This was the greatest week EVER!

Hello everyone,

This week was the greatest week ever. We had thanksgiving. That was awesome. We ate two thanksgiving dinners on thanksgiving night. It was great. But, before that we got to play football for literally 6 hours straight. I realized I'm not as bad as I thought I was. I love football. So we played football in Riverside, Which was the same place I played last Thanksgiving, and I got to play with the same people. That was cool. Then we went to play in Menifee with both the Riverside, and Menifee zones. Basically, as a zone.....we wrecked. So we got home, relaxed, I lifted, took a nap, then went to our first dinner. It was great, we serve with another companionship in our ward, and the missionaries got their own turkey. We tore that bird apart.

To top it off, President Smart called it a non-proselyting day, so we wore regular clothes. It was a little weird but I was comfortable. We then went to our second dinner, and ate tamales, beef and chicken. Needless to say we were plenty full. I've found that my appetite has increased immensely on the mission.

 To make it an even better week we found 12 new investigators this week. This Harvesting Blessing is the GREATEST. It straight up brings the Spirit like a brick wall. We found one family of five this week. La Familia Hinojosa. They are soo solid. We were doing the Harvesting Blessing knocking doors and doing our thing at like 8pm and knocked into a lady who told us to come back. We came back and her husband was not there, so we sat down talked about the BOM and left her one, and set a return appt to come back and bless her home when the hubby was present. We came back, and picked up 4 more investigators on the spot. We commited them to come to church, 2 of them did. the other three were home taking care of mommy who was due to have her child on Saturday. They are soo prepared.

To top it off, their sister just got baptized in Vegas and moved here like 2 weeks ago. The sister Crystal brought them all to church. I'm excited to see them in the font. We have about 7 baptisms planned for December. This area is flourishing and it's only because we get out and work. 1 hr lunches?! Who needs and hour?! Try 20 minutes and going out to work for the day!!

This is the Lord's work. I know it. I'm thinking about extending my mission. I'm not positive, all I know is I don't want to stop being a missionary. Seeing the progress in one's salvation is the most fulfilling thing to see in this life. It is a glimpse of the celestial happiness that hopefully all of us will inherit.

 My family is the greatest. They enjoy sending me packages and mail for some reason. I won't complain. I'm so grateful for all the support and help that I receive personally and the support and help my family receives. Serve a mission. In a mission, true happiness lies. DO IT!

Love,

-Elder Matt Dial

Hard work brings results!

Hello mi gente/family,

This week was GRRRREEAT!!!!! I receive emails from a lot of people, one being from Elder Scott Long in San Diego. He set a goal for 20 lessons with a member present. That goal that he set, inspired me quite a bit. This week we ended it with 14 member present lessons. 2 other lessons and 4 RCLA's (recent convert or less active). It was a GREAT week. On Saturday night we had 10 lessons for the week.

 I said, "Elder Allen, how bad do you want to get 20 lessons this week?" He said, "Bad." I said, "Ok." So we split up with members of the ward on Sunday, cancelled dinner, and went out and worked from 4 to 9. In total we got 10 lessons for the night. It was amazing.

This house blessing thing that the mission is starting is the greatest thing that has happened in this mission for a while. Also, the mission compliment (missionary cap for our mission) we had (200), went up to 250 missionaries. We are going to see great things. I know I kind of seem like a number whore but this is what it's all about. Unfortunately numbers show if we are getting out and doing work or not. Anyways it was a great week.

I want to talk about some investigators that we found this week. We were knocking doors Saturday night with a member at about 7:45 and we knocked into Beatrice. She was quite distraught when we showed up. She automatically just opened up to us about EVERYTHING in her life. Her husband Francisco, clearly drunk off of his rocker, approached us while we were talking to her at the door. The first thing he said to us was, "We have problems." We talked about the blessing and told him it would only take about 5-10 minutes. He let us in and the war began. Beatrice and Francisco have SERIOUS relationship problems, and we ended up being there for about 45 minutes. They were straight up yelling at the top of their lungs, and I finally raised my voice above theirs and said, "OK, NOW we're going to do the blessing!" We knelt down and I said, "Kneel down with us." I may have been a little forceful but I was sick of listening to them bicker. Our member Angel, gave the blessing. It was one of the most spiritual moments of my mission. The dynamics of the WHOLE situation changed. Beatrice was in tears and said, "Please come back soon." She accepted to be baptized. We have to work with Francisco a little bit more. I haven't raised my voice at anyone for a while but it felt sooooooooo good.

 I loooove this work. I'm moving back to California after I go home, and I'm going to have a bishop here put me on a service mission for the rest of my liiyyyyiiiyyiyife. The mission is the greatest. Grandma and Grandpa Bevan are going on their 5th MISSION!! What an example. I strive to have the faith of my grandparents. The picture is a nerf gun war we had on Halloween. WE NERF HARD!!!!

Anyways, yeah,I love this life! BYE!!

-Elder Matt Dial

ORALE! HIJOYLE! AY CARAY! (Horray, Yippee!)

Dear Family,  (Email came today because of Veterans Day)

Top of Form

Man, this week was great. We saw sooo many miracles this week. At Multi-Zones, We are going to be changing the approach in everything we do.  So, the way we used to do an OYM  (Open your Mouth) one would start,

"Hey how are ya? We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS. We share a message......."

In the Hawaii Mission they baptized around 136 in the first six months of this year (or something like that). They implemented something new, and in the last 3 months they have tripled what they did in the first 6 months of this year. President Smart is a HUGE numbers guy so he attacked the Hawaii Mission President and asked what they did.

Now, our new approach…when we go tracting/contacting we say,

"Hi, We are representatives of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We're going around today offering blessings on the home and the family by the Priesthood Authority of God. Would you be interested in us doing that for you? It'll take about 5-10 minutes." When we go in, we write down all of the names of the people present for the blessing, and ask them if they need anything specific said in the blessing. Then, we ask, "Do you have anyone else who we should include?" We offer the blessing by the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then we sit, pause for about a minute. IDENTIFY THE SPIRIT. That is the most important thing, is identifying the Spirit. Make sure they know what it is. Then say, "Will you follow the prompting you're receiving right now, and follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by the Authority of God?" WOW!!! It is such an effective way to find the ELECT! You'll get the "I've already been baptized" garbage, but then, you say, "Can we come back another time to explain the importance of baptism by the correct Authority?" They're feeling and recognizing the Spirit so usually they agree. It's sooooooo great. We applied it after Multi-Zone Conferences (on Wednesday) and found 6 new investigators, all of which have accepted to be baptized (not with a date). It is soooo good. I know there are other missionaries who receive this email. I promise this will help your work progress and move so much faster.

 I love the mission. It is the greatest. The Gospel changes lives, including mine. It continues to form and shape me as I live the principles of the Gospel. My purpose is to find the elect and baptize them with the power of God. I love it. There is no greater work. If ANYONE is on the fence about serving a mission, PLEASE DO IT! God is hastening his pace. He doesn't need fish, he needs faithful disciples (missionaries)!! Do it!!

I love you all. My mom is the best. She sends me packages full of LOVE. I feel bad for anyone who doesn't have my mom as their own.

-Elder Matt Dial

p.s.
Yes i got the package, and D&C videos.  Love you.  Next time, not so unhealthy please!!  (I just had to publish this statement...can you believe Matt wrote that?????)  Also send me that pumpkin cookie recipe. Our thanksgiving dinner wants to make them.   Kat Hernandez, less active who is going to feed us, perfect English speaker, just call and give it to her. LOVE YOU. Boost her up :)

 

This week is GREAT!

Matt's Greenie from Ohio Elder Allen - We just found this pic it is 6 weeks old.  Notice the shoes.

Aloha mi gente!

This week was great. We found, we taught, and we baptized. I love the mission. We have Multi-Zone Conference this Thursday and I can't wait. The ZL's say that there are a lot of changes coming. President Smart goes to a President's training every 6 months and in the last two they have said, "The Lord is hastening his step" WWAAAAAAH!!! Can I start my mission over right now? I could go off 125$ a month forever if I can do this forever!

Like I said this week is great. So, first thing, we baptized Carmen Arevalo. She didn't come to church a week ago so we went over and asked her if she still wanted to get dunked this Saturday. She obviously said yes. She has been to church like 5 times, has a testimony, and accepts everything we say. She's super solid. I volunteered Elder Allen to baptize her. He doesn't understand hardly any Spanish, so when we came out of the lesson I asked him if he was ready to baptize this week and he got super nervous. It was funny but good for him to do it. He had great form, didn't bang her head on the wall, and only had to do it once. There were literally 6 people from the ward at this one. Ridiculous. I'm so sick of the lack of support from this ward. If you're a leader in your ward, SUPPORT THE FETCHIN MISSIONARIES! GET THE WARD MISSION PROCESS GOING!!

 As of now we are just going to leave the ward behind and go to work. Hopefully they'll hop on the train here pretty soon. Elder Allen is doing great. He is a great missionary and loves the Lord. He is super awkward in his contacts until he testifies and tells people what is true. We found a ton of potentials this week and have a lot of contacting to do.

 I love the Lord. I know that I am nothing. As to my strength I am weak. Therefore, I boast not of myself. But, I boast in my God, for in his strength, I can do all things. Trust in the Lord. Love him with all your heart might mind and strength. USE the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Don't leave Jesus hangin. He did this for YOU!!  I love all of you.  My English is going downhill hardcore. I'm at 18months.....fetch. I'm sorry this one's short. I got like three calls from investigators and we have limited time on these computers. Everything is well

Love,

Elder Matt Dial