Dallin still sounds positive this week and was thrilled to have one more baptism just before he left. The Lord has surely blessed him, and we are so grateful that he is happy and well!
Here is the letter his proud father sent him this week:
Hi Dallin,
How is my boy doing? My "MVP grandson" son. Dallin, I think you have finally amounted to something.
I am so proud of you and your efforts. How great shall be your joy in the kingdom of Our Father with bringing souls unto Him. Dallin, you're wonderful and your faith and love is magnificent.
Thank you for being my son. They say by their fruits ye shall know them. I hope people have begun to know me better with your choice to serve a mission for our Lord. I love you Dallin.
I named you and blessed you to always walk uprightly before the Lord. You have done that.
I hope your move south has gone smoothly and safely. I want you to be careful. Don't take anything for granted. Your safety is of utmost importance. We love you and miss you dearly, but we know that you are gaining such wonderful experience over there. Take care ol buddy.
Love,
Daddy Milne
Here is the letter Natalie sent him this week:
Elder Hartman Rector Jr. explained: “[The] ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1972, 170; or Ensign, Jan. 1973, 130).
Dear Dallin!
We have rejoiced all week long in your successes in Sweden. The Lord is really blessing your efforts there. Please know that there isn't anything greater in this world that a mother desires than the happiness of her children. You sound very happy. I have nothing but gratitude and joy because of this. Keep up the great work! Olle and Daniel will be your forever friends, and this time in Sweden with them will be some of the most joyous moments in your life. Remember to give thanks to your Heavenly Father for these amazing blessings, and always remember to acknowledge His hand in all things.
Dallin, I pray that you are adjusting well to your new area in Karlskrona. I understand that it is a very beautiful place, and that you have been assigned to a wonderful new companion. Take with you the successes you had in Umea as well as the lessons learned and build upon them in Karlskrona. You will come to love the people there as much as the people you served in Umea. How is the Swedish in Karlskrona? Is there a southern accent there? Is it anything like a southern Utah accent - haha!
We have had a great week here as well. PVHS' baseball team played really well this week. Dad finally let Carter bat in the JV game and he went 2 for 3. He also pitched an inning in a varsity game and played left field. The JV and Varsity won both their games this week against Hurricane. Carter continues to pitch and play awesome. Dad is elated! Ty's Rebels team won a big tournament this weekend as well. It was exciting. They played the team that has all the really big kids on it from Desert Hills and Dixie, and their coach is paid. Ty is hitting the ball really well and he is playing short stop and pitching. Carter also played the piano yesterday at Slim's baptism. He was so excited and had a really neat experience. He says he has never felt the Spirit like that while playing.
I am extra tired tonight so I will keep it short. I have had four different meetings today, as well as church. The first meeting began at 7:00 am and I went straight through until 5:45 PM. I know I shouldn't complain because you basically do this everyday. But I am still recovering from our youth fundraiser we had yesterday. It was a really big carnival with a silent auction and bake sale. Ugh! Lots of work, but it turned out great!
The quote I used was from today's Gospel Doctrine lesson. We studied Joseph in Egypt. It totally reminded me of the animated video you and your brothers used to watch all the time - "Joseph, King of Dreams". You remind me a lot of Joseph. You have, like he, experienced many trials in your life. And just like Joseph, you always had the faith to get up one time more than you got knocked down. You always have shown such amazing faith and persistence. These two traits will serve you well in the mission field and throughout your life. People like you cannot be defeated, and the Lord will always help you turn everything into something good, regardless of how dire it might be. Put your trust in the Lord and ALWAYS believe Him. When He tells you that He loves you, believe Him. When He tells you that He forgives you, believe Him. When He tells you that He understands what you are going through, believe Him. It is one thing to believe in Him, and quite another to believe Him.
Take care of yourself son and stay safe. I love and miss you so much. Stay positive, work hard, be obedient, and believe Christ!
Much Love,
Mom
Here is Elder Milne's response:
Dear Fam,
Haha "MVP grandson", I actually met an older gentleman the other day who looked and sounded a lot like grandpa Glen, he even kind of smelled like him a little bit haha. But its good to hear that I finally might have amounted to something! I was getting a little worried that I never would have -haha. The Lord has been real good to me up here in his vineyard of Sweden. Best time of my life. I guess it really is "the best 2 years". The transfer down south went pretty smooth, and I'm really enjoying the sunshine down south. It is very beautiful down here as well, you'll see it in some of the pics that I will send. My companion is a really cool guy who comes from Finland. He works really hard and knows how to have a good time as well.
Anyways the baptism on Tuesday went well. The spirit was very strong and the service went nice and ran smoothly. It was very hard to say good bye to everyone. Everyone in the branch had been so great to me and a lot of good things where going on when I had to go. But it was nice to leave on a high note. On Wednesday I got up early to catch a plane to Stockholm and then hopped on three different trains to get down to Karlskrona. It was crazy running around trying to catch trains while dragging all of my heavy luggage behind me but it all worked out.
So far, I am really enjoying Karlskrona. So pretty. We have been working with more immigrants down here but we're looking to find some good Swedes as well. Elder Pauli Nieminen from Finland is my new comp. Like I said before he is an ex AP so he knows his stuff but he also knows how to have a good time too, we are getting a long real well and having a lot of fun. There is a sister missionary here in Karlskrona who went to school at Dixie State for a year and played tennis, so it's been cool to talk about St. George with her and the different people that we both know. The branch here is smaller but the people are very nice. There is a brother here who said that he was baptized by a missionary from St. George named Mike Riding or Ryding you wouldn't happen to know him dad? I got to teach a primary class and that was pretty fun, the kids were way cool and i was surprised by how much stuff they knew! It really is inspiring to see how strong the saints are out here even when the branch is only about 35 or so.
But yeah, I'm not really sure what else to write, everything is good. I'm healthy and happy. The southern accent isn't too bad, people just talk a lot faster down here, but I'll get used to it. It helps when you have a companion who is really good at the language. He's is a really good teacher as well, I've already picked up a lot of good stuff from him. Good to hear that things are going well back home, especially with carter and ty's baseball that is super exciting. Looking forward to hearing more about it in the future. I'll send a lot of pictures to make up for the short email haha.
Love and miss you all! Keep the faith!
Elder Milne
PS... I really liked that quote that you sent by the way. Good stuff and very uplifting.
Daniel and Olle.... I'm sure gonna miss them!
Daniel's Baptism
Train ride from Stockholm
My new comp - Elder Pauli Nieminen
Beautiful Karlskrona
Old Church in Karlskrona
Welcome to Karlskrona Aldste Milne!
Breathtaking!
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