Happy Independence Day! Written July 4, 2014

Dad, Happy Belated Birthday! I hope you had a great birthday with tons of fun. I also hope you got to do some fun stuff. Also Happy Independence Day! I hope you guys have lots of fun today and enjoy some fireworks.

This is going to be a super quick email today and I promise that you'll get a longer one on this coming Monday. Today is going to be a full and busy day. Today is the 4th of July and my companion and I are heading down to D.C. The plan is that we are going to a BBQ at the D.C. Elder's apartment and then heading down to the National Mall and hopefully staying for the fireworks. Tonight's curfew is extended to 10:30 so we can enjoy some of the fireworks.

A quick update on me, last month I decided to reread the Standard Works along with the Bible Dictionary, and the Guide to the Study of the Scriptures with the goal of finishing in less than 18 months (with at least 2 reads of the BOM). I'm going at a pretty good pace, not as fast as last time however. I'm already in Deuteronomy (OT) and Alma (BOM).

Yesterday I received the letters the you guys all sent me (Gorman's and Dahl's). It was nice hearing from all of you. I wanted to say thanks for all the letters. I also sent a envelope to you and Dad, you should be receiving it very shortly. It has a Birthday card for Dad in it. The black Duct-Taped rectangle is one of my SD cards with the videos you wanted on it. If you could shoot me a quick email or message when you get it that would be great.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. Could you send me some more stamps? I've worn my supply through and I only have 4 left and I have to still write Grandma and the Gorman's back.

P.S.S since you have the "Excellence," [Washington D.C. Newsletter and Calendar] we have a 100% chance of mail being delivered to us at Zone Conference, Zone Training, Departing Temple trip, and Transfers. (I'm currently in the Seneca Zone).

Mom, I have a huge favor to ask. So for this coming Night of Music and Inspiration I've been asked to be in a small group to sing, "Consider the Lilies of the Field." It's coming up on the 13th [of July] and we've yet to practice all together. I've had one opportunity to go to the church and plunk muy part out (poorly) on the piano. I was wondering if you could play the tenor part and then the accompaniment and send me a recording of the file. It would be greatly appreciated if you can. If you can't or it's not working please don't worry about it. I can manage. [Mom's Note: Done! Sent it late after fireworks on 7/4!]
Thank you so much. I love you!

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

What a Week! Written 6/9/2014

I'm so glad you and the family are enjoying Nauvoo. It certainly looks like you all are having a ton of fun.

I don't even know where to begin with this letter. Last Monday night my companion (Elder C) and I taught the last of the Family Home Evenings lessons for the single adults in our ward (it was for 5 weeks on the missionary lessons). They had a little dinner/party afterwards that we stayed for and it was really fun hanging out with them (don't worry they're much older single adults-older than singles ward age).

On Tuesday my companion (Elder C) and I went with our roommates, Elder L and Elder J to help give service to one of their members cleaning up a lot of dust and dirt from inside their house that they are remodeling. We also talked to D. A. more about her mission call that she received. I forgot to tell you last week but D, a member in our area received her mission call to the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission! The missionaries here are all really good friends with her and we are all excited for her call. She leaves in September and she says I should go down there after my mission and say hi. 

We also had dinner with a fairly recently reactivated family and taught them about Family History and they are excited to begin the work for their family. I am excited that this ward is really getting into Family History. In fact, the Relief Society is now having classes for Family History at the Family History Center on Wednesday in Germantown. Later that night another member took us to Bruster's Ice Cream, a really popular ice cream store here where all of the ice cream is made right there. I had Graham Central Station and Mint Chocolate Chip, they were excellent.

Wednesday was Zone Training and I learned a lot. Sister Cooke gave a short workshop on staying healthy because of (as dubbed by the other zones) The Great Seneca Strepedemic. There has been quite a few cases of strep throat lately, my roommate Elder J had it, my zone leader, Elder M got it twice (he finished his antibiotics the first time and still got it again). There have been a few other missionaries that have caught it. Everyone is trying to avoid catching it as much as possible but it can take symptoms up to 5 days before appearing. The rush of people with strep throat is over. The last person I know that caught Strep Throat was on Sunday the 1st. However, everyone is still tying to be cautious. The Zone Leaders let us know in their workshop about finding people that the mission plans to significantly cut back on miles in the car areas to encourage biking and public transportation so that the missionaries can meet and teach more people. After the workshop the Zone Leaders also mentioned to a small group of us that if this change happens eventually we could receive more money each month for public transportation on money that normally would be spent on gas for the cars. I wasn't overly enthusiastic about this coming change (nothing is changing for June, they just want you to start practicing so you can get used to it before the change actually happens). Germantown's a big area and doesn't have many bus lines, but I was willing to give it a try. My thoughts were I'm going to try this out and hopefully it will work out and be successful.

However, none of that matters anymore because I got transferred! Now you're probably thinking, what!? Long story short, Wednesday night after English Class around 8:30pm my companion (Elder C) and I got a call from the APs. They told us that there was going to be an emergency transfer and that I would be leaving my first area and going to Montgomery Village South first thing in the morning with my new companion Elder A. My companion (Elder C) would receive Elder C from Montgomery Village South into Germantown. I don't know the details of what was happening but I know that one of the elders was struggling in particular. Wednesday night I rapidly packed everything up and finished the last few things (bedding, shampoo,etc) in the morning. Thursday morning, Elder C and I drove down to the Montgomery Village Elders' apartment and did the transfer. I'm a bike Elder now with Elder A and I am serving in the Montgomery Village South area which covers parts of Gaithersburg and Washington Grove. I am still in the same ward and district as before which is nice but confusing for everyone else. My companion, (Elder A) is from Tampico, Mexico and speaks English better than some native speakers. He has been out for just over a year. We've been getting along well and are doing well in the area. Our roommates are our zone leaders and fellow district members, Elder H and M. I don't remember if I've told you or not but Elder H is from Auburn, California so we did some of the same things such as Camp Winton, Sacramento Temple, etc. Elder M was born in Russia and moved to Utah when he was around 8 (I think). He speaks Russian, English, and Spanish.

Being on bike is good expect going up some of the steep hills. My bike is doing fine but I am having problems with my front derailer, it is having trouble switching gears. Elder H and I have been messing with the adjustments but we usually can only get 2 of the 3 gears to work. However it's not really a problem because I just keep in in 2nd gear and rarely would I even consider any gear higher than 2-8 and any gear lower than 2-1. The I usually ride in 2-5 or 2-6. Down some hills I've gone up to 2-8 but I normally just coast down. The lowest gear I've gone into has been 2-3. I've been locking my bike and my area is by far the least dangerous and fewest theft bike area in the mission. I'm starting to get used just being sweaty and smelly all the time.

In the new area I'm trying to learn who are the members, less-actives, investigators, and potentials. I'm also trying to get a mental map of the area down as well. It's a little hard coming in the middle of the transfer but I'm catching on quick enough.

Dear Brother #4,That's so cool that you caught fireflies in Nauvoo. The fireflies here are just barely starting to come out, so you don't see too many. That's cool that you got Minecraft for the computer. I hope you are enjoying playing on it but don't become too addicted to it. I hope that you are enjoying your time in Nauvoo with the family and Grandma & Grandpa.

Dear Brother #3 (aka Mr. Rich Man),I'm having a lot of fun on my mission. Yesterday I taught the 10 and 11 year olds in Primary. They're lots of fun and we taught them the 10 Commandments and some cool hand signals to memorize them. I also went to the "Night of Music and Inspiration" yesterday and heard some really good music. Today was my zone activity and we all went mini golfing which was really fun. I'm sure Minecraft has been really fun and I hope you are having even more fun in Nauvoo right now. There are some really cool things out there and I hope you are learning a ton.

Dear Brother #2,Congratulation on your finals. Come on, you think you did you're best when you got 100%? That's awesome. I can't wait to see your success in all your other math classes in the coming years.That's awesome that you got to do baptisms at the temple. I have over 100 ordinances reserved on Family Search from distant cousins that are ready to go to the temple. I have some work for you and the family to do this summer. Tell mom I have a lot of women that need their ordinances done. Elder A and I are planning on going to a special mission approved baptism for the dead session at the temple on the 11th and I'm planning on doing 5 of the names I have reserved.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

A Really Good Week 6-2-2014

Mom,

Thanks for all the letters from the boys and thank you for your letter as well. This week has been really good. My companion and I met with C, our recent convert this week and had a really good lesson with him on Family History. He really wants to get into it and wants to get his membership number so that he can get on as a member on FamilySearch. We also met with R, our investigator this week and he is doing really well and is accepting the gospel really easily.

Last Thursday a big thunderstorm came through in the evening and it down poured and there was a ton of lightning. All the Elders in our district were going to go to a taco truck for dinner with Hno D but the rain stopped us, so then we were going to go to Roy Rodger's but the power all went out in that area. So we ended up going to Old Country Buffet in Gaithersburg.







On the way we saw a huge tree that had fallen over onto some power lines, the tree took up two full lanes and was causing some traffic. When we got home the power was out but it came back on about 10 minutes later.

Multiple lightning exposures over the Jefferson Memorial combined into a single image
from May 27, 2014 (Photo Credit: Kevin Ambrose)

On Friday I had exchanges and went to Montgomery Village South on bike. It was a beautiful day and it wasn't bad bike riding weather. They had a lot of appointments and we visited with some of the areas investigators and less-actives. That night, one of the Gaithersburg 1st ward members, who is moving to Mexico for work, invited us to Five Guys and Krispy Kreme so we had a nice big dinner. I was with Elder C, who is in his 2nd transfer. It was fun to work with him and different being the person to take the lead in lessons for a day. It was good and I enjoyed it.

Saturday the Elders in our District moved one of our members in Germantown to Dickerson (still in my area). It's far out there and according to a resident of that area there are more horses and more cows than people there; I believe him. I'd never been out there but it was nice to see on the drive out. 

On Sunday we went to the Mission President's home for Spanish FHE and it was really fun and a lot of people came out for it. The lesson was very spiritual and everyone there enjoyed it. Today my companion and I, along with our roommates, and the DC French elders went to Smithsonian Zoo for a while and hung out. It was fun to go see again. 

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

"Living the Dream...in the Best Mission in the History of Life" - 5/27/2014

Mom,

This last week was really good one. My companion and I have been keeping busy and working hard. Last Wednesday we taught our investigator (R) the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he really enjoyed that lesson. He is doing well and we are meeting with him again this week and he has a baptismal date for next month. (Yes he is Dad to the recently baptized 8-year old we taught.)

On Saturday we had a ward activity and it had a great turn out. There was dinner and dessert, then a show. There were some little skits and dances performed. The missionaries did a funny little sketch at a doctor's office about removing the bad things and putting in good things instead. It was a fun performance. The Young Women and Primary also did fun little performances. Some people also did some traditional dances (machete fights included). Yes there was a dance where it is supposed to be a sword fight. It was fun to see, yes they were real and yes you could occasional se sparks fly from them. It was a great ward activity and everyone really liked it. 

Sunday was C's confirmation and I did the confirmation (en español). I was so happy for him and it was a great moment for C. It was a great day. 

My companion and I also went to the Stake Coordination meeting on Sunday and the meeting went really well with how to improve the ward's efforts and reach the stake goals. It also had a big push and built excitement over missionary work in the area. I was glad that we were invited to attend.

We did go mountain biking Monday morning and the trail wasn't super hard or technical. It was fun and you still had to be careful of all the tree roots (tree roots go out, not down here because of all the rain). It was nice to ride down by the creek and it helped me figure out what I need to work on for my bike to get it fine-tuned. I'm still living the dream out here in the best mission in the history of life. 

 

Dad,

I hope that you had a fun time down in Orange County this last week. I hope that it was really fun and you enjoyed it. It's been a good week for me. On Sunday I confirmed my recent convert, C a member of the Church during Sacrament Meeting. Monday our roommates and my companionship all bought Maryland Socks that we saw at a store. It's the exciting thing of the apartment right now. It was a great experience and it wasn't too nerve racking to do the confirmation in Spanish. I hope that you have a good coming week.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl