Adjusting! Aug.25th 2014

Well this past week has been a whole new world for me. Not really, just a lot of new things I have to do as a leader that I didn't have to do before. But it comes with the Responsibilities. Like they always say, "with greater power, comes greater responsibility." 

I would also like to send a shout out to my cousin Savanna whose birthday was last week. Happy Birthday Savanna!!!! And also to my Niece Reagan. 

So this past week like I said, has been a little...not frustrating or nervous, just.....I really don't know how to explain it. It feels a little out of the ordinary but then again no. I guess it's a little weird because I have 2 companionship's of sister missionaries in my district and then there's me and my companion and the Zone Leaders in my district too. I right now have to figure out how I'm going to deal with the sisters without offending them and without me going easy on them. I sometimes don't have a clue of what I'm going to do with the sister missionaries. I want them to have success but I also don't want them to think that all I do is chew them out for what they did wrong. I guess I'll have to study more about Christ and how he lead. After all, he is our perfect example.

This week was really a week of getting into the groove of things so not much exciting things happened. WE found a few new people to teach but there are a lot of things we have to do with them to be able to baptize them. One thing I struggle with in Mexico is that EVERYONE LIVES IN A FREAKING UNION LIBRE!!!! That is to say they don't get married, they just hook up and live together. We have about 5 couples that we are teaching and 4 of them have to go through the divorce process with their other spouse and then they have to get married with their current partner.

Today I realized just how fat I've gotten!!! We went a climbed a mountain. It wasn't a very big one but it kicked my butt!!!! I thought I was still in pretty good shape but boy was I wrong!! So dad, if you wouldn't mind sending me plyometrics from P90X, I would love that!! My new zone leader is from Provo and his dad is a Provo City Firefighter. I'm trying to convince him to get me a Provo Fire shirt so in my next package it might be good to include a Boise fire shirt size large. Anyways, tomorrow I give my first District class. Wish me luck! Love you all!! Oh and congrats Aubry and Jeff on the quick and clean arrival!!!

Elder Dial

New Responsibilities Aug.18th 2014

                                                                 

Well, a lot of emotions this week. Basically all of them!!! Excitement, nervous, happy, sad, thrilled, stressed, you name it. But all in all it was a very good week. A lot of cool experiences. 

One experience I had this week was again with the law of the fast. If you remember, 2 weeks ago I mentioned that we fasted for our investigators, that they could attend church. Well, that week we had 8 show up. The following week, we got a little prideful and decided not to fast. Well last week we only had 3 show up. So this week we decided to try fasting again, and once again, the Lord blessed us. We had 8 investigators attend church yesterday (Sunday). Just reminds me to beware of pride!

Another cool experience happened Wednesday. Wednesday, a sister took us to KFC to eat!!! It was very good!! But that's only part of the coolness of this experience. While we were there we ran into a Mom and daughter who had just moved back to Mexico from Washington. They spoke to me in English and I would try to respond to them in English. I say try because its very difficult for me to speak English. It's not that I'm forgetting, although that has a little to do with it, it's more that it isn't natural. I've been speaking pure Spanish for over a year and when I hear English I can understand it but it's more natural to speak in Spanish. Hahaha only on a mission in Mexico would that be considered a cool experience. I have no clue what I'm going to do to communicate when I get home!

Then on Saturday, my companion and I were walking and we run into an American guy. He's on the other side of the street and he shouts out "Dude, are you Mormon?" I said yes and then he  asked "Have you begun to doubt your faith yet?" I was shocked at the question but quickly, with out missing a beat, I replied, "No, and I never will!" He was shocked and then said I should join the CIA for my commitment. We had a little conversation with him but it wasn't going anywhere so we left and my companion and I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

Well, to wrap up the week, my companion and I received an interesting phone call from President Cordova. I should mention that this week we have transfers. Basically the phone call was to inform us of our new callings. Hence the feelings of being nervous and excited at the same time. Well, have been called to serve as District Leader and my companion is going to train a new greenie! Yes, I'm a grandfather!!! HAhahaha But the cool thing is, is that I stay in the same Zone. I just switch wards. My new ward is the Ojo de Agua ward. Translation: Eye of water or if you want it to actually make sense it would be the Water eye ward. So I'll still be enjoying the nice cool climate of Cordoba for at least 4.5 more months. Oh and my companion is Elder M. He is from Argentina!!!! He is fairly new. From the same generation as Elder G. so it will be a little challenging but the Lord qualifies whom he calls.

And to top off the week, we had a baptism!!!!!! This week was a great week and I've loved my time here but am ready for a new adventure. Love you all and have a great week!!!

Elder Dial

Don't let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved. 8/11/2014

This week has been a pretty good week. I want to share a quote that I heard from President Thomas S Monson. He said, "Don't let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved." I just thought I would share that with you because I really liked it. Anyways, this week went flying by!!! Where does the time go!!! I feel like i just wrote you yesterday!

So last week we baptized V. He is 76 years old. As we were visiting with him after his baptism, he said something to me that struck the soul. He told me "I just wanted you to show me the way, and now I know where I'm going." I was brought to the point of tears. That is why I'm here! To help show the people of Mexico the path to eternal happiness. Not to take them by the hand and lead them down the path, but to show them the path. I really love that man. He has a lot of qualities of both Grandpa Dial and Grandpa Freeman. I guess that's why I love visiting with him and teaching him.

So I played basketball for the first time in a year!! Lets just say i was a little more than rusty but I was able to polish off a little. I really do miss that sport. I also miss baseball and watching Football. I'm excited for BSU to start up in these next couple weeks. Obviously I wont be able to watch them but I'll be more than grateful for all the updates from you guys.

Also, I found a new favorite scripture! I guess I can't really say that I have a favorite because I love all the scriptures. Haha Its cool because in my patriarchal blessing it says that I'll have a love for the scriptures. I know that that prophecy has been fulfilled. Anyways, I was reading the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 37:38-47. In these verses, it talks about the Liahona that guided Lehi and his family in the wilderness. Then Alma makes the comparison to the Word of God. Just like how the Liahona lead Lehi and his family to the promised land, the Words or Gosple of Christ, are going to guide us to the land of promise or the Celestial Kingdom. I have read that chapter about 10+ times but I never had understood that chapter or never remembered it. I got thinking about our spiritual Liahonas that we have like the scriptures and prayer and fasting and church attendance. It's really funny how sometimes we gloss over these essential road signs that lead to our eternal happiness. Dad, you told me about Brent and how he didn't see or didn't head the road sign and ended up riding an extra 6 miles. Well, allow me to make a quick analogy. How many times do we ignore the spirtual road signs that the lord has placed in front of us? Or how often do we not pay attention to the Liahona that will lead us to our ultimate destination? When we ignore these road signs we end up wavering from the straight and narrow path and in order to return to the straight and narrow path we must ride an extra 6 miles, sometimes more. And like Brent, we wont be very happy to have to return. In fact, some are so angry that they find it easier to continue down the wrong path instead of returning the few little miles and soon they've traveld 10, 20, 50, 100 miles down what Lehi calls, "the Forbiden path" And then it's even harder to return. Its a lot easier to return 6 miles than 50. Just because we've taken one step down the wrong path doesn't mean we have to take 2. That's something I've learned in my time here in Mexico. We have a few investigators right now who aren't heading these warnings and the problems keep piling up. It's sad really to see. We keep telling them that if they go to church and read and pray, God will help them in their problems. God will show you these road signs, but they don't want to hear it. They keep tellins us, "God first" But then when the time comes for them to act, they don't do anything. It's a little frusterating, but if they don't want to pay attention, they have their agency. But on the brighter side, we have many who are heeding these road signs and are on the path to return. Just like V said, we as missionaries show people the path and how to read the road signs. It's their responsibility to act according to these warnings. 

We´ve had a struggle this week with the members. They don't want to work with us or give us their support. We call and call them, but nothing. The work would go a lot better if we had the support of the members. We have a little support but not as mush as we would like. We have the ability to baptize 16 as a ward (Realize that there are 2 sets of missionaries in the ward). but unless we have the support of the ward, we will be lucky to baptize half that. Anyways, the work is moving forward here in Mexico. As a mission this month 80 people have made the choice to follow Christ and be baptized. Hope all is well. Good luck in everything and tell everyone hi for me. Love you all.

 

Elder Dial

Just Pray the Truck Starts 8/4/2014

So a lot of good things happened this week! First off, my testimony of fasting and prayer has grown a ton. Friday we decided to fast so that our investigators would go to church. With a lot of prayer coupled with the fast, we were able to have 7 attend church. It was AWESOME!!!! Fasting shouldn't be a once a month thing. We can fast anytime. 

Then after church, we had a baptism!! It was suppose to be in our house of prayer but there wasn't any water to fill the fount. So we went to a different chapel. Also it was suppose to be at 1, after the services, but we had a family history lesson where two people came in and talked to the ward for an hour about how to fill out the little booklet "My Family" It was pretty funny because it started and there were about 50 members. By the time the guy finished talking, there were about 15 people. We as missionaries teach our investigators how to fill out the same booklet. So now we are late for the baptism. We only had an hour time gap between the two wards that meet in this other chapel and now we only had about 30 minutes before the other ward was going to start. So we run to the truck of a member, hop in the back, and it wont start!!! After about 5 minutes of praying, the truck finally starts and we go flying to the chapel. It was another testimony builder for me that God answers prayers. Needless to say, it was the fastest baptism I've performed. The guy we baptized was talking with me after and was saying how amazing and at peace he felt. It was a a really great feeling. 

Hope all is well with everyone.Wish you the best of luck. Love you all and have a great week!!

Elder Dial

Cordoba Zoo 7/28/2014

So today we went to the Zoo here in Cordoba. It was pretty lame. They say they have more than 100 animals but about 65-70 of the animals are the ducks and chickens they have roaming around the place. They did some how manage to get a couple mountain lions, a black bear, a female lion, and some jaguars and tigers. That was about it. Oh and some snakes that were kept in what looked like a hoarders house and at any moment those glass cages could fall and break. Anyways, that's the fun thing we did today.

This past week was a lot better. A couple of cool experiences happened on Saturday and the other Sunday. On Saturday, we went tracting and we were talking to this lady and she told us she was a Jehovah Witness. It was a nice conversation until she became hostile and jumped on the attack. She asked us who Joseph Smith was. I answered her and told her that he was a prophet of God. She then tried to tell us that Christ was the last prophet and all the miracles stopped after he died. I shared Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets." She said that God is going to reveal more things unto us. I then told her that He will reveal his secrets unto us by his Prophets. After that we left. She wouldn't accept a pass along card and she got mad at us saying that we were causing her to sin. I then said, let the sin fall on my head.

The other experience that I had was when a young teacher told me about an experience he had. EFY Cordoba just finished and we went to his house because his cousin was going to go visit people with us. While we were waiting he told me that he got up to bear his testimony the last day of EFY. When he finished he sat down and didn't remember what he had said. It reminded me of the scripture in D&C that said that the "Lord will fill our mouths and we shall not be confounded before men." There are actually a lot of scriptures that say the Lord will give us utterance. I know that is what happened to that young teacher. Whenever we share the Gospel with others, the Lord will tell us what we need to say. It's a wonderful experience. It has happened many times while serving here in Mexico.

Hope you all have a great week and i pray that we all may be filled with the spirit as to share the Gospel with all the world.

Elder Dial

Why am I here? 7/21/2014

So this week was better. We had 3 investigators attend church. It was a pretty good feeling. Lately we have been so wrapped up in the numbers that I've forgotten the real reason I am here. Our previous president was super focused on baptizing every weeks and I got it stuck in my head and that became our focus. Well, now, I'm having a hard time to get it out of my head. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have it as a goal to always try and baptize but it shouldn't be our main focus.  Our primary focus now are converts. We want people to be converted to the Gospel and not only baptized. We as missionaries want converts not baptisms, if that makes sense. Converts will remain faithful forever. Baptisms will eventually fall away and "be lost." Like in Lehi´s dream, he dreamed 3 groups of people. The first group of people were lost in the mist of darkness. The second group of people made it to the tree of life and partook of the fruit but they "cast their eyes about, and were ashamed, and fell away and were lost." Those are the people who are only baptized. True converts are those who Lehi describes as those who "held fast to the rod until they had partaken of the fruit, and were not ashamed." Converts are more than just a baptismal statistic. 

 We had a conference with our new mission president and we got to know is family. He has 2 children,  9 and 10 years old..... A Boy and girl. He is from Aguascalientes. Translation: Hot waters. Don't know where they get these names from but he is a pretty cool president so far. His wife is actually from Tierra Blance, translation: White Land. Well, she was born there but a few months after she was born her family moved to Aguascalientes. So there's a little about my new President. Hope all is well. Love you all and have a great week!!!

Humbled 7/14/2014

Oh my this week wasn't a very good week. Again we only had one investigador attend church. It's very frustrating when you are trying to do everything and still nothing is working. We call them Saturday and Sunday and we even pass by their houses to try and bring them to church, but everybody has an excuse. I don't know if I'm just ungreatful or prideful but we should be having more success than this. I should just be happy with the success that we are having but its difficult when you think you're improving and becoming a better missionary, only to be disappointed.

Nothing really exciting happened this week. I went to Veracruz Friday morning to sign my visa and get all that stuff squared away. 

We had to leave behind a few of our investigadors because they weren't attending church. They had a ton of questions and doubts and all of them had a common thread; The Book of Mormon. Obviously they hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon so I tried to encourage them by telling them that they wouldn't have these doubts if they would just continue to read it. I then showed how the book of Mormon and the Bible support one another. That's probably the hardest thing about a mission; When your investigators don't complete their commitments. Now I know how Dad always felt when he asked me to load the dish washer and I wouldn't do it. 

Anyways this week we have to double the effort even more so we can find new people to teach.

 Love you all and have a great week!!

Elder Dial