My beloved brethren of the West, it's a pleasure to speak to you again.
I just realized that, in all my time being here in Zone 18 in Guatemala, I haven't reported
anything about guns... but I don't bring any news of worry. I've been in some very tranquil
parts all of my mission. I am not encountering any mareros (gangsters) around here,
thankfully. I have seen many sick and poor dogs... and I have seen a great few drunkards
walking around who happen to know a great lot of English, one of which who we met this
week, and we will baptize him by July, but for now, Guatemala has treated me well. My
dog bites basically don't leave any scar now, and the scar higher up on my leg from my
paintball accident is still apparent and itches from time to time but it's all good. So there's
that. And I am often still encountering interesting people, but not toooo interesting. We've
been meeting with a middle aged man who is incredibly intelligent and has studied the
Bible quite a lot, but has a great doubt about recognizing impressions from the Spirit. He
thinks that there isn't a way to discern the Spirit of God from an angel of light (the devil).
So we'll see how it goes the next time we meet with him!
This past week I also reached a high point of the strength of my companionship with Elder
Sinto. He has just 9 more days left in the mission but he is nonetheless "echando fuego"
(throwing fire, or in other words working super hard). And he helped me explain one of my
biggest doubts during my mission. He asked me why I wanted to serve a mission, and be
sincere in my response. I told him that I honestly felt a responsability as a member of this
Church to serve as a missionary. It is a type of service that only those who hold the restored
Priesthood of Christ could take on. I want to at least show my Heavenly Father, as well as
my family, that I could be His servant and share the blessings I have received thanks to His
Gospel to my brothers and sisters in whatever part of the world. And I would like to say
with the fulness of my heart that it is because of my love for the Lord. But I come to ask
myself, how much do I truly love the Lord? And if I don't love the Lord as much as I desire
to love Him, how can I learn to love Him more? Elder Sinto affirmed my desire to serve by
duty, and helped me understand how to learn to love the Lord more. So the question is: how
does one develop greater love for God?
It is similar to how one develops a muscle. You can increase its size upon using heavier
weights in coordinated movements. But increasing the size of the muscle should not be the
end goal, but rather enjoying the process of becoming stronger. And how does a muscle
become stronger? The muscle is strengthened when it is exerted to its limit. It experiences
opposition. It performs its best. It takes on the weight heavier than weeks before to be able
to experience pain. And what I personally noted from the metaphor is that increased strength
does not come before exertion of strength, but afterward.
So how does that apply to developing greater love for God? The key is to not receive the
love first, but to seek opportunities to increase it. This comes by, first, expressing the love
you already have... and I often don't take this into account. And I think the grand majority
of us already love others quite a lot. Let's not forget that every time we are serving our
brethren, we are doing our Father a favor (Mosiah 2:17). And then we seek more
opportunities to love, perhaps to love more than perhaps we are capable. And we pray for
the ability to do so (Moroni 7:45-48).
Now, my friends on the other side of the hemisphere, I encourage you all to think upon
this metaphor as you personally strive to love God more. Seek to strengthen your heart
in the same way you strengthen your muscle. Ask yourself if you are doing your best.
Ask yourself if you are serving others as you would like to be served. Ask yourself if
your very presence helps another person understand what it is like to be in the presence
of our Savior. We can learn from the example of our Savior himself, as He had the highest
degree of love for us, and, by suffering the greatest heights of pain in our place, showed
us that love. Even in the process, it was hard for Him; and why was it hard for him?
Because He had never sought to give such a high expression of love, an expression of love
which was even the most painful of all. But we know that Christ himself, in paying the
price of our sins, has exerted himself to the highest of limits, has experienced all the
opposition we would face in our lives (Alma 7:11-12) and has performed His best.
My friends, I know that Jesus lives, and He loves us, and guides us to come unto Him. I
know that His plan is perfect, and is better than our own. I know that if we exercise faith
in Him and allow Him to change us, doing everything we can to follow Him, we will be
forgiven of our sins, and even our very natures will be changed. "For we labor diligently
to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be
reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do"
(2 Nephi 25:23). The grace of Christ has played a large impact in my life, and I know
that by it, even though at times I struggle to recognize it, I realize now that I have come
to love my Heavenly Father more than ever before. Jesus is the Christ. I say these things
in His sacred name, amen.
Have a wonderful week, and might I remind you to count your blessings too.
Your friend and your Elder among the Mayans,
Elder Dredge (or you could say Elder Dread-hay, I'm still fine with that)
Elder Braden K. Dredge
Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission
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