Monday, 4 Deccember 2017 ~ Week #19

Hey all! I hope everyone has had a nice week this week.

This one has been quite tiring for me I have to admit. I came into a new area, Area Las Ilusiones, Zona La Laguna, and there aren't many investigators at the moment. We are contacting everyday, striving to bring more souls to Christ. It is quite a hilly area too so I have been quite tired at the end of the day each day. But we are working hard. And I am enjoying the company of my new companion Elder Martinez. He is 22, has been out for 14 months, baptized when he was 20, and is a super chill guy overall. He is super mature and has skills in leadership. He is also quite smart and is a very good listener.

(The leg is doing fine by the way, I will add that as a side note. It is still closing up but I am caring for it on a consistent basis.)

And while we have been working much in Las Ilusiones, we had the awesome opportunity to go back to Ermita and visit the baptism of our converts Mario hijo and Mario padre. They are super pilas and I am super excited that they are now members. They have been friends of ours from the beginning and it has been an honor to know such a lovely family as they. And I had the wonderful honor to baptize little Marito, 10 years old this 27 november. It was quite cold in the font so he struggled to be physically calm in the ordinance but while he was struggling to not shiver, he had full confidence in me that I wouldn't drop him. This baptism was overall incredibly cool for me personally because it was the first time that I had every baptized. It was such a cool feeling. I know that the Priesthood is real. The power of God is restored to earth, and the principles and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are again on the earth today. It was an honor in that moment to baptize my little buddy Marito, knowing that I am one of many that have that restored authority, and that Marito because of this can enjoy the blessings that I have enjoyed all my life for the rest of his own.

I just want to talk on the hope made possible through the Atonement. Everyday I feel like I could do better. I feel like I could be a better friend to those I meet with. I feel like I could have more faith, less fear, to talk to people. I feel like I could be more patient and longsuffering with the conditions of my area. I feel like I could love everyone more. I feel like I could think about my Savior more throughout the day to be focused. And how heavy it is to think every day that I could do better.

But this is why we have the Atonement. Jesus Christ made the difference of all of our efforts, having suffered all the consequences for things which we have done in the which we have fallen short. And having suffered all these things, he turns around, and he extends his hand back to us, encouraging us to do better to carry the burden that he carried for us. Our elder brother Jesus Christ is the most righteous, the most charitable, the most diligent, the most humble, the most selfless, the most holy, and yet the most joyful, the most peaceful, and the most happy that has ever placed foot on this Earth, and He had to go through His Gethsemane. Though we will never experience the same as He has, He, as His disciples, extends His hand to us that we might follow Him, bearing His suffering, therewith bearing witness of Him. In our lives we have trials, but He suffered them too that he might be able to succor us. And we have yet to gain His attributes, but nevertheless this is why we have our trials.

So as we think on our Savior this month, think about your own lives as well, what you have had to go through or what you are going through right now and think to yourself, How great it is that I have challenges in my life, because I have a Redeemer that has suffered the same and lives today, and helps me through these challenges that I might be able to come home to Him one day. How great it is! Let us remember Him in our trials, and thank Him for them, because of the blessings that they yield once they are gone.

To end this letter, I will attach the lyrics to Be Still My Soul, one of my favorite hymns.

1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay
From His own fulness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Be safe, and remember your Redeemer. I love you all!

Elder Dredge

Elder Braden K. Dredge

Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission

Baptism of Mario by Elder Dredge ~ 27 November 2017

New Companion ~ Elder Martinez (Honduras)