So Long As Time Shall Last

Don't have a bunch of time but this week I've been thinking a lot about miracles. It's a term that's thrown around pretty casually out here and it's always bothered me. I guess I have a pretty high standard for intervention from God. It's taught very clearly that miracles are wrought by faith, which is a profound statement to me. Because wouldn't the miracle being wrought eliminate the faith of the individual? Because they now have a perfect knowledge of at least something. I want to experience breathtaking, unexplainable miracles. And I feel like I've seen a few, but I'm continuously striving for more faith. It is so important. A foreboding prophecy from Moroni: 

35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

"All is vain." It's not enough to just go through the motions. I pray that all is not vain and that we may develop the faith necessary to receive miracles and appearances of angels. Keep moving forward! I love you guys.


-Elder Dahl

Stripped of Pride

As we've been continuing to teach somewhat difficult people, I've been realizing once again how powerless I am. I can't move up God's timetable for these people. I just have to take them where they're at and show them the next step. I wish I could just give them the right things to read or watch and then they would be totally ready, but the Spirit does the converting. It's pretty difficult when I spend a bunch of time and energy on a lesson that is supposed to help them understand and apply a gospel principle, but they don't understand. Having an open mind is one of the most admirable traits a person can have I think. It's been good though. The days are fast; the weeks are faster. My new district is pretty rough, so Elder Christensen and I decided to just stay in our area and hang out with the members. They are pretty sweet. So we'll see how that goes today. We're going mountain biking and eating at Costa Vida with the elders quorum and then playing games with the youth. We get fed all the time and have plenty of joint teachers. I can't complain. There are a few things that could be better, but overall I'm feeling good. I'm proud of my friends who are serving in much more temporally difficult circumstances. It's nice to have the comforts of the states. I'm not excited for the winter again though. Lately I've been missing comedy shows, like Seinfeld and Nathan For You. I've been telling Elder Christensen what I can remember, but it's not a lot. Remember the Savior as you interact with those around you, pray for missionary experiences. God loves you and so do I!

-Elder Dahl

Poor in Spirit

We had transfers this week. I was pretty nervous that because I'd gotten along with elder Christensen so well, I was due for a more uncomfortable situation that would help me grow. I wrote to President and asked him to stay. I love the people here-- I finally feel like I'm able to be a force for good, in the members' lives and in the lives of those we're teaching. Our friend Ed is awesome. He's hopefully getting baptized the end of this month. I've never taught someone like him before. He's so earnest and humble-- he's willing to accept new ideas and see things in different ways. We haven't gone over the commandments yet, but I'm excited for him.

In the gospel of Luke, the Savior is recorded quoting Isaiah,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

He then says,

This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

I've been thinking about this a lot. I guess since I believe the gospel is for everyone that as a missionary, I'm called to teach everyone. But the Savior, in announcing his messianic role, specifically states that he is to preach the gospel to the poor. Whether that be poor in spirit or in temporal things, I am beginning to understand it is an essential qualifier to making covenants with God. If you are unwilling to listen or act on a missionary's invitation, you will be unwilling to respond to the gentle tutelage of the Holy Ghost. Until you are stripped of pride, you cannot cast off the chains that are hindering your progression, because these changes can't be done by our own power. It's impossible! We need the Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Unfortunately, as a missionary, I come across relatively few people who are poor in spirit. To those who aren't, I've decided my role is to love, and hopefully, over the process of time, they open their hearts. It's hard to see people who are so certain of something that they blind themselves. I'm grateful for the light and knowledge that I've received as I've diligently sought. I love the scriptures and more importantly, I love the prophets. Seek to do good! The world badly needs goodness. I love you guys!

-Elder Dahl

Not One Whit

This week started out pretty slow because Elder Christensen was feeling a little sick, which in turn made me a little less focused. I felt like we were just kind of going through the motions, and I needed something to kick things back into high gear. I'm pretty argumentative by nature, so I decided to look through the people that elders have taught in the past that they labeled do not contact. This is a thrilling thing for me because sometimes people use that label just to write off people who ask too many difficult questions. I called one of them, and we ended up having a really good discussion! Questions are always good! We taught him two more times and helped him understand that if he wants to know, he needs to at least crack open the Book of Mormon. We encouraged him to read Alma chapter 42. It's one of my favorites. And to watch the church video "The Mediator." We are trying to help him understand that The Book of Mormon reveals powerful truths about the nature of God that are just not found in The Bible. He's super fun to teach but not super interested in progressing. He wants us to "become Christians." His job is much more difficult than ours, I think. My companion and I have been having a lot of chats about what our role is and who we're looking to teach. I want to teach people that don't just accept everything we say, but also are open minded enough to act and change. It's a tough balance. Most of the time we run into people who are super closed or not willing to read or pray. Is it our role to give them the steps they need to take to become ready to learn? Or just say they're not ready yet. I'm grateful for the plan of salvation and the peace that brings. I can't imagine how soul shattering a mission would be for missionaries who believe in a binary afterlife, without the justice of the spirit world. I love you guys! Missions are awesome! 

-Elder Dahl

The Gift of Discernment

This week was pretty amazing. We had exchanges with the zone leaders who are pretty chill guys. I had an awesome day with elder Jarvis and felt like I could tangibly feel the spirit in our lessons, to a greater degree than normal. At the end of the day we were sitting at Crumbl waiting to switch back and i asked Elder Jarvis about miracles, he talked about how we'd seen a bunch of miracles today, and I was pretty let down. I guess the sign seeking part of me wants miracles that are greater than someone answering the phone or an inactive member letting us in. 

The next day Elder Christensen and I had a crazy experience. We were doing some stop bys and felt pretty guided to stop by this home (I say that because I was like let's go to this big party in the park and talk to people and Elder Christensen said let's stop by first, normally he's not very opinionated). The person we were looking for was not there, but the person living there allowed us to share a message. We taught the restoration and she went inside and got us some sparkling water. She came back out and relayed a lengthy story about how she was working at a hotel and a return missionary who was staying there for the summer selling alarms asked her out. They started dating and she started going to church with him and meeting with the missionaries. The day before she was supposed to be baptized, she was struggling and opened the Bible and pleaded with God to reveal to her if she shouldn't get baptized. She felt like she shouldn't. She finds out that her family had been praying for her to not get baptized and she continues to have very tangible spiritual experiences that lead her to develop a strong relationship with Jesus Christ and become a pastor at her church. It was a pretty compelling story. She had cancer and was healed by being prayed over, the doctors were amazed by the miracle. She saw people receive sight and all sorts of things. Anyways after this experience, my companion was pretty shook up. I was rather excited. We got her number and set up a time to meet again, but my companion was really nervous. We talked a little and came home and he talked to President Richardson. President Richardson told the story of Parley P. Pratt and the manifestations of evil spirits in the context of D&C 50. Anyways, this is the second time that I have been in a situation like this, and both times my companion has been pretty distraught at the absence of the Spirit. I felt the tangible absence of the Spirit too, but I've also felt peace and a desire to learn more so I can help teach them. My patriarchal blessing speaks of the gift of discernment as my primary gift. I've never felt a real manifestation of this gift until realizing today that the gift of discernment has blessed me throughout my mission and throughout life. Even though this experience was a little unconventional, I felt like God was giving me a miracle, something that would fortify my faith as I begin this next phase of my mission.  The Church is true. 

-Elder Dahl

Faith: A Principle of Action and of Power!

We had zone conference this week which was awesome like always. Sister Richardson talked about consecration, you can't be like the savior if you're casual in your discipleship. Give your heart, and He will give you power. President talked about how the law of a fallen world is entropy. So we must have momentum-- positive slope-- because everything will naturally deteriorate if we aren't making progress. Putting off the natural man requires yielding up our stuff and our hearts. It was incredible. I'm so grateful to have such wise mission leaders who emulate their understanding. The next day, I gave a training on faith at district council. I've been studying the Lectures on Faith and am in awe of the depth of the gospel. Here's a quote:

Were this class to go back and reflect upon the history of their lives, from the period of their first recollection, and ask themselves, what principle excited them to action, or what gave them energy and activity, in all their lawful avocations, callings and pursuits, what would be the answer? Would it not be that it was the assurance which we had of the existence of things which we had not seen, as yet?— Was it not the hope which you had, in consequence of your belief in the existence of unseen things, which stimulated you to action and exertion, in order to obtain them? Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom and intelligence? Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown if you had not believed that you would reap? Would you have ever planted if you had not believed that you would gather? Would you have ever asked unless you had believed that you would receive? Would you have ever sought unless you had believed that you would have found? Or would you have ever knocked unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you? In a word, is there any thing that you would have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previously believed? Are not all your exertions, of every kind, dependant on your faith? Or may we not ask, what have you, or what do you possess, which you have not obtained by reason of your faith? Your food, your raiment, your lodgings, are they not all by reason of your faith? Reflect, and ask yourselves, if these things are not so.

We are exercising faith all the time! Faith is the only way action comes about. If someone is lacking motivation, they are lacking faith. Having faith in God requires 3 things: First, The idea that He actually exists. Secondly, A correct idea of His character, perfections, and attributes. Thirdly, An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to his will. 

Faith is a principle of action and of power! 

Ether 12:16:

Yea, and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after.

It is the principle by which the world was created. I love President Nelson's talk, "Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains." He explains 5 things we can do to increase our faith.

First, study. Become an engaged learner. Immerse yourself in the scriptures to understand better Christ’s mission and ministry. Know the doctrine of Christ so that you understand its power for your life. . . .

Second, choose to believe in Jesus Christ. If you have doubts about God the Father and His Beloved Son or the validity of the Restoration or the veracity of Joseph Smith’s divine calling as a prophet, choose to believe and stay faithful. . . .

Third, act in faith. What would you do if you had more faith? Think about it. Write about it. Then receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith.

Fourth, partake of sacred ordinances worthily. Ordinances unlock the power of God for your life.

And fifth, ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help.

We had a friend come to church! Small success but I'm grateful. Love you guys! 

-Elder Dahl

We Heeded Them Not

I had exchanges with Elder Peterson this week! It was super fun to hang out and learn from him and his example. Nobody that we're teaching seems to understand the importance of coming to church, but we're working on that. The ward is really beginning to trust me, it's pretty cool to see. I was asked to speak yesterday and it was the first time in my life that I went over my allotted time. Sometimes my growth is gradual enough that I don't notice it until I have a big moment of realization. I spoke on Elder Bednar's talk, "But We Heeded Them Not." It was one of my favorites from conference-- it's so important to stay close to the Word. To hold fast! What a scary world we live in-- read the Book of Mormon if you haven't yet. I testify that that book is a miracle and one that will change your life. It will make you a happier, more Christlike person, it will give you desires to serve and love those around you and to become a better human. This transfer is moving quick! Jesus Christ is the only sure foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12.) The future looms large. I hope I'm doing enough now to be prepared for the mists of darkness ahead of me. Make good decisions! 

-Elder Dahl