderful blessings. After we finished we went to breakfast with the other couples who went from our ward also. It was fun to have interaction with other people who we don't normally do things with. Brent and Sheila Knight and John and Amanda Bevan were with us. After breakfast Stacy and I went to the bank and then headed to Idaho Falls to do some grocery shopping for Christmas and finish up the Christmas shopping. We just were really relaxed and did not rushed and it was a lot of fun just spending time together. We headed back to Rexburg and did a few things and then headed home. We unpacked the vehicle when we got home and then we got ready and Stacy, Bailey, Verna, and I went to Victor to Pierre's Playhouse and watched the play "The Christmas Carol". They did an awesome job and it was the perfect thing for me to get really in the Christmas spirit. It was a fun, great day. I love you Stacy L., Happy Anniversary. Here's to 40 more years together on this earth and then together for all ETERNITY!

Awesome Elder!

E-Mail 12-14-2010

hello hello, it is so good to hear from you all! sounds like you are staying busy with the crazy holiday season running around! but you wouldnt have it any other way! :) thank you so much for my suit! i love it so much, it fits perfectly and is really comfortable! i love the fabric and the pattern! thank youfor that, it worked out really well, i was able to pick it up at the mission home we i went for the special district meeting! wow time sure flys by, i cannot remember what i have and havnt told you all, but the meeting was incredible! so inspiring and uplifting!


I got the tree and all the decorations and the packages! thank you so much! the tree was awesome! it pulled out of the tube and popped open into anyother regualar tree! haha it was a lot of fun to get it all up and ready! haha, kinda made our apt feel a little more like christmas! :) i love it so much and we had a wonderful time getting it! :) i will send some pics! :) i really hope that you didnt do alot for me for christmas because the suit is awesome! i dont need any thing else. but thank you so much!

we got a call from our zone leaders on sunday night and some one got sick and was not able to got to christams lights and they wondered if we wanted to go work the lights on monday and we said yes! it was so crazy there, family home evening and there were so many people! it was a wonderful night and we had a lot of success! about half way through the night elder crawford walked up to me and said that he had something for me then he turned around and i got a big hug from Garrett and Trevor Lyon! haha it was so kool! :) i havnt seen them in for ever but we had a good talk for about 15 mins and i found out that they live just 10 mins from me! haha, so i will be bumping into them! haha, but it was just crazy to see them again. way fun to talk and reminis a little! so that was way kool! i also ran into a few ppl who know jeff and or ryan, not too supprising but it was kinda fun to visit with them! haha, crazy how small of a world that it is!

my foot is doing well, it still hurts alot but there are improvments! i went to another doctor last week and they re xrayed it and could not see any breaks but it is in the join in the middle of my foot and they said that it would take a long time to heal and be painful for alot longer if i kept walking on it so they put me in a walking boot! its kinda pain to wear but a lot less pain walking! haha so hopfully ill out of it in a few weeks! :)

this week has gone by so fast its crazy! we have seen so many sweet miricles this week, we have a baptism coming up on Chistmas eve and also one on new years day so that will be really exciting! we found the sweetest family ever, they just moved in from Chicago and are way humble and looking. we talked to the wife on the street then we taught them 4 days later! once they understood that there are black mormons they were so excited! haha so they will be coming to church this sunday! :) there is a family of 4 that we are teaching right now and they have came to all 3 hrs of church 2 weeks in a row that will be getting baptised here soon as well! it is so awesome to people accept and change! :) so there is a ton of amazing things that have been happenin this christmas season and we are having a blast! :)

me and elder hiatt are still doing great, having a blast and still teaching lots of people! the spanish is really difficult and challanging but its gaining, at the end of this transfer i have a feeling i will be transfered back into a all english area!? but who know... haha

so things are going really well here and the work is going along great! :)

thats so good to hear that micheal is doing good, i will send him a letter today so it will be there as he gets into the field, what scary and exciting times! haha good to hear about all the other changes that are going on there and how everyone is doing! :) its good to hear that dad finally relized that it wasnt always me that was loosing his tools even though alot of the time it really was! haha, i hope that you were able to all the grain off and everything put away and out of mind! :) just keep moving forward and it will all work out! ;)

it is going to be another crazy week again, we get to go to the temple tomarro with president and sister ellsworth and a few other zones, then on friday there is a ward party in one of our wards and there is just so much to keep us up and busy...which is a good thing! we like being busy! :)

Wes and katie gave me this handy little letter stamp thing that will be really handy so i will be useing that! thanks so much for all of the fun things, it has been alot of fun doing that every day. i have a little something that i am planning onsending to macie for christmas so be looking for that! :)

Thank you all for all your love and support! the expirences of my mission have been so amazing and inspiring and i love it so much! we really take for granted what we have; family, a house, food, being born in the US, and so many other things that others dont have that so despretly need, it is heart breaking to see what is really out in the world. so thank you for everything you do in making this possible! i love and miss you all so very much and think about and pray for you all daily! have a wonderful week and be safe! enjoy the wonderful spirit of christmas and take care!

Love,

Elder Dalan Lerwill

Lerwill Christmas Party 2010 @ Green Canyon

Hey I didn't get very many pictures but these are better than none. We had a great time at the party. We are so lucky that all of Stacy's brothers and sister live so close. It really is a rare thing and we should remember that. These really are cherished times, who knows when things could change. Most families can not all get together as regular as we do. We are really lucky. And it is a bonus too that we all like each other. (At least I hope so! ha ha) It really is a great support group and we would do anything for any of them. Stacy and I especially love all the little kids, since ours are not little anymore. I can't figure out how this happened!!

Missionary Mom

Look at what I made with my cricut and Dalan's favorite color orange vinyl. So cute.

Doesn't Christmas Decor make you smile. :)

Christmas Gifts

Stacy, Bailey, and I made these cute picture holders for Bailey's friends and the girl cousins for the Lerwill Christmas Party.