Hey folks! How is everyone going?
Speaking of saluting in English, can someone remind me how to do it? And when? Do people salute each other and say Good morning or Good afternoon when walking on the streets passing by? Is it weird? And if someone remembers how I called out to them from a distance, if I ever did, how did I do it? Was it weird? Do people do that in the first place? I am really starting to forget my English life and it is awesome but at the same time I feel like I'm not going to have certain basic social skills when I return. Nevertheless, I have no problem with being a little bit more like Mr. Rogers when that time comes.
I just want to express again how grateful I am to be serving a mission right now. I am overcoming some hard times in the work with new people to talk to and to help out, along with new methods to do so. We started using a USB to share messages with new folks to teach and less actives members of the Church, and apparently the people here love it!
But again, I cannot fully express my joy in being here right here and right now. Everyday, I think about how what I'm doing will help me in the future. I can be studying right now, or hanging out with my friends, or spending time with family, or playing a lot more piano, and these are all things I love, but I feel like what I am doing right now is helping me to prepare to do better and with more focus on the Lord literally anything I could imagine doing upon return. I want to come back a better friend, a better brother, a better son than I was before the mission, as well as a better student, worker, spouse and father than I would be had I not chose to serve a mission. I just love having the time to really focus on my own conversion to the Lord and helping others better their own.
My friends from the other side of the equator, I would encourage you to ponder about what you are doing in your life right now, and how it is helping you becoming (or how it can help you become) more converted to the Lord, no matter how familiar this question or concept is to you.
Studying in college to focus on your career might seem rather secular, depending on what your career is but speaking for the majority. Studying in high school as well, for that matter. Work too. Being a father, or a mother, or a sister, or a brother, or an aunt, or an uncle, or a cousin, or a grandfather or grandson, etcetera, is natural since we are born in families, but even more than our studies or our jobs or hobbies, being a member of a family is something that the Lord has endowed all of us for a reason. Every moment in our life, we are dedicating our time and our passions to help ourselves and to help other people. We are surrounded by choices. We are surrounded by our friends and family. We have special talents and abilities, those which are unique to us and those which we share with others. How can all of this not be part of a grand plan proposed by God?
It does not matter what path we are on, we are watched over and cared for by our loving Heavenly Father, and we have a loving Savior who knows our daily struggles and pains on a deep level due to his expiatory sacrifice, and wants us to overcome all that we struggle even as He did. So, why not we live each day of our lives, pondering these things, and how our Lord can help us. What power and ability does my Savior Jesus Christ have that has helped Him overcome my struggles and afflictions, associated with the things I do each day, when He personally suffered them for me in the Garden of Gethsemane? What attributes and qualities does He have that would help me in my own roles in my life if I had them? And what can I do to procure this ability that He has, these qualities that He has, that I might be able to fulfill my roles in my life more completely, and thereby come nigher unto Him?
Brothers and sisters, I can testify that it is simple. Learn the principles of the Gospel, and how to apply them - the which are faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Apply the principles of the Gospel to your role in your life, and how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can help you. And if these principles are new to you, though the questions are familiar, ask the missionaries for help - and without hesitation. Go to that building or ask a Mormon friend, get that number, call them, set a time to visit, and let them help you apply these principles to your life. Do not put your salvation to the side, nor your desire to follow your Savior. (I would write with less urgency, but the truth is I have to do so because this is only a weekly blog and not daily.) I can only promise that that which you desire of your Savior to grant you, he will give. "Pedid, y recibiréis; llamad, y se os abrirá." Make it a personal option to pray when you need help, and use that option first every single time. And think about these things, the things that the Lord has given you, and thank your Lord for them upon realizing them. It is hard life, but we have a simple Gospel. It is an imperfect, cruel world, but we have a perfect, loving Savior. I testify of the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in His sacred name, Amen.
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Dredge
Elder Braden K. Dredge
Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission
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