Hey! I hope you had a wonderful week this week. This one was pretty cool for me.
I just want to share a little something. Over here we put an emphasis in our work on those who are already of the faith but are falling in some way. Elder Reyes and I had a couple experiences with this.
One was with a young lady Karol who has not gone to Church for some time. She has not related very well with the other young women her age because of her different lifestyle. She is the only member in her own family who is a member of the Church, so she really doesn't have a lot of support. Anyway, her main hobby is graffiti painting. We saw some of her works and I must say she is very talented. However, this talent of hers comes with a lifestyle--a certain type of people you get to know, a certain message you express with your art, and the such. Now, this led to an interesting conversation. Graffiti painting is a talent which indeed leads to a lifestyle that is perhaps one a bit apart of the way of the Gospel of Christ. But at the same time, I don't believe our Heavenly Father would give us a gift to put away, but rather let it shine. What came to mind is that graffiti is an art form, thus it is not about what exactly you say, but how you express it, thus you can express what you want. I offered my perspective on theater and of music, as those are two art forms I really have come to like. You can express what you desire with a theatrical performance just as well as the song that you wrote, so why not with the murals you paint on the cement walls on the streets of Guatemala?
What I want to convey with this is that our Heavenly Father knows us personally, and does not give us gift the which we cannot use unto Him. We are all blessed with gifts, speaking within the realm of the arts or not. Nevertheless, as sons and daughters of Him, just as of our parents on Earth, we carry His qualities. The Lord God made the Earth, aparted the land and oceans, and created His many different species, even the birds, the bears, the fish, and every thing in between... and He created all of the stars and the galaxies as well. And all of these things testify of Him, testifying to His wisdom and glory. Thus, why would we not ourselves, as His beloved creations, His spirit children, testify of Him?
And another which I will share in short was with a businessman who married a member of the Church and shared his conversion story along with his business. He shared how at one point he was in the "career rat wheel" until all of a sudden, one night in the hotel room where he stayed at the time, he prayed with all of his heart, asking what he can change so that he can have joy in his career and provide and support his family. And that was 16 years ago. He described his experience part by part, each having begun with a prayer. I reminded him that that is how revelation from God works--we don't receivee the entire answer in one moment, but we progress part by part until we reach the promised land, question by question, precept by precept.
In the Book of Mormon, there was a man who was known as the brother of Jared, or Mahonri Moriancumr. (Ether 1-3). He eventually had to flee from the tumbling tower of Babel, to reach the promised land. But that wasn't how the revelation was. He had to flee to the wilderness, then find wood and materials and everything to build barges to cross the sea, then find a source of air, and a source of light, so that he could reach the promised land, which happens to be here, on thee American continent. At first, he didn't even know of such a land, let alone that he had to flee to the wilderness until He asked the Lord. And Mahonri always knew exactly what he needed. Each part of the process, as he prayed for more counsel from the Lord, his will was more in tune with that of the Lord. Thus came the question which the Lord posed on him when he asked for a source of light for the boat.
24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea? (Ether 2:23-25)
And this is the way the Lord is with us. He knows our needs, even before we pray. So why do we ask? It is not because the Lord wants to bless us, but rather because the Lord desires that we come to be more like Him. More wise, more diligent, more humble, more faithful, more holy. The construction of barges, as our own personal pursuits, is perhaps temporal, but nonetheless we need to seek the counsel of the Lord. Perhaps in our own life's decisions we don't know where to live, or what kind of home, or if we should rent or buy, or what job we need to pursue, what classes to take, how much money to spend, all the such. But in all these things we are reaching the promised land. I imagine this letter only reaches those who lives in the States, or at least on the American continent, so allow me the freedom to say that God truly consecrated the land on which we live to experience liberty and blessings directly from Him as far as we obey His commandments and depend on Him.
My main message here is that we should remember to depend on God. We should always consider that which is within our strength and that which isn't. And when we recognize that which isn't within our strength, we should pray. And we should pray even before thinking about it. And then we should pray after thinking about it. And then we should pray even if we are still thinking about it, the thing which concerns us, or the problem wee cannot solve, or thee aspect of our lives that we are trying to fix. We are always dependent on God, for He always gives us something that we need to overcome. And I testify to you that He never gives us a trial or problem or decision harder than we can handle. He will help us in every step of life. The answers do not come all at once, but rather precept by precept. I know that if we continue in consistent, fervent and sincere communication with our Heavenly Father in prayer, He will give us the answers, and He will provide us with His strength to hold us up and to do that which He asks us if we find it beyond the strength which we already have.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Have a wonderful week! Always count your blessings.
Elder Dredgee
Elder Braden K. Dredge
Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission
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