New area...not so new companion

In case you didn't know, transfers were yesterday, but with President's day on Monday, emailing got moved to today, all because of transfers.

(No pictures, sorry, my camera cord is still packed (I hope)!!!

Yes, I have been moved out of El Paso, *insert dying T-rex noise* but... I am now on one of the two areas in the whole mission on an Indian reservation... with my companion, Elder Jackman, who was part of the MTC squad!! The best part of this area (besides the people, of course) is that my normal proselyting attire does not include dress pants.  I get to walk around, try talking to people in a white shirt, tie, jeans and tennis shoes.  woot woot!

I now live in a trailer, it's pretty sweet, but instead of having downtown El Paso, now I am in an area where if there is more than 6 houses put together, it's unusual.  Needless to say, we don't knock doors very often.  XD 

While I was still in El Paso, our recent convert, Gary, took us out to dinner and we had sea food, so now I've had oysters (super salty, by the way)  but it was awesome!  I'll definitely miss El Paso, but I know that I always have a home there!

Shout out to the young men of the Shelley 4th ward!  I got your package yesterday, so that helped a lot- even though I had just bought a toothbrush like 2 weeks ago.  XD   (Thanks, Jaron for the granola bars, I knew it was you, too bad I don't have a locker to stash them in  XD) [if it wasn't Jaron, sorry!]

Now I cover two branches instead of 1 ward, and it's gonna be a party!  Elder Jackman and I are gonna light Laguna, Acoma, and To'hajiilee on fire with the Spirit!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!! You'll hear from me next Monday (probably ;)

--

Elder Eli James Dial

PS. to das parents, I sent a package yesterday I don't remember when it said it'll get there, but it's going by ground from El Paso, so watch for it!

PPS Also to das parents.  I got your package last Wednesday, thanks for the G's (and the cookies and candy!)

It's February?!?!

Happy late birthdays to:

Jenn

Isaac

Dennis the menace ;)

Ashley

Dillon

I don't remember the exact dates for all of them (and if there are any that I forgot/don't know of, sorry, my brain is slowly shifting to street addresses of members and such), I just know they've happened in-between December and today.  Love you peeps!

As for this week, not much has happened, but we did go on exchanges, so Elder Campbell, a Spanish missionary who goes home with me, came with me to my area, where he thought he would get away from Spanish for a day... yeah, we basically talked to only Spanish people in this area... I didn't try to, that's just all the people we managed to actually talk to.  Probably because they would answer the door and see two white guys and tried to use Spanish on us, but that trick didn't work that day!!   Yeah, he was a little mad/jokingly that he used more Spanish than English, but you know, he'll be happy in the long run.  XD

So, I've decided that everyone has something that they want to be, something they know they can be, but they/we don't quite measure up to what we envision ourselves to be.  I've been thinking recently about that, and I'm reminded of the "Day of the Lord" activity we did back in January.  We were asked "What do you want to become from the mission?" (or something like that).  Then, we were asked, "What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that?"  I've learned that it's only a sacrifice if it's something we love that we give up.  We all know something we could give up to come closer to Heavenly Father *cough cough* football/superbowl (or the commercials) *cough cough*  So we need to ask ourselves, "what do I need to do to achieve this" or "what do I need to give up to become this" but, the ultimate question that will get an answer is, "what does the Lord need me to sacrifice to become what He needs me to be?"  The Gospel is true, don't ever give up on yourselves, just focus on the Savior and it'll all work out!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu! 

-- 

Elder Eli James Dial

Lameness

So, it sounds like this last week has been a rough week all around!!

Naturally, that stuff that happened to me this week is going to come last!

Last week was the worldwide missionary broadcast that changed the world!  They announced that every mission is getting iPads and segways!!  It's gonna be an awesome change and it'll really help the work!

Now that I've got your attention, the missionary daily schedule is what was changed on that broadcast- we now plan in the morning before studies, comp study is whenever it fits best with our schedule that day, and when we get home at 9, we just have to prep for bed and write in our journals before we can go to bed (and we can go to bed anywhere between 9:30 to 10:30).  The P-day schedule was also changed so now we get up at 6:30, plan at 7, study at 7:30, and P-day now starts at 8 in the morning, instead of 10, and still goes to 6 pm.  We only account for 4 key indicators now instead of 9, so it's super short when we do call-in reports to our DL.  A flip ton of changes and trust is on the missionaries here, so it's awesome!

As for the lame things that happened this week, we got dropped by about 3 investigators (one of which was on date to be baptized, she told us that she wanted to be baptized and everything, but no mas [pretty sure I died inside]), 2 referrals who people said were super interested have been taken from us (we tried a crap ton to meet with them, but the missionaries who first taught them said they would meet with them a couple more times to see if they're solid or not and then they'll give them to us) so it's just been a rough week for us.  

 With the picture, don't ask me why.  I needed a break from walking so I sat down and without thinking I saw the face and was pulling out my camera at the same time, and boom.  I got a picture with a face on a roadside bench.  Very much unplanned.

So, yeah, this week has been rough, but the work must go on, and I know that everything will work out the way that Heavenly Father needs them to be- no matter who approves what message, no matter how many times you say "I want" in any given day, it's not about what you want, it's about what He wants for you.  And when times get super tough, He's not trying to see what He can squeeze out of you- He's trying to see what He can squeeze into you!  God is the gardener, and He knows what He wants and needs you to be!  So don't ever give up hope!  

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

--

Elder Eli James Dial