SPRING IS HERE AND I'M LOVING THE SUNSHINE!

This week has been really busy with teaching again! We taught another 24 lessons and we are leading the mission in teaching! we taught so much this past week and had more lessons than an entire zone did! Pretty crazy! A lot of missionaries have been asking what our secret is to all this sudden success. Elder Wadsworth and I have come to the conclusion that none of it is difference on our part. The only thing we are doing is trying to be obedient to the mission rules while trying to invite all others to learn about Jesus Christ. Those are the two actions we tattoo on our foreheads everyday before we go out to work. We firmly believe all of our success is that God is preparing these people for a brighter future and hopefully a happy eternal future.
Our current teaching pool of Investigators is 11. I began my mission with barely 1...

Well i will go through my week.
Monday the 20th- We went to the mall of New Hampshire for p-day and got to talk to a man named Paul. He was one of those guys that stands at the kiosks that are in the middle of the walkways in malls. He was a representative for a MMA/ Boxing Gym. I approached him and started talking to him because he seemed a little apprehensive to talking to people walking by. turns out that he is really nice and from the looks of him he was all tatooed up and is buff and scary looking. But by the end of our talk, he was showing us pictures of his 2 kids and how they both have a disease similar to muscular dystrophy and they don't have the physical capabilities that we do.  so that was a blessing in disguise to be able to talk to him about that.

Tuesday- This was the night all the departing missionaries stayed at our house and i got really trunky. We were in a room with 8 missionaries all excited to be going home and seeing their families the next morning. I barely slept during the night because of all the energy that was in the room and the next morning Elder Wadsworth and I went for a run because i just couldn't take being in that house any longer haha. TOO MUCH TRUNKYNESS (trunky= wanting to pack you bags 'trunk' and go home). The rest of the day we taught lessons and i was fine after the run but that was the major highlight of the day haha...

Wednesday- We make weekly visits to a recent convert named Gladys P*****.  She is in her 60's and just joined the church in January. We showed up to her house to do our normal visit and read the scriptures with her when she answers the door and says you caught me. I've been smoking! Elder Wadsworth and I were surprised and we talked with her about her problem and she reminded me so much of a dog when you yell at it for doing something wrong. She was so humble and sad that she got caught smoking. We were very nice to her and didn't express ANY Hatred for what she was doing or what she did. We were there to help her overcome her mistake and it was cool because she offered the closing prayer and she cried during the whole thing. She was a great example of sorrow.

Thursday- We were able to teach the G****'s and have dinner over at their home. They were very nice and generous to us and we had salad with guacamole as the dressing and than chicken as the main dish. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom and Bill and Rose both have a problem with Coffee. And they both want to be baptized so, Bill told us right then and there he was going to be working towards a day to be done with coffee. He said May 3rd is the day he will not drink anymore.

Friday- We taught Kenji S******, she is a less-active member coming back to church and we met her in the pizza place just down the road from her house and she informed us that she is attending the temple on MAY 2nd! So she is no longer considered Less-Active in my eyes! She is rescued!!!!

Saturday- We were invited over to bishop's house to have a coordination meeting and waffle breakfast and we also taught 5 member present lessons this day. It's so tough to include all the good details of how the lessons went and what we taught but it takes so much time. I do know that at the end of the 5th member present lesson which finished at 8:55 PM, as we were walking home in the night, across the river we got to watch fireworks going off for the AAA baseball team, the NH Fischer Cats. So the fireworks were a silent pat on the back for a hard days work.

Sunday- We had a special stake conference which was held in Concord, New Hampshire. We were able to have 3 investigators attend and President Stoker was actually there and got to fellowship each one of them. That was really awesome! We also had dinner at a Less-Active families home named the Hines. They attend the Manchester Christian church, but they are so friendly and nice. K**** is the husband and is the high school football coach. he is actually flying to San Diego on the 27th of April, (Today) to interview for a job out there at a Christian school. . They are related to the person who owns the Hines car dealership. Remember the jingle, I GOT MINE AT HINE! haha well they are a super awesome family and i will keep in touch with them even when i get home.

Well that was my week in a nutshell. Looking back at what i wrote, there was SO much more that happened but my fingers can only go so fast on this keyboard in front of me haha. Well i am glad i got to tell you about my week. I haven't gotten a letter in over 3 weeks which is a new record. But i don't want to sound like some complainer because im doing great out here! SPRING IS HERE AND I'M LOVING THE SUNSHINE!

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

They went on a hike for their P-day today...  Here are some pictures....

(From April 20) So Spring has arrived finally!

The record breaking dynamic duo...

This was the most teaching i have ever done in a week. Elder Wadsworth and I taught a total of 24 lessons this week. Not including lessons taught to members for dinners and stop by's and such.!! 24 lessons is unheard of for our mission. Well at least it was unheard of until Elder Wadsworth and I smashed it! I cannot do a day by day this week because of how much we bounced around teaching this person and then knocking this door and giving service to this person. We were all over this week and we were exhausted at the end of each day. We taught a total of 12 member present lessons, 2 other lessons and 10 lessons to Less-Active and Recent Converts. (To those who are missionaries or have been missionaries you know that this was a really good week of teaching!) VERY VERY BUSY!!!

I must say that it is so fulfilling to be able to help people come closer to Jesus Christ and make changes in their lives in order to be happier. I would do this over hammering nails into wood, sitting at a desk typing papers, sorting books in a library, even surfing for a living. AND THAT TAKES A LOT OUT OF ME TO SAY! I enjoy helping people make positive changes in their lives. And i know that doing it through Jesus Christ makes that positive change last forever because of His Atonement. Having said all that i can just look back at the beginning of my mission and i realize how much i have changed into a better person. I wouldn't trade my mission for anything, including Pro baseball, sponsored surfing, even millions of dollars. (Although i wouldn't complain if i found that on the side of the road..)

This week we talked to so many people and taught so many lessons that its hard to just pick one to tell you about. But i will choose one.

We got a referral from the Manchester Elders for a man named Bill G****. They found him by just talking to him on the street and he wouldn't mind having missionaries come over and talk with him. So we went over to Bill G***** and we knocked on the door and a man answers the door in a full body pajama suit themed to EOR, the hippo charecter on the TV show Winnie-the-pooh. (I'm laughing!!!  I had to keep that as original because it was soo funny!) The pajama suit went from his toes all the way to his neck and even had a hood with ears. This man is 52 and was wearing that. That was Bill G****. At first glance he looks crazy. But after we got talking to him he is a very honest man and wants to do what is best for him and His wife, Rose. They have tons of medical issues and their apartment isn't the cleanest... But they both have a really strong desire to learn about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. While we taught them I still couldn't get over the pajama suit because it caught me so off guard. But he came to church this past Sunday, so did Sarah V***** and her 4 children and she even brought her dad along.

We street contacted into this man who looked very down on himself and he had such a dreary countenance. When you looked at him he just looked sad and down and as if he didn't care if the sun was shining or anything. We told him we share a message of Hope and that it can uplift his life. He said sure and we met up with him later that day and his name is Tyler. he is in his late 20's and doesn't say much. But we hopefully will meet up with him this week again and try to help him out in his life. Give him a goal in life. Something to look forward to and work for.

Some other random things that happened this week. We fasted that we could get more baptismal dates in our zone and after the 3 weeks of consecutive fasting for 1 day of the week our zone now has 6 baptismal dates and already had 1 baptism. So thats great.

I am not getting transferred and neither is Elder Wadsworth so i will be staying in Bedford at least another six weeks until June 1st. I was really happy for that.

That's all i can muster up this week! THANKS!!!!!

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

The tradition for missionaries who have been out for 18 months... 

No man has ever climbed the ladder of success with his hands in his pockets.

Being his silly self at a house full of old antiques...

General Conference was great!

Wow!!   Last week, ducks,  this week, peacocks!  How beautiful!!

Well this past general conference was the best one I have ever watched. I don't think it was that it was abnormally different than other ones or that the speakers were better. I think it all had to do with me and my preparation for it. For this general conference I came with a question in mind and I literally applied every talk given to my question and wrote down 1 line that each speaker told me as an answer. It made conference meaningful and it actually didn't seem as long! It was great! My favorite talk was actually given by one of the 12 apostles named Russell M Nelson. He talked about the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. I am making that a priority in my future because of what he shared in that talk. Here is the link to watch it if you would like to.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/04?lang=eng&vid=4155134996001&cid=11

Tuesday- This day we talked to a Muslim man that we met in the mall of New Hampshire a while back. So we met with him in the church and we brought a member with us and it turned into more of a debate about the nature of God and that was not our purpose. He was trying to logically explain God and his nature and than he was telling us wrong. It was interesting and kind of intimidating. We told him about the biggest part of our lives and that we walk by faith and not by sight. We trust in God and we don't NEED proof or NEED to know all things in order to function.

Wednesday- I went on exchange to the East side of Manchester with Elder Chavez our district leader and we walked those streets for a good 2 hours and found 2 potential families to teach and I heard that one of them is already taking the missionary lessons or will be soon. SO that was fun.

Thursday- I was still on exchange with Elder Chavez, he is from Rancho Cucumanga California and we did a lot of street contacting this day as well. We talked and we walked practically all day. We walked probably 6-7 miles and my feet were pretty tired. I am not complaining about walking. I am just saying how much we walked. I actually loved it! I would prefer doing that than driving over 50 miles a day like I was in the boonies of Maine. I also experienced the worst door slam I have ever received while being out on my mission. We knocked this door and this lady came to the door and then left. So we knocked one more time because we wanted to talk to her. Then she came to the door and opened it and while it was opening we said hello and she replied with "No Hello, GET THE F%(*& OUT!!!" and slammed that door so hard I felt some wind come from it. As we were walking away I couldn't keep a straight face and just laughed for about 2 minutes because it was so funny. I hope she feels better after this Easter.

Friday- We taught English to Thack our Napaleese investigator. He is getting really good at it. I can tell he is practicing because of how fluent his talking is. It's awesome to help him with that.

Saturday- We started our fast and watched general conference  We colored eggs between the two sessions.

Of course, he put a wave on his egg!

Easter Sunday- We were able to have dinner at the mission presidents home! I ran out of time writing this because I was being talked to... Sorry. Ill send pictures!!! Hope the pictures can fill in the rest of this email.

President and Sister Stoker

Elders Dahlberg and Wadsworth

President Stoker has a new granddaughter

Love you all!!!

Elder Dahlberg

(March 30) I'm ready for the sun to bust out and melt all the snow away.

Its supposed to be spring time, but this week it was actually cold. Stayed in the high 20's to the high 30's. It's much better than the single digits and WAY better than the negatives but I'm ready for the sun to bust out and melt all the snow away. I learned a cool fact about Manchester New Hampshire! It turns out that Segways were invented here. And apparently in the spring time they have people who travel all over the place in them, so I'm excited to get my hands on one and try it out!!! I had a pretty eventful week, check it out!!!

Mon- For our P-day we went to downtown Manchester and went to the tallest building we could find and we went to the front desk and asked if we could go to the top. The guy in the first and tallest building said no way, so we tried the second tallest building and the security guard just goes, Go for it! haha So we took the elevator up and just enjoyed looking out over the city, then we ran down the 21 floors of stairs all the way to the basement! After our P-Day was over we stopped by a couple of Less-Active members who weren't all that excited that we showed up on their door step. But one of them worked at the Segway factory and said we could come back and ride his Segway when it warms up! That's one way to get into the door I guess. right??

Tuesday- We had a great lesson with our investigator named Rebeca. She is 21 years old and has 2 boys. A 2 yr old and a 3 month old. She has a boyfriend and how we found her was through tracting and she let us in. She doesn't have any belief in a God and thought it was just something not important in her life. She has no religious back ground and her purpose in meeting with us was because her boyfriend wanted to raise their kids in some sort of church and get them baptised. So we taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel and she grasped a little bit of it. She did commit to reading some out of the Book of Mormon and as well as saying her own personal prayer. We set a return day for Thursday.

Wednesday- I was hosting Elder Seely, who is the AP. Now what is an AP? Well its like the vice president so to speak. AP stands for Assistant to the President. So he works directly under President Stoker and pretty much does all the menial things president doesnt need to do. But besides that an AP is just another normal missionary, they just have alot of responsibility on their plate. Elder Seely and I finished a lesson and when we got into the car and started it and we were about to start driving forward he sees someone walking outside of the car and goes "Elder, we need to talk to that person, I feel impressed that we need to." So we get out of the car and start talking to her. (Keep in mind, we do not normally just get out of the car as we are about to leave and just start talking to some random person) Turns out that this lady was baptised in our church down in Nebraska and just moved up here. She said she was interested in meeting with us. To make the story short, we tried to contact her again and while talking to her on the phone, a male came onto the phone and interrupted us and started cussing us out and told us to NEVER CALL AGAIN! So thats that. But I told this story to share how and why I believe there is a God. In the bible it talks about the Holy Ghost and how it will help us. I believe that the Holy Ghost impressed Elder Seely to do that. As strange as it seemed. And there are tons of little experiences just like that, that I have experienced over my mission which have strengthened not only my belief in God but my Faith in Him.

Thursday- We were supposed to have a lesson with Rebecca but she cancelled and before we left I asked "is there anything, anything at all that we can help you with" She told us they are struggling and could use some help with food. So we arranged a few things and we had members bring over meals for her and they even gave them a small meal card for a grocery store! How nice!!!

Friday- The sisters in our area made us sushi for lunch!!! I love sushi, it was great! I want to learn how to make that when I get home. While we were out and about this day we came across a box that said free food on it and it was placed in a nice place like someone actually meant to leave it there for the purpose of giving it away. It was full of canned non expired food and it was full! We were like what the heck? There is never anything of this sort just out and about. So we snagged it and brought it to Rebeca! haha Isn't that cool? I think that is another instance of the existence of a loving God, or just a mere coincidence. Take your pick but I choose God.

Saturday- IT SNOWED ALL DAY LONG ON THIS DAY@!!! Yes that's right SNOW! I have some pictures that I will send to show just how much came down. It was probably the last time I will see snow fall on my mission and for a good long time. So I enjoyed it and made some snowballs and made random snowmen on the streets, Elder Wadsworth and I even did some target practice with the snowballs. So we enjoyed winter's finale.

Sunday- We spent a lot of the Day out sharing the new Easter message that the church produced called #Becausehelives. It's all about Jesus Christ and it's great for anyone, whether you're a Mormon or not. I actually encourage people who aren't Mormon to watch this video because it just shows how and why Jesus Christ plays a role in daily life.
 http://www.mormon.org/easter

I guess they drew a picture of Elder Dahlberg the surfer...

That's all for now! With this upcoming Easter you may wonder what my plans are. We are going to be watching General Conference where we will also be fasting for 24 hours from food and water for the opportunity to find people who want to hear about God and Jesus Christ. And follow Jesus Christ and be baptized.

Well I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Easter! It would really make my day to show up to emails next Monday and be loaded with pictures of you and your families. That would be so cool!!!

You have been warned...

Yep!  There they are!!

What a "Quack up!"  (Sorry, couldn't help myself...)

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

(March 23) Spring time is here... Not for New England yet...

(This is the program for Sunday Services.  Note the unique spelling of Dahlberg... haha)



This past week it snowed 2 times and it wasn't a lot but it still snowed. There were crazy high winds this week which made the temperatures just drop way low. For the first time on my mission actually I got frost bite this week. It was while we were out street contacting at 8:50 pm and the wind was just going at us about 25 mph winds and it was pushing us left and right. I came into the apartment and my face was burning and it felt a whole lot like a sunburn. Yup I got wind burn on my face... So even though the calender says spring... It's not..... yet.

Well this week we were able to teach 6 member present lessons and teach 6 Less Active lessons. It was a pretty high number week.

He's excited to see an actual "Mall"  haha

I will just mention some highlights of the week. Friday we had a zone conference where we got trained on chapter 8 in PMG. (Preach My Gospel, their training book...) It's about using your time wisely and how we should be making effective use of our time. Which I actually enjoyed. A lot of that meeting was talking about just doing the things you know, and not letting your laziness get in the way. So it was a big motivator. As a zone leader we got to train on planning and how important it is in our work. If we didn't plan out our days, we would NOT be as productive. If you plan out your day beforehand the day ALWAYS goes better/more productive than if you hadn't planned. (Obvious huh?)

Thursday we do service at a therapeutic horse facility. It is out of the city part of our area and we get to clean the horses stalls and refill waters and walk the horses to their outside coral! That was really fun and the volunteers trusted me with the most rowdy horse of them all. That was fun, seeing as I'm a city boy and I don't know anything about horses. I just took control of it and walked it out. It wasn't hard at all. Horses are pretty cool too, they each have their own personalities. I like the young male ones, they have the most energy and they keep you on your toes.

We can add "shoveling manure" to his list...

One night this week around 8:55 PM Elder Wadsworth and I had 5 minutes before we needed to go inside so we decided to put the old saying "tracting past 8 is unsuccessful" to shame. So we made the decision to just knock on one door. So we did and a man answered the door and only held the door open a little crack and says what do you want. And we tell him we are out sharing a message about families (with the family proclamation in our hands) he goes "Don't you know there is a meth house right behind you, it's too late to be doing this, don't ever do this again" He opened the door a little bit and shows his face and goes "If you are out doing this you never know what you're going to run into (after he said that he shows us that he had a baseball bat in his hidden hand and was ready to beat us to pieces if we were intruders) We told him sorry and that we were just doing one door and he said its okay and he is glad he was the one we knocked on and not the houses around his because they are all drug houses. haha So that was fun!

Almost everyday in our missionary work we take a member of our ward out with us. His name is Donald Richard. He is 49 and has never been married and has some disabilities. So we take him to our single women homes for appointments. He is a cool guy and we take him out almost every single day. We also bring other members as well, but he is the main one.

Our investigator Sarah V****, the single mother of 4 kids wasn't able to come to church this week and she is 'trying' to quit smoking. She has great intentions but she is just lacking the will power of just not smoking. We went over the other day and I wrote all over her cigarette packet, saying things like Elder Dahberg doesn't want you to do it. Don't do it! Jesus loves you! haha. Hopefully that will help, who knows...

Well that's all I can muster up atm. This upcoming week we don't have anything special so that means we can have a full week of hitting the streets and trying to meet up with all the investigators we have and the ones we have found that just seemed to have vanished.... (That happens all the time )

All Smiles, 

Elder Dahlberg