July 13 BUSY BUSY WEEK!

Wow! This past week was so crazy and hecktik!  aye ya yay! (sometimes I have to leave his spelling original...  haha)

Well, I will begin with Monday. We started off with going out to lunch with Taylor Cole. He is the Pro baseball player in our ward (Pitcher for the NH AA Team, Fishercats) and we had fun talking with him and hanging with him for a little bit.

Then we were honored to have the mission Presidents Permission to go out of our mission boundaries and go to the Mormon Tabernacle Concert down in Boston.  (They got to take their investigator, Joan with them.)  

At first I was just excited to leave the mission and see Downtown Boston and just see new sights. But being in the concert I really started to like the concert just as much as the new sights. They did a great job singing and I think they are much better live than you see on General Conference.

 On Tuesday we had a large missionary meeting and Elder Gray and I were the drivers back up to Maine and I drove the way up and down because I wanted to practice my driving skills. I counted a total of 14 hours of me awake and literally sitting at attention that day. It was fun and I recommend that if you ever want to get to know someone really well, go on a car trip with them. The real you comes out in those long car rides! 

On Thursday we got to meet with one of our investigators named Cody D****.  He is struggling with depression and wants to learn more about our church. He is very content with being a catholic and he just wants to meet with us to learn what we are about and why we are different. As most people know, we are different because we believe that God is still speaking to us today though a modern prophet and through answers to our personal prayers. We told him about the Book of Mormon and where it came from and we had Taylor Cole come with us to the lesson. Taylor served his mission in Toronto Canada so he enjoyed being a member missionary for our lesson. 

Our Meet the S'Mormons activity on Friday night turned out well. Not too many people but not too little of people either.  I would say 50 people attended and maybe a total of 5 non Mormons were there. It was great being able to be one of the event planners where I was the one helping with all the behind the scenes stuff. I enjoyed getting it all put together and I may look into doing that as a job in the future, who knows. I would like to be part of the pre event planning and advertising. I enjoyed going around and promoting the video because you can put your energy into it and get people excited. The after event planning is taking down chairs and all the excitement is gone and so are all the S'Mores! 

Our transfer calls came and as I knew it, Elder Gray is going home so in 2 days he will hug his mom and play some Foosball against his dad and go rock climbing down in St. George Utah. And as for me, I am staying in this area and will receive a Junior Companion. What that means is I will be a solo Zone leader. (First one in the mission) I'm pretty excited to be the solo Zone leader and hope that my new companion and I can have a fun time while working hard here in Manchester/Bedford. 

I will get my new companion tomorrow morning around 11AM and head off to work. 

As for the rest of my day today, I will be picking up missionaries and bringing them to our apartment and since there are 24 new missionaries coming into our mission tonight, 8 of the new missionaries will be staying in our apartment! HOW EXCITING IS THAT!!! WOOOHOO. 

I would say that is a benefit to being assistants to the assistants!

We definitely don't have those around here!

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

June 29 We got to help at a cool old car show!!!

This was a pretty normal week. Nothing super crazy happened and we were pretty happy to have air conditioning in our apartment, because it is starting to get really really humid and muggy.

 But Something cool that happened was that we got to help the Bedford Community by setting up and preparing for the Car show that happened this past Saturday. We set up tables and manned the front desk where we collected fees and gave information. We also got to walk around and see all the old cars and cool people that owned them.

Last week I mentioned something about me singing at a funeral. Well turned out that while we were practicing and preparing to sing for the crowd, that the director looked to my companion and I and asked us very kindly if we would mind not singing. haha. We were more than happy to be kindly booted out of the group. And it turned out great because the sister missionaries in our ward are great singers so the song sounded amazing. 

I am not vocally talented and i was only singing because i had a willing heart.


The building we are doing emails in just had the fire alarm go off and we had to evacuate the building... So ill send pictures...

Here's what happens when you give the missionaries a half watermelon...

They are sooooo silly!!!

On exchange with Elder Flores

All Smiles!!!  Elder Dahlberg

June 22 My body is much better now!!

Drew and his favorite book buddy...

Well, this week we were not able to find 5 new people to teach... We did a lot of service and trying to find people to teach, like tracting and street contacting and just asking around but didn't get anyone that was super interested. Normally we get at least one person who lets us in and is willing to hear what we have to share. But that's okay. We still got to help random people move boxes to and from U-hauls and bring groceries in and all that random good stuff that we do.


We coordinated with our Ward Mission leader this past Wednesday and we set up a missionary oriented activity for July 10th at 6:30 PM. We came up with an activity where you watch a movie and have s'mores. We named it Meet the S'Mormons, but we later came to find out that our Ward mission leaders wife didn't like the name so it just got changed to Meet the Mormons +dessert night... I am still bummed we didn't get to keep the name but it will always be that name in my heart. So wish us luck on that activity!!!

We are bringing Cole Nimmo (A young man going to Maputo Mozambique on his mission) out with us teaching. He taught 2 lessons to investigators and helped us with service! he is a great kid and i know he will rock it out there in Africa!

A big highlight from my week was just being a good person to the community. We didn't get to teach a lot of lessons about Jesus Christ, but we were great examples of Him. That is my favorite part about the gospel actually. I enjoy being a righteous/honest example of Jesus Christ way more than knocking on peoples doors asking them if they would like to hear a message about Him. I love to serve people and i know this quality will stick with me forever. Even after the mission.

That is it for this week. Our baptismal dates are Joan B**** and Tyler D**** on July 11th.

All Smiles,

Elder Dahlberg

A cool fish pond behind Joan's house.

  

On a hike for P-day

June 15 Nasty medical Issues this week...

As you can see from the subject of this message, i got something called a hemorrhoid! Its been a pain in the butt!! HAHA get it! Well all im going to say is that its really gross and you can research it on google to get more information if you would like. Also, Elder Gray got some sort of Poison Ivy on his arm and it spread to his head and legs and stomach and it got really really bad. Bad enough that we went to Urgent Care to get it checked out. Now he is on literal steroids to help his body fight this rash/problem.

Elder Gray's Poison Ivy Rash...

(We'll be grateful that he didn't send a picture of HIS problem.   hahaha)










This past Tuesday Elder Gray and I attended a big Mission Leadership Training and learned more about becoming successful and effective leaders, not only in the mission, but in life. I really liked that meeting despite it going from 9am-5pm. One principle i  learned a lot about was delegation of a job or assignment. I learned how to extend an invitation to someone to do something without it being a commandment that must be done or ELSE! I learned how to delegate effectively and simply so that the job can get done in good timing and having the job be well done.

I was also able to host an exchange with a district leader named Elder Poe. We got along so great because we both come from similar backgrounds. We had the same amount of siblings and same desires in life. So we did a lot of great teaching together and we learned a lot from each other. We had a member meal that taught us how to cook plantains, (those gigantic banana like things you see in Latin America) After frying it 2 times and adding salt and dipping it into maple syrup it tasted okay.... So that goes to show how tasty it is before all that unhealthy stuff.

They climbed a rock that had a good view of Manchester...

On Saturday we helped a member of our ward move a bunch of furniture out of her house so that it could be ready to be sold. And we invited one of our investigators named Tyler D**** who is a single guy and he came to help us in that project! It was great being able to serve alongside of him. We currently have a baptism date set for Tyler of July 11th. So we hope that he can prepare himself to make it to that day.

SPEAKING OF BAPTISMS. *Cool story incoming*

One night about 2 months ago, elder Wadsworth and I were walking and this man approached us and we started talking about the Book of Mormon and he told us that he had read it multiple times, 6 to be exact. We were blown away and we invited him to meet with us and he accepted. We came to find out he lived in the other Elders area so we handed him over to them to teach. His name is Gary Madigan and he just got baptized this past Sunday and i was able to speak at it. Although I didn't participate in teaching Gary, it was cool to be a part of his conversion and to be the one to get him from not learning about Christ to being a disciple of Christ.

That's all i have for this week! I was able to eat at Chipotle this week and i got my Mexican burrito craving filled!

Our goal for this upcoming week is to find 5 new people to teach, since we haven't been able to find new people recently. WISH US LUCK!!!

All Smiles, 

Elder Dahlberg

 They went back to visit Jacques bakery with the cool cakes and delicious pastries...

June 8 My mission motto is, if you see a U-haul, you haul your butt over there and help them.

I got a new companion this week! Its Elder Gray. This Elder is going home on July 15th so i will be his last companion in the mission field. he is completely hairless. he has something called Alopecia (How ever you spell it) Basically, his body thinks that hair is bad so his immune system just kicks them out. He never has to shave or get haircuts. He doesn't mind it at all. He is From Salt Lake city Utah, and wants to become a Marine when he gets home, as well as go to flight school since he already has his pilot's licence. And then, long term  he wants to become an astronaut if that is possible to do still. He is a great Elder, and works very hard so these next 5 weeks with him will be very busy and we will get a lot of good work in.

Elders Dahlberg and Gray in their apartment

The plant is telling him it is finally Spring!

This week we were able to help a family move in across the street from us and they were a young couple that had a 1 year old son. We found them by seeing a U-haul and my mission motto is, if you see a U-haul, you haul your butt over there and help them. So we took that seriously and they actually let us help! Its such a relief when people allow you to help them. That is a quality that i think we all need to work on. In the end they were not interested in religion but they insisted on taking us to the local pizza place and getting us lunch. Nice people.

This week we also were able to go out teaching with a starting pitcher for the AA minor league team of the Toronto Blue Jays, named Taylor Cole. He came teaching with us to Saikou, our 17 year old investigator, and it was really cool to see how excited he was to do missionary work. Yes, he is a professional baseball player. yes, he drives an Audi. Yes, he is awesome. But he was so sincere when he talked about Jesus Christ and how much he wants to be like him.

I know i didn't include a ton about what we did this week but we did a lot of missionary work that is hard to put into words. We invited a lot of people to learn about Christ, we handed out Book of Mormons that teach about Christ, we showed videos to people on our iPads while out walking, we served anyone and everyone we could while out walking.

We also helped a young man in our ward, Cole Nimmo, who is going to Maputo Mozambique on his mission. We taught him about Preach my Gospel and how it helps us teach more simply and clearly about Christ.

To finish i want to thank everyone for their emails. I haven't gotten letters, but boy have i gotten emails. So thank you for your support on my mission and, i will be coming back home in 4 months! Crazy huh!!!!!! I have learned so much and i wouldn't trade this mission experience for anything.

All Smiles,
Elder Dahlberg

P.S John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

June 1 Trip to the Boston Temple!

So its been over a week since i have been able to email you and i have so many pictures to send, hopefully you can get something out of this email besides all the pictures that i am going to send. 

I found out that my trainee, Elder Dylan Sholer, from Battle Ground Washington went home on Saturday. I dont know the reasons but i hope he can come back out sometime in the future. 

This past memorial day, we helped Noah Hughes (Tall 14 year old) with his EAGLE SCOUT Project. what we did was go to the local cemetery and replaced name plaques that were put on the trees. there was a lot of hand drills and reaching to new heights that was associated with this project. While there Elder Wadsworth and I bumped into a group of 5 hobos that were proud of us for doing something positive in the world. I took out 5 pictures of Jesus and gave them each one and they were so happy. Despite having beer cans and cigarettes all around them, i thought the pictures of Jesus would lift their spirits up. 
















One of our investigators named Saikou Bah just moved into live with the Hughes Family. He is 17 years old and is a junior in High School. He plays football and track and just got 2nd in the state of New hampshire for the 100Meter dash. He reminds me of Usane Bolt, except he is buffer than him. 

I am so happy that it is hot in New England now. This past winter was SO BAD. Apparently this winter was the worst one they have had in decades.... So that just makes the sunshine and heat that much more appealing to me. The heat here is different than in California though. It rains a lot here and so when you have heat+ water it creates humidity. I am not a huge fan of humidity but i would choose that over snow and cold anyday. 

Our transfer calls just came and i will be staying in this Bedford area for another 6 weeks. and i will stay as Zone leader and get a new companion tomorrow. So wish me luck!!! 

We now officially have iPads in our mission. we are still just using them as tools for videos and studying and another resource. We should be (this transfer)  using them to start updating our area book (where we keep information on the people we teach) and to do daily planning. I'm getting used to having an iPad now, they are really good tools. 

As for the missionary work in the area. We have been helping a lot of people out in their personal trials. Examples: someone unexpectedly dies, evicted from their house, court cases going bad. We have been doing a lot of what this scripture explains. 

Mosiah 18:9
Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

 We have been doing alot of that, as well as serving them. Doing their dishes, or helping set up their Air conditioning unit. taking out the trash. All the little things that take no time at all. 

Thats all i got for this week. Enjoy all the pictures!!!!

All Smiles

Elder Dahlberg

Elder Wadsworth's birthday 

A member bought him a cake that literally had real gold on it. No joke!!!!!! I ATE REAL GOLD!!!!!!!

They got to go to the Boston Temple!

His plant is growing really fast!!

(May 23) We are getting iPads!

This week in the mission we are having a big mission conference on Wednesday from 9AM-1PM about iPads! We are getting them! Its crazy! All of the iPad's for the mission are already here in New England, in the mission office to be exact! Its crazy! I have no idea what and how this is all going to happen but i will keep you updated on what exactly changes and how missionary work is changing.

This past week we weren't able to teach a ton of lessons again it was about 14 but still much better than most weeks in my mission.

I went on exchange to Canterbury this week and was with Elder Betts. He is from New Mexico and is going home July 15th (same day as Elder Wadsworth). During our exchange we stopped by a bakery named Jacques Pastries. A member of the church owns it and what they do is make custom cakes for big events. That place puts Cake boss to shame! The owner actually declined a TV offer because it would just take away from the business and they wouldn't get all that they needed to done. They bake over 1000 custom cakes a year. They sent us on our way with eight  pastries that are $15 each. And they weren't big either so those pastries didn't make it out of the car a second time haha.

Wow!  That is QUITE the cake!!!
http://www.jacquespastries.com/

I was also asked a question this week that i want to share my answer with you.
Q- What do I hope to gain from the rest of my mission?
A- I hope to establish Christlike attributes that i can use for the rest of my life. I hope that what i have learned already and what i will learn can stay with me so i can use it to help others and myself in the future. Sometimes i get into this mindset of "look at my scriptures, aren't they all beat up, marked, and worn. That means i have learned a lot and searched them and i know them well!" that mindset goes the same for my tracting shoes so when i get home everyone can see hard hard i worked, based on how worn my shoes got. Whenever i have that mindset I lack the charity and love that Jesus Christ has. He didn't care how faded his clothes got while out walking and performing miracles. He cared for the people, not the praise. SO all in all, what i hope to gain from the rest of my mission experience is to walk as Jesus walked, not walk where He walked and call it good. 

We also had a zone meeting this week. As a zone leader i got to teach 2 separate groups for about an hour each. SO that was fun being able to prepare a good message to share and i tried my best to leave a lasting lesson that can help lift, inspire, encourage, and bless their individual lives.
I had an interview with President Stoker, we pretty much talked about my answer to the question i talked about earlier in this email.

That's all i have for this week!!! I have been trying hard to stay focused and making these last 5 months count. I appreciate any letters i do get and i am going to reply to everyone of them that i get. SO WRITE ME :)

All Smiles,
Elder Dahlberg

P.S Answer to 'Why couldn't the bike stand up?' It was two tired!!!!  [ba dum bum]

This is a plant he is growing from a bulb...

They came across a little pond somewhere that had a sort of "beach"  He had to make a sand angel...

On exchanges with Elder Betts