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!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Today we've been given permission to go to the Padres baseball game! WOOHOO! all of the missionaries have been encouraged to go, so that we will be able to help spark curiosity as to why we are missionaries, and hopefully we will be able to find some people that we can teach. Worth a shot right? What an interesting way to share the gospel!? I'm excited!

This week has been crazy! On Wednesday all of the missionaries in our zone were given their iPads, and the conference that we had was absolutely inspiring. It was all about the Great Tool of the Harvest- THE BOOK OF MORMON! that's right, in a conference that we thought was going to be all about iPads, we really just focused on the Book of Mormon! President Schmitt is definitely led by the Lord in how we can do the Lord's work in the most effective way possible.

We were also able to add two families this week! Inez and her beautiful family (it was kind of like a secret mission adding them- more details to come next week) and the rest of Victor's family. We are seeing some miracles everyday!

Please pray for Angie that she will know whether she should be baptized this coming Saturday or not! That would be appreciated!

Well sorry I'm off to the game! I love you all!

Elder Dahl
This is a picture of Trevar that was posted to the San Diego Mission Moms and Dads Facebook page. This was taken at a zone conference.

Amazing Gospel Awesomeness!

SO much happened this week and I have no time to write. Do I say that every week?

We had about 18 hours of meetings and preparing for meetings this week, which was crazy intense. But overall I learned a lot about how to better serve my zone and get ready for them all to get iPads tomorrow (it'll be like herding goats all over again).

Craziness happened all over the place this past week. Here's an update:

Claudia and her family have gone totally offline. We can't ever find them. Pray for them :)

We had kind of a drop lesson with Flor. She is not in a situation to leave her boyfriend (only because her divorce papers in Mexico are taking forever) and quit her job. She told us she would rather have us spend our time searching for those that could be baptized right now. Oh I almost cried my eyes out. We are going to meet with her once a week to check up on her Book of Mormon reading. Pray for her :)

ANGIE CAME TO CHURCH! She also has a baptismal date for June 20th! Pray that she will be able to get her answer before then! She is progressing quickly and asking some great questions!

I don't remember if I mentioned Victor, but long story short he was a referral from the Arabic Elders, and we had taught him a few times, but recently we've been seeing him more, and he is taking everything more seriously! We just got to teach his family yesterday too at the Mormon Battalion and they all want to learn! PRAY FOR THE ECHAVERRIA FAMILY! Victor agreed to be baptized on July 11th!

We've been talking to everyone....literally every single person. This past week we were able to send out over 17 referrals to other missionaries! The Lord is moving His work forward! My prayer is that I'll be able to keep up! haha

I love you all! My time is up and it is ready to go! Have a great week!

Elder Dahl

2. Havin' fun at our noche de hogar misional!

 1. It's always a party in our car!

Elder Swenson, What's That Square Thing?

First, my companion! His name is Elder Swenson and he is awesome! He is from Salt Lake City, Utah and he played football for East High School. He is going to play football for Utah State after the mission and he is a beast! He started his mission in Mexico, but after getting pretty sick there he was reassigned here, and I am so thankful for him! He loves to talk to everyone and we don't let anybody go by without talking to them. It's been a blast, and I'm excited to see how much I will learn and grow in my time that I have with him.

Second, so Elder Swenson and I got iPads last week! We are slowly starting to incorporate the iPads into the mission so that we will learn how to best use them effectively. So far it's been a crazy process, but we've loved showing videos and talks to our investigators. We are learning to use them as tools to help us focus on our purpose as missionaries! Alas, since it's not a goat I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with it......awkward.

Keep on praying for Angie! I think I've talked about her before, but she hasn't been able to come to church for a little while, and we were getting worried about her. Within this past week though she has been able to ask some really awesome questions, and she has been praying to know if what we are saying is true. She's so awesome!

This week has been pretty hectic. I'm not sure I was ready to lose Elder Ramirez (that man is a saint), but through a lot of prayer and help from our Savior things have turned out alright. Thank you all for your prayers, and ask God a question this week! I know He will answer you!

Elder Dahl

Reunion of my district form Sweetwater! Elder Welch, Hermana Jones, and Hermana Wilde!

"We can be kind of normal sometimes..."

Surprise Baptism

Juan Zamora was baptized!!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!!!! He is so cool! We taught him three times this week just to make sure he was ready, and then he was baptized on Saturday! Bad news is that I was gone on exchanges twice this past week, and only taught him once.....but he's pretty cool so it was fun. Also, I played the piano at his service and the window was open and turning my pages, and then a huge book fell and slammed on the keys in the middle of the opening hymn......brilliant Elder Dahl....brilliant. haha

For one of my exchanges I went to YSA work for the day and even went to institute at SDSU! Crazy fun! My goal is to open the first Spanish YSA branch in the U.S....haha, just kidding.

Flor is doing well. She might be quitting her job so that she can come to church! THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME! I can't remember if I mentioned, but she was married in Mexico, but then moved here without divorcing (very common here) and is living with someone here. she is working on her divorce papers because she REALLY wanted to be baptized. Pray for her!

We are teaching a super cool family! Claudia, her three children, Mary (18) , Genesis (14), and Damian (12), and Mary's boyfriend, Cesar (17). Mary and Cesar have a little boy named Jasper who is 6 months old. They were found before I got here, but we hadn't been able to teach them, until this past week when we found them at home. We talked about how the same authority and power that was on the earth when Jesus Christ was here had been restored, and they said that they felt something different when we spoke to them. Then Genesis prayed and felt "amazed- like a burden had been lifted from her chest." And then she asked us when was the soonest that she could be baptized......THIS MESSAGE IS SO TRUE! The Lord is preparing people EVERYWHERE to accept His message!

Other things from this week: We had a seven hour meeting last week, and yesterday we had meetings for a total of ten hours. But they were so awesome! We have learned so much about doing missionary work and really being guides for our brothers and sisters to com enjoy the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a great week! I'm SO excited to talk to my family this Sunday for Mother's Day! I love you all!

Elder Dahl

There are more pictures, but I'm out of time, and I will send more next week!

1) Juan Zamora!!!! He's so great!!!!

2) My Filipino friend, Elder Notarte! He is a new zone leader for the English zone that covers the same area, so together we are totally lost, but a whole lot of fun!

Logan Heights!

The results are in and I am currently serving in the Logan Heights Branch in San Diego, California! So some cool things about my area:

1) My area goes right up to the San Diego harbor! I can see the ocean everyday! 

2) My companion and I cover Downtown San Diego! WOOP WOOP PARTY!!! Except we never go there because it'd be absolutely pointless. Nobody actually lives there, they just sin there. haha just kidding.....well you can all imagine.

3) Our area is the end of 28th Street all the way to the end of Downtown. It's really small compared to my other areas. EVERYBODY IS MEXICAN!!!!!! It's so fun and I look so out of place- it's the best :)

4) Our branch doesn't meet in a church building. We have church in Logan Elementary...yeah it's weird. During church I can also learn how to count by 10s!

5) Yes the zoo is in my zone and yes you may send me tickets to go to the zone if you so desire to serve the missionaries in the nicest way possible, haha

6) PETCO Park where the Padres play is in our area too....we can't go to baseball games though so definitely don't send tickets for that.

This is going to be so fun! OK now time for my companion! Some cool facts about him are:

1) His name is Elder Ramirez! He was born in Tijuana and moved to San Diego when he was 12, and then to Orem, Utah when he was 15. Yes he is very fluent (oh my heavens I'm devouring that humble pie right now. He helps me out a ton and I love it!) and he loves to work!

2) Don't even try to Facebook stalk him because he never used it.

3) He loves soccer and basketball and matching whatever tie I'm wearing.

4) It's his last transfer in the mission field :(

Other fun facts:

1) I live in a 4 man apartment! We share with Elder Norman (from Utah) and Elder Neilson (from Canada, who just started his mission!), but there's only one bathroom!!!!!!! Luckily the funness outweighs the lack of bathroom....ness.

2) I'm driving again this transfer and my new car is no fun. The brakes are super sensitive and I miss my old car :( And I got a ticket for not turning my wheels on the slightest hill ever......I love Logan, but Logan is not loving me!

3) There are 5 companionships of missionaries in my branch! CRAZY!!! There is so much work here! Also, Elder Welch (one of my trainers) and Elder Clair (my first companion in La Mesa) are in my branch serving with me! SO WEIRD!!!

I have had an amazing first few days! Of course there have been some struggles, but the awesomeness has far exceeded any struggle there has been. I'm ready to get to work here in Logan! Keep on sending those prayers! I love you all so much! God does too! Have a great week!

Elder Dahl

Elder Reyes is the coolest!

 Best Easter bunny ever! Thanks Mom and Dad!

 Elder Ramirez (The new companion)! He's so cool!