Get Stoked on LIFE!!!!

Monday June 9, 2014

Well isn't it just a wonderful June day writing you on my iPad? I
think it is. We are already in June and it is going by. I literally
can't believe it. Well, here are some things that happened his week.

Something that on Monday was tight. We had a lesson with Brenda, which
was AWESOME!!! Partially because her husband, Geraldo, and her
daughter, Yeilin was there. The other part was because the Spirit was
incredibly strong. We taught them the plan of salvation. I love
teaching people about where they came from, why they are here, and
where they are going after this life because many people aren't sure.
They have heard things, but can't say for sure what is going to
happen. Thanks to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can! We read
out of Alma 34 to talk about our life on earth and Alma 40 to talk
about the spirit world. I think it really hit home for them. We
haven't had a lesson with Geraldo or Yeilin in forever, so it was
super good to meet with them again, and I really do see them
progressing in the not too distant future. Geraldo prayed at the end
of the lesson and gave an incredibly heartfelt prayer. It was awesome.
Felt the Spirit testifying through me!

So I found out on Wednesday that I never deferred my enrollment at
LDSBC, so I called (with permission!) the admissions office because my
registration wasn't working, and that's when they told me that I
wasn't in the system because I never deferred my enrollment. I never
thought that I would get kicked out of college, but apparently that's
what happened. I swear LDSBC doesn't want me haha. First they reject
my application when I apply the first time, the kick me out while I am
in the service of The Lord. Sad day. But that's ok. I needed an
ecclesiastical endorsement to reapply, and I sent it to President
Anderson, and he just pushed the go button. Makes things easier.
Pretty sure I know the honor code and am willing to live it. Good
times. My reapplication is in and now I'm just waiting on them to
accept it. I just wanna get that fetching thing over with.

Then we had a SUPER good lesson with Coralie! Like awesome. President
Payba and Ari went with us. It was super funny, because Coralie
understands more English, but speaks Spanish, and president Payba
speaks more Spanish,  but understands English. So it only fit for our
Puerto Rican investigator that we had the lesson in Spanglish, because
that's what Puerto Ricans all speak. We taught about faith,
repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The
Spirit was so strong that you could have cut it with a knife. She
said, "Whenever you guys are here, I feel so good! I feel so peaceful!
Why does it go away when you leave?" We taught about the difference
between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power of the Holy Ghost.
She is super prepared. We first found her grandma, then grandpa, then
mom, dad, brothers, sister, and finally we found the one who is the
most prepared of all. She agreed to be baptized by proper priesthood
authority, and we set a baptismal date for the 6th of July (the day we
become a ward!) She isn't quite sure yet, but she is sure on the way
to knowing for sure! We are literally giddy about her progress and
can't wait to see how things come out. She is going to be the key for
her whole family accepting the Gospel! She didn't end up coming to
church, but she gave a hard commitment for next week.

We got a call from Teodoro basically saying he doesn't want to meet
with us anymore. It came as a complete surprise. He had been reading,
praying, and spending time with his family. He had been loving the
Gospel and I can't see any particular reason why this would have
happened, but it did. That's the worst part of missionary work. Seeing
people with so much potential just not realize it and give up
happiness for a mediocre life. That's ok. The impression came to me to
write him and his family a thank you note for their kindness in
letting us come over and visit them. What I have learned is that my
love for him or anyone else isn't conditional on their joining the
church or meeting with us at all. I love them because they are my
brothers and sisters as much as Matt, Megan, Meredith, and Marcus are.
I truly do love them, and that's why I do this. We can't obligate, but
we can invite. We can always have our arms outstretched ready to
receive anyone, just like the Savior does for us.

We met with our investigator Benny on Saturday. Started the Plan of
Salvation. He really liked the lesson. People generally like the Plan
of Salvation. It just gives you a sense of depth and personal meaning
you can't really find anywhere else! He has a lot of bible knowledge,
but has strayed off the path a little bit and is having trouble
getting back. We testified of the reality and the personal nature of
the atonement of Jesus Christ. We told him that sometimes what matters
to God is our being just a little better today than we were yesterday
and committing to try to be a little better tomorrow. We talked about
overcoming temptation and resisting carnal desires. It was super good.
He committed to read and pray. He is going to go far if he keeps this
up!

The Lord truly works in mysterious ways. Sometimes through ice cream
cravings. We went to McDonald's to grab some ice cream cones, and who
happens to show up at McDonald's? Coralie. She told us that she had
been reading in the Book of Mormon. Come to find out that she has been
doing missionary work for us! She showed the movie "Joseph Smith:
Prophet of the Restoration" to her parents and grandparents. That has
opened the door to so many more of her family! She had been reading in
Alma, and we had to explain that Alma is not a girl. In Spanish it is
a female name, so that creates some confusion some times, but that's
ok. It was awesome. She should be at church tomorrow.

Right after we saw Coralie at McDonald's, we went and saw Joanna and
Axel, her parents. They were super interested after watching the
Joseph Smith movie, so we went over and talked. They asked questions
about temples, and we explained what they were, what goes on inside,
and why they are important. We showed her Mormon.org and how she can
search for answers there as well. The Spirit was so strong as we
correlated the temple with the plan of salvation. They felt it. We
felt it. We know we were guided to them at that time. They should all
come to church tomorrow!

Well the work goes on triumphant here in Bethlehem. God is hastening
His work. Try and see what you can do to hasten it too. Don't be
afraid to invite people to listen to the missionaries! What's the
worst that could happen? They say no? That happens to me every day and
it doesn't phase me! Get stoked.

Love y'all.

Elder Mike Dial