He has been on his mission for 1 year already!!

This week flew by. It came and went so fast. We did a lot of work this week and I will try and do a new format this week so hopefully you will like it. (Mom tell me if this is better than the older format.)
Mon- After doing emails and getting Subway which is given to us for free because a member owns it, we went to a park nick-named HobbitLand. It's called that because it looks like Lord of the Rings was filmed there and there is a specific spot that looks very similar to a part in the movie. I didn't care all that much for that part of it. I took advantage of being out in the forest in the fall. SO i got some of those awesome fall pictures. I also received the mini package from my family on that day.

Tuesday- We went over to the Gove's (member) for lunch and had burgers that tasted surprisingly a lot like In n Out burger. While out in the boonies of Maine we were Less-Active hunting and we came across one who only wanted to feed us. So they told us that they would order us pizza for dinner and turned out that they did. Nice people. We also helped an 80 year old man fix the belt on his lawn mower and it turned out that he had a belt one size too big and one size too small, so that was pretty funny to find out after all the hard work. This is the day when I realized it's time to change out of the short sleeves and start wearing a small jacket, because it's starting to get cold.

Wednesday- We had district meeting and for the lunch part of it Mary and Tony Youland came up from Woolwich, Maine and visited me and gave me an apple pie, my big winter coat that I strategically left with them and they took us out to McDonald's for lunch. That was so nice to see them again and talk with them. I know that won't be the last time I hear from or see them.

Elder Dahlberg's Mom away from home...  Sister Youland!!

     We also had an unexpected lesson with our investigator Gretchen. That was our only other lesson this week. But we talked to her a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we believe everyone will be resurrected again after we die. And we mean everyone. Her dad was in the room and he was VERY knowledgeable about religion and he kept trying to bash us and tell us how we have it all wrong.  I did NOT bash with him because I hate bashing. That's not good to do and missionaries always brag about how they bashed this past week. I'm not like that. I told him that we believe in the same God and that when this life is over, He will know where we will be happiest and HE WILL BE JUST. He agreed 100% and we ended the lesson on good terms.

Thursday- THIS IS MY HUMP DAY!  I officially was out on my mission for a year on this day. I opened the mini package that I was sent by my family and it had tons of letters in it and pictures and oh man that just did what a snickers bar does in the commercials. We did service this day for an elderly woman and we helped mow her lawn and sweep millions of pine needles off of her lawn. 2 hours of raking up pine needles. My shoulders were sore after that! A member of our ward was tipped off by my sneaky companion Elder Martineau that it was my year mark and she brought me a cake. I got to blow the one candle out, and I chose to do it with my nose haha. Needless to say that wasn't the best idea because something came out of it and landed on the cake. But no one saw so I just didn't say anything hahahahaha!   (Ewww, gross!!)

Friday- We had a coordination meeting with our new Bishop and got our areas all squared away and we all got on the same page. We learned that he worked as a manager of the business side of the Boston Red Sox and he worked for the Church and was in charge of the finances of the MTC's and all the BYU's . SO he was a pretty big head honcho. We also went and did service at a food pantry and we came in at the perfect time. All of the normal volunteers weren't there so we were put to were work to say the least.

Saturday- We helped put in windows at the local Christian church and then they fed us pizza after. (We got pizza a lot this week) I got to talk one on one with their pastor and that was a really good conversation. We both talked about the Bible and how it's God's word spoken through his servants on earth the prophets.

     We also did a 10 mile walk this day. We walked all the way to 47 Adams Lane in West Gardiner. If you Google earth it you will see how far away it is from 273 Water street (our apartment) On the way we looked for people to talk to but all we got were "I'm all set" and invitations to drink beer and go to a strip club haha.. Oh man, people these days. But on the bright side, someone driving by us on the road saw us and then saw the Augusta Elders in Augusta out in a restaurant and he decided to pay for their meal because he likes what we do and wanted to support us. So we get the beatings while they get the blessings? I guess that's fair.

Sunday- It was fast and testimony meeting and the Tarbox's got up and talked about "Meet the Mormons" and how good of a movie it was. They encouraged everyone to at least go and watch it because its inspiring for everyone, non Mormons included. We went Less-Active Hunting again after church and it was a super success!!! 2 of them answered the door nicely and invited us in. THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!! We got return appointments with both of them this week and were so excited to go by and talk with them. One of them is a county sheriff and is a very avid hunter. He showed us around his man cave which was full of guns. 50+ guns and handguns were even laying on the floor in the corner because he didn't have any room for them. On the walls were Deer heads, Bear Pelts, and 2 GIANT Moose Heads. 900 lb moose. Those heads were as big as my entire body pretty much. SO COOL!

This week went by so fast and honestly today I was like "Whoa... its P-day already." Usually I look forward to P-day and I'm excited to do emails because I want the uplift, but this week I was totally uplifted already. So I just got a huge boost for this upcoming week. I hope all goes well and I look forward to hearing from you next Monday!!

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

P.S.  If you're wondering whether or not I'm enjoying my mission... I love it :)

Playing Wolverine with his "Ants on a Log"...

This was on Saturday at a street event right outside our apartment called Swein Stein. That's the most people I've seen since being home haha seriously!!!

I have learned so much and wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. (From Oct 6th)

 

This is Elder Dahlberg listening to General Conference, Rough!!

Elders Martineau and Dahlberg

     So this week in Gardiner, Maine with my companion, Elder Martineau, who is from New Mexico, we had a really busy week doing a lot of service and trying to find people to teach. <--- (We do that one every week even though I don't always say it.) We didn't find anyone new to teach and we actually didn't have any lessons with our investigators this week because they all cancelled on us... But we were able to give tons of service to those who needed it. We helped build a ramp for an elderly lady in the ward. That was really awesome being able to see the ramp go from 2x4's and individual screws to a nice solid ramp. I got to do a lot of the physical labor and placing and digging and putting the screws in with the drill.

     We also helped a member of the ward split 4 cords of wood. That is a ton of wood. I don't know the exact measurements of what a cord is but google does so look it up. While we were splitting wood his son arrived home from school and next thing i know his backpack is flying off and he is on a small go kart racing around his front lawn! He is doing doughnuts and all these fast movements on this sketchy looking go kart! HOW AWESOME IS THAT! This kid is like 8 years old and right after school just goes straight for a nice little go kart drive. I thought that was super awesome, especially since he was wearing board shorts while doing it :) That's my kind of kid!

     We also went over to a family called the Tarboxes. Her husband is in North Dakota doing work on the oil rigs out there and she is all alone here in Maine with her 2 sons, Noah (11)  and Reid(12). Her sons are hilarious and Reid should be a stand up comedian. He just picks a subject and rolls with it and Noah is full of energy and runs all over the house and flails all over the ground. At one point of our visit I was using him as a human mop to clean the kitchen floor....

     Friday we did service at a food pantry which is at a Christian Fellowship church. Really nice people and they really enjoy our service there. While stocking the shelves and helping people go through the process of picking what food they would like. We finished up with this one lady and she had a huge box of food and i offered to help her bring it to her car but she did the classic New Englander, "I'm all Set."  So I went to go help the next person in line and I hear a big slam on the floor and for some reason I'm the only one who heard it. I turned around and that lady tripped and fell and the stuff in her box went out  and she was in a little bit of pain.  I could tell she was humiliated and upset at herself. I helped her get up and she walked off. I took a small life lesson from this experience. In life some people can't see or don't know that they need help, and even when help is offered they are 'all set.' I thought of it like Jesus Christ and how his hand is always extended to ALL. His hand of help is extended to us our whole life. We just need to realize that we aren't "all set" in this life and humble ourselves and accept his help. I wondered if I was ever like the woman who fell because she didn't accept help. After wondering that I came to the conclusion that yes, I was and still am like that lady who fell. I will forever need Jesus Christ in my life and so does everyone else. Okay I'll get off my soap box now.

     This week we also helped out at a 'Historical' community theatre called the Johnson Hall. This used to be the big thing in town back in the late 1800's and everyone would go there and get their entertainment fix. Now a days we have iPhones that do that. But back then it was the highlight of their day/week. We helped put chairs away and asked how else we could help in the community. They said we could help by going on a tour of the place. Being as curious as I am I said sure and we got to go on a private tour of the whole building.  At the end of our service there the main volunteer coordinator talked to us and was fascinated that I was San Diego and she loved it there. She was in La Jolla surfing last March with her husband who is an avid surfer out here in Maine. She wants us to come by again and get to know me and what we do as missionaries. So that's a possibility!!!

    Winter is coming and the leaves are falling off the trees.... It's getting colder in the morning and I am starting to see my breath. So that is a definite sign that winter is coming.

    Cool story of the week. we were walking back from a dinner appointment and on our way back almost to our apartment. These skater kids were up ahead of us and you could tell they saw us in our white shirts and ties and were getting ready to 'pound' us with absurd comments and stuff haha. So we got to them and they all chickened out except this one kid who was holding his skateboard said "Hey you! Got any Book of Mormons by chance?" Elder Martineau said yeah here. Right as he got it he looked at his friends as if to be satisfied with his little game. I then said, "If I kick flip on your skateboard will you actually try and read it?" Right when I said that the kid immediately was excited and couldn't wait to see me fail. He said, "Sure thing, dude." So I got the skateboard and rode it around a tad bit. Mind you I'm in the worst clothes to even attempt doing this and on a red brick walkway so I was hitting cracks and stuff.  PLUS,I still to this day haven't been able to nicely land a kick flip of any sort so right as I bent down my mind came with a thought of "Wouldn't it be cool if this was the first time you landed a kick flip? That would mean this kid really needs to read the Book of Mormon." So I popped the board and kicked with my foot and I landed it. I didn't land a kick flip; I landed a varial!   haha! The kids jaw dropped and I apologized for not landing a kick flip and tried again but the board flew away from me and went to the kid. He just said "You did more than you said you would and I'll give that book a try, I'm a man of my word." We talked about Nirvana a little bit since that's what was on his shirt and parted ways. I don't know what happened to him after that but I thought that was pretty cool.

     That's all I got for this week. I officially hit my year mark of being out on my mission this Thursday. I have learned so much and wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world.

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg