It's April????

(Elder Dial sent this email April 2)

Hello, everyone! (Happy Easter, yesterday!)

This week has been glorious!  A lot of change is happening, and it's going to be insane!  

First off, the Solemn Assembly. That was glorious.  No other words can accurately describe the awesomeness of that event.  ("I can't see!"  "He's too awesome!") #KungFuPanda

Next there was the Priesthood session.  The way President Nelson ended the session was so epic, there is only one way to describe how epic it was: "it was like a whale gave birth to a roaring T-rex, that was uppercutting a plato can."  #OlanRogers

Then, yesterday.  *mic drop*  

I'm excited for all the changes that President Nelson has talked about, and that will be happening/is happening now!

... And there's another change happening soon in the Albuquerque mission!  Yeah, smartphones are coming...   but not for the next month-ish or so!  This time, it's not speculation, it's the official word that we are getting devices.  *gag*

Pictures (because I forgot until now): 

1) Elder Dudley and I at the temple last Monday.

2)  Graffiti that people put up in the middle of the desert. (I guess they miss the water, ;)

3) We were on exchanges, I drew that and put that together, Elder Riehle was just there and decided to put his head in the picture.  :)

So, with all the changes that are happening, I like how much responsibility is put on us.  We no longer report statistics for home and visiting teaching.  I enjoy that very much.  There is much more trust placed in us as members of the church.  It's no longer about the numbers, as some people have got it into their head, and it is more focused on people, like it was in Christ's day.  If anyone is struggling accepting this change, I invite you to "be not afraid, only believe."  It's as simple as that.  Try believing in it, and everything will work out.  I have learned that if you believe that something was supposed to happen, then it becomes easier to handle it.  Believe that it was meant to happen, and it will all work out.  :)

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial

The Busy Feastly Week

(Elder Dial sent this email on March 26)

I don't have time for normal social welcomes.  Anyways...

This week has been great!  I've been trying not to get upset because of certain circumstances, but no worries, I'm not bitter.  As for this week, we went to the temple today, and it was really sad but spiritually epic!  Sad because this was the last opportunity I have to see some of the missionaries from down in El Paso, but it was great because it's the temple.  I don't think it's possible to not feel peace at the temple, so it felt really great.  

This week, I am going to be in meetings on Tuesday and Friday, which leaves Wednesday and Thursday to do some actual proselyting, basically, because of General Conference this weekend!  It has come so fast, it's insane! 

I know this is a short email, but just know that I'm fine, that God will speak to you this weekend through His prophets, and that it is going to be amazing!  Seek for answers and comfort and God will give it to you this weekend!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial

Donut Lady

(Elder Dial sent this email March 19th)

Wasabi, everyone!

This week has been great!  To explain the title of the email, I refer to a comedian.  "I want a dozen donuts, 7 [covered in carmel]..."  "You have 5 left."  I'll leave that up to interpretation.  XD

Pictures:  

1) That's my companion in the middle, and that sums up the four of us... the shopping life.

2) "I'm going on an adventure!"  #MembersBackyardsAreBomb

3) We go bowling for free every P-day

4) Exchanges with the AP's, leaving notes on their (Elder Crook's) desk that teach true doctrine.  

5) Exhibit A of us being tired.  He fell out of his chair while he was holding a body pillow... yeah, the sleep struggle is real.  XD

Recently (back in December), the stake presidency was redone by President Uceda, of the Presidency of the Seventy.  While there, he made a promise that if we would focus on the less-active families/individuals, then the number of baptisms would double in the stake.  So, we have begun to work with the less-than-fully-active individuals, and because of that we have found two YSA* investigators, Julian and Daniel.  To put it simply, they are honest seekers of the truth, and it is awesome to be teaching them! ("They're grrrrrrrrrrrrreat!")

Never give up, never surrender!  Be incredible!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial

Bleh part 2

Hey, everyone!

This week... I am so glad it's over.  Out of my whole mission, this week was the most mentally and emotionally challenging, sobering, exhausting week.  I have been pondering over what happened this week, and what I should or should not say to you all about it.  I have determined to share with you many of the things that I learned all throughout the trio life with Elders Schraedel and Riehle, but also include some things that I learned from this week.  Here you go:

     First: Men/husbands, no argument is worth sleeping on the couch for longer than a day or two.  Trust me, five weeks on a couch is NOT as comfortable as you think it is.  

     Second: Struggles come from two competing ideas.  If you don't want to struggle, give one of your ideas up and get over it.

     Third: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." -President Monson

     Fourth: God is just as real as Satan. 

     Fifth (a recurring theme I've learned throughout my mission):  There are NO coincidences.  If you and I believe the Book of Mormon, then we believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  If that is true, then you and I believe that "a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection[s]" don't actually happen, because God knows (and plans) them all.  Either believe in the Book of Mormon, or believe in "just happenstance", because you can't do both, no matter how many people you may lose as "friends".  (slight rant right there, not sorry)

As for my experience being in the Eldorado ward and the Mountain View YSA, both of them are awesome!  The family ward is sweet, it's probably the smallest geographical ward in the mission, but we also cover the YSA, soo... It's a lot of fun!  I'd gotten used to embracing the awkward, then I got put in a YSA...  I'm not bashing on YSA's, but yeah, they're... something else.  It's fun, though.  XD

Sorry for the short email this week, but just know that the emperor's groove has not been thrown off, Nemo "once was lost, but now [he's] found" and that Star Wars is not about different stars at war. :)

 

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu! 

-- 

Elder Eli James Dial

PS- I forgot my camera cord, so I'll send pictures eventually. 

PPS- my companion is Elder Dudley, he's from Calgary Canada.  

Transfers....for real this time XD

Hola, everyone!

Out of all the weeks on my mission, this week was one of them.  XD

This week.. hmmm, where to start.  Traveling to Socorro twice a week was fun.  That's not happening any more, though.  I am getting transferred from the Sage area, I am going to the Albuquerque East stake, and I will be serving in the YSA and another ward which I'm pretty sure is called the El Dorado Ward... So I guess you could say I'm on "The Road to El Dorado"...  You might as well call me Miguel or Tulio, because I could basically sum up my mission by watching that movie.  I served among Indians for 9 months, and I'm here for something more precious than gold.  I gain friends, and then my one constant friend (Christ) is always there to remind me of the real treasure.  Boom. Summed it up for you all.  ;)

Anyways, they split the Sage and Ladera wards for a week.  They are combining it again, where Elder Schraedel will take over the area (again) and will be in a trio (his 4th and 5th companions for this area).  Both Elder Riehle and I are going to the East stake, but not as companions. 

We said bye to a lot of people, it was rough, I almost cried, but that's alright, I have plenty of things to distract me (namely, an awkward moment or two *gag*).  Tis the mission life, I guess.

As for the video, I didn't realize how much I missed scaring the crap out of people until I became companions with Elder Riehle.  I had too much fun.  This was the best one.  Go ahead and judge the sound effects, I don't care, it was grrrrrrrrreat (just like Frosted Flakes)! ;)

I love you all, be strong and of a good courage, and believe in yourself and in Christ! (not in that order, though. :)

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial

Transfers...Kinda Sorta

Hey, everyone! 

So, the news you've all kinda sorta been waiting for: (if you don't like the phrase "kinda sorta"... take luck, because I'm kinda sorta using it a lot in this email. XD) Yes, I do have just one companion now!  The trio has been disbanded.  But, no. My greenie has not come yet (flippin paperwork!!).  One of the missionaries serving in a different area in our zone has returned home, so his companion came up here to be with me- but we are kinda sorta covering just one ward.  When I say "kinda sorta" I mean we will still be going down to his area to work, to "keep alive what needs to be kept alive" as far as missionary work goes.  So Elder Nelson (that's my companion's name) and I will be traveling 80 miles south on Tuesday and Thursday to get to the other part of our area known as Socorro, New Mexico!  We now cover the 2nd most northern area (the Sage ward) and we kinda sorta cover the farthest south area in our zone (Socorro), but nothing in between!  Don't worry, it should only be for this week, then it'll return to "normal"... whatever that is.  XD

A little background, Elder Nelson and I met when I was still in El Paso, and we kinda sorta shared a ward down there (that's a long story) but that was for one transfer.  Then I came up north in the mission and a transfer after I got here, he came up and was in my zone for the next 5 transfers.  So we've served around each other for basically a year.  It was one of those "we'll never be companions" or anything like that, but boom!  Here we are.  We're kinda sorta sure this is only going to be for a week (until transfers next Wednesday, and we know that from some inside details from President Guffey).  In short, we've known each other long enough and we get along really well together, so it's going to be a party this week!

I did give a talk in the Ladera ward yesterday, even though as of Saturday I was no longer serving in that ward.  It was slightly weird to think about as I gave my talk, but that's alright.  I was talking about trials, and it was really good!  It was an enjoyable experience (I say that because I have offered 20+ ish talks (don't argue, I've counted them) in different sacrament meetings throughout my life- I was more prepared for this one, and so I call it enjoyable merely because I was improvising for 10 minutes, like I may or may not have done in multiple of those previous 20 talks), and I'm going to miss that ward, even though I'm just right down the road from them!

As for my talk for yesterday, I'll sum it up in one sentence for you: When we are in our trials, we need to practice patience prayerfully.  Now I'll give you a nice little rundown (which is not Englished very well, just go with it): I talked about the 3 P's to overcome the hurdles of life: practice, patience and prayer. I used the example from my life of running hurdles, talked about practicing good habits now so trials don't destroy us later, I shared the example of the Stripling warriors, how they probably practiced using weapons before they went in to battle, before they even decided to go to war.  I then went on to patience and shared that perfection doesn't come immediately, just as trials don't end the instant you wake up from your Sunday naps (I literally said that, I shocked myself when it came out of my mouth) but then shared the experience from Alma 14, where Alma and Amulek are forced to watch everyone they grew close to on their mission be brutally burned to death, and are imprisoned for "many days" before being delivered.  Next I went on to prayer and how prayer helped me to have the peace I needed to run hurdles even though the outcome at the end of the trial wasn't the one I wanted.

Super choppy rough draft right there, but that's alright, because I only used an outline in my talk. XD  

That's the end of the email for me this week, I invite you all to ponder on how patience, practice and prayer all go together throughout this week- and to do all three with whatever trials come your way this week and throughout your life!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial

6 months to......what???

Hello everyone! I'm not going to explain anything specific about the title to this email, just go with it.

This week has been pretty well!  

The mission tour with Elder Brent H. Nielson of the 70 (who is also the Executive Director of the Missionary Department) was pretty great!  Yes, mom and dad, he and his wife did remember- as I was about to shake his hand, he read my name tag and, while turning to his wife said, "This is the man who's parents we met a week or two ago in Rexburg! We're glad we were able to see you!" (I realize now that I should've responded with, "most people are" but I didn't think of that until now XD)  As usual, I didn't tell anyone, so the Elder behind me was super confused. XD

While he was here, though, some beans were spilled...  This mission will be getting devices (smartphones) next month.  Believe it or not, with that happening, "I'm not happy, Bob. Not. Happy."  I'm going to be that missionary that helps transition it all from paper to electronic.  I'll probably spend like 4 days putting all the info from the area book into the app/electronic stuff (not to mention I've basically forgotten how those things even work), and barely figure things out just to finish my mission 5 months later.  That's alright, I'm over it. :)

On Sunday, we had dinner with a member right?  Well, we found out who this guy is: his name is Brother Dotson.  He helped make some of your childhood so awesome. How?  He played some music for Disney's Robin Hood.  (picture #1)  You're welcome.  (There will be a video sometime in the future of him playing that guitar.)

No, my companion is not here, we're still in a trio.  And what do we do in a trio?  We take pictures when no one is looking- check out those gems (pictures #2 and #3)

Now, for some slight (only slight) explanation of the title of the email.  Yes, I do only have 6 months left.  But during this last 6 months, I now invite you all to study the Book of Mormon, looking for something specific.  For example, I plan to read and highlight all the manifestations of love found in the Book of Mormon.  I challenge you all to do something similar (maybe not the exact same, but do it to help you with something that you would like to become within the next 6 months).  I promise as a representative of Christ (I have His prophet's signature in my pocket this very second) that if you do this, you will become something greater in the next 6 months and will be firmly built on the foundation of Christ (Helaman 5:12). :)

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

(Great is my love for you all!)

Elder Eli James Dial