Happy Thanksgiving

This week was really busy and full of teaching. We invited 3 people to baptism and they all committed for a date so we are pretty excited about that. I went on an exchange in bristol Virginia this week with Elder Hoyt. He is being trained so it was a lot of fun to train for a day and to work hard. We ended up teaching 6 lessons and forgot to eat dinner but it was awesome. It reminded me how I need to work hard every minute to teach those that are in need!

This coming week we have Mission Council and are going to have Thanksgiving with Beverly who is a recent convert. Saturday we will be having another Thanksgiving at the Velas. We like to eat..

We will try to take pictures this week and send some to you!

I love you.

Love,
Elder Dahlin

3 am call from Liberia!

EMMENTT TARPEH CALLED!!! That is an amazing thing.. Did Emmentt say he was baptized?? Him and Teta, his wife, mean a lot to me since they were my first family I taught and got to know. Before I left the area he gave me an African Shirt. Didnt get baptized but I know one day he will be baptized.

Its the 5th sunday of this month that I will be giving my presentation and I could really use your help since my camera got stolen 8 months into my mission. The pictures I sent you could really help. Would you be able to send a good amount of those to me so I could use them?? It should be on my email but I dont have the time to look through them all.

Yeah I got all the classes I wanted to and its not a bad schedule. I am good at budgeting my time now so ive got this! 

No baptisms yet but thats ok. We have a few trying to line up for December. 

I got the packages from grandma and I emailed about both of them! They are awesome thank you! We are enjoying the hot chocolate and M&Ms. Also I got the package of cookies from Andrea!! Thank you so much! They are too delicious... which is good and bad since I cant stop eating them! haha

I promise the package you sent to Liberia was not wasted. Everything that we did for the past 5 months lead up to our evacuation so I know even your package helped. The two men we loved and worked with had the jobs at risk since we left so they appreciated it im sure. 

This week was a good week just plugging away at the work. Unfortunately Elder Byron got Strep throat so we had to stay in for two days. And to add on top of that on Friday I signed up for classes! So it was pretty hard to not let my mind wander... haha

This week will be very busy with catching up with our investigators and members. It would be nice to teleport so we dont have to waste time driving but thats ok. We will try to work effectively so we can see everyone!

I love you and hope you have a great week! Dont worry too much about your talk. Just let it be centered on you being a mother.

Love,

Elder Elias Dahlin

Eli's Life

Hey Mom!

Life is good in Johnson City! This week was also great since we were able to just be out and about. We had out Zone Training Meeting and it went really well. There was a section at the end where we were told to ask the question "What do you want to know?" about missionary work and it was really great. We stood up there and answered a lot of good questions and of course a lot of prayer went into that meeting since we had to teach and come up with the answers on the spot!

We went to Brother Velas twice this week and I threw up twice... Its a special feeling haha It was a lot of fun and for some odd reason we had tons and tons of service that we did too!! Lots of days coming home just beat from all the exercise. Then again what are we meant to do in a world that relies on receiving blessings from others. We are just the instruments used to share them and to use ourselves for good. Sunday was awesome since so many people signed up to team up with us and make our days full of teaching. I love it when a member comes with us because they help us teach and find those that are ready. 

I have been asked to give the 3rd hour lesson on the 5th Sunday about my experiences in Liberia. I am excited to do that and especially orient it towards the things I learned from going to a different part of the world. I will be making a slide show and also a power point presentation on it so that will be a fun project.

It sounds like you are staying busy with everything at home. I would like to know what day i should be driving back up to school so I can know my time frame at home. What is it that you want me to get done around the house? I think ill need to go shopping.... haha Good stuff. Ill let you know how signing up for classes goes.

I love you!

love,
Elder Dahlin

Midnight call from a fellow looking for Eli!

Hey Mom!

Well im not sure if I know a Moses Pierce but im excited that you got to hear a Liberian speak on the phone! I hope his letter gets to me in time. 

For us in Tennessee it rained on the first of November which was awesome! We spent part of that day helping the sisters get their car out of a field they had slid into so that was fun and cold. We had Mission Council and Halloween this week. Halloween we had to stay in and just hangout at the church so that was different. No dressing up... haha We are still doing crossfit and today was my first day throwing up! I finally joined the club.

Youre not bad parents for only emailing. Email is just fine. It is a lot of fun getting letters though and I got bombarded with them this week! Tell Andrea and Michael thank you! Also tell Hannah thank you!! I enjoyed them a lot.

A pretty busy week so we enjoyed the work. We will be more busy this week with Zone Meeting and a big list of members the Elders Quorum president gave us to go look for.

My second semester at BYUI I learned how to work a lathe so I should know how to use it and sharpen the tools!

Have a great week!

Love,
Eli

Hi

This week was a lot of fun especially with my new companion. Elder Byron, like Elder Russo, was a "visa waiter" and is now assigned here so he will serve his full time in Tennessee! Did I tell you that the mission covers more than Tennessee already? Every Friday we travel to Bristol Virginia for a district meeting haha. So we have kept ourselves busy just working hard. We had 3 investigators come to church and that was the first time since ive been here! We are expecting miracles and we have seen them in our work. Many testimonies in Priesthood about how great it is to go out with the missionaries. Yay for us! Its just like a fresh start and we both are very similar and have the same goals which makes everything easier.

So just trying to make a difference here and set higher standards for everyone. Love the work. Love you guys and even though youre counting down the days im not getting TRUNKY!! haha :)

Love,
Elder Elias Dahlin

Hey Mom!

Soo when I came back to America they bought me a few things!! I always wear black so I decided to switch it up. I got my grey suit, a few white shirts, and brown shoes! Trying new things haha

Yeah my companion and I have a lot of fun working.

I also got the package you sent me!!! Thank you so much for everything inside! I have been setting higher goals for the end of my mission and the protein will really help :) Also Dad is awesome at making knives already... I hope we will be able to push one out when I get home.

I gave a talk on Sunday and I hope I got across my message well... I tried to teach something but im not sure if it came across the way I wanted it to. I tried teaching about how Doctrine & Principles can effect and govern our lives. Ohh well. We are preparing for another Zone Meeting this Wednesday which should be fun. I love instructing and talking in front of people. The one thing I dont like is doing role play but it is effective and helps us improve.

Next week we also find out transfer news so that will be exciting. Crazy it will be my last full transfer so I have to make the best of it. I want to do the work and teach. Crazy people need to listen haha They will. I just still need to find the right ones.

Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Dahlin

Between Conference Sessions