Reyes Magos....the Celebration of the Wisemen

So this week was very wierd. It started tuesday when I ate so much food that I threw up. The Hermana Brought out this huge dessert and, well having the Freeman blood running through me, I couldn't not eat it. Needless to say I enjoyed it the first time but the second time I wasn't to thrilled.

This week we celebrated Reyes Magos. It's where we celebrate the arrival of the wise men when they visited Jesus.

 If you remember, we celebrated it with Jay and Linda a couple of years ago. It was when we had that pie and who ever found the almond was "the King" or the winner. Well here if you find the "muñeco" you lose. Muñeco is a small plastic doll. About the size of my pinky toe. Luckily I didn't find it this year so I didn't have to make 100 tomales. It was fun and we celebrated it with the ward. 

This week I also had a couple of cool experiences. I don't know if you remember but last week I told you about a blessing we gave. Well she died a week later and well, I felt very sad yes, but to be honest it was an opportunity to teach the plan of salvation.  I felt a little of how, I think it was Arron, felt when he saw the suffering of the laminates. He rejoiced because they were ready to hear the message he had to share. 

We have a couple investigators who are challenging. One only wants to be taught out of the Bible because he is a firm believer that NOTHING should be added to the Bible. But with my studying of this subject, I came to the knowledge that the word Bible actually means "collection of books" and not one book. Also many books were added or taken out of the Bible in the 300-600 AD. He also pretty much has the Bible memorized. My companion wanted to share a scripture and he asked for the reference and he told him and then he quoted it back to my companion. 

Our other investigator is one of those "I need a sign to believe" people. She won't commit to come to church unless she has a desire or wants to as it should be but she has a hard time believing in latter day prophets. She believes that the Bible is all we need and we don't need modern revelation. Really these two investigators are going to need the right kind of teaching combined with the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. We can do it. I´m hoping for a baptismal date soon. 

The new year brought new goals. We have an investigator who needs to quite drinking coffee so to help her with this goal I decided to quite drinking pop. It's going to be dificult because everyone buys pop for us to drink with our meals. So far I'm 100% on this goal and haven't drank pop all week. Speaking of Goals, I would like to remind everyone of their commitments and wish everyone the best of luck on completeing these goals. Love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Elder Dial

These guys just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2014

First off, Happy 9th anniversary to Aubry and Jeff! Felicidades!!! Also Happy Birthday to Zach, Robert, and Channing!!

Ok it was great to skype with you all! Everyone looks great! Carson, I couldn't tell if it was the camera or not but i think it took off a couple pounds. So anyways, about my week. I had a couple of pretty cool experiences this past week. First off, my companion and I bought a cake and dinner to share with a recent convert who really doesn't have much. His house is about the size of my room and Whitney´s room combined. He is seperated from his wife and has 25 "kids". Really he only has 3 but he has 22 more or less, cats and dogs. These cats and dogs he calls his kids. So if that gives you any idea.  So that was really cool.

The other really cool experience we had happened while we were tracting. We tracted this house full of Catholics. Well they didn't really want anything from us, but their mom was very sick and they recognized us as representatives of Christ and asked us if we could give their mother a blessing. Their mom was about 85-95. It is amazing how people not of our faith recognize us as having the power of God and if anyone can do anything or help in anyway, we can. It was a very powerful experience.

We also took a little 11 year old boy with us one day. We pretty much babysat him which I wasn't to thrilled about because thats not our responsibility. When we left I fireman carried him pretty much to our appointment. It was about 5 PM. After we had to restrain him bby holding on to his wrists. After about 7, when we bought him some candy, we no longer had to hold his wrists but we held his hands instead. It wasn´t until about 8 when we finally had enough trust in him to let him "off leash". That day was a good day. He didn't really interfere with anything. While we were teaching he just sat there, so that was good. 

My plans for New Years are to work, work, and more work. We were invited to a members house (Hermana Lili) and celebrate with them but we still have to be in the house by 9, 9:30 at the latest. 

The week before we had our ward Christmas party. It wasn't as good as the ones I'm used to but it was pretty good. We missionaries sang so that was fun. The next day we had a Stake Christmas party. We had a Mexican Santa there to take pictures with and had games going and again all the missionaries sang. We sang Oh Holy Night. (See pictures in the previous post) Other than that the week has been pretty normal. We had a baptism set up for this past sunday but she, a 20 year old, couldn't get permission from her mother so it didn't happen. I hope all have a wonderfull new year and I hope one of your new goals for the year 2014 is to read the Book of Mormon. I finished it on thursday and I'm going to start D&C now. I hope to finish D&C by the end of February. I love the Book of Mormon! Every time I read it, my testimony grows. I also find new scriptures to highlight and to apply, no matter how many times I've read it before. Hope you all have a great week! Love you all and talk to you next week.

Elder Dial

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Christmas Parties

Gifts from Home

New Companion

Christmas Morning 2013

Back to work

Dec.26th
6 month burning of the tie

Studying is always better with a 2lb York Peppermint Patty

I lost a month somewhere.....MOM

(Sorry friends and family the month of December just got away from me. I will give you a quick update from  Dec. I was going to try and catch up but that is to big of a task. I will just highlight each weeks letter:)

 DEC. 2, 2013  

This past week has been pretty great. My companion are continuing to have a lot of success. We haven't, and won't have a baptism this transfer, but the next transfer, who ever is here will have 4 and hopefully more. We are really excited and a little sad, well I am. I'm sad that I'll probably be leaving but excited to have success in a new area. 

So this past Saturday, we went to help a member move some things out of her house. As we were standing outside her little tienda (store), a family walked up to me and wanted me to take a picture with there son, who was about 9 or 10 I think. They said that I, or "greengoes" in general, are famous here in Mexico. They were from another city in our area, so we have plans to go there this Wednesday. It will be difficult because they speak chinantecho. It is a different dialect of Spanish. They speak Spanish there also, but the majority of them speak this other dialect. I heard them speaking it while waiting outside the tienda and well, I just recently am able to understand about 90-95% of Spanish and about 75% on the speaking, and now I'm going to an area where even my companion wont understand.

DEC. 9,2013

I know you are all wondering the same thing. Yes I am being transfered after being here in Tres (3) Valles (Vallies) for 4.5 months. My new area is Buena Vista, Villarica. I'm going to the port! I'm excited and a little sad to be leaving my first area. My new companion is going to be Elder Ramos. I don't know him so I can't really tell you anything about him.

So I forgot to mention about a lesson we had in last weeks letter. Last week we were teaching a girl (13yrs) about the Gospel of Christ. We got to the part of repentance and the girl started crying. She has been weighed down with so much sin and grief that when we started talking abut the ability we have to be cleansed from our sins, she started crying. She gladly accepted a baptismal date. It was a very powerful lesson.

This past friday was the best friday I've had in a long time. We went to the Temple!!! Oh my!!! It was beautiful!!! The spirit was so strong and I have never felt more closer to home. I kept expecting to walk out and see Cole road and I84. I love the Temple so much! I wish we as missionaries could go more than once a year. I encourage you ll to attend the Temple as often as you can. Make it a goal to go once or twice a week. In a world that is so different and dangerous, we can not afford to live without the blessings of the Temple. I promise you, your lives will be filled with the love of Christ and the Lord will bless you abundantly. Go! Just do it!!

Do you believe in Miracles? I do!! If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and he performed miracles in the past, why would he stop performing miracles? as it says in the scriptures, God would cease to be God if this happened. Well I testify to you this day that God is a God of miracles! We had a baptism!!! After 5 nd a half weeks of nothing we had a baptism! The rule is an investigator has to attend church 5 weeks before s/he can be baptised. Well we have 2 investigators with 4 weeks and next sunday would be there 5th. Well one of these investigators  progressed really rapidly and we asked the President for special permission and he granted our request.

DEC.16, 2013

My new area ia a lot smaller. We walk are entire area almost daily. The ward is a lot bigger, which i like. My Companion is super cool and we get a long great! The Zone is a lot bigger also! we have 3 or 4 districts in the zone and each district has 3 companionships or more. 

Thats about it. Love you and I'll write more next week.

DEC.23, 2013

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!! Me encanta esta tiempo. Navidad es un día especial. Es cuando recordamos el nacimiento de nuestro Salvador, Jesucristo.  While i may not be home in Boise and while i may be dreaming of snow and colder weather, the spirit of Christmas can be felt all around the world. Have you noticed how everyone seems to be a little happier this time of year? Even with all the stress of gifts and everything else, people always seem to be happier. Why is that? Spending money on toys that will be played with once and then break or never be used again, how is that fun? While as the saying goes, "Its the thought that counts." lets go a little deeper. The scriptures say when we are serving others, we serve God.  Service can be found when giving a gift out of love and not because you "have to." May we remember to always give with a heart full of love. 

So my new companion is pretty awesome!! He is from Mexico and we get a long great. He is the second chld of 4 and the only male. He plas the drums and likes music just as much as i do. Our area is pretty small but there are a lot of members (60-75). Yes that is a lot here. It's still hot here! I wish we had some snow, but it is close enough to the sea that we get a nice north wind to keep us cool. Its a strong wind too! The member here are very "chido" (cool). I am once again playing th piano in sacrament meeting. I don't mind it but  would like time to practice so my companion and I decided that 2 times a week I could practice for 30-60 minutes. 

Again have a very Merry Christmas!! Love you all!

Things I am Thankful For....

 I am thankful for pizza and the members 

 who feed us!

We found one person who is really awesome. In the first lesson she accepted a baptismal date and promised to be at church 10 minutes early! Hey 10 minutes here is like 30 minutes in the USA. We also have a couple others who are progressing really fast. Then we also have others who aren't progressing as fast and it takes patience. We will go to pick up our investigators and walk with them to church but they are busy or have to work. Even though the night before we called them or talked to them and they said they would go. We will keep trying and just work harder.So Sunday, I spent an hour with the primary....of about 7 kids.  None of them would listen to their teachers and they were running around like crazy.  I was there to help them with their primary program practice. I played the piano...well attempted to play....for them. I doubt I'll play for the real thing but who knows. There was one kid who is a real great kid. He doesn't have a father and I can tell he's looking for a father figure. He absolutely loves Elder C. and myself. We ate at his house for lunch on Sunday and he was showing us all these things that he was interested in.So this week is Thanksgiving, so I wanted to share a few things that I'm thankful for...I'm thankful for my family and all my wonderful friends. Your examples have helped me throughout my entire life and I wouldn't be here in Mexico if it weren't for you. I'm thankful for this Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to share this glorious message of this restored gospel to the people here in Mexico. I'm thankful that God loves all his children and knows them better than anyone else. I'm thankful that he hears and answers every child's prayer. It may not be the answer that we want, but it will be the answer we need. I am extremely thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. He suffered for me and for each one of us, personally. He suffered for our sins, pains, and afflictions. He knows what we need and is willing to give it to us if we just ask. Through Christ I can live with my family for eternity. These are just a few of the many blessings, God has granted me and they are available for all. This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. This one day a year is when we give thanks for all we have. Is it sufficient? I submit that it is not. We have 364 other days in the year that we can and we should give thanks to our God who has given us all and has promised us all that he has. It is my hope and prayer that we may always have a heart full of thanks. When we have a heart full of thanks, it is easier to focus on the positive and in general we can live a more happy, joyful, and peaceful life. Again I'm thankful for all of you. May the Lord continue to bless you. Love you and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Elder's will be Elder's

This past week has been dificult to say the least. We weren't able to find any new investigators. And yesterday only one of our investigators attended church. Sometimes the mission and life can be dificult. But one thing I learned from Elder Jeffery R Holland is that missionary work is never easy. He likened it to missionary work but Im going to liken it to life in general. He said (his own personal opinion) that life isn't easy maybe because salvation isn't a cheep experience! It was never easy for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so why should it be easy for us. He goes on and says, still his opinion and not church doctrine, that maybe we need to walk just a little in his shoes and feel in a very small portion what he felt.  When we find ourselves asking is there an easier way, let us remember that we are not the first to ask that. One a lot greater than us asked that a long time ago. He pleaded saying "Father, if thou be willing take this cup from me." Never-the-less he said "not my will but thine be done." Things happen for a reason. We recieve no witness until AFTER the TRIAL of our faith. May we always remember our Savior, in good times as well as in bad.

Sunday I also gave a talk about missionary work. I talked about how every member is a missionary. I got thinking after I gave my talk and more came to my mind. As a missionary I wear a name tag. It has my last name and the name of Jesus Christ on it. I represent my family and more importantly Jesus Christ. But a name tag can have some disadvantages. When people see our name tag it can often times set off a warning, a red flag if you will, and many people shut the door on us. But as members, we need no name tag because when we were baptised we promised to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. You already represent him. And when you serve others and make friends who are not of our faith, you are opening the door for them to recieve the restored gospel.   You have the name of Christ written upon your hearts and people recognize you by your works, not by a name tag. It is my prayer that every member will be a missionary. It is a call from the prophets of the Lord and is our responsibility and duty to be missionaries. Come join with me in this great work, "for the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. And if you should labor all your days crying repentance unto this people and bring save it be one soul unto me (Christ) how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father. And if your joy will be great with one soul whom you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me." I love you and pray for your success daily! 

Love Elder Dial

 

 

Happy Halloween 2013

So this week has brought a whole new change. Elder G left and Elder C is my new companion.

He is such a cool missionary. He speaks little English but more than Elder Gonzalez so he teaches me and I teach him. He is from Quatalahara Mexico. I don't know if I spelled that right or not. Any ways he is super cool. I've already learned so much from him. And he is a companion that, like me, likes a clean house. So today we cleaned the entire house! It's great to have a clean house.

 

This past week was Dia de los muertos, or Day of the Dead. It wasn't what I expected it to be. I expected a giant party of some sort but there was nothing. Only shrines made to those that died. It did however make me even more grateful for the Plan of Salvation. Millions of people don't know about this plan and I love sharing it with them because it brings hope into their lives. It is such an amazing experience to watch and see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can completely change someones life.

Also this past week was Halloween. My companion and I celebrated it by wearing Halloween ties.

Other than that, nada. We continue to find new investigators every week and we found a few that are from the US but because of paper work they have to return. They want to return to the US as soon as they can. So they have a little boy that talks English with me but its funny how much he has forgotten in only a month. 

Yesterday was Sunday, Fast Sunday..... Only 19 more mom. Anyways we went with our ward mission leader to some inactive members and we encountered one who, well she is now attending a different church. I was brought almost to the point of tears. I kept wondering how could someone who has tasted of this wonderful fruit, completely reject it and go to another church. And all I can do is serve her. So that's what we are going to do this week. Serve everyone!! Saturday we helped build a house! Ok so we only mixed the cement but it felt good to serve. Mosiah 2:17 says "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when you are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" I don't know if I quoted that completely correctly but you get the point. 

This Sunday the 10th the bishop asked me and my companion to speak on Missionary Work. He wants us to get the ward motivated and involved more in the missionary work. I have a few ideas, mainly using Preach my Gospel, but hey use your best resources right! haha anyways, I hope all is well and know that I love you.

Love Elder Parker Dial

Our new house guest