Transferred to Norristown!

6 Month Ceremonnial Tie Burning

Carlos' Baptism - Golden Investigator - Found while backing companion out of parking

Dear Family,

Well, I have been transferred to Norristown PA. It is about 40 miles south of Allentown, and just a little bit north of Philly. It is AWESOME!!!! Elder Fawcett (my MTC companion) is once again mi compa! He is great. He knows his scriptures like nobody's business, and he really has a deep love for these people here. Also, he is really good at sharing the gospel. Sometimes, when you visit people, members especially, it is too easy to just talk casually, then share a quick "spiritual thought" at the end. But we turn the casual conversation into a Gospel Discussion. It is SOOO much better. You really get to know'  people better and love them more!!!

Our ward is combined with an English ward. They translate Sacrament Meeting via headphones, then have separate Sunday School, then someone just translates Priesthood and Relief Society out loud. It has it's advatages and disadvantages. I liked having the meeting in Spanish in Allentown, but there is a TON of support from the English people too. They really intermingle well, which is good.

Well, I don't know whose idea this was, but apparently they thought it would be a funny joke to make me a District Leader haha. Me, Elder Fawcett, then Elder Shumway and Elder Stark make up my district. They are also in our ward, just in English. My first District meeting went well, the Zone Leaders were there and they told me I did well... Hopefully they weren't just trying to be nice! But It is cool being a District Leader! You get to lead, but also be right down in there with the missionaries too. You aren't so far away that you lose that personal relationship.

Here, we have a few investigators on date for baptism. One just needs an interview and he can be baptized. We have TONS that are right on the brink of really progressing. We need to be bold, but not pushy. We need to prayerfully ask the Lord what is it that they need. What can we teach that will touch their hearts and instill that desire to follow Jesus Christ more fully, by showing faith in Him by being baptized by the proper Priesthood Authority!!! We are gonna set a lot of dates this week and see if any of these people need to be dropped. A lot have been taught for a long time without really progressing... Help us out with some prayers sent our way!!!

Well, Since Norristown is only 40 miles away from Allentown, I was able to get permission to return and baptize one of my very good friends, Carlos Castro. He came down here, picked us up after church, and took us back afterwards. He is AWESOME!!! He has some severe back problems, so I baptized him while Jose Taveras, a member in Allentown, was in the font with us and helped as we immersed him under the water and bring him back up. I did everything ok! It was SUCH a rewarding experience and I am honored that he wanted me to help him make those saving covenants with the Lord!

Anything you send me Mom will be AWESOME!!! But if you could find a White baptismal tie to send out, that would be great too! I had to use Elder Fawcett's when I baptized Carlos! And when dad sends his Allergy Package, PLEASE send out some pseudoephedrine. That is the only thing that will clear me up! Go the the pharmacy and ask for the strongest pseudoephedrine they have haha. But you are the GREATEST!!! I love you so much!

Well, this week was great! Thanks for you love and prayers. I love this work so much! I want to do it forever! If you ever are feeling down about yourself, just go share the Gospel with people. It will make you realize HOW much you really do have. Seeing how much this Gospel Changes people is unreal. It makes me feel SOOO blessed that I was raised in it! I don't know what I would do without it. Love you all. Over and Out

-Elder Dial

1. The Castro Family, Me, and Elder Hidalgo

2. P.S. hit 6 months this past Friday, so i got to do this!

1st Transfer!

 

Me and Carlos (bald) Dereck, and Shedeilyz

 

Overlooking Allentown (Left to Right) Me, Hidalgo, Carraway, Tolbert

 

Well, the big news of the week is that I am being transferred! I have no idea where, but we go down to Broomall tomorrow and do the whole transfer meeting where I will find out my new area, companion, and all that jazz. I am really sad to leave here, because Allentown is the fetchin best!!!! But the Lord has awesome things in store for me. I submit my will to his, because He inspires the mission president to call the missionaries to each area. I know that. I have grown so much here, but I am needed elsewhere now.

What President Schaefermeyer did tell me is that he is sending me to a companion who needs some "special help." Well, basically that means that he might be a lazy, disobedient missionary, and he trusts me enough to go and help him out. Haha I am really nervous, but excited. I am grateful that President trusts me that much, now I have to do my part! I will need those prayers more than ever now! But it is ok. This work is bigger than my pride, selfish desires, and my own wants. I submit myself to the Lord! He can make so much more out of me than I can make out of myself!

THANK YOU FOR THE CALANDER!!! Oh my gosh that is the freakin best! I actually bought one like 2 months ago of big bucks, but the family one is better. I will probably hang them up side-by-side. I also LOVE the Jazz blanket. Totes slept with it last night. It was nice and cozy....

Well we had a very interesting experience on Tuesday. We were trying to clean up our branch list, and stopped by this supposed "less-active." We knock on the door, and this Dominican guy answers. He says "Yes! I was praying for angels to come and help me move some stuff, and you guys came. Looks like you will do!" Well we were stoked. We helped him move some furniture into his house, and then just started talking. He knew we were missionaries, and we started talking. He started to kind of knock on Joseph Smith a little bit, and bringing up some classic anti stuff. He then asked us, "Are you sure if you are saved?" I said that I do my best to follow the commandments, be a good person, and that we will see some day. He said, "WRONG." He then asked Elder Hidalgo and a Priest we had with us the same question. They answered like me. He said they were Wrong. He threw his hands up in the air and yelled, "I FEEL SALVATION! I BELIEVE AND THAT'S ALL I NEED TO DO!" Luckily, at this point his wife came in and gave us some food and it calmed him down. We were about to leave, but I wanted to try to save this. I asked if I could sing a hymn. Of COURSE they said yes. They set up a microphone and some speakers, and I broke out "Yo Se Que Vive Mi Senor," "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." The Spirit Literally FLOODED the room. It touched his heart a little bit. He said, "Teach Me." So I went into the First Lesson, about Prophets, Christ, and the Restoration. They ate it up. I got to the Joseph Smith story. When I recited the First Vision, his wife was almost in tears, as was I. Then I started talking about the Book of Mormon. And he closed his heart completely. He started talking. Then he started yelling. He broke out the whole Revelation-no-adding-to-the-word deal. He was literally yelling at us and tearing us apart. He told us we were blaspheming, that Joseph Smith was a liar, and that all we said was a lie, but he was trying to help us know the truth. The Spirit left. We had done our work, so I left cards with our number and we left. He asked for a video about Jesus Christ, so we left him the "Special Witnesses" video, about Prophets and Apostles.... hahaha. Well, I loved it. He directed all of his anger at me, yet I was firm. I was not nervous, and had confidence. I felt sorry and sad for him. How grateful I am for my knowledge of the Restored Gospel. That things of God are reverent and sacred. That we can have the gift of the Holy Ghost. How many things we take for granted. Today, we drove by his house and saw an ambulence.... We will let people draw their own conclusions on that.......

Well, In church I had the opportunity to bear my testimony and give thanks to the branch. Luckily, I didn't cry, but others did! That is how I judge my success haha! By how many people cry. Usually it is in the 50's, 70's,.... somewhere around there. Tonight, they are having a little "Despedida" or a little goodbye party where we are gonna eat lots of Domincan Food, like mangu, queso frito, arroz, habichuelas, salami, morir sonando, and many other things. I can't wait. I will for sure cry there.

Well, I love this mission. It is the fetching best. I love having all of these scary experiences! My testimony has made leaps and bounds in only 6 months! AHHHHH! 1/4 of the way done. That's weird. Don't want it to stop! I love this! I am able to say confidently and with out a doubt in my mind that this stuff really is true! I absolutely and truly do. I love all of you so much, and You're Welcome. This was a fantastic email for all of you. Be grateful haha.

-Elder Jabon Dial

This week we did some WORK!

Dear Familia,

­Well this week we did some work. Since we baptized Jesus last Sunday, we only had one baptismal date, Martha for the 24th of March. We didn't like that. We decided to get a couple more. Fulvio, Jesus's uncle, is becoming a missionary machine. He referred us to his neighbor, Maritza, and we went over there on Thursday, taught the restoration, and set a baptismal date with her for the 17 of March. Then, in church, we were talking to Carlos. He is ready to be baptized. We are baptizing him on the 24th of February! Which means Dereck, his son, is gonna get baptized about 3 weeks later!

Then last night, we visited Mario. He hadn't been progressing much, and we had a plan to set a date with him, or if he didn't want to, to drop him. We went in, started talking, and he asked us a really profound question. How does one find happiness? We thought about it. I told him that many things in the world can bring happiness. TONS of things bring temporal happiness, but really, the only way that we can find true and everlasting happiness is through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was SOOOOOOO STRONG!!!! He feels a need and desire to quit smoking and get married now. He has a date for the 31 of March. His girlfriend was upstairs during the lesson, but came down in the middle of the closing prayer, which I was offering. So in the prayer, I said, "Please bless Mario, that he will have the strength and motivation be able to do those necessary things to be baptized on the 31 of March." She has kind of been hindering Mario's progress a little bit. She smokes, which makes Mario smoke. Plus she doesn't want to get married for tax reasons or some retarded reason like that. If we obey God's laws, He will provide a way to provide for us temporally and spiritually. Well, now we have 4 investigators set with a date, and we will legitimately set a date with Dereck this week! It is quite a jump from 1 with a date to 4!

Here in Allentown, we only got like 4 or 5 inches of snow. WAY overhyped. But that is awesome to hear about Mitch! So proud of you man! You are gonna kill it down in Peru!   I love hearing about people getting called to speak SPANISH!!!!! ; even though way down in Argentina they speak with a weird/cool accent. (2 friends of Mike, sisters just got called to Argentina!  Sarah Pinnock and Becca Alley!)

P.S. Is it weird that in 11 days I hit my 6 month mark? I think it is....

With my Spanish, I think I am doing really well! I can pretty much understand what everyone says to me, with the exception of just a couple people in our branch who are just crazy hard to understand! Sometimes I can understand them, and sometimes not. Guess where they are from? Yup. La Republica Dominicana. Don't judge, but I was listening to this lady talking on the phone earlier today and I could understand what she said! Yeah, she was Domincan too. Neat stuff. I am cruising through the Libro de Mormon. I go through and write the definition of all the words I don't know above the word. It takes a while, but it really is worth it!

I GOT THE PACKAGE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Apparently it had been there since January 20th or something like that, and someone has been snatching the package slips out of our mailbox.... But that's ok. I got it, right? Thank you so much! But now there is another coming? That is awesome! Hopefully this package slip thief is caught, by  me. And we will have him repent and be baptized. Then we will take him to Five Guys. Sounds like a plan.

Well, I know that we are rewarded for our hard work in the Lord's Vineyard. Sometimes it isn't in our time, rather in the Lord's time. Love you all, the Church is true!!!!!!!

-Elder Dial

The Atonement is amazing!

 WE BAPTIZED JESUS!!!! Well probably about 90% of you read that wrong but that doesn't matter! We had an awesome baptism on Sunday. Jesus was baptized by his uncle, Fulvio, who we baptized in November. He has come and grown so much. Fulvio did it on one attempt too, which was a plus. There is not a better feeling that being able to help rescue an investigator and help them be born again into a new life as a devoted disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. We met Jesus back at our branch Christmas party. We found him because Fulvio wasn't afraid to bear his testimony and share the Gospel with his family! Now we are hoping to teach Jesus' parents too! Those two will take a lot of faith and prayer to teach, but we are gonna do it. We are making it our goal to make this branch become a ward.

The rest of that Sunday pretty much everything fell through, but that is ok. There are days like that, and when that happens, just remember the miracles that we see every day, and also many more miracles that we don't even recognize zooming around us.

Comment about Matt eating a lot is funny. That is exactly who I am known as here! Haha I really do try to not eat so much but sometimes the temptation is too great... Especially when people cook like they do here!!!! 

The highlight of my week (besides the baptism) was my studies. I have put a lot of talks on my iPod that I got from a different Elder, and one of them is by Cleon Skousen, “The Meaning of the Atonement” LOOK IT UP!!!!! That talk has literally revolutionized and changed the way that I look at the Atonement, and I have made strides and hurdles in my relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. Someone once told me that it isn't a religion for them, that it is a relationship. This is what it has become and is becoming for me. I have learned about why the Atonement was necessary. Why couldn't our Heavenly Father just snap His finger and save all of us? Why did it require a sacrifice and pain so horrifically terrible that even the perfect Human, Jesus Christ, trembled because of pain and plead to the Father to accomplish it some other way? Why? Brother Skousen points out a ton of scriptures and really connects the dots. In Preach My Gospel, it says, "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase." I can honestly say that it has happened to me. I have a stronger desire to work. I want to share it with everyone!

Carlos is on the right track. He talked to his girlfriend about marriage; she didn't want to do it. So he is sleeping at his sister’s house now. He wants to be with her, and he said he will come back but only if she will marry him. We are resetting his baptismal date tonight; probably for the 17th of February. He hasn't missed church since we invited him. He and his son are going to make excellent additions to the Branch of Allentown.

Mom, I still haven't gotten your package you sent. It well get here eventually... I hope Haha I anxiously check for the package slip EVERY DAY!!!

Well, that is it for me today. The Atonement is real, and because of it, we can repent. We can become clean and return to our Heavenly Father!!!!!

Love you tons,    

Elder Mike Dial