Monday, 24 June 2019 ~ Week #100

Hey everybody!

How is everybody doing? Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to see you all in just 17 days! Nonetheless, don't worry about me being trunky! Thankfully I am not feeling the trunky as hard as other companions of mine, hahaha.

This was actually a very different week. We are starting to see miracles poco a poco here in reopened Lomas del Norte. The Lord has put many referrals, those from members of the Church and those from His own hand, in our path, and we have been getting to know them all. We were blessed with a mission leader just yesterday, and we spent the entire afternoon with him, finding lots of success. We brought Pablo to church, who hadn't gone since he was a little child, and because of this was never baptized, and he already has many friends in mutual and seminary. Gustavo came to Church this Sunday, but we are helping his sister Ana to come too, and not only this but also help her to have faith that everything will go well in the university, and also to help her children study and focus so that she would allow them to go to Church too. She has good principles; she just needs to have faith in Christ, and let this influence her priorities.

Other things that happened: Everything is going super chill with my companion. We made a cake for the ward council this week and they really liked it. We just wanted to show our love for them and our appreciation for their service. I've been helping my companion Elder Lopez to cook and now he's learning a good lot, even though I am amateur at best when it comes to cooking. I am loving the mission. :)  

It's been very interesting overall, this whole process. It makes me reflect that we truly, truly, truly cannot do this work alone in this ward. When the investigators have friends from the Church who minister to them, they retain their sincere interest to learn, regardless of their economic circumstances, and regardless of whether or not we could visit them regularly or not. Truly the Lord is working through His servants, and taking care of His children. And it humbles me that only little of my work is part of the great work that He does for them.

In spite of this, I feel like I am needed in every moment, and because of this I continue every now and then to talk with the people in our path. I feel like the testimony that I have of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can be what perhaps anyone around me need to keep them going in life, and to be a guide in a world of confusion and many difficult decisions. I wish that all could hear, but unfortunately the hard hearts will not hear. Regardless, I will keep sharing with my Father's children, and I will seek His direction as I walk and as I talk about His children so that He may bless them through my ministry. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that it is by Him that people are changed. I know this because of the change He has brought about in me. In these things is where my joy is found. And as I think about the work that my fellow missionaries do in my mission, as well as my friends in other missions, my joy enlarges, because I know that they are experiencing these same miracles, for themselves and in the lives of those they teach. What a glorious work!

I know that this is Christ's Church. I have a firm testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and in the inspiration of His prophets and apostles in the present day. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, my friends and my kindred!

Your friend and servant,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 17 June 2019 ~ Week #99

Hey folks!!

Just got done with a good, but rather hard week. Basically all of the investigators that we had on the roll in the first week have been busy this week too. It's been a real struggle. I don't feel tired, neither do I feel sad, but I do feel a bit exasperated. Nevertheless, I know that my Heavenly Father has granted me this experience to learn just a little bit more in these last few weeks. I have been in this situation before, so I will strive again to seek more of His guidance and to have His Spirit with me. My companion and I are striving to talk with more people between appointments... not necessarily to find investigators, though we are thinking about that too. We are doing it because we want the Spirit with us.

There are certain things of which the mission work is really comprised, at the heart.  To me, the mission work is: ("Everyday, I want to..."

- To invite others to live a similar way in which I live; to do, know, and feel the things that make me happy.

- To encourage others to take the next step and strive to live like the One like whom I am striving to live.

- To talk with people and to serve them in the way I would that they would serve me.

- To explain to them how Jesus changed me to be the person that I am, to help them get a glimpse of what they can become.

- To help others have experiences with the Spirit, so that they would desire to always have it (Moroni 4:3).

- To explain to them the terms I use which are related with my own spiritual experiences, so that they could understand them with their own words, and have spiritual experiences with those things (the Holy Ghost, peace, forgiveness, prayer, repentance, testimony, priesthood, prophets, Scriptures, the Savior, etc.).

Ether taught that those who have great faith could "have a firm hope in a better world," or in other words a sure knowledge of being surrounded by people who are more spiritual and faithful and kind, who live the principles Christ taught, if we do what is in our reach and control to be a cause. Our example in how we live the Gospel is the loudest statement to others as to how they should live it as well. We can inspire others to live it, and then encourage them to make changes in their own lives to come closer to the Savior. Praying and reading the Book of Mormon are among the most important things, but constantly, in the process, we should be inspiring and inviting others to treat others as the Savior did, so that they might as well, and thus know for sure that every day we are living in "a better world." That is what the Gospel offers to us when we live it. And it is marvelous.

I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus lives and continues to direct His church. I know that by Him and through His Atoning sacrifice sinners can be forgiven, and that the impure can be made pure. He is our Savior and Redeemer, and patiently but insistingly encourages all of us, every day, to be more like Him. I know that He is the Christ. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.

Have a beautiful, wonderful week, my brothers and sisters!

Elder Dredge

Monday, 10 June 2019 ~ Week #98

My fellow Gringo brothers and sisters, how is everyone doing?

This week I actually didn't write too much in my diary, but that doesn't meant it wasn't that less special! We had the great blessing to get to know and serve many more members from the ward by way of the lunch and dinner calendar that we made in the ward council this last week. It was awesome!

As to investigators, here's what we have. We have Gustavo, who is a very bright, polite and spiritual kid, 12 years old, whose sister has been supporting him a lot more now than she has before, and whose nephews (her sons) are also learning with us. He's received the missionaries for a while, so we went through the baptismal interview with him, and the only problems he had was knowing who the prophet was, and remembering some commandments. And apart from that, we are just making sure he and his family has friends in Church, and we have been able to get some kids to take him to mutual. He's a really good kid. The worst thing he has ever done was take a bag of money that a man left which he was going to give to him after a thirty minute wait, expecting that the man who drove away from it would come back. Aaaand he spent the money.

"Gustavo, did you feel bad for doing that," we asked, laughing because he was telling the story so innocently.

"Yes."

"Don't do it again then!"

We also have Hector who has been struggling with lots of things. He had some operations on his hands in the weeks before, but thankfully he had healed. Unfortunately, this week he began to work again, and so we haven't seen him for ten days. Thankfully he has also developed a lot of confidence in the Young Single Adults group through the chat they invited him on, and they have been super consistent! Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to go to the activities. But that's not the real problem. What's more unfortunate is that he has an addiction to alcohol and smoking which he desperately wants to get rid of but hasn't yet been able to. Moreover, his aunt died this last weekend, so he is even more down, and has been missing out on Church at the same time. He is going through a real hard point. Thankfully, the YSA have been sending him messages of hope, and reminding him that things will be alright.

I am very humbled to be working here. I am seeing the Lord do so much for His children. Seeing how He has been taking so good care of His children while we haven't fully been able to due to schedule conflicts, I feel even more convinced that I need to be working harder! I will fully admit, I think I got a little bit tired physically, and because of that I haven't been so diligent. And because of that lack of diligence, I have felt like a slacker. And because of that, I haven't felt so much of the Spirit. That is something I want to change.

This is something that I have taught better in previous letters, but is something I desire to teach better than ever these last four weeks of my full time service. It doesn't matter how many will progress, because the message of the Gospel is for everyone. Yes, we need to give more focus and minister more to those who will progress more spiritually, but we cannot leave everyone else behind. EVERYONE NEEDS THE GOSPEL, and EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE INVITED TO IT. It begins with an imperfect believer of Jesus Christ talking about Him and about His life, and about their own life, allowing others to observe how their live is affected by His. It begins with that, and then what happens? Seeds are planted, and plants are nourished. Let's be more diligent in the cause of Christ, repent, strengthen our testimonies, sanctify ourselves, and do all we can to have the Spirit with us, so that we can do it better! This is my message to you, my brothers and sisters, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful, beautiful, spiritual week!

Your servant,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 3 June 2019 ~ Week #97

Weekly Letter #97

Hey everybody out there!

I am so, so happy right now. Tired, but super content. It was a great first week in the final area. I would actually like to share some stuff I wrote in my diary so that you all can catch what I felt in the moment.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

I don't think I have ever been happier! Elder Lopez, my new companion from Mexico, and I have just finished our second day officially working in Lomas del Norte, opening it now after 6 months only receiving missionaries time after time. I am so happy to be serving this ward with this companion, and I am pleased to know that this will be the last. I feel so relaxed, so happy, so natural!

Yesterday was a little bit hard, because we didn't quite know what to do, haha. The elders of Juana de Arco came over and gave us the area book and a bunch of documents and told us, "There you go! Everything you could know about the area!" And it actually was! ...

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Today was impressive! We began with ministering to investigators with Jeremy and Jimena, both who are preparing for the mission. We confirmed an appointment with Yuli, an investigator who has desires to be baptized, and she started to cry on the telephone call and said it would be better to come another day. We let her know that she was included in our prayers as well as many from the ward. Now, this call was after a call to Natali Rios, Relief Society president, who offered to send a sister to buy a treat and help Yuli out. So we went with the flow! ...

We walked over to Juli's house and knocked, but no one answered; even the windows were closed from the inside. About to leave, she finally came with her her little daughter. We gave her the pastry, along with a card we wrote for her, and she was very grateful. ...

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Wow, I am so wiped out of whatever energy I could possibly have, but at the same time am so p leased with what we've done this week. We've gained the confidence of so many members and have started iniatives for a lot of things, thanks to our visits with them and to the ward council today. We will be having a dinner wih each member of the ward council this week; we have a calendar set up for this week in the which we already have plans to viit investigators with members, and in the which the members would go and visit on the days we don't visit them. We've received a good number of referrals. We have also shared a great deal of spiritual experiences with the members who have been helping us and with the investigators we've taught. Things are going fantastic with Elder Lopez, we kicked it off real well. I don't think I could be any more content! I am so happy!

(Thursday)

We visited first the mother and sister Vivianne of Hector Boror, an investigator with a baptismal date who has assisted a different ward Llano Largo already 3 times. After some chat about religious beliefs, we talked with them about the Book of Mormon, and promised them the blessing of coming to know Christ more than ever before. Jeremy was with us and testified sincerely to this, having been born in the Church, nevertheless having obtained a testimony of his own. Then Hector came! We read in 1 Nephi 5 with him and he was certainly impressed to see how the Book of Mormon prophets read the Bible too. More impressed than him perhaps was his mom, who was sitting right there listening! And then he agreed to start assiting lomas, taking into account the difficulty of going to Llano Largo, and already recognizing the support he's received from the members of Lomas. This was an important step taken, and proved to be the most important thing done that day. ...

(Saturday)

Though we didn't have appointments, we did have a neat experience with Dominic, an active member. He invited us to go to a bread shop with him and talk about some referrals he had for us. And this turned out to be a very sweet conversation. He told us that every time he hung out with his girlfriend who isn't member, he saw the missionaries pass by. And he's had some doubts, majorly as to whether he should end the relationship due to dangers of her passing his limits, or whether he should invite her to come to Church, etc. He said he's talked with her bout the Gospel and she has felt the Spirit. He said he also feels like she has different intentions than he does. We encouraged him to pray, understand perfectly his situation, because we have had to make choices like that too before going on the mission. We encouraged him to exepress everything that concerned him in his prayer. ... And then he invited us to a TON of bread!!! We had to thank him a lot for the time he shared with us, along with that bread. He was all the more grateful that we were able to resolve his biggest doubts.

That's just a blip actually, because I honestly do not have enough time to rewrite everything I wrote in my journal. There was just so much that happened.

My testimony that the Savior guides His church has strengthened. I have come to adequately look at myself as His servant, through the way that I have prayed and how the Savior has given me opportunities to fulfill the requests I make in my prayers -- the requests to serve Him and find His sheep, along with being an example to the members, and forgiving me for my faults. The Spirit has been our constant guide. I am so grateful to be a part of His church. I know He has a plan for all of us, and a particular assignment, calling, and mission for all of us to complete if we so desire it. Of all things, the most satisfying mission, calling, or assignment we could fulfill and magnify is in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Your friend,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 27 May 2019 ~ Week #96

Weekly Letter #96

Hello world!!!!

This week was my last week as a traveling missionary. We ended with success, helping the missionaries find new people to teach after a hard week, and helping their investigators to have spiritual experiences with the Gospel. One of these very special moments was particularly cool.

Elaulio, a member who visits a far sector of the area with us, is the only member of his family who is a convert in the Church. He told us about his daughters, one of which is Catholic and the other who is an Evangelical pastor, and how they had received the missionaries before. They hadn't received missionaries for a long time, so we asked him if this was the opportune moment, and he said it perhaps was. So we went and sat down with the whole family, and began to talk about the Spirit. After some discussion on the topic, it was just us with Elaulio and his daughter Claudia who grew up Catholic but was baptized in an Evangelical church. As we listened to her, we found that she had always struggled to feel the Spirit because of the many distractions there are during the day, and had hardly felt it in any church. We began showing her how she could recognize it by showing her 1 Kings 19:11-13. She then told us about how she doesn't feel worthy of feeling it because of her weaknesses and feelings of unworthiness to speak with the Lord. That was when we shared the account of the brother of Jared in Ether 3 in the Book of Mormon and helped her understand his prayer so that she could speak with the Lord in the same reverent manner. She told us that she was beginning to feel that Spirit, and that she had never felt it even with the other missionaries that had come. We then spent the rest of the appoi ntment talking about baptism, showing her how she could feel the Spirit more consistently, and explaining certain things with personal experiences with feeling the Spirit, and in the end she said she couldn't fully understand nor accept that she would need to be baptized again. We invited her to pray. She did so, and did wait for an answer, but unfortunately it didn't come. We were not alarmed, because she still has a doubt, and only needed to study more on the matter in order for the Spirit to testify to her. So we left her with something to study, and she said she would do so willingly. This was an important step in the process of her conversion.

We also had an opportunity to work with different areas due to necessity and logistics, and so I worked with Elder Aranda from Peru in Las Villas in a far sector of his area called San Pedro Ayumpuc. It was a special experience, as upon talking with the first family we visited we helped encourage them to come to Church again, and not just to come to Church but to continue learning about the Gospel and resolving their doubts. As a result of the confidence we gained with them, we were able to set a baptismal date with their son, as well as set that same date with the family friend who was there working with them, who has been wanting to investigate the Church and serve a mission. In the end of the visit we visited the Monroy family, a faithful family in the Church who unfortunately had had challenges with coming to Church due to work, and there are still family members who have not chosen to be baptized. We shared a special message with them, reminding them to be consistent and not "lose the practice" of practicing the Gospel so that they can be changed and hope for eternal life, and this helped Delmi, the daughter who had not been baptized, to receive encouragement to make the decision. She didn't have enough desires yet, but she said she would read the Book of Mormon with the family, and we promised her that upon doing so she would develop the desire and faith and love for the Lord necessary to be baptized. It was a wonderful visit.

I am thankful for the wonderful assignment, and not to mention my companion Elder Unruh for being a wonderful companion and support for me. He's been a stud, and though we hardly worked together (we always did divisions with the elders we worked with) we made the most out of our time when we ever were together.

I will now be opening Lomas del Norte, which was the area I helped out with the week before. I am super excited for this assignment, knowing that it will be my last and was what I petitioned to President Christensen that I would do; I just love that area and the people there. It will be a great experience.

I am thankful for all the experiences that the Lord has given me to mold me into the missionary and into the man that I am now. I feel pleased and satisfied with my work and for the person I am. He has made my weaknesses into strengths, and has made my strengths stronger. I know that His Gospel is true, for I am a witness of it, along with the power of the Savior's atoning sacrifice and endless, consistent support. I know that this is His Church, guided by prophets and apostles called by Him. I know that these things are true and I testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

My friends, my brethren, my family, my acquaintances, I wish you all a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 20 May 2019 ~ Week #95

Weekly Letter 95

Hello world!!!

I'm so happy to be able to speak to you this week.

It was a very interesting week, and was very fun at the same time. We worked in two areas this time, Juana de Arco and Lomas del Norte. They are both areas which are struggling, and because of this these two elders are assigned to them both. Well we went there as an experiment to see if they are good for having a companionship each assigned there. The main challenge in both, particularly Lomas, has been the support from the members in the work. But as we strived to get more of their support, we were able to teach more people, and encourage the leaders a little more to work with us.

Here are some special experiences.

1. First day, Elder Schandin (4 months in the mission, 20 years old, from Argentina) and I attended a ward correlation meeting. Unfortunately not everyone came, and it ended up being an informal meeting. However, while we were there, we began to come up with ideas for a "plan of action" but only as a joke. I was writing on that board, PLAN OF ACTION LOMAS DEL NORTE 2019-2020, which goals such as STRONGER TESTIMONIES, MORE CONVERTED MINISTERS, MORE READING OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. After that, we thought of some ideas to put them into practice, and we included how to use the ministration program and change the pairs to help less actives become ministers in a process, and how to involve the Book of Mormon in our appointments with members. The ward leaders that were there were impressed, took photos and shared ideas. We added a section for training, as to how to improve the quality of the carrying out of the tasks. One of them told us, "Elders, whatever you need us to do, we will do it. This looks like it can work. We will discuss this." In that moment, they saw what desires we had to bring the ward up and inspire them to make specific plans to become again more involved in the mission work.

2. Second day, Elder Earl (6 months in the mission, 18 years old, from Hawaii) finished an appointment with the Tobar family, which is a family that has received the missionaries for a year, but without much progress. Alan Tobar, the father of the family, is the only member of the Church, but he doesn't want to identify with it. He never let his family to learn about the Gospel in the past, and yet he has liberally allowed them to watch movies with him, eat dinner, sit around and do nothing, or chat with them about whatever. He has been the great stumblingblock. Notwithstanding, he really is a nice guy. And he has a very loving wife and a cheerful, youthful son who plays the guitar. In that moment, I strived to gain their confidence myself so that we could talk with them. I took a moment to play the guitar for the family (I played Classical Gas by I cannot remember the artist), and they enjoyed it. We took a moment to talk with them a lot, with a constant prayer to God to do what He needs me to do. We eventually asked how their experience has been receiving the missionaries in the past. The father told me, "Well, alright, what have you heard?" I told him that though I hadn't been in the area for too long, I was able to tell him that I understood that it has been difficult for the missionaries to teach them. He admitted so. Moments later we found ourselves talking about faith. Now the mother was raised Catholic but doesn't attend mass. The son doesn't have a church to go to but he believes in God. We shared with them as much as they would understand about faith, including that if the faith is not placed in the right thing, it cannot grow nor be nourished, and that to grow ones faith, one must have 1) belief that God exists, 2) a correct understanding of His true nature, and 3) a knowledge that one is doing His will. At the end no one had questions. But Elder Earl did. He was wondering why covenants were so important for salvation, and why the gift of the Holy Ghost is necessary to be purified. He asked me things about the resurrection and about the Spirit that had been bothering him and brought him to assume that eternal life could be gained by whoever desires to follow Christ and serve others, and nothing more, nothing with covenants. I helped him understand these things, and he was thankful for my explanation. Some things were hard to accept at first, but in the end he was able to understand. He was the most converted in that moment.

3. I wish I could give account of what happened after that, the second appointment. But in summary, by way of using the very knowledge Alan had about the Gospel, we showed his family that He has knowledge and a testimony of the things we were talking about with them, and by way of quoting his own commentaries we helped them understand what the Book of Mormon was, what its important is along with the Bible, and pulled up the Book of Mormon childrens animated videos on their TV screen (the comment "Let's watch a movie!" was used strategically here). In a way, Alan felt defeated, because he knew that his knowledge of the Gospel comes out naturally even without wanting to, and was able to see that the very testimony he needs to revive can help his own family become converted to the Gospel. His wife and son are both more than willing to come to know the Book of Mormon more. The first time in a year or more, this family has finally learned more about the Gospel.

I am thankful for the power of the Spirit in our lessons. I am thankful for the power of prayer. I know and recognize that I am not a perfect servant, but as I have come to accept my imperfections and understand the Atonement more, I have felt more peace and happiness in life, and more satisfaction in my work, and I have been able to feel the Spirit more. I know that the Gospel is true. I know that the Savior reigns. I know that Heavenly Father loves His children, and works through His faithful servants and disciples to bless His children and help them come unto Him. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a beautiful week, my dear brothers and sisters!

Your friend,

Elder Dredge

Monday, 13 May 2019 ~ Week #94

Weekly Letter #94

Hey everybody!

How's everyone doing? Well here I am in the capital, and I'm going to yet another area. Though this week felt particularly fast, we found miracles, and we're very pleased with what we were able to do with the elders in Llanos de Santa Maria, Elder Fajardo and Elder Cardenas. In the process, we were able to make many new friends, earn ourselves two brothers in Christ, and help them become even more effective missionaries.

Just to share one cool moment from this week: In one occasion we met with a contact Brenda, and as we handed her a Bible to read Amos 3:7, she asked us, "Is that a normal Bible?" A moment after, I had to ask her, "That was a really good question that you asked right there. What motivated you to ask it?" We then started talking about how there exists different interpretations of the Bible and why, and then we taught her about how the Bible is the words of the prophets, and how the words of the prophets are the words of God. We then explained to her the love that God has for us, and how He desires to continue to speak to us. We all felt the Spirit, and she was able to understand our message.

Our Heavenly Father desires to have a real, sincere, and close relationship with all of us. He always blesses us because He loves us; notwithstanding He desires to bless us with even more love. We can do that if we read the words of His prophets, and take those words as His words. And every prayer that we say sincerely to Him, He listens. And He responds. Let us remember that. Be sincere with Him as you speak to Him, and be curious as you learn from Him. I promise every one of you that if you do so, you will be blessed, and you will be happy in His service.

I testify of the Savior's atoning power, which has allowed me to find solace in even the hardest of times. It is a manifestation of our Father's love for us, and still applies today. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He continues to lead us, and He continues to plan for us, offering us the experiences we need to come unto Him. Of these things I testify in His name, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a wonderful week, my brothers and sisters!

Yours truly,

Elder Dredge