More Pictures!

Elder Dahlin e-mailed us some pictures today! It's always great to see where he is and to see his smiling face. In this last transfer he was made District Leader and will be training his new companion. He's really excited about the opportunity! 

Here are the pictures with an explanation that he gave of each one.

 Jason's first day in Cali at Cristo Rey.

 First baptism in Villa De Lago with Elder Zombrano. The girl's name is Kimberly Suarez.

 This mother and her 2 kids were Jason's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th baptisms. The mom is Sandra Orozco, the daughter is Camilla, and the son is Juan Sebastian.

They hiked this volcano in Popayan called Purace.

Holding the Colombian flag from about 14,500 feet on the volcano.

 Another shot of the volcano.

Jason said these three kids are his favorite! The little girl is Britney, the shorter boy is Anderson, and the taller boy is Dago.

In the house of an investigator.

They were almost robbed in this area, and right after they left, a murder happened. Now these cops are there all the time. Jason said that they are their protectors.

This girl, Jessica, is the cousin of the three he baptized in Popayan.

Sunset in Popayan.

He's eating what's called a Cholado. It has all the fruits of Colombia in it. Jamundi is known for these.

He's doing great. Keep writing him, and if you love him, send him a package :)

Love,

Megan

An Update

Hey everyone! I have been terrible at updating Elder Dahlin's blog. He is currently in Jamundi. He says he really likes it there. It's really hot, and apparently he is getting some decent sunburns. A sweet lady Jason met in Popayan sends me frequent messages about him and keeps me updated. I surely love and appreciate the families down there that take care of Jason.

Here are some pictures she sent me:

Doesn't he look great?! I love seeing his big smile!

Here are some of his recent e-mails:

January 21, 2013

Hola familia!!!

How are you guys doing!! I got transferred to Jamundi! It’s a city right outside of Cali. Its super-hot here.....There are 4 missionaries here and we live in a really nice apartment. Its super big, has an oven, 3 bathrooms and it’s so much better than what I was living in in Popayan. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone in Popayan. You get to know the people really well and they were like my family. Tuesday we went and said goodbye and took pics and it was good. I took a bus at 5am Wednesday to Cali and then we took a taxi to Jamundi. Elder Laws from my MTC group is with me. This is the last transfer for our companions so they don’t do much. They are always sleeping and wanting to go back to the house. My companion, Elder Vilchez is from Peru, he was my district leader in Popayan for a transfer. He’s a cool guy, he’s just super traunque(that’s what they say when someone is thinking about going home and not their mission). The ward here is good about 120 people go every Sunday. The members don’t like us very much I don’t know what happened so we have to change that. We don’t have very many investigators right now. There’s a lot of work to do!  But all is well there are a lot of members here who speak English which is nice.

The 49ers are going to the Super bowl and the Patriots arent :D!! haha This week was good. We had one day where we talked to about 5 different Jehovas Witnesses. It was nuts. They have crazy beliefs that I don’t understand. They wouldn’t let us pray because they say that not all prayers are heard by god...and they believe that when we die, that’s all she wrote...We were talking about the organization of the church about the prophet and the 12 and they said hey we have something really similar, and I said Hey I didn’t know you guys had a prophet and 12 apostles and they got up and left haha. We don’t have many investigators and not much support from the ward so it looks like we are going to have to start knockin doors which sucks but hopefully we wont get too many doors slammed in our faces. Crazy story last night we were sitting on a bench in a big park, there were alot of people around, and all of the sudden a guy comes up to us, says hi, reaches under the bench and pulls out a gun, puts it in his pants and continues on his way........My comp thought we were dead he was freakin out. But don’t worry we are A ok haha. Its super hot here I have to start using sunscreen cause im super burnt. Im getting a nice missionary tan though! Health wise I’m good, eating good, you guys would be impressed with what I eat now haha. I love you guys sooo very much!!! let me know how things are!

Con mucho amor!
Elder dahlin

January 28, 2013

Hola familia!!!

How are you guys doing!! Things are going ok here in Colombia. The ward isn’t too supportive of us neither is the Bishop which is tough. We are going to focus on strengthening those relationships this week. We don’t have any investigators. One kid was all ready for the baptism this last Saturday but his dad wouldn’t let him. The Jehovas Witnesses were follwoing us around one day and we lost 2 more investigators to them and another lady is having problems with her husband so she doesn’t want to make a decission right now. My companion refuses to knock doors so we almost always come home early and we leave late in the mornings. He doesnt want to be here anymore. It’s tough becuase he is a good Elder but being with another missionary from your same group is making it worse. Its super hot here its really tropical weather which would be nice if we werent in white shirts and ties. I’ve been sick since friday with a fever but I’m not going to give my comp the pleasure of staying home so the work goes on. Spanish is getting better each day. Its still a struggle but now its just a matter of listening to find out what I still need to learn. I love and miss you guys soo much!!

Con amor

Elder Dahlin

February 4, 2013

Hola Familia!!!!

How are you guys doing!! This week was alright, not too much happened. I have been pretty sick lately. Tuesday and Wednesday I barely had a voice but now I’m getting better. We started doing English classes this week and they are going pretty good. 20-30 people came this week and hopefully we can get more to come. We go over the basics of English and just hit vocabulary so they can learn some words. The classes get crazy at times because everyone is asking different questions or wants to know something different. It’s been raining alot this week which has been nice. Jamundi is really a nice city, I like it here. The ward is still a struggle.  I feel like the members are going to overthrow the bishop haha. He still doesn’t like us, and from what the members say he doesn’t like them either. We have been trying to set an appointment with him for the past 2 weeks and he gave us 20 min next Sunday in between conference sessions.........But we are still trying. My comp is slowing down more and more. He looks for any reason to leave late or come back to the house early. I feel like we aren’t doing anything during the week we didnt find any new investigators this week and taught 4 lessons....Not good. There is alot of potential here hopefully this month and in march things will get going. Other than that all is well. Our investigators are progressing slow and steady they all have different problems that we are workin through. Noone in Colombia is married haha But thats why we are here, to help! I love you guys soooo much! Thank you for everything :)

Ps If someone sent me a big thing of jiff peanut butter I would love you forever haha

Con mucho amor!
Elder Dahlin 

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Doesn't he sound great?! We love our Elder Dahlin and couldn't be more proud of him! Keep e-mailing him, and if you're feeling really giving, send him a nice package with peanut butter, beef jerky, and Skittles :)

Love,

Megan