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

General Conference...More Sightseeing in D.C.-Written 10-6-2014

 Written 10/6/2014

Well I must say I was thoroughly surprised when JS said he had a small package for me. It was super nice to receive that package from you with all the Spanish hymns on it. I've already listened to it several times now. Thank you very much for the pleasant surprise.

This was another good week that I had here. My companion and I were trying to visit everyone in our area and invite them to view General Conference. It was tough at the beginning of the week to find anyone but toward the end of the week we were able to visit a ton of the people in our area and invite them to come and listen to General Conference.

On Tuesday we received a couple referrals from the mission office and we went over to try and contact them, unfortunately they weren't home but we then called them in the evening and set up appointments to visit with them this coming week.

Wednesday was our Zone Conference which was really good. We had a lot of great worships on how to better ourselves and how to improve our teaching skills. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun there. After the meeting we went over and taught one of our investigators some of the commandments. He is still doing really well and has a very solid grip on gospel principles.

Friday my companion and I stayed super busy with a lot of appointments, contacting, plus a couple meetings. It was a really good day where we were able to have a lot of success in our area and work hard and fast.

Saturday, of course, was General Conference. My companion and I viewed all three sessions that day in Spanish. I was able to get most of the things said in conference, some analogies like Henry VIII were a little hard to understand or Elder Jörg Klebingat speaking so fast the translator couldn't keep up. Overall it was really enjoyable and one of the fastest sessions of General Conference I've ever listened to. I think the messages were wonderful and very inspired for us. Oh, and don't worry I was able to make out where Elder Jones was in the Missionary Choir. In regards to Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong's talk I really enjoyed it again, I actually heard a longer version of the talk out here in English when he came out with Elder M. Russell Ballard to the mission. So I guess D.C. is just being hipster hearing the talk before it was cool.

Sunday was another wonderful day with the two sessions of General Conference. My companion and I were again able to see both sessions in Spanish. So we ended up seeing all of General Conference in Spanish and nothing in English (except the music). We had two of our investigators come out and each watch one session of conference. We also had lessons with both of them on Sunday. To me, Elder Hugo E. Martinez didn't seem to speak very fast. He was one of the slowest voices during conference. Most likely due to the translators trying to keep up with the other speakers. Elder Richard G. Scott prerecorded his talk in Spanish so I heard him speak in Spanish during his talk. (Also, fyi Jesucristo is one word in Spanish.)

Today (Monday), we went downtown with the North Elders to the White House Visitors' Center. Not a whole lot there, but now we know if we want tickets to the White House we need to contact our senators or representative, put in some info, mention religious group, and probably wait 30 days.

Anyways, we then went to the WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.

We then went to Ford's Theater and saw where Lincoln was shot, the gun that shot him, and the outside of the house where he died. We then went to the National Building Museum which is cool to see once inside but don't take the tour unless you're really interested because it can get a little boring for some.

I still speak a great deal of English (I am in the US) and there are mostly English missionaries and meetings. I do speak a lot of Spanish too though.

We only see the 11-year-old investigator twice a week, on Wednesday's and at church, sometimes at a branch futbol [soccer] activity too. His mom lets him come to church with his grandma and sister who are members. He is involved in the ward but I'm 99% sure they don't have a scouting program here.

Although we do end up playing soccer just about once a week. I've only been to the field by our apartment 4 times. And we didn't play soccer one of those times. I usually play defense and I don't know what foot I'm dominant on, probably right.

We will not be seeing Meet the Mormons in theaters and the closest theater playing it here is in Virginia. However, there is a slight chance they may play it at the Visitors' Center after it comes out on DVD.

Love, Elder Braden Dahl

2 Missionaries attempting sophistication at Starbucks...Written 9-15-2014

Written 9-15-2014

My companion and I attempting sophistication at Starbucks
at DuPont circle today

Mom's Caption: Great! 2 Missionaries drinking Starbucks!!
I was told it was a carmel frappé and hot chocolate.

Today was nicknamed "Sophistic P-Day" for my companion and I. Sister Cooke [the Mission President's wife] gave a workshop on seeing God's hand in everything and going and seeing D.C. to see God's hands. Today we biked down to DuPont Circle and went to a cool Starbucks that Sister Cooke recommended we go to. We had the best seats there looking out on the circle. We then went and looked at the upper loft it had and then went downtown. We started at the Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial and then went to the Enid A. Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle. We then biked down to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial and walked the wall as well as passing  by the Vietnam Women's Memorial. We then biked to the Albert Einstein Monument and then all the way up to the Watergate Complex. We then took a tour of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Let's just say it's a crazy huge place and it's Mom's kind of place. We saw the three main theaters: Concert Hall seating 2400 people, the Opera Theater (where musicals also are performed) seating 2300 people, and the Eisenhower Theater seating 1100 people. As well as the Terrace Theater that seats around 500. They also have a free concert available almost every day at 6pm. It was fun to go and see.

We then headed over and saw the Native American Museum which wasn't that impressive but still very nice to see. The. We headed over and did the bottom floor of the National Gallery of Art and went over to the new East Building for the National Gallery of Art. We then had lunch at Union Station and did a quick stop at the Postal Museum which has a ton of crazy stamps and mailboxes.

On Monday our Zone leaders challenged our district to get 500 contacts this week because the numbers are low for contacts as well as the teaching pool. My companion and I were working hard to do our part. Monday evening mostly consisted of us trying to talk to people. During the rest of the week we also continued to do a lot of contacting,

Tuesday we had 2 great lessons with an active member that we are helping work on family history with. Also with a less-active member who is very nice and we were able to share a message with her about enduring to the end.

Wednesday we had 4 lessons. We helped a recent convert begin their family history. She is excited to start and it's not something she knows a lot about. We shared a short message with a less-active member that afternoon and we also had a short lesson with one of our investigators on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We also had a great lesson with our Branch Mission Leader.

Last Thursday was September 11th and as a precaution (nothing happened that day) the Washington D.C. zone had to go to the Stake Center next to the temple without using any public transportation. It was a large Zone Comference and we had some great workshops from our leaders about never fearing, keep going, and remember who you are. Sister Cooke gave a workshop about seeing the hand of God here and gave us a huge list of the must sees while we are serving in the mission here. Luckily, I've done almost all of them that she mentioned as a must see. My companion and I came up with a list of some of other things she mentioned and things we know about that we'd like to see. We have plans to go and see most of them through this next transfer. Also an expert cyclist came in representing WABA (Washington Area Bicycling Association) to give us some bike safety and information about biking around here. It was very informational and helps a lot putting into practice here. It helped me out on Saturday especially. After the meeting ended (9am-5pm), we went back to our areas and my companion and I had a lesson with one of the members in the evening.

Friday we had five lessons, two of which were on Facebook. We tried to keep busy all day and really enjoyed all the people we were able to be with and share the gospel with.

Saturday was rainy and busy. We had to bike nearly all the way to the Capitol to drop off an ID for someone in Judiciary Square. Luckily, there was also a less-active down there too that we tried to visit with. We ended up seeing a less-active member that hasn't had the missionaries over in years and was very surprised to see us call to set up an appointment. She is very nice and I was glad to meet with her and share some of the gospel a gain with her. We also taught a investigator at the old chapel about the restoration to solidify their understanding of it and the importance of it. It was a great discussion and went very well.

Sunday my companion and I really pushed for completing our 20 lessons for the week. (I bribed him with something he really wants to do and Bam! I've never seen such a hard worker to get 6 lessons in a day.) We ended up getting 23 lessons that week and 174 persons contacted. It was an awesome week for us.

For transfers my companion and I are staying together here. Both elders from the north area are leaving and then one from the east area, so half of the district is leaving.

That's one of the ties you sent me. I wore it today to go see the place you'd die to see in D.C. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

I hope that you have a great week.
Love, Elder Braden Dahl