EDITORS NOTE: Sorry this is in the wrong order...I didn't realize it hadn't been posted...oops..thanks for checking us out! WE love you!

January 9, 2012

Alright,

This week has been a little rough. We picked up three new investigators this week but we were low on OYM's and lessons. Also, our so-called golden investigator Leslie Arturo Miranda didn't show up to church yesterday.....We'll have to go and see what's up with him.

So, in the first week of January, WE've racked up 500 miles......our area is MASSIVE. We have found a lot of work in Perris/Woodcrest/Orangecrest area which is about a 10min drive. It's good that we've found a lot of work but it's a ways away.

I don't know if Aunt Karen has sent the Christmas package yet or maybe it just got lost in the mail.....IDK. Chris Vega leaves for the MTC a week from today so that will be a sad day. He has come over about every day this past week and spent the night and gone on team-ups with us. it's super good.

Gustavo got up in testimony meeting.......it was super embarrassing. It wasn't really a testimony; it was more of what he did in Mexico the week before....he talked about the Virgin Mary and all the celebrations and how bonito it all was. We plan on asking him the baptismal interview questions in the next lesson with him (he's the one who has been investigating for the past three years).

It's Elder Robertson's birthday on the 14th IDK if you want to send him anything...just so you know. President Smart Ok'ed protein and workout shakes and stuff so that made me excited. Also, he ok'ed ipods as long as they don't have movies on them. President Smart made a new Standard of Excellence. 140 oyms/week, 20 lessons/week, 4 ppl to sacrament/week and 1 baptism monthly. We're pretty good with the lessons and OYMs but the sacrament and baptism thing we have been strugglin with.

Pray for us. That's really all that has happened recently but I love you all and pray for you nightly!

-Matt

January 16, 2012

Good afternoon family,

.

This week has been kind of hectic. We have had a bunch of distractions and stuff this week, but the work goes on with or without us.....So on Tuesday, we got in a wreck. On the way to DDM (District Development Meeting) there was some traffic, and we were running on the late side so Elder Robertson was driving in a little hurry. We were merging on to another freeway and we hopped into the left lane. Behind us was a 2007 Mercedes Benz SLK going about 80 into Stop and Go traffic on the freeway. We were going about 40 so he flipped us off and slammed on his brakes. We continued in Bumper to bumper traffic for about five minutes then the chevy aveo in front of us slammed on their brakes. Rob was lookin in his rear view mirror, looked up hit his brakes hard and we almost hit her. Next thing we knew the Mercedes had run into the back of us.....Justice? I don't think he'll be flippin anyone off in the near future. All in all everyone was fine except for our bumper. Luckily his car was fine (I think) and we drove off and still got to DDM on time. So we turned in the car and got a loaner 2010 Chevy Malibu. Decent car...except the fact that it was given to us with the check engine light on....Elder Haygood the Fleet Coordinator, told us to go take it in to get it looked at. The Sears auto shop said it was still under warranty after looking at it in the shop for 4 hours. We took it in to the dealer and they said after having it all day that a rock had gotten into one of the systems and had to be replaced.....they couldn't get the part until today. We can't take the car in today. We're super busy today. So we have to take it in tomorrow and waste more time at the dealer. Ugh.

On a lighter note I had the opportunity to go on Exchanges with the ZL's and interview two of their investigators for baptism. Gloria and Maritza Cabada are super good. Gloria is 18 and has been waiting to be baptized for two years. The missionaries got in contact with her and her family two years ago, were progressing, and got “anti-ed”. Gloria saw through it all and kept meeting with the missionaries. Her parents wouldn't let her get baptized until she turned 18. MAritza, her sister, was walking by during a lesson about a month ago and said, "Guys, I feel like I'm missing something in my life and I think it’s God, do you mind if I listen?" Now they're both baptized and solid. Half the ward showed up to the baptism and it was basically SRO in that room. It was a nice time. Arturo told us last week that he's moving up to orange county.....bummer. We’ll send the referral there i guess. Nothing else has really happened. Thanks for the AWESOME package btw. It was great. I don't think i need groceries for another three months! You're all the best! Love you and miss you tons!

-Elder Dial

p.s. Also, next time you plan on sending out a package.......if you could deflate my bball....that would be the best. NO RUSH. Love you so much

Happy New Year!!

January 2, 2012

Hey Everyone,

This week has been a fairly good week. We have been pretty productive this week. We instituted a new system in our district/zone that Elder Young and I have been working on. We only have so many proselyting hours per day, say it's 8 today. On average, we can either get 10 OYM's or a lesson in one hour. So in an 8 hr day, we can get 80 OYM's and no lessons, 40 OYM's and 4 lessons, etc....as you record you numbers daily and add them up, you can track your efficiency throughout the week. It's very effective and I like it a LOT.

This week we put an investigator on date for the 29th of this month. his name is
Leslie Arturo Miranda. He is on house arrest and is progressing fairly well. He is on house arrest so we can always find him at home. He is more golden than I've seen on my mission. He eats up the lessons, he's like 26 and is a pretty tight guy, and loves to have us over. That's about all the investigators we've been focusing on, other than finding and refreshing.

Well, love ya'll and happy new year!

-Matt

December 15, 2011

Hello Everyone,

This week has been mas o menos. We have been working a lot with less actives so not so many investigator lessons but we're movin along.

\We have been teaching a kid named Paolo who is 15, less active and super tight. He's all into boxing and his dad is a BOMB cook so needless to say we steal food every time we go over there which is every day. We have been trying to reactivate the kid and he got into a fight at school and needed to take some counseling hours.....as missionaries we are considered clergy so we count for counseling hours. We meet with him daily and it's a slow process but it'll be worth it.

We've been working a lot with another less active family daily as well named the Navarro family. They're super tight as well and they are progressing as well.

(Well the guy who sat next to me last week at the library just sat next to me again......he's almost bald, weighs about 140 6'2 has got a gnarly mustache and types like he's pounding nails into the keyboard with his index fingers........oh now he's talking to the computer screen/facebook.........also himself. I love Riverside.)

We finally got in contact with Lorena again! We stopped by and desperately knocked on the door, and it opened! WE walked in and talked for a while. They have been very sick as a family. One gets sick and then the other follows. WE haven't been able to meet with them for the past 2 months about and they have been reading the Book of Mormon daily! We set up an appointment on Saturday and things were looking good....we got a text that day that said their dad had been deported (he had been in jail for the past 6 months) and they had to go to Tijuana to take him his stuff. Poop. We'll keep tryin with them because they are obviously prepared by the Lord.

I have received a package from G&G Bevan and the Vanderlindens.....whoever they are. The rest have been from you. I was going to do Christmas cards, but it's too late. Maybe next year. Well, not much more to report. I love you and can't wait to talk to yall!

-Matt

It's Christmas time!!!

December 5, 2011

Hello family,

This week has been good but slow again, but at the same time fairly productive. We taught more lessons than last week but still not up to what we could be doing, and we didn't get as many OYM's we would have liked. HOWEVER, we picked up 5 new investigators this week, a family of four and a former investigator.

The family of four is the guy who is the maintenance worker at our apartment's family. We always say hello to him and talk to him in Spanish but it never occured to me that he hadn't already been asked if he wants to take the lessons! So we knocked on his door one day, and we talked to his wife Meli (who is sooo amazed we can speak spanish), and said we would like to come by this week and sit down with your family and talk about what we do/share as missionaries.....she invited us in immediately! I love Mexicans. So we taught a scattered 1st lesson and committed them to read and pray and left them with some copies of the Book of Mormon. Super good lesson and we see him daily so daily contact isn't an issue!

Rosa is progressing slowly, but steadily. Gustavo, still have no idea what the deal is, but we'll keep going by.

Our other new investigator Myrrna de Leon is a former/eternal investigator more or less. She has read quite a bit from the BOM and I'm pretty sure there's a hint of a testimony in that Mexican blood somewhere. We'll try and withdraw it and help her progress to the holy waters of the font that we all love so dearly.

This is obviously the Lord's work. I know it, yall know it, I don't know why you're so adamant about me sharing my testimony about this work. I'm close to fluent in Spanish in a small 6 months?! Clearly that isn't humanely possible (probably not fluent but you catch my drift).

The gospel is simply pure and purely simple. That's all folks! Thanks for the packages! The chain is awesome! I love reading words from the whole famdamily and friends. You mean a ton to me and it's hard to be away during this time, but I know i'm in the right place.

Love you!

-Matt

Hello,

This week has been uneventful besides transfers. My new companion will be Elder Robertson!(His beloved MTC companion) I was called as DL and Elder Meldrum is going home. That is about it. We have taught 75 lessons this transfer. Pretty good if you ask me. I'm super excited to get this area back up and running to it's true potential and to serve with someone I ACTUALLY get along with. (Not sure what this means...he really enjoyed Elder Meldrum...) It's pretty amazing I get to serve with Robertson again this early in the mission. I'm way excited. Love you all. I'm feeling super sick and my body is just exhausted. I've had a cough for about a week and it's not getting better. But going out and working now is when we'll find the most people who of the believing blood. That's about all. I get all of Meldrum's food and a couple old ugly ties. I'm excited, and I'll send pictures next week. Love you all!

-Matt