Week 62 in the Field - Baptism, Temple, Islamic Man and Christmas

I apologize in advance for the short email, we went to the temple today and I didn´t have time to write the letter beforehand.

We had a baptism this week! Sandra Sabán got baptized and was the last member in her family to do so. Her son baptized her and 94 people showed up for the baptismal service, basically unheard of in Guatemala. Great experience.

Afterward Sandra´s husband came up to me and asked me if it was possible for him to be sealed to his son who passed away a couple weeks ago in the temple now that his wife is a member. I told him that yes, absolutely it was something that they could do in the future. With teary eyes he told me "that was exactly what I wanted to hear". Tender moment that taught me a lot about the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week a random Islamic man wandered into our chapel. We were in ward counsel and a bearded guy in an orange tunic appears in the window and the bishop says "hey look it´s Osama Bin Laden´s cousin" and we were really confused. Anyways, we go out and talk to him and he doesn´t speak Spanish very well but his name is Dada and he was born in Italy and he has been an Islamic missionary for 30 years and as mysteriously as he entered he left. Very strange.

Christmas went well, lots of fireworks and lots of tamales. We spend some time on Christmas Eve with members eating and playing UNO. It was fun and overall a great Christmas. Of course, talking to my family was the best part. I love them so much and I´m glad they are doing well. 

My short spiritual thought comes from an address by Jeffrey R Holland titled "Living After the Manner of Happiness". He says:

"Happy people aren’t negative or cynical or mean so don’t plan on that being part of the “manner” of happiness.  If my life has taught me anything, it is that kindness and pleasantness and faith-based optimism are characteristics of happy people.  From the words of Mother Teresa, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

Be kind in 2016, the world needs it. 

Love you guys, 

Elder Dawson

Sandra Saban's baptism with Elder Perez.

At the Temple on P-Day.

To Mom:

Where was your companion by the way?

He was just in the other room, I´m pretty sure he said hi at some point. He called his family afterwards.

What do you need?

Think I´m good. Got the package you sent last night. Thanks! Lots of awesome stuff. Tie is super cool and the Christmas decorations are fun too. Treats are always nice as well and I loved the tie hanger thing. Thanks so much!

Do you need shirts? No, I can get cheap ones here. How are your shoes? Doing really well, bought another pair that´s really nice and had soles replaced on my hush puppies for like $5. Doc Martens are holding up nicely.

This is what I mean by a Guatemalan Nativity set.

It might be hard to find one like that because I´m not in a turistic area but I´ll see what I can do. We went to the temple today and had no time to shop but I´ll see if I can find one another day.

Love you lots mom, have an awesome week!

Christmas Skype at the Saban Family's house

I got to Skype at the same time with Jayden! 

Photo Cut Outs of Jayden and I. Grandma Jane had them made for my family.

My family on Christmas Day

Week 61 in the Field - Sandra, Tamales, and Christmas

Week 60 in the Field - Goals met, Prophets, and Luis

Weekly Letter December 14th

2015

Well, I hope everyone's had a great week, I've had a pretty wild one.

This week we were again able to meet the mission goal as a companionship, finding 17 new investigators, doing 70 street contacts, and placing two new baptismal dates.

We arrived at the home of one of our baptismal dates this week and her grandson handed us a note she had written us. She said that she no longer wanted to meet with us because we taught her that there is only one prophet on the earth at any given time. She says that there are lots of prophets and despite teaching her clearly she can't handle this one crucial doctrine. In Guatemala there are probably thousands of people who say that they are "prophets" and go around people's houses making prophecies and asking for money and charging to cure diseases. This makes it really difficult to teach about what a prophet, seer, and revelator really is and that only one man can receive revelation for the entire world. Despite what everyone else here thinks, "God is not the author of confusion." (1 Cor. 14:33)

Several people this week have also asked us why  you have to deny Jesus Christ and accept Joseph Smith to join our church and we had a preacher who was holding a church service in the street yell at us as well.

On the bright side we had a mission conference this week and as a Christmas present from President Crapo we got to watch Frozen which was neat.

Unfortunately, I'm going to end this letter on a sad note. First, allow me to give a little bit of background information. Just about every week we visit the Saban family. Roger, the older of the two children, is 19 and was the first in his family to accept the gospel. He was baptized just over a year ago and has a mission call and will be going to Cancun Mexico shortly. Roger's brother, Luis, and father, Cesar, were baptized  about 8 months ago. The mom is still waiting for her answer and has not been baptized yet. This is one of the greatest families I know and Roger and Luis are almost like brothers to me. Just a few days ago we were over at their house and I sat on Luis' bed while we talked and he showed me some funny pictures.

On Saturday December 12 at 6:30 in the morning Luis, who is 14, and Hector, another member of the ward who is 22 went out for a jog. Along the way, an unknown, out-of-control driver jumped a curb with his car, traveling at some velocity, squarely hitting my little friend with the full weight of his vehicle. Likely, death came almost instantly. Hector, by some miracle, suffered no injury, but the mental and emotional scars will last a lifetime.

Truly my willingness "to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9) was put to the test. The moment they brought Luis' body in a coffin is the saddest scene I have witnessed in my entire life.

Luis was loving and kind, innocent and yet mature enough to reach out to others. His smile and laugh comforted me in times of need. He was my friend. With a broken heart and tears in my eyes I solemnly testify that I know that Luis is one whom we call dead, yet indeed his spirit lives, he's only gone ahead. Like his brother, Luis too has been called to serve.

How great and glorious is the promise in this teaching by Joseph F. Smith: We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh - not some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and same form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence.

I will strive to live in such a way that I might be worthy to meet Luis again in the first resurrection. I will continue to teach the Saban family so that they will be able to be sealed to each other and sealed to Luis through temple ordinances so that they too might meet him, hug him, and hold him again, never more to depart.

And should we die before our journey's through,

Happy day! All is well!

We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;

With the just we shall dwell.

But if our lives are spared again

To see the Saints their rest obtain,

Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell -

All is well! All is well!

- Elder Dawson

Week 59 in the Field - 10/15/2/2, Brenda, and Wandering

Weekly Letter December 7th

2015

Hey guys, I hope you've all had a great week.

We got the news about transfers yesterday and Elder Perez and I will be staying here in Lo de Fuentes. In our zone Sister Call is finishing her mission, Elder Carter is going to a new area, and Sister Elizondo is going to a new area.

In the mission we are focusing on a goal called 10/15/2/2. We want to have 10 contacts with new people in the street every day (Normally by giving them a pamphlet or pass-a-long card and asking for their address and an appointment) 15 new investigators a week, place two new baptismal dates a week, and have two baptisms a month. This week we had 72 contacts, 15 new investigators, and placed 2 baptismal dates, successfully achieving our weekly goals. We're excited about the progress in our area.

This week we had a lesson with Brenda (our 14 year old investigator who is 8 months pregnant) and she told us she got her answer that the book of mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was a really neat experience and she's showing a lot of progress.

Today is a holiday know as "The burning of the devil" here in Guatemala. From what I can understand it's a day for people to clean their houses and burn their trash. Stores around town are also selling pinatas shaped like devils to that you can burn them. I think we'll buy one today and burn it for a P-Day Activity.

This week I'd like to write a little bit on the topic of wandering. Often, wandering is thought of as punishment, such as the forty years of wondering the Israelites suffered in the wilderness or the wandering from the sea to sea to seek the word of the Lord during the apostasy. However, I'd like to discuss wandering as a choice that God's children occasionally make. This type of wandering as a choice is evident in Jeremiah's rebuke of Israel; the Prophet says that these chosen people of the Lord "have loved to wander (and) they have not refrained their feet." In the vision of the tree of life there were those "who had commenced in the path" but "did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost".

Wandering is often attributed with a lack of purpose. Its companion is idleness and brings a false sense of freedom and a lack of responsibilities.  Wandering is the byproduct of a lack of faith, as it hints to the fact that the wanderer hopes or expects to find happiness and/or peace in something other than the gospel plan. Wandering is the cousin of perdition and its looseness and selfishness are in direct opposition to God's plan of sealed family units and family and church obligations.

It is to no surprise then that Kind Benjamin's hope for his people was that they would be "steadfast and immovable". It is no wonder that Christ is referred to as a rock and that he is the good shepherd that searches out the lost sheep.

To some degree we have all strayed from the fold of God. Perhaps by nature we all tend to wander. I love the words of the hymn "Come Thou Fount Of every Blessing" as it is truly the prayer of every human heart:

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above

Have a great week,
Elder Dawson

Week 58 in the Field - Losa, Korean Guy, and Eternal Principles

Weekly Letter November 30th 2015

Hey guys, I hope you've all had a great week.

This week I was able to go on splits with Elder La Rosa which was pretty neat. He's in Minerva, my old area, and I got to go there and see some people I haven't seen in awhile. Elder La Posa is from Chile and is a very patient teacher. He's very familiar with the scriptures and very obedient as well. Great guy.

While we were on splits Elder La Rosa took me to teach a lady named Losa. Losa is from Washington and is married to Carlos who was born here in Guatemala but moved to the states at age 4. Last year Carlos was deported for something related to Marijuana and he and Losa ended up here. Neither of them speak Spanish very well, especially Losa. Losa was baptized when she was 13 but has been inactive for most of her life. It was really cool to have a lesson in English and help her with a few problems she has. It's really different speaking to someone who lived in the states for a few years and supposedly knows English compared to someone who was born there and is culturally American. For example, Losa uses phrases like "awesome sauce" and "cool beans". At the end of the lesson I was able to give Losa a priesthood blessing. Losa is of polynesian ancestry and polynesians have crazy last names. I had to pronounce her last name for the blessing and it was something like Ta'mulikifalawakahandoko. Pretty crazy but I managed to get the syllables to stumble out of my mouth and give the blessing. Anyways, Losa is pretty cool. She doesn't go to church because she says it's too dangerous which isn't really true but then again around the corner from her house a grenade went off the other day because the owner of the internet cafe didn't pay their extorsion fee to the gang and a boy lost his leg in the explosion. So yeah, I guess Guatemala is pretty crazy.

This week we also met Oscar, a 29 year old man who is an inactive member and who was sent to a United States military academy when he didn't behave as a teenager. We also met Brother Kim, a Korean guy who moved to Guatemala at age 36 and at age 38 married an 18 year old member of the church but has never joined the church himself. Hopefully you'll hear more about them in the future.

This week I cam across a quote that I love from Joseph F. Smith. He taught, "eternal progress can be enjoyed only when the principles of eternal life are associated with man's daily existence". Truly, as Dieter F Uchtdorf has taught "The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is a way of life".

I've met alot of people in my mission who seem to have forgotten that "ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ: as Nephi taught. God does not want us to be race horses who can sprint for a short period but quickly get tired. No, he needs us to be like a constant work horse. We need not get  to salvation with style, or grace, or speed, we just need to get there despite the disadvantages and trials we may have. "There is no one great thing that we can do to obtain eternal life" taught David O. McKay. In the end we will be saved through the atonement of Christ and our own obedience and ability to persevere. Let us remember our divine nature, as so beautifully taught by Eliza R. Snow:

For a wise and glorious purpose

Thou hast placed me her on earth

And with help the recollection

Of my former friends and birth

Yet ofttimes a secret something

Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"

From a more exalted sphere.

As we incorporate the principles of eternal life in our daily life, we nurture the seeds of our divine nature. As we let the truth of the gospel rest upon our minds continually the desire to do good will be absorbed by our souls and we will be transformed in this life and lifted up to that exalted sphere in the world to come.

I love you guys; have a great week.

-Elder Dawson

To Mom:
Did your bees come back?

Nope, they´re gone now.

How did your Thanksgiving turn out?

Pretty good. Ate at a barbeque place for lunch and a part member family ordered pizza from Dominos and invited us to dinner. Pretty cool over all.

Do you think you will be transfered next week?

Probably not, Zone Leaders stay in for 6 months in this area usually.

Week 57 in the Field - Divorce, Bee Hives, and Humility

Weekly Letter November 23rd
2015

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a fantastic week.

We've had kind of a wild week over here. Just about all of our investigators have problems with the law of chastity and need to get married or need to get divorced with their former spouse and then married with the current one. One of our investigators in fourteen and pregnant. One of our ward's recent converts was about to get his endowments but today, after a year of sobriety, he fell back into his old alcoholism. We had a beehive at our house and I sprayed it with bug spray and knocked it down, luckily only getting stung once. Anyways, crazy week.

On the bright side we had a week full of great ward activities. Monday was a ward family home evening, Tuesday ward temple trip, Wednesday bonfire and dodgeball, Thursday movie night, Friday talent show, Saturday pot-luck dinner and Sunday ward conference. We had six investigators at church and found seven new investigators. This week was like the Book of Mormon say, "And they did fellowship one with another, and did rejoice one with another, and did have great joy." (Helaman 6:3)

This week I'd like to comment a little bit on Helaman 4:13. In chapter 4 of Heleman the Nephites go to war with the Lamanites; but because of the wickedness of the Nephites the Lord ceases to bless them and protect them. The verse reads:

"And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smittten..."

It was interesting to come across this verse this week in my personal study and read a related story in my ancestor Benjamn Franklin Johnson's book My Life's Review. At this point in his life Benejamin is in his early twenties and is serving a mission sometime around 1841. He finds a good field of labor in Union District, some miles north of Tononto. "I preached twice a week to large congregations," he writes, "and perhaps began to feel a degree of self importance not approved of by the Lord." In one occasion, Benejamin planned to address his congregation and speak about the prophecy of Daniel. "With a degree of self-confidence," he says, "I went to the stand with a feeling akin to exultation in the large congregation, and in what I felt so sure I should be able to say to them. I opened the meeting as usual, took my Bible and began to read from Daniel, but the scripture that had seemed so full of light was now dark. I turned to others, but all were dark. The light of the Lord had left me, and I stood there alone before that large congregation, alone in my own strength, and in my nakedness I almost felt a horror of myself. I stood there speechless, and mortified. And oh, the sense of ingratitude to the Lord that came over me. To think that He had helped me, and that all I was He had made me, and now I stood there in my own strength, and was humbled to the dust...I was but a plow boy sent out like the apostles of old, to preach by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and that without it, I was nothing."

Bejamin later asks God for forgiveness and receives the spirit again. In fact, just a short time following this incident, he has the spirit so abundantly that he preaches to a tribe of Mohawk Indians in their native language through the Gift of Tongues. But certainly in this occasion Benjamin learned the truthfulness of the Lord's warning in D&C 42:14 "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach."

Surely we must show gratitude to the Lord for what he gives us. If we fail to do so, God may leave us alone to show us how much we really do need him. President Joseph F. Smith taught, "The spirit of gratitude is always pleasant and satisfying because it carries with it a sense of helpfulness to others; it begets love and friendship, and engenders divine influence. Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart. And where there is an absence of gratitude either to God or man, there is the presence of vanity and self-sufficiency."

Thomas Gibbons expresses the ungrateful man thusly:

That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom non can love, whom noe can thank,
Creation's blot, creation's blank.

Let us all be more grateful towards the Lord for our bounteous blessings. As we do so we will surely be blessed with his spirit and will not be left alone.

I love you all, have a great week.

-Elder Dawson

Beehive in our House

Ward Talent Show

To Mom:

Is your zone/district going to get together to do anything? 

We are going to buy pumpkin pie and see if we can make funeral potatoes in the oven at the stake center. Turkeys are really expensive here but we might buy a chicken.

To Grandma:

Just wondering if you ever get to accompany on the piano at your meetings?  

No. There is a piano (but not an organ) but no one knows how to play. Fortunately it comes with all the hyms on it so you just find the hyms and press play and it plays itself basically. So we have a ward "pianist" but he just presses play on the hyms. I don´t have any time to practice so I never play hymns.

Also, were The photos you sent from the Mall---Is that Mall new or is it the one with a really nice theater in it? 

That mall is new, it opened less than a month ago. You may have went to Miraflores or Metra Norte? 

Any requests for your Christmas package?  Did your seeds produce anything?

If you could send some pictures that would be cool. Not sure if you still have pictures from the trips Jayden and I took with you guys when we were kids? We have the supplies for the garden project but we need to set apart some time to plant still.

Week 56 in the Field - Stake Conference, Good Works, and Time

Found my new car

Naranjo Mall

Week 55 in the Field - Working with Youth, Ammon, and The Holy Ghost

Weekly Letter November 8th 2015

Hey everyone, hope you guys have had a great week.

This week was pretty great. We've been trying to work in sectors and divide our area up a little bit this week and we've also been working more with members to gain their confidence. We found 9 new investigators this week and have seen many blessings from the Lord.

A new mall opened up in our zone so after I'm done writing we're going to go check it out. Supposedly it has Papa John's and sushi and a bunch of other stuff.

One thing we've been trying to do is work more with the youth in the ward who can soon go on missions. It's great to be friends with them and encourage them to serve. I'm lucky to serve in a ward with a bunch of return missionaries who are also great examples to the youth.

We had our Primary Program this Sunday and it went well.  Our attendance went up to about 210 people in sacrament meeting (normally its about 170). For some reason they only let the older kids speak and each age group learned one song and the age groups sang separately rather then all together. Overall it was good but I did miss the primary program from home.

I'd like to share a quick thought this week about one of my favorite verses in the Book Of Mormon. In chaper 18 or Alma, Ammon is preaching to King Lamoni. As part of the lesson he teaches Lamoni, he teaches with power who he is and what his purpose is. His statement is a motto for missionaries everywhere:

"I am a man, and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true. And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God."

Surely, Ammon understood the answer to the question posed by the Lord himself in The Doctrine and Covenants, "Unto what were ye ordained?" The Lord proceeds to answer that question, saying "To preach my gospel by the spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth,'

"The Holy Ghost is a revelator," taught Spencer W. Kimball, "He is a reminder and will bring to our remembrance the things which we have learned and which we need in the time therof. He is an inspirer and will put words in our mouth, enlighten our understandings and direct our thoughts. He is a testifier and will bear record to us of the divinity of the Father and the Son and of their missions and of the program which they have given us. He is a teacher and will increase our knowledge. He is a companion and will walk with us, inspiring us all along the way, guiding our footsteps, impeaching our weaknesses, strengthening our resolves, and revealing to us righteous aims and purposes."

Teaching without the spirit is convincing someone rather than converting them. With the spirit we plant seeds that will, in time, grow into grand trees of gospel strength. Without it, we will vaccinate people, giving them just enough to develop a lifelong immunity.

I am grateful for the guiding influence of the spirit that I have felt throughout my mission. I hope that the words from this hym will be the prayer of us all:

Today thine unseen purposes

By faith's rare light we feel

Dear Father, make us pure in heart

To us thy will reveal

Father, let thy light divine 

Shine on us, we pray

Touch our eyes that we may see

Teach us to obey

Ours the sacred mission is

To bear they message for

The light of faith is in our hearts

Truth our guiding star

Love you guys, have a great week.

-Elder Dawson

Week 54 in the Field - Elder Perez, Rejection, and Charity

Weekly Letter November 2nd 2015

Hey guys, I hope everyone has had a great week.

This week I was sad to see Elder Jepson and Hebberth leave the area. Both of them went to Zone 18 which is one of the most dangerous parts of the mission. They should be fine there though.

My new companion is Elder Perez from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. He has 16 months in the mission and is really easy-going. I am now the Zone Leader1/  Lead Zone Leader in my zone. I'm glad to have this additional responsibility and I'm glad to be here with Elder Perez.

This week we were happy to find 8 new investigators and set 4 new baptismal dates with people. We were sad to lose a family of investigators, to whom we had given two copies of the Book Of Mormon last week. When we showed up on Saturday they returned the Book Of Mormon in a plastic bag, saying that it wasn't for them. A first for me on my mission. I'm glad to live and serve in a country where we normally face very little rejection.

This week we celebrated Halloween in the States and the people here celebrated the Day of the Dead. The celebrations normally take place in cemeteries and we don't have a cemetary in our area so we saw very little celebrating. Attendance at church was very low due to the fact that many were with their families. I did learn that here in the capital rich people sometimes celebrate Halloween. In malls they also give candy away to kids and Halloween decorations are sold at Walmart, all of the costumes and masks and inflatable pumpkins and stuff.

I came across an interesting scripture this week that I'd like to analyze a little bit in this letter. The scripture is found in the Doctrine and Covenants and reads:

"And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."

I love the use of the symbol of a mantle in this scripture. A mantle symbolizes power and authority. Thus, in the story of Elijah and Elisha, Elisha inherits the mantle of the former and straightway uses the article of clothing to divide the rivers of the Jordan River. Like a mantle, charity grants us with spiritual power.

Joseph F. Smith contrasts the symbol of a mantle with the symbol of a shell. The former is warm and soft while the latter is hard and cold. Although they both serve as a covering, yet they are very opposite in their connotations.

The prophet teaches:

"The cultivation of kindly thoughts and sentiments towards others is always helpful...to lift ourselves out of our own shells in which, by our surroundings and habits of thought, we are encrusted, and place ourselves in the positions which others occupy in life."

If we cover ourselves with the shell of our own happiness we will always be looking in. Others will see us as cold, hard, and encrusted. However, if we take upon ourselves the mantel of charity we will be looking outwardly. Others will see us as warm, soft, and tender. We will be enveloped in the powers of heaven. Thus, the Lord's constant invitation to soften our hearts rather than harden them.

"The test, then," teaches Joseph F. Smith, "of our soul's greatness is rather to be sought in our ability to comfort and console, our ability to help others, rather than in our ability to help ourselves and crowd others down in the struggle of life."

"Kindness is the essence of greatness," teaches Joseph B. Wirthlin, "and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have know. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends; it softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes."

My invitation to you is to throw upon yourself the mantle of charity. Emblazen everything you do with a stamp of kindness. Look out, not in. Clothe yourself with power and speak with the tongue of angels.

Certainly I too need to work on being more charitable. To achieve this goal, I have tried to follow the counsel of Moroni who said:

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God, that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure."

I love you all, have a fantastic week.

-Elder Dawson

Bus Shot

New Companion - Elder Perez

Having fun with my Halloween package

Week 53 in the Field - Changes, Baptism, Goodbye

Not a lot of time to write and didn´t type up a letter.

Elder Jepson and Elder Hebberth are leaving and I´ll be getting a new companion.

My companions said goodbye to several people this week.

Baptism of some of my old investigators in Minerva.

Gonna miss my companions.

Have a great week everyone!

Week 52 in the Field - Mixtún Family, Horus, and the Atonement

Weekly Letter October 19th 2015

Great week here in Guatemala, hope everyone else enjoyed their week too.

This week we had the smazing blessing of being able to find 21 new investigators. 8 of them were especially significant because they came from a single family, the Mixtun Family. Rolando and Olga are the parents of 7 children, 6 of whom are old enough to be baptized. I was working with a member of our ward, Jeaue Jarquin, and we were looking for Rolando (we had previously contacted him in the street and gotten his address) and we couldn't find the house. We decided to knock a door and see if it was Rolando's house. A young lady answered the door and said that she didn't know Rolando. We asked if her parents were home so that we could perhaps enter and share a message. She said her parents were busy but we kept talking and right as we were about to leave Rolando showed up. The girl is his daughter Veronica and she's been taught not to let strangers in, hence the lies at the door. Rolando let us in and we met the family and had one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever had in my mission. With a family of this size there's almost always at least one who isn't paying attention, or the mom is trying to cook, or a million other things that can happen. But in this lesson everyone was listening. As I recounted the first vision of the prophet Joseph Smith the room was heavy with silance and the spirit entered to testify of the Prophet's account. At the end of the lesson we had 8 new baptism dates for the 28th of November. Lessons like these and families like this one are the reasons I came on a mission.

This week we were able to help an old investigator move to a new house. His name is Carles Rodas and you may remember his because I interviewed him to be baptized but he didn't pass the interview. Afterwards he fell back into some old bad habits and got a girl pregnant. Needless to say, he blames me for much of this and there is certainly some tension from his end. Anyways, we helped him move and the experience was good and we gained a lot more trust. Hopefully he can come to church again with his girlfriend and they can start fixing some things to be happy in the gospel.

This week Horus, our recent convert, blessed the sacrament. Neat experience to watch him do that. He had to repeat the prayer a couple of times because he had practiced to wording incorrectly but it was overall a great step for him. We hope that he will be a missionary within the next couple years.

This week I'd like to share a couple quotes about the atonement. Such a topic cannot even be comprehended in its entirety even though a lifetime of study, but I hope that what I will share may, at least, lead you to pondering and reflection.

As human beings, we commit sin. Joseph F. Smith taught, "Men cannot forgive their own sins; they cannot cleanse themselves from the consequences of their own sins. Men can stop sinning and can do right in the future, and so far their acts are acceptable before the Lord and worthy of consideration. But who shall repair the wrongs they have done to themselves and to otheres, which it seems impossible for them to repair themselves? By the atonement of Jesus Christ the sins of the repentant shall be washed away; though they be crimson they shall be made white as wool"

John Taylor taught, "A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a God to raise him to the dignity of a God."

Truly it is through Christ that we burst the limitations of this mortal sphere. We can be transformed and elevated, not merely just  guided and encouraged. We have that hand to lift us up. We have that bridge to close the gap. The tool is here; it is the atonement, and we must use it.

Have a great week,

Elder Dawson

Guy we found with a BYU sweatshirt (had no idea what it represented). We gave him a Joseph Smith pamphlet and explained that the sweatshirt he was wearing represents a University that is named after the prophet Brigham Young who was the prophet following Joseph Smith. I don´t think he really understood but we took a picture with him anyways haha.

Week 51 in the Field - Changes in the Zone and Family Kingdoms

Weekly Letter October 12, 2015

Update: Elder De La Cruz will no longer becoming with us, rather he will remain in his area and recieve two new companions, Elder Cubillos from Chile and Elder Perez from the United States. Disregard first part of the letter.

Well, another great week here in Guatemala. I hope everyone else has had a great week as well.

It looks like these next few weeks should be very interesting. From the call we just received from the assistants they will be sending us another missionary to our companionship, making us a quartet. The missionary's name is Elder De La Cruz and he is from here in Guatemala. He entered the misssion field the same day I did and is a happy, obedient missionary. It seems that due to some disobediences in other zones some missionaries (or perhaps just one missionary) are going home. This caused a chain reaction of emergency changes and President decided it would be best to send our companionship yet another missionary. We are actually really excited. We should be able to get a lot of work done and the relationship should be very interesting. Not looking forward to the bathroom situation, but hey, you win some you lose some.

Good week this week in the work. 15 new investigators and 71 contacts in the street. I've felt the spirit very strongly in the lessons we have had and I love being able to confide in the whisperings of the spirit. Often I feel like I truly am not the one teaching. The promises of the scriptures are certainly true.

We had two new investigators in church this week, Mario Zurdo and Pablo Sevillas. Happy to see furture priesthood holders progressing.

In recent years, we have been reminded the importance of the family unit. I think certainly it is important for us to remember that the family is so important because God lives in a family. Eternal life entails becoming like God and having eternal increase as he does. What a blessing it is that our Father in Heaven allows us to take part in the creation process and form little kingdoms analogous to the one he has.

Bruce R. McConkie taught, "Whenever the Lord has a people on earth he offers to make them a nation of kings and priests - not a congregation of lay members with a priest or a minister at the head - but a whole Church in which every man stands as a king in his own right, reigning over his own family-kingdom."

The glory of Godhood comes from the growth of posterity and the strengthening of these family-kingdoms.

"It is the blessed priviledge," taught James E. Tlamage, "of resurrected beings who attain an exaltation in the celestial kingdom to enjoy the glory of endless increase, to become the parents of generations of spirit-offspring, and to direct their development through probationary stages analogous to those through which they themselves have passed."

Brigham Young promised women of the church, "You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be the mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this, and when you have assisted in peopleing one earth, there are millions of others still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were the beginning of your creation."

The joy of Godhood is the joy of the infinite. The power of Godhood is the power of eternity. How important it is to remember our divine potential and honor the family. There is a great lesson in the fact that God asks us to call him our Father.

Have a great week,

Elder Dawson

Refills are a foreign concept in Guatemala so Taco Bell has a list of rules posted for the way refills work. It reads (in English):

Refill Rules

The drink is for you, only for you.

To be used inside Taco Bell within the next 2 hours.

Only in Taco Bell marked cups.

You must eat something from Taco Bell to qualify for a refill.

Thought it was pretty funny.

Outside the bus shot.

Attendance at an English class we are now teaching.

Carrying a bed through the streets of Guatemala.