Final Mission Letter from Elder Dahl...Written 11-9-2015

Another week has flown by out here. It's amazing how fast time seems to just fly. I can't quite determine if you are counting hours, minutes, or seconds before you see me. From my oldest brother's email you [Mom] sound a bit more than ecstatic.

This week was really great. I'll probably keep this email pretty short because I have to start packing and getting everything ready for transfers. 

As you know I will be leaving my area and heading to the DC South Mission in Arlington for a week. I'm excited for my new area.

Monday I attended a baptism in the ward of an investigator I taught. She was still baptized into the ward but we ended up passing her to the sister missionaries to finish teaching her for a couple of reasons. It was a great baptism and she was confirmed yesterday in church. You should be meeting her on Friday. We also brought one of the recent converts in our area to the baptismal service and he really liked it. It was a great experience for him to see someone else's baptism.

On Wednesday we had our temple trip and it was wonderful. I always love going to the temple and it is so beautiful being able to enjoy the lovely DC Temple and the spirit of the Lord there.

Thursday we met a new investigator that was out working on his car. He was a really cool guy and had a lot of questions for us. We also were able to teach a member that is going through a really hard divorce and a recent convert that has been having a hard time getting to church. The best part was that this recent convert made it to church this Sunday and stayed all 3 hours! 

Thursday evening was the departing interview and dinner for the missionaries leaving this transfer. We had a lot of fun together and shared stories and had a great time. We made a scrapbook page and it was a wonderful evening.
Friday I headed up to the farm one last time where I planted garlic in their garden. We ended up finishing about 2.5 long rows of garlic the time we were there. It was fun and a nice day.

We also met this really cool guy when knocking the door of a former investigator. He let us talk to him outside and we shared with him. Message of the restoration. It really hit him hard and he started tearing up when we spoke about the Book of Mormon. He was really touched and said it was an answer he had been seeking. We are excited to begin working with him.

Sunday we had church and it was great as always. They had me go up and share my testimony as I am finishing my missionary service. It was weird to think that my first Sunday on my mission I spoke from the same pulpit as my last Sunday. After church I had a goodbye party (despedida) for myself and another elder going home in the ward at O's house. It was fun and we shared a great time with everyone. Afterwords, my companion and I went out and looked for some of our investigators and tracted a bit.

So about the bike... [Mom wrote him about disassembling his bike and shipping it home.] So I have my bike here at the apartment locked up in the parking garage with one of my U-locks. The problem is the key I had for the lock is missing and I have no idea where it is. I have looked for it everywhere in the apartment to no avail. If you know how to cut locks it might work but I am at a loss what to do with it. [Dad's solution-we'll hire a locksmith...Mom says, let's pray to find the key until then.]

On Sunday I was thinking of going to all three congregations but just staying for Sacrament Meeting. We'll talk more about the details when you are here or you can shoot me an email.
Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

Navy Football Coach & Physically and Spiritually Fit...written 3-23-2015

I'm going to go back and forth between Dad & Mom's questions and Braden's answers. His letter makes more sense when you know what Dad & Mom asked him...

Dad: I have a stomach bug outbreak and work with about 30 residents and 9 staff members. We are hoping to get a handle on it. It should be a busy week.

Dad, I'm glad to hear that you're doing well. I hope the stomach bug problem gets handled and over with quickly at work. 

Dad: The ward is going to start a missionary training class for the adults. It is a program initiated by the Stake Sunday School. The ward Sunday School has asked that I attend the adult class and then teach the youth of our ward the information. I am actually excited about it. I think it will be fun.

It also sounds like the new missionary class should be really fun. I hope it all goes well. This week has been nice for me. It's been great getting to know everyone and finally starting to get the area all down.

Dad: It was also nice to get the picture the family sent mom. We assume that is from a family in your ward? 

Oh, and that photo that was sent to Mom on Thursday, March 19th at 11:52am... It was from a senior sister missionary. I don't think you guys have seen Meet the Mormons as many times as I have because they have a certain Navy Football Coach and his wife from Annapolis, MD featured. Yeah it's them from Meet the Mormons because they went to the temple (DC being he closest to Annapolis) and we caught a pic with them when we were at the temple the same day.

Barbara & Ken Niumatalolo with Elder Mayta and Elder Braden Dahl. Ken is the Head Football Coach of the
U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and was featured in the movie, "Meet the Mormons"

NCAAF head coach Ken Niumatalolo believes in teamwork on and off the field. 










Mom: Wow Braden! I can't believe you lost 6-8 suit sizes!! I was teasing with Dad saying that you are going to come home the 'crazy' missionary who will be whipping us into better spiritual shape and the 'crazy-exercising' missionary that will also be whipping us into better physical shape! I told Dad that you'll get home and have us up at 6am jogging -- in matching jogging suits for the whole family -- while reading our scriptures as we go! I hope you get the joke, it's a women/mom thing always trying to keep up with all those other perfect Mormon Moms thus the matching jogging suits, jogging & scripture reading all at once.

I'm not sure about matching jogging suits; I'm still not a huge jogging fan. I could get you all on bike though and I can get some matching reflective vests. Roseville isn't too-too bad so we could probably read scriptures while on bike, or Dad will just have everyone download the audio for the scriptures and play it on their iPod at the same time.

This past week has been great. Monday evening we started doing A Family Home Evening with a less-active member who is also a recent convert. She has gone through a lot of hard times but is super nice. We also having her home teachers come over and help us share a message.

My companion and I also helped move a less-active member in the other Elders' area. She used to be a member in an area I previously served in. It was a little short notice but we were glad to help and finish moving everything. It was a great opportunity to serve and they really appreciated it. This week we also went over to a member's home to fill up bike tires with the two small bike pumps I have so they could give it to another member for transportation. It's fun to see all the little things you can do to help. (Don't worry I still always offer to wash the dishes at everyone's home-they just never let us do it.)

We have the goal to meet all the members in our new area to better know them and help them. We started doing that this week and have been going around looking for the members. We have had good success already and have found and met with a lot of the active and less-active members. They all seem great and we are getting a better grasp on how to help each of them. So far we're probably about a third of the way through visiting all the members but we are hoping to visit with a lot of them this week.

We also are trying to visit all the investigators the Sisters and Elders gave to us when the area was created. We've been able to visit with a couple of them now but not as many as we'd like. However, in our searches for members and investigators we've found a lot of new and potential investigators that we are really excited about. The area has so much potential and the members in the ward are super willing to help with missionary work.

On Thursday, our Zone (Silver Spring) went to the temple to do baptisms, confirmations, and initiatories for our ancestors. I brought my 5 names and performed the ordinances for them. It was a great time at the temple and super fun. The senior missionary couple in charge told us that the mission had completed over 900 family file names!

On Sunday I got to quickly go back to the Mount Pleasant Branch in DC for the baptism of one the investigators I taught. We set his baptismal date a little after the transfer when I left and he was able to complete it. We arrived just before he was baptized and we had to leave shortly after because the member that brought us down was helping at the baptism of one of the primary kids in our ward the same day. It was great being there for a few minutes and congratulating him. It was awesome feeling seeing him be baptized and knowing that he is coming closer to Christ.

It snowed here for the first day of Spring. It's still cold here but it is supposed to warm up this week so we can finally have some real springtime weather.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl

PS-Just so you know, on Saturday we all received our new iPad minis. So I have it now and it's all good.

Fall is Here...Written 11-3-2014

Written 11/3/2014

I hope that you've had a great week. Everything here has been going well but it's getting a lot colder here now. Autumn is in full swing and all the leaves have changed color and it's getting windy around here. I love you lots and have a great coming week.

This week has been quite the awesome one.

And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness. (2 Nephi 5:27) Find out what makes us so happy we jump for joy and happiness! Visit www.mormon.org or give me a message!

Y aconteció que vivimos de una manera feliz. (2 Nefi 5:27) Averiguar de porque nos saltamos de gozo y felicidad! Vaya a www.mormon.org/spa o mandarme un mensaje!

*Elder Braden Dahl is 4th from the right with the windbreaker jacket on.*

On Wednesday we had a lesson with our 11 year old investigator and his mother. My companion and I went in after a lot of prayers and a fast. We explained to her that he has already received all the lessons and that he already knows the principles of the gospel. We asked her to let him be baptized sooner than his 12th birthday in April and she agreed to our request. She told us that he can be baptized on the 9th of November. He was more than excited and so was his grandma who is a member. Since then we have began working on his baptismal program. We also had another lesson with one of our other investigators about coming to church that went really well.

Thursday was also an awesome day. A member gave us a referral and said of we had some extra time we could go and pass by that day. We had a little extra time and we decided to go over. We met two people there both are older ladies from Él Salvador. They are interested in learning about our church. We taught them the message of the Restoration and invited them to come to church. They were both great and one of the ladies came to church this last Sunday!

On Saturday we met a referral from one of our members who was born in Peru but lived for many years in Spain. He was interested in English Classes but also has a lot of interest in the Church and what our beliefs are. He is a nice guy who has a ton of potential. We also had a lesson with one of our long-time investigators and made a lot of progress figuring out what doe, of her doubts are.

Sunday we had 4 investigators attend church with us. It was an awesome time seeing all of them their for fast and testimony meeting. After Sacrament meeting our 11 year old investigator had his baptismal interview and passed! We are very hopeful and prayerful that his baptism will go off without a hitch.

Christmas? I'm not thinking about Christmas right now. I'm having a hard time thinking of anything I need or want. Some things I came up with after my 30 minutes of meditation are light gloves (I have a heavy deep winter pair and I have bike gloves without fingertips, it gets cold here but it's not always dawn the deep winter but you still want something covering all your hand), and I still can't think of anything...I can't just think of anything off the top of my head. I don't do well with these kind of questions. Give me a week and I'll try to think of something else.

To answer your other question; I get money each month for all our expenses (ie not for rent, utilities, public transportation fees, etc that are handled by the Mission Office)

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Fall at the LDS Washington D.C. Temple

Elder Braden Dahl and his companion having fun taking pictures at the Washington D.C. Temple

Written 10-27-2014

I'm glad to hear from you this week. This P-Day we went to the Museum of Natural history and explored around it again seeing all the things they have there from mummies to diamonds and everything in between.


It was fun to go and see again. We also stopped by the Smithsonian Castle and saw the few things they have there again.

Being on bike isn't bad right now weather wise. It's getting cooler now but it's just light jacket weather some days. It's starting to rain a lot more again. The few trees in DC are changing colors now but it's easier to see autumn by the temple where it's less concrete jungle. Winter is supposed to be coming soon and rumor has it that it's supposed to be a really hard winter.

Smithsonian Castle

Hola mi querido madre (Hello my dear mother),

Tuesday was our Temple Trip. It was a great time there and I am continuing to bring some of the names of the people I have found.

We are still working with Family History for our members and we hope to see more success. Most Hispanics here don't find ancestors or records but instead put it stories and pictures for future generations due to the lack of records.

Wednesday we went to a less-active member's home for dinner with my district [see Q&A #2] and we seemed to eat our hearts out. It was also cool because we ate with real silver silver wear. It was a great time visiting her and we had a wonderful lesson with her about church attendance. We had a wonderful time seeing her.

This week we were able to give some service. On Friday we helped set up for another wedding reception for a couple hours at the end of the day. We only went for about 20 minutes of the reception because we were so busy Saturday though. Saturday, Elder Crosswhite and I changed a tire for a lady on the side of the road with a flat tire [see Q&A #1]. It was a cool little service to give and it definitely made her day.

Also, Saturday and Sunday we went with some members to the Hispanic Heritage Nights [see Q&A #3] and saw some dances and heard songs and talks from people form all over Latin America. Every single country in Latin America that speaks Spanish (+Brazil) was represented by at least one person there in the audience. They were some really fun nights to go and see the things performed. The first thing everyone from Gaithersburg asked me, and I quote "Are they feeding you in your area?!" (I wish I could say I was joking but no seriously, it wasn't hello, or a handshake, or whatever other salutation). I guess biking around the city has paid off. It's still lots of fun and I enjoy doing it.

End of Transfer Photo of Our District...Elder A at the podium and the rest of us pretending to be asleep or bored
at his dissertation...Mount Pleasant West District - October 2014
Braden is "asleep" 3rd from the left

As for transfers, I will be staying with Elder Crosswhite in Mount Pleasant West. So at least 6 more weeks or being here! I'm excited to see what the next transfer has in store for me.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

P.S. So we're going to the White House as a mission. [Mom had to send some info so he can apply to go. They have to supply their social security number and some info to the Secret Service to be able to go. Public tour requests must be submitted through each individual's Member of Congress. The approval process takes between 21 days to 6 months. So it's kind of a big deal!]

Since we know that Braden writes us on Mondays, sometimes, I can get right on when he writes us. I quickly shot him 3 questions to which he quickly replied...

Q & A:
#1 Mom: Have you ever changed a tire before? Did you come out clean like Jamie Hyneman or dirty like Adam Savage?

Elder Braden Dahl: No I haven't, I was like Jaime Hyneman. Elder Crosswhite more like Adam Savage.

 

#2 Mom: I can't believe the whole district went to eat at 1 persons home! Spanish food? Or what did you eat?

Elder Braden Dahl: Chilean food-some, beef, pork, lots of fruits, cheese and crackers, Jello, ice cream and a ton of other food. We were stuffed.


#3 Mom: What is Hispanic Heritage Night? Was it in Gaithersburg? And you saw members from your old area there?

Elder Braden Dahl: at the VC [Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center]

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour...

Select Desktop or Mobile Tour on Far Left

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

New Shoes 5-5-2014

5/5/2014

Mom,

I added you as a Skype contact and we can use our iPads for Skype since no one has told us otherwise. We are allowed to call or Skype home for 1 hour. So I probably will use the iPad to Skype you. It will be wherever my companion and I have Wi-Fi. Maybe the church, a member's home, our leasing center. We haven't decided where yet.  Only using California aka Pacific (Daylight) Time. I am planning on calling you at 5pm your time. I hope that works and make sure everyone is ready. My ward is from 8am-11am and we usually make it out of the building by 11:30am.

Zone Conference was on Wednesday and it was really good. All the messages were great and it helped us all refocus in on missionary work. All the Elders also learned how to properly shave with a variety of materials. We also learned how to get the "soft as a baby's butt shave" by one of the Senior Missionaries who was a professional barber and later a Yale professor. It was really interesting and he shaved President Cooke as the example a little with a straight razor just to show off but mostly with his six blade professional razor he had. Let me say he wasn't joking with the soft as a baby's butt that was a ridiculously close shave. You wouldn't know that President had facial hair ever in his life and didn't shave for 2 days. It is a long process that takes 10 minutes if your good and know what your doing. (The missionaries that have completely adopted the shaving process say it takes them closer to 30 minutes). I'm not doing exactly what he did because of time restraint but I've adopted a lot of his techniques and my shave is significantly closer, just not quite the "baby's butt."

This week has been really good. Last Monday my roommate (J) and I went ice skating for P-day for about an hour and forty minutes. It was fun and I learned to skate again so I could move around the rink. It was a fun activity and I enjoyed it. We also drove around Seneca State Park. It was very pretty and today we are going there again for the zone activity for games and a barbecue. My companion and I were able to meet with our investigator with a baptismal date a lot this week. The one is still going and will hopefully be baptized this month as planned. The other progressing investigator we have is doing phenomenal. Our first lesson with just him he said that he decided to read the Book of Mormon but wasn't too far in it. He only started from the title page and got to 2nd Nephi. Needless to say, my companion and I were shocked how far he had read. He already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he his going great. He works a lot so we can't visit very often but we are planning to give a baptismal date this week.

Make sure to give my two oldest brothers my congratulations on their amazing accomplishments. Tell my youngest brother that I hope he is feeling better. There were a lot of people sick this week in my area and even more people with bad allergies. I hope you have a great week and that everyone does well.

P.S. I hope you had fun looking at all the photos I took from my SD card package and understood all the little descriptions.

Mom,

So on Saturday a Hermano called us and wanted to meet up with us because he had already spoken to my companion about buying him some new shoes for when his parents come to pick him up. We met up with him and then went to DSW where my companion was looking for some shoes. Then he came up to me and said which ones do you like? I tried to brush it off saying I was fine. However, he later again came up to me and he insisted. All the shoes were nice but I decided I'd look in the lower price range because I'm not leaving soon and I have 2 functioning pairs of shoes.

I found two modest shoe options I liked the style of, a Rockport Brand and a Nunn Bush-recommended by my companion. I tried them both on and the Nunn Bush were super comfortable and I think that was the first time in my life I had nothing to complain about in a shoe (you know my pickiness). The Rockports were alright but I didn't quite like the fit, they were tight on both sides. Plus the Nunn Bushes cost less than the Rockports.

So this Hermano bought me the Kore by Nunn Bush. They are a dress shoe but are lightweight, slip resistant, designed for walking, and very comfortable. They have a nice sole with a good tread but they do have a gel pouch on the inside sole, I'll probably wear it for a while then change it out before the inside sole wears down and then the gel pops. Then this Hermano took us out to ice cream at Cold Stone. This Hermano is such an awesome guy.

Dad,

I'm glad to hear that you had a great Stake Conference. I'm also happy to hear that the ward is doing well in the hastening of the work. I hope you had fun taking all your photos, just remember not to overwork yourself on them.

I also emailed Mom that I am planning on calling you 5pm your time (8pm my time). We will be able to talk for 1 hour. I already am Skype friends with Mom for the upstairs computer. If you need it for another computer just add my user to your contacts and send me a message. I can check my email and Facebook all week if you need to give me any updates.

Today was zone activity and we went to Seneca State Park and played capture the flag for a while which was really fun. We then ate burgers and chips for lunch. Afterwards we hung out and I was in a group where we played the game Scum. It's very similar to the Great Dalmuti where you are trying to get rid of all of your cards; the lowest players have to give their best cards to the highest players. The only main difference is that there is an equal amount of high and low cards and the higher numbers have the higher values. It was a fun day to hang out with the zone and play some games and have a barbecue.

This coming week is all the end of the transfer things. It is crazy too see how fast the transfers fly by here. This Wednesday we have the temple trip. I'm really looking forward to being able to go to the temple again. I believe my companion has his departing dinner this Friday, so I'll hang out with another companionship. Saturday we find out if we are staying or leaving our areas (don't worry there is an overwhelming amount of odds that I will stay in Germantown for this next transfer it's a 99.99% chance). The following Tuesday is when we find out the new companionships are announced, so there is still some time before you find out who I'll be with. This week has been really good and I've been loving it out here. I hope you have a great week.

Brother #2,

I hope you have been doing well. I heard you are doing fantastic in school! That is so great; keep up all that hard work. You may not realize it now, but all those good grades, completed assignments, and hard work will really pay off. It will really help you get into a good college that will help you earn more money for a job you like and on top of that you could get a scholarship where they give you money for being smart and working hard in school. I'm super proud of you that you graduated from your IEP. Keep up the great work. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday.

Brother #3,

I hope you have been doing well. I hope you are doing well in school, keep working hard even though the school year is getting close to being done. I hope you do well on your States and Capitals test and keep studying for it. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday.

Brother #4,

I hope you are feeling better and doing well. It's certainly no fun being sick. I heard you got a couple new fish and a frog. I hope you are enjoying all your new pets. I heard you want some more pets though. It's always fun having some pets but they are a big responsibility. I also heard that you liked the photos of the bird on my shoulder. Did you know that I ate all of my lunch with that bird on my shoulder? I had that bird on me for almost half an hour. The little bird kept peeping and talking into my ear. It was fun and sometimes you could make out a word that the bird was saying. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl 

Mom,

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

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

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

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

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

Dad,

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

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

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl