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

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.

Go for the Gold

       Fixing Breakfast in our Kitchen/Closet/Bedroom/Office

 These are pancakes just in case you are wondering

 Breakfast of Champions!

"You can either complain that the roses have thorns, or thank God that the thorns have roses!"

So this week has been a little wierd, but in respect to this quote I am choosing to look at it differently.

Yesterday was a little rough. We recieved a text from one of our investigators and she pretty much said that she didn't want anything to do with us and to please stop coming and teaching her because she isn't going to change religions. What´s hard for us is that she has received a witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She attended a baptism and said she felt like crying because she felt something that made her so happy. We explained to her that it was the spirit manifesting the truth to her. I think she would be more accepting but her parents are devout Catholics. She is 30 some odd years old and is afraid of her parents.  I think its because she is dependent on her parents and they´ll stop supporting her if she is baptized.

  I also spoke on Sunday. Wasn't my best talk but I am improving! I thought it was a pretty good talk for having recieved the call from the Bishop Friday night. My topic was about the conversion. It's wierd to give talks because it's well ....just different. Not only the language but the Bishop gives you a general Authority's talk to study and you're suppose to use that as your basis. 

   We have a baptism set up for this Wednesday and Sunday. This wednesday doesn't count for us in our report because the girl is 8 years old.  Her mom is a member but her dad isn't so since she is only 8 it doesn't count but it's still exciting and we are happy to be a part of her special day.

I hope the olympics are going well. As they say "Go for Gold!!" Go USA!!!

Love you all.

Elder Dial

Close Call

Elder and Sister Johnson's Visit To Villa Rica

"To do today's work well and not bother about tomorrow is the secret of accomplishment." -William Osler

Well for starters I must apologize because I won't be sending voice recordings or pictures this week due to the fact that we are in a different Cyber and they don't have any place to connect my camera to or recorder. 

This week was pretty good. Well the end of the week. Saturday we had a conference with our Area President, Elder Johnson. His wife is from Sugar City, Idaho and knows some Dial's from Utah. Well she asked me if I was related to any Dials in Utah and I told her about Jay and Linda but I dont know for sure who she was talking about. Anyways, we had the conference with the bishops and stake presidents. The topic was how to work with members. So I know, if there is a strong push for working with members here in Mexico, there is also a push for members to get involved in the US. So are you involved in missionary work and can you be doing more than you are right now? The work is hastening that is for sure!

Also this week we had a pet for the night. A family in our ward wanted a new dog. Well, one of our recent converts has a dog who just a litter of puppies a little over a month ago. The recent convert is looking to give the puppies away, so my companion and I took the family a new puppy. They loved it!! All except....wait for it....the father. Sound familiar dad? Anyways, it was 9PM and the family decided they better not keep dog so we ended up taking it home with us until the morning. Like all dogs here in Mexico, it needed a bath so yes I bathed it.

Needless to say, I once again had a dog to curl up with. It made me really miss Duke. Puppies are nice during the day but terrors at night!!!  Oh my.... the dog would not shut up!!! It kept crying until about midnight!!! At that moment I felt like dad . It is a very cute puppy but I'm never going to have a puppy again. If I get another dog it will be an adult. 

So I thought I was going to get robbed this week. My companion and I were walking with a member who walks with a limp and we were walking and 2 guys approached me, as I was lagging behind with the member, and she kept walking. Anyways, they asked me if I was going to go in a certain direction and I told them no. It was scarey because they approached me from both sides. But don't worry all is well and I was ready to defend myself.

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. Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week. More pictures and voice recordings to come next week. 

Love Elder Dial

P-Day's are fun but a Baptism is Better!

"A kindness put off until tomorrow becomes only a bitter regret" 

So this past week has been pretty good and a little wierd also. For starters, we had a baptism Saturday and then later that day he proposed to his girlfriend who is a member. So In one year they will be going to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity! I hope I can go to the temple with them. That's why I love missionary work. I get to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and get to see the changes that it makes in peoples lives. I also get to prepare them to enter the temple and there make sacred covenants that are essencial for exaltaion (D&C 131).

so as I'm writing the power goes out. It isnt the first time this has happened. It hapened saturday night as we were walking back from the baptism. We saw a big flash in the distance but didnt hear a bang or anything and then all the lights went out. I half expected death eaters from Harry Potter to come out and attack us. Or worse, some Mexican to jump out and attept to rob us. Needless to say I was ready for both. So as of right now I'm writing this letter on a members PSP.

So I don't have much time to write but I did have a strange experience this week. We were walking to an appointment when a drunk came up to us and “presented” us with this challenge. He said, “if you have the power of God, heal me of my desire to drink and I will become Mormon” I was tempted to reach out and do it but I was reminded of Jesus when he was in the desert and was tempted by Satan. I was then reminded that miracles don't convert people. We told the guy that if he wanted to know if we had this power he needed to go to church and take the missionary lessons because the spirit converts people, not miracles. And also, maybe the miracle he is looking for wont come in the form he wants. Anyway, love you all and have a great week.

Elder Dial

And now for some pictures of this beautiful area I am in and some fun we had on P-Day!

Big Judds Mexico Style

"Indecision mars all success: there can be no good wind for the sailer who knows not to what ports he is bound" Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

First off Birthday Shout outs to my cousins Madison and Tabitha! I hope you had a fun celebration!

So this week has been very exciting. We found a "chosen soul" or a soul that has been prepared.  He found a Book of Mormon 10 years ago. He started reciting the story of Nephi and the brother of Jared to us. It was way cool. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon so it should be easy to teach him. He came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it. He even said that the Book of Mormon has helped him in his most dificult times in his life. Wow talk about Escogido. 

 

 

We also had a baptism this week. A little girl named H. She was super excited and has a lot of support from her friends. Her mom gives a little support but is an inactive member and doesn't want her daughter to follow her example, so she was a little hesitant on having her daughter baptized.

We told her that she (the mom) needs to be a good example for both her children and that the church is the perfect place to learn how to be a good example. It was hard for her because she is separated from her husband and is raising 2 kids on her own. I hope H. can be an example to her mother because sometimes I think her mother needs an example more than her daughter. 

Today we had a zone activity and later went out to eat. One Elder, the zone leader, Elder B, took on their challenge. He had to eat a 7 layer hamburger with bacon and cheese, all in 20 minutes or less.

If he did it, his meal would be free along with 3 other people. He was close but came up short. 

 

                                     Also they had a milkshake called the Big Bertha. 3 liters!!!

No i didn't order it only for me but to share with everyone. Oh how I miss milkshakes and quality Ice cream!!

I hope everyone has a great week and may the Lord bless you with success in all you do. Love you all.