Saturday, March 29, 2014

The Kick Is Up.....

So this week was alright. Almost had a heart attack yesterday! It was one of those "close but no cigar" moments. you know, like when BSU missed the game winning field goal against Nevada (Sorry to bring that up) But la verdad fue muy difícil. We didn't have a baptism set up for yesterday so all last week my companion and I were working our butts off to find PF's (part member families) who we could teach and baptize along with finding new people to teach. Well,we had nothing. Down by 1 with no time on the clock! It was after church and a girl who has attended church millions of times before, came up to us and told us she had her moms permission to be baptized. The kick is up and in the air! We immediately had our district leader interview her. She passed!!!! We go to have her mom sign the paper and the kick is no good! The mom refuses to give us permission. She said it was because her dad, the grandpa of the girl that we were going to baptize, was against the church and she (the mom) was scared that her dad would kick her out of the house.  Talk about rough, but needless to say it was a missed field goal moment. Anyways that just means that we will baptize hopefully 2 people this week!

It's getting hotter here as the sun is coming out and is getting stronger day by day! Yes I do have sun screen but I don't know how much it helps because I'm pretty sure I sweat it off 10 minutes after I apply it. Anyways I will say I do miss my Oakleys a ton right now!!! Having to squint all the time can give you a head ache. But people are more willing to let you in if you look like your going to die of heat exhaustion! This week we found a lot of new people to teach so we will be busy this week. This week I've noticed that I'm getting fatter! It's hard when you only have 30 minutes to work out. But I'm amping it up a notch. Plus I'll be sweating my brains out here pretty soon so that should help me drop a couple of the LBs. We still don't have AC so it's hard to sleep at night. We have 2 fans that help but they only can do so much. And right after I shower I'm already sweating!  None-the-less, we manage. Oh the life of a missionary! I love it!!! Wouldn't trade it for anything!!! Love you all!! Hope you have a great spring break! Be safe and have fun!!

Elder Dial

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St Patrick´s day! You would think with all the Catholics here, they would celebrate the day of a saint, but I haven't heard anything. To be honest, I forgot it was St. Patrick´s Day.
So this week was pretty difficult. Yesterday I was a little over stressed. We went to pick up our investigator and well, only one ended up attending church. Then our members who we baptized last week didn't show up, so my companion and I hailed a cab and went and got them. We were lucky to get there in time for the last speaker and then they said I was to give the closing prayer. Well after walking up to the Bishop and telling him we have to confirm our two new members, the Bishop and his counselor confirmed them. The Bishop did a wonderful job but his counselor. Oh My! It was like he had never done it. Actually, I honestly think it was his first time. So that only added to my stress. That and our District Leader is breathing down our necks about baptizing this Sunday. We don't have any one lined up because no one attended church. So this week we are praying for a miracle. I know we can do it but I feel like if we focus on baptizing this week, it will be hard to focus on finding new people to teach and baptize in April. And our President told us that we can't miss a week! (talking about baptizing every week)  Oh the joys and pressures of missionary work. But I LOVE it. There isn't anything more joyous than watching a family enter the waters of baptism and eventually enter the temple to be sealed for time and for eternity. Other than that, nothing real exciting has happened this week. I hope and pray that this week is better and that we can continue to find and prepare people to teach. Love you all and pray for you all EVERYDAY!!! Hope you have been involved in the missionary work also. 

Elder Dial

All was not lost...Just most of my email!

Well I was in the middle of writing when I lost my email. I am very frustrated because of how unreliable  technology can be!!! Especially here in a 3rd world country.
 Anyways, on the brighter side, we baptized 2 yesterday!


It was cool and got me excited for April.
My companion is From Guatemala and is about 5' 6'' or something like that. He plays the drums and is from a family of 8. He is some where in the middle but I can't remember. It's funny to watch him do push ups because he does what I call the "Carson push up" I don't know if you remember but a while ago Carson, Aubry, and I had a push up contest. Whoever could do the most push ups in one minute won. Well Carson did about 50 and won, or so he thought. But upon further review, his arms did not reach the "full extension" point and the ref reversed the call. So that's how it got the name "Carson push ups". But yes my companion does these push ups and its quite funny. 
Its crazy to think that BSU spring ball starts! It hasn't been that long has it? Wow. These past 8 months have flown by. So with Brother Arnold moving to Texas, Will we be getting a new bishopric? Why is he moving to Texas? Too bad! I was looking for a good Chiropractor (have no clue of I spelled that right) when I get back. Anyways, I can't remember all that I was going to say because I'm still a little upset from losing my first letter. I guess I'm lucky I can't say "this sucking thing" in Spanish as Dad would put it. Anyways, if you are going to send me a package, send me some variations of hymns or church appropriate songs would be awesome. I want to start practicing on my Pdays if I have time. Love you all and have a great week.

Elder Dial

Good-bye Elder Ramos...Hello Elder Perez

"You are Royalty"  If you have food in your frig, clothes on your back and a roof overhead you are richer than 75% of the world
If you have a little money in the bank, or spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy
If you can drink from your kitchen faucet whenever you want..you are more fortunate by far than 1.5 billion people who dont have clean water at all
If you can attend a church without fear of harassment, arrest or torture, you have the kind of freedom denied to more than 3 billion people in the world.
If you can read this message, you are belssed , 2 billion cannot read at all.
If your everyday problems are  weighying you down, there are millions of people who would gladly trade places with you right now..;problems and all and feel they have been royally blessed.
REMEMBER: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected."

this is a pretty long quote but it is a quote that Grandma and Grandpa Freeman sent me and I love it because I've seen all of this here in Mexico. Count your many blessings!
So first I want to clarify a few things that have come up in some of your letters. First, Transfers are every 6 weeks, so mark your calendars. And Second, when I said that we will be baptizing every week by April I didn't mean the entire mission. Yes someone in the mission is baptising every week but what I meant is that every COMPANIONSHIP will be baptizing every week, or should be. That means my companion and I will baptize every week along with every other companionship. 

So speaking of transfers, yes they are tomorrow.  So the next transfer will be Abril 15th I think. My companion Elder Ramos, is leaving.

My new companion is Elder Perez. He is pretty short and is from Guatemala. That´s all I know about him right now.
So this week was pretty average.  I bought a wheelchair. I got tired of walking everywhere so I bought one. The guy wanted 1000 pesos but I talked him down to 800! Hahaha no not really. Well I did buy a wheelchair but it's not for me. It is for a less active member who wants to go to church but physically cannot. So I bought it and we went with the Relief Society President to deliver it. It was a pretty special moment. The family was speachless. They kept saying, "We don't know what to say. Thank you so much." 

I will say I'm tanning pretty nicely. but not before I get burnt. The sun is pretty strong here and the past 2 P-Days we've had activities out in the sun and I don't have sun screen. I'm going to buy some...sometime. If I remember and can find it in the store. But I will say my Volleyball skills are improving.


Today we had an activity with the ward as a sort of "good bye" for Elder Ramos. A couple members brought their gloves and I was able to grab mine and throw a little bit. It's sad to say but I don't think I'll be pitching any more any time soon. After we had been throwing for a while, one of the members wanted me to pitch. He knew I was a pitcher. So After  awhile of warming up I got in the wind up and launched one. Not my hardest because we were playing on cement and he didn't have any protective gear. But my arm was done. I thought it would be warm with the heat and after just tossing it back and forth for about 30 minutes but no. I didn't pull anything or hurt anything but I knew that if I continued, I was going to re-injure my arm. Don't know what I did to it but I don't think I'll be pitching any time soon.

So this next week we have a couple baptisms set up. I Love you all. And for mom, only 15 more fast sundays. Time is flying by and before you know it I'll be preparing for my flight home. I hope everyone in the family can be there. Kent and Samantha, Lance and Terri, Jay and Linda, and well... everyone! Expecially at my home comming talk. I'm telling you this now so you all can clear your schedules.Be sure to be in Boise June 2015. Love you all. Take care.


Elder Dial

Sunday, March 2, 2014

February 24th

"Pray as if everything depended on God and then Work as if everything depended on you." -Francis Cardinal Spellman

I love this quote because it really put an emphasis on working! Especial in hastening the Lord's work. I hope ALL of you are helping build the kingdom of God.
So this week was pretty good. Despite the fact that our baptism didn't work out. She didn't pass her interview because she went and smoked the night before, AFTER we had taught her that night. We left and a friend arrived and convinced her to smoke. "Oh that cunning plan of the Evil one. Oh the vainness and the frailities and the foolishness of men." Anyways we are working with her to keep the Word of Wisdom.
So other than that it was a pretty cool week. Last Tuesday we had zone class. After, we hailed a cab to take us back to our area. Only about a 20 minutes ride but about 45 walking. So anyways, the cab we got in was one you would call, "un holy". The driver had tattoos, was smoking, and had his ears pierced. Needless to say I was not anxious to talk to this guy about the Gospel  Well After about 5 minutes in silence a thought came to me. I know it was the Holy Ghost. The thought was to talk to the guy. After fighting with this thought for about 2 minutes I finally listened to it.Turns out the guy had lived in LA for a couple years and the missionaries taught him up there. After recalling what he remembered, I taught him about the Book of Mormon. He accepted another visit but he doesn't live in our area. So I had to pass the directions to the other elders. Needless to say, we are all sons and daughters of God. He is our Father. We have to be careful not to judge people.
Another cool experience happened yesterday. We brought some investigators to church and then I went up to play the piano. Well I'm horrible at the piano and only can play with the right hand. I was playing and I was playing really bad for a number of reasons that I will explain in a later letter if I remember. Anyways, the investigators came up to us and we started talking and asking them how they like church and all that jazz when one of them, an older lady, got really excited and started talking about the music. Naturally my ears perked up a bit and I got a little nervous of what she was going to say. But what she said brought me to the verge of tears. She said she could see Angles singing and playing. And that the music sounded beautiful. There I was sitting and sulking about how bad I had played when this lady reminded me that I'm not the only one playing. It reminded me that there are always angles watching over us and helping us everyday of our lives and in unexpected ways.
Well I want to end this letter with a very very feliz cumpli años a mi papá (Steven Eugene Dial) and Hershall (Walker Texas Ranger). Love you both! Have a great week and know the Lord is always with you.

Elder Dial

Thanks for the Heart Attack

"Follow through: Stopping at third base adds no more to the score than striking out." Alexander Animator

I like this quote because it refers to baseball.
So this week was a pretty quick week. This past week we had a special conference with President Treviño again talking about how we need to be working with the members. It was pretty cool but to be honest, I'm tired of hearing it. I want it to happen. I want to go out and do it. It's one thing to talk about something but its another to actually go and do it. So lets stop talking about it and go and do it.
We also had a baptism yesterday. It was great.


Something I can't wait to be doing every week. President had a special meeting with Elder Oaks and our Area president and our area president over ALL of Mexico asked him by what month he thinks his mission will be baptizing every week. Well President Trevino prayed about it that night and had his answer the next day. APRIL!! I'm super excited. I don't know why we aren't baptizing every week already. We have the promise of President Treviño and Elder Johnson and other church leaders.
Thanks for the Valentines package. Thank you everyone who participated in the Heart Attack. Love you all. 
So one thing we are trying to do is teach more clearly that God is our loving Heavenly Father. As I was studying this topic I got to thinking. What does that actually mean? Well we were created in His image. So we have a body like Him. That means he is a physical person who we can physically run to when we need him. Think about it for a minute. He has a body, He is our father, and He loves us more than our earthly parents. Can you imagine? He is as real as me and you. But many people don't know and don't believe it. I encourage you to study this topic. It is awesome to realize.
Love you all and have a great week.