Elder Dallin Stout

My first week out here has been awesome! I love the weather and seeing the ocean. My trainer is Elder Driggs, he has been out for 3 months. I dont have a bike yet, I borrow a big mountain bike for now from one of the zone leaders. I found out I can't wear light colored pants so it's a good thing I didn't bring them all!  Oh I got a package the day before I left the MTC. It had salsa in it and when I went through security at the airport they threw it away!  Apparently everyone knows that except me, so I had to go through again. 
As a companionship we have one investigator that has memory loss so she has been taught every lesson 4 or 5 times! but she is making progress.  We'll get her baptized eventually, it will just take a lot of patience.  We have lots of potential investigators that we just have to contact. The first person I talked to while on my bike gave us her address and said to come see her. Also my first door approach, I said we are sharing a message and he let us in!  My companion said that was the first time someone has ever let him come in before.  It's been only a week and I have already declared to a gay couple and the same old lesbian couple twice!  It's kinda awkward!  We have a mission car that we share, so we get to use it every other day. 
The ward here is great! people feed us every night and one night we were hosted by a non member couple.  The man was born and raised in Layton and went to high school there so we had a lot to talk about!  I now weigh 155 pounds so I already know I'm going to get fat unless I can find a good way to work out every day!!  Yesterday was my first day at church and it was the Primary program.  The kids very basically taught all the missionary lessons, and there were around 40 non members visiting!  
The other day we were going to see an old lady at her house but she wasn't there.  We were about to leave when we saw a lady near by moving boxes into her car.  We thought about just leaving but decided to help her.  When we did we told her who we are and what we do. Then she just opened up to us and told us how she is going threw a very nasty divorce and lost everything, including her daughter.  She was getting ready to move to London.  After she told us this she started to cry and told us how grateful she was for us coming by.  We told her how the gospel can bring joy to her life and gave her a book of mormon.  We said a prayer with her. After that she gave me a hug, and I just remembered how we can't do that.  But she needed it and I must have had a weird look on my face because my companion saw. That was a testimony to me that the Lord prepares people for us to bring to the gospel and puts them in our path if we are looking. It really was a miracle that we found her at that exact moment before she was leaving.  We are trying to help a less active quit addictions and come to church.  He knows it's true but he needs a little help.  I ask you to keep Troy and Marry (our investigator) in your prayers to help them come closer to God.

Elder Stout