Another Week in the Life...Written 9-28-2015

Things sound like it has been going really well and busy as ever. Dad sounds like he is doing great and getting a lot better. That is awesome how things are doing.

This week has been busy we were teaching a ton of less-active members and investigators. I'm not really sure what to write this week but things have been going well. We've been having some really good lessons with our investigators.

Today we had our zone activity where we made and are breakfast and enjoyed hanging out. The we played some volleyball and soccer. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.

Seneca Zone Activity 9-28-2015

Transfers are this Wednesday with my companion and I staying together in Montgomery Village North. It is crazy to think that it is my last transfer is approaching. I am glad to be staying here and am exited to continue to work here and bring others closer to Christ. It feels like yesterday I just came out here. I'm excited to see what this next transfer has in store. 

I also am really excited for General Conference coming up and there should be some great talks coming up.

So I'm at a complete loss of what else to write but I hope that you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

Mom: Let's see--what to write...

what did you cook and eat for breakfast?

tell us more about your companion-where is he from, what are his hobbies, is he 1st missionary in his family, siblings, etc

Are your other 2 roommates being transferred this week?

What are you going to sing next? With whom?

Does it feel like fall yet?

Elder Dahl: I think I can take a hint...

Bacon, waffles, pancakes, orange juice, milk, with syrup and whipped cream.

My companion is from Mesa Arizona, has a younger brother and sister, his mom is a convert his dad served a mission in Italy, he enjoys bow hunting, sleeping, eating food that other people cook for him, blowing things up, etc

Both of my roommates are staying (Elder C and Elder T)

No plans for singing yet (the new VC director doesn't like musical performances so much)

Yes it feels like fall, it's getting cooler the leaves are already changing, getting windier and cloudier

Great Falls...Written 9-21-2015

It certainly sounds like a busy weekend. I don't think things ever seem to calm down at home. I'm glad you had an enjoyable weekend and that all went well. I hope you found some fun in the stress of all of it. It must have been fun having my oldest brother back for a bit and I'm sure he enjoyed it too.

This week has been a busy one. Monday evening, my companion and I went to one of the members in our area and had dinner with her and her non-member husband. It was a nice dinner and we were able to share a short lesson with them. The husband isn't very interested but we still had a lot of conversation with him. We also went and found a less-active member that neither of us had previously met. She has a strong testimony and still believes in much of the doctrine but was exposed to some anti-Mormon material and decided to stop going to church. It's sad to see that but she was very open and receptive with us so we have hope and will continue to work with her.

Tuesday I was on exchanges with the Quince Orchard Ward Elders. I was visiting the English program and it was an awesome day. We met briefly with an investigator that they had lost contact with and we reestablished some connection with them. We also visited with a couple less-active families. In the evening, we had dinner with a member who had her non-member cousin and family over for dinner. It was a great evening and lots of fun.

Wednesday my companion and I checked up on a less-active member we have been trying to help return to activity. She is very nice and wants to start coming back to church. We spoke about studying the scriptures daily and church attendance. It was a great lesson for the time we had with her. We also had an amazing lesson with our 9-year-old investigator and 2 of his member friends that are the same age. We talked a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the lesson he committed to baptism! He has a phobia of going underwater but really wants to be baptized. It was so cool to see that lesson and the help from his peers being great member missionaries at a young age.

On Thursday we had a awesome lesson with one of the potential investigators we had in our list of investigators. She is a super awesome lady and is so ready to hear the gospel. We had an amazing Restoration lesson with her and she believes in everything that we taught her. We are so excited to keep working with her and see her progress in the gospel. 

Friday we went looking for a lot of our potential investigators. We found a few of them and we found a few new potential investigators along the way. We were able to be out and busy for the day. Then on Saturday we were checking up on our less-active members and getting to know them better. 

Sunday was great. We had a "Why I Believe" fireside at the Temple Visitors' Center and we had a lot of people from our area attend. John and Hannah Smith spoke who are well-known lawyers in the community. Bro. Smith is a convert and a descendant of George Albert Smith. He was the lead lawyer for Homeland Security for President Bush. Sis. Smith works at a law firm that promotes religious freedoms and has served 2 clerkships in the Supreme Court.

It has been a really fun day today. Today my companion and I went with our roommates to Great Falls on the Maryland side. It was super beautiful to see and I loved seeing the rapids and falls. We took some fun pictures and really enjoyed going out there. It is a nice short walk out there (.3 miles from the parking lot to the main viewing point).

I hope you're doing well and all continues to be good at the Dahl home.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. The pope is coming on the 23rd and will leave early on the 25th (as told by Sister Cooke)

I'm with Elder P (my companion-tall skinny), Elder T (Tongan), and Elder C (Brazilian)
 at Great Falls on the Potomac (MD side)

¡dos meses!...Written 9-14-2015

I hope that you are doing well and Dad's feeling better. I hope that you have enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa D at the house.

This week has really been great. Today we hung out at the Stake Center with some elders and played basketball and had a nerf gun war. Things have been busy here and my companion and I have been going hard at the area in the work of the lord.

It seems like everything is going well in the family. Everything seems really crazy over there and is starting to settle down.

Things are going well here. I'm don't have many plans for when I get home/college. However, I'm still planning to live at Grandpa and Grandma's home. I don't really know about anything for college. I know there are a few people heading off to Utah State in the future but I don't have any roommate plans and I feel fine being on my own. I feel like you probably know more of my plans for home than I do. Right now my plans are go home, probably find a job for a bit, go to college, live at grandma and grandpa's home, find another job, study (insert whatever I'm going to major in), use my scholarship.

This week has been really good; my companion and I have been working well in the area. We found some new investigators and are still working with those who are progressing. We are having lots of success in the area. We are getting to know the members here as well as the less-active members.

Thanks for all the great updates and have another great week.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

Hello...Written 9-8-2015

It always seems to be busy at home. I'm glad everything is going well and that everything is going alright. Dad, congratulations on losing ## pounds already! That is definitely a positive thing. You are in my prayers.

This week has been really nice. My companion and I have been working on contacting our potential investigator pool a lot. We had around 100 at the beginning of the transfer and we are slowly getting into contact with everyone and seeing if they are still interested. We're now down to 60 potential investigators. Unfortunately, most of them have not been interested in hearing more about the gospel. However, we have picked up 2 as new investigators and have found a lost less-active family from our searches. We've also contacted a few that are interested and have set up appointments with them for this week.

Monday evening we went out looking for some of the potentials far out into our area. Most of them no longer live there but we had this really good conversation with this old man out in front of his house. He didn't really want to change but he thanked us for his visit and he said it got his mind really thinking. It was kind of sad to see his worldly perspective. His kids were more of acquaintances to him and they saw him once every blue moon to catch up. It is really amazing to see the importance of families and how the gospel really blesses people.

Wednesday we taught a lady that is pretty familiar with the church. She has family that are members and has been to the visitors' center. She is cool and was interested in learning more. We had a really good lesson with her and we felt the spirit a lot.

Thursday was a fun day. We had a tire on our truck fail while we were on exchanges. I was driving but luckily the tire blew when we were going only about 10 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood. Thankfully, I knew how to change it and it was all fixed with relative ease. We did find a new potential investigator that day and we taught a great lesson to an existing investigator with our ward mission leader.

Saturday one of the assistants came out with my companion and I in the evening for exchanges. We had two really good appointments with a returning member family and one of our really progressing investigators. The investigator is super close to baptism and it's more of scheduling it. She is going back to work since she has been sick with a fever. So hopefully her schedule will work out quickly so she can be baptized soon. She is an awesome lady and it has been so cool working with her.

Church was great on Sunday and we had some investigators at church. We then went to a few members and had some good lessons. We also checked up on one of our progressing investigators who is doing well.

The reason I didn't email on Monday is because we had a ward picnic on Labor Day. It was a great turn out and we got a few referrals from it. We had a lot of fun and we played a lot of games and did a lot of activities. After the activity, my companion and I went out and had dinner with a member and then went and saw one of our investigators.

It has been a busy week but everything has been going well. We are keeping busy and loving every minute of it.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

Mom: So now that you're in the car do you have the Tiwi system again?

Elder Dahl: Yep. Tiwi is installed on every vehicle in the mission