Ugh! I hate getting upsetting news from Sweden. Aldste Milne has been having some health troubles on and off for the past few months with his stomach. He has lost 10 pounds and counting, and he is experiencing a lot of discomfort. He has visited a physician in Stockholm and plans to follow-up on the 21st of August. Hi mission president contacted me today and told me that they will try and get him an appointment with a doctor in Germany soon. All of your prayers are appreciated. We are frustrated because he is on the other side of the world, and it is difficult to know what to do other than pray. He is even more frustrated I am sure. His President Beckstrand told us that he could tell that this was affecting Aldste Milne's spirit as well - he could tell that he was somewhat depressed. It is so difficult to be sick and still feel the responsibility and mantle of being a missionary. He is in good hands. I know our Heavenly Father will watch over him and bless him. Hang in there Dallin... We love you and we only want what's best for you no matter what that entails.
This morning Blaine and I was reading from the New Testament and we came to Ephesians 6. This is one of my favorite epistles of the Apostle Paul. He opens the chapter by reminding children how important it is to obey their parents (which of course any parent loves to hear). Did you know that the commandment to Honour thy father and mother is the first commandment with a promise? I talks about how it will be well with those who do, and then promises that they will live long upon the earth. Dallin has always been obedient to his parents. The Lord will bless you tremendously for this Big "D"! The very next verse, however, warns fathers to not provoke their children to wrath, but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Blaine has tried to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but I also know that he has provoked his sons to wrath from time to time (I as well). Dallin, you will have to continue to forgive both of us. But my favorite part of Ephesians 6 is the part about putting on the whole armor of god.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of thedarkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
May we all contemplate what it means to put on the armor of God that we might become impervious to the fiery darts of the adversary!!!!
Letter From Home:
Alma 13:10-12
10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;
11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
12 Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.
Dear Dallin,
I shared these scriptures because this is what dad taught today in his High Priest group lesson. He shared all of Alma 13 with them because it is specifically talking about high priests, but he focused on these three verses because they are so powerful, and they teach that being perfect is not what makes you a high priest, but that you have exceeding faith and repentance - and that you are willing to choose repentance and work righteousness rather than to perish. He really was excited about this lesson and said he had a great time teaching it today. In church today I bore my testimony, and I also had the opportunity to speak to the entire Aaronic Priesthood about serving a mission. It was an awesome experience, and it brought back so many precious memories. It of course made me think about you and the many experiences you must be having! Can't wait to get you home and to hear them all in more detail!
This week was busy as they all seem to be. On Tuesday dad and I drove all the way to Logan to watch Carter pitch for 23 minutes. He pitched well, but the other team just kept getting these little bloopy hits and then there were a few errors and before you knew it they had scored 6 runs. They lost to this team, and this team turned around and won the championship. Carter however was able to pitch a complete game on Thursday and gave his team a big win and a chance to make it to the championship. They lost a close one right after and then they were finished. He made it home the evening of his 18th birthday so we celebrated by going to Red Lobster.
On Friday and Saturday Ty and his team played in a baseball tournament in Cedar City. Thankfully Ty's legs are feeling better. He played great both days, and they ended up playing Lehi in the championship. They lost 7-6. Ty played both catcher and pitcher in this game and he went 3 for 4 hitting. It was definitely one of his best games! Grandma and Raymond were there as well as Uncle Jack and Gayle. It was a real treat to have them all there! We visited with Jack and Gayle in their home between games. He showed us pictures of the new Cedar City temple. It is going to be gorgeous. The ground breaking for it is next Saturday the 8th. The temple sight is not too far from his house.
Today we headed up to Minersville for dinner with the fam. Chad and his family were in town and we were also joined by Nanette's family and David and his new little family. David is now with a girl from St. George named Misty and she has four children. One who just graduated and will be attending SUU, a 7th grade daughter (the same as Davee), and a five year old boy and a three year old girl. He seems really happy so I hope everything continues to work out for them.
School starts here on the 13th of August which is next week - Yikes! This summer has flown right by. Ty is getting nervous and excited. He will be playing Fall baseball and getting ready for basketball. Carter starts at SUU on the 26th. I will be joining him as well as I start the Master's program in professional communication. It is going to get crazy here pretty quickly!
I hope that you are doing well Dallin! Is there anything that you need from home? How is the work going? Take good care of yourself and continue to work hard and be obedient. I know the Lord still has much for you to do before you get home. Leave it all in the field as they would say! My thoughts and prayers are with you everyday!
All My Love,
Mom
PS... Ty says to tell you hello and that he can't wait for you to get home and play some one on one with him! You'll have to work him over pretty good to get him ready for basketball!
This Week's Letter From Dallin:
Volleyball with the Zone
Karlskrona Friends
Stockholm
The District
Dear Milne Family,
Well its been an interesting week for us here in Stockholm. The weather is still crazy. One minute it'll be pouring rain and the next minute clear skynajd sun shine. Right now it's gorgeous out. Sunny and 65 degrees. Perfect weather. We are hoping that it stays like this (probably won't) because a member invited all the missionaries over for a barbeque today!
This week we worked mostly with less active members. I love the less actives that we meet with. Some of the nicest people and they all have really interesting life stories. This week I got to meet some more friends from past areas. Lina, Elisabeth, and my man Jerry were visiting Stockholm from Karlskrona this week and we got to meet up and have lunch together. Elder Silvennoinen also served in karlskrona after me for 6 months so it was one big reunion for everyone. On Thursday we taught district meeting on understanding prayer. Prayer has been one of the more interesting things that I've studied about. obviously we do a lot of praying as a missionary but it is still so easy to just "go through the motions" and "cover all your bases" whenever you pray. During the district meeting we passed out a lot of quotes about prayer from past church presidents, discussed them, and then I finished with a little gospel according to Call in on how I understand prayer. In order to explain I need a whiteboard or something so ya'll can hear that later haha. But everyone thought it was good and the spirit was there. Me and silv love being the district leaders. Oh and we also found out that we will be staying together another transfer! We are both super happy about that.
In other news, I've kind of been struggling with my health lately. I've lost 10 pounds and I've been having stomach problems. Saturday and Sunday was really bad and I ended up missing church. I've noticed that something is up since I was in Kungsbacka but its slowly got more and more serious. I'm feeling fine today though. It kind of comes and goes I guess. Don't worry too much about me though I'll figure it out.
Sounds like y'all had a good week though. its crazy that its august already! I can't wait to hear about all the back to school stuff. You guys are so blessed to be able to meet with family so often. I'm glad to heat that Ty is playing good ball and that Carter had a nice birthday at the traditional red lobster haha. I love you all! I should be able to send pictures this Thursday when we go to the church for sports night!
Vi ses snart!
Love
Dallin
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