March 30 2015

Familia y Amigos,

Before I say anything I want to wish my sister Angela a happy birthday :) Ang I’m so grateful for you and for your example. I hope you have an awesome birthday! If you want anything cool from Peru for your birthday let me know, I know I’m your favorite brother and all. It’s the least I could do :)

I can’t describe how excited I am for conference! To know that we have a living prophet here on the earth is so amazing. It’s going to be weird to listen to it in Spanish, but I’m sure it will be okay. I hope you all are as stoked as I am for it. We have the opportunity to listen to a prophet of God. How awesome is that? I know for a fact that Thomas S Monson is called of God and also that the 12 apostles are also called of God.

Time is seriously flying. It’s already Easter! Thinking about Easter, I really start to reflect on how perfect Jesus was. He NEVER had an impure thought. He never did anything bad or harmed or offended anyone. The fact that He was able to take BILLIONS and billions and billions of peoples sins away really shows me how pure and clean He was. I’m truly grateful for His sacrifice. When Mary went to the tomb to find Jesus, and the messenger asked her, ´por que busca entre los muertos al que vive? Nop esta aque, sino que ha resucitado´. o en ingles. Why do you seek among the dead he who lives? He’s not here. But He’s risen... this news was probably the biggest news that mankind has ever seen. ¨He has risen¨. This time of year it’s so important to remember Him. I know that the third day He rose from the dead. And gracias a que el vive, we too can resucitar. There’s a super cool video from the church, I’ll put a link to it on here. It’s a video about Easter!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIHWSnkEXX4

Well, this week we have seen how Satan can really work to distract the people. Jhonny was going to get baptized. But this week he lost his job, fell down the stairs, got kicked out of his house, and some other personal things. He said he wasn’t ready for baptism and that maybe another time. Satan is always trying to lead us away especially when we’re about to do something good. Whether it’s getting baptized or going on the mission. He doesn’t want us to be happy. But one thing that I’ve learned is that we have so much more power over Satan than he has over us. Through prayer and scripture study, we can build a relationship with Heavenly Father. And then we can have His help to destroy the temptations that we get.

I know that Christ lives. I know that through His sacrifice we can be clean. I can’t imagine the pain that He felt, and I never will be able to imagine it, but I know that because He loves us so much, He bore the weight of the world so that we can live.

Thanks for all the support and prayers! Be safe and have a happy Easter :)

Ps. here are some pictures that I took this week. Enrique is such a stud. I’m stoked for him and his family. A super rad sun burn that I got. And believe it or not, a homemade cookie. That’s right. Baker Bobby strikes again.

March 23 2015

Wow what a week!

I’ve been praying for opportunities to use the priesthood, and this week we were blessed to have the opportunity to give 3 blessings of health and 4 of comfort. Wow the priesthood is real. Each time I give a blessing, I can just feel the spirit so strong. Not only that, but the love that Heavenly father has for each one of his children. When I feel this spirit and this love, my testimony of Josè Smith is strengthened too. Because through him the priesthood fue restaurado.

Well, our investigator Enrique Zuñiga is getting baptized this week! Our zone leaders talked to us for a super long time and we set goals and really prayed about his baptism. Tomorrow at 7 pm Lima time, al agua se va. It’s so exciting to see how happy he is to finally be baptized after waiting all this time for his marriage and everything. I love seeing this happiness. I know it’s the Holy Ghost.

Also, Jhonny will also be baptized on Saturday!! He’s super ready too. After giving him a blessing and resolving some doubts, he’s so ready for the water. Saturday will be his baptism and he’s also super excited and ready.

We’ve been praying for more people to teach. And a few weeks ago I think I shared a story about a hermana that talked to us in the street and asked where she could go to church. Any way, we were teaching her the other day and I had the feeling to invite her to baptism with a date. El 11 de Abril. She accepted, and then turned to her daughter and invited her to baptism el 11 de abril also haha. She’s already doing missionary work!! They’re awesome and I’ll definitely keep you all posted on their progress.

Well I had media hora less time this week so I am gonna have to stop here. But next week I’ll send some pictures and let you know how the baptisms went!!

Thanks for all the support and prayers. And also keep praying for me and the sector.

Love you all!

Love Elder Dahlin

Ps. I continue the Book of Mormon counting the names of Christ, right now I’m in Alma 37, and I’ve counted 2,683. It really is incredible.

March 16 2015

Aloha!!

Wow this week has been so busy. Last week I think I sent a picture of a super full page of my agenda, but it turns out that it was nothing special haha because every day of this week has been like that. It’s really cool though. We usually have like 6 7 or 8 appointments every day. So we are teaching so many people and learning so much about how we can teach and help the people here. Even though we run to some appointments, I’d much rather have this than nothing. Because when there were 4 elders in the ward, I’ve had days where we have 1 appointment and nothing else. It’s not as fun haha.

Wow something crazy happened this week. We are teaching this guy named Jhonny. I think I talked about him a few weeks ago. Anyway, he had a baptismal date but it fell because he didn’t go to church. So last week he calls us and he’s like hey guys I just need some time. I’m having bad dreams and I can’t sleep. I think it’s because we have been having these appointments. So I’m going to take some time okay? We told him that we just want to meet with him one more time and then after that we won’t visit him anymore ;)

Haha so we get there and were just talking about the things that he’s experiencing. He was super worried and scared. I could just see how stressed he was. We ended up teaching about the priesthood that night and after the lesson we asked him how he felt. He said that he still didn’t know and then told us again that when he’s ready he’s going to call us. My companion and I just looked at each other and we were both thinking that we could give him a blessing. I told him that we can give blessings like Jesus did when he was on the earth and he was like okay yes!! Super excited. He chose me to give him the blessing so I did.. Wow. I have no idea what I said but right when I put my hands on his head to give him the blessing of comfort and strength, the whole room went quiet and all the noise outside stopped. The room was just full of the spirit and I could totally feel it all up and down my body haha. Well I don’t know what I said, but as soon as the blessing was over, he stood up, gave me a huge hug, and asked when we could come visit him again. He felt the spirit that night! And I’m pretty sure that we all did. His date is now the 28th of this month. It’s so amazing to see how we can bless the lives of others through the priesthood. Dang the church is SO true.

Also something else really cool that happened. There is a lady that we are teaching. Her name is Carmen Martinez. We went to her house last week to teach her but her power was out. It was getting late so it was kind of dark in there but it was still light enough to read. Anyway, we were teaching and at the end as I was testifying of God’s love for her, I realized that I couldn’t see her face. She was sitting in front of a window facing me and there was a light behind her. So I couldn’t see her face, I just could see her silhouette. I didn’t think much of it then. But this can be compared to Gods love for each of us. God loves each one of us so much. And as I was sitting there testifying to this silhouette that God loves her, it made me realize that he loves us all equally. I don’t know if this makes any sense haha but I hope you can understand. I love this work. Each week I learn more and more.

Well that’s all the time I got folks. I hope you are all doing well.

Oh yeah!! Thanks so much Hermana Bergeson and Hermana Loayza for helping getting my shoes to me. You guys are the best! Not to mention my parents for sending them! Thank you.

Right now in el Libro de Mormon, I’m starting Alma. I’m in Alma 9 and it’s said the name of Jesus 2,109 times.

I love you guys! Thanks for the support and prayers!!

Love Elder Dahlin

March 9 2015

Aloha!

Today I complete 6 months in the mission. WHAT?! 6 months. The fastest and most important 6 months of my life. I’ve learned so much. But more than anything I think I’ve learned about love. This work is all about love. We’re here to help the people learn of this same love that we’ve discovered. There is seriously nothing like this work. I know people always say that but seriously there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. I can’t believe 6 months have gone by.

So last week I failed to announce that I’m staying in Magdalena, my sector. My companion got transferred and I received Elder Galindo. He’s from Texas and has a year in the mission. He’s also district leader!

So we received some homework from our mission president. We were told to read the Book of Mormon from beginning and every time it says Christ, or Savior, or son of God, or just any name of Christ, we mark it. And then we count them! I was so surprised. I’m in Mosiah 4, only like 180 pages in in the Spanish version, and you know how many times I’ve marked the name of Christ? Wait for it, wait for it.. 1,527.

This book only testifies of Him, His teachings, and His sacrifice. I knew that it talked about Christ but seriously. It says his name thousands of times throughout the book.

This week, me and my companion had the opportunity to go to a house and give two babies priesthood blessings. We also blessed the home. The babies had both fallen out of their cribs and their faces were pretty bruised and they were in pain. As I gave one of them a blessing, all I felt was love. Goosebumps all up and down my body. I just felt peace, and the purity of this baby. We should all try to become like children, like it says in the scriptures. Humble, caring, loving. I could just feel the love that Heavenly Father had for this baby, and I know that He loves each of us equally. We just gotta pray, study the scriptures, and go to church so that we can see this love for ourselves!

Well, I continue to love it here in Peru. Tonight I’m going to burn a tie so next week you can all expect to see a picture or video! Thanks for all the Support and prayers that you all send my way! Remember. That each of you are a child of God. And He loves you so much more than we can imagine. It’s infinite.

Have a good week! And remember that if you want to send me a letter, my address should be on my Facebook and my Instagram!!

Love you all!

Love Elder Dahlin

Ps. this week we went to an amusement park. Our president gave us special permission haha. I almost got puked on by another missionary! But that’s a story for next week. Also, here’s what a full agenda looks like!! 8 appointments in one day. Let’s just say we were running from house to house.

I think there is a video of me and my companion haha.

March 2 2015

Aloha from Lima Peru!

Surprise!! Me quedo!! I stayed in this area. At the end of this transfer I’ll have 6 months in this area. Speaking of 6 months... Next week I’ll have 6 months in the mission! Wow. So fast. Too fast. I love this too much. It’s like I’m eating the most delicious ice cream I’ve ever tried in my life and I’ve already eaten half of the bowl. I have no idea where the time is going but I’m making the best of it.

Really quick before I say anything else, shout out to Hermana Brynn Bergeson!! Peru is here waiting for you, and miracles are waiting to happen. Get ready for the time of your life. The mission is the best. It’s indescribable.

Speaking of it being indescribable, this week we were visiting una hermana. Se llama Hermana Zubiate. She’s menos activa. We were visiting her and all of the sudden she was like èlderes, what do you guys have?` we were super surprised. But she was super consistent and wanted an answer. What do you have elderes? I can see something inside of you and I want to know what it is. What do you have? We tried explaining that we probably have brought the spirit into her home as missionaries but that wasn’t enough for her. So I decided to tell her some of the most powerful words that I’ve probably heard since being on the mission. It’s something that they teach you in the first week in the mission field and it’s the missionary commission. In English I’m not sure exactly if this will be correct. But I’m gonna try. Something along the lines of this. 

I am called of God.

My authority is above that of ALL of the kingdoms of the earth.

By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is my teacher.

And He has chosen me as His humble servant,

to put me in His place,

to say and do what He would say and do if He was personally ministering to the people that He has sent me to.

My voice is His voice, 

my acts are His acts, 

my words are His words, 

and my doctrine is His doctrine.

My commission is to do what He has done, say what He has said,

To be a witness of His word in His great and marvelous work in these latter days.

HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING.

I told her these words and she was speechless. It was an answer to her prayers and it’s so true. We bring something as missionaries. Something that the people can feel but don’t always know what it is. 

It’s the missionary mantel. The authority and power that we have as missionaries. We are LITERALLY representing the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. It’s more than we can imagine I think.

I love this work. I love the things that I’m learning. 

Well, this week one of the families that we are teaching is getting married! And you wanna hear about a miracle? They didn’t have enough money for the wedding rings and so they were sad and not very excited. But it turns out that someone that is in a different ward all the way across Lima heard about their wedding somehow and donated the wedding rings. They’re in my backpack right now. 

Amigos and familias, miracles exist. It’s a miracle to be in this work and to be speaking all day every day in a new language I knew almost nothing about 1 year ago.

The gospel is true. Heavenly Father loves us and we can see the miracles and the love that He has in store for us when we have faith and do what we know is right. I know it’s true. And I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thanks for all the prayers and support! 

A lot of people are asking me about sending letters so I’ll just write in here. The mail people are working again! Haha so please send letters :) just send them to the mission offices. The address should be on my Facebook and Instagram. And it should get to me in 6 weeks.

Address:

Elder Daniel Spencer Dahlin

Peru Lima Central Mission

Ave Jorge Basadre 592, Oficina 604-B

Edifico Torre Azul

San Isidro 27

PERU

Thanks for everything! I’ll update you all on the wedding next week!

Here are some pictures of some foods here. Some that I like and then one nasty one. It was a liver sandwich. mmm... hahah! Have a good week!

Also, there’s a picture of what happens when the members love you and feed you like 3 plates full of food. Enjoy!