February 2015 "Missouri to Illinois"

February 2, 2015

HIIIIIIIIII,

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!!!!!!!

It is me, Sister Dahlberg in a library in this tiny little town, Marceline. Transfer calls will be on Saturday and I have a feeling this may be my last week here in Marceline..... mixed emotions about that. I will have been here 4 1/2 months, 3 transfers, 18 weeks.... WHO CAN BELIEVE THAT? 20 missionaries are going home this transfer and only 3 ELDERS are coming in. President said on our weekly email that we will soon have less than 200 missionaries in the mission and I don't believe we have new sisters coming in anytime soon. The wave from the age change is now going home and so we don't have the numbers to "refill" their spots. President said that a lot of areas will have to be closed, also a lot of "sister" areas will be taken over by elders. I think that they will keep sisters here, but I think I will probably get transferred. HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO SAY GOODBYE TO EVERYONE HERE???????????? HOW AM I GOING TO SAY GOODBYE TO DELORIS SMITH??????????????????? AHHHHHHHHH.........

Sister Hayden was able to go to the temple trip because she reached her 9-month mark this transfer!!!! So we drove to Columbia and when Sister Hayden went to the temple with everyone else that hit their half way or end of mission mark, I stayed in Columbia and served with Sister Montgomery and Sister Hayden!!!!  MISSION TRIO FOR THE DAY! soooooooo fun! Columbia reminds me more of home and the people remind me of home. We went to a FANCY dinner at a member’s home.  The table was on this really light carpet....... the whole time I kept thinking DON'T SPILL SISTER DAHLBERG .  Sister Montgomery turned to me and told me that is was proper manners to cut my meat with my left hand, so I was like oppppps and I switched the knife and ATTEMPTED to be "proper" because these people were the definition of proper.  I struggled to cut that turkey and then Sister Montgomery just started giggling................ Then I realized she tricked me......... Oh I miss her teasing me.  I love her so much and it was so fun serving with her again! 

We have been teaching Logan this week, simple and fun lessons! He will be getting baptized this Saturday at 4! It is this Saturday so his sister from school can come! It will be small, just the family, the branch president and his wife, and us and Don will baptize him! WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT. The White family has been such a miracle for me. The mom was talking about transfers and she said, "we hate to see you go and we will all cry, but there are other families out their that are waiting for you. They will need you to change their lives. You changed our families life." SERIOUSLY HOW AM I GOING TO SAY GOODBYE TO THESE PEOPLE THAT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE AND ADORE?

Okay funnnnnnnnyyyyyyyy story- we received a referral from some sweet lady that called us, so we tried to call the referral, but no one would answer, so a few days later after coming home from Meadville, we decided to contact them at their home.... so we get driving....and all of a sudden this road turns into this CREEPY DIRT ROAD.....that went on forever..... In my head I was thinking, there is no way there is a house in the middle of nowhere...... Sister Hayden and I kind of were talking and having the nervous giggle.... like oh  .....this is going to be a exciting journal entry...... we kept driving and there was a house!!!  We pulled in and 3 people came out of the house, we were about 30 feet away, and they staring yelling at us. Well I went to get out of the car and 2 dogs about bit off my face......okay I am being dramatic...............but seriously I was scared and there was no way I was able to get out of the car. But Sister Hayden got out of the car and told them that we were looking for a Lea and asked if she lived there.... they said yes and tried to make it clear that they were Christian and we were not.....we were Mormons............ HAHAHAHAHAHAHA well we are Christian too Sister Hayden started to say and before she could finish her sentence they shut the door and I heard a little girl inside say mom who was it? and in a mean voice, she said THE MORMONS..................... If I could have timed how fast we got in the car and got out of that driveway..................HAHAHAHAHAHAHA But seriously, I got home and got thinking, we serve in areas where Joseph Smith and the Saints went through hard things, people were so mean to them here in Missouri, the places I am serving and I felt even more love for courageous Joseph Smith. Yet our experience was small and I know he went through a lot more, I felt a piece of what he felt and it was humbling.  

Also to add to this weeks journey..... it snowed.....not even a lot.......and CHURCH GOT CANCELLED!!!! So yesterday was the longest day................... no one wants to listen to missionaries when the super bowl is on...................... and it always fun contacting door to door when it is snowing......... OH BOY and let me tell you something.... a potential investigator answered the door in his underwear and yelled at us that he had the flu. PEOPLE HERE ARE SO INTERESTING!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Okay something that I want to share from studies this morning- I was reading in Alma 42 28-31 about Alma speaking to his son Corination, Coriantion was a man who didn't make the best choices, just like us all, we all sin and we all need the mercy from the atonement. Sister Hayden and I have been talking about TRULY HOW POWERFUL THE ATONEMENT IS. Everyone makes mistakes, we are HUMAN. Heavenly Father knew that we would need a savior. How special is it that someone loved us so much that he suffered and died for each one of our sins? not just mine.....but for yours too..... for every person....... How comforting is it knowing that Jesus Christ knows our pains and our sufferings? There is no one on this earth that can say, no one understands because HE UNDERSTANDS. The Lord rebukes us to help us become better and he is always so full of love. Faith and Fear do not, and CAN NOT go together. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ we all can have guilt replaced with joy. WE HAVE TO AND MUST listen to the correct voice. Heavenly Father is full of mercy!!!!!!!!!!!! Repentance is not scary, it simply means to change and try harder to become better, in no way does it mean to be perfect. No one is perfect. I think often we hold sins on us and we let our bricks weigh us down, when Heavenly Father really is looking down saying no, the price has been paid..... "stand and sin no more." Truly, the more I learn about this beautiful gospel, the more happiness I feel. IT IS FULL OF HOPE FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON. WHY HAVEN'T I READ THE BOOK OF MORMON SOONER????????? my life has been changed FOREVER.....seriously forever. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, open up that book right now and watch it change your life because I promise it will! AHHHHHHHH THIS GOSPEL IS SO PERFECT!

Well transfers are coming up! Will I stay or will I go!? AHHHHHHHHH....... It has been so funny and fun to see Sister Hayden get used to serving here because I was in her shoes not too long ago.

OH MARCELINE WILL ALWAYS BE SO SPECIAL TO ME! Logan's baptism is this week and DON IS BAPTIZING HIM! We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all and appreciate your support and love!

Give Utah a shout out for me! Oh how I miss that place!

sister dahlberg sends her love from Missouri!

February 9, 2015

Hello,

It is Sister Dahlberg emailing for the last time here in little Marceline Missouri........ Yes, I am getting transferred. BYE BYE MARCELINE. We had transfer calls Saturday night and I made sure once Sister Montgomery got word from the AP's and Zone Leaders she was to call us FIRST. I had a feeling I was leaving, but it still hasn't set in.... Packing disaster at our apartment. hahaha Mom, I hope you haven't fallen over yet......no I am not going to east St. Louis..... sisters are not allowed there.... dang...... but I am going to JACKSONVILLE ILLINOIS!!!!! AND GET THIS................ I AM GOING TO LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE!!! I still am an English-speaking missionary, but that area learns sign language. HOW COOL IS THAT? SOOOOOOO EXCITED. Sister Hayden is staying here and a Sister Rapp(never met) is taking my place. Sister Montgomery and Sister Hayden served around my new companion and I hear she is AWESOME AND SUPER HILARIOUS!!!! She was in the MTC the same time as Sister Montgomery. So I am really excited, but I am sad to leave these sweet people here in Marceline. They seriously have changed my life forever. Tomorrow is my last day and then transfer meeting is on Wednesday, so I will be in my new area, in a DIFFERENT STATE Wednesday evening. Oh and get this, Sister Herdman (the sister that got sick from the milk) was my STL here in Columbia, but she got transferred to Illinois, so she will be my STL AGAIN! Who can believe I am going to Illinois? Who can believe I will be learning sign language? SO COOL.

This week was AWESOME!!!!!!!! We ran into a member at Wal-Mart and she invited us over to lunch, they live in the middle of nowhere.....dogs and cats everywhere. But she was super nice and told us all about her conversion story and we just showed that we cared and loved her and her heart seemed to soften up a little bit! Also we were in Wal-Mart and a lady walked by with her little girls and she looked at us and said, “Look who I found." we were like uhhhhh.... I was thinking no one really notices or says anything to missionaries here.....well turns out she was just visiting her parents in the area and she was a member and served a mission. We talked missions for a while and giggled she was super awesome! I looked at one of the little girls and I asked her, “Are you going to serve a mission someday?”  She looked at me with a smile on her face and said YESSS!!! 

We went over and taught Logan this week a bunch before his baptism, we taught him about keeping the Sabbath day holy and we drew what we thought the new church building was going to look like here in Marceline! He asked "next time can we draw temples?" SO CUTE.

Oh so fun, this week The Whites asked us to come over and do service and they told us to dress accordingly. So I assumed we were ripping off wallpaper and painting......but we got there and everyone was smiling SOOOO BIG. Jennifer told us that we were going to have a special night before Logan's baptism and we had a family craft night. We made games out of felt fabric and Velcro for little Noah to play with during church. I made finger puppets and they ruled. And Sister Hayden made a farm for them to go in! We ate pizza on the floor and all enjoyed one another!!!!!!!! Jennifer went to sleep before we were done making the crafts because she works during the night, before we left to go home we started cleaning up the craft mess and I told Sister Hayden, lets clean this whole room, so when she wakes up she is happy!! We ran around. literally ran trying to clean up that room.  When we left I was so tired, but I couldn't stop smiling. SERVING OTHERS IS THE BEST. Logan made Sister Hayden and I little pillows the night before his baptism, sweetest thing ever. I told him I would keep it with me my whole mission. It is adorable. I am not ready to say goodbye to their family tonight, not ready at all. We taught little Noah, 3 years old how to pray and it is the cutest thing in the world. 

Oh this week our cars got grounded one night at 8:00....so we walked and I was ice-skating on the roads. There were no cars out. No people out. I was running and sliding in the middle of the roads, small towns rule! You HAVE to make missionary work FUN! Such a fun night ice skating to a member’s house.

THIS WEEK I LEARNED ALL ABOUT CHURCH HISTORY. I AM FASCINATED. All about Joseph Smith and the Saints and everything.... FUN FACT. In my area right now we have a placed called the yellow river and that was were Joseph Smith escaped from the sheriffs and went back to

Nauvoo Illinois. RIGHT HERE. Also the saints would have crossed through Marceline when they were going to Quincy Illinois!!!!!! CHURCH HISTORY RIGHT HERE. We are only an hour from Adamondiahmahn. Farr west is close to us and Nauvoo!!!! COOOOOOLLLLLLL RIGGGGHHHHTT? CHURCH HISTORY RULES. Have I walked where Joseph Smith has walked? AHHHHHH!!!!

FRIDAY WAS LOGAN'S BAPTISM!!!! The White girls also made me a pillow and told everyone to sign it and surprised me with it at Logan's baptism, it says, "best sister ever" on it! I told them I would keep it my whole mission too! We hadn't heard if I was getting transferred yet, but I think everyone secretly was preparing for it, I know I was. GOODBYES ARE SO HARD.

OKAY LOGAN WAS SO HAPPY AT HIS BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the kids got out of school early and I guess his parents were late....and Logan cried, thinking he was going to miss his baptism. When they got to the Macon building they were ALL SO HAPPY.

The baptism was just small, with family, the branch president.  After DON BAPTIZED HIM, everyone was just smiling SO BIG. Coolest day ever. Seriously. BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!! IT WAS THE GREATEST DAY EVER. I don't know if I have ever been that happy. TRULY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!! DON WAS JUST BAPTIZED 2 WEEKS AGO AND HE GOT TO BAPTIZE HIS SON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .I LOVE LITTLE LOGAN!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THE WHITE FAMILY!!! I LOVE THESE PEOPLE HERE!!!!!

Well I am leaving Marceline and I am so sad. The people here have changed me forever, I keep telling them that I will come and visit them when I return home from my mission, so family get ready and pack your bags because you are coming back to Marceline!!!!!!!!!!! I am sad to say goodbye to the people that have changed my life forever, but I am excited for the next journey of my mission! Marceline has been such a wonderful journey, a journey that I will never ever forget. I will always hold Marceline close to my heart, forever and ever and ever. I am ready to serve the people of Jacksonville and I look forward to the journey ahead! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE MARCELINE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! It is bittersweet, but I know that The Lord needs me somewhere else now! I often think, what if I wouldn't have come on my mission? I would have not been able to meet any of these wonderful people. I am so grateful that I came! SO VERY GRATEFUL! I LOVE IT!

We have some appointments to see people and that will be goodbye.... The White family is tonight! I already have started saying goodbye to people and it is so hard! But this is all part of the journey. Goodbye Marceline, Hello Jacksonville!!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU ALL! I love you all to pieces.

Have a wonderful week! Be Christ like and recognize the love he has for you and also read or listen to "what is the blueprint of Christ's church" this week!!!!!!!!!!

I love you. 

We are so blessed to be a part of the gospel, never take it for granted. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, use the atonement daily and let CHRIST change your life forever because I promise you, if you let him, He will! Lean on Heavenly Father! HE LOVES YOU. "If you could only see yourself, the way I do." LET THIS GOSPEL CHANGE YOUR LIFE because it sure has changed mine forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

love you all so much!

I send my love from Missouri and soon from Illinois!!!!

love, Sister Dahlberg 

p.s, I don't know my new address yet, but I will FOR SURE LET YOU KNOW NEXT WEEK!

February 16,2015

Family and friends,

Wow, I am in my second area and I am almost at 5 months. Crazy. Because of Presidents day yesterday we are emailing today. Side note- we went into Springfield yesterday for P-Day and we went to the Abraham Lincoln museum, Target, and Ross. wow, wow. wow.

I am in Illinois and I would be lying if I told you I didn't miss Marceline deeply. Although, I do love this area. My companion, Sister Haderlie is from Orem Utah, she just turned 20 and she has been out a year on the 26th! SHE IS THE FUNNIEST HUMAN EVER. We literally laugh all the time. no joke. At night we lay in our beds and talk about our day and laugh and laugh and laugh. She is the funniest person ever. I love her so much. Our personalities are the same , but she is like 46544321321321 times funnier than I am. wow, I love her!

A sweet lady got baptized this Saturday in Illinois.  I feel so blessed to have been able to meet her and serve here. Her sweet, new testimony is strong and powerful. It makes me want to become a better person.

Okay I know you are all wondering how in the world I moved all my stuff...... it was successful! I am not sure how I packed it all...........but hey, miracles happen everyday!

The first lesson I taught here in Jacksonville was to a deaf man.  He is a member reactivating. I just smiled and Sister Haderlie did most of the signing. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have experienced. I just wanted to cry, watching him sign and pray to Heavenly Father...... you guys it was the most amazing thing. I just sat there smiling so big and I got to feel how much Heavenly Father loves him.

There is a deaf school in this area, so we have sign class once a week. Sister Haderlie is super good at signing. We have sign lessons tonight. I have already learned some gospel words and the ABCs! There is a sign interpreter at church and it is amazing. I signed the ABCs to a deaf man at church and he smiled and signed back, "good!" We also met some deaf people and I actually followed most of the conversation! AHHHH! I love being a missionary.

A lot of people live in government housing, a lot of our teaching pool. We live in an old hotel that has been converted to apartments. There are a lot of people from Africa here that know French in our apartment building.

There is a family the sisters have been working with and they are preparing to be baptized in March. I met them on Sunday and it was awesome! It was really cool Sister Haderlie told me the other night, "You are exactly what this area needs." It made me feel good and that I was where I needed to be, where Heavenly Father needs me, even though I miss Marceline so much. I know President Morgan is inspired by our loving Heavenly Father and this is where I am needed now.

Funny thing--- Sister Rapp and I just switched areas and companions. I saw her at transfer meeting and just told her how much she was going to love Marceline and how lucky she was to be able to serve there! The members have been emailing me and been keeping me updated on that cute town, boy I miss it!

The people here are great! I really am happy! I love being a missionary so much! I love it. I love it. I love it.

I feel like there is so much more to say, but I don't even know where to begin! I am so happy to be on this journey serving The Lord. Sister Dahlberg is in Jacksonville and I EVEN SAW THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON THE WAY HERE!

May I share a quote with you that I found during studies?

"Might we all be lifted, helped, even carried at times by our beloved savior, the lord Jesus Christ. He feels what we feel, he knows our heart. It was his mission to wipe away our tears, cleanse our wounds, and bless us with his healing power. He can carry us home to our heavenly father with the strength of his matchless love." -Sister Margaret D. Nadauld

Happy late Valentines day and happy late Presidents day.  I love you all!

Oh family, I had a funny dream that you came to church on my mission and I thought............you can’t be here? What are you doing? President and sister Morgan were there.....and I was like oh no........... hahahahah I woke up laughing.

THR CHURCH IS SO TRUE AND I AM SO HAPPY TO BE A  PART OF THIS MISSIONARY ARMY!

love, Sister Dahlberg

p. s. did you hear that Deloris called President Morgan to try to convince him to let me stay in Marceline????????????? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA