D.C. North Week 5 "We look up to Elder Summit!"

Monday, August 24, 2015

This week has been great! I was transferred to a different zone in the English program. The zone is called Suitland and my area/ward is called White Plains 1. There are 2 wards in our building. Its half of the peninsula on the D.C. side of the Chesapeake bay. Its a biiiiiiig area! It takes about an hour to get from one side to another. I am still getting fed too well! I get fed every night and have left overs alll the time!!  But I do get to save a lot of money every month. My companion is now Elder Summit, and his name fits super well because we all look up to him because he is 6'7" and he reminds me a tooon of Daniel and his first name is Daniel as well. I also have roommates who are Elder Coombs and Elder Carroll all three of them are from Utah and act just like Utah boys. Elder Coombs reminds me a whole toooon of Ben and its kinda freaky. haha

THAT IS SO CRAZY THAT YOU MET HER**[See picture and story below]! hahaha When we skyped with her and her Angolan friend it was super fun and it made me super excited to go to Angola.

So about my week! 

Monday: Just a normal P-day, I got laundry done, emailing, played games, an then went to eat dinner at the Prices! Whoohoo!! The dude is Loaded. He invented a vaccine for a important disease so he gets a huge check each year and lives in a 15 million dollar house. His wife runs a non-profit organization for Autistics, and people with PTSD. (The farm that I worked at). He has a 10,000 volume library, and all of David O. McKay's personal journals, and a lot of other books, and statues that the church doesn't have or are very rare. Needless to say I felt very out of place there but he is a super cool person. 

Tuesday: I pretty much got packed that day after Zone/District meeting and then we went to a members house a had Tacos!!! We had El Pastor and Lingua tacos! They were soooo goooood! 

Wednesday: TRANSFERRSSSSSSSS!!! It took a while and it was good. President and Sister Cooke talked, and all the Missionaries who who leaving bore their testimonies, and then we got told who we were going with and where! It was a good time. We then went to our apartment, Elder Summit and I. It was about an hour and a half drive away and then got myself set up in the apartment and went out tracting! (We don't really have any investigators so its a lot of tracting). We had a member meal that night and then we went and checked up an less actives!

Thursday: Zone/District meeting! That took till about 1, and we pretty much just introduced ourselves and got to know everybody. We then went to Cafe Rio where Elder and Sister Rose bought us lunch!! Whoohoo! We have all of the Older Couples and Sisters in our zone and it is great! We then went tracting after, had a meal appointment, and checked up on less actives!

Friday: We had studies, and lunch and 12 week till about 2:30 and then we went and helped a brother out in the ward put up storm windows. And then we went back home and ate dinner cause our dinner appointment cancelled, and we went tracting for the rest of the night! I placed my first Book of Mormon, and we also had a great discussion with a couple of black ladies about our beliefs and what makes us different from other churches and everything. They wouldnt accept the Book of Mormon which was a bummer but they did say they would check out Mormon.org so it was pretty great! 

Saturday: We had studies, lunch and 12 week! Then we went and checked up and less actives and got to talk to both of them! Super great! And then we ate dinner with the Amoah's. They are from Ghana, and we had peanut butter soup! It was actually really good, and kinda spicy. We then went to a wedding reception because they asked us to be there in case their non-member friends show up, but they didn't so we got outta there pretty quick cause it was super awkward. We then went to a members house and fellowshipped with them and she played her piano for us. She is super good! Their names are the Beals. 

Sunday: Church! Ours starts at 9 and we had ward council at 7:30. President and Sister Cooke spoke and so did the bishops daughter who leaves this week on her mission. President cook called me and Elder Summit out. He said that I was forgetting my language while I am here visa waiting, and we all look up to Elder Summit. haha He is a super chill funny guy but strong in the Gospel. We then went and took a nap during lunch and then planned and did 12 week and some studies. We went and checked up on some less active in the farther away places of  our area. And then had dinner with the Slaughter family. They are super cool and really funny. They are a younger couple kinda. haha They have 4 kids and he works on C-5 planes for the military! It was super cool! We then went and tried to have a "surprise visit" to a less active. His dad's a member but his son is less active; but his son wasnt there so we visited with him and watched part of Meet the Mormons cause he hasn't seen it. 

So yeah! Thats my week!

I love being a missionary and am super excited to continue serving the Lord and growing in His Gospel and in turn helping other Come unto Christ!

I am going to get so fat here...

I miss you guys a ton.

Amo voces muito!

Ate mais!

Elder Dawson

Vanessa and Mom selfie

**Written to Andrew:  Sunday 8/23, there was a sister from the Atlanta area visiting with some new members of our ward...who found mom at church that knows who you are. Her name is Vanessa. She said you would know her as the random American in Angola along with some members who you skyped with just before you left the MTC in July. She wanted to let us know what a fine young man you are and that you really did a good job speaking Portuguese. She said you will want to get some money exchanged to Kwanzas before you leave and also to have some American money with you that some of the members might want to exchange with you. (You might want to check if that's okay with the mission president first). She did say how expensive things are there, and that if you want to buy a meal at McDonald’s it’s about $26.  She said that you will be eating a lot of beans! (yum) And they usually serve them with other food items. She said there were about 120 people in the branch she attended… that you will love it there and will love the people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D.C. North Week 4 "Transfers Next Week!"

Monday, August 17, 2015

Olá! Como Vai!?
I am doing great right now! My my bike injuries weren't that bad, they are pretty much healed right now, you can only see where the scabs were.

I'm really grateful I can go [to the temple] too, I love going to the temple and feeling the Spirit that is there. I was actually studying about that earlier this week, in D&C 109:15 it talks about receiving the fullness of the Holy Ghost in the Temple, I learned that we feel the fullness of the Holy Ghost in the Temple because it is the only place on the earth where it can reside fully just because outside of the Temple there are all of the worldly things and bad things that are happening so the Spirit can't fully dwell.

So for the Cholula and lime juice, you just get a bag of Doritos (the small ones work the best just so you can put as much as you want in) and then you put in as much Cholula as you want, shake up the bag, and then put as much lime juice in and shake it again. All of this is just to your taste, if you like a lot then put a lot and if you like a little then put a little!

I actually already have an iPad, that's what I emailed on last week and this week too. We each have one, mine is just a loaner until I go to Angola.

I haven't been able to go to the consulate yet but that's good to know that my visa is getting worked on! Hopefully it will be soon!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! That's cool that you guys got to go and see Garrison Keillor. I have always wanted to go and see him in person.
Soo about my week,

Monday: we just cleaned, emailed, played Munchkin, and Catan, and two dinner appointments first one we had hamburgers and strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert (homemade too so it was soooo goooood!!) and then we had Bean soup at the next one (that's what they called it) and there was meat in it and you also put Créme, Queso fresco, pico de guillo, and avacodo. It was actually really good! But I was soooooooooo
stuuuuuuuffffeeeeddddd. I feel like I am hungry all the time because the Spanish program has stretched out my stomach and I have to eat a ton to get full haha but I try not to.

Tuesday: we had zone and district meeting, we went home and had lunch and went to the Trainer/Trainee meeting, we then went to a members house and made papusas!!! Woohoo! I love papusas.

Wednesday: I got full studies!!! Woohoo! So we did that, and then we went and helped a member with putting together shelves, and then she fed us lunch, we then went tracting as a district (not all in the same place) for a certain area because their area was new and they were having a hard time finding investigators. Unfortunately we didn't find anybody.

Thursday: Farm day!! Whoop whoop! We got an hour of studies in before we went to the farm and then we painted a shed and a fence for 5 hours.  We then went home got showered and went to a members house to eat. Then I went on splits with Elder Parker (the other greenie) I came out with.

Friday: me and Elder Parker helped move in a new apartment some Elders are going to be living in, and then we went and got lunch and went home and had studies and went tracting! We had dinner as well but it was mostly tracting. haha

Saturday: we went on another bike ride with our investigator, and I didn't crash this time. haha We also went to play soccer with the sisters investigators which was a ton of fun! Our roommates took us to their dinner appointment where we had ribs, baked potatoes, broccoli, and key lime pie!

So this is how much the Spanish program has stretched my stomach, I ate about 8 ribs, two full potatoes, two big servings of broccoli, and a piece of key lime pie, I would have never been able to eat that before the Spanish program. haha

Sunday: we had church, and a meal with a member, we then went to Why I Believe! Woohoo! It's a program where they have famous Mormons come and talk about why they believe yesterday it was Jason Hinds an Olympic runner, But I didn't go... Because Me and Elder Cruz also had the opportunity to give a little tour of the Visitors Center to a
Brazilian family who were visiting. The son was marrying a girl from Brazil, and her and her family were not LDS. It was a great experience and the Spirit was so strong and I was able to bear my testimony in Portuguese, so I hope the spirit was able to make up for my lack of knowing the language. haha I hope that they felt the Spirit and will want to learn more.

And Alec, I was talking to a member and he said Argentinians sound like they are singing when they speak Spanish. haha

And about transfers I might be going to the farm that we work in so I might need to buy quite a few clothes. Like jeans boots and t shirts but I do not know I will let you guys know if I need them or not and if the mission will give me money or not!

Thank you for all the love! I miss you guys and am so grateful to be here on my mission doing the Lords work and hope that I will be able to make a difference.

Tchau!
Amo vocês!

Elder Dawson

This is us dressing up like prophets
to tell stories to the primary

Me and a member at the visitors center
looking up at the "Angels"

Just having fun...

D.C. North Week 3 "Nooooo More Meetings!"

Monday, August 10, 2015

Oi! Como vai??

My investigators are coming along, Chachi (a nickname) came to church last week which was great! I try to help them feel the spirit since I can't speak Spanish and that's pretty much the only tool I can use in teaching them and hope and pray that the spirit makes up for what I can't do. Every investigator is different so we pray and try to teach to their needs so it's all different!

Yeah they gave me a card in the MTC and they put 130 bucks on each month, and no I didn't get money, I will get some before I leave DC and change it into kwanza when I get it. I did hit my head! It's healed fine and the scab came off a couple of days ago. An with the Cholula you coat the Doritos with the lime and hot sauce.

That's pretty crazy that Sean had his senior pictures. It's weird to think he is going to be a senior! And that text [included picture] is actually from our stake president. He was there with us at the game. The other people in the picture were my companion and roomies (Elder Harston and Elder Billeter) and Elder Cruz who is in our district. Elder Harston is technically a visa waiter for Brazil and goes home in a week haha. I did not get a hot dog because I wanted to get a Jersey buuuut the one I wanted was 75 bucks... And they didn't look that good. They honestly looked like hotdogs you would get at Walmart.

And tell them [the ward members] I love them and miss them and thank you for everything they do!!

So about my week...

Monday: I went and played Ball at the stake center by the temple which was tons of fun! And after we went to shop at a Navy Exchange store which is like a discounted Macy's for military peeps. We then went to eat at Hibachi and then went to Nordstrom Rack, which is a discounted Nordstrom and it is suuuuper nice. Then we went an emailed till six and we went and had dinner at a members house which was good!

Tuesday: We had zone and district meeting and I taught a workshop on PMG Chapter 7 which I thought I did pretty good on haha but I don't know! We then went to the DC Stake Center and had more meetings!! Whoop fun!!  we had appointment the rest of the night and it was super cool!

Wednesday: TEMPLE!!! Oh Yeaaaahhhhh!! We went as a mission and did a session which was pretty cool! I love the celestial room in the DC Temple. It is suuuuper big. But then again so is the temple. We then went to a sealing for one of Elder Springers recent converts it was a really cool experience. Then that night we went to two meal appointments and I almost died I was so stuffed! I had two plates of Spaghetti at the first meal appointment and then 4 Papusas at the next meal appointment so my stomach felt like it got beat up after we ate all of that haha.

Thursday: MORE MEETINGS!!! noooooo I don't like so many meetings. But it was a specialized training to get ready for us to get our *drum roll* IPADSSSSSSSS!! YESSSSS!! Im actually not that excited for it its just useful to have. We then went to lunch with a member and got ice cream after. Elder Springer had a migraine so we went back to the apartment, and he went to sleep while I studied and cleaned.

Friday: we went to the mission office and fixed bikes till about 12 then we went and ate lunch at Sardi's which is a Peruvian chicken restaurant and it was soooo good! They had these fry things called Yuca and it's the heart of some kind of food but I don't remember what it was exactly. We went to a couple appointments and then went to dinner at a taco truck with a member and the tacos were delicious!!!! I had Carne Asada, el Pastor, and De Langua, all of them suuuuper good!! He made us get so many tacos and take 10 home. Hispanics give soooo much fooood!

Saturday: BEST DAY OF THE WEEK!! We made an appointment with an investigator to go mountain biking and we were getting ready to go, and my tube tore while I was trying to pump up my tire so we had to go back to our apartment and get another tube, and then we fixed that and we started down the trail and my chain slipped off and got caught on the pedal! Wahoo! So after we fixed that we finally got going! It was a lot of fun and after we passed the halfway mark on the trail we were going down a hill and there was a drop in between a thin part of the trail. Well with my luck I went down the drop and somehow hit my front brakes and flipped over the front handlebars! It was actually pretty fun! I bruised my arm pretty bad and scraped my calf on something haha so yeah! It was a good time. That night was the Nats game!!!! Yeaaaahhhhh! We were way up in the nosebleeds which is actually a way good view for baseball games! It was a lot of fun and the Nats won
6-1!! Wohooo! We didn't get home till about 12:30 so we were super tired for church the next day.

Sunday: church was really good, we taught Sunday school and had really good brownies after, and we attended young men where we talked about the importance of eternal families which I really liked. We went and ate a meal at a members house after which was really good!

So yeah that was my week!

I love you all and miss you tons! I know that this is the Lords work and that he knows all things and I am so so glad to be a mouthpiece for his work.

Até mais!
Amo vocês!

Elder Dawson

D.C. North Week 2 "I Wanna Go To Africa!"

Monday, August 3, 2015

Oi!

The Mission office Address:

11700 Falls Road

Potomac, Maryland  20854

My 2nd week in D.C. has been great! There has been a lot of things happen this week. Yes they do encourage us to get up and exercise in the mornings but its still hard for me to get up so I don't regularly exercise. I have not yet gone to the consulate which is very disappointing... I WANNA GO TO AFRICAAAAA!!! I have actually done two sessions in the temple and will be able to do another on Wednesday and after attend the Sealing of some converts! Super excited!

I am actually not really needing to learn Spanish because I was told by president that I am going into the English program next transfer, but the Spanish is messing up my Portuguese! I tried convincing an Elder who is from Brazil that Bano is how to say bathroom in Portuguese, buuut its not... It is definitely Banero, so yeah! That was a good time. haha I am attending a Spanish ward right now and its kinda hard to pay attention cause all I understand is random words that are the same or really close to Portuguese.

We do have investigators and I am not 100% sure on their names or how they are progressing mostly because everything is in Spanish and I can only do so much with Spanish! Sorry! We do have a lot of appointments this week with them so I am excited for that! and it is great because I can always feel the Spirit when we (meaning my companion :p) teach!

So about my week...

Monday: We went to the Church and Played B-Ball, and played Bang and Munckin. We also ordered Pizza so that was nice and Relaxing! We had a Dinner appointment that night which went kinda late so we went and visited (tried to at least) less active members.

Tuesday: Was District meeting and Trainer Trainee Meeting! I gave a spiritual thought on fireflies, and how we catch them in glass mason jars to see them glow and how we need to catch all of the fireflies of this world (the good things in life) and be a light for other people to come unto Christ, it was pretty cheesy but I liked it! haha Then trainer trainee meeting was pretty much a mass therapy session which was kinda a waste of time but we have more this week! Whootwhoot! We then went to the Cheesecake Factory because cheesecake was half off and I got Salted Caramel Cheesecake! It was heavenly!! and also only 4 bucks! 

Wednesday: Nothing much happened on Wednesday, until we got home...  We got home a little early so Elder Springer and I caught about 50 fireflies and released them into our roommate’s room, so when they got home they had a ton of fireflies! Then they caught them all and then released them into the bathroom while Elder Springer was showering so he was a little freaked out when he got out. haha 

Thursday:  We had more meetings! -_- those went till about 1 and after that we went to Breusters! They have half off Banana splits if you bring your own banana! So I got a huge banana split for 3 bucks! It was a good time!

Friday: We spent a lot of time at the Church getting ready for a Baptism on Sunday. We had to get the fliers ready and the Baptismal Record and all of that jazz so I did some Indexing! That night we had a dinner appointment at a Peruvian restaurant with a member, He is waaay cool! I love Hispanics! Then we went to a Members house and visited with them for a little bit.

Saturday: Baptism Day!!! We spent the whole day pretty much preparing for a baptism and getting our oil changed. I also hit my head on a piece of wood and made it bleed! I was throwing away some trash in the dumpster outside the apartments, but I missed and it fell on the ground so as I was coming back up I hit my head on wood and made it bleed!

The guy who got Baptized name is Carlos, he is way cool and the Spirit was definitely there at the Baptism and since it was an Hispanic baptism there was a lot of food! Yum!

Sunday: fast and testimony meeting! I really liked it. We are doing this thing called the Process of Purification where we pick a few things that we can do better on and fix it as we go along our mission. I picked Obedience and Christlike Attributes, both things I reeeally need to work on. I also got to help confer the Holy Ghost to Carlos which was a way cool experience!

I love being a Missionary and am so happy doing the Lords work! 

Dad, you have to try Doritos, Cholula, and Lime juice! you mix them all together and eat it! Soooooo good! you will have to experiment with it and find out how much you like! 

I try not to sleep in too late! and I do get my laundry done!

anyways...

Eu Amo Voces!

Are Mais!

Elder Dawson          

D.C.North Week 1 "DC IS SOOOO COOL!"

July 27, 2015

I'm doing super great! DC is really cool and I am perfectly fine with staying here to wait for my visa. President and Sister Cooke are really cool and will help us with whatever we need. My companion's name is Elder Springer and he is from southern Cali. There are some people here who speak Portuguese but guess what!? I'm in the Spanish program right now so I will be learning Spanish for now so I'm gonna learn two languages on my mission :p

I will take pictures! I haven't been taking a whole ton but I will start to take more!

I have had a lot of Mexican/Hispanic food since I have gotten here and it is waaaay good! I'm also super excited for the food in Angola. I heard it was really good! We didn't do anything out here for Pioneer day cause as you know... its not that big of a deal.

About my week...

Tuesday: We got in and met President and Sister Cooke and then they took us to the Daily Grill (they said it was one of their favorites) and it was sooooo expensive! It was right next to a Mortons Steakhouse if that says anything. I kinda felt bad for making them spend so much but it was sooooo good. We also had a little "transfer meeting" that night to meet our companions. 

Wednesday: Elder Springer had a lot of stuff to do so we went to a meeting that morning, went home and I pretty much chilled the whole day while he did stake stuff. 

Thursday: WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!! We got to see the temple on Tuesday and it is soooooo biiiiiggggg!! And it is sooo beautiful! We got to take a tour of all the engineer stuff under it which was way cool. When we go again on the 5th, we will get to take a roof tour! Im so excited! ahhhhhhhh!

Friday: Friday we went shopping for ourselves, which was fun! We also went to check up on some less active members and we went tracting a little. It was fun because we were on bikes! And we had an interesting conversation with a drunk/high black guy who refused the BoM because he said that we wouldnt leave the house if he needed us if we couldnt help over the phone haha so it was a good time! 

Saturday: They have a horse farm that we go do service for every week and the farm is used for therapy and stuff like Cheyenne does so I got some pictures and a video cause one of the horses was a champion jumper! But yeah they had a tour this week to kind of promote it and we helped park people and ate free food and shaved ice and got to pet the horses and I got to lead one of them to a field! I really liked it. And that night we went to a super delicious pizza place and taught a member a good lesson (in Spanish so I didnt really understand) but the spirit was definitely there.

Sunday: We had meetings at church from 9-6:30 and my first Spanish sacrament meeting. It was good even though I couldnt understand anything but random words, and a member of the stake presidency read a talk in Spanish that sounded pretty bad but props for trying haha. And then a member I was sitting by leaned over after he was done and asked "Does my English sound as bad as his Spanish does?" hahaha It was super funny 

So just some random things that are cool about the mission! 

1. We get to go to a Nationals game on the 8th of August!!

2. They are really lax about music so we get to listen to pretty much anything as long as doesn't have bad lyrics or a heavy beat or drive away the spirit!

3. We get to sleep in as long as we want on P-Day! 

I'm sure there are other things but I don't remember. 

Thank you all for the love and the pictures! I'm keeping you guys in my prayers!  

Ate Mais!

Elder Dawson

Arrived in Washington D.C.!!!

Note from mom: I received a phone call from Andrew from the Salt Lake airport Tuesday (21st) morning while he was waiting to board the plane to Washington D.C. He sounded so good and excited to be headed out into the mission field. He also talked to Sean and Jared individually and then before the call ended, he requested to be on speaker. He bore the most wonderful testimony in Portuguese, and we felt the spirit even though we could not understand the language.

President Cooke of the Washington D.C. North Mission called later that evening to confirm that Andrew and the other elders had arrived safely. He and Sister Cooke took them to dinner at a good restaurant and their stomachs were full, had a great visit, and sent them off with their companions. Pres. Cooke indicated that they get a lot of VISA waiters and love having them, and that they will do all they can to help them get their VISAs to Angola!


I pulled this picture off President and Sister Cooke's blog:

Sister Cooke, Elders Parker, Davis and Dawson, President Cooke

MTC Week 6 "Heading for D.C."

[Andrew was able to email us yesterday (7/20) with his flight info and confirm he is leaving tomorrow morning for Washington D.C. ]

July 20, 2015

That sounds way busy!! Can you send as many pictures as possible? I really like getting pictures. :p Definitely tell Sean to email me about EFY! It was one of the best experiences in my life.

Thats so crazy that Logan is home already! I'm kinda sad that I wont be able to see him for another two years! 

There is only one of us going to Cali. Elder Christensen, Elder Smith, and Elder Bradshaw got their visas, but Elder Bradshaw got his tonsils out today so he is here for about another 3 weeks. But yeah me, Elder Davis, and Elder Parker go to D.C tomorrow and report to the Travel office at 4:35 AM.

Thank You Tons! 

and tell Logan 

Eu amo ele! e eu muito animado a ver ele! 

Por que nos falamos portuguese muito! 

e meu portuguese e nao muito bom 

so dont make fun of me haha

I love you all! I will send pictures when I get to D.C. 

Elder Dawson