ELDER DALLAS ROMNEY VARNER: half way?!?! (Week 53, Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Wales, Elder Yim)

family and friends,

what is good! to start out I gotta give a happy anniversary shoutout to my dad and mom! love you guys and hope you have a great day this week was baller, and I'm not saying that just because we balled out at 6:30 every morning at the chapel for morning exercise. having the basketball court in the chapel so close to us has been a major blessing!

this week all around was just great! the only rough parts was having to stop meeting with dyyianne, we are gonna stop by every few weeks just to chat but her heart is so hard against accepting the gospel. she won't even read the scriptures anymore because she says she knows it all, it's really sad but we tried our best to help her commit to living what she believes, and I guess now just isn't her time. there were times this week where we just took too long to get from place to place so one of our goals is to be more timely. ok now to the good stuff, we were knocking doors and the third door we knocked on this street has four flats inside of it, and we rang the bell for the first one and told this lady what we were doing and she said wait a second and to our surprise, she actually let us in! i almost forgot what to do next. her name is Syyophia, she is an Indian student at the uni and doesn't have a strong Christian background but wants to learn more and try it out. such a miracle! and then our main homie Axxled just got off his trip and he texted us asking when we could meet up so things are heating up over here!

we did loads of member visits, we are trying to work better with the members of the ward. this ward has been good at feeding us and this upcoming week is more proof of that. the weather has been decent kind of haha, winter is coming that's for sure. we had a ward picnic in a place called Barry which is right next to the beach, it was so flipping nice to see the ocean again! haha, we got to meet up with that guy from California who came to church last week and we have him a blessing because he was really sick and was by himself out here, he bore his testimony to us of the priesthood and it was so powerful.

alright here's a spiritual thought from week 7 of the arp Manual. this week's studies were focused on humility and one major part of that is sacrifice. we can't expect the lord to change our hearts if we aren't willing to make sacrifices. not all sacrifices are giant, but I'd challenge you all to sacrifice whatever may be holding you back from developing a stronger relationship with the Lord and I promise you he will bless you 100X more than he already is now. Your sacrifice is only a humble reminder of His "great and last sacrifice" on your behalf.

I know this email is already turning into a novel, but this last week I hit my year mark of being out here in the UK and I just wanted to share some thoughts. this last year has been the hardest, loneliest, and darkest year of my life, filled with disappointments left and right, rejection, fatigue, and so many more things. That being said, this last year has been the best year of my life. I have never felt so much love. Love for the gospel, love for people, love for Jesus Christ. I have never experienced so much joy and happiness, I have never laughed so much, I have never smiled so much, and I have never felt the spirit so much. I have felt so much love over this last year and despite the trials that have had me on my knees praying more than I ever have before, I wouldn't trade this last year for anything. I have grown so much in so many different aspects including confidence and knowledge, but most importantly my testimony of this work. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and all that he has done for me and for how he has helped me develop over this last year. this last year has been a rager and it's only the beginning. thank you to each of you who have supported and encouraged me over the last twelve months, I love you all.

here's to year 2️