Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Smithsonian Zoo Trip 3-24-2014


Dad,
I’m excited to hear that your building is now a 4 star facility and I see work is crazy as usual. I'm sure you get some better admissions now that the Facility is a 4 star instead of a 2 star, so hopefully less headaches in that aspect.
This week has been good. We were able visit some of our less-actives and visit some of our investigators. Our investigator with the baptismal date wanted it moved back a week so that he could have some of his friends from California come to his baptism. So we are still super excited for him.
On exchanges last time I rode another Elder's bike. Our car doesn't have a bike rack so my bike just stays our balcony. Don't worry it's as close to the apartment as possible. It has a bunch of plastic bags over different parts. I've tested the brakes and the pedals before and they both work fine. The only thing I haven't done is gearshift because the bike has never left the apartment. (My companion doesn't have his bike in this area because another Elder is using it, so I never really have the opportunity to use mine). And I know that the U-lock still works and it's easy to use.
My companion and I went to stake correlation yesterday and we talked about the weaknesses in the wards and about the big culture change the members and missionaries are going through. The old way of missionaries knocking doors is going, going, gone. They spoke about the missionaries’ roles. We are supposed to teach and it is the member’s responsibility to find. They likened it to a merger of two companies and everyone is going through a culture change and getting accustomed to something different. We are really trying to get referrals from members but it is often hard. We've been telling members look for a "no" or look for someone that you think will say no to you if you were to invite them to a church activity and then invite them to come to whatever that is, a dinner, scouts, church, FHE, etc.
Today we went to the DC Zoo. My companion has yet to go there and we are saw how good it was. It's a nice sized zoo and has a lot of stuff. It's no San Diego but it's really nice and free! It's a little cold today (in the 20s) but it's alright. Also it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. So winter just wants to keep hanging out.
Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

Mom,
I'm glad that my aunt, uncle and family are all settled in their new place. And NEVER underestimate a garage. Maryland has no concept of a garage. No one has a garage, only the very affluent and a couple of the condos have them (usually the newer ones). Most homes and condos just have a parking spot. People don't think of houses having a garage as the norm. Speaking of houses they are like the 8th wonder of the world here in my area. Everyone is in a condo or apartment here. Homes are all attached to each other in grand condo complexes. You have to go out to the boondocks to see an actual house.

Today my companion and I went to the Smithsonian Zoo in DC. It's a really nice zoo, some areas didn't have too much because of the cold, but it was really enjoyable. We saw the pandas, and we even saw the baby panda, which sleeps almost all day (around 20 hours or more) and comes out even less. We saw one of the staff members holding it for probably about 10 seconds because everyone was blood-clotting there. The panda came out for a few minutes (I say 2 minutes, my companion says 3) then went back inside away from the people. The baby panda is only 7 months old right now. We also saw things like California Seals, lions, tigers, gorillas, naked mole rats, birds, snakes, etc. It was a fun day and nice to go and enjoy the zoo.

This transfer is just flying by. Wednesday is the temple trip and then next week is transfers. Time feels like it is on a F-16 going full throttle. It's great but it seems like I just got here. It's crazy how fast the mission feels.

The English version of the song we sang should be where you found the original. It was recorded by the same people. The only difference is that it was the special musical number for why I believe. My companion and I sang the first 2 and last 2 verses of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief but the first 2 verses were to the tune of Sweet Hour of Prayer.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. I'm glad to hear that The Family History is going well and you are working on it. Keep asking questions and you'll get the answers. P.S.S. Since I've emailed you my camera started working again. Hopefully it will stay that way and now I have 548 photos on it.

No comments:

Post a Comment