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.

Blessings from La Mesa 3rd

We have had a week full of teaching, talking to people in the street, and Spanish! My companion and I sometime last week decided that this whole English thing is dumb, and we now only speak to each other in Spanish! Talk about a shock! It has been awesome, and we have both already improved so much (well mostly me, his is practically perfect) and it has been super fun too!

Sad news- nobody came to church this week :( Angie had a headache, Maria Perez had to work, and her husband had to help find a friend because I guess the friend was kicked out of their house. We were sad, but we visited them the next day and they were sad they missed church, and they had a million questions about baptism! We are going back again tonight with some members to answer all of their questions :) Pray for them! And Angie too!

We had a crazy awesome miracle last Tuesday evening! So we had gotten out of our lesson with Bianca (the girl who wanted to be baptized, but we will probably have the hermanas teach her because she is super....friendly?) and we were making some phone calls by our call, when none other than an old friend of mine, Hermano Steven Winders, from the La Mesa 3rd Branch came to a stop right beside us. Naturally I was going nuts because he is one of the coolest people in this world (they are an awesome family from Spain, but he speaks perfect English as well and is in the Navy) and I couldn't believe he was here in my little ghetto!

He asked us if there was anything he cold do for us, to which we responded with a no, but then after about 5 minutes of talking the thought came to my mind to invite him to visit the Perez family with us because they lived about 4 feet away. Only Osvaldo was home, but it was perfect because we had an amazing lesson with Osvaldo, and he really opened up to us about how he wasn't sure how he would feel the Spirit telling him that this message was true. Hermano Winders testified and shared some experiences in his life, and the entire lesson was totally guided by the Spirit.

Afterwards we thanked Hermano Winders for coming and we said, "We know that God sent you here so that you could help this man change his eternity." He then proceeded to tell us that he NEVER goes home this way, but he felt prompted to change his route. When he saw me and recognized who I was he knew that there was something he had to do. Ever since that lesson Osvaldo has been progressing really quickly, and is now reading from the Book of Mormon!

This may seem small, but it meant the world to me. Everyday I get to see God work His wonders here in San Diego, and especially in my life. People always say that we are angels walking around working miracles and changing lives. Let me be the first to testify that I'm no angel, but no matter how flawed and silly I am, God's hand has been in every, single detail of my mission and my life. Pray for the Perez family! Pray for Angie! Miracles have NOT ceased, and they never will! I love you all!

Elder Dahl

1. A restaurant called The Smoking Goat? Very yes.

2. Just a normal day working with Elder Swenson ;)

3. L--- (an awesome member in our area that has been coming to church for the past 2 months!) with her dog, Beauty. I was laughing SO HARD!

4. ZOOOOOOOO!!!!!


5. Look we are the same creature!


6. Or maybe I'm actually a hippo?

Woah They Came Again!

La familia Perez came again! They came to church! And they loved it!
We even had the most confusing, horrible third hour in the history of
the world, and Osvaldo's only question was, "What's a stake?"
Blessings from heaven! Angie came again this week too! And then she
went to the mission president's fireside that night too. Let's just
say Sunday was one of e happiest days of my mission!

Sad thing of this week- Flor dropped us. He family has been putting so
much pressure on her to stop meeting with us, and this week they
finally got to her. She told us that one day she would be baptized,
but not soon. It was sad, but at the same time it was liberating to
know that we did absolutely everything we could for her.

We have been working super hard this week, and we have seen some super
awesome blessings! I will explain more next week!

Today I got to go to the zoo again! That was a blast, and also the
reason why this email is so short.

We had one of the biggest storms eve here in San Diego! Saturday
morning was crazy! Out of nowhere it started pouring, and then thunder
and lightning. We were all eating together after about an hour of the
beginning of the storm, when we heard the LOUDEST BOOM of thunder that
I have ever heard before in my life, followed by a huge flash of
lightning! All five of us jumped and a few of them screamed like
crazy! It was the funniest thing ever! What was even crazier was that
a fire started from it just down the road from our apartment! Crazy!

I love you all!you are in my prayers!

Elder Dahl

Sent from my iPad

"Yes, we meet in a school building."

his past week was so awesome because LA FAMILIA PEREZ CAME TO SACRAMENT MEETING AND STAYED FOR ALL THREE HOURS! WOOHOO! They are so awesome, and Elder Swenson and I are so blessed to be able to teach them! In one of our lessons last week Maria (the mom) was thanking us for coming over and teaching her family. She said that her family has never been more united, and then her 15 year-old son thanked us for coming over and sharing such an amazing message. It's times like these that make it all worth it :)

   Which is good because we had a hectic week! Transfers were last week! Elder Swenson and I are both staying here in Logan Heights! However the rest of our zone got smacked in the face basically! Instead of living in a 4-man apartment, we now have a 5-man apartment! Elder Neilson was joined by Elder Larsen and Elder Canar!......yes there is still only one shower......pray for us! haha We had to move a few other companionships around this week because a companionship was taken out of the Logan Heights branch and another companionship was taken out of Barrio Veinte (20th ward for you English folk). So there are now four in each unit, which is way nicer. We are going to have such a great transfer!

   A few weeks ago while we were attending a district meeting, Elder Browne, a friend of mine that I actually knew from BYU that came out with me, was teaching about how even though our work is often hard and challenging that we have no need to fear or be sad. He had me read the following scripture from the Book of Mormon during the meeting

! Nephi 21:13-16

 13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

 14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

 15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

   As I read verse 16, tears came streaming down my face. "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." There have been few times in my life where a scripture has hit me so hard. I know Elder Browne was inspired to have me read that scripture that day, and I thought about it often throughout this week. The Lord will NEVER forget us. He will not leave us alone! He loves us so much and is so willing to open the windows of heaven and bless us. All we need to do is let Him in! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Dahl

Do I have to learn Swahili?

I hope you all saw hat heading, because it might happen! haha We've been teaching this girl named Bi--- (she is so awesome and agreed to be baptized on August 12!), and in the same complex there is a family that moved straight from Uganda about two weeks ago! Only one of the three daughters speaks a little English, and that's it! They speak Swahili, but they always sit on the stairs when we go over to teach Bianca. We got a Book of Mormon today in Swahili, and we are going to give it to them! Pray for them because they are so cool!

his week was kind of hard, yet liberating! We dropped V------, and then about 5 minutes later I---- and her family dropped us. V---- and his family just weren't keeping commitments and showing that they were really wanting to know for themselves. It was SO HARD, but it was the right thing to do. They told us to come back in the future to check up on them. Then Inez and their family....well it's a weird situation. Let's just say they aren't interested right now. :(

The P----- family is doing great though! They started reading the Book of Mormon! YYYYEEESSSS!!!! We are so excited! Their family and Bianca (which are practically neighbors) are all going to come to church next week :) WE ARE SO EXCITED!

We didn't really get to celebrate the 4th of July, but we got to help set up and then take down a festival in Oldtown! so that was fun! We also received training for the new app we are going o get on our iPad so that all of our paper records will be transferred to digital formatting. In other words- this goat boy is entering into the digital age!!!!! haha

I want everyone to go watch the Mormon Message, What Matters Most. My favorite quote that the Prophet Thomas S. Monson says is, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." THIS IS SO TRUE! There are so many problems that we have no control over, but God does. He will prepare our paths! All we need to do is have faith and repent! Love every person you see. Sounds easy right :) Let's go do it!

I love you all! I can feel your prayers! You help me so much every day!

Elder Dahl

1. Two men were being crazy and doing a performance of Shakespearean plays while we were setting up the festival in Oldtown! It was so fun!

 2. Elder Reyes, Elder Schipman (his current companion and a great friend of mine), and me!

 3. Isn't Elder Swenson awesome? :) Shhhhh....don't tell him I put this on here!

Tender Mercies

We had a great time visiting some museums last week for P-day! We were able to see the Hall of Champions (sports) and the Air and Space Museum. We had a blast- the pictures will show it all!

We had some interesting experiences this past week!

1. We were talking to this lady named Janice, right outside of Chicano Park, and everything started out normal, but then went weird fast. After we concluded that the conversation wasn't going anywhere, I went to shake her hand, and she grabbed my hand (in a rather firm grip) and just held it for about 45 seconds. For the entirety of the time she was telling me about how I couldn't let "them" get me because I was too handsome.....thanks Janice!?

2. We contacting a family out walking about a week ago, and we went by on Saturday to check up on them. They invited us in and were super nice! We talked about how the church that Jesus Christ established has been restored, and they were super interested, and even agreed to be baptized when they know for themselves that it is all true! Pray for la familia Perez! We taught them the next day about the Book of Mormon, and we brought some members of our branch with us (Hna. Wong and Hno. Garcia- they are awesome!). They are an amazing little family, and we are so excited for them!

I had one of the most special experiences this week. so we went over to F---'s house to see how she was doing on her Book of Mormon reading. She was upset with herself because she hadn't been reading, and she was just a little sad in general. We read a little bit with her, testified, and promised her the blessings that come when she will read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was such a simple lesson, but the spirit was so strong!

And it didn't stop there, at least for me. As we were leaving she waved and said (in her own exact words, which were so cute because she doesn't speak English at all), "Adios chicos! I love you!" I don't ever thing tears have come to my eyes so quickly in my entire life. I started balling! Her words had a bigger impact on me than she will ever know. I could feel so much love and comfort through her words. It's true- the Lord really does work through people to bless lives, even when you are a missionary.

What a great time to be alive! When so much bad can be happening in the world around you, the Spirit will testify of the true love of God within your soul! He loves us! I know it's true.

Elder Dahl

1. Is that a statue of Elder Swenson?

 2. Is that a statue of me!?

 3. Super cool planes!

4. More cool planes!

 5. Star Wars?

 6. Yes, definitely Star Wars.

7. Just chillin' with Snoopy!

 8. Chilling with A--- and his sister! A--- is a youth in our branch that we work with!

 9. Did I mention that Elder Reyes, my companion from La Mesa, is in my zone!? I love him!

90% of All Things Can Be Communicated by Body Language

The topic line has been the quote of my weak. While we were eating dinner Elder Swenson shared this beautiful piece of wisdom with me, and I was cracking up. Is it not funny? Maybe I'm just losing it because I was laughing so hard.

The Padres game was SO FUN!!!! We had a blast! We went with some of the missionaries in our zone, and although we didn't really get to contact many people, we still had a great time. The Padres lost (which was sad), but we loved it nonetheless.

We had a crazy week! Every night when we plan we always seem to not have too many set appointments or tasks to do the next day, but then our days are always packed with crazy, random things. Elder Swenson and I have a goal to talk to EVERY, SINGLE person we see, and wow has it been an adventure! We have been able to send out dozens of referrals to other missionaries, and have found quite a few potentials in our own area. The Lord blesses us when we are obedient!

So everything is still going well with Angie, but she was out of town this weekend, so we are hoping to see her soon. Inez and her family came to a super cool missionary fireside last night where we were singing in the choir. It was so awesome to see them there, and we are going to go by on Thursday to begin teaching them! WAHOO!!!!! Victor and his family are doing ok. They are really awesome, but they haven't been able to get off work and come to church, which has been hard. Pray for them!

This week I was able to go on exchanges with a great friend of mine, Elder Stecklein. He is one of the assistants to the president right now, and we got to talk about how we could best help our zone to improve and be successful. Long story short I realized that my job is to help my missionaries baptize- not because baptizing nonmembers is the only thing we do, but because it means that we are truly caring for the PEOPLE and not the numbers we report. I hate receiving and talking to missionaries about their numbers, so this counsel really helped me put into perspective my role here in San Diego. People need ordinances in order to fully access the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the first ordinance for these people is baptism!

I love you all! Keep on smiling and sharing your goodness with the world! 

Elder Dahl

Havin' a ball at the baseball game!

 Chillin' at the park!

 Exchanges with Elder Stecklein! We always have WAY too much fun!

 Morning run to Seaport Village! 5 miles people!!!! Elder Swenson is loving it here!

 Zone picture at Zone Conference! I love my zone!