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

3/31/2014 Letter

Mom,

This week was good but everyone was a little anxious to hear about transfers. We were able to visit with a lot of less-active members this week, which helped a lot. We also had two lessons with our investigator who has a baptismal date. My companion and I are still excited for him and can't wait to meet with him this week.

Yesterday, we went to Hermana O's for one of the many coming Elder Al.. parting dinners (He is finishing his mission on Wednesday). I had chicken tacos, pork tacos, and nopales tacos (cactus tacos); they were super good and we had a great night. Afterwards, Hermano D asked if I ever had real agua de jamaica (jamaica the flower not the country pronounced huh-mike-a). I had never had real jamaica to drink, only the artificial flavoring of it. He got out some dried jamaica and boiled it in water and made the drink. It is a super delicious drink and apparently really healthy for you. As always, the real stuff was much better than the flavoring of it.

The temple was a great day, there aren't tulips all over the place quite yet because of all this wintery weather over here, but I've heard they are coming out of the ground now. Spring hasn't hit us yet in Maryland. What everyone is waiting on is the cherry blossoms. In DC the cherry blossoms are a huge hit at the National Mall and apparently absolutely gorgeous. People crowd DC to see them. The trees were a gift to the USA in its early years from Japan. The trees are very old which is really rare for the east coast because trees aren't as old-aged over here. Anyways, the Festival of the Cherry Blossom has already started but it goes from March through May, and they're still waiting for some consistent warm weather for the trees to even bud. 

Transfers are on Wednesday and everyone’s getting excited to see where they're going. Tuesday night the Zone Leaders do a "call-out" where they will announce who the new companionships are and where the people who are leaving their area are going. This past Saturday the Zone leaders did their call-out and announced for each area, in the zone, who would be leaving or staying (both can stay or leave as well). My companion has been here for 5 transfers (5@ six-week periods) and he was convinced he was leaving for his last transfer. We got the call and his prediction came to be incorrect. Instead, I will be going to stay in Germantown with him. So I get to be with my companion for another six weeks (no extreme circumstances permitting). 

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Dad,

I'm glad to hear your still staying busy. Hopefully everything will not be too stressful this coming week. I hope Sunday was alright and you had a great Sacrament Meeting. I know that you’ll enjoy General Conference this coming Saturday and Sunday. It's weird when they announce conference at 2pm and 4pm instead of 11am and 1pm. I think this is the first actual time zone difference that I've really noticed here.

The Temple trip on Wednesday was really great. My companion and I got there early with our roommates so we had the opportunity to wait and just ponder in the Temple for a little while. The session was really wonderful. Afterwards, we returned to our really busy schedule. We quickly went to the store for our roommates, dropped them off at the apartment, picked up a lunch from a member, and went immediately to District Meeting. (All in under an hour, the temple is at least a 30-minute drive). Needless to say, we didn't eat lunch until after 4pm. It felt like I was back at work again with our late lunches. We just ate enough to sustain us because we had a large dinner appointment at 6pm. It was a great day but a little packed.

Yesterday had some interesting weather, it was raining (continuation of the rain we had on Saturday) and during church it started to hail a little. Then it started to sleet. There was a nice layer of sleet all over the ground and roads. It was not hard to drive in if you went slow and were careful, but my companion and I saw 2 cars that were crashed off the side of the road (no one hurt just lost control) from when we left and were driving to Hermana O's (3.6 miles). Then it rained through the night and cleared up almost all of the sleet. Today it's a little cold but sunny. Every time we have one day kind of spring-ish, we get a week of winter.

Next transfer I am officially no longer a trainee. I will be done with the 12-week program and will only have one hour of companionship study instead of 2 hours.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Brother #2,

I know that you don't like writing but that doesn't stop me from writing you. I hope that everything is going well. I hope you are enjoying school. Your choir pictures from your performances look great. I'm sure you're still keeping up the awesome work you are doing in your classes.

How's Teachers' Quorum going? I hope that church is fun and that you are learning more and more about the gospel.

I hope you have a good week and have some great warm weather. 

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Brother #3,

I hope that everything is going well with you. How has school been? How is scouts? I heard you guys can get a little crazy. I hope that you have been having lots of fun lately.

How is your obsession with chicken? Where I'm at is basically chicken-topia. You would love all the chicken here. That is the most common food that I eat. But like you've seen in my old emails I eat some other things too. A few days ago was the first time that I had salmon. It was shredded up and tasted really good and it didn't taste very fishy.

Anyways, I hope that you are doing well and having a great time. Enjoy being a zurdo (you're the only one in the house that is one now).

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

P.S I'm a zurdo. [Mom’s Note: Can you figure out what ‘zurdo’ means using the context clues?  It’s Spanish for being ‘left-handed.’]

Brother #4,

I hope that you're doing well. Hopefully, you’re not having as many nosebleeds now. Anyways, how is school doing? How's scouts? How is church going?

Yesterday, my companion and I were in Primary the whole time. We went to one class and acted out the story of Esau and Jacob. I was Jacob and my companion was Esau. We did the part where Esau sells his birthright for some food. The teacher gave us lentils beforehand and I gave them to my companion and he ate them.

Then, we went to another class and talked a little about baptism and showed the kids how they are going to be baptized. Then we went into Sharing Time and helped press play on the piano (it has recordings of all the Primary songs and hymns). Then my companion was asked to bear his testimony about missionary work.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Stake Conference, Baptism, Exchanges, Strange Food, Frozen 3/18/2014

Dear Dad,

On Sunday we did go back to the Visitors' Center and my companion and I performed the special musical number. It went well, but it is a lot harder singing it in English; it is much easier singing it in Spanish.  It's the exact same arrangement and words just translated over to English, and they did record it. Brother and Sister Von Stetten spoke that night.

They were missionaries in South Africa, who near the end of their mission were called as the Mission President in South Africa.  Brother Von Stetten retired as the National Account Director for Steinway Musical Instrument Company. They gave great talks. We had a few members and a recent convert there at the event, so we were really happy for them.

She says: En el Centro de Visitantes con mis hijos adoptivos Elder Kenzy Anderson y Elder Braden Dahl — feeling awesome at LDS Temples- Washington D.C. -- Translation: She says: At the Visitors' Center with my adopted children: Elder Kenzy Anderson and Elder Braden Dahl

The members and recent convert that went with us.

Wednesday was exchanges and I was in a bike area for a day and it helped me learn a lot of things and helped improve my teaching. My companion with Elder H gave one of our investigators a baptismal date and he is on date for the 20th of April. I am so excited for him. On Sunday he came to an early meeting, Stake Conference, and a baptism!

Saturday and Sunday were Stake Conference and it was really inspirational. For the first time, the Elders were invited to the Priesthood Session. The Priesthood Session and the Adult Session were all about Missionary work and members working with missionaries. It was all about Hastening the Work. The First Presidency apparently invited all stakes to invite the youth 12 and over to attend the adult session of Stake Conference of 2014. The Sunday meeting was a broadcast. The people I remember were an Area Seventy, someone from the General Primary Presidency, and Elder Perry.  It was really great conference. They spoke about a lot of great topics like self-discipline, family history, missionary work, etc.

Before the Sunday Session there was a meeting for investigators and recent converts and Elder Anderson and I had our investigator with a baptismal date come to that meeting. He also stayed for stake conference and he stayed for the baptism of the Zone Leader's investigator (first baptism in our ward since I've been here). Our investigator is doing great and he is on target for the end of next month.

I have heard Sister Eyring play once a month or so, and she is an amazing at the violin and hopefully I'll hear it a few more times.  She's played for the Utah Symphony and with Jenny Oaks Baker.

The Cooke's are great but they know absolutely no Spanish. Maybe an hola or buenos dias but that's about the extent of it. Sister Cooke knows French and can understand a lot of it and speak it. I think President Cooke knows a little French, too, but no Spanish.  President Cooke spoke at the one baptism our ward has had since I've been here and the Elders that taught the investigator translated the whole thing as he spoke. President Cooke is a great guy and very friendly. He is strict in some aspects but very liberal in others. For example, with music anything that can invite the spirit like Disney songs, gospel, hymns (any genre-pop, rock, classical, instrumental, country), primary songs (any genre), classical, etc. are appropriate.  But we missionaries are only allowed to listen to hymns and Primary songs in the car—no exceptions; it can be any genre version of that hymn but it has to be in the hymnbook or the Primary songbook. He is really strict with obedience and diligence, just like any Mission President. According to other missionaries, the previous Mission President was a lot more strict. When I arrived all of President Cooke's children lived with him (two boys, and two girls), but now the oldest son has left to go back to college in Utah.

President & Sister Cooke and family (My Mission President and family)

Dear Mom,

It's been an awesome week here. Last Monday my companion and I went to a Noche de Hogar (aka Family Home Evening) at the Ward Mission Leader's home where we had a less-active member come. She was awesome and it was a great night. The next day we went over to a Lunch/Dinner at her home with two other Elders. It was good and we had a really nice conversation with her (look in the little boys email to see what we ate). That night we went over to a recent convert's home and also an investigator (with no relation) lives there. We came to confirm dinner for the next day and then gave them a Family History lesson. That investigator is doing so well and we planned to give him a Baptismal Date the following day (last Wednesday).

Late Tuesday night and Wednesday were exchanges and I went to the biking area in our District. I was with Elder A for the day. I rode the other Elder's bike, which was too big for me, but I didn't crash, and figured out a system to get on and off, start and stop (his brakes didn't work, they barely slowed the bike). It rained on and off all day so there was a good amount of mud on us. We biked to almost every member and less-active member, but no one was home that day.  Elder A is new to his area so there were a few times where we were searching for a home or got lost, but this project helped him know his area better. In the evening we biked down near the church by one of the "lakes" (a pond) and we were picked by the Zone Leaders and went to one of their dinner appointments.  The food was amazing, and they had an awesome cake that was yellow cake as a thin bottom layer and then a gelatin layer and then another thin gelatin layer with bits of fruit inside of it. We then were dropped off at the church building and then we biked up in the storm to an appointment we were late to. It took us forever to get there because it was all uphill and the wind really was blowing. We had to turn our wheels to the right and we were moving to the left. It wasn't scary but it just made things hard for a biker. We finished the day after the appointment.  Their investigator has a lot of light, but he still is held back by some doubts and I hope that he can overcome those doubts. It was still a very productive day because we were able to speak to a ton of people on the streets and meet new people and see some of their desires to know more about the church. We even found a referral for the French Elders. At the end of the night I went back to Germantown with my companion. It was a good learning experience and it helped me a ton.

It was snowing Sunday night and Monday so P-Day was cancelled for Monday. We were allowed to go out, but we were encouraged to go visit people. My companion and I went out and cleaned a lot of people's cars and went to visit some people. We then went with Hermano D y Hermano J to Hermana O's home where we visited and had a dinner. It was good and we had some great conversations about the gospel. It was a well spent day.

I am happy to hear that you that you attended the Family History Class and are enjoying it. I am sure you will be very successful on Family Search. I am really glad you went to the class and I hope that you will continue to have fun in it.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

P.S.  A haiku I wrote:

Vaya y haga

La gran obra misional

Venga a Cristo

Escuche al profeta

Tu Padre Celestial te ama

English Translation (courtesy Google Translate)

Go and do
The great missionary work
Come to Christ
Listen to the prophet
Your Heavenly Father loves you

Dear Brother #3 and Brother #4,

I hope that you have been doing well. I've had a good week here. I wanted to follow up and see if you have been watching any of the Bible Videos on lds.org. If you have that is great and you can tell me about the ones you like. If not the best time to start is now. You can download on any iPhone or iPad the Bible Videos app and watch them. If home is like anything when I left, you have some device in your hand for several hours. If you watch one Bible video they are usually two to five minutes long. I am sure you can spare five minutes each day to watch one video.  They are really interesting to watch.

I believe you guys will appreciate this the most; last Tuesday I ate ceviches—they can be prepared a lot of different ways, but the one I ate was raw fish, raw shrimp, and raw octopus. You could definitely see some tentacle bits in there. It is safe to eat because it has lemon juice poured over it. Also it was eaten with lettuce and with a spicy sauce (a thin sauce similar to an Italian and herbs sauce) on it. After that we ate a shrimp soup with eggs, cheese, potatoes, and cream. I think it's called chupada de camarón. We drank homemade Chica Morada which is a purple corn drink. You boil the purple corn with apples and pineapples and then strain it, repeat with the same corn but different pineapples and apples and add sugar. It is super delicious and I really like the drink.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. Our car was a bit of a fixer upper, it was a minor thing. It had a leak in the tire and we had to go get it fixed up by a fixer upper fixer.

Also, I think Elsa is living in DC because it snowed again. She just keeps letting it go. So we couldn't use our car on Monday because of the snow. You just have to watch your step while walking.

Anyway, do you want to build a snowman? Because we have enough snow now to build one over here.

I really can't wait for a little bit warmer weather and to see what frozen things do in Summer.

It's okay though because the cold never bothered me anyway. Go enjoy the sun. 

A couple days ago my companion and I went over to a member's home and we finished each other's...sandwiches (we split one). They were super good. And for the first time in forever, we got an investigator with a baptismal date. Well, have a great day and don't let the frostbite bite.

P.S.S. I hope you got those million Frozen quotes and references from some of the songs.

Foods Eaten in My First 3 Months-2/23/2014

2/23/2014
Family,
Many of you are probably wondering what on earth I eat here, how do I survive, what do I normally eat? Please don't die when I tell you.

The standard meat: Chicken. The standard side: beans & rice. Put it all together and you have a normal meal. Almost always is there some form of chicken & rice. And a lot of times there are beans. The rice is almost always white rice, not a lot done to it, but every once in a while it's way different. Learn to love rice. I have learned to love it because you get a ton of it. Now with beans, they're almost always black beans and most of the time they are just your normal side, but sometimes they're in your rice. Once I had bean soup, it was kind of weird.

Chicken. Brother #3 this is your place. I've eaten so much chicken I'm growing feathers. I've seen it prepared many different ways. Sometimes it's chopped up with rice & plantains, cooked and served bones and all, lightly breaded, like what a normal chicken breast without bones looks like, etc. If the person is Peruvian (and sometimes others) expect plantains - they're a big banana that is super sweet, the green plantains are poisonous if not cooked. I don't really care for plantains but I'll eat them.

Peruvian food: Papa a la Huancaína

Some other things I really like... Yuca, it's a root, normally served in Peruvian food. It kind of looks like a giant french fry, tastes like one too but it's even better. They fry them and you dip it in different salsas (sauces). I could eat it for days. It's also found in soups and very good too.  Papa de la Huancaína, it's a baked potato with this sauce that is poured over it. The coloration is similar to fry sauce and it has little red dots in it.

Other foods I've liked...ribs, stir fry, hamburger patty, tacos de carne asada, tamales, and various salads. Oh also talapia, not too bad.

   

[Above left: Making tamales with a Sister from the ward-Saturday 2/8/2014; 

Above right: Eating the tamales on Sunday 2/9/2014]

Pastas. There are a lot of different noodles and sauces I've had. Some red sauce, green sauce, meatballs, meaty, thin noodles, long noodles, this noodles, short noodles. I'm liking and getting used to it.

Soups. Soups are weird here, but I'm getting used to it. You know in California the thickest soup is a clam chosder or a chunky beef stew. Here, there will be a slab of meat in there, full yacas, whole carrots, etc. Basically take your dinner plate and put it in a broth. They'll have a corn on the cob (or half) in there. You have to use your hands a lot and drink up the broth.

Braden comere tacos al pastor y de carne asada-Saturday 2/22/2014

Some of the weirder things I've eaten. Kimchi (kimchee), ask Sister Warr, it's the Korean pickled cabbage with the powerful smell. I had a little, not too bad, I would eat it again. Has a nice kick at the end. Tacos de lengua, tongue tacos. Braden has eaten tongue, it was very good, I liked it a lot and would eat many more times. Meat is a little more chewy.


Korean dessert, it was shaved ice mixed with red beans, a little sweet, very interesting. The reason for the Korean food was that we went to our roomates to a Korean lady's home for lunch. Also there was a beef/steak prepared with rice and steamed veggies you put on top of a giant lettuce leaf and ate. There was this super good pepper that tasted like a bell pepper.

Lunch on Sunday 2/23/2014

Restaurants. Been to Subway 3 times, got the Subway melt, grilled chicken, turkey & black forest ham. Usually get lots of other toppings. Subway is good. I'm appreciating sandwiches. At the apartement I sometimes will make a turkey sandwich toasted with cheese and sometimes lettuce. Taco bell, got the taco meal deal, it was good. Sardi's super good Peruvian chicken place. Oh sorry Brother #1, literally the closest restaurant which is a 5-7 minute walk is Outback Steakhouse, haven't been there because it's expensive but think of you when I see it. Cafe rio - very similar to Costa Vida, Utah worships it, two weekends in a row they had $1 burritos (instead of normally around $8). Obviously there are more places I've been to but I tried to mention some different ones. Oh there's a Noodles and Company here, I had the Whole Grain L...something [Whole Grain Tuscan Linguine] with parmesan chicken, it was amazing.

Whole Grain Tuscan Linguine from Noodles and Company

Anyways that is the tip of the iceberg of what I've been eating. Don't die from shock.

Love, Elder Braden John Dahl
[Note: Mom is in total shock!!!!]
3/3/2014
Family,
Part 2 of things I've eaten. So since I wrote you my last list of things I've eaten, more food and drink has come to mind and I've now eaten more things. I've eaten completos, which are a Chilean hot dog. It's done in thick bread and has a hot dog with cheese, tomatoes, and guacamole on it.

I've also had cashew juice (from the cashew fruit, not nut), it smells awful but the taste really isn't that bad. I've also had chimichangas, which are alright, not my favorite but pretty good.

I've also had sopes which are a tortilla base and it kind of looks like a pizza. It's a small tortilla with beans, cheese, herbs and some other things. It tastes super good.

I've also had a bowtie pasta with a slamon sauce and a little bit of salmon bits in it. I'm still not the biggest seafood fan but it was alright. I've had some pork sandwiches with mayo now and bell peppers in vinegar and that was super good.

Lunch - Saturday 3/8/2014

I love you all.
Love, Elder Braden John Dahl