Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Déjà vu 2.0...Written 8-25-2015

I hope that you are doing well and that your week went well too. I'm sure there has been lots of stress around as of late with Mom taking my brother off to college. I'm sure they'll both be fine but everything in the moment just seems too hot to handle.

I cc'd you in my email to Mom since I know she's probably got a lot of other things on her mind right now and will be off in Utah today. I'm back in the Gaithersburg 2nd Ward and it's been a lot of fun. It's a different area than before but I really am enjoying it.

I'm glad everyone is finally getting off and starting school. I'm sure it will be a really different, new chapter with the next oldest brother out of the house now too. Don't stress out about it too much and I'm sure everything will work out fine. At least you can call him all the time still. Plus he'll be just fine at BYU. Tell the G family that I send my condolences and love to them. I'm sure it's crazy hard having their dog pass away.

This week has been a pretty good one. On Monday and Tuesday my companion, Elder H and I went out and visited some of the members and investigators in Mount Pleasant. I said a couple goodbyes but we were pretty busy. I finished packing up and got all ready for the transfer meeting.

Wednesday we had some elders with a car pick us up in DC and drive us over to the transfer meeting. So the big news is that I've been transferred. I'm sure you're dying to know everything. So my new companion is Elder P from Mesa, Arizona. We are serving in the Montgomery Village North area in the Gaithersburg 2nd Ward. So I'm back in the same Ward I started my mission in just in a different area (again). My first two areas in the ward were Germantown and Montgomery Village South. So I'm back in G2 and back in a car. It's weird being back here since its been over a year since I left. It's another big déjà vu moment for me. I'm seeing people like O, Hermano D, J, etc again in church (not my area though). We went and saw a few members in the area and I was introduced to a few people I didn't previously get the chance to meet. Just so you are aware my roommates are Elder C born in Erechim (Erexim), Brazil (in the Porto Alegre North Mission) but lived the majority of his life around Salt Lake City but briefly in Sorocaba, Brazil (by São Palo). Also Elder T again born in Sacramento, CA but lived for a bit in Tonga and then moved to Washington State. I'm sure you're happy to know I've been safe and sound this whole time. No problems here only hard work and fun. My new address is in Gaithersburg, MD.

Thursday my companion and I had a really great lesson with a referral that we received. It is a Mexican family and we were able to catch them at home and teach them the restoration. It was a lesson with a good spirit and then they invited us to come by again. We then stopped by an active member's home to see how she was doing. It turns out she was pretty sick and feeling very under the weather. We were able to offer her a blessing and give her some comfort. It was a small miracle that Heavenly Father gave to us. On our way out, we contacted a man that was really interested in the church. He took us talking to him as a message of God and he really wanted to go to the Visitors' Center and see what it was like. I was excited to have such another amazing experience.

Friday and Saturday we were able to contact a few people and see an investigator or two. It is nice getting to know all the people we are working with here and begin to watch their progression. We have this awesome investigator that is in a part-member family. He used to be uninterested but has really sparked desires as of late. He's learning little by little but he's doing almost everything that we ask him to do. I am glad I get the chance to know him now and help him come unto Christ.

On Sunday we went to church and it was fun seeing so many familiar faces again. We had a bunch of meetings after church so I couldn't really talk to anyone after church but I did get some hellos in before church. Elder Perkins of the [First Quorum of the] Seventy came after church for a stake missionary correlation that the missionaries, ward mission leaders, and bishops were invited to. We talked about missionary work in the stake and learned a lot of new things. 

 Elder Anthony D. Perkins


My companion and I then went with the Germantown Elders to Hermana O's house for dinner. It was a fun night and we had a great lesson as well.

The reason we didn't have P-Day on Monday was because we had Elder Perkins of the Seventy come and have a mission tour. Seneca and DC Zones had their "revelatory experience" (meeting) on Monday for the larger portion of the day. It was really a great day. I was selected as one of the six interviewees for the 2 zones. It was cool be interviewed by a general authority and it was mostly concerning the mission and how I feel about it. It was really great. Elder Perkins gave wonderful workshops and we had some great practicing for missionary work. He talked a lot about being diligent, finding, and inviting. Afterwords, we went to a member's home and had dinner and a lesson.

So I guess both my birthday's have fallen on a P-Day this year. I just started using my new iPad case from one set of grandparents which is really nice and I received a lovely card from the other grandparents. The Zone Leaders usually end up going to the Mission Office on Saturday to pick up mail and supplies for the week in Seneca. I don't really have any plans today nor do I really know what to do. It's been nice to relax today. Hermana O and Sister Cooke already sent me birthday texts. My roommates made me waffles this morning which was really nice especially since it's my favorite breakfast.

I hope you and my brother drive safe and have a great trip. I don't have wifi in my new apartment but you should be leaving in 5 minutes if all goes well. Take care and be safe.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

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