Bed bugs?

Dear Family,

Well I may have bedbugs..... Woke up with a bunch of little red bites all over me.... way nice time. Best thing ever. May have to fumigate the apartment... that will be way fun
 

In other news, It was President's last Zone Conference with us. He gave an AWESOME presentation about the Book of Mormon. He said that he always wanted to have his last zone conference be about the Book of Mormon. He went through the whole process step by step; beginning with Moroni giving the plates, to the physical translation process, to the original manuscript, to the publication, up until the version that we have today. It was awesome. Strengthened my testimony a TON!!! The Book of Mormon is TRUE! I have read it and prayed about it! Reading it in Spanish is WAYYY better by the way.

Another cool thing, for Zone Conference, We had Clarence Owens come. He was a Pro NFL player that lives in one of the wards in our Zone. He came and talked about his conversion experience. A teammate in Oakland or something was an awesome example to him, and then he joined the church because of his example. He focused on a couple scriptures, mostly saying that we don't really know what is going to happen, and we can't be sure about a lot of things, but that God loves us and everything will turn out OK. Plus afterwards, I got to take a picture wearing his Super Bowl ring... Yeah that was pretty cool. I took the picture on my iPod so I can't quite put it in the email. But it was WAY cool!!!! How many people can say that they have worn a Super Bowl Ring?

Yeah Dulce didn't come to church this week. Please pray for her so that she can come. She is doing a lot of talking but not a lot of acting. We are trying a second time with some Former Investigators, and we hope that they can act on what we teach! It is gonna be an awesome week this week. I already know it. I love you all!!! Keep doing good. D&C 6:34-37

-Elder Mike Dial

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

Come Listen to a Seventy's Voice!

Mike's First Trainee...Elder Minnich from Ft. Worth Texas

Confiscated Coffee after a lesson on the Word of Wisdom

Hello!

Well I opened up my emails to President today and guess what? President Ronald Rasband is coming to the mission!!! Next Sunday we are trekking down to Newark Delaware to hear him! Totally skipping out on church, but that's ok because a servant of the Lord has requested to meet with us. This is the second time a GA has come since I have been here. Last year in like December Elder Pieper came out, and that was way cool. I love President Rasband's talks and so I am STOKED on life right now! What a blessing it will be. I absolutely cannot wait. Like a week or two ago I was talking to Elder Ward on the other side of PA, and they are having a huge mission conference coming up with a bunch of General Authorities. I asked President Schaefermeyer about it, if we had anyone coming, and he said no.... Well thankfully the Lord is full of tender mercies and we get direct counsel from one of his Special Witnesses. I cannot wait!

Well I am writing you since like Wednesday..... It has been a short week. Dulce didn't come to church this week. I literally called her 15 minutes before it started, asked if she was coming. She was like "Yeah!" But no. Apparently between the time we talked and church started, a friend came over and was able to convince her that going to a flea market in New Jersey was more important than going to the Lord's consecrated chapel and worshiping Him that gave us life..... We totally went over to her house later that day and rebuked her in the most loving way possible. She was scared when she saw us haha. The very next lesson we have with her will be about the Sabbath Day, you can be absolutely sure of that. She has the desire to get baptized and has expressed it so much, but actions speak louder than words, don't they?

Well that is basically all that has happened in the past few days. We are finding, teaching, and will be baptizing very soon. The work goes on no matter what. I love the work. Haha I feel like every last paragraph of all of my letters is the exact same. BUT IT IS TRUE!!!!! Christ lives. This is His church. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. It is a beautiful thing. I am so grateful for my knowledge and for the opportunity that I have to Share it!!!! It is awesome. I love you all!

-Elder Mike Dial

p.s. Thanks for the awesome Letter! I do have one request. Brown socks. I bought some brown shoes for $4 and need some brown socks. Cool for Meredith! Tell her congrats for me. With Meg too... 

Happy Memorial Day!

Written Wed. May 29, 2013

 

Happy Memorial Day!!! President told us to go to cemeteries and see if we could share a message with anyone there. We did. We went to an Old veteran's cemetery, as you can see in the pictures. There were tons of people from the Civil war, WW1 and a few from WW2. Sadly, there was nobody in the cemetery. It was a small little guy. But a lady from across the street began to yell at us. So we started talking to her. We crossed the street. Apparently, her name is Sarah, and she is going through some really rough times. She got hit by a car, the car kept going. She has been in like 200 comas. She feels as if the man who brings her medication is trying to poison her.... Well as we began talking, her whole demeanor changed. She started talking about the blessings in her life. About her belief in God and in Christ. She started saying that she should pray for the man who is trying to poison her... Haha she is great. We gave her information to the English Elders. Memorial day is awesome. In that small, solitary cemetery there was an amazing spirit. The Spirit of the Lord was there.

Well, apparently missionaries were scared before to teach the law of chastity how it is before... They marked it off in the Area Book as taught, but then Dulce let her boyfriend Juan move back in... So yesterday we taught the Law of Chastity like it should be taught. Like Elder Bednar taught it in this past conference (LOVE THAT TALK) She really does have the desire to be baptized, and I think that she will be able to make the changes necessary to make those covenants with God. She REALLY wants to join the church.

Elder Minnich is doing awesome. His Spanish is getting better day by day. Weird to think that was me just 7 months ago! haha. Time really flies. Sometimes I have to give him a little push to talk, but that is ok. He talks like a boss.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTAS!!! Meg is 18. That's not ok. Meredith is in High School. Tampoco. Thanks for the picture at Cynthia's grave. I really wanted one of them. I will probably go to Wal-Mart and print that guy off. Thanks for being the best family in the world. I love you so much. The work of the Lord is going crazy in Norristown PA. Pretty sure it is gonna turn into church HQ in a year or two. Most likely. Love you and see you next week!!!

-Elder Dial

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.