MI HIJO!!!! (My Son)

Well, this week has been just fantastic. My new companion is Elder Minnich, from Ft. Worth Texas. He is very fresh. He doesn't understand or speak very much (sounds familiar) but is WAYYY optimistic about learning. He is way positive and loves to work. It is gonna be an AWESOME 12 weeks at least with him. I am gonna be here in Norristown until August at least, which is awesome because we are gonna Find, Teach, and BAPTIZE!!

I had one of the best days of my mission this past week. We have this investigator, Dulce, who LOVES the Gospel, and we are teaching her and her daughter, Andrea, and they Love the Gospel. Dulce has never really been able to progress that far because she lived with her boyfriend, Juan. Juan is a really cool guy, and always listens to the lessons, but he has never had intention to change.... Didn't want to get married either.... She also was really scared about her family and how they would react. She took the lessons a couple years ago and her family made fun of her and made her feel really bad. A week ago, Monday night, Dulce called us, and asked if we wanted some Ice Cream.... Question?? So ya we met her at "Ritas" which is an awesome place here on the east coast. She told us that Juan moved out. That she didn't care about how her family felt anymore. She would set apart Saturday AND Sunday to being with her family and going to church. She wanted to be baptized...: D :D :D So we literally jumped in the air for joy, and set her with the 9th of June for a baptismal date. SHE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY TOO!!! She has that desire that she has had for a long time, but now she is SHOWING it, literally one of the best days of my mission. Then this week, we went, reviewed the Word of Wisdom, and we took away her coffee. BEST THING EVER. She now does Orange Juice.

We are loving life here in Norristown. It is the happiest place on earth, besides Disneyland of course. But it is Awesome. The mission is the best thing in the world, and I can't imagine what Matt is feeling right now haha. But that’s life. I love you all. Thanks for the love and support. The work is going forth boldly, nobly, and independent on the shoulders of members and missionaries. Don't leave it to others. Put your hand to the plow and never look back.

-Elder Mike Dial

Happy Mothers Day!

My family is officially the best in the world. Sorry to all you other people who don't get my family.  It was AWESOME to talk to all of you yesterday! So happy that my family loves me, that they support me, and that I will be able to be with them FOREVER!!!!

We taught an AWESOME lesson to an investigator, Eusebia. She has been taught basically everything over the past couple months. We decided to restart from lesson 1 to see if we could rekindle a little desire.... Well it worked. We were teaching her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. Afterwards, we started bearing testimony. She told us, "I can see it in you. When you say, 'I know that this is true,' I can see it in your eyes. I am envious of that. I would like to have that in my life." We said that if she wanted to feel that Spirit that she was feeling in that moment, and have what we have, she needs to read, pray, and come to church so that she can find out for HERSELF that our message is true. We don't teach people to increase the membership of the church. We teach people to open the doors of the Celestial Kingdom of God to His children. We had invited her to church SO many times before this, but she had never come. Her husband is very disinterested and is against her making her kids come to church. For that reason, she has felt very alone. BUT SHE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!!!!! She showed up like halfway through sacrament meeting, and left after sacrament meeting, but she came to church! That was a miracle in and of itself! Def the highlight of my week, besides talking with you beautiful people. The Spirit really can melt egos, fears, doubts, and can open people's hearts like a jackhammer. It is the MOST important thing in this work and we cannot do anything without it. I love it with all of my heart. I am excited for the opportunity to show a brand new missionary how to do missionary work. I pray that I will be led by the Spirit every day, and that I will remain worthy to have His presence with me. Your prayers are needed more than ever now!!! Keep them coming PLEASE. Love you all with all of my heart. God Speed.

Dear Familia,

haha thank you so much for the package... It made me very happy. Mom I had no idea who it was until you just told me mom... But thank you haha. It is always the best day in the world for a missionary when there is a package sitting there on the step. THANK YOU!!  (A gal I work with was visiting inlaws just minutes from Mike’s apartment…so she dropped a package at his doorstep)  Well I am trying to do my best to attach some pictures but apparently these computers are retarded and aren't letting me. I will see what I can do. Let me work my magic.

This week was way cool. On Saturday, we got to do some cool service. The Church owns a plot of land in Valley Forge, (It was a probable temple site until they got the plot in Downtown Philly) and the Valley Forge 1st and 2nd wards are putting together a community garden there. So Saturday, we got to go rip up all of the plants, till it, till it again, and make it habitable for plants haha. We were there from about 8 AM to about 12:30 just tilling. The garden  is like 60 feet by 40 feet, and I spent about 3.5 of those hours tilling. Needless to say, I was SORE beyond belief, but that is ok. I got RIPPED doing it. It was cool. Hopefully I can get a picture attached here in a second....

We have this investigator, Dulce. She and her sister Andrea are taking the lessons. About 4 years ago, she was about to be baptized, but then she told her family, and they all made fun of her and told her she was crazy. She vowed then and there that she would never take the missionary lessons again.... well here we are. We have been teaching her since I got here in Norristown in February, but recently she has started progressing a lot. We have had a couple lessons where we mentioned temple work and that got her really excited! She asked "Do I have to be baptized to go in the temple?" ..... Yes..... She wants to join the church. We taught the Word of Wisdom to her the other day with no complications at all. She loved it. Tonight we have an AWESOME lesson with her. CHASTITY. She isn't married to her boyfriend. We are gonna get her married and baptized very soon. Please pray for her. She and her daughter Andrea, and hopefully her soon-to-be husband Juan will too. I am so excited for them!!!!

We had a Stake conference this past Sunday. It was an Eastern United States Conference Broadcast. Robert C. Gay, Robert D. Hales, and Dieter F. Uctdorf all spoke. ALL of them talked about the family. We need to plant the seeds of faithfulness in our family, said elder Hales. We need to focus on having FHE every week, personal, companion, and family prayer EVERY DAY. The world is getting worse and worse every day and Satan is attacking the family on all fronts. If we can strengthen ourselves from the inside out, he will have no power over us. If I have learned one thing on my mission, it is how I want to raise my family when I grow up. Luckily, I need to look no further than how I was raised for an awesome example.

Well, this work really is true. I know it be true better than I ever have before. Way to finish out strong Matt. I love and am so grateful for the many examples that have gone before me. Thanks to all for your love and support

 -Elder Mike Dial (AHORA EL UNICO!)-“now the only”