Requesting Bananas

The subject is only referring to the quantity of bananas that Elder
Taunauta and I go through in a week. I think last week we bought
twenty or so bananas. I'm not really sure why I'm sharing that, but I
thought it was funny so hopefully you all do too.

Blanca and Ruben are still doing amazing! They are reading from the
Book of Mormon and bore their testimonies of it in our last lesson.
Today they invited all six of us missionaries over to eat! They made
fish, and I'm talking about a whole fish! Bones and everything! We
also had a salad, pineapple juice, and this super yummy/interesting
yucca...bread? It kind of had the consistency of what I imagine
fruitcake has, but this tasted better.

We went to a baptismal service with Jaime, Yadira's son, who is doing
awesome! He really liked the baptismal service and has a sincere
desire to know if this message is true. Pray for him! We did some
service at their place yesterday where we were taking out the linoleum
flooring. That was pretty fun.

This past Sunday was the fifth Sunday, so it was all about missionary
work! We sang a musical number and I also spoke in sacrament meeting,
which was fun! This is such a fun ward, and the members are really
great. Every Sunday there is a wonderful lady named Hermana Quintero
that feeds us, and oh my goodness she always does an amazing job. She
makes a ton, and it is all so good! For dessert she gave us this big
Oreo cake! How did she know!? Some people are really in tune with the
Spirit I guess ;)

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and
spoke to our mission! What an awesome experience! It's probably the
closest thing to a spiritual pep rally that exists. It was a great
experience getting to shake his hand for the second time in my life!

I'm going to end this email and make sure to send a lot of pictures. I
love you all!

Elder Dahl

1. A member took us to the Colombian restaurant again! Look at that fish!
2. This is what I got! Classic carne asada.
3. Hna. Quintero's cake for us! Bless that woman.
4. All of the missionaries eating at Blanca and Ruben's on our p-day!
5. Sister Trujillo was amazed at how big my shoes were! Haha

1. I found this for you Dad!
2. Temptations for days! Don't worry, I stayed strong!
3. Elder Taunauta showed me how to wear a lava lava

1. Look at this cool mural we found in City Heights!
2. Just chilling in the laundry mat!
3. This was some service we did this past week. The whole yard was
covered in plants and trash. Isn't it sweet?

You Win Some, You Lose Some

What a great two weeks we have had! I hope I can remember everything!

The zoo was BODACIOUSLY AWESOME!!! The Reillys spoiled us rotten. They
took us out to eat, got us sweatshirts, drinks, photo booths, and it
was a blast. It was also really interesting because Elder Taunauta had
never been to a zoo before. In fact, he honestly didn't know most of
the animals we saw even existed! One of my favorite quotes of the day
was when we passed the monkeys for the first time and he said, "Ok,
now I really DO believe that monkeys exist." Classic

All of the investigators are doing great! Blanca and Ruben have a
baptismal date for June 25th and are committed to get married before
then. They are so solid. They bought me a tres leeches cake for my
birthday! For those who don't know, tres leeches cake isn't the second
best kind of cake in the world. My mother's ice cream cake still holds
the blue ribbon as far as cakes go.

Jesus Fierro is still doing good. he comes to church every Sunday, but
just hasn't quite made the final push to really know if it is true.
Jesus Franco just called us about 3 hours ago and asked us to stop
teaching him for a while. He said he knows everything is true, but
something happened between him and the members he lives with, and now
things are awkward. Yeah I was confused to. Just pray for him por
favor.

Everything is going so great here, the skies are blue, the people are
nice, and I realized today that I only have nine weeks left! What the
what!? Only nine more weeks to give it my all! Elders Taunauta and I
are loving life and seeing miracles everyday. More details to come
next week!

Elder Dahl

P.S. Congratulations to my amazing friend Emily Sommer for finishing
her mission in the California, Redlands mission. She is the best!!

Awesome Birthday!

Sorry I had no time to email! This is a sneak peek of what we did
today! I will give more details next week! Love you all!

Tuesday Tongan Tuna

The title of this email is a tribute to Elder Taunauta. We just went
to Subway and he got an egg white/tuna sandwich. Tongans are the best.

Another eventful week here in sunny San Diego. Actually almost all of
our appointments canceled everyday, haha, but we made the best of it
:) Poor Elder Taunauta didn't get to meet hardly anyone we were
teaching because something happened to all of them. Jesus Franco got a
new job and has been under the radar, Jesus Fierro had to cancel his
appointment, but came to church which was good, Ruben and Blanca
weren't allowed to come to church on Sunday because something in their
apartment complex broke and they weren't allowed to leave, but despite
it all we still found new people to teach and taught a lot of lessons!

Also, I just have to mention that Elder Taunauta is HILARIOUS!!! We
are almost constantly smiling and laughing because he is just too
funny. Watching him skype his family on Sunday was so fun because I
didn't understand a word of Tongan that he said!

Speaking of skypeing families, how about that fourth and final phone
call home!? My family is so great and I'm grateful for each of the six
members of my family. I don't know how I got so lucky to be paired up
with my four lovely siblings and my two amazing parents, but I thank
God everyday for them. Oh yeah, Happy Mother's Day Mom!

And Happy Birthday Dad! I won't reveal your age, but it'll sufficeth
me to say he's somewhere in the middle of zero and one hundred :)

Yeah...not too much else happened. Just teaching people how to repent
and trying to open up celestial gates to complete
strangers.....nothing too out of the ordinary! Love you all! Have a
great week!

Elder Dahl

Elder Taunauta!

Today is transfer day and we received word that Elder Gunther was
leaving :( He was an awesome companion and I'm really grateful I was
able to serve with him. We had an awesome transfer together.

On the bright side though my new companion is Elder Taunauta! He is
from Tonga, but moved to Utah five years before he came out on his
mission, so his English is pretty good. His Spanish is really good
too! He is 22, a beastly rugby player, a beastly person in  general,
and also one of the nicest people you will ever find! And I think I
mentioned a long time ago, but I served with him before in the Valley!
He was in Calexico, so we are already great friends.

This last week was pretty great as well! Colombian food has been a
theme for this week, which has been delicious. On Wednesday one of our
members took us out to eat at a Colombian restaurant, and I had some
of the best carne asada ever. Then on Saturday we went over to visit
los Chantaka (Ruben and Blanca) and Blanca made us Colombian
empanadas! That country knows how to cook! Also, Ruben, Blanca, and
this time their son, Carlos, all came to church this week! And
remember the Battalion sister that gave Blanca her ring? Well she just
got transferred into the ward! We are so excited!

In a not so good note I was sick last week :( It was a like a plague
that infected every other member we talked to, but I'm almost all
better now! It really hit me last Wednesday, which was no bueno
because we were on exchanges and it was my first time taking over the
area and I was a little loopy. But luckily I was with my friend Elder
Winn who gave me a blessing and by the grace of God we made it through
the day without me saying anything too weird.

Well we are off to go have a fun pday! Love you all!

Elder Dahl

1&2. Our district when to the air and space museum in balboa park last
week! We had a great time!
3. Look at this giant dog statue we found in our area!
4. Blanca made us Colombian empanadas!