Hey! How was your week this past week? I hope it was straight-up blessed.
This was a rather normal week, but I have been noticing changes in mentality. One, if you wake up very tired, or if you are tired in the middle of the day, you do not have to feel or act tired. A little bit of lost sleep or lack of energy does not have to restrict you from a change of mood. I won't lie, I'm not a not-weird person, but I personally like to sing the Mr. Rogers theme song. Two, it is always good to count your blessings. It can give you a bright attitude towards the day. You can see the good in the course of events of the day, the things that you see, the things that you have in your house and in your neighborhood and in your town, the people that you know and the things that they are good at, the things you are good at, the trials that you have in your life, and the wonderful life that you have. Because let's be real here... if we have so many reasons to be happy, why not we be happy? Let's continue to count our blessings!
Anyway, I would just like to share an experience I had yesterday. To introduce these things, allow me to say that I know that the Lord watches over His children. He is the Lord over our lives. He knows our struggles. He gives us our lives to be able to progress, and it is the difficult times which help us progress the most. He knows what we need in the very moment we need them. We all need to learn dependence on the Lord. We all need to learn trust in Him. We all need to learn how to come unto Him, and allow His atoning sacrifice to bless our lives. Regardless, we may experience things in which we think, "How could there be another living being who knows exactly what I am going through? There is absolutely no one that I know. How can I be comforted? Is this the way life is supposed to be?" But let it be known that when Jesus Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He took upon himself our pains, each and every one, that He might know how to succor us (Alma 7:11-12). He knows us perfectly and is anxious to bless us. And that which Jesus Christ did for us, His great atoning work, He still does, and does it because He loves us.
"We visited with a mother of a less active family who has been struggling with work and has had marital problems earlier this year. We shared with her and her family an activity which is called Cristo el la Razon (Christ is the Reason). The Spirit was very strong in the room as the family sat imagining Christ in front of them. The mother particularly was touched. We were inspired to say that even in times when we think absolutely nobody understands what it is we are suffering, Christ knows perfectly. In her prayer, she thanked the Lord for 'sending us in the most opportune time, the moment when she needed us most.' We were humbled to be instruments of the Lord in that very instance.
"We also visited with another mother of a less active family, who has been struggling with marital problems. Her house is right under the house of other family. We were about to say goodnight and goodbye to her too, but we decided to walk right on over. We found her weeping by the door of her house, being comforted by a couple of her children. When Elder Reyes (my companion) asked if there was anything we could do for her, she said, 'Pray, just pray for me, Elders.' We were just about to leave but then I asked, 'Is it okay if we sit down and stay for a little while with you, sister?' She sent her kids into the house to have just her eldest son out with us. As we listened to her, we discovered that her husband, whom we visited just a week back, has been physically and emotionally abusive to her. We had seen absolutely no sign of it, we were quite shocked. Elder Reyes was particularly able to relate with her and share his counsel because he has gotten out of that family situation, and he told me, 'Me duele tanto que una otra familia sufre eso' (It hurts me so much that another family would suffer that). We reminded her of some truths wrought by the Atonement, that 'we can faith in not just our own change, but in that others can change too,' and that 'there are things within our control which we can do to be able to bring a spirit of love and peace in your home.' We referred her to the bishop and invited her to sing with us a hymn, and create a practice with her kids to read scriptures and pray together and sing hymns. She was very thankful that we came. Elder Reyes remarked that night, 'In those two moments, we were where we should have been'."
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Have a wonderful week, and don't forget to spend a moment every day counting at least a good lot of the blessings which our beloved Father in Heaven confers unto you.
Your friend,
Elder Dredge
Elder Braden K. Dredge
Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission
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