Amazing Things Happening In Marceline Missouri

October 20, 2014

HIIIIII EVERYBODY,

Week two here in Marceline, Missouri, can you believe it friends and family? WOW, I AM EXCITED TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK.

First off. Emilee is now a married woman!!!!!! I need you all to write me about that. I AM DYING TO HEAR ABOUT IT. I hope there was a cardboard cut out of me there. But for real, CONGRATS EMILEE. So happy for you.

This week we had a Halloween party with the branch. It went really well and it was so fun!
The inactive dad of the family we are working with came, and that was A HUGE STEP FOR HIM.
Our Halloween party was a success. Mom I thought about you.

We are teaching a sweet girl that is in high school.  During our lesson we asked her how she was doing.  She mentioned that her grandpa was sick and had cancer in his throat. He was going into surgery soon and she was very worried. The spirit prompted us to tell her about Priesthood blessings and we asked her if we could go visit her grandparents.  She agreed that we should go. We went over and taught her grandpa and his wife about Priesthood blessings and we testified about the gospel.  The spirit was there and it was powerful. He wanted a blessing, so we gathered two priesthood holders to come over to their home.  Although we couldn't be there for the blessing, because we had another teaching appointment, we were so happy that we could provide him with comfort as he went into surgery. I am happy to say that he is doing well after surgery and they got the cancer out. GOD IS PERFORMING MIRACLES HERE.

This is a funny story for you. So no one, REPEAT no one, besides the members. really acknowledge that we are missionaries.  The people here just go about their business, which is really strange for me, being from UTAH. One night we walked into the gas station and the boy working there walked passed us and said, "Sister missionaries in Marceline, NO WAY!"  You guys… I snapped my fingers and did a 180 spin…and he started laughing. I WAS SO HAPPY. We learned that he had fallen away from the church, but he just had a brother return from a mission in Mexico. (SHOUT OUT BEN). He told us that he didn't want to talk about the church, but he was the nicest guy. We will be back to do our missionary work at the gas station, don't you worry. We will bring him BACK. My companion and I are still laughing about my snap and spin. It is now a classic, we joke about.

Remember me talking about the nice family we are teaching? The inactive mom, who is now reactivated, the non-member dad and the daughters. WELL GUESS WHAT? We have been meeting with them and teaching them.  The mom and daughters have been coming to church.            
WELL GUESS WHO HAS BAPTISM DATES FOR NOVEMBER 15!!! THE THREE GIRLS ages 16, 14, and 12.   We taught them about The Restoration and they were beaming. I told them about Joseph Smith's account of what happened.  I looked over at the 16 year old and asked her how that made here feel and she had the BIGGEST smile on here face.  She said, "It makes me SO EXCITED." I wanted to cry. We asked them to pray to know if these things were true and
the 14 year old said,  "I don't think I need to pray, I already know." I wanted to cry even harder. We encouraged them to read The Book Of Mormon and keep praying. We asked them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on November 15 and they said YES with no hesitation. Lets talk about the spirit, boy was it there and it was SO STRONG. We bore our testimony to them and the mom looked directly in our eyes and said, “We have been through a lot of missionaries and I think it is time, we have been waiting for you.” YOU GUYS, I AM SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. I needed to come here and find the sweet family. We are having FHE with them tonight and we are so excited.

I went on exchanges to Columbia after Zone Council. My companion for the day was a Sister from Idaho. She taught me a lot and she was wonderful. I was in shock being in Columbia. It had a retail mall, restaurants, and actual houses like UTAH? What?.... We went to dinner at a member’s home and I walked into the house, telling them how much I loved it and they just laughed. IT WAS LIKE HOME!!!!! Columbia is NOTHING like my sweet little Marceline town.

 BIG HIGHLIGHT OF MISSION SO FAR.

I am a long distance from the mission home in St. Louis, and President Morgan is a very busy man. We received a phone call on Friday morning and it was President Morgan. He talked to my companion and I could see that she was really happy. She got off the phone and said, "PRESIDENT MORGAN IS COMING TO MARCELINE."  She explained to me that he had heard about the success we were having and he wanted to come visit the town, meet our investigators, and meet the members at church. WE WERE SO THRILLED.

He came with Sister Morgan on Saturday evening and we went to dinner in Brookfield. GUESS WHERE WE WENT? Pizza Hut. That is like the only restaurant that is decent here, so we went and it was the best night. We talked about the people that we were teaching and all that good stuff. He told us that he hasn't heard of any other missionaries right now in the mission that have a teaching pool of 14 people in two weeks and getting 4 baptismal dates in two weeks. HE WAS SO PROUD.

We walked around Main Street in Marceline.  We showed them around and told stories about the places we were walking by and the experiences we have had so far. It was such a delight. President and Sister Morgan are so wonderful. We giggled a bunch. President got a kick out of our 911 call. HE LAUGHED AND LAUGHED.

President Morgan had to see our trailer church for himself. They came to church with us on Sunday. The members of the branch were so happy to meet him. Never had a mission president been to such a tiny branch in Marceline. He watched us interact with the members, and the members kept telling President and Sister Morgan how we have already made a big impact and that the branch members have been praying for the both of us to come for a long time now. PRESIDENT MORGAN WAS SO PROUD.

Next, President and Sister Morgan came with us to visit one of our investigators. Our investigator is the sweetest lady; she has a baptism date for November 29th. We couldn't all fit inside, so we had the lesson outside of her trailer. We sat and taught her about the gospel. We all read out of the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 8 and 11. Just picture it please; IT WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY. Sister Montgomery and I testified to her that the person we represent is the way and the light to make it back safely home to Heavenly Father. The spirit guided me to know what to say to her, so I just kept testifying to her about the things that I know to be true and how I have watched Heavenly Father pick me up and carry me, even through my hardest trials. We shared personal experiences with her and the spirit was there. President and Sister Morgan added some comments at the end and their words were POWERFUL.     BEST DAY SO FAR!    All 4 of us reading out of the Book Or Mormon with our investigator outside of her trailer and testifying of our Savior. BESTTTTT DAYYYYY EVVVVVEEEERRR. Our investigator said a prayer to close and it was the most tender thing. THE SPIRIT WAS STRONG.

We got in the car after the lesson and we kind of just sat there together.  President said, “Sister Dahlberg you have only been here for 2 weeks. WAYYYYY TOOOOOO GOOOOO." Sister Morgan expressed how proud she was of us. Never have I felt so much joy in my life. MY HARD WORK IS SHOWING AND PAYING OFF. The spirit guided me through that lesson, it was a message that God wanted our investigator to hear; I was just being an instrument in Heavenly Father's hand.

We said our goodbyes to President and Sister Morgan.  They had a 3½-hour drive ahead of them to get back to St. Louis. President talked to me and told me how proud he was of me. He watched us interact with the members and he knows that we are supposed to be here. He said, “I am going to send you a talk about how two Sister missionaries changed an area and changed the mission and the talk is going to be about YOU AND SISTER MONTGOMERY.” Sister Morgan told that as she walked on the streets of Main Street she could feel that we were supposed to be here and exciting things were coming.

Knowing that the Mission President and his wife are proud of us and the work we are doing makes everything that has been hard, SO WORTH IT.

MARCELINE was so lucky to have President and Sister Morgan for a few days. WOW THE LORD IS BLESSING US. I LOVE WITNESSING THE LORD’S MIRACLES. I AM JUST AN INSTRUMENT IN HIS HANDS. THE SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE.

YOU GUYS, THIS WORK IS SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, in this little town of MARCELINE.

I love being a missionary.
I love watching miracles.
I love missionary work.
I love the members here.
I love the investigators.

MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT YOU ALL BACK AT HOME. I AM PRAYING FOR YOU.

WRITE ME!

May we all come closer to The Savior everyday. HE IS THE LIGHT AND THE ROAD MAP TO TAKE US BACK HOME SAFELY.

Sending my love your way. Everyone watch for the miracles in your life. If you aware of them, big or small, they happen every single day.

God is always with us, he is aware of us, and loves us ALL SO much.

LOVE YOU.
LOVE YOU.
LOVE YOU.

Sister Dahlberg