Another Week in the Life...Written 9-28-2015

Things sound like it has been going really well and busy as ever. Dad sounds like he is doing great and getting a lot better. That is awesome how things are doing.

This week has been busy we were teaching a ton of less-active members and investigators. I'm not really sure what to write this week but things have been going well. We've been having some really good lessons with our investigators.

Today we had our zone activity where we made and are breakfast and enjoyed hanging out. The we played some volleyball and soccer. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.

Seneca Zone Activity 9-28-2015

Transfers are this Wednesday with my companion and I staying together in Montgomery Village North. It is crazy to think that it is my last transfer is approaching. I am glad to be staying here and am exited to continue to work here and bring others closer to Christ. It feels like yesterday I just came out here. I'm excited to see what this next transfer has in store. 

I also am really excited for General Conference coming up and there should be some great talks coming up.

So I'm at a complete loss of what else to write but I hope that you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Braden Dahl

Mom: Let's see--what to write...

what did you cook and eat for breakfast?

tell us more about your companion-where is he from, what are his hobbies, is he 1st missionary in his family, siblings, etc

Are your other 2 roommates being transferred this week?

What are you going to sing next? With whom?

Does it feel like fall yet?

Elder Dahl: I think I can take a hint...

Bacon, waffles, pancakes, orange juice, milk, with syrup and whipped cream.

My companion is from Mesa Arizona, has a younger brother and sister, his mom is a convert his dad served a mission in Italy, he enjoys bow hunting, sleeping, eating food that other people cook for him, blowing things up, etc

Both of my roommates are staying (Elder C and Elder T)

No plans for singing yet (the new VC director doesn't like musical performances so much)

Yes it feels like fall, it's getting cooler the leaves are already changing, getting windier and cloudier

Slip 'n' Slide, Music, 1 Companion Completed His Mission...Written on Labor Day 9/1

Thank you so much for the package you sent me. I got it a couple days ago when JS dropped it off to me. I appreciate everything you got me. I also got the card you all sent me and want to say thank you for that too.

On Monday we went out to a Pupusaría for dinner with a member as their goodbye to Elder H. We then went over and had a lesson with one of our members in our area which was short and sweet.

Tuesday we went to lunch at a member's home and then taught her Family History. She is excited to start her family history and she is hoping for a lot of success. Afterwards, we went over to a investigator's home and continued teaching her the Word of Wisdom and created a plan to help her quit coffee. She was willing to try it out and when she last spoke with us, she was still doing what we asked her to do. We also found a new investigator when we were trying to look for a lost member in the late afternoon. He is a nice guy that recently turned his life completely around. He attends another church but is willing to hear our message and wants to learn more about our church. We have a lesson coming up with him this week and we are excited to teach him.

Wednesday Elder H, Elder C, and I did a lost of lost member work. Our area had a list of 25 lost members that we are now trying to find. We only have 14 people left on our lost member list now. Unfortunately, most don't live there anymore but we did find one member that still lives there. She was busy but we set up an appointment with her and she seemed pretty nice to us.

On Thursday we had our District Meeting at the Visitors' Center and we all received a tour to know all of the exhibits available for us to teach people with. It was very good and I learned how packed the VC is with everything from Preach My Gospel. We also had a great Family History lesson with one of our less-active members and his non-member daughter visited with us for a little as well.

Friday was Elder H's last day.

He was picked up by the Assistants in the early afternoon and Elder C and I were left to take care of the area. It felt like a pretty hard day because we tried to visit everyone and no one answered the door. We also went to our two most bountiful GQing [General Questioning] areas with no one in sight. We felt a little disheartened but we were hopeful for the next day.

Saturday turned around when we had a powerful lesson with one of our investigators. We thought she was a lot farther than she really was but it turned around and we had a powerful lesson on prophets and the restored gospel.

This Sunday was Fast Sunday for us. Elder C and I decided to fast for the investigator that was struggling the night before. She said she had to work Sunday and that she probably wouldn't come to church. However, late into Sacrament Meeting she came in. She normally has to leave for work right after and can't stay for second hour; but today she stayed. Our lesson in Gospel Principles was on Prophets and every doubt she had was covered in class with a scripture supporting it. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for helping us with his work. We also had another great experience in the evening when we visited a member who was going through a hard time and we were able to visit with her for a while and share a nice message with her to help her keep going.

Today was our Zone Activity. We went to a park in Rockville, MD and played Slip n' Slide Kick Ball. It was normal kickball with three innings but you had to go on a slip n' slide from third base to home plate (a beach ball). It was really fun but really hot and humid. It was still very enjoyable and at the end we ate pizza for lunch and went our separate ways.

In regards to music, I can and do listen to my iPod and some CDs I've acquired. Everything you sent on my iPod is beyond ok to listen to. To listen to music on my iPod I have the speaker you sent me with, another small portable speaker, and an AUX cord to plug into my CD player to listen to it as well.

BYU Men's Chorus I only have their Set Apart Album and yes it is very good.

The rule is basically the music we listen to should not hinder the Holy Spirit and it should not take away from our purpose nor be there to distract.

As a note to you here is a list of the music albums I've acquired since my mission began (on my iPod unless otherwise stated)-Disney's Greatest Vol. 1 and 2, Disney/Pixar Greatest Vol. 1, Prince of EgyptSoundtrack (CD), Celtic Women's Emerald, Piano Guys 1 and 2, Lifescape's Reflection on Peace, Debbie West Coon's You are Loved, The Work, Jesus Adrian Romeo's El Aire De Tu Casa, Savior of the World (Church Musical), and all the Church's recordings of the Spanish Hymns (CD-a little painful to listen to-good for practicing parts though). I hope you can find the albums on iTunes if you ever need to reference what I have here. You don't need to freak out and try to make sure I don't have any duplicate songs-I promise it won't bother me or be the end of the world. No need stressing over it.

Ok my requests, if you can find Spanish CDs of anything like Disney Songs, Hymns, EFY music or whatever that would be greatly appreciated because I almost exclusively have songs in English (I have 2 Christian CDs in Spanish). Also I've been looking for some classical as well-orchestra, baroque, dark romantic, modern, movie soundtrack, you name it. I don't need Christmas music I have tons of it.

Thanks for thinking about me and my music. This is by no means something I need you to send me tomorrow. You sent me more than enough in my Birthday package. I don't need to rob you of house and home. It can be a nice surprise or something for Christmas too.

PS yes I got a card and gift from Grandma and Grandpa W. Tell them thank you a ton. I was going to write them a letter but since their leaving so soon I'll probably send them and email soon thanking

Youngest Brother,

Wow you're quite the rich guy now! I'm glad to hear you're saving money right now and working towards one of your goals. Keep up the good work saving your money and don't forget to pay your tithing on it. I promise if you'll pay your tithing Heavenly Father will send you even more blessings than you already have and you'll feel really good.

I hope that you can continue doing good things and be rewarded soon with the things that you want to get. Have a great week and have lots of fun.

Love,
Elder Braden Dahl
[Mom's Note: I found out that when Elder H completed his mission, Braden (Elder Dahl) became the senior companion with Elder C as the junior companion.]

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