Monday, 24 September 2018 ~ Week #61

Hey everybody! It's Elder Dread-hey, and boy am I excited to share my week with you all.

I'm now working with my new companion, Elder Antunez. We hit it off super well this week, he's

 already like a brother to me. He's from Honduras, and has 10 months in the mission. And I am 

apparently his third companion from Oregon! He is a super playful guy, likes to joke around, but 

he is also very dedicated and humble. We have made a good team as we have worked together this 

week, I'm going to enjoy this transfer with him.

We are also sharing lots of spiritual experiences. We have been really dedicating ourselves to focus 

on the most important people and their most important problems, loving them and serving them, 

while in the process talking to as many people as we can and blessing them, befriending them, and 

serving them. It really hit me this week, to remember to just lose myself in service. It has been

 much like a mood for me throughout the mission, as it has come for long periods of time, and has 

gone for periods of time as well. And I have been so much happier and content with the things I 

have been doing every day with my companion. I would like for it to be a way of life and a way of 

being rather than a mood so that I could feel this happy for the rest of my life.

Here a couple experiences I would like to share with you all, the first which I shared with my 

wonderful mom, and the second I shared with my mission president.

1. We visited the Pascual family for the first time, who are relatives of the Ramirez, and this visit 

was wholly led by the Spirit. Everyone who was there gathered and directed us to the mother who 

was laying sick in her bed, and she asked us to give her a blessing. We weren't sure if she was 

member in the way that she asked, so we showed her a scripture in James 5 about calling the elders 

to give an anointing and a blessing. And so there we were, my companion giving the blessing, and 

everyone in the family gathered, witnessing the blessings of the restored gospel. It was awesome.

 And right after, we spoke to all of them, establishing our relationship with them as missionaries, 

messengers of the Lord to teach His gospel, and desirous to help them understand and experience 

its blessings again (almost all of them were baptized as children in the Church). There was one, 

Estuardo Pascual, who was talking with us about what he remembers from going to Church, and he 

told us he wants to come back again, and bring his wife too (she is not a member). He told us he 

wants to find a new job however, because his boss will not allow him Sundays off, and if he 

attempts, he may lose the job, and not know where else to go to find employment. We asked him to 

bring up the My Path to Self-Reliance packet on his phone (--a packet provided by the Church that 

helps members to be self sufficient--), and helped him to understand the purpose, and we even 

returned to bring him a triplet of the Scriptures so that he could read it and follow along with the 

Scriptures. He was committed to do it. We will see how's he doing, but we were so glad to be able 

to help him.

2. We were able to have an unplanned afternoon as a family yesterday with a young boy (10 years 

old) named Christopher. He has already gone to church three times and likes it, but he didn't go 

these last three weeks because of sickness in the part of his family who has been bringing him, and 

this last week he didn't go because all of a sudden his father didn't let him go. We had the first 

chance to really have an appointment with him yesterday and we observed that he wasn't able to 

decide firmly to get baptized because of this division in his family; he lives with his father, but his 

grandmother, his two older sisters, and his uncle live in a different house. But when we came, we 

were able to talk with him and his grandmother, and we began to teach the Restoration. Right when 

we were about to talk about Joseph Smith, his sisters came and joined us. And when we talked 

about the Book of Mormon, his sisters bore to him such heartfelt testimonies. His older sister 

apologized to him for her hard personality, and expressed to him that he wanted to know how much

 she loved him and wanted him to feel the joy that the Gospel brings. He was crying, both sisters 

were crying, the grandmother was crying too... we were all kind of crying right there, because the 

Spirit was present, and his heart was opened. We hope he remembers this experience, and takes his 

sisters' commitment to read the Book of Mormon every day.

This was the main scripture that moved me this week to serve these families.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may 

learn that when ye are in the service of your fellowbeings ye are only in the 

service of your God.

Is there any one way in which we can learn to develop a stronger desire to serve God and to love 

him and to obey him? Yes, and it is being the ray of sunlight in the life of another person, in small 

or big ways, every day. We develop more love for God as we develop more love for His children, 

and we develop more love for His children in the way that He loves them when we follow the 

Savior's example and serve them, blessing them and helping them using our God-given talents, 

gifts, experience and abilities. This is, indeed, the essence of Gospel-living. I know that this Gospel 

is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I say in 

the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week! And think to yourself everyday, in every situation, What would the Savior 

do if He were in my situation? What would I do if He were standing beside me? Pray unto Him to 

guide you and help you and comfort you, remember these things, and thank Him for the blessings 

you experience, and in this manner will you come closer to Christ.

Elder Dredge

Elder Braden K. Dredge

Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission

New companion ~ Elder Antunez (Honduras)

Monday, 17 September 2018 ~ Week #60

Hey folks, how's everything going on the other side?

It's been a bit of a tough week over here, but that's okay. And I am sad to say that my beloved companion Elder Cifuentes will be leaving. He has been an awesome companion, and I learned a lot with him. He showed me how to be have fun on the mission while still being an obedient disciple of Jesus Christ, and how to laugh at myself when I made mistakes. I'm going to miss the guy a lot.

Something that has been pressing on my mind is remembering the way Jesus Christ treated others. I try to remember this as I pray and read the Scriptures and live the Gospel. I think that in times I have been hard with myself, striving to repent and be more like Him. But when I turn back to Him and remember the manner in which He treated those who had a sincere desire to improve and to follow Him, I realize that I could do the same, and go back to work and serve. And I have learned that the Gospel is indeed true, because I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life, making little and slight but noticeable changes in me, as well as in the lives of those whom I teach and serve. I know that He is the Savior, and that He has restored His Church. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, and continue to count your blessings!

Elder Dredge

Elder Braden K. Dredge

Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission

Scenic Gualan ~ Taking a moment

Monday, 10 September, 2018 ~ Week #59

Hey folks! How's life going on the other side? It's getting kind of hot over here, just in case you're wondering. Sweating buckets! But it's all good, I've got a rag I carry around all day.

There are some super neat stuff going on here in Gualan, Guatemala. We found this very special family, the Ramirez family. Guilfredo, the father of the family, was an active member of the church in his youth but inactivated when he was 17. He wanted to serve a mission, and prepared diligently, and worked to earn money for it, but when he turned 18 he already couldn't because his family didn't support his decision to leave and in the end he didn't go. Our first encounter with him was on a mototaxi, and he helped us get to a place far out in our area, and we fixed an appointment for a day to meet his family. Short story short, we met with the family, shared the message of the Restoration of the Gospel, and this helped spark something in him.

Now, what happened directly afterward surprised me. His two sons, Edwin (14) and Nobel (18), ran to us to talk with us as we were walking out the door. Nobel came to us with a question, and asked: ''How much time do I need, and what do I need to do, to go out and preach the Gospel like you guys do?'' Now, how special was that to hear this question from such a humble young man like Nobel! He told us that he was baptized when he was 11 and he wants to make some changes in his life to be able to serve. His little brother also wants to serve, and he isn't even a member yet! We praised them for their courage and faith, to ask us for help, and we encouraged them to go to church and go to seminary. This was such a special moment, and we are working and planning all we can to help these young men prepare.

Now, is this not a testimony that the Lord watches over His children? I can testify that He does, and He always gives a second chance. He is truly the one with the plan, and we are here to follow it. I feel particularly blessed to be an essential part of the plan of salvation for another person, as a holder of the restored priesthood authority to preach the Gospel and help others to prepare to meet God and attain peace in this life. And I know that through me, as well as through all the missionaries I know, the Lord is directing his children, and inviting them, and guiding them, step by step to come unto Him, and repent. I know that He lives. His plan is perfect. Jesus Christ is the center of the plan, and without Him we are without hope. Because of Jesus Christ, we will one day return to live with Him and with our families. We are so blessed to have the restored Gospel, and I would invite anyone to learn more about it, pray about it, and live it. I am especially grateful for the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed my life, and how it has helped me to build more faith, repent, and come closer to the Savior. I know that it is a true book, written by prophets, and translated by a prophet of God. I know that these things are true, and I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, folks! Always count your blessings!

Elder Dredge

Elder Braden K. Dredge

Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission

Monday, 3 September 2018 ~ Week #58

It looks like many of my friends are going to school again, high school and college. So, to my folks who are going to begin studying again this week, I give you this message: Prayers are sent your way. You are probably thinking about the benefits of what you are doing right now, and how it will affect your future. You are probably thinking about what you are going to do to relax when the homework gets piled all of a sudden. You are probably already expecting stress, if not distress. Just remember to live in the present, learn from the past, and prepare for the future -- but live in the present! Enjoy the relaxed moments. Enjoy the busy moments. Make plans and set deadlines and times during the day to do things, and focus on what's important. Put the 30 minutes aside that you need to do something, and put aside some break time. If you feel like you need to relax, and there is something that you like to do that helps you relax AND is productive, like exercising, reading, playing the piano (my personal favorite), do it. Enjoy the busy moments and enjoy the relaxed moments. Your life is a gift from God, so why not we make the most out of it, and in the way He desires we would?

I have learned a lot from my service as a missionary about how precious time is. I've especially been impressed by what I have been learning just the past week. We try to be in and out of a house in 30 minutes, using 15 minutes to share a message and helping our investigators to change their lives for the better, and use another 30 minutes to try to talk to more people. And the things we help our investigators do require time too. Time and effort. But we try to help others to see the blessings of 10-15 minutes of reading the Book of Mormon, saying a prayer of 1-3 minutes at least twice every day, and going to Church for 3 hours each week, and we help them get as much as they can out of those 20 or more spiritual minutes every day, and that 3 hours every week, so that they can enjoy the real purpose of all those hours, which is coming unto Christ, developing a relationship with Him and experiencing the blessings of His Atonement.

So, I would strongly encourage you to enjoy every moment. Be patient with yourself, and trust in Christ and His Atonement. Try to look at your life from a 30,000 foot building, and trust that God knows all the details that you don't. Trust that He loves you, and that He is helping you to come unto Him if you seek Him, and that He accepts you as you are and is there to guide you to perfection. He only expects your best. Be thankful for the blessings you receive from Him. Learn of Him, and follow Him, and you will experience even more joy. Living the Gospel is not an easy way of living, but it is the happiest way of living if you allow it to be. I promise these things, and I leave them with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Dredge

Elder Braden K. Dredge

Guatemala Guatemala City East Mission

Piano lessons in Gualan

The very talented Elder Cifuentes

Beautiful!