Because of Him

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend and were able to ponder over the Resurrection of our Savior and what that means for you. If you haven't seen it yet, watch this video!! http://easter.mormon.org/ No seriously, watch it right now, don't finish reading this e-mail until you do! :) It is the most powerful video about Jesus Christ that I have ever seen and it gives me so much hope. I love the concept that because of Him, we can always have a clean slate, a new beginning, a fresh start. Through Him, everything that is wrong or unfair about life can be made right again. We can change and start over. Even when it seems like all is lost, Jesus Christ is still there beside us to help us get back up again. I am so grateful for that knowledge.

Though we had a few random things happen this week (such as one of our exchanges getting TWO flat tires on our way home from an appointment...), it was a good week! We met a new investigator who is so sweet and is really trying to find direction in her life. She is going through a divorce and trying to find her way back to God. I am so grateful for her desires to follow Him and that we can be part of helping her to do that! We also had the opportunity to teach the Gospel Principles Sunday School class at church yesterday, and it was so fun! We had a great discussion about why the world needed to have a Savior and how through Jesus Christ, we can be saved and purified. 

This upcoming weekend, we have a great event. Gladys Knight is coming to the Raleigh area with her Grammy-award winning gospel choir for a fireside weekend. She will be directing and singing with the choir, as well as sharing her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how she came to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will be so great! I hope everyone has a great week! :)

Love, 
Sister Dieter 

Miracle Week

Oi, tudo mundo? Como vai? :)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I am so excited to be 20! :) This has been a good week full of some pretty amazing experiences!! Funny moment of the week: last Monday at Walmart, a random Subway worker called out to us and said he had something for us. It was a Qur'an and he wanted us to have it. We in turn gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and it was really neat to be able to share our faith with him. Super random, but interesting! We also had an "activity zone conference" this week with other missionaries in the area. We had meetings and presentations, and then we had a few hours of fun and games. It was a beautiful spring day and made me really appreciate the wonderful people I get to serve among here in NC.

We had a few amazing lessons this week too! One in particular was such a miracle! We were talking with some people who told us to go see their friend that was mourning the loss of a child. At first when she answered the door, it was pretty awkward and she was very confused as to why we were there. Slowly, she warmed up a bit to us and let us come in. We told her how much God loves her and shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon about how faith in Jesus Christ enables us to overcome all things. We asked if we could pray for her, and though she doesn't usually let people do that, she did! At the end of the prayer, she was crying, hugged us, and told us she loved us! It was miraculous to see someone go from skeptical and kind of rude, to feeling loved and open to receive help within 5 minutes! I know that it is because she felt the Spirit touch her heart and she was able to feel God's love for her. This Sunday was also amazing because we had an investigator come to church and love it! Also, a few less-active sisters came to church who haven't been for a while! And, a sister that hasn't been to church since the 1980s came with her husband and they loved it!!!  I know that God truly works miracles if we will just have faith and do His will. Our efforts to love and support people are never in vain, even if they do not accept, appreciate, or act on them right away. :) Love you all!

Sister Dieter

Qur'an

20th B-day!

Birthdays, Temple, General Conference, Love!!

his has been and will be a pretty fantastic week! It was my companion's birthday last week, my 20th birthday is tomorrow, we went to the temple on Friday, and it was General Conference weekend!! So many blessings. Also, as of today I have officially been on my mission for 8 months. Where does the time go?? Time really does fly when you are having fun and serving God. We met a new investigator this week who is great! She has had a lot of relationship and health problems throughout her life and is looking for peace and consistency. I know that she will be able to find that as she continues to learn about Jesus Christ and the sacrifices He has made for her.

This weekend especially, I have learned so much about love and it's power. Everything that Heavenly Father and Christ do for us is powered by their infinite and perfect love for each one of us. All they want is for us to be able to return to their presence, and they have provided us with the tools to do so! In the Bible, Christ teaches us about how we must love God, love our neighbors, and love ourselves. I think at different points in our lives, we are all guilty of not showing enough love to someone, whether it be a friend, family member, stranger, or even ourselves. This world is full of hatred, negativity, and deceit. But, as President Thomas S. Monson spoke about in General Conference this weekend, an increased measure of love can change the world, change our lives, and change the very nature of who we are as individuals. Sometimes it is really hard to love people, especially when they don't live up to your expectations. We all falter and make mistakes, but we can forgive and move forward. Heavenly Father knows our potential and the kind of people that we can become, and is perfectly patient with us as we strive to grow and change. I am trying to develop that kind of charity for all people. Something I have been learning about lately is the importance of showing other people love, even if they don't reciprocate or are even mean in response. You are never ever in the wrong if what you do and say to someone is truly motivated by love, concern, and a desire to help them. Even if they don't recognize it in the moment, they will be affected by your decision to show them that you care. You never know how much an act of love can really mean to someone. Don't procrastinate those acts of love and kindness either, because you never know when it might be too late! We are all brothers and sisters striving to make it through this crazy thing called life, and as we work together and cheer each other on, we will be able to see miracles! Love you all!

Sister Dieter

Sisters! :)

I Love to See The Temple...

Sister Slade and I

New Beginnings!

Well, here I am in my second area of North Carolina! I just got transferred to Raleigh, so I went from country/military base to the city! I love it!! My new companion is Sister Slade and she has been out for about 3 months now. The members here are so great and are very focused on sharing their testimonies with others. They love to serve and truly are a strong ward family. We meet in the stake center, with 3 other wards (congregations) using the same building. Because of that, our meetings actually go in backwards order to accommodate everyone in the building! So that was interesting!! We also have a very exciting event coming up in this area...Gladys Knight and her Saints Unified Voices choir will be coming to Chapel Hill next month and doing a fireside tour. The members are doing a great job of getting friends to come so that we can all share together in worship and in testimony of Jesus Christ. I am very excited for it!
We had some crazy miracles this week! Someone that the sisters had talked to about 2 weeks ago randomly on the street named Donna called us this week asking if we could help her with some service! She just fell and broke, well most of her body. She really needed her dog washed and it's hair cut...so guess what we did?? It was wet, messy, and very interesting. Even better though, is that she was able to feel our love for her and she really opened up to learn more about what we have to share. She actually was an Apachi priestess in her youth, and we were able to share with her about Jesus Christ and how He can help her! Ahh it made her so happy and she is so excited to read the Book of Mormon too! We also met a woman named Britney who is going through some really hard times. She is a single mom of three and is questioning whether God even exists. It breaks my heart to see someone so lost and confused, but I know that if she will open her heart up and strive to develop that relationship with God, her life will be so much better! I know that we all have a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of our needs and blesses us daily! I experienced that just today...something that I have been really praying and worrying about was very specifically answered this morning, and I just felt this overwhelming feeling that God knows me and that He is taking care of me. I love Him and know that He loves me too. The gospel of Jesus Christ truly does change lives, and I am so grateful to see that happening not only in my life, but in those around me.


Love,
Sister Dieter

Change

This has definitely been a week full of excitement and change! Ashley got baptized this week!! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to teach her and her family and to help them grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that they are becoming closer and happier as a family because of their choices to follow God's commandments. We also taught someone else this week about the Restoration of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. It is amazing to see her entire countenance change as she learns more about the truth of Christ's church and how to follow Him. She has so much more hope and joy, and I know it is a result of feeling the Holy Spirit. The love of God truly changes people, and it is such a privilege to be able to see that.

One of the biggest changes this week is that I, along with 2 other missionaries in my district, will be getting transferred tomorrow! I am excited to find out where I will be going now, and to be able to meet and serve among the people there. I know that God has a plan for me and that I am needed somewhere else now. It is such a blessing to be able to serve as an instrument in God's hands and to be able to do His will. I know that He will not lead me astray, and that wherever I need to be is where I will go. It was definitely a hard couple of days, saying goodbye to people whom I have grown to know and love so much for the past 6 1/2 months. I have been able to see so many miracles occur here in Jacksonville, and I am forever grateful for all the love that I have felt here. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us with talents, abilities, and skills to be able to serve others and help them. While these gifts do bless us as well, they are most effectively used when in the service of others, which in turn is in the service of God (Mosiah 2:17, Book of Mormon). As we serve others and strive to be less selfish, we can become the kind of person that Heavenly Father needs us to be. We can overcome our weaknesses little by little and fulfill our potential as children of God. What will you do this week to serve someone else? :)

I love you all and pray for you often!

Love,

Sister Dieter

The Senior Missionary Couples and I

Definitely in the South!

Bacon-wrapped steak that a member made for us! (aka heart attack in bite-size form :) )

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oi, tudo bem?

I hope everyone has had a great week. This week was full of lots of service opportunities, which was great! We were able to help a few people in their yard as well as cleaning the church. I love being able to do service for people and play a small part in helping to ease a burden. We had a couple of funny moments this week. At dinner with some members, their 10 year old daughter was telling us all about her upcoming choir concert. She was so excited that she decided to give us a mini concert right there at the dinner table! It was pretty cute and funny. Also, we asked a member and her 8 year old son if they knew anyone that we should stop by and might be in need of uplifting. The boy said, "Hold on a minute!" and then ran over to the window to see who he could find :) He then told us about his neighbor who could "use a long teach" about Christ. We also got some left over Girl Scout cookies from a member, which was much appreciated!

We had stake conference this weekend, which was great! (Congregations are called "wards" and a "stake" is a group of wards put together, so stake conference is basically a regional conference of members of the church). It was so inspiring and the Spirit was very strong! I loved the messages about sharing our knowledge with others and how we can be good examples to those around us simply by living the things that we believe. It is so important to not only believe in Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, but to ACT on that faith and show it by becoming a better person. As we strive to follow His commandments, we are purified and become more and more Christlike. Others will see the influence that He has in our lives and desire to have that for themselves. I know that as we pray for help, Heavenly Father will guide us to those people whom we can touch and to experiences where we can learn how to be like Him. I'm grateful for the knowledge that can be found in prayer and scripture study. I know that as we exercise our faith in Christ, He can help us to change and lead by example.

Com amor, 
Sister Dieter

Girl Scout Cookies!

Southern Comfort Food, Miracles, and Sick Days

Such an interesting week! We had a dinner at this place called Smithfield's with Sister Henderson. Goodness, such Southern food! Fried chicken, hush puppies, and Brunswick stew! Yum! Also, we had zone meeting in Wilmington and we went on exchanges with some other sisters in our zone. I went to Hampstead, which is a cute beach town on the coast. It was a great day and we were able to teach some wonderful people!
It rained a lot at the beginning of the week, which made it a little harder to talk with people. But we still had a great week! We had a wonderful dinner at a member's home and talked with them a lot about the Holy Spirit and how it guides their family. I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the guidance that I receive from Heavenly Father. It was so cute, their little boys wanted to bear their testimonies to us and tell us about what they believe in. One is 7 and the other is 5 and they had such powerful, simple testimonies of God and Jesus Christ!
We also went to talk to a woman that one of our investigators referred us to. Around here, most people we talk to have some sort of belief in God and Jesus Christ, so we typically just ask them "Do you have a belief in Christ?" expecting a "Yes". We were both caught off guard to have her say no! She proceeded to explain that she is actually a Wiccan! It was very interesting and a new experience for me. She was very curious about the Book of Mormon though and asked for a copy to read. I really hope she does read it and is able to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
On Saturday, we had such a great lesson with Tracy! Before now, she had been curious to learn more and liked talking to us, but wasn't very committed to it. She had asked us about her purpose in life and if there was anything in the Book of Mormon that could answer her questions about it. Yes there is!! :) We gave her a chapter to read in Alma 34 and a couple of pamphlets with some further study questions and scriptures to read. She absorbed everything and was so excited to meet and talk more about it! It was so amazing to see her face light up with joy as she learned about God's plan for her and her purpose in being on Earth. She is so humble and eager to learn and I am so grateful for the opportunity to help her understand and find peace. It ended up being an interesting lesson because Sister Lewis got sick during it...but the Spirit prevailed and we were able to finish the lesson! After that, we went home so Sister Lewis could sleep and recover for the rest of the day. But it was wonderful knowing that we had helped Tracy and that she is excited to learn more! I love being able to serve and help other people and teach them the simple truths that I know. It's so important that we share this knowledge and hope found through Jesus Christ with all we come in contact with!
Com amor,
Sister Dieter