Re: Natural Disasters

Hey Family,

I´m sorry in advance that I didn´t leave myself a lot of time to write to you.  I was taking too long on my presidents letter- I had to give a report from an intercambio I did this last week.  I went to Elche and was with Hermana Bentley for a couple of days.  We were able to spend a day visiting this pueblo that is part of the ward that the Hermanas serve in there.  It´s called Elda and it´s a pretty little town with some really strong members.  There used to be a branch there and the members there want to have one again, so they´ve all been working really hard to reactivate people and refer their friends and neighbors to the missionaries.  They were great.

We set a baptismal goal with an investigator named David.  He´s from Spain and he´s youngish (not really sure how old- maybe 28?) and he loves the Book of Mormon.  He said ever since he started reading it he´s felt such peace and happiness and that he has a lot of faith in this book.  We´re going to help him get baptized on the 15th of May.

Last Monday night when I was in Valencia I went to visit my Mongolian family.  It was so great.  I love them so much.  They gave me this Mongolian fortune telling game with bones... it was really sweet.  Nasanbek is baptized and he´s really excited to get the priesthood so he can baptize Minjirmaa next month.  I wrote down the baptismal prayer in Spanish so he can start memorizing it.

Thanks for all you do family.  I haven´t heard from some of you in a while.  I hope you´re well- send pictures of the sobrinos.

Love,

Hermana Diehl

p.s.  I have permission to call on Father´s Day- so I´ll be doing that this year instead of Mother´s day.  I think it´s June 20th.  Dad´s turn this year!

Natural Disasters

My Dear Family,

It seems to me that there are a million natural disasters these last couple of weeks.  Some of them quite big.  We are still having the conference tomorrow even though there was volcanic ash all over Europe.  We had rain for a couple of days, but nothing too bad here in Spain.  But the airlines weren´t all running I guess... I´m not sure.  I´m the most un-informed of anyone.

The best part of this week is that we found a lot of new investigators.  We had lots of contacting miracles last week and this week we saw the results.  I am in Valencia right now (I seem to write you a lot from Valencia) for the big conference that will be tomorrow.  I´m really excited to be able to meet Elder Hinckley and President and Hermana Hinckley are really excited that he recieved this assignment.  I´ve been thinking of questions to bring to the conference to recieve personal revelation for myself, my area, my investigators.  I really want to work hard every day and every hour.  I know that there are prepared people here where I´m serving.  We just need to be prepared to open our mouths when we see them.

I was excited to hear that there was an investigator in church last Sunday mom.  Does everyone know what you should do when there´s an investigator in church?  Read in Preach My Gospel chapter 8 the part about weekly planning and the section on getting the investigators to church.  We makes plans for these people for members to bring them, sit with them, greet them, show them how to get to class, etc.  Maybe some of my family members could help the missionaries with their investigators- it really eases up the stress missionaries have at church if the members take care of their investigators.  However the best option is that the investigators are friends of the members already, no?  Like Elder Perry said, there´s a better way to do missionary work: the members find and the missionaries teach.  It´s hard, but it´s worth it.  And like Elder Holland said (I´m full of apostle quotes today) Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.  What are these people going to have if they don´t have salvation?  If they don´t have the chance to have eternal families?  I always tell my investigators about MY family (yes, all of YOU) and I show them your pictures.  I tell them they can have eternal families too and have that hope and joy that helps me so much in a world full of problems and, lately, natural disasters.  It really is worth resisting the temptations of the world to recieve these blessings.

I got my package of cake mixes and the new dress.  Thank you so much.  I really loved all of it.  We´re going to eat the funfetti cake for a birthday party very soon today.  I love funfetti cake.  I had to borrow 2 eggs from the neighbors to make it last night though... I took the new missionary from Peru (there were a couple of hermanas staying in our piso last night) and we knocked some doors in our building in our pajamas looking for eggs.  I promised the man who gave them to us a piece of the cake.  Hermana Guerra loved it.  She thought it was a funny thing to do.  Thanks sooooo much mama y hermanita.

I think that´s all for now.  I have my new camara, but I forgot to bring my cord to send you pictures... next week.  Check the mission blog.  I´m wearing my new dress to the conference... not sure we´ll have time for pictures or no...

Love you all,

Hermana Diehl

p.s.  those who have never written me to tell me about how your missions were, I want to hear from you!  I´ve heard from Mindy and Nathan... and that might be it actually.  Jesse promised me a letter recently..

Chicken Pox

Hola Familia Mia,

I am going to buy a new camara today.  I also am going to get my haircut again.  Just FYI.

I didn´t feel the Granada earthquake.  But I hope everyone was okay.  I know some people that live there- what kind of casualties were there?

One of our investigators (the one that doesn´t want to pay tithing) has the chicken pox.  As an adult.  He´s not feeling to well right now and he´s not progressing currently as an investigator.  It´s been a bit difficult getting a hold of some of our investigators this week... but we saw a lot of miracles with street contacts.  Tonight I´m going with a member to teach a couple from Lebanon who speak Arabic and Spanish and English.  I love Spain.

I have been trying to be exactly obedient... as such I have to cut this letter off since my hour is up.

Kiss the neices and nephews for me.  I love you all-

Hermana Diehl

Me encanto la Conferencia General

Querida Familia,

I was so happy and content to listen to General Conference this last weekend.  I always hate not being able to watch the last session though.  I got a letter from Hermana Grant (a.k.a. Melanie) and she mentioned some talks I didn´t hear.  I´m just grateful I guess that I can listen to the conference in my own language and normally don´t have to wait at all (unlike some languages that take time to translate).  Did anyone notice that my last mission president, President Waddell was made an area authority 70?  All of us missionaries here in Murcia were all up really close to the tv screen trying to see if we could spot him as he took his place on the stand... but they were focused on the primary presidency so we didn´t notice him.  I wonder if he´ll have to move to Utah?

We had a ton of visits this week.  The most I´ve ever had in my mission actually.  But we could still do more.  This area is set up differently than Valencia was and even though it´s a large area we can make a lot of visits much more easily because we don´t have to depend on public transportation (that takes forever in Valencia) quite as much.  We had a visit on Sunday morning with a husband and wife and he told us he would get baptized, but he wouldn´t pay tithing.  We´re working on it.  His first task is to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

What´s new with my family?  I liked the easter pictures.  Have Jesse and Mindy picked a name yet?  How about Erin and Matt?  Two names are harder than one!

Well, I´m out of time.  I love you all.

Hermana Diehl

p.s. Pte Hinckley told me that my release date is the same.  No plane ticket changes!