Season 3 Episode 4: The One Where I Finally Get My New Phone

Hello all! This week was probably as productive as and eventful as last week, not gonna lie. But Christmas was this last week, and then new year's is tomorrow! 

But Christmas was way good. Its definitely way different and kinda sad, but I mean, you got to remember that my last Christmas was in the MTC so that and that I was training, all that we where advised was to not knock. So christmas day we opened presents, had brunch at the James's (who made an incredible breakfast) and hooked elder Rougeau and I up with a couple small nerf guns! We then did our studies and then spent the night at the fox's! And they are a wonderful family too! On christmas eve we swung by them because they had a goodie gift for us and then in our discussion, invited us for dinner (which also was incredible). 

The members here are all just so great. And there is a lot of work to be done. Plus, now that the holidays are just about over, things will get moving again haha. But then over the course of the next few days my phone was supposed to come on the next working day, which apparently isn't boxing day. Or the day after. And then of course there is no post on sundays. So I finally got my replacement yesterday. Yeet.  So things are back in working order! 

But also over the course of this last week we did quite a bit of service! And that's always so good especially because it's greatly appreciated at this time of year. It's always so sweet. 

We also had a handful of lessons with John and he's still doing well! 

Not a whole lot else. But lots of good food. Lots of good people. Lots of good experiences. 

Ps tried beats for the first time they are super good! They also turned my pee red and poop a questionable color. So that was neat.

Sorry to take away from the spirit a little there, but I love and miss all y'all. Thanks for all your christmas wishes and prayers! Also tried Baniya cotta it's a anchovie butter cabbage dip it's solid!

Also still no pictures, but I just took one! 

Merry christmas and happy new year! 

I guess as a reflection on this last year, ill share a few thoughts and events! But to start, I've learned so much! As well as accomplished so much. I've learned just how much the Book of Mormon can help someone, as well as how much satan's influence is in the world. There are also so many awesome people that live in this world and I'm so glad that I could meet the people I did at this time. I love the people that I have meet and can't wait to meet them again someday. I've learned that the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly true. There is no way that Joseph Smith could pull out the story and wisdom that is contained in that glorious book. And I am always astonished at the things I continue to learn from it and what others have learned. It's so cool. I know that because the Book of Mormon is true, that Jesus Christ did actually come and perform the Atonement so that I can live with my Heavenly Father and my family for ever. But this can only be done in one of His temples. This knowledge has power and peace. Its just so cool to not worried about what happens when someone dies. So much more than this but no time haha

Elder Dahl 2.0
Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
Canada

Season 3 Episode 3: Merry Christmas!

This will be a little shorter because time is kinda running out over here haha.

but this last week we did a lot of service for Feed Nova Scotia. so we sorted onions, squash, moved boxes, bagged potatoes, a lot of stuff and got to know a couple more members while doing that! 

we also had a handful of member visits and got to know a few more, but that did stop us from asking a handful of people at the Sunday service, who wasn't a member haha. which turns out were quite a few! The people we did talk to said they enjoyed it so hopefully we'll see them again haha

but Merry Christmas eve and Merry Christmas! there are some awesome members feeding us and having us over for these holidays, so no need to worry then! all is well so far in Sackville! Training is fun and has its challenges, but missionary work is great so it doesn't even matter! 

Thank you all for your wonderful support, love and prayers. be sure to be saying your prayers, as well as reading your scriptures! there's no better time than during this season!

Love you all!

Season 3 Episode 2: The Storm is Almost Over

The waves are a little less scary now! we have gotten a handle on the S.S. lower Sackville. and we are holding her steady!

This week has been a bunch of member visits, tedious things, and a couple teaching appointments!  and the highlights are that with John, we started to clear concerns! the way that we are teaching him is giving him homework (a lists of questions that can be answered by finding verses during reading) and we had him read lehi's dream, and from this lesson, he started bringing up concerns that he had about life, and a few other things and its been awesome clearing them up.

also in the way of teaching, we finally met Shannon! she is a sweet lady! she broke her leg and so we help her by walking her dog, and eventually when she's all settled, she wants to learn more!

then in way of events, we have done quite a bit of service! we sorted onions, carted food boxes to people, set up food boxes, etc. and its way fun! we will also (whenever it decides to snow (yeah like its been heck'n nice this last week, windy, but nice)) shovel walks for a couple ladies in the ward and whoever else needs it.

we also had Zone Conference and now this was a joyous meeting. 

Now the joy of Elder Dahl was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth. (not really but close) Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness. Now the joy of Elder Dahl in meeting his brethren was truly great, and also the joy of Elder Scott, of Elder Gronneman, and others; but behold their joy was not that to exceed their strength.

I think that sums up zone conference. It was awesome. especially to see and talk with Elder Scott again. and when we met with his zone (Newfoundland) many of the missionaries where like "oh! this is Elder Dahl you were elder Scotts companion in presque isle!" so it seems that the Fame of Maine has reached Newfoundland haha. but yeah! zone conference was awesome. there was a gift exchange, and i'll just say i got the short end haha i got some candy a few stickers and a spiderman figurine in a stocking, and i ended up with a thrift store coat liner. but thats the way it goes sometimes haha. there were some crazy gifts. one of which was a twirking santa robot and that was legit. (a senoir couple ended up with it haha)

the last highlight of the week was that Elder Ruegeau and i will being teaching english connect! and that's going to be lit!

still don't have my phone yet, so no pictures :(

but I love you all and hope this letter find you well!

remember to read and pray!

Elder Dahl

Lower Sackville Nova Scotia,

Canada

Season 3 Episode 1: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Oh boy. Aside from the baptisms I was able to participate in, this week was probably the most stressful and spooky.

so ill get that out of the way before i go into the cool things that happened!

so we had to ask for our transfer plans, the aps thought it would be cool to put all the plans on a google spreadsheet (which no one could find for a couple hours) where we learned that we had to be at Moncton at 9 (its a 4 hour drive, plus canadian time is an hour ahead) so in short, we were very late. then backing up a bit, i forgot to mention last week that i broke my phone and ordered a new one and the expected delivery changed from the 6th to the 5th (the day of transfers) to the 4th, then a snow storm hit so it was moved back to the 5th, and then after many prayers asking for a miracle that my new phone would be here was fulfilled! it arrived on the 4th. But i wasn't there to receive it and they didn't leave it on the door. (spiritual message: miracles happen, but sometimes you're not there to see them.) so driving down to moncton (fortunately i was able to pack all my stuff after getting another suitcase (20$) from Mardens (thank you Mardens)) was good! 

we made it just before 10:30 to learn that 2 other elders would be joining and they were also running late. so while we waited for them. we took a look at the aps travel plans and found that a lot of them wouldn't work. so we spent the next few hours making our own. We ended up going to bed around 12:30. And there was a handful of Elders that left around 3 or 4 in the morning so that was fun-ish. then came the stress inducing bus ride of 5 hours flying solo. so that was a trip. then after waiting for a few minutes some of the Dartmouth elders picked me up and I got to meet my greenie Elder Rougeau! a nice guy from the outskirts of Alberta! so we got dropped off at our apartment. and mine eyes have never beheld an apartment more beautiful than that apartment . The mission calls it the mission penthouse. And I'll leave it at that. ill send pictures as soon as I get my phone haha. 

so after settling for a little bit we were lucky enough to have a dinner appointment with a wonder family named the Mclennons (maybe butchered the spelling) and one of their sons Looks and acts exactly like my younger brother Jack. he's like the canadain equivalent. It's spooky. so that was Thursday. the Friday we had some service at a food pantry that the sisters volunteered at so we did that in the morning. then we did our studies (which is fun because Elder Rougeau is just wanting to go out and do missionary work (kinda like me when I was being trained which is super great) and so after having another dinner appointment with the Galley family, we went out and knocked on some doors! and I was surprised! I didn't think I get to meet another crazy roman catholic.  he had the exact same approach as the other lady from Truro. I was catching some heavy deja vu. the phrase he repeated was "are you serious" and for a second I thought he wasn't serious then he said, "so you're going to preach to me about Jesus" then he called out Elder Rougeau. so id say thats a good intro to missionary work haha.

Saturday was sweet! we had a lesson with one of the sisters people they were teaching named John and he is super cool! the odd thing is that he's been taught by sisters for a year and a half, and he had been to church every week (i think) and so the sisters told us of a method that helps him learn so we used that same method for a lesson yesterday. there is also a steller lady named shannon that we have yet to meet, but on the phone she sounds like the sweetest lady. like if there was a southern black lady that is white in canada, that would be her. We have yet to meet her but im super excited to!

one last cool miracle! on Sunday we were able to speak in church because one of the original speakers couldn't make it, so we had a great time there, we also had dinner with another amazing family named the Johnsons and had a great time with them, but here is where the miracle is; we wanted to visit a few other member families out there and for whatever reason, we kept missing the turn (we are both kinda dyslexic) and so after missing it for the 3rd time we just turned into a random neighborhood and started knocking and ran into an amazing couple. (granted we had a few interesting encounters too) and we started talking with the wife first about the time of year and Jesus Christ. and told her about the Book of Mormon. we asked her about it and she had no idea, so I started using the illustrations, and at that point, the husband came to the door and asked if we wanted to come inside, and we said yes so we ended us teaching the restoration. they thought it was a cool story and accepted a Book of Mormon, and as we got to know them before, they dont drink a lot and dont seem to smoke either. #drymember. they told us to come back after the holidays! and what is especially cool about them is that they told us that if they weren't going to see family on christmas that we would be free to come to their home!  #drymember 

Anyways, no pictures this week, when I have my phone there will be some! Love you all and hope that your week will be less stressful that this last week! remember to read and pray! this is your kickstart to the newest season, The Thrill of Sackville!

Season 2 Episode 36: The End of an Era

Its official folks. The Fame of Maine has reached its end, and many new adventures await in Sackville Nova Scotia! in the which, a brand new character enters the scene. Elder Rougeal (i think that's how it is written it sounds like rue-go) and he entered the field yesterday night! so your host, Elder Dahl, is training! we are not yet serving together, but we'll meet probably on Thursday. so yes a whitewash it's going to be lit.

That's pretty much the highlight and the reason for a little bit of sadness. I really don't want to leave, but I know that ill love others where i'm going just as much as I love the people here...maybe...haha. im happy for the change, and sad to leave good friends, pretty much family, and start a new! 

But this last week we had thanksgiving and we went to the himes! we had a fun time and they had a smaller foosball table, but that didn't stop me from winning haha. still undefeated *dabs. but the morning of thanksgiving we got with alex, Bro white, kohlbacher, and a few others 2 of which weren't members and had a 5 v 5 tag football game in 6 inches of snow. we ended up beating them 6-5 and this was the first time in 5 years, that the adults have lost. so yeet. 

Sunday was kinda sad. I gave a testimony and thanks for all the awesome people in this ward and only cried a little. then over the course of the next few days we visited with madison alex, brother alloise, and the whites. they gave me another awesome tie and they signed it. I love them so much they are just so awesome. im going to miss them, the markers, the Bothas, pretty much everyone so much.

Yesterday we had some trainer/leadership zoom meetings with president and sister low + aps and we got taught how to train in the best ways and got some solid tips and advice. so that made me way excited. kinda spooked to whitewash, but once the first week passes it will be a breeze.

Thank you all for tuning into this wonderful spirit filled season of The Fame of Maine. so many amazing experiences and even more wonderful people ive met and loved. I hope that by reading these your spirits are lifted because mine certainly are. im excited to see what trials and tests come from training in a new area with a new missionary. 

Love you all! remember to read and pray! and I'll see you all in Season 3!

Elder Dahl

Presque Isle Maine, 

United States of America 

Season 2 Episode 35: Broken key, broken heater, more snow, and Madison's Baptism!

Another crazy fun sequence of things not working out, but working out! also interviews for us are tomorrow, so p-Day is today for us!

So to start it off, on wednesday we had exchanges with Elder Johnson and Gutierrez, they were able to travel here safely despite the storm that came in tuesday haha. they did end up pulling in late afternoon, so elder Gutierrez and I delivered some family history and then went to the bible study we went to last time and had a pretty good discussion on "treasure" and it was a great discussion. everyone in this bible group is so elect, they don't really go to another church because they are trying to start one. their beliefs are so close to ours and it would take a whole lot to get them thinking about coming out to the True one haha. what I enjoyed about the study, was that really hit home with treasure in heaven and the parable of the pearl of great price and the treasure in the field. they played a video about how we really have to abandon pretty much everything to have the gift of living with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. the video uses kinda apostate examples, but the idea behind it was super good haha. after that, Elder Gutierrez and I visited Brother Alliose, and headed home! while we were doing that, Elder Johnson and Atkins went to mutual and elder Johnson interviewed madison and she passed!

the next day Elder Johnson and I did service at the Food Pantry which is always fun and then our studies and by then it was time for district council! the zone leaders joined us in the promised land and gave a training on beginning with the end in mind, and it's a solid topic to even talk on! many times missionaries (myself included) teach the people that we are teaching that baptism is the Goal (and convey that its the only goal) when in reality, baptism is only the start! and the temple, and living the gospel is the final goal. the sister training leaders also added that if we love and are enthusiastic about the gospel and show that we really love it (they had Elder gutierrez describe his favourite food, and as a mexican, he took his time describing how good tacos are) and connected that to how we need to tell others about the gospel in that way and especially about the temple! so that was GR8.

Friday was a crazy day. the baptism was in the afternoon at 7, so what we did was we got to the church a little earlier to make sure that the font would run warm water, and to our great astonishment, the water heater had not been repaired... so that was another cold baptism i think the temperature ended up being like 50 degrees (f) so yeah. but backing up a little, the church key also broke so we had to go get another one from a member that lives in washburn and then on the way took a wrong turn, and at this point, I was getting a little frustrated haha but then, it all worked out, because that's how the gospel works, the baptismal service was amazing, frustrations pretty much gone. before the service started brother johnson (performed the baptism) told madison that the water was going to be like a cold pool, and then when madison started walking in, she said "this is colder than a cold pool!" and that was pretty funny not gonna lie. but hey, she'll remember!

Saturday was good! we visited with madison about how she was feeling and about what would go on on Sunday and she was excited! what made it better, is that her dad was able to make it! (he has tried to get Sundays off but was unable to so he requested some vacation hours to  make it) Brother Gerhauser gave the blessing and confirmed her and it's so special to be a part of this wonderful restored ordinance. its super awesome. Comfort peace and joy.

Also during district council, I got convinced im leaving. The sister training leaders, and the zone leaders sent word to the mission president so the Fame of Maine will have only one episode left. 36 episodes is not bad haha.

Also, just last night, we got 6 more inches of snow ;)

Tune in next time for the Grand Finale of The Fame Of Maine. this is your Host, Elder Dahl saying love you lots, remember to read and pray, and have a great day!

Elder Dahl 

Presque Isle, Maine 

United States of America 

Season 2 Episode 34: Zone Conference with a side of freezing rain

What a week this was, eventful and not eventful at the same time.

but to start off, the lesson we had with Cole and Andrew was great and the 3rd guy is named Chase! so that lesson was amazing. we taught the restoration and invited all of them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! they all accepted and now they all have a copy of the Book of Mormon as well! it's so great because here are 3 guys all looking for something and where invited by a friend to learn about it. this is exactly what member work does and it's so easy! just invite! and if they say no that doesn't mean to stop trying. (I guess in our case we didn't even ask cole to invite people, but he knows people who can benefit from it so it's pretty much the same thing haha) plus it makes it that much more fun when we are all the same age-ish and we know what they need and what can help them! it just makes me so happy because we all need it and the fact that they dont know and we do, its just a goofy feeling its like:  *fluctuates voice "I know you want to know what I know, but you have to wait because if we tell you now, it will go over your head"

then wednesday came around and the more part of the day was driving down to moncton. we visited with Brother aloise and contacted a few people and then went on our way! during our time at the moncton inn (the moncton elders apt.) we were joined by ramushki, holton, moncton and us and it was a pretty solid party. in which afterwards, elder atkins was talking with Elder Tait and they talked about me (becuase im the talk of the century, but also to see if I was going to stay another transfer in the Fame of Maine) and in the discussion the zone leaders brought me up to president low and in essence, sounds like im out of here at the end of the transfer haha but hey, it's been a good run and will keep being a good run until I leave, then this place will probably fall apart... na, just kidding, this place will always run.

Thursday we had our zone conference and it was super great. Elder Bassett of the 70 came and talked a lot about factors of mission life such as sacrifice, our calling as missionaries and the power we truly have it was amazing. then after we drove the 4 hours back and arrived just in time to eat a little something and then headed to basketball where we were joined by cole and brother himes, I played 2 games and won one of them (yeet)

Fridays highlight was the Bothas, they are a super family and want to get back into the church so our meeting was just us listening to the crazy things that happened to them, and then yesterday (monday)  we caught them all up on the changes in the church. he also showed us his crazy train system and man cave. its legit (see pics) also on monday we went to see the sharps they are doing great the rest of her family could be doing better, but there all ok. snow can be slippery sometimes. 

Saturday we were able to help out with vanders baptism! (one of the white's kiddos) brother white asked us to fill the font for them and me being a seasoned veteran at filling fonts accepted so we got there at 9 or so and the baptism was at noon and I did everything I needed to make sure the font was warm, and then after about 45 minutes, found that the water heater was broken. yeet.

so that was memorable for brother white and vander. 

Sunday was great! Madison and cole came again and loved it we had dinner at the himes and watched the face 2 face with them. and man i wish i was a youth. hook me up with one of those rings wouldja? 

but that was some of this week! hope you've enjoyed! love you all lots! remember to read and pray. Stay warm! This morning our car was coated in a layer of ice so yeet x2 

https://youtu.be/sjFVLAFo0ow Trains

https://youtu.be/vW5wiIZXpcM Eating a KitKat

Season 2 Episode 33: Elder Dahl vs the first and second snow

Not to one up or anything...

This week was absolutely fantastic. Cole is literally the best. But before I go there, I'll back up a little to the start of this week! 

Almost everyday we have taught Madison so that she can be ready for her baptism, but unfortunately we fell short and it will be moved to the 22nd. She is doing nothing wrong, she just needs to be taught the rest, plus it works out on our end because we will have exchanges next week here in presque isle, and our district leader will come down and do her interview then! 

We also have been visiting with our homie brother alliose and ended up helping make a beef stew for dinner on Saturday! 

Wednesday we had our district council and on the way back elder atkins was craving some cheetos (which he usually doesnt) and we ended up talking to a guy named Matthew and is open to meet with us! 

Fast forward to Thursday where we had a sweet lesson with cole! And as we were walking in his door we met andrew one of his buddies who he's been talking to about the church and us and he invited him to our lessons/discussions! So we taught them both the gospel of Jesus Christ and asked cole about baptism and hes for it but not quite haha. So after that lesson we were pretty shook that he brought a friend and we where having the time of our life talking about the lesson on the drive back!

Then Friday was pretty sweet to! We visited with brother stiggle and invited him out to the primary program on Sunday (he didnt make it :() and then helped sort fish at the micmac farm! So we where scooping huge fish left and right and catching smaller ones and sorting them! It was a solid time haha. Then after we had to run to the church to message a few people and towards the end we where running out of time and rushed out of the church so quick, that elder atkins left the keys in the church...again... so we called a few people and eventually got back in to get them. So we went to the bothas smelling a bit like fish, but fortunately we had fish and chips! (Probably the beat fish and chips I've ever had) 

Saturday we got into some good contact with kameron and invited him to church and he came! (Hes a young guy who hangs with the bishops family and his mom is less active) 

Sunday came around and Madison and kameron came, cole was sick so that meant andrew wouldn't be there. But it was great nonetheless because the primary program was legendary. I love all those kiddos there so funny. After church we visited dan again and it turns out he was in the hospital the day before so that was spooky. Hes doing ok! Seemed out of it, but hes ok. Then we helped out with a bishops fireside which was so fun! The kiddos had to close their eyes and follow a rope around a simple obstacle course and we helped them out by telling them what's going on and how to do it, it was compared to life and how education will get you further in life. It was solid.

Then monday came around and we planned a lot more for the light the world and taught Madison again! 

Also we had another lesson with cole and andrew today (p-day sort of disobedient, but we pretty much got everything done) and he invited another friend! His name is chase and hes a cool guy! So in the lesson we had an hour ago, we taught 3 YSA guys (plus Coles mom was around the corner on her phone but put it down a few times as we were teaching!!) it was so so good we taught the restoration and it was so good. So fun just a bunch of 18 year olds being taught by 2 19 year olds so great. 

Anyways love you all and please don't forget to read your scriptures and pray!  And it did snow 2 times once on Wednesday, but melted by Friday, then we got 10 inches today! 

Elder Dahl
Presque Isle, Maine
United States of America 

video: https://youtu.be/TwCYlDgv-BM (Elder Atkins sore calves)

video: https://youtu.be/wuxsRnQQHtk (Snow!!) 

Season 2 Episode 32: Pumpkin for dinner

this week flew by so quick. but here are a few of the highlights!

Wednesday we had another great district council in edmunston and i was able to give a training on asking questions and this is the question that i started with to being the training and that is "what is your favorite question Jesus asked?" so ill extend that to y'all! we then had to book it down back to mapleton so that we could make it to the second lesson we had with Cole! we taught the restoration and told him where the book of Mormon came from and he was down for all of it and has made it out to church every week! he is doing so solid. we asked him when he thinks he'd be ready for baptism and he said that he'd have to ask his parents... so that kinda puts into how old he is! he looks a lot older (and in that sense reminds me of my younger brother haha). we also went to another soccer game and the coach that elder atkins plays on thursdays was there anc came to shake are hands and he's a super cool guy!  presque isle won that game 1-0 if i remember right (heck yeah) we also swung in on Gordon and he hasn't really changed so we'll give him a month or 2 for the spirit to work on him haha. 

then over the course of the next few days we started to plan a light the world float (which I may not even be here for but hey) and while we were looking up ideas, the power went out. in short a super big wind storm came through and some trees hit some power lines so that put a damper on the plans to make plans. but it was shortly after that we got a call from elder Scott and Nally they requested that a disk (that contained a MRI) that was given to the sisters in edmundston be given to us to give to a member asap. so that was what we did Saturday, as well as go to the last PI soccer game where again the coach came up to us. he talked about having elder Atkins help coach basketball since its that season now. so that would be pretty cool! we also drove down to the bothas because they haven't been responding to messages... and it turns out that they just got a new phone and we are meeting them friday haha.

Sunday came around and Maidson and Cole came and we had an ok fast and testimony meeting. lots of stories... testimony meetings should be full of many people giving what they know to be true. not travelogs or some cool think or miracle that happened in the month, if you want to do that, ask the bishop or one of his councilors to give you a talk in church. not hating on what God has given his children, just that's not what fast and testimony meeting is for. 

we also finally got to meet with cheryl! she was a self referral that had a few things come up, and we gave her the book of mormon and a passage to read before next Sunday! we also met with Holy smoke aka Tom, and talked with him about the Book of Mormon, and we think he's all set with this religion, but he kept the Book of Mormon!

Then for dinner, the himes had us over and sister himes made a hamburger rice thing and cooked it in a pumpkin! it was super good to! I have never eaten pumpkin (aside from muffins or spiced things) before and it was not bad! the himes are a super family.

then yesterday, we did a lot of writing. That is, our number on the back of light the world cards. we also visited with Brother Aloise (we've meet with him just about every other day watching conference or the Book of Mormon videos and hes the best he's so funny.) we also turned in our registration for a float in the PI light parade and taught madison! 

Madison is quite a character. we've had few lessons with her and she seems to remember parts of them but she really wants to be baptised on the 15th (she told her friends about it) but she needs to be taught a few more things before she can, so we told her that she had to be taught everything before, and she told us, then meet with me more! im open mondays tuesdays fridays and you can teach me before young women and even after church! and were where like alrighty then! so we kept it and are teaching her wednesday and probably friday and the next available days. so she is doing great!

love you all and i'm glad that you enjoyed the skit! keep up your scripture reading and prayer they are 2 of the most important things to do every day! until next week!

The Wind!! https://youtu.be/J6ylraUcSQA

Season 2 Episode 31: The Skit

This week seemed slow, but looking back it really wasn't.  We have done a few different methods of finding that include the members! We have been going to the youths soccer games! 

Now dont worry it's not apostate and here's why: 

Here we are white shirt and tie and a coat or 2 and people are looking at us and so are the soccer players and suddenly one of the players asks one of the young women, hey who are they? And they can then respond, oh they are the missionaries they do some cool stuff! 

And thus member missionary work takes a step forward! 

So along with going to a few of those, the other highlight of the week was the chili cook off! We volunteered to do a skit (it was also a talent show kinda thing) and we thought more people would show their talents, but there was a piano player and I think that's it haha. Nonetheless, we blew it out of the water! It was about 15 minutes long and the youth were rolling on the ground. So ask my mom about it haha. (Mom here. Here is the video: https://youtu.be/Wa9e7ALfnME )

Since it was transfer week we didnt end up having a district council, and our district is the same other then we are getting a new sister in edmundston! 

And as luck would have it, Madison and cole had last minute activities that prevented a lesson with them, but we are hoping and planning to teach them today and tomorrow so we'll make sure things keep rolling! 

We've also stopped in on Brandon and Joshua and Amanda they're all doing well and Brandon started up a new job! Alex is super busy with practice and games and we are hoping that is slows a bit so that we can meet with him more but we'll see! 

A more brief week for a shorter week! 

Love you all and hope you will have an awesome Halloween! Eat some candy for me and also be sure to treat your soul with some prayer and scripture study! 

Until next time!

Elder Dahl
Presque Isle, Maine
United States of America 

First snow!!

Season 2 Episode 30: Work to be done

So, the studio is running low on funds, everybody is loving the fame of Maine, so why not just cut some expenses and keep our favorite elder, out there a little longer??

That's right bb, You're boy gets another 6 episodes in the Fame of Maine

that being said heres the scoop, with the merge we typically find out transfers on sunday afternoon instead of tuesdays. this being said, I went to bed hoping i would leave, but if i did i was ok with it. so when sunday morning came around (our zone calls all the missionaries to have a zone wide prayer) and our district leader calls us and says "yoooo Elder dahl how do you feel???" and im just like wut? and we found out that the transfer table got released at 100 pm Saturday! so Elder Atkins and I were like wait don't tell us! and i looked and Elder atkins and I are staying!! so that was a relief. (tbh i was praying like every night telling heavenly father that i'd like to stay, but if he needs me elsewhere id be ok with it and here I am) 

so that was very exciting! one thing that was a little bit of a bummer, is that dale went to go see his family and i guess something went down and he had an anxiety attack, and that just put him back to his smoking habit. and he told us that to much change was happening in his life and he needs to take it easy for a little. so were letting him take a break and we'll see him in a month or so.

on the flip side, Madison is doing very well, and we had our first lesson with Cole! he is so elect. we started the lesson with how he feels about the church, the book of mormon and his background, and we learned that he never really went to church until now and he loves it! he told us that the ward and the church help him forget about the world and his problems and we told him that that was the spirit! he also accepted the invitation to be baptised (but we haven't got a date yet)  

we also wanted to stop teaching dan, but when we visited him, he told us that he's been reading the talks from general conference that i've been sending him so we'll work with him a little more and see what we can do!

we also picked up a new person! so on exchanges, elder atkins and johnson found a guy and gave him a book of mormon and he said he read it, so yesterday we swung by to see if he did. the name that he gave elder atkins and johnson was "Holy Smoke" and when we contacted him yesterday he said tom. he's an older guy and he's legit haha.

when Sunday came around, cole and madison made it, and we tried to keep transfers a secret and so we only told 2 families. so we'll see how fast word travels haha.

a few thoughts came to mind with transfers to

1) we are doing great so there's no need to move anyone

2) ive been here for a while, what am i missing or what else do I need to do?

3) heck yeah i'm still in America

so yes im so glad i get to stay a little longer!

Thank you for all your prayers and support! keep reading your scriptures and praying! and keep going to church!

Love you ALL!

video: "Our rooms legit" https://youtu.be/Y7bYkjfeZIw

A couple more pics from last week:

Season 2 Episode 29: The Field is White

What a week.  I have learned a lot about the work.  And looking at my time here I've done a lot. The feeling is kinda settling that I'm leaving the Fame of Maine, but at the same time I feel I could stay, I've just been here for a long time so I really dont know.  We find out Sunday so yeet am i right.

Over this week for comp study we read the Ricciardi letter (for me it was the first time) and my comp and i had the same thoughts towards many of the people we are teaching. But in short, the letter says that the field is white not green. There are people ready to harvest and bring into the fold, that being said  some of the people we are teaching are green. So as of now, we are teaching dale and doug. All the people we were teaching loved having us over and talking about the gospel and loving what we taught, but they never changed I have no doubt that they will join eventually, but not with us as the teachers. The trickyness of it all is how much driving we do to make to all the appointments we have. Legit we have no time to find. So after reading the letter, we realized that that many of the people are eternigating (eternal investigator) so our teaching pool may be small, but its bigger then it was when I first got to Maine. 

And from this we did get blessings! To start, a young women named Madison randomly came to mutual with her less active father and asked the bishop how she could get baptized. (Rewind a bit, we were on exchanges and planned to digital find towards the end of the night so myself and elder Gutierrez went to a bible study, and elder atkins and Johnson went to teach and find a little. So as we arrived to the church, bishop was talking to the two and we introduced ourselves and the bishop told us that if she wanted to get baptized these where the people to talk to (us 4 elders haha) so we ended up teaching her yesterday and put her on date! Then the other miracle was cole. He is a legend. So our first lesson was actually on Sunday because he worked harvest and finished yesterday.  But the lesson we had was super great and hes got real intent. The member present is a younger guy poking jokes but he didnt get distracted and he kept talking with us! We're excited to keep working with him! And these miracles are the definition of the field is white. 

And its not that the time we spent with the others was a waste of time because it was a great use of time! But sometimes the people we are teaching need a break and choose for themselves if they want what we have. And there are people everyday that need to hear the gospel, and when we are to busy teaching to find, we are missing out on helping them in the most important way! 

Anyways, the rest of the week was super fun! Exchanges is always fun especially when your the one that plans them! And  elder atkins and Gutierrez had a crazy time! They witnessed a car crash with a semi so that was spooky to hear about. But elder Gutierrez and I when we where together did go to the bible study but we also taught Gordon (for the last time haha) hes a great guy, but, like described above, not green. Then the next day when elder Johnson and I where together, we taught dan, pretty much for the last time to. Dan frustrates me haha. He says it's true, God told him it is (he prayed about it) but he never did anything about it. He says he wants to make it out to church and stop smoking and drinking coffee, but alas, nay. 

So lots of sifting this week and we are getting blessed for it. Missionaries in the future I'm sure will run into them and maybe they will be ready then. 

But yeah! The work continues as we find those looking! And it's so fun I'm glad that I'm knocking more often. I got comfortable teaching and now talking with people of the doorstep is odd again haha. But I'll fix that haha. 

So yeah that was this week in a snipit lots of fun discussions as always. If you havent read the Ricciardi letter read it! If you haven't email me and I can get it to you. Also if yall have things you'd like me to read, let me know! I'm always up for learning more and finding ways to do better!

Love you all! Thanks you for all your support!! Keep up your scripture reading and conference reading. Because the word of God fills the soul and gets you the spirit!

Elder Dahl 2.0
Presque Isle, Maine
United States of America 

Season 2 Episode 28: a heckn good time

What a spirit and miracle filled week full of good times! So here we go!

We met with dale and brother alliose to talk to them about general conference on Wednesday and Friday brother alloise was hyped and unfortunately dale was out of town so we ended up watching the Saturday session with brother alliose which was a ball hes so funny. And my favorite talks where the first 4. So so good. Then the next day we were invited to watch the Sunday sessions with the Himes! A super great family and it was a ball! They do conference like the way my family does it with bingo! I didnt get a board I took notes (and I forgot my own boards haha) but it was equally as good. Elder Bednar and uchtdorfs where some of the ones I remember being super good! Then since the last session ended at 6 over here we had dinner and then we played a game that had mouthguard things and you had to read a sentence and that was super fun! With the left over time we planned exchanges!! And that will be this week!

 Additionally, we had a social media miracle! a guy named Joshua (different then Joshua and Amanda) voted on one of my polls through Facebook and I asked him about his response, chatted a little and then I transitioned to what he thinks of the world and God. he answered that hes loosing his faith and he doesn't want to, and I told him about the Book of Mormon and he asked for one! he also told us that hes way busy working construction and has little free time until the project is done, but he told us that he'd be at a gas station in Presque isle at 12:30. we where at the church in Caribou messaging and digital finding at the time (being 12:15 or so) so I was like shoot lets get going! so we hopped in the truck and drove as quick as we could and gave him one! a little later in the day I asked what he thought, and he said confusing, and I explained a little more about the Book of Mormon, and told him it would be easier in person. so now we await his project to be done! And missionaries dont have to be the only ones doing it! Legit out up your own poll, message a person who voted on it chat for a bit and then transition to the gospel and Book of Mormon! The missionaries in any area would love to deliver it for you! 

But yeah! Dale is doing great hes gone a week without smoking so far I believe so hes got one more week to go and then his whole life! No contact from Brandon unfortunately things keep falling through, Gordon is doing good, as well as Nestor even though it's been a bit haha. Dan is tricky. Well see about him next time. 

Also remember the Bothas? We meet with them again! They are a super family and want to get back into church, but since they have been out of the loop,  were helping them back in the loop! So we had dinner at thier place Friday, and I took down one of the biggest steaks (and best) I've had so far it was incredible. And we are seeing them again this Friday! 

Love you all!! Keep up your Book of Mormon reading it's the best thing ever, plus you make better choices every day if you read it every day and that includes tests just so you know. 

Keep praying too that's another bonus.

Elder Dahl 2.0
Presque Isle, Maine
United States of America

Joys of backing up: https://youtu.be/PehD-T9hSXg