Hola...Written 8-31-2015

I hope that you are having a really good week. I hope things have calmed down and everything is readjusting now that my oldest brother is off at school. Hopefully, my next oldest brother is adjusting to being the oldest at home and everyone is helping out and doing their part. I'm sure Mom is glad that that whole ordeal is done and she can move on to her next big project.

Today has been a pretty mellow day. We spent a good part of the day cleaning up the apartment because it was really trashed when I arrived. We've been throwing away tons of stuff and getting everything organized again. This apartment has had someone finish their mission here for the last 4 transfers and when people leave the mission they leave behind a ton of stuff. It's been the great purge from the apartment. We also had a nerf gun war where some of the new missionaries stopped by and our roommates and us loaded all the nerf guns we could and unloaded on them for about 15-20 minutes while we gave them each 2 "peashooter" nerf guns. They lasted a lot longer than we thought they would, but in the end since they were out numbered and way out gunned, they surrendered. It was a fun little activity for the day.

Things have been calming down a lot more this week. My companion and I have been really able to get into the swing of things. We are out teaching a lot more and working hard in the area. We are meeting more of the less-actives in the area and we are finding a couple new investigators. We are working really hard with 3 in particular all of which are in part-member families. One of them is a 9-year-old boy that has a phobia of going underwater. We are working with him and getting more comfortable with the idea. He is starting to get more comfortable with the idea and doesn't burst into tears when we mention it to him now. He's a really cool kid and he is really into video games like the new Super Smash Bros, Minecraft, Street Fighter, etc. He knows a ton about the gospel and has a great testimony; he just has to get over his fear. Another investigator is a lady that is the daughter-in-law of the old Elder's Quorum President. She and her husband are really trying to turn their lives around. She wants to get baptized but it's more of a matter of scheduling a date. Also, we have the husband of a member that's really cool. He is keeping his commitments but is just a little weary of getting baptized right now. He is a completely different guy than from last year. The best thing was that all three of them came to church this Sunday which was awesome.

We have been having some great experiences this week. We have been having these great lessons lately trying to ask a lot more questions. People have really been opening up to us and we are gaining their trust. Every day seemed to have its miracle. Tuesday, a member opened up to us how they are preparing to enter the temple but are struggling with tithing. My companion and I were able to bear testimony of the true blessings of tithing. Wednesday, we accidentally tracted into our Ward Mission Leader's home and his non-member wife was a lot more open to us and now we are trying to teach her again in a much less 'preach-y' way. Thursday,  the English elders had us come over to a pass off a lesson to a less-active member and her non-member husband that speak Spanish and want to go to the Spanish Ward. The room felt like a pressure cooker for the spirit while we were there.

Friday, we had a great lesson with that woman we are focusing on teaching and she committed to come to church and she wants to be baptized. Saturday, we were working with the 9-year-old boy about baptism. Plus, we found a family from Sierra Leone that is super interested in the gospel and committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon that we are passing off to the English elders. Lastly, on Sunday, my companion and I talked to a guy in the road who was on the phone with his sister. He told us that she was saying for the last half hour how she was trying to find God. Although she ended up not wanting to hear more, her brother who we were with, invited her to our church and he said that he'd be interested in hearing more about us. It was a week filled with awesome miracles and experiences.

I got a lot of packages this week. I have been enjoying the ties that you sent to me and yes I have been wearing them. I have been wearing my Muggle shirt from Aunt D and using the nerf gun too. I also got a lot of "Sunshine" from the G's and D's down south. I received letters from the N's, and Grandma D. Tell everyone thank you for the birthday gifts and I'll try to send them all a thank you letter as well. I'll keep an eye out for anything else.

I hope you have another great week and that all goes well. If I'm not mistaken my next P-Day will be on Tuesday because of a Ward activity, so don't think I died if you don't get any letter next Monday.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

My roommates and companion

Our new mission vehicles...in our dreams!