November

You guys are awesome. Something I thought of this past week is the blessing on my family back home. With Ryan deciding to serve, Ronnie and Taylor making good choices and the whole family becoming stronger. It's just motivation for me to work harder. These past few weeks I've been studying the concept of " returning and reporting". Mostly on how it can influence my prayers. Prayer has always been something I struggle with. It's not that I don't pray even thou I should pray more but it's the quality. And as I've studied and applied my prayer have improved and have been answered little by little everyday. I can go to my Father innHeaven and set goals and then every day report on what I've done well or didn't do. Then from there revise and grow stronger.

So transfer calls were Saturday and I'm staying in Knox! I'm so stoked. If you would've asked me 6 weeks ago if I wanted to leave I would've been like OH HECK YES.  But now thumbs are looking good. We're planning on 4 baptisms these next couple weeks. It's sweet. 

Halloween was sweet. We had a bonfire at Jerrys ( a returning least active). We had like 12 missionary's there and roasted brats and s'mores. Life was good. 

And for Christmas don't worry about sending stuff. Just save money for either a plane ticket back out here next spring so I can go watch the PERRYS get sealed and new clothes. I'm down to 225 lbs and like a 34 waist. I've had to make like 4 new holes on all my belts. So now of none of my stuff back home will fit.

We'll love ya'll and God Bless

Pics from Seth

Letter not so great but awesome pictures 

High school football

So this was a good week. Our investigator Lindsey got baptized so
that's always sweet. She was baptized by this kid in our Ward who's
preparing for his mission. He almost drowned her. -__- She didn't go
down all the way so he more pushed down than leaned her back. It was
pretty funny.
We got permission to go to the Powell HS game Friday so support a kid
and his family. Not gunna lie. Got a lil trunky. But TN knows how to
party on Friday nights! They had like booths, vendors and Chick-fil-a
catered. It was legit. They got killed thou, it was 49-7 so yeah. Will
(the kid were teaching) did really well. He was the only bright spot
of that team. Then Saturday was a long day. We went and tried to
contact referrals all day. Nothing. He did thou pull up to the one
trailer in the backwoods that had to wolves. We got out to deliver a
Bible and a super hick with a glock comes out and says "We don't want
none, were baptist." Well forget you bro!
Sunday Lindsey was confirmed and she asked me to do it so that's
always nice. But that night we went to a baptist super church. It was
interesting to say the least. It was just really a rock concert mixes
with political crap. No doctrine. But the people sure got into it. We
got to see some people get saved. In the closing prayer the preacher
was bashing us. It's was pretty funny. We made some new friends so
that's nice.
So that's life in the south to the fullest. Love yall and God Bless
Elder Seth T. Dillard
Sent from my iPad

Good in the hood

This week was good. Elder Hansen got shipped down to Chattanooga which
was his first area. I got Elder Stark (Iron Man)! He is legit! A lot
quieter than Hansen but we're having a good time. And how could we
not?! Lindsay will be getting baptized Saturday and we found some
legit families to teach! Also I might get to go to a high school
football game in Powell, TN this Friday!! So stoked for that! A Less
active YM plays on the team as a OLineman and of course me and his hit
it off great. He had a lil bro who isn't baptized and I told him he
could baptize him. He liked that just some things we gotta get done
first. We finally have a Area Book app for the IPads which is sweet.
Transferring and putting all the info from paper into the IPad not so
sweet. It takes forever and ever! But once it's done it will be good.
P-Day we went to a golf driving range and hit a few. I lost a club in
a tree. Don't ask how it just happened. I did go Happy Gilmore on a
bunch of them before that happened. I love the country ghetto here.
It's a fine mixed of hick and hood. We that's it for me. Got doors to
knock and people to teach! Love yall and God Bless. And a shout out to
Sabrina in New York. So the whole appointments falling thru and such.
Welcome to the mission lil sis! Haha

Sent from my iPad

Short and sweet?

This week was good. Our investigator Lindsey is doing awesome and set
to be dunk' d in two weeks.  We are slowly starting to find more
people to teach which is great. Me and Hansen are having a ball.
Transfer call is this upcoming Saturday so we'll see if we stay
together for another round. I also went on exchanges with Elder
Lambert who's from Nashville. He lives in Nashville and got called to
Knoxville...poor kid. Next P-Day we're going Bass fishing so I'm
looking forward to that. That's about it thou.
Love yall and God Bless

News from seth

This week we slow as crap! We got to find some new people to teach. We
did have a great lesson with our investigator Wayne. He is a Jewish
converted Christian. He escape form East Germany during the Cold War.
He's got some stories. Besides that we went on 2 exchanges with some
of the District Leaders in the Zone. We also had our Pioneer Day
celebration Saturday. It's was fun. My comp and I were the obviously
the most qualified to be the judges for the Pie Contest. Also I still
undefeated in stick pull! That's about it thou.
love yall and God Bless
Elder SethT. Dillard

Sent from my iPad

Howdy from Knoxville TN!! So I have been transferred and am now finally in Knox. My new comp is Elder Hansen. He is from Sparks, NV so got another Nevada boy to hang with. Sorry for the late emails. Yesterday was Zone Training Meeting so our PDay got moved to today. I remember when I enjoyed ZTMs then I became a ZL, now instead of sitting quietly and looking pretty I have to give trainings the entire time ( while of course still looking pretty ). It went good then after Prez made the whole zone sing me "happy bday" so I hated every moment of that. Oh well. Besides for that it's just been getting use to a new ward and area. Bristol is way different than Knox. It's full of crazy people but it's awesome and I actually kind of missed that. 

We're gunna go to UT's stadium and athletic facilities for PDay so I'm stoked for that.

Thanks to all for the Bday wishes and love all yall 

Seth T Dillard

Letter 6/28/15

so the transfer call was saturday. and Im am outta here. crap. and i also have been called as a zone leader. double crap.

In all my other area I've been kinda ready to leave but here its different. I dont know why but I just dont wanna leave. The people and everything I've experienced here is beyond what I can put into words. this email will be short but i will share one thing.

  Yesterday i had the most spiritual experience of my mission.

Our investigators who got baptized 2 weeks ago the Perrys ha s a awesome day yesterday.

The family consits of Chris (the father) Kathy (mom) and Alex (14 year old son). The have been on fire. Kathys been fighting anti on facebook. Alex went to scout camp and chris came out and taught with us.  But yesterday chris and alex received the priesthood. Chris asked me to ordain him a priest which was awesome. but the best was watching him give his own son alex the same priesthood and ordaining him a deacon. as i stood in that circle I was fighting back tears. Whichs sucks because im getting transferred  but that being my last sunday in Bristol is more than a blessing. I love this gospel so much and what it does for me. I going to miss Milne alot. Im hoping to get transferred to Knoxville. Maybe I can befriend a  UT fan and go to a VOLS game. haha 

Im so excited form my lil sister Sabrina on here leaving last week for her mission. For those of you who dont know she is heading to the Utica, New York mission. Im so proud of her and know this will change her forever. and if your about to send me mail wait til I get to my new area. and if you werent planning on sending me mail, do it anyways. I love dill pickle spitz and slim jims.

for the last time ITS BRISTOL BABY!

Elder Seth Thomas Dillard

June 22, 2015

These last few weeks have been a blast. The Perry's got baptized on the 14th and literally the WHOLE ward was there. IT WAS AWESOME! They Perry's are just the coolest and just how everything fell in place for them to join the church is miraculous.  Between Chris getting a job to where he is home every night, Alex joining scout and Kathy loving Relief Society, its just perfect.

Chris actually signed up to go on a team-up with us. Alex heads out to Scout Camp today and they will both be getting the priesthood Sunday!!! Elder Milne and I taught Elders Quorum yesterday about "Flooding the Earth and out Lives with the BoM". It went really good. Milne is coming along swimmingly as a teacher of the gospel and I'm so thankful to be his first comp. Chris and Alex got us hook on Marvel Disc Masters so we play that on PDays now.

So Saturday we had our Zone Conference and received our IPads. You know the ones I've been promised since I've gotten in the mission? haha They are cool thou and I'm just excited to get rid of all the paperwork. Besides that we've baptized our whole teaching pool so we've been finding like CRAZY! and transfer are next week, I think I'm outta here so I want Milne to have a good teaching pool before I roll out. We do have another baptism lined up for the 3rd of July.  His name is Marty and he is hilarious. He knows how to play the drums and goes ham on them. Its sweet! He has come a long way and we"re stoked for him.

Well that's my life. Love yall and God Bless

Elder Seth T. Dillard

 Seth at a Zone Conference

Seth and his district, he is the district leader!(:

June 8

Sup yall. So this week was good. Things are starting  to pick up again which is always good. We gots a baptism this Saturday!!!! The Perrys are soo ready and the ward LOVES them. Chris got a local trucking job with Pepsi, so he will always be able to go to church rather than being on the road.  The ward is so stoked! This will be the first family baptism since forever ago. Last Monday our E.Q. Prez had the Perrys over for dinner/FHE and it was awesome. I found out what Alabama Kool-Aid is. Its just water. -__- Brother Filetti said they had Alabama Kool-Aid so I was excited (cuz Kool-Aid is awesome) so I asked where it was. He told me the faucet. Its a poor joke but it wasnt funny at the moment. Alex (the son) also went to the youth fireside and had a blast. I just love seeing this changes in people especially a whole family! What A Blessing!

We also got a temp. car til ours is repaired. Its a old corolla but the passenger doesnt work so Milne has to Dukes of Hazard  into the window. Its great! Me and Milne also had our first doorstep Bible Bash session as a companionship. People are funny. Milne was scared so that was funny to see. He started to yell so we just walked away without saying anything. Pisses me off but oh well the mission life. The Perrys also fed us and Kathy made banana puddin' from scratch. Mercy thats stuff was heavenly!

Well thats about it for this week. Love yall and God Bless.

Elder Seth T. Dillard 

June 1

Hey everyone. This email will be short. This week was just one of those weeks. Appointments fell through and everyone is outta town due to summer. ALOT of biking so thats...something. We did have our Full Mission Conference on Thursday. Elder Zwick of the seventy came and discussed us FINALLY receiving our Ipads. They are going to be pretty cool on what we will be able to use them for and how they will help with the work. Im most excited that they will replace paperwork. I HATE PAPERWORK!!!! but oh well thats life  Beside s that the overall message of the conference was be smart and dont look up "stupid" stuff. They drilled that last one into us pretty good. After the conference we went back to the mission home to get our stuff (we stayed in the mission home the night before). Prez and Elder Zwick were there and we got to talk a lil one on one with him. He said he saw something in my eyes so that threw me off a lil. Didnt quite know what to say to that. We'll be getting our Ipads in 2 weeks at Zone Conference. Beside for that our week was slow so not much to report. The Perry's are doing great thou!!! We are goin to our Elder's quorums prez's house tonight with them for a lesson and dinner. The ward loves them and supports them so well. They bought us a engraved missionary coin! It was so cool. They are the best. well thats it

Love Yall and God Bless!

Elder Seth T. Dillard

heres a pic of us and Elder Zwick. President Griffin is one his toes cuz he is actually a small lil guy haha

May 26

Wassup yall! this week was full of mixed feeling. Our investigator Gene got baptized so thats awesome! He asked me to baptize him so I felt extremely honored. We had to do weekly planning this week, its when we set goals for lessons and such for the upcoming week. But we have a goal for baptisms and for the first time in 3 weeks we had to put 0 as a goal. I got kinda use to a baptism every week so it was a lil depressing. Oh well, more are to follow soon.

 It was also me and Elder Milne's first full week on bikes (please kill me). Bikes were cool in Chattanooga because our area was tiny but Bristol is massive!!! We cross the Tennessee/ Virginia line EVERYDAY! So we had to rely on alot of member team-ups to take us to appointments which is what we're supposed to do anyways so SWEET.

 We had a lesson with our Investigators the Perry's and they are studs! They have been so prepared to receive the gospel. They are set to be baptized in June. And they are planning on going to the Indiana temple open house in July. It was sweet! So they announced the open house in church and Chris the husband was already planning  on doing to Indiana for a convention on the same weekend. So when we had dinner with them he was saying how theres no way it was coincidence so they HAD to go. It was dope.

 Transfers were also this week but I get to stay another transfer with Milne and finish training him. We have to much fun and GET WORK DONE!

We'll thats it for me.

Love yall and God Bless

Elder Seth T. Dillard

MAy 18

Sup Ya'll!!! so this week was pretty good. Whenever you have a baptism its gotta be a good week. The Clays boys are awesome and Bradley will be getting the Aaronic Priesthood soon. Besides for that ummmmmm... oh yeah! We got in a car wreck on Friday. People in the South cannot drive for real!!  But me and my comp are all good and now we're on bikes til its fixed (sad panda). The Bristol ward is fetchin' awesome!!! The ward is going some awesome missionary work and love us to death. Transfer call we're Saturday night and Im staying to finish training Milne!!!! I love this kid sooo much. and Gene is getting baptized Saturday so thats too legit.

Our Investigators the Perry's are the coolest people ever!!!! Chris (the dad) is a giant Randall Cunningham fan (UNLV baby). Kathy is so awesome. The spirit is so strong with her, and her desire to be more passionate about the gospel. She came to the Clays baptism and someone asked her if she was getting baptized. "Yup! June 13th!" with no hesitation. IT WAS DOPE.

OK so funny sorry of the week.

So we got a referral form the Kirkland Temple this week so we went to contact him. His name was Jordan and he is a interesting dude to say the least. We were talking about Joseph Smith then he just randomly turns to Elder Mine and asked if he was a christian. Milne replied yes obviously. The Jordan says "well you seem rather resentful towards Christ'' then goes off on some tangent about demons possessing people. So long story short Milne is possessed   by demons. Then we say him again Friday and as soon as Milne ted to teach Jordan said 'Bye Bye" and walked away. This guys doesn'tlike Milne and its kinda funny. He felt a lil bad but I just told him not everyone is gunna like you and move on.

Well thats it for me. I got people to teach, people to baptize. Love yall and God Bless

Elder Seth T. Dillard

April 21

Well Sunday I hit my year mark.Now the # day I've been out begin to become bigger then the amount I have left. Its come too fast. But I've already since the amount of growth in myself and I pray it continues.

Im emailing today due to the fact that yesterday was a Zone Training Meeting.It was good. Had some great trainings about working thru the members of the ward. Thats where the real missionary work gets done. The Bristol ward is waking up and getting excited about the work. Its sweet!!! So due to ZTM our Pday got moved to today. But life is Fan- diddly- tastic!!! We have 5 baptisms lined up with more to follow.

The Bristol 500 was Sunday on my year mark (consequence I THINK NOT)!!!! So all week the town was nuts with fan/hicks/rednecks you name it. Main street had concerts goin all week.

Oh and last night we were heading home and saw a homeless dude. We had some brownies from a member but thought better off he have em. WE parked and gave a fellow  the treats. He knew who we were. He was all like "you Mormons are brainwashed".  Well he thought all religion is brainwashing so you know he's happy. A your Welcome would have nicer but whatever, we just laughed it off (the south is full of crazies).   

Training is great! Elder Milne is a mirror image of Ryan (my cousin) so we get along perfectly.

We just have a ball. Also my district is doing well and great things are happening.

Great area. Great comp. Great district and Great work> what more can I ask for?!

We'll love yall and remember ITS BRISTOL BABY!!!

April 13

This week was good a slow start due to transfers but good. Elder Hagans went back on home to Idaho and I picked up my greenie. His name is Elder Milne from Fairview UT right next to Snow College. We've been having a ball!!! I took him over to the Turners  (investigators) and had to mess with him. Todd pretended to be a snake handler priest and ask Milne if he trusted the Holy Spirit to protect him if the snake bite him. Milne was buggin out and Todd came back with a box covered by a sheet. Then he "tripped" and scare the crap outta Milne. It was awesome!!!!  Its been great thou, he is a stud of a elder.

    So once transfers were done with the week went great. We now have 2 people set to be baptized on May 9th with 2 to follow shortly. We also got word that Prez will be putting a set of sisters back into the ward next transfer so our area will get smaller which I'm ok with. Driving 40 mins to a dinner appointment kills our miles. Beside that just been working our tails off. Training is great!!! It just give you the pump up you need to go the extra mile I feel and I can already see it in the work.

Well thats about it for me. Love ya and God Bless

Elder Seth Thomas Dillard

March 23

from seth

ok the walmart transaction are atm withdrawals. when i went to pay for my suits my card didnt work because i set a daily spending limit of 5 bucks. so my companion was nice enough to cover me at the store so i took out the cash to pay him back right away. then i got them and another of my suit jackets tailored. i still have money. its in cash hidden away in the apartment i i dont carry it around. and im fine. im not trying to run you dry. dont send me anything. thats fine. i can send pics of the suits if youd like. im not trying to play you. im really trying to budget. its hard but im improving little by little. 

in other news that stinks about grandma. i knew when i left thatd be the last time i see her. but thats great about brina going to the temple. thats was one of the coolest moments of my life. being in the celestial room by myself for a min or 2 then everyone i loved joining me. just like how it will be later on.

this week was good. i was sick and out of commission one day by besides that a great week. last night we had a lesson and dinner with a investigator Ms. Rush. she is 77 and has been taught by elders for 2 years. she knows it all and believes but just wont commit. but we had a amazing lesson. she is struggling with her church. the spirit was so strong and she commited to pray about being baptized on april 4th. shes like the mission grandma! and she can cook!!!!!! we had chicken alfredo and it was so good. and she likes me because im a fat boy who will keep eating. besides that we have a few investigators who are so close to a date!! Bristol is great. and crap time flys!!!!! these last 4 transfers have flown by. its crazy to. i look in the mirror and see someone completely different. someone im proud to see. i have been dreaming alot lately about coming home and getting all my wayword friends back on track. life is good and thats the simple way top put it.

March 16

this week was good. a lil slow at first but really picked up near the end. 

The APs and ZLs came to district meeting so i was a lil nervous but got over that rather quickly. After district meeting we when on exchanges and one of the APs Elder Searle came with me. It was great. he was trained in this area so had alot of great insight and knew alot of the people. one of the highlights was we went and saw Ms. Rush.. She is a older woman whos been investigating forever. She loved Searle when he serve here so we had to go over. it was a amazing lesson. you could cut the spirit with a knife. we just kept prodding her to commit to a date. she knows its true but is just scared to commit. she is so close thou!!!! we'll be buggin her alot this week. afterwards we when to a burger joint called burger bar for dinner. its awesome! the owners used to investigate the church and love missionaries. they even have a mormon burger! there was a news team there and me and Elder Searle got interviewed. is was pretty cool.

We also had Stake conference for the Kingsport Satke this weekend. Elder Meredith of the Seventy came along with Prez Griffin and its was great!  Alot of converts bore their testimonies and alot was focused on "bringing back the one" whether it be a less-active or people visiting. To be honest better than any stake conference back home. now thats nothing against Prez Harper or Tew but theres just so many converts coming from so many religions that you can just feel the sincerity. I dont know what it is maybe im just more spiritually intune. who knows.right now im reading Teachings og the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith. I love to learn about him and his teachings. i really just truly enjoy studying the gospel. learning more so i can help those i come in contact with. well thats about it for me. Ill pray for Great Grandma.

I love yall and God Bless 

March 9, 2015

This week was good. got alot of lesson and 6 new investigators so thats awesome, my comp is going home in a few weeks and is getting trunkier by the day but oh well. i've dealt with this before.

we are teaching some pretty interesting people.( a messianic jew, a family who the head of the household is a southern baptist preacher and a drug addict). so yeah lots of fun.

i love bristol!!! it's such a legit city. we're gunna go take a tour of the speedway one of these pdays. and the race is coming up and theres a chance i could go to the saturday races!!!!!

Im coming to learn that not only can I help people come closer to christ but other (outside of the church) can help me. its cool to feel of other peoples spirits and grow. I finished reading Jesus the Christ yesterday and love it. I actually look forward to our study periods in the mornings now. I love learning about the gospel and trying to gain any new knowledge i can.

thats really is thou. 

2/9/2015

Howdy everyone. This week was pretty legit. Got alot of teaching done and Brandy asked me to baptize her!! pretty stoked.

Im just trying to work my tail off before the end of the transfer. Im pretty sure im outta here. Also some less-actives who havent come to church in years came!!! They also brought their granddaughter who is a investigator of ours.

We also got some meeting outta nowhere. We have a Zone Conference this Saturday which is cool but we gotta drive for car inspection so thats a 100 miles down the drain. Also Elder Christofferson is coming to speak to us next Friday! This will be the second time I've heard from him on my mission the first being in the MTC. The word is we are finally getting IPads but i doubt it. haha

So super weird story for the week. So we were at an investigators home and the mother informed us that her mother was practicing satanic rituals. They are hispanic and the grandmother had a shrine to Santa Muerte or Saint Death. The mother was telling us about some weird things that have been goin on and it was really freaky stuff. They had already taken down the shrine but the spirits stayed. We we went to the back room where the shrine was and I felt a presence. From there we re-dedicated the home and the spirit was there. Hopefully the family does all they can so the purification process and be done.

In Elder Jeffery R. Hollands talk "We are All Enlisted" given in the 2011 Priesthood session of conference he talks of this. How in the church we dont speak of evil spirits or satan more than we have to. We often brush over Joseph Smith's encounter before the First Vision in the Scared Grove. How we was taken over but a force from a world unknown to him. We may not speak of such things but they ARE real. Its scary but needed. Without evil there is no good in the earthly state. And when we do feel the enemy's influence and overcome is we make out make that much closer to Christ.

Brother Malone our WML who is thankfully back form vacation spoke to us this Saturday while we were at his place.

He spoke of the Holy Ghost and how it touches us. How its not about the baptism numbers and anything like that. The number that matters is how many times the spirit touches you or the people you are teaching. For every single time the spirit is felt we are changed and the more its felt the more we better ourselves. And I think thats the purpose of the mission to do all we can to constantly invite the Holy Ghost so we can better ourselves. And also those we come in contact with that we make either introduce or re-kindle those feelings and if they have the HG in their lives conversion, re-activation and so forth will come naturally. Everyday I grow happier. The more I learn of this gospel and more I teach it, experience it and witness is work in others my testimony is fortified.

OK now one more thing. This week we were invited to a Episcopal church for their weds. service and communion. People call us a cult! holy crap! It was cool but weird. Lots of scripted prayer and such. But the people were great. We helped them make food bags for the homeless then they had a big dinner. I LOVE SOUTHERN COOKIN'!!! Seafood gumbo, homemade red beans n rice SOOOO GOOODDDD! and we got sent home with alot of leftovers. its great.

We'll I love ya'll and will talk to ya later

God Bless