Monday, 8 July 2019 ~ Week #102

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

This is officially the last weekly epistle that I will send on my mission! Let me just offer you all a look and how my last week went and what my feelings are.

There was, unfortunately, no baptism this last week. Gustavo will make the decision later, and so we had to drop him. Despite this, he will still be going to Church and activities. He loves the Church, really; it's just a lot of pressure that he does not feel ready for. We have encouraged him to make the decision, and explained all of the blessings, but we never made the decision for him.

We got to know a new family which was a referral from another ward. They received us extremely well and had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. The young man, Ruben, already has been going to seminary and to Church for a while in that other ward, so all we need to do is help him gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and introduce him to the folks in Lomas del Norte. He is so ready.

There was also a man who lives close who told us about his experience reading the Bible, and he expressed his frustration with not feeling like he was changing as a person. We asked him, "Do you desire to know?" He affirmed so. "And in that way we ingeniously committed him." We explained to him the first principles of the Gospel, and it made sense for him. He went to Church yesterday, with his own Come, Follow Me manual. He is already becoming converted.

And thankfully, this area will stay open!!! It has miracles just waiting to come along the way!

I am so, so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity to serve Him and His children in Guatemala for these last 2 years. I cannot begin to express how I feel. I am so grateful to be able to say that the things that I have shared with the people here have helped them change their lives. I have seen families united, hope and faith inspired, relationships between father and son, mother and son, husband and wife strengthened, all because of the things that I have testified to them. All the credit goes to the Savior.

I know that the Savior lives, and that He knows me personally. I know that He loves His children. I know that this Gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The Priesthood is restored. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Your friend and servant,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 1 July 2019 ~ Week #101

Hey, hey, hey everybody!!!

How are my friends and family doing? I'm happy to say that this week in Lomas was full of blessings.

We gave a heavier focus on our buddy Gustavo. Now allow me to explain the situation of the family. The problem we have been seeing this whole time was this: they have been reading a great deal from the Book of Mormon, yet they haven't focused enough on their homework to do it. Ana, who is Gustavo's older sister and the mother of Armando and William his nephews, doesn't allow them to go anywhere, especially to Church or to mutual activities, if they don't do their homework. Ana is a less active member of the Church; nevertheless, her not permitting them to go to Church does not have so much to do with her dislike for the Church -- in fact, she wants to return to activity -- but rather her anxiety for her own academic success and that of her children. She is a madre soltera, so she has to struggle to study to provide for her kids. She has, however, unfortunately, failed some tests in previous classes, which has affected her self confidence a lot, not to mention how she prioritizes. Moreover, Ana and Gustavo have a brother who is almost Ana's age who works, but when he is home, he never says anything to the missionaries neither to anyone that comes to visit them, especially people from the Church. He is baptized, but now does not want anything from the Church. And he is a bitter man, who has discouraged Ana in her academic progress, and has also discouraged Gustavo in his decision to be baptized. He has been more consistent than we could be in encouraging them to keep moving in the right direction, given that he always there when we aren't.

We went one day to visit him and his nephews, and we helped them understand the importance of making priorities (Mosiah 4:27) and the way we know from what source come the impressions that enter our mind as we make important decisions (Moroni 7:16). What happened was spectacular. We helped them make a "triangle of goals" in the which we helped them put the priorities in order, baptism first, prayer last, and in between the homework, housekeeping tasks, reading the Scriptures, etc. They were able to see that in order to "do all things in order," they had to do a little bit of everything every day, so that they could all reach the goal of baptism. Apart from that, we helped Gustavo decide to be baptized; he was already prepared, so he just had to decide. He told us of his experience at the temple, and he felt happy, yet while he was there he said a thought came to his mind saying, "Wait, the time isn't now." We explained to him that "that which is good and enticeth men to do good is from God," and then explained that any other thought comes from the devil, if not from our own conscience. We helped him analyze how he felt, and he felt desperate when the thought came to his mind -- that is, desperate, because he felt like he had already waited a long time. We encouraged him to make the decision to be baptized, and he sat to ponder for a good, long moment. He said he felt like he could easily make the decision, but still felt the fear of persecution from his brother. So we helped him apply the Scripture, helping him see that if the thought isn't good, then it is from the devil, because nothing good comes from the devil, neither from those who are subject to him. So we encouraged him to make the decision, because the Lord would be there to support him, and that the devil would only continue to say no. Apart from this, a young man who came with us further explained and testified of the blessings of being baptized. There was an amazing Spirit. Gustavo told us he would get right back to us with the response. So we are now still waiting the response, because unfortunately there was something that impeded them from coming to Church that Sunday, and it may have had to do with either his brother, or for the holiday, or both. We will see what happens this week.... (The missionary work really is a lot like a soap opera sometimes, haha.)

I wish I could say more about this week, it was really particularly good. We had an experience which I would call, "the golden missionary in Guatemala experience" with a Spirit-led contact in the poor part of the area. We have been working close with the members still. Lomas is still unfortunately in danger of being closed, due to some changes in the mission, and so five areas will need to be closed. But I don't think Lomas del Norte will be closed. We have made lots of progress, and have helped the members to become excited again in the missionary work. We have found a great deal of new people to teach, the majority of which were either from referrals from members or simply referrals from the Holy Ghost. So the Savior is still preparing hearts to receive His wonderful message. And through our work He has been able to teach them.

As I reflect on my mission experience, I think to myself, wow, the Savior really has blessed many people through my service. And I hope that I can continue to bless lives through my future missionary service. I know that this Church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind, for He has saved me when I looked to Him for His help, and He has saved those whom I have served. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ, for were it not for his great and important mission and eternal calling, I would not be able to help souls come unto Christ either. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, because I have read it and studied it, and as I have pondered it, I have felt the Spirit testify to me of its truthfulness, and it has taught me with even greater clarity than any other book who Jesus Christ is and how I could better follow His example. These things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, amen.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Your faithful friend,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 24 June 2019 ~ Week #100

Hey everybody!

How is everybody doing? Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to see you all in just 17 days! Nonetheless, don't worry about me being trunky! Thankfully I am not feeling the trunky as hard as other companions of mine, hahaha.

This was actually a very different week. We are starting to see miracles poco a poco here in reopened Lomas del Norte. The Lord has put many referrals, those from members of the Church and those from His own hand, in our path, and we have been getting to know them all. We were blessed with a mission leader just yesterday, and we spent the entire afternoon with him, finding lots of success. We brought Pablo to church, who hadn't gone since he was a little child, and because of this was never baptized, and he already has many friends in mutual and seminary. Gustavo came to Church this Sunday, but we are helping his sister Ana to come too, and not only this but also help her to have faith that everything will go well in the university, and also to help her children study and focus so that she would allow them to go to Church too. She has good principles; she just needs to have faith in Christ, and let this influence her priorities.

Other things that happened: Everything is going super chill with my companion. We made a cake for the ward council this week and they really liked it. We just wanted to show our love for them and our appreciation for their service. I've been helping my companion Elder Lopez to cook and now he's learning a good lot, even though I am amateur at best when it comes to cooking. I am loving the mission. :)  

It's been very interesting overall, this whole process. It makes me reflect that we truly, truly, truly cannot do this work alone in this ward. When the investigators have friends from the Church who minister to them, they retain their sincere interest to learn, regardless of their economic circumstances, and regardless of whether or not we could visit them regularly or not. Truly the Lord is working through His servants, and taking care of His children. And it humbles me that only little of my work is part of the great work that He does for them.

In spite of this, I feel like I am needed in every moment, and because of this I continue every now and then to talk with the people in our path. I feel like the testimony that I have of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can be what perhaps anyone around me need to keep them going in life, and to be a guide in a world of confusion and many difficult decisions. I wish that all could hear, but unfortunately the hard hearts will not hear. Regardless, I will keep sharing with my Father's children, and I will seek His direction as I walk and as I talk about His children so that He may bless them through my ministry. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that it is by Him that people are changed. I know this because of the change He has brought about in me. In these things is where my joy is found. And as I think about the work that my fellow missionaries do in my mission, as well as my friends in other missions, my joy enlarges, because I know that they are experiencing these same miracles, for themselves and in the lives of those they teach. What a glorious work!

I know that this is Christ's Church. I have a firm testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and in the inspiration of His prophets and apostles in the present day. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, my friends and my kindred!

Your friend and servant,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 17 June 2019 ~ Week #99

Hey folks!!

Just got done with a good, but rather hard week. Basically all of the investigators that we had on the roll in the first week have been busy this week too. It's been a real struggle. I don't feel tired, neither do I feel sad, but I do feel a bit exasperated. Nevertheless, I know that my Heavenly Father has granted me this experience to learn just a little bit more in these last few weeks. I have been in this situation before, so I will strive again to seek more of His guidance and to have His Spirit with me. My companion and I are striving to talk with more people between appointments... not necessarily to find investigators, though we are thinking about that too. We are doing it because we want the Spirit with us.

There are certain things of which the mission work is really comprised, at the heart.  To me, the mission work is: ("Everyday, I want to..."

- To invite others to live a similar way in which I live; to do, know, and feel the things that make me happy.

- To encourage others to take the next step and strive to live like the One like whom I am striving to live.

- To talk with people and to serve them in the way I would that they would serve me.

- To explain to them how Jesus changed me to be the person that I am, to help them get a glimpse of what they can become.

- To help others have experiences with the Spirit, so that they would desire to always have it (Moroni 4:3).

- To explain to them the terms I use which are related with my own spiritual experiences, so that they could understand them with their own words, and have spiritual experiences with those things (the Holy Ghost, peace, forgiveness, prayer, repentance, testimony, priesthood, prophets, Scriptures, the Savior, etc.).

Ether taught that those who have great faith could "have a firm hope in a better world," or in other words a sure knowledge of being surrounded by people who are more spiritual and faithful and kind, who live the principles Christ taught, if we do what is in our reach and control to be a cause. Our example in how we live the Gospel is the loudest statement to others as to how they should live it as well. We can inspire others to live it, and then encourage them to make changes in their own lives to come closer to the Savior. Praying and reading the Book of Mormon are among the most important things, but constantly, in the process, we should be inspiring and inviting others to treat others as the Savior did, so that they might as well, and thus know for sure that every day we are living in "a better world." That is what the Gospel offers to us when we live it. And it is marvelous.

I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus lives and continues to direct His church. I know that by Him and through His Atoning sacrifice sinners can be forgiven, and that the impure can be made pure. He is our Savior and Redeemer, and patiently but insistingly encourages all of us, every day, to be more like Him. I know that He is the Christ. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.

Have a beautiful, wonderful week, my brothers and sisters!

Elder Dredge

Monday, 10 June 2019 ~ Week #98

My fellow Gringo brothers and sisters, how is everyone doing?

This week I actually didn't write too much in my diary, but that doesn't meant it wasn't that less special! We had the great blessing to get to know and serve many more members from the ward by way of the lunch and dinner calendar that we made in the ward council this last week. It was awesome!

As to investigators, here's what we have. We have Gustavo, who is a very bright, polite and spiritual kid, 12 years old, whose sister has been supporting him a lot more now than she has before, and whose nephews (her sons) are also learning with us. He's received the missionaries for a while, so we went through the baptismal interview with him, and the only problems he had was knowing who the prophet was, and remembering some commandments. And apart from that, we are just making sure he and his family has friends in Church, and we have been able to get some kids to take him to mutual. He's a really good kid. The worst thing he has ever done was take a bag of money that a man left which he was going to give to him after a thirty minute wait, expecting that the man who drove away from it would come back. Aaaand he spent the money.

"Gustavo, did you feel bad for doing that," we asked, laughing because he was telling the story so innocently.

"Yes."

"Don't do it again then!"

We also have Hector who has been struggling with lots of things. He had some operations on his hands in the weeks before, but thankfully he had healed. Unfortunately, this week he began to work again, and so we haven't seen him for ten days. Thankfully he has also developed a lot of confidence in the Young Single Adults group through the chat they invited him on, and they have been super consistent! Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to go to the activities. But that's not the real problem. What's more unfortunate is that he has an addiction to alcohol and smoking which he desperately wants to get rid of but hasn't yet been able to. Moreover, his aunt died this last weekend, so he is even more down, and has been missing out on Church at the same time. He is going through a real hard point. Thankfully, the YSA have been sending him messages of hope, and reminding him that things will be alright.

I am very humbled to be working here. I am seeing the Lord do so much for His children. Seeing how He has been taking so good care of His children while we haven't fully been able to due to schedule conflicts, I feel even more convinced that I need to be working harder! I will fully admit, I think I got a little bit tired physically, and because of that I haven't been so diligent. And because of that lack of diligence, I have felt like a slacker. And because of that, I haven't felt so much of the Spirit. That is something I want to change.

This is something that I have taught better in previous letters, but is something I desire to teach better than ever these last four weeks of my full time service. It doesn't matter how many will progress, because the message of the Gospel is for everyone. Yes, we need to give more focus and minister more to those who will progress more spiritually, but we cannot leave everyone else behind. EVERYONE NEEDS THE GOSPEL, and EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE INVITED TO IT. It begins with an imperfect believer of Jesus Christ talking about Him and about His life, and about their own life, allowing others to observe how their live is affected by His. It begins with that, and then what happens? Seeds are planted, and plants are nourished. Let's be more diligent in the cause of Christ, repent, strengthen our testimonies, sanctify ourselves, and do all we can to have the Spirit with us, so that we can do it better! This is my message to you, my brothers and sisters, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful, beautiful, spiritual week!

Your servant,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 3 June 2019 ~ Week #97

Weekly Letter #97

Hey everybody out there!

I am so, so happy right now. Tired, but super content. It was a great first week in the final area. I would actually like to share some stuff I wrote in my diary so that you all can catch what I felt in the moment.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

I don't think I have ever been happier! Elder Lopez, my new companion from Mexico, and I have just finished our second day officially working in Lomas del Norte, opening it now after 6 months only receiving missionaries time after time. I am so happy to be serving this ward with this companion, and I am pleased to know that this will be the last. I feel so relaxed, so happy, so natural!

Yesterday was a little bit hard, because we didn't quite know what to do, haha. The elders of Juana de Arco came over and gave us the area book and a bunch of documents and told us, "There you go! Everything you could know about the area!" And it actually was! ...

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Today was impressive! We began with ministering to investigators with Jeremy and Jimena, both who are preparing for the mission. We confirmed an appointment with Yuli, an investigator who has desires to be baptized, and she started to cry on the telephone call and said it would be better to come another day. We let her know that she was included in our prayers as well as many from the ward. Now, this call was after a call to Natali Rios, Relief Society president, who offered to send a sister to buy a treat and help Yuli out. So we went with the flow! ...

We walked over to Juli's house and knocked, but no one answered; even the windows were closed from the inside. About to leave, she finally came with her her little daughter. We gave her the pastry, along with a card we wrote for her, and she was very grateful. ...

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Wow, I am so wiped out of whatever energy I could possibly have, but at the same time am so p leased with what we've done this week. We've gained the confidence of so many members and have started iniatives for a lot of things, thanks to our visits with them and to the ward council today. We will be having a dinner wih each member of the ward council this week; we have a calendar set up for this week in the which we already have plans to viit investigators with members, and in the which the members would go and visit on the days we don't visit them. We've received a good number of referrals. We have also shared a great deal of spiritual experiences with the members who have been helping us and with the investigators we've taught. Things are going fantastic with Elder Lopez, we kicked it off real well. I don't think I could be any more content! I am so happy!

(Thursday)

We visited first the mother and sister Vivianne of Hector Boror, an investigator with a baptismal date who has assisted a different ward Llano Largo already 3 times. After some chat about religious beliefs, we talked with them about the Book of Mormon, and promised them the blessing of coming to know Christ more than ever before. Jeremy was with us and testified sincerely to this, having been born in the Church, nevertheless having obtained a testimony of his own. Then Hector came! We read in 1 Nephi 5 with him and he was certainly impressed to see how the Book of Mormon prophets read the Bible too. More impressed than him perhaps was his mom, who was sitting right there listening! And then he agreed to start assiting lomas, taking into account the difficulty of going to Llano Largo, and already recognizing the support he's received from the members of Lomas. This was an important step taken, and proved to be the most important thing done that day. ...

(Saturday)

Though we didn't have appointments, we did have a neat experience with Dominic, an active member. He invited us to go to a bread shop with him and talk about some referrals he had for us. And this turned out to be a very sweet conversation. He told us that every time he hung out with his girlfriend who isn't member, he saw the missionaries pass by. And he's had some doubts, majorly as to whether he should end the relationship due to dangers of her passing his limits, or whether he should invite her to come to Church, etc. He said he's talked with her bout the Gospel and she has felt the Spirit. He said he also feels like she has different intentions than he does. We encouraged him to pray, understand perfectly his situation, because we have had to make choices like that too before going on the mission. We encouraged him to exepress everything that concerned him in his prayer. ... And then he invited us to a TON of bread!!! We had to thank him a lot for the time he shared with us, along with that bread. He was all the more grateful that we were able to resolve his biggest doubts.

That's just a blip actually, because I honestly do not have enough time to rewrite everything I wrote in my journal. There was just so much that happened.

My testimony that the Savior guides His church has strengthened. I have come to adequately look at myself as His servant, through the way that I have prayed and how the Savior has given me opportunities to fulfill the requests I make in my prayers -- the requests to serve Him and find His sheep, along with being an example to the members, and forgiving me for my faults. The Spirit has been our constant guide. I am so grateful to be a part of His church. I know He has a plan for all of us, and a particular assignment, calling, and mission for all of us to complete if we so desire it. Of all things, the most satisfying mission, calling, or assignment we could fulfill and magnify is in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Your friend,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 27 May 2019 ~ Week #96

Weekly Letter #96

Hello world!!!!

This week was my last week as a traveling missionary. We ended with success, helping the missionaries find new people to teach after a hard week, and helping their investigators to have spiritual experiences with the Gospel. One of these very special moments was particularly cool.

Elaulio, a member who visits a far sector of the area with us, is the only member of his family who is a convert in the Church. He told us about his daughters, one of which is Catholic and the other who is an Evangelical pastor, and how they had received the missionaries before. They hadn't received missionaries for a long time, so we asked him if this was the opportune moment, and he said it perhaps was. So we went and sat down with the whole family, and began to talk about the Spirit. After some discussion on the topic, it was just us with Elaulio and his daughter Claudia who grew up Catholic but was baptized in an Evangelical church. As we listened to her, we found that she had always struggled to feel the Spirit because of the many distractions there are during the day, and had hardly felt it in any church. We began showing her how she could recognize it by showing her 1 Kings 19:11-13. She then told us about how she doesn't feel worthy of feeling it because of her weaknesses and feelings of unworthiness to speak with the Lord. That was when we shared the account of the brother of Jared in Ether 3 in the Book of Mormon and helped her understand his prayer so that she could speak with the Lord in the same reverent manner. She told us that she was beginning to feel that Spirit, and that she had never felt it even with the other missionaries that had come. We then spent the rest of the appoi ntment talking about baptism, showing her how she could feel the Spirit more consistently, and explaining certain things with personal experiences with feeling the Spirit, and in the end she said she couldn't fully understand nor accept that she would need to be baptized again. We invited her to pray. She did so, and did wait for an answer, but unfortunately it didn't come. We were not alarmed, because she still has a doubt, and only needed to study more on the matter in order for the Spirit to testify to her. So we left her with something to study, and she said she would do so willingly. This was an important step in the process of her conversion.

We also had an opportunity to work with different areas due to necessity and logistics, and so I worked with Elder Aranda from Peru in Las Villas in a far sector of his area called San Pedro Ayumpuc. It was a special experience, as upon talking with the first family we visited we helped encourage them to come to Church again, and not just to come to Church but to continue learning about the Gospel and resolving their doubts. As a result of the confidence we gained with them, we were able to set a baptismal date with their son, as well as set that same date with the family friend who was there working with them, who has been wanting to investigate the Church and serve a mission. In the end of the visit we visited the Monroy family, a faithful family in the Church who unfortunately had had challenges with coming to Church due to work, and there are still family members who have not chosen to be baptized. We shared a special message with them, reminding them to be consistent and not "lose the practice" of practicing the Gospel so that they can be changed and hope for eternal life, and this helped Delmi, the daughter who had not been baptized, to receive encouragement to make the decision. She didn't have enough desires yet, but she said she would read the Book of Mormon with the family, and we promised her that upon doing so she would develop the desire and faith and love for the Lord necessary to be baptized. It was a wonderful visit.

I am thankful for the wonderful assignment, and not to mention my companion Elder Unruh for being a wonderful companion and support for me. He's been a stud, and though we hardly worked together (we always did divisions with the elders we worked with) we made the most out of our time when we ever were together.

I will now be opening Lomas del Norte, which was the area I helped out with the week before. I am super excited for this assignment, knowing that it will be my last and was what I petitioned to President Christensen that I would do; I just love that area and the people there. It will be a great experience.

I am thankful for all the experiences that the Lord has given me to mold me into the missionary and into the man that I am now. I feel pleased and satisfied with my work and for the person I am. He has made my weaknesses into strengths, and has made my strengths stronger. I know that His Gospel is true, for I am a witness of it, along with the power of the Savior's atoning sacrifice and endless, consistent support. I know that this is His Church, guided by prophets and apostles called by Him. I know that these things are true and I testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

My friends, my brethren, my family, my acquaintances, I wish you all a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Dredge