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

Sightseeing-The National Cathedral, Zoo, Holocaust Museum & Dept of the Treasury...Written 9-29-2014

Written 9/29/2014
This week was another really fun one. My companion and I have really been working hard to teach the 20 lessons (to members, less-actives, investigators, etc.) each week. President Cooke has really been stressing this goal lately. Luckily we've been keeping pace these last few weeks. This week we were able to have 25 lessons. It was a great and busy week.

My companion and I are visiting with a lot of less-active members right now trying hard to get them to come back to church. We are seeing some miracles with less-active members who haven't opened there doors in years or who people have completely forgotten about, begin opening their doors to us and letting us come and teach them.

With our investigators we have one on baptismal date. We are working very hard to keep her on date and make sure she feels comfortable with baptism. She is doing well and really progressing. We also have another investigator that would be baptized now but his parents said we have to wait until his birthday in April. He's a rock solid guy and we are just waiting and working on his parents. Another investigator we have is super close to baptism and we are trying to put on date but she just needs a little more time and she'll be golden.

There is so much excitement here and I love serving in this area. My companion and I are working hard and trying our best. The members here are great and we have a lot of potential here in the area.

Thursday night the branch had a small activity where we played futbol, sorry, soccer. It was a really fun time and we brought one of our investigators to it and he really enjoyed playing. It was fun night and we were able to connect more with the branch.

Saturday morning we helped with a food drive at the church building and we helped pack up all the donations that were collected.

Today my companion and I passed by the National Cathedral. We didn't go in because it's a $10 admission of $25 for the behind the scenes tour. We took some pictures and it was fun to go and see.

We then headed down to the zoo and checked it out. It was nice to go and see again and it was my companion's first time so he appreciated it. Then we thought, well we can keep doing more so we went down the National Mall and went to go see the Holocaust Museum. My companion was dying to see that museum. Thankfully it was fairly empty today, so we went through pretty quick. We still had a little time left so we went to the Department of the Treasury and saw the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It was a cool little tour and we saw millions of dollars being printed. Today was mostly focused on $5 bills but they did have some of the first coloration printing for some $20 bills. I also got to see $1,000,000 in $10 bills. It was cool to go and see.It doesn't really feel like I've been out 10 months. I'm starting to lose track of dates and months are starting to fly by. I find it hard to believe September is almost over, it feels like it just began. I'm not sure what language I'll be watching Conference in but English is more likely than Spanish, but who knows. Notes for me are will probably be in Spanglish depending on how fast they speak; the slower they speak the more Spanish I write. 

In regards to directing music, yes I have directed music several times on my mission (just not in a Sacrament Meeting) in several meetings. Teach the basics first and stress the importance of just hitting the downbeat if nothing else. Practice directing some hymns and then some hymns with some tricky things-double down beat, time change, fermata, etc.

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well for you and the family and I hope you have a great week.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

A lot of teaching & a lot of family history...Written 9-22-2014

Written 9/22/2014
Youngest Brother,
I'm excited that you got your 3DS XL and a Pokemon game. It sounds like you are certainly enjoying it and are doing really well on the game right now. Today I had fun in DC and I went and bought some delicious chocolate at a fun store to enjoy for National White Chocolate Day. I miss you too. Have fun this week.

Family,
I wouldn't be thinking of picking me up too soon now but I am starting to figure out all the city. It's funny now when people are asking me for directions and I can show them where to go. I hope that all the fires in California will start to calm down and get under control but by the sounds of it, they are a little ways from that.

Today was another fun P-Day. My companion and I went down to Historic Georgetown and went down some of the cobblestone roads. We also went to Dean and Deluca, a cool little deli, candy, stuff store and got some nice little chocolates. We then headed down to the Capitol Building and took a tour there which was really fun. Yes, we saw the Brigham Young Statue in there. I only found one of the two California Statues in there of Ronald Reagan in the Main Dome. We also went and passed by the Supreme Court Building and went into the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Afterwards, we went to the American History Museum and saw all the things there. Finally, we stopped by the National Archives and checked out all the important documents there. It was a really fun time down there but it's starting to get a little chilly here now.

This week was a really fun week. On Monday my companion and I taught a Family Hostory lesson to a recent convert in our area. She now has begun to put in her family into familysearch.org. By Wednesday she had all of her grandparents in.

Tuesday morning we did some service at a nearby food bank where the missionaries there packed 10,000 lbs of food to be distributed. In the afternoon we had a lesson with 2 of our investigators about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We also taught 2 less-active families about enduring to the end.

Wednesday was our transfer meeting. Elder A is now my roommate serving in the area next to us. Also we have a brand new missionary that just came out into the field in our district with his trainer who just came back to the city. Wednesday we were able to have 5 lessons; which was super awesome. We taught 1 investigator about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This investigator is ready for baptism but we have to get permission from his parents and they say we have to wait until April when he turns 12. He is super solid and awesome to hang around. We taught a recent convert and a less-active member about Family History and how to begin using FamilySearch.org.

On Thursday, my companion and I taught three people on Facebook which was super great. Who new that Facebook could be such an awesome tool. We also taught a member about temples and her preparation for entering the temple. My companion and I also went with the Branch President to the old home of a member to pick up some of his personal belongings due to some issues he had. In the evening, my companion and I went to a member's home with the East Elders to a less-active member to celebrate Chile's Independence Day. We are so much food and then some. It was super good but I would not be surprised if each of us ate more than 2,000 calories in just that meal. We had a great discussion on prayer with her and one of her friends from Panama that isn't a member.

Friday we taught another member about Family History. (If you can't tell there is a pattern here.) The mission is really stressing family history and we are more than willing to try and teach everyone here how to start and get going.

Saturday, my companion and I visited a less-active member and shared a short message with her about Faith in Jesus Christ. In the afternoon, we taught our investigator with a baptismal date and we showed her the baptismal font at the chapel and finished practicing the baptismal interview questions with her. It was a great lesson and we are excited to continue to work with her. In the evening we taught another investigator about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. She is very close to baptism but she said she was already baptized. We then spoke about authority with her and she started to wonder if she was baptized with authority. She said she would study it until our next appointment and come with some questions.

On Sunday we went to "Why I Believe" with 4 of our members and had a great night. My companion and I are teaching a lot out here and really enjoying it. All in all, we are teaching a lot over here always trying to hit the 20 lessons each week. This last week we hit 23 lessons. It can be a little tough but it's fun.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Birthday Month in our Apartment...Written 8-18-2014

Monday night all of our appointments cancelled so we ended up going to Meridian Park to go GQ [General Question] people. We were invited to play soccer in the dirt with a bunch of guys (mainly Hispanics). It started to rain as well but we ended up playing in the mud and dust for an hour.

Meridian Park with Elder C

Meridian Park with Elder H

Tuesday I met one of the area's more solid investigators and we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson and it was fun being able to teach in a trio. [3 Elders as companions]

Tuesday it rained a ton. There were some flood warnings going out due to all the rain we received. So naturally like any other missionaries, we bike through it to our morning appointments. Needless
to say we were pretty drenched, more like soaked through, to be realistic. It was really fun trying to make our way through the rain. Elder C popped both of his bike tubes hitting a pothole in the gutter so we had to walk to an appointment and back to our house to repair it. In the afternoon the rain let up and it was more of a light drizzle but we walked to our appointments because they were very close to our apartment and one another. It was a very fun day being out there. We also had a member come out with us Tuesday Night, so Elder C and I went out to GQ around Meridian Park. We found and taught 2 new investigators and got return appointments with both of them.

Wednesday we reviewed the Restoration with this awesome kid that I met. He wants to get baptized. He's only 12 and his mother says he can't get baptized until he turns 13 because in her eyes he will be old enough to really make that decision and will have proved his commitment to want to be baptized. We are still working on it but we know he'll be a great member.

Thursday was Zone Training for the Washington DC Zone. It was a really good meeting with some great workshops on the Plan of Salvation and studying the Scriptures. Afterwards, we had our weekly planning session.

Friday was one of our roommate's birthday. His mom sent him some cake mix and candles so Elder H, Elder C, and I made him 20 cupcakes for his 20th birthday while they were out for an appointment during our lunch hour.

Saturday morning we all headed over to the Holmead Chapel to clean it with several more missionaries and some English and Spanish members. The Holmead Chapel is one of the church's abandoned chapels and has been so for a little over 2 years after the completion of the 16th St Chapel.

Holmead Chapel

The Holmead Chapel is super tiny building less than a block away from Columbia Heights. The place has been pretty ransacked by the homeless and the missionaries. We ended up throwing away about a dumpster's size of trash and made it look like a usable chapel again. It's a nice little building. The stake here is looking to sell it but until then it is being used for occasional activities put on by various wards or branches as well as district meetings for the missionaries. In the evening we met a Hispanic family at the park and we had a great lesson with them about the Restoration and they really liked what they heard. We also taught another of our solid investigators who is pretty close to baptism. We had a great discussion on faith with her.

Sunday we were in the chapel for 7 hours. We had two meetings to attend before Sacrament Meeting followed by the normal three hours of church which was then followed by a branch farewell dinner for a missionary they are sending off this Wednesday.

The Elders that are serving in the Mt. Pleasant Branch in Washington D.C.

After we got back to the apartment we bussed up to the Visitors' Center for a "Why I Believe". We had an investigator ride up with a member and we met up with them there. We then managed to hitch a ride back to our apartment.

I hope you have a great day and that Dad feels better soon. It stinks feeling vertigo all the time but I hope it goes away soon. I also hope you have a good week coming up.

Today we biked down to Chinatown and the National Mall with our roommates. It was really fun walking around Chinatown and going down to the Air and Space Museum today and seeing some of the displays there. The Mission Executive Secretary J.S. bought me a Baskin Robin's ice cream cake as an early birthday present which was super nice of him.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

My New Area in... Written 8/11/2014

D.C.! Inside the Beltway, In the City, My area includes the Monuments, Zoo, White House, etc.

Mom, I haven't really been on Facebook that much so I haven't really had time to post anything. We did have transfers on Wednesday, the transition was smooth. I'm still on bike and the Zone Leaders brought me to my new apartment. I actually am already friends with my new companions. Yes, you read that right, companions. I'm in a trio now and we actually all know each other from when we were all in the same district 3 transfers ago.

I can forward you the Excellence Newsletter but there aren't really opportunities at a zone meeting before my birthday. However, I am now in the zone where the Secretary of the Mission Presidency, Brother A, watches over the missionaries and fairly regularly goes to the mission office to bring things down to the missionaries here in this zone. Please don't worry about it if it comes late to me. There is no rush or pressure and I can get it the following week at Zone Training.

On Tuesday we had our last district meeting and we all took a photo together. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and had lunch. For most of the day Elder G was with us because his companion was called to be an Assistant to the President and had to leave a day early from his area. Tuesday was an awesome day for us. We found 3 new investigators, had a member present lesson. Taught a less-active member, and had 4 other lessons. It was a great last day in the area of Montgomery Village South. Tuesday night I finished packing up and was ready for the transfer meeting next morning.

Elder Dahl's new apartment building in Mount Pleasant West area

Wednesday was transfers and unlike before we didn't find out who our new companions were or where our new areas were until during the transfer meeting. This was the older way of doing apparently that some of the older missionaries remember doing. So I had no idea where I was going or who my new companion would be when I arrived at the Visitors' Center on Wednesday morning. They announced the companionships and areas by zones. 15 new missionaries came out but none were Spanish missionaries so they actually ended up closing the Germantown area. I am now serving in the Mount Pleasant West area with my two companions. After the meeting I arrived in my new area and I unpacked a little (one of my companions stayed at the Visitors' Center for the departing lunch for a little bit and my other companion went on exchanges to an appointment with one of our roommates. I stayed with the other roommate for a bit and helped him in his area). We then had a quick lunch and headed out to an appointment. After the appointment we went down to Columbia Heights and General Questioned (GQ'd) people there for a while and found a few potential investigators.

You might be wondering where exactly Mount Pleasant is and what area I am exactly covering. I am no longer in Maryland and I don't cover anything in Maryland. I am in DC and cover everything south of Quincy St. and west of Georgia Ave. to Florida Ave. to North Capital St. in DC. My area includes the Monuments, Zoo, White House, etc. However, almost all of the work is in the vicinity of Quincy and Georgia.

Anyways, Thursday we had our weekly planning session and it mostly consisted of getting to know the area, members, and investigators. It also was my companion's birthday and we had a little hang out dinner up on our apartment's rooftop terrace with some pizza, lemonade and cake with an investigator and some of the missionaries in our district. After dinner we went out again and went to try and find some of the less-active members in the branch.

On Saturday we General Questioned (GQ'd) some more at Columbia Heights and found a few more potential investigators. We also visited a couple members and less-actives from the ward. We went down 16th street to visit some people and GQ and we passed by scores of churches. Including a former LDS church building built in the '30s. It is really tall and the exterior is made entirely of Utah quarried stone.

    

The building also used to have an Angel Moroni atop the steeple. It was a cool thing to see. We also passed by several Embassies and Consulates. While we were down there we GQ'd at one of the parks and met an awesome guy from Ecuador.

Mount Pleasant Branch Building

Mount Pleasant Branch Building

Sunday one of my roommates and I went to the Branch Council meeting and attended it before church. President and Sister Cooke spoke during Sacrament Meeting in the Mount Pleasant Branch. We had a good but very lively Gospel Principles class and then our District Leader and I taught the Young Men's class.

We also went to the Visitors' Center and brought a family in the branch with us to the Night of Music and Inspiration event. It was a really good event and fun to be there.

I'm doing great biking around and the heat hasn't been bad, or I'm used to it now. I don't have any complaints. I hope you do well this week with the crazy schedule and the transition back to school.

Dad, I'm glad that you're feeling better and I hope that things at work can go smoothly with the temporary change.

Last week was Transfers and I am now serving in the Mount Pleasant West area. That means I am serving in The District of Columbia now! It's quite the adrenaline rush riding around in the city on bike dodging cars, people, opening car doors, buses, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Though sometimes it feels like we just spend forever locking or unlocking our bikes; It's really fun to be serving here and there are a lot of good people here. It's fun being in a branch now and I'll get to know the people a lot quicker.

We have a really nice apartment here (one of the most expensive in the mission) right above a metro station on Quincy St. and Georgia Ave. There is a nice lobby, rooftop terrace, and gym here. Tell Mom that there are no bed bugs here.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

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.

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

"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