Mission: Chantaca

I can honestly say that this week has been one of the craziest,
stressful, and rewarding weeks of my mission! Let's start at the
beginning!

Monday- Operation Chantaca commenced! We went over and helped Blanca
and Ruben make the phone call to schedule an appointment to receive
their marriage license. The rest of my day consisted of me calling a
million members trying to find someone that could take them because
their appointment was for the next day!

Tuesday- We finally found a member (bless that Sister's heart), and
everything went well! They got their license and they were so funny
because they were going crazy. Ruben kept on throwing up Blanca's hand
yelling, "te vas a casar!" (You are going to get married!). So funny.

Wednesday- Sisters Trujillo and Allen bought Blanca a dress, shoes,
and a tie for Ruben.

Thursday- We had Blanca try the dress on, but the top part was too big!

Friday- We scrambled to find someone that could sew, and then we had
to find someone that could take them to the person that could sew
(bless Hna. Quintero's heart. She dropped everything she was doing in
the middle of grocery shopping and came to help us out), and only
through much prayer and ripping out of hair were we able to find
someone. Ruben and Blanca also passed their baptismal interviews.

Saturday- The wedding was beautiful and they looked gorgeous! Our ward
mission leader took Ruben out in the morning to buy some clothes, and
everything was just perfect. Well not super perfect, but it was
beautiful nonetheless. They looked awesome in their baptismal clothes
as well :)

Sunday- The  Chantacas were confirmed members of the church and our
quest was complete. Oh my heavens that was the short version. This
whole process has just been living proof that the Lord has not left
His servants alone. This is His work and I'm just the guy that makes
all the phone calls.

Another awesome experience we had was going to the temple on Friday
with Maria Juarez to do baptisms for he dead! It was a great
experience for her, and she was so happy! She said, "I never want to
leave. I want to stay in here forever." We had such a beautiful
experience.

Love you all! There is only one month left until the end of my
mission! I am so grateful for these past twenty-three months, and I am
stoked for this last month!

Elder Dahl

1. Elder Siebers- This man cracks me up every day.
2-4. District Pictures! The first two are of us acting like the
coolest boy band around.

1. Elder Taunauta is the Banana King.
2. Is is Elder Taunauta right after lifting a gym in another
missionary's apartment. He is terrifying!
3. We played Flickerball for probably my last time at Embarcadero Park
by the bay behind Downtown. Had to take a selfie with some of my
favorite missionaries! Elders Taunauta, Laws, & Siebers, and Sister
Allen!

Elder Siebers!

Our new companion is named Elder Siebers and he is amazing! He is 19,
went to BYU for a year before his mission, is from Michigan, and might
be one of the funniest people I know! He is so happy all the time and
it is just contagious to everyone. This past week has just been
constant laughter and constant awesomeness.

Well except for the fact that every single one of our appointments
canceled. Every single one of our solid investigators (except the
Chantaka family) that were progressing have gone totally missing in
action since last Tuesday. So that hasn't been the greatest way to
start off poor Elder Siebers' mission, but we are making the best of
it. That man has no fear when it comes to talking to strangers! Elder
Taunauta and I are very lucky to have him as our companion.

Ruben and Blanca got their marriage license today! They are scheduled
to get married and baptized this Saturday! Please pray for them
because everything in their lives has seemed to go wrong recently.

This past Saturday there was an activity where the young women were
selling tacos to raise money for girls camp, and they had a talent
show to go with it. The young men made a boy band called "Out of Sync"
and asked us to be their bodyguards as they came walking in. We got
some good laughs from that. I will try to send pictures next week.

I love you all! I can't believe that I'm almost at the 23 month mark!
What the what!? Thank you for all of your prayers!

Elder Dahl

1. Yadira gave us posole after we painted her kitchen! It was Elder
Siebers'first meal in San Diego!
2. Then we went to the Colombian restaurant. Sooooo good every time.
3. Elder Siebers says the best prayers, haha just kidding we weren't
praying quite yet.
4. This was in the courtyard of our church building....we got a sad
phone call....and I melted. Haha

Trio Training

We received the news for my last transfer! Elder Taunauta and I are
both staying....with our new trainee! Woohoo! We are getting him
tomorrow! What better way to end my mission than by training!? Elder
Taunauta and I are stoked out of our minds!

Last week for pday we went to Embarcadero Marina Park by the bay right
behind the convention center in Downtown San Diego. We played a game
called flickerball, which is a mix between basketball and ultimate
frisbee, but you play with a football. It's super fun.

This last week we went to a Narcotics Anonymous group with one of our
investigators. That was an experience I will never forget! Haha it was
really awesome! The whole thing was in Spanish too, which made it
extra exciting.

Also, if anybody needs to get married in the state of California,
Elder Taunauta and I are pretty much professionals. We did all the
research this past week for Ruben and Blanca, so hopefully we can get
everything moving along with that.

Elder Taunauta's family is in Tonga right now, and he told the, to
bring me back a lavalava! That's the traditional skirt thing that they
wear! I'm stoked!

This week from an outside view was kind of hard because a lot of our
appointments fell through, but Elder Taunauta and I had a great time
regardless! We talked to everyone and laughed a ton! We are going to
have the best transfer ever!

Elder Dahl

Service, Service, Service

This week was so much fun! Yadira, the awesome lady who was baptized
in early April, is redoing her back house, and we got to help tear up
the old flooring, paint the walls, and then fill a dump truck full of
trash this past week! We had too much fun! She also fed us a ton this
week for all of the work we did, so that was awesome. No better way to
end some service than Mexican food.

Another awesome note from this last week was that we received a visit
from Elder James J. Hamula of the Seventy! Two apostles and a Seventy
within three weeks!? We are too spoiled. His visit was amazing and he
talked about a lot of different topics. My favorite part I think was
when he explained the Doctrine of You. He talked about who we really
are, and our relationship with God. It was really inspiring! He also
at one point told a story about a Tongan in his mission, so Elder
Taunauta got a cool shout out.

Ruben and Blanca were sick on Sunday, but everything is good for them!
Pray that they will receive an answer to get married and baptized on
June 25.

We are teaching some really cool people right now! We met this lady
named Angelica on the street two weeks ago, and she is soaking up the
gospel like a sponge. Her only problem is that she works on Sunday,
but she is figuring it out so she can come to church. We are also
teaching Yadira's son, Jaime, is super awesome. He really wants to
know if this message is true, and he is just an awesome guy in
general. The Lord is really blessing our area right now!

My little sister just informed me that I have less than 50 days left!
What the what! It is going by way too fast. One more week until the
last transfer!

Elder Dahl