I AM HERE!!! (Allentown, PA)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Dear Family,

Well, I am here!! I am here in the bustling, lively community of Allentown, PA. JK It is sooooooo ghetto here. I love it. My companion is Elder Wright, from Taylorsville, UT. But a lot of you already knew that, somehow... Interesting.... Anyways, here is my new address. Post it on the blog and give it out to EVERYONE!!!!

Elder Mike Dial

Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission

129 South 8th St. #1A

Allentown, PA 18101

Anyways, we didn't get an opportunity to write until today because apparently, there was a HUGE hurricane named Sandy that decided to knock out our power on Monday night along with 2.5 million people. No biggie. But yeah it still has yet to come on so that will be a great day when that decides to come on. Until then our apartment is -28374312728 degrees Celsius, and we have no phone charge except in our car. Hopefully our milk will stay semi-cold in the freezer with the bit of cold in there. This is AWESOME!!!!!! It was weird we were driving and there was this HUGE tree that was uprooted, so that was kind of cool/scary. But that is A-OK

Ya so I thought I understood Spanish a little bit but I was dead wrong. Dominicans don't speak Spanish, they speak Dominican. Holy Crap. I can say what I need to say, but I understand casi nada. Elder Wright is basically my translator haha. He tells me what people say and then I respond. I was actually really surprised. People tell me that I have a really good Spanish accent, and people always ask if my Dad speaks Spanish, and stuff like that. I gave a prayer in Priesthood and people came up to me and asked if I already knew Spanish! Speaking isn't the problem for me. It is understanding people when they talk at like a million miles an hour. But that will come with lots of divine help and hard work on my part. Keep the prayers coming. I need every last one of them!!! Funny story. So I was calling this 3 year old girl crazy in Spanish, which is, " Tu estas loco!" But no, she corrected me, "Loca!" so ya, just chillin over here getting my Spanish corrected by 3 year olds. It is awesome.

Another cool story. A recently converted couple, like baptized a week and a half ago, gave us a referral of their friend, Fulvio. He is as golden and as prepared as they come. He was taught for a while by missionaries in Florida, has read the Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles, Jesus the Christ, and has a testimony. We were teaching the recently converted couple about the Priesthood, and he basically taught the lesson. He is basically a member, but he was like living with someone or something like that, but now all we have to do is quickly go over the lessons with him. He is on date for like the 25th of November or something.

Another funny story! So we were flying into Atlanta right? So I was sitting by the window, another Elder was to my right, and Elder Fawcett was sitting in the aisle. Elder Fawcett wasn't feeling too good, and right before we landed, he threw up All over the place!!!!!!! I felt bad, but he wasn't too distraught so then I started laughing!!! It was pretty funny. So in the Atlanta Airport he changed into a t-shirt and basketball shorts, and that's what he met the President in. Way funny story. Gotta love it.

Oh Mom, you do not have to worry for a second about us not getting enough to eat. Worry about me getting fat. Almost every single house we visit prepares like a 8 course meal for us I swear. I have eaten more rice in the last week than I have in my entire life! Dominicans love their rice! They make up like half of the branch and Allentown I swear. But ya the only lunches and dinners we have eaten at home have been when we have been instructed to be in our apartment because of the hurricane. So don't worry for a second about any of that. I will be just fine, just maybe un poco gordo over the next little bit.

Well that is the week in a nutshell! I hope that we have power when we get back to our house. It would be a way nice time if we did. Anyways, love you all! It was great to talk to you in the airport! too bad i don't have diabetes or something like the inferior Elder Dial so I could talk to you like every other day. Let me know where Mitch is going!!! The call is probably at his house! This work is true!!!! This is God's work and he is hastening it!!!! If you hear of any of my friends that are going on missions that I didn't know before, Tell me about them!!!!!! Christ died for each and every one of us!!

 Love you all, and the church is true!!!1

 -Elder Mike Dial

Mikes Trainer Elder Brady Wright

My name is Casey and I just got back from Mikes mission, I am Abby Whites brother who is Megan's friend at Oly.  Here is that picture of him with his trainer, Elder Wright. Elder Wright is a really good missionary and he works really hard. The area that Mike and he are in is really good. The Allentown Spanish ward has seen a lot of baptisms.

Waiting for Hurricane SANDY!

Dear Family and Friends,

We got this notice this morning...I'm sure they have been inundated with calls. 

We don't know if we will get an email from Mike today...time will tell! 

We know he will be safe.  Thanks for following our missionaries!  Mike will love this 

new adventure...starting out with a hurricane! 

We loved talking to Mike very early on Tuesday morning as he waited for his flight. 

He sounded fabulous and sooo excited to get there and get on with it.  He told us he

knew it was time to go because he felt comfortable with the language...he knows that 

will change as soon as he arrives. He had an interesting flight on his way to PA.  His 

MTC companion, Elder Fausett from Hurricane, Utah, got sick on the descent into 

Altanta...very sick, and didn't make the bag...at all, covered...you get the picture? 

With less than an hour to make their connection in that huge Atlanta airport, they 

attempted to "clean" him up in the rest-room with paper towel...not good...so...

Elder Fausett met his mission president, yep,that's right...in a t-shirt and jeans 

purchased in the Atlanta airport!

Another tender mercy...his companion is Elder Brady Wright...his father Bryan Wright 

was Troy's stake high council rep for his singles ward until just recently.  We are 

thrilled that his companion is such a great young man and missionary!  He comes from an 

outstanding family!  The blessings continue to flow!

Having missionaries is the BEST! 

Love,

Troy and Cindy 

Dear Parent(s) of a missionary serving in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission,
 
I am sending you this email based on the email address we were given when your 

missionary filled out his missionary application.  Zone leaders who have reported to me 

that all missionaries are accounted for and safe.
 
I am sure you are a little worried if you have been watching the news concerning

Hurricane Sandy. According to the storm track, it will make a direct hit on our mission 

sometime Monday evening. Winds and rain are supposed to begin in Eastern portions of the 

mission this evening and continue for the next 36 hours. Sustained winds that will 

certainly knock limbs off of tress and uproot some will result in widespread power 

outages. There will be flooding in low lying areas.
 
I have moved the missionaries serving in the coastal areas inland. I have instructed 

all missionaries to stay in their apartments, go to the church building or stay with 

members if their apartment is not safe. They have been instructed to have three days of 

water and food. If they have any concerns they are to contact the local bishop or 

branch president.
 
Last year we survived Hurricane Irene with no serious problems. In fact, many 

missionaries were a little disappointed that it wasn't worse. Those from the West 

wanted to be able to say they had been through a real hurricane. It was bad enough. 

I'm praying for many disappointed missionaries this time too. The thing that is 

concerning about "Sandy" is the length of time the winds will be blowing and the 

amount of rain (up to 6") that is possible.
 
Priesthood leaders in this mission are well acquainted with eastern storms and look 

after the missionaries. We love your son/daughter and have done everything we know how 

to assure they are safe. There is no need to call Salt Lake or the mission office. 

After the storm is over and communications are restored I will send you another email 

when I can account for the safety of all missionaries. That may not be until Wednesday

based on how long this storm takes to move out of the area according to the reports 

from the weather channel.
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at rcoachman@gmail.com. Of 

course continue to pray for your missionary.
 
Sincerely,
 
President Schaefermeyer

He's Arrived in Pennsylvania!!

Mike with his new Mission President and Mrs. Mission President

President and Sister Shaefermeyer

"ONE DAY MORE!"

Dear Family,

Whether it is "One Day More" from Les Miserables, or "One More Day" by Diamond Rio, or any other similar song, I have one day left in the MTC. Less than actually. From this very moment, I have 21 Hours and 16 minutes until my bus leaves from here. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! The rest of our district left to Costa Rica last night, and it wasn't a sad goodbye. We are all awesome friends, but we know that we are each going to our specific fields of labor and that the Lord is preparing people for us. In In-Field Orientation, they made a specific point. They said that the Lord has specific people waiting for me in EACH specific Area of my mission. I took it a step further. I say that the Lord is preparing people for me and will continue to do so as long as I work with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I will keep finding prepared people if I work hard enough and have faith in the Lord. Success is a gift from Him, and He will provide.

Congrats Mitch on your mission papers!! Now the waiting game begins..... My In-state guess is Anchorage Alaska. My out-of-state is Mexico City. I am going to be right. I could use $100 easily. Mitch you are gonna be fantastic. Just put your trust solely in the Lord and you cannot fail.

Mom, thank you for the package. I did receive it. Hopefully the banana bread does not get destroyed or I will just have to eat it. (I sent Mike banana bread along with a dishtowel to give his mission president’s wife…not the banana bread…gross!  We resent a reply quickly to tell him to EAT the banana bread!)  My district also loved the muffins, even though I ate like half of them. Thank you and love you.

K so I am gonna talk about Sunday first. So first off, in each branch, each missionary is required to write a 5 minute talk in their mission language, and then whoever is conducting calls randomly on two missionaries to speak during the meeting. I thought I was so sneaky by not having to speak so far...  but then yesterday, the Lord gave me the opportunity to test my Spanish... I was actually really impressed with myself! I wrote down thoughts on a paper previously, but then during the talk I could actually elaborate in Spanish! That was awesome. Everyone in the world speaks as slowly and as simply as me right? That's what I thought. Oh well. Just put my trust in the Lord and He will make up the difference.

K so later on Sunday, I was blessed to have the opportunity to sing in the Sunday Fireside in front of all 2,000 mas o menos missionaries!!!! It was AWESOME!!!! I sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," the Michael Hicks arrangement. He is the man. I love that whole entire book, Dad. The performance went really well. I wasn't nervous at all. I felt a little nervous before, but during I was just fine, and after for some reason I felt nervous again or maybe it was adrenaline. Oh well. It went great! During the closing song of the Fireside, the mission president's wife, Sister Brown, gave me a wink and that is how I will gauge my success. Also because several people came up to me and told me I made them cry. Hopefully they were crying for the right reasons, but I was so blessed to have that opportunity to bring the Spirit into that meeting of thousands of my fellow missionaries!!!

Ok looks like we are goin backwards. On Friday we had In-Field Orientation. It focused on a couple points, namely The Doctrine of Christ, Finding, Goals and Planning, Exercising your Faith, and Working With Members. I loved the Faith section. During my time here, I have been working on developing more faith and relying on the Lord. Alone, I can do nothing. But if I don't rely on my own capabilities and put my trust completely in the Lord, I can accomplish His mighty purposes. Faith is the X-Factor. It precedes Miracles. If we are faced with a bad situation, have faith like Ammon, and try to make the best of it. When the Lamanites started attacking the King's sheep, he didn't fear. He said that It was a great opportunity to show forth his power that God gave to him. We show our faith by trusting in God, and obeying His commandments. It is very simple. When we have faith, He blesses us. When we have more faith, he blesses us more! Es muy claro.

Tell Shawn Stringham (his Young Men’s president was just released yesterday…he was also his water polo coach)  that I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to be in his priests quorum. I would not be the missionary that I am right now without learning all of those things that I learned from him and the other priests quorum advisers. I was blessed to be in the quorum, and then to serve with him as an adviser. Tim will be an awesome Young Men's Leader!

In any case, Mom and Dad I can't wait to talk to you tomorrow!  I love you all so much! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I couldn't do it without you. Adios


Elder Mike Dial

We got our travel plans!

 Mike with his buddy Camden Buchanan and their matching purple Mr. Mac ties

 Mike and his comp in front of the Provo Temple holding Philly flag shirt

 Mike's attempt at photographer.  He called it "Angel Moroni & Fall Foliage" Rachelle what do you think?

Hola! Como le va familia? It is all good here. There were some nice highlights of our week. First of all, WE FINALLY GOT AN APOSTLE TO COME AND SPEAK TO US!!!!!!!!!!! It is about time! Elder Bednar came and spoke to us on Tuesday. He is becoming one of my favorites to hear. He taught us a cool way to analyze and study the words of the living prophets. He said that this pattern worked for him, and that, if we wanted, practice it and eventually come up with our own. What he does, is 1. Find doctrine or principles that are being taught. 2. Realize what blessings are being promised by the general authorities, and 3. Heed the invitation. He said that the conference Ensign he receives is destroyed with notes, highlights, among other things. Another cool thing that he said was that when the General Authorities, especially the 12 and first presidency, promise blessings, they don't do so lightly. It isn't something that might come to pass or might happen. If they promise it, they do so under direction of all the keys of the priesthood!!!!! I think that we forget that sometimes. Even though President Monson is the only man authorized to use those keys, all the brethren work under direction of those keys!! Listen to those men!! They are the bomb!

Secondly, WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS!!! I was kind of surprised. I thought I would spend about nine weeks here in Provo and then just go home and resume my normal life. I guess the Lord has planned otherwise... Anyway I report to the travel office at 4:00 AM on Tuesday morning, and my flight leaves from SLC at 7:15 and arrives in Atlanta at 12:55 PM, then we leave from there at 2:10 and arrive in Philly at 4:17. THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!! I am so stoked out of my mind I can't even wait. Madre, let me know when you want to talk to me. It may be a little early, but I think you can sacrifice for you favorite son. If not, I'm not coming home. I will bum it in Philly for the rest of my life. But probably not.

Anyway we also got to watch a talk that Ronald A. Rasband gave here at the MTC and he talked a lot about finding people. He told stories of a lot of street preaching, singing hymns in the street, and other way cool methods of finding people. If you hear on the news that 14 people in the Atlanta airport were singing hymns and baptizing hundreds, don't be surprised. That talk got me really fired up! If I can, I wanna do street preaching! It sounds WAYYYYY fun!!!! We will learn more about that in about 8 or 9 days though.... I will keep all yall posted. Oh speaking of travel, Dad I don't remember bringing $200 bucks cash. Maybe you could just put it on my card and I could take it out of the ATM here. Or send Jason to the airport or something. He is always looking to break the rules.

Ok one more cool thing. The mission is made up of 8 fundamentals, and we learn one each week. This week's fundamental was "Teach People, Not Lessons." This is what Preach My Gospel is all about. We are to go in, ask INSPIRED QUESTIONS, discern the needs of the investigator  by the Spirit, and then teach specifically to those needs and resolve doubts. If you into a lesson with an awesome plan, and the investigator asks a question that you need to resolve, you go there first. If you can answer the question with your lesson plan, thats great. If the Spirit prompts you to go elsewhere, all the better. Sometimes Plan B is just so good that you secretly want Plan A to fail drastically. I think that I am getting better at this fundamental day by day. I try my best to discern needs, and teach to them, but sometimes these ruddy investigators won't open up. I know they are fake, and the real ones are gonna be worse, but I say bring it on. I can't wait these final 8 days that I have left!!!!!

Mom, so I auditioned about 3 or 4 weeks ago to sing somewhere. I sang the Michael Hicks arrangement of Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. They told me that it was breathtaking, and that I was a definite yes. When they found out I was leaving when I was, they were excited that I had time. That was like 4 weeks ago, so hopefully they didn't forget about me. I am banking on singing at the fireside this coming Sunday, so pray for that because it would be FETCHING AWESOME!!!!!!!

Anyways, love ya tons. Can't wait to talk to ya in the wee hours of the morning next Tuesday. I took some pictures and will try to find a blasted computer that will accept my camera cord. Thanks for the love and support. Couldn't do it without ya folks.

-Elder Dial

The Lord is recruiting!!

Monday, October 08, 2012

Dear Family,

I probably don't even have to tell you what the highlight of my week was. It was soooooooooooooo awesome to be able to be here in the MTC for that announcement that Elders can serve at 18 after high school and sisters can serve at 19. We were all gathered in the auditorium, all together, and once President Monson started talking about how in other countries 18 year olds could serve, I knew something big was coming. After he made the announcement, We were literally cheering and clapping!!!!!!!! But then he mentioned the Sisters TOO!! Then we started cheering louder!!! The MTC won't be able to hold all of these missionaries!!! Within a couple months this place is going to be going crazy! The Lord is Recruiting more people to His army! He is carrying His message and His work to the ends of the earth and no earthly power can stop the work from progressing. It was so cool to be able to hear that announcement in the MTC! I have always wanted to hear an announcement/declaration like that and I will never forget that.

Something that I have learned to do well this week is to teach people, and not lessons. We go into the lesson with a lesson plan, but if they have concerns, problems, or anything, we address those needs. Sometimes we go in with a plan, but the Spirit takes us elsewhere. Along those lines, I heard an awesome quote from Elder Bednar. He said When you are wondering if it is the Spirit or me, Don't worry about it!!! If you are keeping your covenants, keeping the commandments, and being a good boy, then it really doesn't matter. So many impressions go unnoticed or we don't realize that they are impressions from the Spirit. Sometimes we don't find out until way later, and sometimes we never find out. We also challenged our fake native investigator, Ivelisse, to baptism. She is from Venezuela and speaks pretty fast, but I can understand her for the most part, until she goes off into some weird story. Then I pick up like 30 or 40%. Oh well That will come with time. We have had some awesome lessons with her and it has been a great experience

Alright, a couple of my favorite talks. I loved Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk. He said that some people give first class devotion to lesser causes. That was the biggest thing. What do I need to change so that my devotion goes to something actually worthwhile? Good one. Another. Russell M. Nelson. Ask the missionaries. They can help you! I loved this talk. The story he gave about the Preacher who was praying for guidance and received the impression, "Stop the boys on the bikes!" He looked  up and saw two missionaries riding down the street! He eventually stopped them and they were able to help one of his friends who was contemplating suicide. Both his friend, and he himself were baptized. I wrote down that we as missionaries can help ANYONE better their lives. Regardless of circumstance, race, gender, class, or anything. We bring something to the table that everyone else simply doesn't have. The true church of Jesus Christ on the Earth and the power of His Atonement. From Dieter F. Uchtdorf, We learned that sometimes being busy is not the best thing. Give people the precious gift of your time. Spend MEANINGFUL time with loved ones. Declaring the Gospel is good. Living it and declaring it by example is better. Sorry these are a bunch of random bullet points I have written down. One of his last sentences was that we shouldn't die without finding out how to truly live. That's gonna be a Mormon Message. Telling you right now.

Talk by Robert C. Gay. He talked about replacing our will with the Father's. I wrote down "What is worth more than the Father hath?" "What do I put over the will of the Father?" Interesting points. Food for thought. During Priesthood, Henry B. Eyering said that the Lord is able to see things in us that we cannot see ourselves. If we rely on the Lord and allow him to mold us, we will become so much more than we could on our own. He also said that the Lord will give His servants to speak as bold as Lions. I am going to need that every day of my mission! In the next session, Elder Eyering talked about Pavilions that may not be covering God's Hiding Place, but Pavilions that we put between ourselves and God. God never Hides from His faithful children. Don't insist on my timetable when the Lord has His own. That is putting my will over His. Our will will profit us nothing if it is not aligned with the Lord's. He said we remove the Pavilion when we pray "Thy will be done in thy time." I am making a goal to submit my time and effort to the Lord's Will.

Alright I didn't go through a lot of talks but you watched them and I don't have much time left. Anyways we had a cool fireside yesterday. Chad Lewis (BYU Tight End, Played for the Rams and Eagles, multiple Pro Bowls and Superbowl) came and spoke to us. He gave a pretty good talk. It was kind of all over the place, but I got some awesome points down in my study journal. Some like, Don't revert back to your old self once you get home, We will bring such a light and joy into people's lives, When you're tired, Dig Deep, When you can't speak, open your mouth and speak anyways, When you can't go another minute, go two more. He hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro with wounded soldiers and related the experience to his and our missions. It was really cool and he provided some great insights.

Mom, I don't think I need anything else. Thank you for all you have sent me and done for me. We get our travel plans this Thursday, and I was wondering how will I get the $200 I am supposed to take with me? Debit card or something? Just let me know. This place is fantastic, but I am so excited to get into the field in only 15 days. My Spanish comes along little by little, and I know it will make huge strides in the field. Hopefully I can semi kind of a little bit understand people. But even if I can't I will still do what Chad Lewis Said. If you can't speak, open your mouth anyways. There are going to be 4 and 5 year olds that speak better Spanish than me. Thats Great!!! I can learn from them! I am so excited! If this letter reaches anyone who is contemplating going on a mission, my advice is to GO!!!! If you're on the fence, take a leap of faith. It will be the best decision of your life and will pay eternal dividends!!!! I know this with all of my heart. I Love you all so much. Thank you for your support, prayers, and love!




Elder Mike Dial



P.S. They decided to be super dumb and take away card readers. This computer doesn't accept my cord, so I will try to find another soon enough. Blame the MTC people. Love you

Three Weeks Left October 1, 2012

Finally ran into Elder Buchanan.

Elders Dial, Johnson, Anderson

 

A few Oly additions.

Monday October 1, 2012
Well familia,

It seems that my last email didn't send for one reason or another. It may have had too many attachments or something but thats ok. That letter from last week is copied and pasted below. Looks like you get a double dose of letters this week. Be Grateful!

I officially have 21 days left in the MTC!!! In 3 weeks I will be off into the field! I could not be more excited. I absolutely love it here, the Spirit that is here, the devotionals, study time, and everything!!! Something about being a set-apart missionary makes me want to study so much! Before my mission I could hardly read my scriptures, Preach My Gospel, or anything for more than like ten minutes. But now, I am sad when my hour long Personal Study is over! It flies by so quickly! When I am not studying doctrine for and preparing lessons for my investigators, I am either reading the Book of Mormon, or the New Testament. I absolutely love both books. In the NT I am in Romans. I love the way Paul writes and preaches. I want to be a missionary like Paul! If I can be a tenth of what Paul was I will be crazy successful. In the Book of Mormon, I just passed the story of Abinadi, which is one of the coolest stories in scripture! Abinadi is such a BOSS!!! Both were fantastic missionaries and hopefully I can develop similar qualities to both of them!

Well we have had some sweet lessons over this past week! One of our "fake real" investigators is getting baptized this week! He was a really hard investigator at first, but then after one awesome lesson about why commitments are so important, he as accepted pretty much everything. He turned into a golden investigator with time. That was Manuel. We also teach Luis, who is also one of my teachers, but then we teach a woman named Ivelisse (tough name, took me a whole week to memorize it. EE-VAY-LEE-SAY). She is a volunteer that lives in the area and we teach her twice a week. I didn't know if she was a member at first, but then she wore a BYU shirt to one of the lessons and was quoting verbatim from Isaiah so she gave herself away there. But she is a great actress! We have taught her the Restoration, and Faith and Repentance. We got her to pray about what we were teaching, but then she wouldn't pray again so that was kind of annoying. Oh well. We are teaching her about Baptism on thursday and will extend the invitation. The spirit will be there and she won't be able to say no.

Oh P.S. I have been called to be the Zone Music Coordinator. My ego has gone through the roof and I am officially better than everyone.   Just Kidding. But I get to go to Leadership Meeting with our Branch Presidency and It is a way nice time. But one of the counselors in the Branch Presidency, Brother Jones, who served in South America somewhere, emphasized that we aren't speaking Spanish enough. He says that he knows what it is like to go out and not understand a soul and he doesn't want that to happen to us. I have a goal to speak Spanish whenever I can but it isn't easy. Spanish needs to be my first language and English my second. It is SO hard not to resort to English sometimes and a lot of the time I give in. I pray for strength cada dia and am feeling a difference little by little. I am not there yet, but eventually I will be able to have that mind-set forever. Ugh. That day needs to come like today. But it won't. Thats ok. I need to work towards it.

Oh cool story we got to watch a talk be Elder Holland about how Missions are Forever. He shared a cool short poem in it and see if you can hear Elder Holland saying these words. They get louder as it goes on.

"Come to the edge," he said. "No, we'll fall."
"Come To The Edge," he said. "No, we'll fall."
"COME TO THE EDGE," he said. So we came to the edge
And he Pushed us. And we flew

He delivered this so powerfully! Sometimes we put limitations on ourselves that are really unreasonable. Sometimes we think we can't do things that we really are more than capable of doing. Sometimes we need a little push off the edge so that we can fly. I feel like we all go through this at one time or another.

Well that’s all for today. Love you so much! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers! I feel them! One speaker gave an interesting point. She said that throughout the church, literally millions of prayers are being offered up daily for the missionaries. I thought that was awesome!!! How can we fail? How can we not press on in so great a cause? Anyways Love you all so much!!!


Elder Mike Dial





P.S. Yes mother I am scrubbing my shirts. My district thinks I'm crazy. Be proud.