Where Much is Given Much is Required

Somewhere in Bridgeton

 A member of the Bridgeton Branch that asked Mike to Baptize him

Monday, November 25, 2013

HOLA TODOS!

Yes mom I am going to the dentist this Wednesday to get that crown plus a cavity have fixed. For Thanksgiving our branch is doing a HUGE dinner for everyone. Those who can afford it are bringing food. Those who can't afford it are being given food to prepare from the Bishop's Storehouse so that everyone can feel included. Way awesome thing to get everyone included. We never get set dinner appointments, but are fed just about every day, just the culture of Mexicans. They feed you till you burst. You asked who does the cooking at home. It doesn't require much cooking to make some Pop-Tarts. But I whip up the occasional omelette with Oaxaca cheese and jalapeños. SUPER good. Throw some Valentina/Tapatío on that john and it tastes SUPER good.

Our investigator, Enrique, is progressing slowly but surely. He makes me laugh. This past week we had a lesson with him that he liked so much that he got on his knees, shouted to the Lord for thanks, and started kissing his bible. Not something you see every day but hey, we all worship in different ways right? He said he received an answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Now we are just trying to help him understand what that knowledge implies and entails. We can't know that and not act upon it. Send a couple prayers his way.

We had a zone conference this past Thursday. Super good one. We talked a lot about the pamphlets and are going to be following a new teaching method. In 1 Nephi 9 or something like that, whenever he is having his super long vision, the Spirit tells Nephi to "Look!" He then asks Nephi what he sees. Nephi says what he sees, and then the Spirit explains about it. In the Restoration (and all other) pamphlets, there are photographs and paintings that have been carefully selected by prophets, seers, and revelators. They all have a purpose. What we have started to do is show people the front cover of the Restoration pamphlet, and ask, "What do you see?" They then tell us. We then teach doctrine. We are trying to be in and out of appointments in 20 minutes. We role-played in the Zone Conference to teach the whole Restoration in 8 minutes. If we spend an hour or two with an investigator, when we set up return appointments they have to think of a time when they will have an hour or two. If we are in and out in 20 minutes, we will be able to see them more often and teach a lot more people as well. We have heard that the Lord is hastening His work, and so WE need to hasten it too. Literally.

Also at Zone Conference, they announced that the week of the 16th of December is when we will be getting iPads. I cannot accurately describe how flippin excited Elder Dial is right now. We will be able to use Facebook on them, and will be allowed to use Facetime and Skype to teach anyone across the world. I miss my iPad so much, and so I am stoked to be able to get one again. :):):):):D:D:D:D:D

Well that's all from here. Life is fantastic here in Bridgeton. We just reactivated our Branch mission leader. Got offended and didn't come for a month. He's all back though. No worries, nice to have a branch mission leader again. Love y'all. Be jealous of all the tortillas and rice I will be eating on Thanksgiving. There will be mole involved. Probably sopa. Chapolines would be a stretch but I will hope. This work is 100% true. I listened to the talk Profile of a Prophet this morning by Hugh B. Brown. Joseph saw what he said he saw. He did what God told him to do.

Love ya all.

Elder Mike

Somos los Soldados que Combaten!!! (We are the soldiers who fight!)

"Killer sunset in Bridgeton"

Happy Thanksgiving...these are literally in our backyard!

Hmmmm...tempted....

Well another week has come and gone here in Bridgeton. I realized something this week. We as missionaries will only be in a place for a couple of months, and so we may be super disappointed if exactly what we want to happen doesn't happen during our short time there. The people that live here don't see time like that. Even if we work hard, we may not see the immediate fruits of our labor. But when we work hard with love, the fruits of our labor will stick around forever reflected in the lives of people. I knew that before, but it took on another meaning for me.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!! It was delightful. The gloves keep my hands super warm and I will be able to use them on my iPad as well. That is awesome. Mom, don't worry. We don't even ride our bikes that much during the winter so it's ok.

 

We are making the Bridgeton Branch the best branch in the church. We realized that if someone only has ONE impression of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we would want them to have it in the converted bank building on Laurel and Washington Street here in Bridgeton, New Jersey. We want people to be overwhelmed with the Spirit when they walk through the doors. We 4 missionaries in the branch can make a huge difference. So we decided that we need to live by example. This past Sunday, we only whispered in the chapel, we did our best to show people how reverent we should be when we are in a sacrament meeting that is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. People saw our example, and mimicked us. There was a huge difference. It was also different because a member of the Stake Presidency, Vai Sikahema, (he played at BYU and on the Eagles. He now is a sports analyst in Philly and people in the area LOVE him. He was key in getting the temple site in downtown Philly. Literally, they weren't about to sell the site to the church, but he bore his testimony to the city officials, and they ended up selling the site to the church. Neat stuff.) was present. Super cool guy. But the fact that we have few members doesn't mean that we need to have a shortage of the Spirit. Christ said that even if only two or three are gathered in His name, that He will be there in the midst of them.

 

Had a lesson with some people who tried to convert us. Good times. That is what is a little different about what we try to do. We don't try to convert anyone. We share our message, and INVITE the person to try it out for themselves. If they do, they learn by their own experiences that it is true. I wouldn't force this knowledge upon anyone, even if it was within my power. But we do invite people to learn more, experiment upon the word, and let their faith grow. It is the best job in the world. Just like Elder Anderson said, "This isn't missionary work. This is missionary fun!." Super cheesy yet super true. Sorry for the little letter today but I want y'all to know that I know that these things are true. God lives and He guides His missionaries.

 

-Elder Dial

 

Teaching and Testifying!

T'was a good one. We had some of the most powerful lessons that I have had during my short time as a missionary. Elder Morgan is bold. I love it. We were teaching this one guy, Enrique, about the Book of Mormon. He has been having trouble reading out of anything that isn't the Bible. Elder Morgan shared Ether 12:27 with him about God helping weak things become strong. Enrique's face completely lit up and he said, "I want to read this book." It was awesome. The Spirit was so strong. It bore testimony to all in the room. You could taste it. Enrique still has a long way to go, but he is making his way, step by step, down the road to complete discipleship.

We also had some AMAZING lessons with Pedro. He's the one who LOVES the Gospel but needs to put a ring on it before he can get dunked. He wants to get baptized more than ever. He is reading constantly in the Book of Mormon. When he doesn't think he gets everything, he goes back and reads it again. He literally remembers every single fact from reading. He told me the date of when Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. He recounted the story of going back and getting the Brass plates from Jerusalem perfectly, and told us why it was important for them to have the brass plates. He is SO ready to be a member of the church, but Rosa is holding him back a little bit. She wants to get married in Mexico so her family can be there. It is definitely a valid point, but we are teaching her this week about why we need to be married to please God before anybody else. If we have faith, and she opens up that heart of hers, miracles will happen and she will get it.

I am so stoked. At the end of this month or during the first part of December, I WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!!! One of my converts from Allentown, Fulvio, is getting ready to go receive his endowment. I am literally giddy about going. Before my mission I went at least weekly, usually more, SO stoked to be able to go again. I have some names that I have pulled off of Family Search that I am going to do., literally stoked out of my mind.

Elder Morgan has SUPER good Spanish. We went on a mini exchange yesterday and he took over the area for a few hours. He literally taught a few lessons by himself in perfect Spanish understanding everything as well. He speaks and understands WAY more than I did at his point. Good stuff. He is going to be (and already is) an AWESOME missionary!!!

Love the Gospel. It is super true. Love it more than anything else in the world.   I can't wait to go out after I send this email and preach it some more.

Love you guys.

Elder Mike Dial

Trabajemos hoy en la obra del Señor‏! (Today's work is the Lord's work!)

Well, my new companion is Elder Morgan from Gilbert, AZ. Sorry, doesn't know the Bevans. Specifically, he is from Chandler. He is a super young 18 year old that graduated in 2013. It is super weird that I am training someone Megan's age. He has SUPER good Spanish! Way better than I did when I came out. He came from the Mexico MTC and so that probably helped out a bit. Plus his parents both speak Spanish. Why didn't mine???? But he is awesome, likes to work. He is super into football. He played as a slot receiver in High School. He lost 20 pounds of muscle in the MTC haha. He's about to gain it all back in tortillas. Already understands most everything people say to him. That's because he is in Bridgeton/Mexico and not in Allentown/Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic.

Because I was training, I spent the night Tuesday in Philly. Super ghetto. Love it. Wednesday, we went to the mission office in Broomall and picked up our new companions! We came back here to Bridgeton and got to work, visited a couple less-actives that day. It was great. Then, the next day, Halloween, like every other Thursday, we had District meeting, then our weekly planning session, but then had to be in the apartment at 6 PM! So basically we were out for less than 2 hours. It kind of sucked, but Elder Morgan had just received a package literally chalked full of candy, so we went inside and watched Mountain of the Lord and Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration to pass the time. We also made some pretty good tacos. Super good.

Our investigator, Pedro, came to church yesterday! It is the first time that he has come on his own. The last 2 times he has been picked up by members. He wanted to get up and bear his testimony but the meeting ended too early. He just needs to tie the fetching knot and get married. We are focusing on that. He was supposed to come to a member's house yesterday to talk about matrimonio but didn't show. That bugged me, but that's ok because he was keeping the Sabbath day holy. We are focusing on not just coming to church, but also keeping the WHOLE day holy.

A member of the Stake Presidency went out with us on Friday and introduced us to some of the people he knows in Bridgeton. He teaches an English class and so he know quite a few people here. I love that he was willing to go out and introduce us to his friends. He wasn't afraid to do it. He was willing to open his mouth and invite. It doesn't matter so much HOW MANY people accept the invitation, what matters most is that we are EXTENDING the invitation. If we never extend it, no one will ever accept it. We never really know WHO is ready or willing to accept, so we need to invite all!!!

Sorry, I was left with a crappy computer today so I can't send pictures. I really want to because I have taken some AWESOME ones with the leaves changing and all that john. Mom got a photo of Elder Morgan and me on Facebook so refer to that.

It is pretty cold here. Like 30 something. SUPER cold-especially on a bike!

PS OUR MISSION IS GETTING IPADS!!!!! EVERY missionary will be receiving their own iPad. We are going to be cleared to teach on Skype and Facetime. I am so stoked. There are so many times where I want to show a video during a lesson or a conference talk or something. I am stoked. We will be getting them in December. Plus every companionship will be getting an iPhone instead of this LG piece of junk that we have. Yeah. Be jealous all of you super old RMs. They recently had a Mission President's conference in Philly with all the Presidents in the Northeast. They said that we are getting iPads and iPhones because of our mission's obedience on Facebook. The Lord blesses His obedient children. Sometimes with iPads. I like it a lot when that happends. So I will be Facetiming home this Christmas with my own iPad. Get stoked.