when you rely on the Lord...He leads you

Wellllll here I am again.... it literally seems like it was just yesterday that I was typing away to you guys... It is crazy how time flies when you are out on a mission! I'll tell you what, it goes by way too fast! Ha! But I am so grateful for the time that I have now to email you!! :) So hopefully this email will be a little better! I want to say also, thank you all for all your prayers! Missionaries really can feel them! It's nice to know that even when you try your hardest and nothing is really going as planned... your family and friends are always there for you rooting you on at home! :) So thank you all and know that I love you all too!!!! :)

Well for this week!!!!

Monday: After our CRAZYYY p-day we were able to bring our Catholic investigator (pretty much the only guy who is really progressing now.. he is doing great!) to a family home evening at a members home! He doesn't have a family of his own but he seemed to really love the fact that we are so close as families! We played a little game and had a lot of fun! The members here are amazing... just amazing!!!

Tuesday: We had our usual district meeting where we learned a load on how to be better missionaries! Our monthly focus the past 2 months has been on the Book of Mormon... it's been so fun! So in district meeting we do little activities related to the BOM. One thing that I love more than anything is the love I have for learning! (I know, I know.. it just isn't like me...) however…challenge me to a Book of Mormon chase, I bet I could beat you! :) haha (I know I’m humble too) After that we were able to visit a less active in the Elders Area... she has been missing the Sisters and when we were there she told us that she doesn't like the Elders and she is mean to them hahah sad huh? But it was a good visit with her! :) We then had dinner at members then we had a pretty cool experience... I have been thinking a lot lately about how I have been slacking on sharing spiritual experiences... and I had come to the conclusion that it was because the spiritual things just happen slowly... however, it was just because I wasn't relying on my Savior enough. You who Sister Dahl! This is His work... He kind of knows what He is doing right?? Soooo anyways this was my humbling experience to learn this... We were given a referral from a member so we went Tuesday night to see if we could see her! Well once we got there we got scared... it was late... and we were like "maybe we could just try back later..." wellll finally I just said, let’s pray about it! So we did and we all got the feeling that we needed to go in and see her right then!! So we did, we got out and knocked on her door and she answered and seriously is the friendliest lady I have ever met! She let us right in! :) She said... "OH! I was just doing my family history work!!" AHHH! We were so excited! So she showed us all the stories, and man... this lady has done some research! ha so we asked if we could meet her again and talk more about this! She agreed! :) So yes... it is amazing how when you rely on the Lord and do all you can He leads you to the people that are ready and prepared!! :) Missionary work is the best!

Wednesday: Wednesday... we were able to go to see a Less Active which was really good! The relief Society pres. came with us and took us to lunch after! She really takes care of us...  :) then we were at the church and we were able to do some service for our ward! They have never had a librarian. Sooo we spent the day organizing the library!! I am pretty sure there is stuff in there older than my mom and dad! It’s crazy! So we got it all fixed up! :) Then we had young women’s and guess what they did?? Pedicures! Sooo I was kind of in heaven and I was able to paint the girls toes and put cute flowers on them! :) It was fun! :) They told me that if I don't get transferred this week that they want me to do a hair and makeup class for the young women’s.. ha! :) The Bishop asked us to be there anyways right? :)

Thursday: Wellll... one of my comps was sick again... sooo I spent the morning doing planning and studying! :) Always great! :) Then we went to dinner at a members house and then to see a Less Active! It was a really great visit!

Friday: Welllll... my other comp was sick this day... so the morning was again spent studying... :) YAY! haha There is no excuse now! I better know my stuff! :) But that night was good because we met with our Recent Convert and then we were able to go to another member’s house for dinner and that was fun! But you see... we had a pickle where we had to schedule TWO dinners that night... (good thing I wore the stretchy skirt!!!) The second dinner was with, the lady I talked about above doing the family history and then her sister and grandchild! :) It was a fun little girls night eating pizza... (don't worry I ate some shrimp on rice!) We talked a little more about family history! (thanks to all my family I was able to show off that my family history chart was almost all full!) It was really good. She called us "her new best friends!" So we really hope we established a relationship and can get her baptized! :) hahah

Saturday! We were able to teach our Catholic investigator again at the church about the Word of Wisdom! It was really good! :) Then we were able to stay there because we were having a ward party!!! :) There were water games for the kids... (I may have had too much fun during this part...) then we had dinner! There was a roasted pig in a box! It was great! There were so many people there! It was awesome! :) We were on cloud nine!!! :) They all said they had a really good time!! :)

Sunday: Church! :) Our investigator came to church which was really good! :) He seems to really like it and it is fun watching him! We then spent the rest of the day studying then dinner at a member’s house! :) Then I got a call that I will be going to Patterson this week on a three or four day exchange! So that will be interesting! :) Wish me luck!

But that was our week! :) Transfers are this week so by the next time I email you I will know whether I will be staying in Fardale land or I'll be off to somewhere else! I don't know.. I just love this ward so much! They are like my family!!! And the people we are working with are sooo great! But we will see! I will go where thou wants me to go dear Lord! :) Well have a great week! :) If you have time go on the mormon.org and watch Sherri Patterson McRae story about her life! Got to watch it this week and it made me cry!! Anyways! Love you all! :)

Sister Dahl!

Link to Sherri’s story http://mormon.org/me/7drs

"Think of yourself as Heavenly Father would"

Hey Everyone! :) Well this week is going to be super short... I am so sorry! We had a Sister Training meeting this morning where we learned how to behave ourselves... we did some yoga and had some great talks! It was all the Sisters in the Mission and noooo Elders besides President! It was crazy. 95 Sisters. All in one room. WAYYY too much for me! ha! But it was still fun minus the part that it has taken up our whole p-day and we only have an hour to email and we have to get back to work! So I will tell you some great things and some crazy things that happened this week!

We have been meeting with our Catholic investigator we just randomly ran into and he is progressing really well. He says that he knows everything is true! He said he knows he will end up coming to our church one day! :) I am pretty sure that as a missionary that is the best thing to hear!

Then another investigator we haven't been able to see him much but he texted us the other day and he said... "Well I think I will come to your church this week..." So of course we were like YES PLEASE COME!! :)  haha! So he showed up on Sunday and it seemed like he had a great day... then we asked if we could come see him that night and he said yes! So last night we went over to his house and this is where the real story comes in... hahah He fed us some... "Santa Clause Watermelon" none of us have ever heard of it... but let me tell you... it was really good! Super sweet and juicy! Well, all was well, we were just eating and talking then all of the sudden my throat starts to itch really bad... (like it always does when I eat fruit BUT WORSE!!) So I sit there and I feel my throat start closing up... I was so scared I didn't know what to do! haha so our investigator went inside to grab something and I tell my comp so she gets me some Benadryl and I hurry and take it and somehow make it through the lesson! ha! My throat started to get better but I think we caught it just in time! :) haha on the bright side our investigator said he really enjoys what we tell him and he wants to learn more and more! He is praying about it tonight and so pray for him! :) But then guess what happened on the way home?? I couldn't drive because I was feeling SUPER sleepy so my sweet companion Sister Spencer said she would drive home! So she did! Wellllll we have a broken head light we were planning on fixing today...... but guess what happened?! A cop pulled us over!! He didn't even give us a chance! He wrote us a ticket and said we need to get it fixed... $54 ticket!!! Missionary rule is that you have to split the cost of tickets... good thing we are in a trio so it'll be cheaper! :) haha but it was quite the night and I'm not going to lie, I was pretty calm because of the Benadryl! :)

We also were able to do a service in Patterson this week... (mom don't look that town up... hahah) which is in our Zone and we were able to paint a school! We painted the class rooms! It was a blast and being able to serve is so much fun! Don't worry... I didn't even get paint on me! :)

One of our Recent Converts has decided to go to BYU. So she is getting ready to move out there! :) We have been really excited for her! :)

Other than that our week was pretty slow again... we were just getting everyone back to normal health! HA! :) I really can't think of anything else... :/ I promise next week’s letter will be better! :) But I will tell you a great spiritual thought that Sister Jeppson said today:

"Think of yourself as Heavenly Father would. How do you think it makes Him feel when you think bad about a creation of His. He made you!! He knows you!! He loves you!!"

Well I hope all is well and everyone is off and married now... (yes three wedding invites in one week is crazy! Know that I was thinking of you all!) Love you! Have a great week!

Sister Dahl!

Click on photos to enlarge

 Our fridge...members give us so much food. Don't worry mom, I am eating!!

 Sisters in the painting service zone!

I’m slowly getting over my fear of this singing thing...

Monday's are the best day ever! Being able to receive an update on how everyone is doing is the best! :) Well this week wasn't the most productive... sad... sickness came over my companions! AHH! But we still got a couple lessons in! Pray that we will get better and be able to serve the Lord the best we can next week! But here is my week anyways!

Monday: After P-day we were able to teach a lesson to a cute sweet girl we found that is from Brazil. I think I have talked about her before... She speaks really good Portuguese so we decided to have the Portuguese speaking Elders come and teach the lesson with us or rather for us! ha they ended up teaching the whole thing in Portuguese which was good because she could understand it all so much better. She said that she could feel such a difference. It was so neat to be able to feel the spirit sooo strong in a lesson I couldn't even understand! ha well there is more to this story later. After that we went to dinner at a member’s house and then came home.

Tuesday: Well this is where it starts getting sad. My companion, Sister Spencer woke up with a horrible cold and couldn't do anything. So Sister Webb went to Zone meeting and I stayed home with Sister Spencer and studied... read and read the Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ. All sorts of stuff. We ended up going to a member’s house for dinner that night but that was pretty much our day....

Wednesday: Same thing. Sister Spencer woke up and didn't feel good again... another day of studies! :) I was actually able to finish the Book of Mormon! :) Wow! IT IS TRUE! I love being able to read it again and just get that convincing evidence that it is true!!!!!! Half way through the day... we got a message from the girl we saw on Monday and she said she wants to give the book back and she isn't interested in learning anymore. It was awful. That is the worst thing to hear ever. So the only thing we can think of is that the people she is living with right now said something to her about us... because she that lesson was incredible. She knows it is true. So that was Wednesday.

Thursday: We had a kind of slow day. We were able to teach another investigator that... well... I don't even know what to do with. She was a teacher at Harvard and so we have decided that when we try to teach her she thinks of us as college students and tries to teach us instead. She comes to church every week and everything!! She wants to be baptized... just having a hard time. So we talked to the ward and they are willing to have someone who is older meet with her and see if they could talk to her better... she listens really good in Sunday school so hopefully that will help! :)

Friday: Last minute, Sister Webb and I got asked to go to Liberty Island! :) So Sister Spencer stayed in Fardale on an exchange with another Sister and we went there! It was great! :) I just love talking to so many people! I am learning quite a lot of Spanish, French, and Portuguese! :) But that was all on that day!

Saturday: We finally worked!! ha! YAY! We were able to visit our Less Active family and talked to them about reading the Book of Mormon and they told us they know! They already made a goal of that last week! :) It was cool! :)  Also we saw another investigator who is progressing really well! He LOVES Learning so much... I just hope he understands that ours is the only true church! We also saw some other less actives later that night! :) It was a great day! Filled with lessons! Fulfilling our purpose!

Sunday: A great day at church! The investigator we taught on Saturday came to church which was great! :) He seemed to like it! There was a baptism of an 8 year old after and he even stayed for that!!! It was wonderful! We will follow-up with him later and see how he liked it! :) p.s. we sang at the baptism too!! SCARY! haha I’m slowly getting over my fear of this singing thing...

But that was our week! Pretty slow... but hopefully the sickness will be gone next week so that we will be able to work some more! :) Our group of three is working good. I was told last week that I am the senior comp so if there is a problem I need to fix it :/ I found some gluten free cookie dough this week…did I eat it all? No... I did share with my comps but I sure didn’t cook it! J I must have lost a few pounds somewhere because I am now up to gaining 4 lbs since getting here. I love you all sooo much and hope you have an amazing couple last weeks of summer! :) Christ lives!

Sister Dahl!

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 Service with a smile!

 The Fardale group

 A wall we found in Newark

The Church in Newark...a beautiful building!

My cookies!!!

 

I love what I am doing!

Well hello all! :) How are you??? Things are doing great over here in New Jersey! For some reason... it has been really cold over here lately... Rain rain rain. But all is well! The work still goes on! So here is my exciting week!

Tuesday: We were able to wake up in the morning and go and get our new companion at the mission home! So we drove down to Morristown and met her there. She is soo funny! Her name is Sister Spencer and she is from Elk Ridge, Utah. Got some more Utah pride! :) She served in Russia for 2 months before getting sick. So in total (with the time at the MTC learning Russian) she has served for 6 months and is here now to finish up the year she has left! She is really excited to be here and to work, which is great! It is fun to learn how she did things over in Russia... Even though we are all on the same team... there are some differences! So it's been fun figuring out how to work out something that will be best for all of us. So after that we were able to go over to district meeting and learn and grow there! :) Then we were able to come home and allow Sister Spencer time to get settled in and unpack. Then we had an appt with an investigator. He is the man that we randomly found one day but he is really excited to learn more about our religion. He is Catholic and it was a great lesson. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and finished 1 and 2 Nephi already! He told us that he knows that it is true. He knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and he knows Thomas S. Monson is one too! :) At the end of the restoration lesson we asked him to kneel and pray and ask if they are true and to pay attention to the feelings he receives. So he did! After we asked him how he felt and he said "I know it is true. I felt a tingly feeling throughout my whole body. I know that is the Spirit." It was so cool to hear those words come out of his mouth!!! Those words coming out of anyone’s mouth are amazing! Now we just have to help up understand how to act on those promptings! :)

Wednesday: This day unfortunately Sister Webb wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in most the day... but I sure got some good studying done! :) As much as I really don't like staying inside, I love studying! But I was glad that Sister Webb had the time to rest and feel better. That night we had a summer enrichment night at a members house that we were invited to go to! So our other investigator Cecilia wanted to go, of course, to make friends! :) So we went with her and another member and it was really fun to mingle with all the ladies of the ward. I really love all of them! They are like my "other" family! I couldn't imagine my life without having the opportunity to know them! Don’t worry! They take care of me! :)

Thursday: WALKING DAY! :) We were actually aloud to drive the car to go and have interviews with President! Which are always amazing!! President and Sister Jeppson are so close to the Spirit... I love them both! But we had great interviews with them then we were able to come back and plan for our upcoming week! After that it was our walking day and guess what it was doing??? RAINING! Of course! hahah sure glad I have a good umbrella! :) ha! But we walked to meet a member (who used to be less active but is now coming to church!) for dinner! She wanted to repay us for the time a while back when we helped her move! :) She is such a sweet lady! Then all we really had time for was walking back... and that was our day! ha!

Friday: These are always our busiest days! :) We love them so much! We were able to go and see so many people! 1 Less active family, 2 of our recent converts. And i don't know if I have told you or not, but we are reading Jesus The Christ with our recent converts... yeah they are amazing and are smarter than I am most of the time! It's amazing!!! But it's so fun because we read all during the week then we come together and talk about everything that we learned! It's amazing and I know that together, our testimony of Jesus Christ has all strengthened! :) Then we were able to see a family that is investigating as well. Our lesson with them consisted of us telling them our purpose with meeting with them and understanding their expectations with that. They said that they want to learn more! So we told them that will be great and we will be back next week to teach them about the Restoration! :) So that should be fun! :) Pray for them that they will be able to have and open mind and an open heart and accept our message!!!! After that, we were able to see Cecilia again at the church. She wanted us to pray with her because she is having some health issues. It's sad because she is the one who committed to being baptized however, her health is getting in the way of us teaching her. :( So we are just trying to take things slow with her. But that night at the church one of the little boys was able to be baptized!!! :) Awesome! She was able to watch how it is done and get a greater understanding of what goes on! So that was great! :)

Saturday! Was a great day!!! We woke up and did our studies and we had time to go and just find people. It was great because we were at someone’s home that is a less active and I know I told you a while back about Sue. We bumped into her and she said she was reading the Book of Mormon... well she is taking lessons from the Korean Elders here because she is Korean and she is understands a lot more from them.. She is getting baptized next week! :) Anyways... she told us that her son is coming in town the next day and she wants us to BAPTIZE HIM!!! She said he has too much freedom and he will be in town for 2 weeks and he needs "a baptism!!" hahah! Right? crazy? So we just said okay... we will come over tomorrow when he gets here and we will talk then... haha but we did find our less active and it turns out he is just going to the other ward with Sue! haha so then we had another meeting with our Catholic investigator about the Plan of Salvation and he really liked how it all sounded. He said that he didn't really believe what his church believed in about the Afterlife and stuff... so he was excited to hear about that! :) and he wants to keep meeting with us! Then we went to see Banana! She is great.... oh I just wish you could meet her! haha :)

Sunday! Wellll Yesterday was fast Sunday! :) Best day ever! After church and studies we were able to go and talk to Sue’s son. Now this was an interesting meeting. Sue pretty much set him up! We went over and he wasn't even home yet. In fact he was just flying in and so he came home to us sitting in his living room.... hahah his name is Huyn and he is a 19 year old kid. His moms just said now listen…enjoy! (The Korean Culture is different... hahah) so he just put his bags down and sat on the couch and said okay... So we just got to know him... he had lots and lots of questions and concerns but the Spirit was so strong there and it was able to help us answer all his questions! He seemed a little overwhelmed, as would I be too, so we are hopefully going back tomorrow to teach him again. His mom said she will keep him inside and we can come and teach him everything in the two weeks he is here... I don’t know how well this is going to go over... so just pray for us that all will work out and he will receive a witness that it is true! :)

But that is our week! :) It has been great! It is so amazing to be a part of soo many miracles each day! I love what I am doing. I love what I am learning. And I love my Father in Heaven and My Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to do all I can to help others stand clean before them both at the last day. That’s what this life is for! To perfect ourselves so we can say we did the best we could with the knowledge that we have! So I need to make sure all of New Jersey has the knowledge so they can do the best that they can! :) Well know that I love you all! Have a great week! :) Wish my brother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :)

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 Sister Spencer (our new comp), Sister Webb, Sister Dahl

Our Church Building