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

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!