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