Homecoming

Elder Dylan Paolacci will complete his missionary service as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

His homecoming will be Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 11:00 am

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Paradise Valley Stake Center 3601 East Shea Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85028 Everyone is invited to attend

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Reunited . . .

Friends since they were just babies. 
Together again after all 3 serving honorable missions for the
in different parts of the world.
 New York, New England States & Peru.
Amazing young men. All now headed on different life paths.
(RtoL) Matt is heading  back to BYU, Coy is getting married in September and hoping to get a baseball contract this fall, Dylan is staying in AZ for school this fall and possibly heading to BYU in the spring (all depends on scholarships). As I have said many times, there is no institution in the world that could have educated these young men they way a mission has.
 So proud of them. So happy to see them together again, even if only for a short time.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

He's Home . . . .



Elder Rider and Elder Paolacci arrive in Atlanta - Elder Rider's sister surprised him by being at the airport.
They had to say goodbye in Atlanta. Elder Rider to Salt Lake and Elder Paolacci to Phoenix.

Here we are ready and waiting !!!!
The plane has arrived. There were other missionaries from a few of the other missions in Peru on his flight from Atlanta to Phoenix.



I cannot even explain the swelling in my heart as he walked off the plane.




Monday, July 16, 2012

7.16.12


Bittersweet is what you say in moments like this right?
I seriously cannot believe it. I feel like it was yesterday when I sent my first letter from the mtc. It has gone by sooooo fast. I cant believe it. But I know I cant stay forever, I guess.
Well this week we were going crazy on old investigators, I wanted to see if anyone I have taught here wanted to get baptized before I left. And well it worked. We have 2 baptisms this Saturday! I am super excited, I really wanted to make sure I baptized my last week. What I really need from you guys this week is that you pray for them, make sure they stay excited. You may remember me talking about them in past letters. Their names are Jessica and Ingrid.
Well this week I have alottttttt to do. I am trying to write a little summary on each of my converts, how I met them, how we helped them progress, what they taught me, and stuff like that. I most likely won't be able to finish it before I get home but I figure it will be something good to do when I get home also. I also have to write my goals and stuff that president is asking for, I am excited to see what I write. Also, I gotta start packing the bags, just a little behind in that department.
We are going to invite all the members to the baptism Saturday. Really want to make the last one the best one, or atleast try. Sunday, I am gonna give a talk in sacrament meeting and then I cruise over to Huancayo where I am gonna have my last interview. Conveniently, President Ardilla is gonna be there so I am gonna have my last interview and then I hop on a bus to lima!
Monday in Lima we supposedly have all day to do whatever we want. So I think we are gonna go to the centro and get our last shopping in. Also, I am gonna try and meet up with some converts and members from Lima. Vitarte and Manchay. I think Milagros and Katy are gonna meet up with me to say bye. And I hope I can get ahold of some others so I can say bye to them in person. Blows my mind that all this is happening. I always saw other missionaries ending their missions but I always thought that it was way too far away for me to think about it. But it seriously sneeks up on ya. Like I have said a ton of times, it is a mix of so many feelings. Yesterday we ate with some members and they asked if I was happy or sad, or a little of each. I responded "ummmm more like alot of each" its so hard to explain how I feel right now. It is like im super excited to see everyone, to start working and get back to school and studying and stuff. But at the same time I feel like I am not gonna be able to leave this place in one piece. All I know is that it is gonna be (as coach Peterson said in freshman year baseball) a rollercoaster of emotions (haha im pretty sure Coy is the only one thats gonna get that joke, and if not just forget I said it haha). Ahhhhhh I love all you guys soooooo much and I am so excited to see ya in a week, but not for another week haha. I am gonna give it my all this week and hopefully I can pull off more than 2 baptisms. Pray for me please. This is not gonna be an easy week.
Well hope you all have a great week! Love ya!
Elder Paolacci

Monday, July 9, 2012

Emelda's Baptism



7.9.12


(to preface this letter - Dylan's best friend Coy got engaged this week - and I was the one who told him the news this morning)
Familyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!
Well as you guys know my universe was just shattered to pieces.
Definitely wasnt expecting that one. But congrats to Coy! Seriously, that takes guts hahaha. I am so excited to meet the girl that stole my best friend from me. Sure she is great if she got Coy. Haha what a stud.
Taught him everything he knows tho. Wow, still cant believe it. Haha funny thing is that today I was thinking that I have nothing to write about, well haha there we go. September 28th huh? Well I hope they have gotten to know each other well enough by now cause after I get home she won't be seeing Coy until September 26th or 27th. Haha sorry, I just have no idea how a best friend is supposed to respond to this kind of news! Well congrats Coy for real. Big step in your life and I'm glad you are taking it. I'm pumped to get to see ya in a couple weeks, I am pretty sure we have both changed a ton, it is gonna be awesome getting the band back together. But dont worry I understand now that I am gonna have to be content with being #2 on the list. Well Coy don't let me forget to sock ya when I get home, and dont forget I love ya man. Congrats bro, way to go. Thanks for waiting for me.
Well my life was still intact until about 15 minutes ago so I guess I should let you guys know how my week went. We had changes on Wednesday, IM STILL IN JAUJA. Sadly Elder Janco left. What a great kid. He is gonna be an awesome missionary. My new comps name is Elder Choque, sound familiar haha. Not the same kid but almost the same last name (the other was spelt Choqque). He is awesome. great kid. He has 6 months in the misiĆ³n and wants to learn ton. Also, on Saturday we had a baptism!
The sister that was baptized is named Emelda. It is a pretty cool story too. Her daughter got baptized with Elder Bean about six months ago when he was in Villa Rica (the jungle). When the missionaries visited her she didn't want anything to do with the church. About a month ago they moved here to Jauja. When they got here her daughter sent us a message with their address so we could visit her. Long story short, she went to church with us a couple times but still didn't wanna get baptized. Until Tuesday night in our lesson with her we challenged her and she sat thinking for awhile and She said "you know what I think it is time". I was soooooo happy. One of my goals was to be able to baptize her before I left. The baptism was awesome, she ended up crying when she gave her testimony. It was a really cool experience, and I hope I can have a couple more of these experiences before I go. It is just awesome.
Well I am gonna go now and try to recover from this insane news. Pray for me haha.
Wanna know something crazy? Only one more letter!
Have a great week. CONGRATS COY! Logan have an amazing game tonight. At 7:30pm your time I am going to be saying a prayer for you and I will be thinking about you guys all night. Go get em !!!
Love
Elder Paolacci

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

More Pictures . . .







7.2.12


Famillllllyyyyyy!!!!!
Great week. Monday we played soccer with the district. It was fun, we just messed around the whole afternoon. Tuesday we had a great district meeting, I was kinda sick but everything turned out great.
Wednesday up till Friday I was busy doing baptismal interviews in the district, it was cool working with pretty much all the missionaries in the district. Saturday was awesome, we had 7 baptisms in the district.
Isabel was baptized Saturday. She is such an amazing convert. I am so glad we got to help her. I had the privelage of baptizing her, it was an awesome experience. Oh I forgot but on Tuesday we went and did her pre interview and she told us she wasnt sure if President Monson was a prophet. I was kinda surprised because she pretty much had a testimony of everything we had taught her. So what we did was we went to the room and searched for something we could give her to help her out. And as a matter of fact I am pretty sure we found the best thing posible. It was the Liahona from March I think, the one where Pres. monson is on the cover. Inside theres an article that I am guessing is called have I done any good in the world today in english.We dropped it off to her and asked her to read it for the next day.When we went to talk to her on Wednesday she said she had read the article twice and recieved a strong answer that he really is a Prophet of God. What an awesome experience.
Well after the baptism we went and ate dinner with a bunch of members. had a great time.
Everyone thinks I am gonna leave and they are all super bummed. I still have hope that I can stay her till the end. I have been praying for it, we will see where the Lord needs me these last 3 weeks.
GOOD LUCK LOGAN! I wanna see you play when I get home! 
I'm super nervous, scared, anxious, and just a little happy about the fact that I only have 3 weeks left. I am giving it my all and I am taking advantage of my last moments in Peru
Well I love you all, have a great week, it's weird that I will only be writing 2 more times.
Love
Elder Paolacci

Farewell

Dylan's Farewell will be Sunday August 8, 2010 at 11:00 am at

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Paradise Valley Stake Center
3601 East Shea Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85028
Everyone is invited to attend