Hold to the Rod

What a week! So grateful for conference! Maybe it's just because I'm a missionary, but I felt like a lot of the talks were about missionary work. If you didn't watch conference please take time to do so. 

One of the larger themes I noticed was the discussion of Lehi's dream specifically as Nephi interprets the iron rod to be the word of God. In the dream there are numberless concourses of people pressing forward towards the tree of life, through a powerful mist of darkness. Their only reference point, a rod of iron. The vision states that "they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." And another group "continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." I love the juxtaposition here. Some clung and then partook but others continually held fast and fell down and partook of the tree. Nephi, in praying to understand the vision, learns that the iron rod is the word of God. With this knowledge, the vision details that those who continually hold fast to their scripture study don't just end up partaking of the love of God, they fall down in awe of the gift it is because they have come to understand Him. Those that merely cling, however, taste the love of God and say, "huh, this is it?" And then "cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed." Why are they ashamed? Because they "know not the dealings of that God who has created them." Because they have a "form of godliness but deny the power thereof." This is scary stuff! These are the other five of the ten virgins who prepared their lamps but didn't have enough oil. They went through the motions but fell short of the goal. 

General conference is when we get to check in on how we view the word of God. Do we sleep through it? Or do we hold fast? What good is a prophet if we don't listen? It is so easy to be like those who "tasted of the fruit (and) they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost" (1 Nephi 8:28.) 

If you're not going to church, come back. If you aren't reading your scriptures, start. If you haven't watched conference, do it. There are no backup singers on the celestial stage. We learn that we will be judged according to our works and our desires. It is imperative to find out what your desires are and what you want them to be. If those are unified, wonderful! If they are not, be sure that you are taking steps to make them so! Otherwise, you deprive yourself of joy. The spiritual dissonance that occurs when the person we want to become is not the person that we're becoming is horrific. It is the cause of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is damnation. I've felt it, I've been there. Yet just as exquisite as my pain was the joy in realizing that I could change! That's the power of the atonement. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. In order to avoid this, I urge you to choose this day. Asking deep probing questions of yourself and confirming them with the Lord is a great place to start. Learn what is required to obtain your goal and start working! I don't think there is much paid time off in the heavenly economy. I'm so grateful that I made the choice to change, and for the savior who allowed me to do so! I love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

Lovest Thou Me?

I'm realizing that it's important to make an effort to develop relationships. I'm super interested in how people perceive me when they first meet and get to know me so let me know what you thought of me when we met! I feel like my whole life I've always wanted to be around people who I feel like added value to my life, and therefore my work to develop relationships was pretty much effortless. The mission is different, you get thrust into situations all the time where you are forced to develop relationships with people that you may think will add nothing to your life. However, I've realized that every human has something that you can learn from and grow from. I'm so grateful for all of you and all the experiences we've had together!

This week Jacob decided to be baptized! Super excited for him, we're shooting for April 9 because he's ready. I've been thinking a lot about the power of covenants and the gift of the Holy ghost. A few of our other friends attend another church, and they invited us to barf weekend (bring a real friend). I was on exchanges with Elder O'Neill, and it was awesome. It's basically just a concert followed by a motivational sermon that happened to have some anti Joseph Smith sentiments sprinkled in. When we first met our friends who attend there, we were blown away by their commitment to that church and their total ignorance in what they believe and the Bible as a whole. After attending church, we understood why. These people love God and his son Jesus Christ, and they love how they feel when they worship Him and sing praises to him. They love feeling the spirit. I had a chance to talk to the pastor for about an hour after the service, and he gave me a book he wrote called "grace on tap" with a picture of a keg on the front labeled grace. I realized that that is so true! They are treating the spirit as if it were a drug. It sustains them for that week and then they come back and feel it again. They cannot have the presence of the Holy ghost with them all the time, because they haven't made a covenant or received baptism by proper authority. The church has had 78 baptisms in 2022 already, which is more than our mission has baptized in the past year. They don't have any requirements for baptism, but it's still pretty impressive to me! Their membership is very involved in sharing the gospel. They invite their friends, and try to bring everybody to Jesus even with their limited knowledge.

We have been blessed with so much! It hurts my heart to think about all the people that have been kept from the truth only because they know not where to find it. I love the Savior's teachings,

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14.)

That's why we make covenants. That's why God requires more. Because he doesn't care about how well we sing songs or how many times we say amen. He wants us to become like Him! I'm so excited for general conference. The genesis of scripture is always powerful to me. Please choose to help feed His sheep this week! The field is white! Invite someone to watch conference. Our God lives, and his words never cease. I love you guys!

-Elder Dahl

That We May Be One

What a week! I had my first mission leadership conference which was really cool, President is a great teacher and the missionaries are great examples to me. With Covid restrictions lifted, we learned a lot about how to effectively interact in person with God's children. I realized that I have been a little too dominant in our teaching interactions so far-- mostly because my previous companions weren't big on teaching. Communication is so important! When there's a problem in your life, please let the person causing it know, because they may be totally oblivious. When I've had problems with people on my mission, they have historically been major ones-- specifically disobedience. It's very hard to fulfill your missionary purpose when your companion just doesn't want to. As I've progressed on my mission, I've realized that some people's major problems are focused on the way the work is approached-- it's a very privileged problem to have. When your comp refuses to get out of bed until dinner, you don't even think about what type of message you are going to share at dinner, you're focused on a much larger issue. Now that my quality of companion has increased, I've realized that a massive problem to others is tiny to me in comparison to the experiences I've had. It's a gift and a curse I guess. One of my favorite psalms says,

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

This is something that I have a huge testimony of. Learn to love the law, and you will feel peace and learn to not be offended, and you will grow. I think the most important discipline is emotional discipline. It allows you to develop every other aspect of your life unfettered by anger, jealousy, or hopelessness. When feelings are hurt, there is no consistent remedy, nothing an outside force can do to make it better. Apologies are nice, but soothing a bruised heart is almost impossible. Ultimately, it requires the offended person to let go of those feelings. Holding grudges is a burden. It does nothing good for you. I'm working on not judging people too early. I think it's important to assume everyone you interact with knows something you don't that is of value. Most of the time you're probably wrong, but it increases the value of your interactions as you choose to listen to them and treat them the way the Savior did. I love the scriptural phrase, "the condescension of God." Jesus' most impressive attribute to me is long-suffering. To have such power and yet still choose to live a mortal life and exercise restraint from all those who crucified Him is incomprehensible to me. In order to create a successful relationship, I think both persons need to either voice their feelings or forgive them that know not what they are doing. Choose to not be offended and you will be blessed eternally. I love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

1. Bishop's wife after my haircut

2. Haircut

3. Jeffrey repping the Y

4-5. Tire shenanigans 

6-7. Mai's baptism

A Life Well Lived

This week was revolutionary! My mission president decided that enough is enough! So now we can eat with members and don't have to wear masks and we can go street contacting. Unfortunately these restrictions have been in place for so long that nobody really wants to change, which makes life a little difficult for me. Elder Jenkins is going to learn how to talk to people by the end of this transfer! 

The work has been going good-- our deaf friend Mai is ready for baptism on Saturday! She reminds me of a phrase the Savior used,

"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Mai's ears don't hear. They haven't worked her whole life. But she understands the Savior and his teachings far better than our other hearing friends. I've been thinking a lot about how it's funny that the blessed ones have the most curses. This is an incredible time to be alive! We have access to so much with the internet and technology and ears. Yet sometimes I feel like our senses are bombarded to the point where we become desensitized to all but the extreme. I chatted with some members of our ward who just returned from Ireland. They told us that there are these walls all over the countryside that were built during the potato famine. The upper class required work of the working class in order to rationalize feeding them so they would make them construct walls for miles on end. They would work all day and earn enough money to buy bread to feed themselves and then do it all again the next day. The walls had no purpose, just to keep the laborers busy and distracted. I was quite shocked at this and humbled. How grateful I am that my life has allowed me to pretty freely exercise my agency. I was then struck by the fact that many people still choose to be a poor Irishman. I have met so many people that are just "building walls," even in the land of the free. Social media is a big wall, addiction another. TV and video games, the ability to hear. We sometimes are carefully ensnared by the forces of opposition through our ability to choose. I have often thought, "it doesn't matter if nothing gets done today because I'm choosing to just chill." I think that because I'm choosing to do it that somehow makes the action more respectable. The Irish chose to build those walls in order to obtain food. But at the end of it all, all they had were heaps of stone that didn't matter. I hope we all can be better at making sure our time is spent purposefully. Many people do not hearken unto Jacob, 

"Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy." 

I see many missionaries who also don't understand this principle. Your time is yours, no one else's. One day you will be accountable for it. Choose to be more than you were, to go forward and not backward. Elder Uchtdorfs talk, "Daily Restoration," is a useful guide on how to refocus and get on the path of progress. 

I love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

1. Elder Jenkins helping with a move

2. The last supper

3. The walls, you can see one going all the way up the mountain

4-6. The cliffs of insanity

7. Me with the Holkers

Upon This Rock

I had transfers this week on Thursday and now my companion is Elder Jenkins! He's from North Logan Utah and is pretty cool! He's a big fan of How to Train Your Dragon, so we talk about that a lot. I realized that our ward isn't so great at finding people to teach, so we met with our ward mission leader and bishop to pick their brains. They agreed and kind of told us that they will do anything we want them to haha. So we kinda came up with a few amendments to the ward mission plan, so hopefully that helps. We had stake conference this week, and it was pretty good except our broadcast kept having issues. We had two friends there for the first time and it was pretty rough. Afterwards, we took some time to chat with Jacob. He is sitting on the fence and wants to have a greater connection to God before he chooses to be baptized. It's hard to argue with that haha, so we're doing our best to facilitate a powerful spiritual witness. In Ether, we learn that a witness only comes after the trial of your faith. Jacob is trying! He does everything we ask him, so we're going to fast for him this week. One of the last talks elder Packer ever gave us is called, The Witness. It's one of my favorites. He says, 

Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the heart of both the Father and the Son. You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.

One of the greatest things about the church is it facilitates as much spiritual growth as you are willing to obtain. The principle of real intent: seek and you shall find... what you seek. A lot of people join the church seeking a nice community full of nice people who pray and sing together on Sundays. They find it! In our church or countless others. It's not until you desire to know the truth that you receive that knowledge and that witness-- that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that The Book of Mormon is true, that this church is the only completely true church on the face of the earth today. These conclusions, these pillars of testimony can't be reasoned to and have staying power. Our foundations must be built on revelation. You don't get a witness by reading, you get it by praying and fasting and pondering. This is probably the hardest thing I've had to learn on my mission. I can teach the gospel; I can explain every principle in a compelling and logical way, but none of it matters until they experience the power of God-- until they obtain a subjective feeling-based confirmation of the objective truth that is God and His laws. Lately, I've been feeling this sense of urgency, of impending doom. I need to strengthen my foundation, because I'm terrified of the magnitude of the opposing forces in the world. Opposition in all things is a scary concept. I'll never no never forsake! Love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

1. Elder Jenkins

2. Miracle bottle

3. Cool car

4. Elder Downey is a guy I really look up to

5. Rip Elder Fifita 

6. Elder Farnsworth 

7-8. Teslas are chill

Have Miracles Ceased?

This week I had exchanges with Elder Downey and Elder Rupert. Grateful for both of them-- they both have such good desires, which is literally all that matters out here. If your desires are pure, then you are willing to improve always and your actions will naturally fall into place. This week is the last one before transfers, so that's always exciting.I think I'll probably stay for another with elder Fifita but who knows. 

We invited our friend Jacob to prepare for baptism, and then he dropped off the map. Then we went to Culver's where he works and found out he is moving his schedule around so he can come to church! The first one he'll be able to attend is stake conference, so hopefully that's good. He's been going to institute with his girlfriend a few times, so I'm excited for him. It's weird to see people actually progress. Finishing the discussions gives me a lot of leeway and a lot of chances to seek personal revelation. One of the coolest experiences about being a missionary is in Doctrine and Covenants 100:

Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.

I've experienced this. Probably because I go into too many lessons not quite as prepared as I should haha. But sometimes my mental plan is not what I'm supposed to teach. I have tangible thoughts that I should teach something else, and then I try and rationalize them away. Then eventually I'll say, "alright fine," and my best teaching occurs. Not because it's more coherent or logical, but because I've connected our friend to the master teacher Jesus Christ. It's a pretty humbling experience. I love this quote from CS Lewis:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.

I'm learning line upon line how to let my will be swallowed up in His. It's a sometimes painful process. It's always a faith promoting one. Choose the right because it is right even when it is hard. if you don't, you never open yourself to the opportunity to experience God. I'm so grateful for the clarity my mission has brought me. I really feel like I can do anything. I have access to incredible supernatural strength all the time. Lately, I've been getting memory flashes from my life-- I feel like I've already lived forever yet I have so much more to go. I think about you guys all the time-- I hope you're doing well and making sure you're becoming who you want to become. Pray for charity-- the world needs it. 

Also, we had testimony meeting this week and my ward seems to have a lot of people who have some sort of deep connection to Ukraine? It was very odd. Maybe they served their missions there or something. Love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

Stand Forever

This week was good. It's weird that this transfer is almost over, it's kind of a crazy one because a lot of people in our zone have been here for a while, so it will be interesting how everything turns out. It also has given us a sense of urgency. We have people that are progressing but very few are on date to be baptized. We would like them to have a goal to accelerate their growth and commitment. 

Our people ebb and flow like crazy though. Our friend Arouna drops off the map, then randomly shows up at church and meets with the bishop. A family we've been trying to get in touch with forever asks to be baptized but then doesn't come to church. Super interesting. I love seeing people really exercising their agency-- it's inspiring. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity to study the gospel-- it's the one thing I can keep constant through my whole mission. My foundation if you will. One of the commandments we teach people is to study the scriptures. I had a member tell me that the Book of Mormon as well as the temple are not just to be taken at face value. The Book of Mormon and scripture as a whole is like a piece of art. When I look at the Mona Lisa, I don't really understand the hype. It's a nice picture, I guess. But artists herald it as a masterpiece. The Book of Mormon is similar. The Book of Mormon's true merit is found in its ability to put us in a frame of mind where we can be close enough to God to renew our faith that He exists as well as allow us to receive communication from Him. That's why it's a commandment. Not because when we die there's going to be some huge scripture trivia contest, but because without it we will never develop our faith and our foundation to the degree that is necessary to survive spiritually. President Nelson spoke about this same principle. I would encourage you guys to study the scriptures-- use them as your seer stone or Urim and Thummim to allow yourself a brief respite from the natural man-- it's a wonderful experience. 

It is only when we build our foundation on the rock of our Redeemer that we will be able to withstand the mighty winds and storms that will beat upon us. That is the purpose of mortality! Don't let anything temporal overcome things of eternal value. Life is hard-- unbearably so. It's designed to be. We will be hammered and hammered until we break. The only way we survive is by choosing to draft the star player, Jesus Christ. With Him, the game changes. All of a sudden, our yoke becomes easier; our burden is lighter. When I was a younger man, I would play a digital basketball simulation called NBA 2k. I would always pick the Chicago bulls with Michael Jordan. Even when I was playing against my cousin, Gengar, who was really good, it didn't matter, because Michael Jordan's stats were so high that I could just run in and dunk it every possession with him. That's why the Savior exists. So when we get tired of losing all the time, we can find peace in the one who has overcome the world. He is the healer! Of all pains and afflictions. Choose to slam dunk through mortality. It has very few drawbacks, I promise you. I love you guys! Shoot me an email if you think I should run for president! 

-Elder Dahl 

1-2. Exchanges with Elder Sherbert

3-4 The Amway speakers, they are both owners of their own businesses and creating an incredible lifestyle for themselves as well as empowering other leaders to develop their skillsets. Our friend in Princeton said he learned more from the Amway corporation than he did at church. (He's RLDS). If you want to change your life, I would highly recommend getting in touch with a local business owner. 

5. Our friends Andrew and Esther. They're super short haha.