Elder Dawson in Guatemala City

A woman in Guatemala City asked me if I knew Dic Johnson (because I was from Arizona). I told her he was my Grandma's brother. She took this picture of me and sent it to him. Uncle Dic then sent it to my Grandma Jane and my Grandma Jane sent it to my mom)

Week 18 in the Field - The Life of a Trainer

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

This week has been great and really beneficial for my growth as a missionary. Being the senior companion is tiring and I teach about 80% of the lessons or so now but as my companion learns more and more spanish that percentage will decrease.

We´ve started some cool programs to be more organized and animated as missionaries in Gualán. We are going to have an activity this Saturday playing some Minute to Win it games and we are hoping to have a lot of investigators in the chapel.

We also had our first branch counsel here in Gualan which means the leaders are now more willing to work with us.

Unfortunately we lost two baptism dates this week because they suddenly moved to the Guatemala City.

Today I am also in Guatemala City. We were supposed to be here in the morning to fill out some legal paperwork for my companion but our bus got stopped for 5 hours because of a protest in the middle of the freeway. Literally random people just stopped the flow of traffic for 5 hours protesting an electricity company. Nobody even came to stop them so people could go to work. Easily a few thousand people were prevented from travellng. News crews came and stuff. Pretty cool.

This week we were also approached by a somewhat aggressive drunk man who confessed to have killed many people in his life. We were saved by a stranger in a truck who rolled up and said he was a member of the church and took the guy with him in his truck.

We are excited for the ten new investigators who we met this week. Planning on setting quite a few baptism dates this week.

Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all.

"We do not need to achieve some minimum level of capacity or goodness before God will help - divine aid can be ours every hour of every day, no matter where we are in the path of obedience. But I know that beyond desiring His help,we must exert ourselves, repent, and choose God for Him to be able to act in our lives consistent with justice and moral agency. My plea is simply to take responsibility and go to work so that there is something for God to help us with."

-D Todd Christofferson

(Answers to Mom's questions)

Do you hear from any of your companions that have already gone home?

Yes, Elder Rivera writes me. Maybe Elder Torres will write me too but Elder Rojas hasn´t written me.

Maybe take the smaller size pants and 1 pair of larger pants and see how someone does tailoring one pair before you take them all?

Yeah Elder Proby already got his pants tailored by Sister Josefa and they turned out really good but I´ll just bring one the start with.

Did you move your two beds back into the bedroom?

No, we like them better in that bigger room.

Does your new hot shower thing work well?

No, it broke already. It was like the equivalent of $10 so it was a piece of junk.

Are you still doing Saturday English Classes?  How is it going?

Yes, it´s pretty good. We only have like 4 people go though, we need more.

Are your neighbors friendly?

Yeah we only have one neighbor and he´s super super cool. Yesterday he bought us a cake.

Has Cristino used the headlamps?

Not gonna lie, we are actually holding onto those for a bit because we are planning to go explore some caves. After that we will give them to him.

What can I send you? I still have some cocoa to send.  It just hasn't fit in the last couple of packages I have sent.

I´m pretty good right now, but thanks! I love the valentines day package! We used the decorating stuff for a party we had this week in the church.

Are you going to do some kind of tradition for your 6 month mark? People say you burn a tie? Do you want me to send you some new ties - if you burn one?

We have a bag with like 15 ugly ties in the house. When you have companions that leave you get a bunch of hand me downs so I´m good haha.

Do you wear your retainer? You should go to the dentist soon.  It has almost been 6 months since you had a cleaning. I guess they schedule that for you.  Have they said anything?

Honesty I do not wear my retainer but I guess I´ll start. No idea how dentists work here either. You might just get to go if you have a problem. But I can ask.

Week 17 in the Field - No More Elder Torres and I´m a Trainer

Hey guys, hope everything is going well!

Well this week was kind of sad because my companion Elder Torres left and now we´re just a companionship of two. But now I get to train which is really exciting!

Right now I´m really excited for two investigators named Raquel and Walter. They are fundamental christian-type people but they are reading the Book of Mormon and they are progressing a lot in knowledge.

Other than that I´m really good. This week was honestly a little uneventful, just saying goodbye to Elder Torres and teaching lessons to our progressing investigators.

I spoke this Sunday in sacrament about the Book of Mormon. I love this quote from Bruce R McConkie:

Let this message be sounded in every ear with an angelic trump; let it roll round the earth in resounding claps of never-ending thunder; let it be whispered in every heart by the still, small voice. Those who believe the Book of Mormon and accept Joseph Smith as a prophet thereby open the door to salvation; those who reject the book outright or who simply fail to learn its message and believe its teachings never so much as begin to travel that course along the strait and narrow path that leads to eternal life.

I invite you all to read the Book of Mormon, and if you are already doing so then with increased passion and fervor. I testify that this book allows us to grow closer to the Savior and to receive divine blessings in our lives.

Love you all, have a great week!

(Questions/Answers from Grandma's email):

Do you think more in Spanish now than in English?

Right now I am companions with Elder Proby and he speaks English so we always talk in English when we´re at the house (Unless we´re practicing for lessons). So I still think in English a lot. But when I´m in lessons I think pretty much exclusively in Spanish.

Are you eating anything?

Haha yeah we have plenty of food, we just walk a lot so I´ve been slimming down.

Does it seem longer than 6 month that you have been a missionary?

This has definitely been a super busy six months but at the same time things move quickly when you have a schedule and you´re always busy. So in some ways it seems like I´ve been here a long time and in other ways I don´t even feel like I have six months yet.

Week 16 in the Field - Tri-Zone Conference and Quirigua

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well.

This week we had the pleasure of meeting with our Mission President and his wife, first on Tuesday for a Training Missionaries Seminar and Later in the week for a Tri-Zone Conference. 

One cool thing I learned from the Mission President´s wife was from a self-evaluation exercise that included the question 'Am I converting myself into the person who God wants me to be?' I think this is such an important question for all of us to think about.

Today for P day we also had a chance to go to some ancient Mayan ruins called Quirigua. They have some cool stone monoliths and a big stone plaza. It´s located about an hour east of my zone in an area that´s super green.

One thing that I learned from my personal study this week is from a talk in General Conference October 1993 from Dallin H Oaks. He explains:

All of the myriads of mortals who have been born on this earth chose the Father’s plan and fought for it.Many of us also made covenants with the Father concerning what we would do in mortality. In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world influence us in mortality.

One question I have asked investigators before is : If you were to receive a letter from your pre-mortal self, what would it say?

I´d invite all of you to ask yourselves if you´re living up to your divine potential and becoming the person that your pre-mortal self wanted to be. We are sons and daughters of a living, infinitely loving Father. Show courage in your desire and effort to follow him and continue to fight for him here on earth,

I am doing super well here in Guatemala and I love you all. We have great investigators and we are having a ton of fun. Have a good week everyone!

(Answers to Grandma Jane's questions)

How are you feeling?

I´m feeling really good. Haven´t ever really gotten sick yet which is really cool because that´s one of the promises for my mission in my patriarchal blessing.

Is the weather pretty perfect or are you getting rain?

Pretty warm but there hasn´t been any rain in quite a while. It rains a lot more in the capital.

How many members in your branch, now?

People who live in the area who are actually members probably number over three hundred but this week we had an attendance of 81. A big problem here is that there are evangelical churches here on every street corner and unless somebody really has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration they´ll probably end up just attending the church next door. But we´re working and growing slowly but surely!

Zone in the mission.

Pictures are from Quirigua, ancient Mayan ruins (Pronounced Kee-Ree-WA)

Week 15 in the Field: Baptisms

Hey guys! This week we had a great baptismal service for Lucio and Gloria, a married couple who are humble and love the gospel. It was an excellent experience.

Other than that we´ve been studying a lot and making progress with investigators. This week we have seen some problems and trials but we´re pushing through with smiles on our faces.

Other than that I don´t have much to say unfortunately!

I love these words from Neal A Maxwell and I echo his statement with you guys:

Endless appreciation to my Father in heaven whose blessings depend upon our obedience, but whose ratio of blessings to obedience makes him a generous God!

I know the celestial criteria measure service, not status; the use of our talents, not the relative size of our talent inventories. I know that Church membership is not passive security but continuing opportunity.

Finally I testify that what a wise man wrote is true: “If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” Having so chosen, may God bless us all to move the kingdom along, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We´ve been having a lot of fun out here but more than that we´ve been in the service of the Lord. I pray that all of you might dedicate yourselves to His service, and in so doing find the greatest joy of your life.

The first picture I have attached is of Lucio and Gloria and their extended family at their baptism service.The second picture is taken at a burning field at night time. I apologize if I look somewhat Satanic!

Love you all!

Elder Dawson

(Answers from Grandma Jane's email)

How was Fast and testimony meeting yesterday?

It was really good! Yeah we have primarily women in our branch, only one male person bore his testimony yesterday, the rest were women and girls. 

We also got to watch a video from the Central American Area Presidency. They are focusing on Tithing, Family History Work, and Family Prayer and Scripture Study in the area of Central America.

Will you get the chance to go to the temple there sometime?

I went six times in the MTC. If I get changed to an area in the capital I will get to attend the temple once every six weeks.

Did you get to enjoy any part of the Super Bowl?

No but I got the news from friends and stuff. People don´t really understand American Football here haha.

Love you so much Grandma, thanks for the email and thanks for your love! Talk to you next week! I´ll keep Erik in my prayers!

Elder Dawson

(Answers from Mom's email)

Does Elder Torres have to sleep in the Living room? (It looks like it in the picture)

We moved all of our beds into what used to be the kitchen. it´s a rule that we all have to sleep in the same room and we couldn´t fit all the beds in the other room.

How is Lucio and Gloria's Living Room holding up? (Can't believe it!)

It´s good, thats basically how all the houses are over there in that area. They added some more sticks and stuff to make walls,

Where did you buy the "Tourist" shirts?

They have stores here called ¨pacas.¨ When Goodwill can´t sell stuff or when people donate clothes or for any number of other reasons a bunch of clothes go to Central America. Then people load up trucks with clothes and drive them to towns and sell clothes out of their house or place of business. We got the shirts at a random paca we went to.

Tell me when you get your packages.

I got them! Thanks so much. The pants fit great and I loved the pictures. We used the player at our baptism on Saturday and I´m going to give the headlamps to Cristino. Thanks so much!

Love you mom, have a good week! I´ll keep Erik in my prayers!

Elder Dawson

Lucio and Gloria and their extended family at their baptism service.

Elder Dawson at a burning field at night time.

Elder Proby, Elder Dawson, Elder Torres

On divisions with Elder Muñiz our Zone Leader, Elder Dawson and Elder Proby