March 2014 Letters

Jason was transferred to a new area called Bugalagrande, where he will most likely finish out the rest of his mission :) Also, he's getting a little lazy and isn't writing a family email as often.... punk!

March 3, 2014

Hola Familia!!!

How are you guys doing?! 3 months from now I’ll be home haha I can’t believe it!  This mission has gone by way too fast. Things are going ok here in Versalles.  A bit challenging at times. We have lost a good amount of investigators for some reason or another. They either aren’t married or they have moved or someone started talking bad about the church. We only had 3 investigators at church yesterday, it was tough. It’s hard to be in an area for 6 months, I’ve walked the same streets and seen the same people, I don’t know where to go now haha. We worked with the ward and earned money for those members that live in Yumbo so that they can go to church, we are pretty excited. On Friday I found out that the elderly lady that we gave a blessing to in Yumbo last month died. That was a wonderful experience when the Lord directed us to go visit her.  I love the Plan of Salvation, I’ve really come to understand all the moving pieces at it’s great being able to explain to people that families really can be together forever. Transfers are next week, we´ll see what happens. I’d really like to train a new missionary but who knows whats going to happen. I love you guys sooo much, remember that my birthday is coming up in like 8 days!! ;)

Les quiero mucho!!

Elder Dahlin

March 17, 2014

Hola Familia!!

How are you guys doing!? Well transfers were last week and they are always crazy. My new area (Bugalagrande) is pretty cool,  it’s really small, only about 25,000 people live here. It’s really quiet and it’s not dangerous at all, imagine that!! :D haha It’s really green and there is a river that passes right through the middle of town.  It’s actually hotter here than in Cali. The nice thing is that it’s windy which makes it feel better.  We saw a dead horse today which made me sad haha. The biggest thing in town is the Nestle factory. If you work there you are rich, if you don’t you’re poor. For missionary work it’s a tough area. The missionaries before us didn’t leave anything and the people don’t really seem like they want to talk to us. Pray for the people here please! My companion is going to be tough. He’s the guy that looks for any way to waste time and he always has to be right. Hopefully it’s just for one transfer.  We are in another house that is used for a church and it’s sooo small. Where they do sacrament meeting is like as big as my room.  Pretty humble conditions. The branch president is cool but he is tired of being branch president because the branch isn’t doing too good.  So we have a lot of work to do with the members here. I was sick again last week with another sinus infection. I’m taking antibiotics again. I didnt have a voice for like 3 days.  Leaving Cali was tough. It was hard saying goodbye to all the people in my old area, they are like my family here but I know I’ll see them again. I love you guys sooo much. I can’t beleive how far I’ve come. I’ve seen my testimony grow so much and I know that this is the true church. I can’t wait to get back to see you guys!

Con mucho amor

Elder Dahlin

March 24, 2014

Hola Familia!!

What’s up?!!! Well this was another challenging week, we didn’t have any investigators at church again.  We will keep working on that. I got to know more members yesterday which was cool. I had to speak in Sacrament meeting with a couple other missionaries and it went really well.  They said it was one of the most spiritual sacrament meetings they’ve had in a while. The thing that makes it a bit challenging is that this branch includes 2 towns. Andalucia and Bugalagrande. The branch is called Andalucia and the majority of the members live in Andalucia. To get to church people have to take a bus or a taxi which is 1000 pesos( like 50 cents) round trip 2000. It’s like a 15 minute ride. That’s one of the problems. Noone ever has money or says it’s too far. I got the roster with all the members on it so this week we are going to go look for less actives.  I’m really excited about that. The area presidency changed some of the requisites for baptism. Before it was that an investigator only had to go to church 2 times and they could get baptized. But to make sure that there is real growth, kids from 8-12 years that don’t have a family member to support them in the church have to go to church at least 9 times before they can get baptized and everyone else has to go at least 3 times. It’s gonna take a hit on the mission and its gonna make us have to plan more because each month only has 4 to 5 weeks in it. Crazy stuff haha. Not too much else, my companion is making things dificult but you just have to pull your load and hope that the Lord will help you.  

I love a scripture that Megan sent me that I had forgotten about. 1 Nephi 21: 14-16.  It’s truly amazing how much He loves us and how much He did for us.

I love you guys soo much. 10 more weeks!!! (I’m not counting, dad is...haha)

Les quiero mucho

Elder dahlin