Elder and Sister Dattage wrote on September 29th, 2015
HI family. Hope you got our address. Our physical address is highway 53, 400 feet North which means 400 feet North of Highway...ha ha! Our little branch is 30 people with more than 300 on records. Many were baptized as Indian placement students. Theydo not do their Visit and Home Teaching well which causes any people to feel uncared for. This is a testimony to me of the importance of these programs to us and especially to our families.
We received a list of 14 kids who are summary age. One of them takes classes on-line. If the Branch President agrees we will be teaching some classes if we can get kids interested.
All of you please continue to pray, read scriptures, and hold family home evening. Hunter, Hayden, and Taylor could study Preach my Gospel. So much in there. These things are essential to family growth. No good internet for 2 more weeks. Love all of you. Share our love with your families. Please continue to pray for us. Love Mom and Dad
And now the dog bite.
A few days ago I got these pictures from my parents showing the neighbors with a comment that there are "lots of dogs!"
A few days after these pictures I get this! Captioned EXACLY how my dad sent them.
Mom doing a little P.I. work before the dog bite.
Mom's first dog bite! Just a nip from the big black one!
That is it! That is all my dad sent. I hope she is okay. Boy she is one tough cookie!
A few other cute photos that rolled in over the last few days.
We have T.V. but two more weeks until we can get good Internet.
Hi All. We are in Gallop. I wil lgo to Women's conference there. Our trailer is set up in the back of the Branch parking lot. We are getting used to our little home. So glad to finally have a place to be. Our Elders are Elder Blachard and ElderTaylor. They work hard. We went to a service project this morning. We cleaned paths. Yes, they ahve walking paths. We met President Clawson our Branch PResident. He is a nice person.
We are glad that thereis a very small market, a gas station, and a couple of places to eat. The one Kim found is a block from us. Most of the membersare less active. On records there are 350, 30 at most come to church.
We like it here All except I can't text yet. Maybe soon. People are nice. We are keeping busy with potential of being very busy. Love you and will continue to keep you posted. Let us know about everything. We are praying for Jaxon and Hayden. Want both of them well.
Love you, Mom an Dad
This gal knows how to work!
Wow...check out that dusty trail Elden is mowing! Looks like something Elden would LOVE! I bet he loved this!
This cute one of my mom's legs came from my dad'as phone. His caption was "She up to it." I am guessing she was a bit cold.
Dad also sen this one with the caption "Mom's drink stop." If you know my mom she absolutely loves Diet Coke. I am so glad she can get it on her mission!
They said they hope this is the final place for trailor and commented "Not too bad!"
Elder and Sister Dattage did not waste time in Kirkland. Sister Dattage sent us this text: "Third time in Walmart today. We can't seem to get it just right.!" They will get situated soon I am sure!! I love Elder Dattage's smile here!!
This morning we received a text that Elder and Sister Dattage were headed to Zuni! Sister Dattage said as they were getting ready to leave the trailer park they had been staying at she snapped this photo:
Her text read: Elden is a natural. Out neighbors at the trailer park. We are preparing to leave here.
My Dad has always has a gift for communicating. But not just talking, really making people feel welcome and loved. He is a natural! This picture just made me smile!!!
As Elder and Sister Dattage made their way to Zuni they sent us these pictures:
They said this is beautiful scenery just outside scenery. The bottom right was documentation that Sister Dattage could still get an icy Diet Coke!!! We also received this photo:
More documentation that diet coke can be had!
The last photo we received was this:
Sister Dattage said these were of an Elder's muddy boots. When I looked at these boots I thought of Elder Scott's words (I had just reread some of his talks when I heard of his death): You can take your place among the greatest generation of missionaries the CHurch has ever had. It will take effort and dedication. It wil take faith and sacrifice."
March 2004, Be One of the Greatest
What a great time this is!! It is such a wonderful time to be a member of this wonderful Church! Those boots may change the hearts of many!! Thank you to Elder and Sister Dattage for teaching the simple and precious truths!
Shortly before leaving for the Farmington, New Mexico mission Elder and Sister Dattage received a phone call that there may be a complication with the trailer pad they were going park their trailer for the year they were serving. They received direction to report to Kirtland, New Mexico. They were asked to stay there for a few days, help with some mission transfers then someone from the mission home would help them find a place to park their trailer. So, they faithfully packed up and stepped out into the darkness. They arrived in Kirtland on Saturday. Elder and Sister Dattage attended church on Sunday and Sister Dattage siad it was like "attending church on the Wasatch front." We received this picture on Sunday around 4:30 p.m.
Every Sunday Elder and Sister Dattage had cooked dinner for their children and their grandchildren. Except this Sunday, they cooked for themselves. Grandmaps text just read "Where are the kids?" This is the most tender picture as Sunday dinner is such a special time for our family! We are grateful for the example of Elder and Sister Dattage!
We also receive this pictures on Sunday! I apologize for the screenshot but I somehow lost the photo from my phone. Grandpa's text said "It is 80 degrees and she has the fire on." After some inquiry by Jill she found out that indeed the fire was one but the air conditioning was also cranked!!
The next day they set out to find a home! Here is a picture of the church in Zuni. There is a trailer pad here that is designated for couple missionaries. However, as Sister Dattage's text reads "It's a long story but there is a classroom set up on it but with some work we may be able to make it work that we can stay here."
The next option was about 20 miles outside of Zuni. This is a beautiful grassy area but not right in Zuni which is where Elder and Sister Dattage would prefer to stay. Here is Dad talking to someone in the housing department. Prior to serving on a mission Elder Dattage was a Bishop in a young single adult ward. As you can imagine those kids LOVED him! One of his former ward members is teaching at a University near Gallup and is helping with the land hunt! What a small world it is!!
After checking these sites out Elder and Sister Dattage decided it was their preference to stay at the church in Zuni if possible. Sister Dattage text us "We will have to talk to the mission President and ssee what our options are. Good thing we are goers!." Yes they are!!!!!
So many friends and family sent so many well wishes with Elder and Sister Dattage. So many of us speak the love language of food. Elder and Sister Dattage took multiple care packages with them. Upon arrival Sister Dattage sent us this photo. She said "we have plenty to spare once we got here." It looks like they will have snacks for a month! They are SO well loved!!!
Elder and Sister Sister Dattag wrote on September 19, 2015, "Just a few thoughts about the first week of our mission. the M.T.c. was tough because of our feelings for Ryker. The first Elder that prayed was named Ryker. We felt his presence there. We learned to rely on each other a lot. We talked, studied, and laughed. It was amazing to see the organization of the M.T.C. and the way the Spirit works there. We made good friends. In our district we had a doctor, consultants, teacher, and a small business owner of a towing shop. We had four moms that love their families.
The M.T.C. teachers were teaching part-time and part-time students. We enjoyed our classes. Even technoloty *(funny story about this below). We leanred to rely on the Spirit as we roll played. We enjoyed seeing Elders Miller, Swing, and Malm. They were always singing Happy Birthday!
Our fireside from Sister Wixom was wonderful. We learned to lengthen our stride. The Elders carried bags, opened doors, and were nice to all. We won't pass Provo without thinking about our experiences. We learned to lengthen our stride.
Most of all we want to express our love and apprecation to our family. You helped so much as we got ready and are contiuing to do so. We treasure the quote book and the picture book.
Please update us about everything that happens here. Every score, dance, gymastic event, cheer, debate, wrestling, soccer, swimming, preschool, hunting, plays, cute stories, shop stories, and Emma's new words.
We are taking advice we got from Ryan when he returned. He said, I tried to serve wellso I would have no regrets!"
We are proud of you and love you so much. Continue to growspiritually and love and hug the kids and spouses. They are precious to Heavenly Father and us.
Update we are goingn to Kirtland for a week then towards end of week we will go hunting for a trailer pad. Keep in touch. Love you!
Funny story about "Technology": While at the M.T.C. my mom, Sister Dattage, thought she was taking a picture of my dad with the IPAD. She sent it out to a few family members, Taylor who is 15 was one who received it. Taylor received it while in her L.D.S. Seminary class. Tamra accidentally had the mode set to video and had absolutely no idea.
Taylor yelps out to her class, "I just got a video from my grandparents who are at the M.T.C.!" Of course everyone wanted to watch it. She starts the video which is grandma thinking she is snapping a photo of grandpa! However it is her taking a little video of him and then the camera quickly pans to the floor. She had no idea she was taking video! Taylor said her class may not have got the video they thought they were getting but they all got a good laugh out of it!
We also received this photo! This is Elder Dattage hooking up their new home about 100 miles outside of Zuni, in Kirtland, in a temporary trailor park. They have been assigned to stay for about one week in Kirtland to help with some missionary duties before heading to Zuni and finding a permanent trailor pad. About the temporary pad....well...at least there won't be any yard work!
From every man, young and old, who bears the priesthood, I ask for a stronger and more devoted voice, … a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God. Jeffery R. Holland
Elder Holland: Brethren, when that happens (You receive a call to serve), tell your wives that if you can leave your recliner and the remote control for a few short months, they can leave the grandchildren. Those little darlings will be just fine, and I promise you will do things for them in the service of the Lord that, worlds without end, you could never do if you stayed home to hover over them. What greater gift could grandparents give their posterity than to say by deed as well as word, “In this family we serve missions!”
We are all enlisted in this journey to perfect ourselves and those around us. My parents are setting a beautiful example of full enlistment! Of course it is never easy to say good-bye!! Yet this is a super exciting good-bye! Last night we literally met my parents at their door as they walked in from the M.T.C., ate one last family dinner together, and said our good-byes!
We love you! Thank you for marking the path, as Elder Holland taught, "In this family we serve missions!"
Who will be taller in one year? Hunter or Grandpa?
Looks like Elder and Sister Dattage ran into some familiar friendly faces with these two young elders. How conforting that when these young Elders and Sisters are away from their families they have Grandparents, like Elder and Sister Dattage, there helping them along the way!
Learning the Technology
This picture just may have been Elder Dattage's homework. They sent it saying "Dad is takig a class on the IPAD and doing great!" Wow...Missionary Work has changed! Shea just commented, "We did not have classes on Gospel Apps when I was in the M.T.C." Looks like these two are doing great with the technology piece!
SALT LAKE CITY —Digital Devices Now used by More Missionaries
More missionaries of the Church will be using digital devices as they preach the gospel in the United States, Canada, Japan, and western Europe. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are expanding the use of mobile devices following a successful pilot program that has been in place since last fall involving 6,500 missionaries in 30 missions in the United States and Japan. Missionaries are equipped with specially configured iPad minis for studying and teaching the gospel.
Church leaders will also implement online proselyting in the United States, Canada, Japan, and western Europe following a test in those areas for more than a year. Sister missionaries in some of the Church’s visitors’ centers are also using digital devices and online proselytizing as part of their daily activities. Thousands of missionaries in 35 missions used either a mobile device or existing computers in Church buildings, public libraries or other approved locations to use social media such as Facebook. An emphasis will still be placed on their assigned areas.
By early 2015, the Church expects that more than 32,000 missionaries in more than 162 missions will be using mobile devices. The expansion will begin later this year. The missionaries will be asked to buy their pre-configured iPad minis, which they can keep after their missions, much like they purchase and use their own bicycles. Those who can’t afford the $400 devices will be offered assistance.
“It has been a wonderful experience,” said Elder David F. Evans, a member of the Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Missionary Department. “We've learned that they're very effective tools for planning, for communicating with local leaders, for communicating with their mission president, and for keeping in contact with the investigators that are currently being taught [and] former investigators that they may have taught, either in the same area or some earlier place.”
Elder David F. Evans, a member of the Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Missionary Department.
More missionaries of the Church will be using digital devices as they preach the gospel in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe.
More Latter-day Saint missionaries can now use digital devices to help teach the gospel.
The new technology enhances existing tools for missionaries. The mobile device includes an app called the Area Book Planner, which replaces the current Missionary Daily Planner and the Area Book (both printed resources). The Gospel Library app includes scriptures, manuals, magazines, and other teaching resources.
“And we know in many parts of the world, the traditional forms of proselyting work very, very well,“ said Elder Evans. ”In some other places where technology and urban life has developed in such a way that missionaries have a harder time contacting people, we hope that these tools become even more valuable in those places.“
Church leaders envision that mobile devices will eventually enable missionaries to begin their formal preparation for missionary service before they enter the missionary training centers (MTCs), and then continue to use them for language and gospel study and to improve their ability to teach the gospel when they enter the mission field. “And then because of the ability to learn beforehand and to learn after the MTC, we anticipate that the MTC experiences will remain shorter as they are now as compared to earlier times,” Elder Evans said.
Missionaries are also learning how to develop positive lifelong digital habits. “We know that even with filters and every other safeguard that we can provide that the only really effective filter for lifelong technology use is the individual heart and mind of the individual young person,” stressed Elder Evans.
He acknowledged that the implementation of the technology will look different in various locations and they will work closely with area presidencies to determine whether missionaries can use the devices safely in all areas.
A record number of nearly 86,000 missionaries are currently serving in 406 missions around the world. That number is estimated to peak at approximately 88,000 later this year. “But we anticipate sometime late in the fall, we’ll begin to plateau and then begin to actually have a decrease in the number of missionaries going into next year,” said Elder Evans, who is anticipating the number of missionaries will stabilize around 77,000 or more and not drop down to 2012 levels.
As of 30 June, there are 85,728 missionaries serving, which includes 6,735 seniors (8%), 54,053 elders (63%), and 24,950 sisters (29%).
With the increase in the number of missionaries, convert baptisms are up; however, Elder Evans said there was not a goal to tie the increase in missionary service to a boost in the number of convert baptisms.
“If you started August of last year and go through our last report, month over month the baptisms are up,” he added. “Right now for this year there's about an overall 15 percent increase in the number of convert baptisms this year compared to a comparable period last year. And we are gratified by that, but again, recognize that that's not the main purpose for what is happening. The greater purpose is to offer the opportunity of missionary service to those who would like to perform this service, meaning the young people of this Church.”
The number of young missionaries serving grew dramatically after the announcement by President Thomas S. Monson in October 2012 that lowered the age required from 19 to 18 years for men and 21 to 19 years for women. At that time 58,500 missionaries were serving compared to 86,000 today.
“They responded magnificently to President Monson's invitation, and thus the increased numbers of both elders and sisters and even senior couples,” said Elder Evans. Last year at this time, 58 new missions were created that he described as the “appropriate size” after the surge of missionaries.
“We believe that the young people of this Church will continue to say yes to missionary service,” he said. “And they'll continue to choose to become young disciples of Christ and continue to realize that missionary service and this intense opportunity to be of service to their fellow man and to preach the gospel is something that they want to have in their lives.”
Elder Evans said the changes have also allowed sister missionaries to gain more leadership experience. “We've seen them participate in what's now known as the mission leadership council, and we've seen them really respond in a wonderful way to the opportunity now to not only serve a mission, but also during the course of that participate in the mission leadership council, to provide input and counsel with regard to the direction that a mission would take and the challenges and problems that are faced, as well as the opportunities.”
Mission leaders report that the early return rate for elders and sisters has gone up, but it is very close to the proportional rise in the entire number of the missionary force. “As we have more missionaries, we're going to have more of everything,” said Elder Evans.
Elder Evans said the safety of the missionaries will continue to be a high priority, although he said it is safe to serve a mission. “I've read statistics that suggest that being on a mission may be as much as 20 times safer than being generally out in the population.”
He explained that with more young missionaries serving, the Church will likely launch a missionary safety program that will encourage them to start their day with a “safety moment” for riding bicycles, service projects, and other activities. “And we hope that by raising the sensitivity of missionaries to safety issues, that in and of itself will begin to diminish any potential for injury that there might be. We love these missionaries, and we know the Lord loves these missionaries, and we are committed to absolutely doing everything we can to protect their safety.”
We received this picture today from Elder and Sister Dattage. My Mom said "We are taking a small break. They are working us hard." Don't they just happy? This picture just made my heart smile!! I can only imagine all the fun my dad is having meeting all of the young people there!! I can also see my Mom feverishly taking notes and soaking every bit in!! HEAVEN!!!
If you are an instagram fan you can also follow at elderandsisterdattage on Instagram. Evidentially Insta is the language of young people!
My parents were asked to report to the Missionary Training Center, M.T.C., in Provo, Utah, between 10:20 and 10:40 in the morning. They will stay at the training center from today, September 14th until Friday, September 18th. Their time will be spent preparing and recieving instruction for their upcoming missionary service in New Mexico.
Wow..this was right as they arrived! They look nervous!
My mom captioned this photo as "The same chapel Lance and Ryan reported to."
We received word that they made it, had a lot to learn, and were grateful to be asociating with other Missionary Couples and young missionaries. Some they even already knew from home. Later in the day we receieved these photos.
Looking so happy and in their element just a few hours later!
"Wow...we have never had so many grandkids!" was the caption for this one.
I bet! What lucky young missionaries to have your example!
Learn a Little about the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo
At the Church's Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, young men and women as well as retired men and women from around the world come together to prepare to serve the Lord. The purpose of the MTC is to provide anmosphere of peace, love, trust, confidence, and respect in which missionaries can prepare for missionary service.
Official Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints
Being Set Apart
“The setting apart is an established practice in the Church and men and women are ‘set apart’ to special responsibility, in ecclesiastical, quorum, and auxiliary positions. …
“To some folk the setting apart seems a perfunctory act while others anticipate it eagerly, absorb every word of it, and let their lives be lifted thereby.
“The setting apart may be taken literally; it is a setting apart from sin, apart from the carnal; apart from everything which is crude, low, vicious, cheap, or vulgar;set apart from the world to a higher [plane] of thought and activity. The blessing is conditional upon faithful performance.”
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (1982), 478.
Elder and Sister Dattage are Set-Apart as Missionaries
As children and grandchildren we gathered with my parent's at their Church Building along with their Ecclesiastical Leaders
for this special meeting.
Beautiful promises
were given to both of them as special prayers were given on each of their behalf’s.
Love, joy, happiness, blessings to us at home, and blessings to the
people of New Mexico were extended to them. We all felt the joy, peace,
and closeness that come with righteous decisions. As children and
grandchildren we feel blessed to witness incredible examples of
sacrifice and service.
I think my parents knew they were in for something special when they received a phone call from the Church of Jesus Christ's missionary office asking them if they would pull and live "in a house trailor" for the duration of their missionary service. Well that checked Los Angeles and Chicago off the list of possible places to serve.
Indeed when the call came that they would be serving in the Four Corners Region they knew the idea of living in a house trailor had just become a reality. A google search of Pueblo Zuni brings up exactly 0 houses or apartments for rent.
My parents were invited to address their local congreation in preparation for their departure.My dad began his remarks with "You know what people say about living in trailors? Every day they get one foot smaller." Lucky for them they were able to purchase a beautiful and spcaious trailor.
The Diet Coke is in the fridge.
Fireplace included!
Awesome bedroom!
Elden requested the offical "Missionary Potty Picture"!
