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)

One and Done...Written 8-17-2015

Well I'm glad to hear things are still normal at home. I don't think there is ever a dull moment at a Dahl house. There always has to be something going on. I'm glad your e-prep project went well and that everything is up to date now. I'm sure it was a pretty daunting task to take on but worth it in the end.

The Taylor Swift Concert sounds like it was really fun. Although it seems like it was a bit of an excursion overall between what you and Mom said it sounds like it was a fun night. I'm glad you got to enjoy her concert. It must have been a really fun night.

I'm glad everyone's getting into the swing of school again. Hopefully Mom is not stressing out too much over the crazy school schedules and my oldest brother heading off [to college].

This week was really good. We had two investigators attend sacrament meeting and we had the confirmation of AM. We were out teaching a lot and it was a fun week. Transfers are this Wednesday and I will be leaving my current area in Mount Pleasant East. We'll see where I end up but it should be a fun new adventure.

It has been a busy and good week. In the evening on Monday Elder H and I went to a member's home nearby and had a great Family Home Evening with them and our recently baptized friend-AM. It was a really fun night and a great lesson.

We kept busy throughout the week. Teaching a lot of people, particularly investigators. We've been focusing on a part-member/less-active family a lot lately. They even came to church in Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours. They were a bit nervous at first but ended up really enjoying it at the end. Their kids all loved primary and wanted to tell them all about it.

On Friday I was on exchanges with the DC 3rd Ward East area. I was with Elder B, an English elder that came out this transfer. It was a really good time and we saw a lot of awesome miracles. We found a less-active member whose records aren't in DC. A referral that Elder H and I sent them the day before (just a phone number) found us and gave us their address. We also moved a member. Plus we were able to teach a lot of people that day. It was a really fun day and I got to know Elder B a lot better.

Saturday we went to a dinner at a buffet for one of the members in the branch. She was having her 80-somethingth birthday and invited the missionaries over to celebrate. It also happened to be Elder Hz's birthday and it was a fun big celebration.

Sunday was a great day! AM was confirmed in Sacrament Meeting. So it was amazing to see that. We had some really good classes as well. Also in the evening we had "Why I Believe" at the Visitors' Center. Jason Hinds, a track and field athlete spoke there. I also sang with a group singing "I Believe in Christ." Unfortunately, they are no longer recording performances for some reason so only pictures from now on. Sorry about that. It wasn't that good of a performance but it was mediocre.

So transfers are this Wednesday and I'll be leaving Mount Pleasant East. It was a quick transfer and now I'm gone. It was really fun being able to be back in Mount Pleasant again even if it was for a short while. I really enjoyed being the east area and it was a great adventure. I won't know where I'll be until Wednesday at the Transfer Meeting. I could go anywhere and I'm not really sure where I'll end up. I'm excited to see where I'll go and serve in my next area. It will be another great transfer. It's crazy how fast the time is flying by. It was great serving with Elder H and I learned a lot from him. It was fun being with him and serving with all the other missionaries in the city.

I hope you have another great week and that things don't get too crazy over at the Dahl house and I loved the update from you. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and getting into the swing of school. Don't stress out too much with my older borther and school and eagle; it will all work out.

"Because I Have Been Given Much" - Accompanied by Sister Oliver

Left to Right: Elders Dahl, Fisher, Hartzog and Tutu'u

Uploaded 8-11-2015

Fall Happenings at the Dahl Apartment in DC...Written 11-17-2014

Written 11-17-2014 

I hope things are going well for you. It's been fun seeing some of your photos on Facebook from your trip to Tahoe and hanging out with the family this last week. I'm glad to hear that everyone is having lots of fun. It was fun seeing some of the photos that you guys had on Facebook. Brother #2, I saw a few pictures of choir tour and it certainly looked like you had a lot of fun. I'm glad to hear you are doing well and keep up all the good things that you are doing.

Today is pretty rainy and still pretty cold. My companion and I walked around Georgetown in the rain and saw the Old Stone House which is the oldest standing building in DC. We also walked and enjoyed the view and saw some cool shops and a very old cemetery. Afterwards, we headed over to the Botanic Gardens. They has some natural carved models of some of the building, museums, and monuments around the National Mall. It was fun going through there again because it's been a while. My companion enjoyed the cacti the most inside the giant greenhouse. I enjoyed seeing all the weird fruits and flowers from some of the plants inside. Plus it was great to go into a greenhouse with desert and jungle ecosystems when it's 40 degrees outside and rainy.

Elder Larry S Kacher

A lot of trees have lost most of their leaves here but still many trees have their leaves in their fall colors. The weather out here is getting colder. Our highs are in the 40s now with lows in the 20s. No snow here yet but they keep sawing it will snow any day now. I'll have to wait and see but it's not too bad right now. I have had to dawn a bit of my winter gear while riding around in DC but so far so good.

Wednesday Elder Larry S Kacher (Second Quorum of the Seventy) came and visited our Mission. We had something similar to a Zone Conference with him almost all day. He spoke to us for the majority of the meeting and it went very well. Those who spoke gave some great talks and it was a wonderful day. In the evening my companion and I went over to the 11-year old's home and visited with him for a bit. He is doing great right now and excited that he was baptized.

Thursday as well we had a meeting with Elder Kacher and all the Branch, Ward, and Stake Councils in our mission. It was another great meeting and it really helped all of us get a better idea of how each council is supposed to function at its maximum.

Friday we had a surprise exchange with the Assistants to the President (APs) and one of them came out with my companion and I. We went and did a lot of GQs [General Questions] at Columbia Heights. Afterwards, we went and had 2 lessons with 2 of our less-active members and we invited them to church. They APs had to leave in the early afternoon but my companion and I continued to visit some of the people in our area.

Saturday one of our roommates was with us for the majority of the day. We all went to the Visitors' Center so I could have a short practice of "Nearer My God to Thee" that we would be performing on Sunday at the Visitors' Center for "Why I Believe" as the special musical number. We had an English class with one of our investigators and it went really well and we invited him to come to church this Sunday.

Sunday was the recently baptized 11 year old's confirmation. I confirmed him in Sacrament Meeting and he is now a member of the Church. He was super excited and it was so great to see him so happy. Two of the other Elders in our branch had a baptism yesterday as well and we stayed for the baptismal service. In the evening, we went to "Why I Believe" where the had Dennis Pitta, one of the football players for the Baltimore Ravens come and speak to us. He gave an excellent talk and the theater was overflowing. It was a great and very spiritual night. I was part of the special musical number and we sang "Nearer My God to Thee" again.

Dennis and Mataya Pitta. Dennis, played football for Brigham Young University and took two years off to serve a mission in the Dominican Republic. He currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens.
He and his wife, Mataya, a dancer, were married in 2008.

Nearer My God to Thee - Performed 11-9-20104 & 11-16-2014 at the 

Washington D.C. Visitors' Center

I hope that you have a great week and that all continues to go well. Have a lot of fun and I love you tons.

Dear Youngest Brother, It sounds like you had a really fun week. You're so lucky to be doing so many fun things. I'm glad to hear Nathaniel, that you likes garlic fries. My favorite fries out here are from Z-Burger. Their seasoned fries then dipped in Z-Sauce (fry sauce and seasoning) are super good. Mom would die though from the burger I get there. I like sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, grilled onions, green peppers, A-1 Sauce, and sometimes pickles on the burger. I've changed a little bit in my tastes now.

I hope you have a fun time with the cousins, grandma, and grandpa. Have a great week.

[Mom wrote him right back...Grandma W says, "He never even ate a burger at home!....Let alone all that stuff on it! I can't believe that kid! I hope he doesn't change when he gets home..." I say "ditto!" As far as changing when you get home, she means that you actually eat all these foods still. ;) Love, Mom]

[Braden's response:] If you think that's a big deal you missed me a ton of turkey this week with stuffing. Also the Ham and Cheese sandwiches with mayo, mustard, pickles, ketchup, tomatoes, pickles; Or the Chicken Salad Sandwiches I have every week. Let alone the pastas. Fried yuca with mild sauce and a little bit of the spicy is SUPER good.

Haha, he's [youngest brother] probably dying. I eat a lot out of things out here now.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Busy, Busy, Busy!...Written 11/10/2014

Written 11/10/2014
This week was really great and really busy. Monday we were packed before, during, and after P-Day. I had a practice at the Visitors' Center, we had to give a blessing, teach an English Class, visit the Elder's Quorum President, and visit a less active. Plus we had one of our roommates with us until the evening. It was a little stressful but a rather successful day.

Practicing our song at the Washington D.C. Visitors' Center

This last Tuesday, my companion and I met a less-active member that we had not previously known. We shared a short message with her and we hope that we will be able to visit with her more in the future. We also were able to meet with another less-active in the evening along with an investigator.

Wednesday we had our Zone Training Meeting which took up our morning. It was a really good meeting and I learned a lot of things and we had a ton of announcements as we are approaching Festival of Lights here which will be at the Washington D.C. Temple and Visitors' Center. We met with the 11-year old boy we've been teaching in the afternoon and worked on the final touches of the baptism with him. We invited his mother to attend the service and explained to the boy what was going to happen.

On Thursday we had another English Class we taught to one of our investigators and it went really well. He is from Peru but has lived in Spain for many years now.

Friday we had lunch as a district from some food a member gave us. After we had lunch together, my companion and I went out to go visit some of the people in our area. We visited a couple members and less-active members and then we had a lesson with one of our progressing investigators.

Saturday we went out 'finding' to try and find some more investigators. We found a few potentials and we hope that they will make the decision to progress in the gospel. We also had a lesson with a progressing investigator about the Book of Mormon. The lesson went really well and we helped them understand more about the Book of Mormon but now it is up to them to ask if the book is true.

Sunday was the Baptism.
As a baptism always is, it was a little stressful. But by the time the service started everything was in order. We had the program put together and most of the members branch attended the baptismal service. My companion baptized him and I will be confirming him next week. It was super great and a wonderful service. We were so excited that he made the decision to be baptized and is trying to live a good life. We are excited to see and hear about his further progress in the church. It is super awesome to have a baptism here and we are hoping that we can have a few more baptisms coming soon. Right after the baptismal service however, we had to bolt to the Visitors' Center so I could perform in the Night of Music and Inspiration. That also was a fun event with many wonderful performances. It was hard singing because they forgot to turn on the feedback mic, so we couldn't hear each other. We only sound good if we can hear each other but 'es la vida.' I think we're performing that song again next Sunday again at the Why I Believe Fireside, but I'm not sure. I'll send the music home in a send stuff home package I'm planning on getting out some time this month. [Mom asked how much we practiced before that night...] We practiced every Friday for a month and once on a Monday. We kinda practice on our own during our free time throughout the week. We also had a member bring his friend to church yesterday and we were able to meet with him and he was able to attend the baptism!

"Nearer My God to Thee" Night of Music & Inspiration Nov. 9, 2014 

Elders Ortega, Dahl, Rushforth, Hansen, Peterson, Fuller, Jamias,Sorensen, Fisher

I'm glad to hear that you had a good week. It seems like you've been really busy lately. I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention to you but last week during our transfer meeting we had the opportunity to watch Meet the Mormons at the Visitors' Center. It was a really good movie and I really liked it.

Today we went downtown. Our roommates and us biked around Jefferson Island (where the Jefferson Memorial is) and saw the nice fall colors along with the Potomac River. We also passed by the George Mason Memorial on the island. Then we went over to the Holocaust museum again. Afterwards, we went over to the Air and Space Museum. It was a nice day and fun to go see some of the fall sights.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

Capture the Vision

We are all in this together. With fellow ward members and missionaries, we plan and pray and help one another. Please keep the full-time missionaries in your thoughts and prayers. Trust them with your family and friends. The Lord trusts them and has called them to teach and bless those who seek Him.

Elder Neil L. Andersen

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance…

John 14:26

The Lord invites us to discover, ponder, search, and evaluate, and thereby come to a personal knowledge of the truth.

Musical Number-I Believe in Christ (Creo en Cristo; ¡El es mi Rey!)

Written 10/13/2014

This week has been really nice. As always, my companion and I are trying to stay busy and work hard in our area. 

We spent a lot of time in the Stake Center in Kensington this week for music practice for me. Yesterday was "Night of Music and Inspiration" in Spanish at the Visitors' Center. I was in a group singing a 6-part, a cappella version of "I Believe in Christ" (of course in Spanish). All of us performing were from all over the mission and it was a hard time for us practicing together on a rather difficult piece of music. Of course, you have already heard the piece and hopefully it was ok. We had one investigator and four members go to the performance so we were excited for the attendance we brought out.


Wednesday we had the privilege of watching some of the lunar eclipse that happened here at 7am. We all went up on our roof at 6am and played some sports watching as the moon became a vivid red. The sun starting coming up so by peak eclipse time at 7 the moon was nigh impossible to see. It was still a fun morning for us.

Photo Credit: Kevin Ambrose

Photo Credit: Randy Taylor

Wednesday my companion and I also had exchanges and I was with Elder A for the day still in my area. We had a few appointments cancel on us but we still had a good number of lessons from going around finding people. We also were able to take a member out with us for a couple hours of the day; which really helped us have the spirit and teach powerfully.

We also had interviews with President Cooke on Saturday at the Stake Center. The interviews went well and were enjoyable.

Autumn Fields at Capitol Arboretum by Nichole Pretty 

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos that I took. It covers a wider timetable but they were certainly fun to take. Don't worry though because I'm still taking pictures and still enjoying seeing what the area has to offer. We are now approaching fall. Some trees are beginning to loose their vivid green color and start the changing of color. It also is starting to get colder again. I've had to put on a windbreaker a few times this week. It's also starting to rain more but not as hard as the summer thunderstorms.

Nature's Beauty with Sculpture by Patricia Vesey

The area we live in is North West. I'm not sure what area we are exactly in. Mount Pleasant's a little west of us and Columbia Height's is a little south of us. 

We still are teaching a lot and working hard. We are hoping to have another great week. I hope that you have a great week. I love you lots.

Love,Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. I think Dad asked me when transfers are; they're the 29th of October.

Dad,

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well overall. I hope everything continues to go well and that nothing is too crazy.

Our area is going well. We have a few good investigators that are progressing. We are trying to find some more people to teach right now. The city is just a lot of hard work trying to keep members active and to get less-active members to come to church. There never seems to be a dull moment.

This Sunday was the Primary Program which was really nice. The primary here is nothing size wise compared to Roseville 2nd, they fit in about two rows on the side. It was still a really nice program and it was fun hearing them all sing. Our investigator actually was in the program and gave a short one minute talk. It was a good time and the classes afterwards were also great.

I guess you already know and have heard "Creo en Cristo", the song I sang last night at the Visitors' Center. The number was really fun to do but ridiculously difficult. It was the Eclipse version of the song and we translated it out. It wasn't great but it was the first time all of us singing together and we had 2 weeks to put it together. Of course during mike checks they balanced it all out and then during the performance the mike I was on was blaring and turned way up. It was still fun to perform and I enjoyed performing.

One thing I forgot to mention was today we went over to the ghetto Chinese shops on the east side of DC. It's not somewhere I'd ever even think of taking Mom but they have little shops packed with all kinds of stuff from knives to shoes, watches to toys. Everything is straight from China and the shop owners barely speak English. It's all super cheap things but cash only. It's pretty close to a metro stop. Around the metro is pretty nice but suddenly about a block and a half away it's pretty ghetto. I might bring you and maybe my oldest brother over there; just don't have too much on you. It was cool to go and check out. It's always cool seeing all the great diversity around here and seeing some of the interesting things around.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Slip 'n' Slide, Music, 1 Companion Completed His Mission...Written on Labor Day 9/1

Thank you so much for the package you sent me. I got it a couple days ago when JS dropped it off to me. I appreciate everything you got me. I also got the card you all sent me and want to say thank you for that too.

On Monday we went out to a Pupusaría for dinner with a member as their goodbye to Elder H. We then went over and had a lesson with one of our members in our area which was short and sweet.

Tuesday we went to lunch at a member's home and then taught her Family History. She is excited to start her family history and she is hoping for a lot of success. Afterwards, we went over to a investigator's home and continued teaching her the Word of Wisdom and created a plan to help her quit coffee. She was willing to try it out and when she last spoke with us, she was still doing what we asked her to do. We also found a new investigator when we were trying to look for a lost member in the late afternoon. He is a nice guy that recently turned his life completely around. He attends another church but is willing to hear our message and wants to learn more about our church. We have a lesson coming up with him this week and we are excited to teach him.

Wednesday Elder H, Elder C, and I did a lost of lost member work. Our area had a list of 25 lost members that we are now trying to find. We only have 14 people left on our lost member list now. Unfortunately, most don't live there anymore but we did find one member that still lives there. She was busy but we set up an appointment with her and she seemed pretty nice to us.

On Thursday we had our District Meeting at the Visitors' Center and we all received a tour to know all of the exhibits available for us to teach people with. It was very good and I learned how packed the VC is with everything from Preach My Gospel. We also had a great Family History lesson with one of our less-active members and his non-member daughter visited with us for a little as well.

Friday was Elder H's last day.

He was picked up by the Assistants in the early afternoon and Elder C and I were left to take care of the area. It felt like a pretty hard day because we tried to visit everyone and no one answered the door. We also went to our two most bountiful GQing [General Questioning] areas with no one in sight. We felt a little disheartened but we were hopeful for the next day.

Saturday turned around when we had a powerful lesson with one of our investigators. We thought she was a lot farther than she really was but it turned around and we had a powerful lesson on prophets and the restored gospel.

This Sunday was Fast Sunday for us. Elder C and I decided to fast for the investigator that was struggling the night before. She said she had to work Sunday and that she probably wouldn't come to church. However, late into Sacrament Meeting she came in. She normally has to leave for work right after and can't stay for second hour; but today she stayed. Our lesson in Gospel Principles was on Prophets and every doubt she had was covered in class with a scripture supporting it. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for helping us with his work. We also had another great experience in the evening when we visited a member who was going through a hard time and we were able to visit with her for a while and share a nice message with her to help her keep going.

Today was our Zone Activity. We went to a park in Rockville, MD and played Slip n' Slide Kick Ball. It was normal kickball with three innings but you had to go on a slip n' slide from third base to home plate (a beach ball). It was really fun but really hot and humid. It was still very enjoyable and at the end we ate pizza for lunch and went our separate ways.

In regards to music, I can and do listen to my iPod and some CDs I've acquired. Everything you sent on my iPod is beyond ok to listen to. To listen to music on my iPod I have the speaker you sent me with, another small portable speaker, and an AUX cord to plug into my CD player to listen to it as well.

BYU Men's Chorus I only have their Set Apart Album and yes it is very good.

The rule is basically the music we listen to should not hinder the Holy Spirit and it should not take away from our purpose nor be there to distract.

As a note to you here is a list of the music albums I've acquired since my mission began (on my iPod unless otherwise stated)-Disney's Greatest Vol. 1 and 2, Disney/Pixar Greatest Vol. 1, Prince of EgyptSoundtrack (CD), Celtic Women's Emerald, Piano Guys 1 and 2, Lifescape's Reflection on Peace, Debbie West Coon's You are Loved, The Work, Jesus Adrian Romeo's El Aire De Tu Casa, Savior of the World (Church Musical), and all the Church's recordings of the Spanish Hymns (CD-a little painful to listen to-good for practicing parts though). I hope you can find the albums on iTunes if you ever need to reference what I have here. You don't need to freak out and try to make sure I don't have any duplicate songs-I promise it won't bother me or be the end of the world. No need stressing over it.

Ok my requests, if you can find Spanish CDs of anything like Disney Songs, Hymns, EFY music or whatever that would be greatly appreciated because I almost exclusively have songs in English (I have 2 Christian CDs in Spanish). Also I've been looking for some classical as well-orchestra, baroque, dark romantic, modern, movie soundtrack, you name it. I don't need Christmas music I have tons of it.

Thanks for thinking about me and my music. This is by no means something I need you to send me tomorrow. You sent me more than enough in my Birthday package. I don't need to rob you of house and home. It can be a nice surprise or something for Christmas too.

PS yes I got a card and gift from Grandma and Grandpa W. Tell them thank you a ton. I was going to write them a letter but since their leaving so soon I'll probably send them and email soon thanking

Youngest Brother,

Wow you're quite the rich guy now! I'm glad to hear you're saving money right now and working towards one of your goals. Keep up the good work saving your money and don't forget to pay your tithing on it. I promise if you'll pay your tithing Heavenly Father will send you even more blessings than you already have and you'll feel really good.

I hope that you can continue doing good things and be rewarded soon with the things that you want to get. Have a great week and have lots of fun.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl
[Mom's Note: I found out that when Elder H completed his mission, Braden (Elder Dahl) became the senior companion with Elder C as the junior companion.]

Lots to teach! Written 7/21/2014

Mom, Happy Belated Birthday! I'm sorry about all the dental work but I hope you still had a great day.

On Tuesday my companion and I put another of our investigators on 'Baptismal Date!' At the time that meant we had 4 investigators with a baptismal date. It was super awesome and she is really excited to be baptized but just has a couple things she needs to take care of. The family that wants to get baptized is progressing and doing well but they are a little worried about going to church. This week we picked up two new investigators and 4 more potential investigators.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference. We had a lot of workshops and trainings. I learned a lot from it. It was a good day and and enjoyable Zone Conference. That evening all the Elders in our district had a dinner and Family Home Evening at a members home outside of my area. The family had several non-members there that we were able to teach. My companion and I now have a new investigator from Brazil that speaks Portuguese and some broken Spanish.

On Friday we picked up a new investigator in our area through Facebook. We met her in person before but we had a hard time contacting her. I found her on Facebook and began teaching her through Facebook. We also met with our family with a baptismal date and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and committed them to come to church this Sunday. Saturday Elder Andrade and I also picked up two new investigators around a apartment complex where we were able to briefly teach the message of the Restoration and schedule a return appointment.

On Sunday I went with Elder G (one of my roommates) to a baptism in Silver Spring because his companion and he had some investigators at church and his companion wanted to stay with them. It was a nice baptism and then we met up shortly after church and went back to our normal companionships. 

My companion and I went to the Visitors' Center with a member to a great "Why I Believe" fireside.  It featured Brother & Sister Jonas. Brother [Chris] Jonas is on the physician team for the White House but didn't really talk about that. Rather he talked about his conversion and testimony. It was a very powerful and spiritual night.

Dad, Wednesday I met this great lady from Africa at a Family Home Evening at a member's home. She speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and 7 African Dialects. She is super nice and interested in the gospel, she lives in Potomac but we saw her again at a lunch at the same family's home on Saturday. She gave me a CD that has mostly Portuguese songs and a few in English because she heard you lived in Brazil. It was super nice of her, she said it had no bad things on it but the CD has romantic overtones so I can't listen to it. Remind me to send it home to you. You might enjoy it. We also have an new investigator now from southern Brazil. She is in the Sister's area next to us but we received special permission because of my companion's limited knowledge of Portuguese and the Sister's crazy Visitors' Center schedule where they can't spend much time in their area.

My companion's bike has been working well now. I had a little front derailer problem but it is resolved enough. Hopefully no problems will appear. Today my companion and I went down to Silver Spring to have a nerf war with a lot of the missionaries at the church building. It was super fun and nice to hang out.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. I've been trying to think what I want for my birthday since you wrote me last week and I can't really think of anything spectacular. I'm not picky and whatever I receive is greatly appreciated. Some ideas I fumbled through are ties, music (CDs work best) Spanish, English, classical, hymns, choral, Disney, soundtrack, anything-mission permitting; or letters.

Thunderstorms Written 7/14/2014

4th of July Group of Washington D.C. North Missionaries!!

Written 7/14/2014

Mom, This week has been a really good one. We were able to meet with our investigators that have a baptismal date a couple of times this week. They are doing well and now are having more desire to learn more and want us to come over more often. They still have a lot to learn and they have lots of questions but they are continuing to progress in the gospel. We also have a new investigator this week. She was a former investigator from a little while back that we saw on the street one day. She invited us to come back again and visit with her. We decided to go over this week and we had an awesome lesson with her.

Now if you believe that my companion had enough bike mishaps last week, think again. This week he broke off 2 of his rear gears with destroyed the entire cassette of gears on his back tire. The gears all moved side to side so his chain would always fall off into a "hole" in between the gears. We took it to a bike shop to get it repaired but they were ball-parking a minimum of $70. We had Elder G in our apartment that ended up helping him for a good two and a half hours putting together an old 5-gear rim from the apartment onto his 8-gear bike. After many ball bearings, a couple of axels, and probably a tube of grease, the bike finally was working properly again. It is nice now that my companion has a bike again and everything is working smoothly. So far my companion’s bike has been working smoothly now and there seems to be no problems. Both of our bikes work pretty well now. My bike is working fine the only think I could even think of that isn't 100% smooth is the breaks squeak and squeal in the rain when I use them but that really isn't any problem and it could just be I'm still wearing in the bike. My gears don't shift as wonderfully as I'd like but they shift pretty smoothly, it just takes a couple pedals for it to decide to switch over. It's not a problem and the nearest bike shop is in Germantown and it would cost at least $20 to have them fix it. Since it is still the best shifting bike I own, I'm ok for now.

Last Wednesday was Zone Training. It was a good meeting and it helped remind me of how to be a more effective missionary. We had a fun role-play where we couldn't talk about the gospel at all even if someone brought it up of had questions. On Sunday my companion and I performed our songs for "Noche de Musica e Inspiración" and they went really well. It was a fun night and some of the members in our area were able to attend. A lot of people ended up going to the event and it was a great spiritual experience. Yes they recorded it plus I'll get a CD in a few weeks of it. They'll probably post it on the FB page or YouTube I'm the next few days.

I knew that room changes were inevitable, honestly, I was shocked it lasted this long. [Mom's Note: I wrote Braden and said, "So it may come as a shock but Dad & I have decided to rearrange the bedroom assignments. Brother #1 gets your room. Brother #2 is staying in his orange room. Brother #4 is staying in his room and Brother #3 is moving into Brother #1's room.] Don't worry about sending me an SD card ASAP, I still have 2 here a 4GB and a 32GB. I knew you would ask what I wanted for my birthday this week...I'm not sure yet. I have a pair of shorts, 4th of July was a bit cooler and I wanted to avoid sunburn legs. I'll get back to you on what I want soon.

Golfing-last zone activity, a couple weeks before transfers.

Of course Braden would be the one to keep score!

Dad, I hope you are doing well and having a good time. Mom was telling me about the things everyone has been doing all week and about the house changes. No surprise and I'm glad the room is getting put to good use.

If I had a dollar for every thunderstorm here I'd be quite happy with the pocket change I'd be making. Thunderstorms seem to be about an every other day occurrence here. Normally they happen in the evening and some make it into the early morning. When they first started occurring this summer it was "wow, cool, a thunderstorm". Now it's more like it's getting kind of late "cue clouds, cue wind, drizzle, lightning, downpour." Let's just say there is a reason no one in Maryland has a sprinkler system (really, people have no idea what that is here). Even in July there is no dry season.

As you may know I've started to read the Quad* again. Recently I've been reading in 2nd Samuel and I have been really liking the early King David. He always stays positive in his situation and tries to follow the lord's way. Despite all that happens to him he puts his trust in The Lord and keeps enduring his trials.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

*Mom’s Note: What is ‘the Quad?’ The quad includes four standard works of scripture for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes to referred to as the "Mormon Church." These are: the Holy Bible (King James Version of the Old Testament & the New Testament), The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine & Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price.

Lindsey Sterling, Service & a Day off for 4th of July...Written 6/30/2014

Written 6/30/2014
Tell Aunt Angie congratulations. It's cool to have a new cousin. [Aunt Angie had a baby boy on Monday, June 30th. Its the 16th Winkler grand-baby.]

This week has been really good. Wednesday was transfers and we all went to the Visitors' Center for our transfer meeting. My district didn't have too many changes. We lost one of the sister missionaries from a trio, but the other two sister missionaries our staying. [Mom's note: In other words, there were 3 sisters together and one of the 3 went to another area.] One of my Zone Leaders left and now we have a new zone leader in my district that actually was in my first district, Elder G.

That night my companion and I went back to the Visitors' Center to go to the Lindsey Sterling event with an investigator. Lindsey Sterling played two songs, one at the beginning and the other at the end. She plays really well and it was neat being able to hear her play in person. My companion and I arrived early with our investigators so we were able to sit in the 5th row from the front in the middle, so they had a nice view. For the majority of the event she was talking about her story and what she believes in. She covered several gospel topics and it was cool to listen to her faith and story. It was a really good event and everyone enjoyed it. The Visitors' Center is an amazing place to have in the mission and it is great being able to go there.

Lindsey Stirling Performing at the Washington D.C. Visitors' Center

My companion and I gave a lot of service this last week. We've helped move 3 families, washed a car, picked up an oven, and coordinated getting a bed. We've kept pretty busy, but it has been fun. We also have been teaching several of the members family history and many of them are starting to find a lot of family names. 

I don't have a lot of time to write because today isn't a P-Day. They gave us a small amount of time to write our families today and they moved P-Day to the 4th of July this week. My companion and I are planning on going to a BBQ with some of the other missionaries and then probably head down to D.C.

P.S. I'm going to send the SD card home soon. Also I did get three Nauvoo postcards.

Youngest Brother, It sounds like you are really enjoying your new pet. I'm sure your having lots of fun with Blue now. It also sounds like Dad had a good first experience with the new parakeets in the house. Keep having fun this summer. Enjoy your new parakeet and teach him lots of new tricks.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

3 Investigators...written 6/23/2014

Written 6/23/2014

This week has been really good. Missionary work is a lot harder with the World Cup going on (many people do worship it). My companion and I are working hard to make sure we can still keep up and get lessons. We have 3 investigators and we are trying to get them to progress and meet with them more often. We also have a very large pool of referrals and potential investigators we are trying to get into contact with. We have been meeting with many of the area's less-active members and we are starting to see some of them come to church again. We're trying to really get the area moving and progressing. Luckily, we are both staying for this next transfer and hopefully we will start seeing more fruits of our efforts.

Yesterday, my companion and I went to the Visitors' Center for a pianist performance by Raul Sunico, a Filipino classical pianist with 2 of our members. We got there a little late, but we heard him play some amazing pieces. He played some classical pieces from the Philippines, and amazing "Rhapsody in Blue", and (my personal favorite) an encore of The Phantom of the Opera Medley. 

Raul Sunico playing The Phantom of the Opera Medley

Our members really liked it and it was a great night. If all goes as planned, my companion and I should be going to the Visitors' Center with some of our investigators on Wednesday to see Lindsey Sterling perform. The whole mission is excited for it and it should be really great.  

Dad, I am really enjoying my new area and thankfully, there are no big issues with my bike. It is definitely getting hot here and the summer is sure to be hotter. Almost every house we go to we get offered water so I should be fine. I'm glad you enjoyed your Nauvoo trip and got to see some of the wonderful sights. I'm sure you had lots of fun taking all those pictures, so don't stress yourself out too much with all the editing you like to do. 

This week really good. My companion and I have been really working with the push for Family History work. The ward also put on an activity we helped at. It's great watching the members of the ward begin their family history and then find some additional names that they can bring to the temple. My companion and I have also been working on our FamilySearch skills and we are having a lot of success. I have been generally working on distant cousins and I have over 100 ordinances reserved. At the temple trip this last week I was able to do 2 initiatories and 1 Endowment for some of the names I have found. 

I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl


P.S. It's harder to write because I often don't have that much time, I used to be able to download my emails in the morning and write a bit during lunch.

Found my own names for Family History work in the Temple - written 6/16/2014

This week has been really great, and I have a few more mission stories because of this week. There were several storms that passed through this week. I'm starting to get used to storms here, they just sweep in and dump rain, usually with some lightning and then an hour or two later they're gone (unless it's a evening storm, those stay all night). Maryland gets a ton of rain. Elder A and I once had to do a 25-yard sprint in the rain and with no exaggeration, the front of my grey pants suddenly were black pants. I had to iron those pants for about 15 minutes (no water in the iron) to get them dry enough. The whole time it was like a sauna in front of me. I also came into possession of the 1943 pocket edition of the Book of Mormon for men in the Armed Forces from cleaning the church and them throwing away a lot of old books and other miscellaneous items. It's cool to have and a neat little keepsake from my mission. 

On Wednesday, Elder A and I went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was a extra trip to the temple and you could only go if you had names that you had found. I brought the limit of 5 names of some of our distant cousin's I've found. Elder A and I officiated the confirmations of the missionaries who just finished their baptisms, then we went in and baptized each other for the vicarious ordinances. Then we did the confirmations for our names. It was a really amazing experience and I am so grateful that I was able to participate in it. This Wednesday is the temple trip for the mission and I am excited to go to them temple again.

Sunday, Elder A and I went to the Visitors' Center with a recent convert in our area for a "Why I Believe" featuring Charity Tillemann-Dick, an American soprano (opera singer) who received a double lung transplant (she's on her 2nd set of new lungs) and she continues to sing opera today. Her story was really amazing and inspiring. I feel so lucky to have a Visitors' Center and a temple in my mission that I can go to with investigators, recent converts, or less-active members for some amazing events.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

Signs of Spring...4/14/2014

Mom,

I hope you enjoyed your crazy busy and hectic week. Hopefully things will calm down a bit during spring break. I still recognize everyone in the photos you sent. Lucy looks a lot different but everyone else looks relatively the same. The little boys have a lot longer hair and they look a little bit older now but not by too much.

This week has been busy. My companion and I went to the Visitors' Center 4 times this last week for song practice, 2 for my companion's song, 1 for the choral number we were in, and 1 performance for "Night of Music and Inspiration". It was a good performance and I was glad to see and perform in another "Night of Music and Inspiration." I feel so blessed to have a mission with a temple in its boundaries and on top of that having a Visitors' Center as well for people to come and see. My companion has an interview on Wednesday, so we will both be at the Visitors' Center again this week.

My companion and I were also we able to meet with a lot of our less-active members this week. Most of whom we rarely see, and some of them I had yet to meet since arriving in this area. It was nice being able to visit with them and share a message with them. Our investigator with a baptismal date was in California this week and he should be back today, so we are excited to meet with him again.

I did get your Facebook message and I do hope to receive your package before Easter. It really depends on if the Zone Leaders need to go down to the Mission Office this week or the Assistants come up to a district meeting. If not, I'll get it a little late at Zone Conference. Don't stress out about it, I'll get it and I'm sure it will be great.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Dad,

I hope that you have a great week that's not too stressful. I also hope that you are still doing well. 

I'm still taking lots of pictures here. My companion and I are planning on going to see the Cherry Blossoms today and hopefully I'll be able to take some more good pictures. The Cherry Blossoms hit peak bloom on Thursday so we're hoping that they still are in great condition today.  I've taken 840 pictures as of yesterday. Hopefully Mom isn't having too much photo envy.  I'm trying to appease you guys with a couple photos on p-day or on my temple album on Facebook.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Mom,

I hope you enjoyed your crazy busy and hectic week. Hopefully things will calm down a bit during spring break. I still recognize everyone in the photos you sent. Lucy looks a lot different but everyone else looks relatively the same. The little boys have a lot longer hair and they look a little bit older now but not by too much.

This week has been busy. My companion and I went to the Visitors' Center 4 times this last week for song practice, 2 for my companion's song, 1 for the choral number we were in, and 1 performance for "Night of Music and Inspiration". It was a good performance and I was glad to see and perform in another "Night of Music and Inspiration." I feel so blessed to have a mission with a temple in its boundaries and on top of that having a Visitors' Center as well for people to come and see. My companion has an interview on Wednesday, so we will both be at the Visitors' Center again this week.

My companion and I were also we able to meet with a lot of our less-active members this week. Most of whom we rarely see, and some of them I had yet to meet since arriving in this area. It was nice being able to visit with them and share a message with them. Our investigator with a baptismal date was in California this week and he should be back today, so we are excited to meet with him again.

I did get your Facebook message and I do hope to receive your package before Easter. It really depends on if the Zone Leaders need to go down to the Mission Office this week or the Assistants come up to a district meeting. If not, I'll get it a little late at Zone Conference. Don't stress out about it, I'll get it and I'm sure it will be great.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Dad,

I hope that you have a great week that's not too stressful. I also hope that you are still doing well. 

I'm still taking lots of pictures here. My companion and I are planning on going to see the Cherry Blossoms today and hopefully I'll be able to take some more good pictures. The Cherry Blossoms hit peak bloom on Thursday so we're hoping that they still are in great condition today.  I've taken 840 pictures as of yesterday. Hopefully Mom isn't having too much photo envy.  I'm trying to appease you guys with a couple photos on p-day or on my temple album on Facebook.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl