Bring on the Heat!

What's up everyone! Right now I'm writing to you from the Imperial
Valley in Brawley, California! I literally went from being the
farthest west I the mission to being the farthest east! And boy is it
hot! Haha actually I kind of like it!

My companion is Elder Rodriguez! He is from Boston, his family is from
Guatemala, he is a super hard worker, and we are already the greatest
of friends! It's been a huge blessing to me to come out here and have
the opportunity to work with the amazing people here. And the best
part is that if you aren't amazing, then it's too hot for them to
care, so they don't mess with you! Haha

The Brawley Branch is wonderful. It is about the size of the La Mesa
branch. I think about seventy people came to church last week. They
are all super great and I'm already loving this branch a ton. Here are
two companionships in the Spanish branch, ours, and then there is a
companionship of Sisters that BIKE!!! Bless their souls, Hermanas
Lopez and Gallagher are troopers! So how it works is they cover the
northern half of the main city, Brawley, then we cover the southern
part, and some small towns that are anywhere from twenty to twenty
five minutes from Brawley. It's the bomb! We have been planning our
days so that we spend a big chunk in Brawley and we ride our bikes
while the sisters can get out of the sun for a bit and use the car.
And boy has that been an adventure! I have literally been grinning
from ear to ear every time we leave the apartment, and I have come to
accept that I should just be used to being drenched with sweat. It's
just the thing to do out here in the valley. :)

There is a twelve year old boy of a recent convert that wants to be
baptized this Saturday as well!  He is so cool! Pray for Jesus
Velasquez! This past week he came into church with a a missionary name
tag that said, "Elder Velasquez" and we just about died.

I am so happy! This is the restart that my "mid-mission crisis" needed
to put my head back on straight, set some goals, make some plans, and
then make it happen! It almost feels like I'm in a completely
different mission! Haha I can't wait to tell you more awesome stories
next week!

Elder Dahl

1. Ice cream is a dairy too right?

2. I'm we are becoming professional bakers. I can ship from the Imperial Valley if you're interested in purchasing the weekly Elders Dahl's special

3. I got to go on exchanges with Elder McNaughtan! It was way fun! He came out just a little bit before I did, and we had a blast!

4. Two of my super good mission friends, who got to come all the way out to the Imperial Valley to give us some training!

4. I decided that since I ride a bike now I better get a backpack....any objections?

5. We totally bombed somebody's birthday party! We basically just walked down their driveway and started talking to them, and it was hilariously perfect.

6. The birthday girl had some beastly burgers!

Hasta Luego Logan Heights

Another transfer has gone by, and I received the news that I'm leaving the beautiful shores of San Diego! It was kind of a surprise, but not really at the same time. I will miss all the people, the ocean breeze, covering Downtown San Diego, and my beautiful branch so much. But the Lord is in charge of this, not Elder Dahl, so I'm ready to go and do everything I can in my new home.

This week has been a crazy one. La familia Recendez (Perez) came to church for the first hour, but then had to leave because they volunteered to help an older couple that can't move or do anything move, and Sunday was the only day the older couple could do it. Wow they are so perfect. :) We also had a girl named Adriana come to church (shout out to my Sister Adriana Dahl!!!!!) and she stayed for the entire time. She is a family friend of a family in the branch, and she is doing awesome! Angie is doing well in Arizona, and we have also been teaching this other man named Flomencio is super awesome, knows the Book of Mormon is true, and wants to be baptized! IT has been a blessed week for us.

Also, to celebrate my companion's birthday his dad paid for all five of us to go to the cheesecake factory! Heaven on earth! haha Attached pictures will show the new love of my life- the macaroni and cheese burger. WOW!!!!! My arteries are still thanking me for that one, haha. And yes we split pieces of Oreo cheesecake and an apple stroussel cheesecake. It was glorious!

I wanted to share a scripture that has been on my mind recently. During a conference we had with some missionaries in our neighboring zones, a Sister missionary shared the following scripture-

2 Nephi 33:3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry

This scripture from the Book of Mormon has brought me a lot of comfort this past week. I am not a perfect missionary by any means, but I always try to do what the Lord would have me do. I love the people I work with and I love being a missionary. I love you all so much, and you are included in my prayers.

Elder Dahl

1. Look at how big that thing is! Even my huge mouth had trouble biting into that!

2. Elder Larsen, Elder Canar, and Elder Neilson are thinking, "Wow living in this cramped five-man is finally paying off." haha

3. BUT FOR REAL THOUGH IT'S MASSIVE!!!!!!

 

4. Two of my best friends in the mission are going home today! Sister Jones and Sister Wilde were in my district in Sweetwater! Best of luck to you Sisters in the outside world!

Please Don't Go!

This week has been a crazy one! Here are some updates!

Angie- She got back from her week vacation. We went to go see her and she said she was leaving the next day for a month! I was devastated! I wanted to die! I couldn't believe this was happening! I was about ready to fall over and say, "I quit!" But luckily I was with my good friend Elder Browne for the day because of exchanges and he looked her right in the eye and said, "Will you be baptized the Saturday you get back!?" She thought about it, looked at us, grinned, and answered with an excited, "Yes!" Mark your calendars boys and girls because September 19 we will be having a baptism for her!

Osvaldo Recendez and Maria Perez- Bless their hearts they are perfect! We taught the Word of Wisdom and they thought it was awesome. He has a problem with coffee, but he really wants to fix it. He sounded almost apologetic for ever touching it in the first place. They came to church again :)

This past week was crazy! We had a Mission Leadership Council meeting, zone meeting, a meeting with the Stake President that we had to plan for, more training from President Schmitt the day after zone meeting, and we helped someone from the branch clean up her yard because she is moving to Tijuana. Phew! I'm exhausted! But it has been great! We have seen a lot of miracles this whole week, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord! We are really working with some really awesome and prepared people right now! I will tell you all more next week when things calm down a little bit!

Love you all!

Elder Dahl

1. I got to have lunch with an old friend! Elder....I mean David Hulet! It was awesome!

2. Our Branch President was released and moved back to Miami! You will be missed Presidente Lopez!

3. Partying at Sunset Cliffs with our zone! I got to catch up with my old friend Elder Reyes!

4. My super awesome district!

5. Exchanges with Elder Browne! He is the best! I love this guy!

6. Bye Bye Angie! We will see you in a month!

One Year Mark?

Did anyone else realize that my one year mark was in two days!? I surely did not! I'm having an extreme mid-mission crisis right now! Shouldn't I be like an expert by now or something? haha We'll see if that ever happens!

The Perez family came to church! They loved it and they have asked us to teach them everything that they have to do so that they can get baptized! WWWHHHHAAAATTT!!!!!???? They are so awesome! We are working on getting her divorce papers in Mexico all solved out, and the entire Logan Heights Branch has been so welcoming and inviting to them. Everything has worked out so perfectly, and it has been a huge testimony to me that this is the Lord's work. He is in charge and He will work His miracles!

Angie was gone on vacation this past weekend, but we are thinking that she will be baptized either this week or next week! Stay tuned!

Today we are going to Sunset Cliffs as a zone, so that is going to be super fun! It's a super cool craggy cliff where we can watch the sun set over the ocean. Yeah it should be really really nice :)

Being a missionary is the best! I've got to go, but I love you all so much and I hope you all have a great week! Everybody make sure to go to the Medina County Fair this week and go see the Dahl Family exhibit! They have goats, snacks, and normally one or two sleeping members of the Dahl family taking a nap in the pens with the goats! Love you all!

Elder Dahl

We are the most spiritual elders ever.