November 24 2015

So much has happened this week! There is this little old guy that we teach named Cesar. He’s so happy and is always laughing with us and making jokes haha. Anyway, this week he decided to be baptized and asked me to do it. Cesar uses a wheel chair so it was kind of difficult to baptize him. It ended up working out better when my companion got in the water with us and we both baptized him. The coolest thing was to see him in his white clothes before his baptism praying in front of the font. He was so grateful that he had met us and that God had answered his prayers with the message that we brought him. The coolest is when people call us the angels. Even the gangsters here in Lima always call us the angels haha. I’m grateful that in some way or another I could help Cesar be happy.

This week was also my companion’s birthday! Here there is a tradition where they just smash eggs all over your head and then dump flour on you haha. Luckily they didn’t do it to me in April haha but I’m sure they will for my birthday that’s coming up. Anyway, we dumped eggs and flour all over him. I’m going to put some pictures in here a little later.

We also were able to go to the temple with a couple that got sealed! That was awesome. I had never seen a temple sealing before but wow it’s amazing. It made me really appreciate my parents and what they’ve done so that we can be together :)

During this thanksgiving season I’m especially grateful for these last 14 months that god has given me to be able to be here Lima meeting amazing people and learning so much. I’m grateful for my family. I’m grateful for the authority of God that’s been restored to the earth. And for the blessing that I have to know who I am and why I’m here. I love this gospel and I know that there isn’t anything else that can make us so happy :) Well I’m running out of time but I’m going to send a cool video home this week.

I love you guys! Thanks for all your letters and support. You guys really are the best.

Love Elder Dahlin

This is what happens when you play volleyball for ´just a sec´

Eggs and flour! haha

Here's the view from the roof of my house!

November 16 2015

Well I got transferred! It’s weird cause I have 14 months in the mission and this is only my 3rd ward that I’ve been in. But I feel that I’ve been able to help people in the wards that I’ve been in and more importantly learn from the amazing people that I have met. It’s kind of hard getting transferred because we have to leave behind all the people that become like our families here. But I’ll always remember them!

So my first week in this new sector we were walking down the street on our way to an appointment. We were looking for people to contact and all the sudden a door comes flying open and a little boy runs out into the streets to greet us. It kind of scared us and we were kind of confused. His mom walked outside and saw us and just started crying. We spoke with them and the sister explained to us that she is a member of the church and that she hadn’t been going for years. She told us that her son had been sick for weeks throwing up. The sister didn’t have any money to go to the doctor so her son had just been lying in bed sick for days. She was praying for help when all the sudden her son sits up in bed and runs outside and finds us. We gladly gave him a blessing and her and her son both went to church this Sunday. Me and my companion were both shocked at how perfect God’s plan is and how obvious it is that we are just instruments here in God’s hands. And it’s so true. The only reason I’m here is to help my brothers and sisters that are here that don’t know about the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we have prophets and apostoles and the authority of God here on the earth today. It really is a blessing to be here helping people :)

So far I like my new sector! There are lots of people to teach and we are already seeing some people that will be baptized soon! I’m going to be the English teacher here in this zone again so that will be fun to help the other elders!

I’m putting up some of the pictures from the last few weeks!

Thanks for all your support and love. Keep praying for us please :)

Elder Dahlin

                                                                 My old sector!

My new companion Elder Navarro. He's from Cochabomba Bolivia and has 10 months in the mission. One of the funniest guys you'll ever meet haha, I'm excited to work with him.

At soccer we played futbol with a whole bunch of socks wrapped up in tape cause our ball popped haha.

My first 2 companions here in the mission!! They're both finishing in Deciembre

Mi despedida en mi ultimo barrio. Ustedes son lo maximo en serio. Lo siento si no pude despedirme de algunos de ustedes. Gracias por todo lo que me han enseñado y siempre recordare a todos ustedes. Estaremos en contacto :)

November 2 2015

Hey guys!

So tomorrow there is a chance that I’ll be transferred. I have been here for 5 transfers, or 7 and a half months. So it’s pretty likely. All I know is that I LOVE this ward and the people that I have met and my companions. There are seriously so many opportunities to share the gospel and help the people here. I’m not positive if I’ll get transferred but I will let you all know :)

Wow so this week we had some surprises! I’ll try to tell the story quickly because I’m running out of time. So there is a family that we have been teaching. Their dad is a member. In July we baptized the daughter, Alison. And then a few weeks ago we baptized Berita. Anyway, Berita has a sister named Keila. Her mom recently passed away and so she came here to live in Lima with her sister and that’s when we met her. I think it was perfect because the day after her mom died, we met her and we were able to teach her that families are forever. She was so interested in the message and was baptized yesterday. But her cousin, Estefany, also lives there and she always listened to the missionaries before but never decided to be baptized. Finally when her cousin, Keila, decided to come here, she decided to be baptized too. But she has a little brother! His name is Brandon. He always listened to the missionaries before but never wanted to get baptized either. He would always run away when we asked him questions and we were never able to really teach him. Until Keila got here! He decided that he wanted to be baptized too. So yesterday we had a super baptism with the 3 of them. I think that yesterday it became even more clear to me that we are here so that families can be happy. Looking at them dressed in white made me so happy. A happiness that I think only a missionary can understand haha.  I’m happy that they can work towards going to the temple and find more happiness there. 

Well, having supportive friends and family sure does make this work easier. I love you guys and thank you for supporting me and always writing to me. I know that the time we have here on this earth is so important. And being here teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ has really made me realize what’s most important. The Gospel and families. With these 2 things we can live with God again, and for me that’s the ultimate goal :) Sorry this is pretty short but I hope you have a good week!

Love Elder Dahlin

I can't explain how much I love this place

Me and my compy!