Elder Rasband visited the mission!

Yesterday was AWESOME!!! We totally skipped out on church and went to Newark, Delaware. Check that one off my list..been to Delaware. 0 Sales tax. But that was not as awesome as the meeting we had with Elder Ronald A. Rasband, from the Presidency of the Seventy. He gave us some AWESOME council. He said that he has visited tens of thousands of missionaries. He has shaken every single one of their hands. He says that during all the missionary interviews that he does, the most successful missionaries of all the missionaries in the world are expert finders. They don't give up ANY opportunity to find people to share the Gospel with. That hit me hard. When I stand before the Lord one day, I don't want Him to ask me, "Why didn't you talk to that person that I specifically put in your path for you to talk to?" It has changed the way I have looked at finding and talking to people. It isn't something that we have been asked to do, it is a commandment. It says OPEN YOUR MOUTH like 282,583,293 times in the Doctrine and Covenants. That was one thing that President Rasband said that hit me.

He also talked a LOT about working with Members. That is where the responsibility for finding ideally should fall. The members of the church already have the friends that need to hear the Gospel. What they need to do is open their mouths as well. He said be "sweetly bold" with the members of the church when asking them for referrals. Teach them a message, then ask who came to their mind during the lesson. Ask them to talk to them and set up an appointment. Follow up the next day! Knock around their house, then ask if they will return to the door of one of their neighbors with us and ask if they will listen to a brief message!

I love President Rasband. It was one of his talks that gave me a direct confirmation that I needed to serve a mission. If you ever want to know why bad things are allowed to happen to good people, look up his talk from April 2012. I am looking at missionary work with an open understanding and open eyes. I am going to baptize at least 6,593 people in the 14 months that I have left. Gonna make the most of everything, and not let anyone stop me. Love you all. Thanks for the love and prayers! Happy Father's Day this coming Sunday!!!

-Elder Mike Dial