Weekly Letter January 4th
2016
Hey guys, I hope you've all had a great week.
Well, a new year is upon us. My companion and I had a great New Years Eve eating dinner with a family of members and playing a little bit of Headbanz (That game where you have a card on your head and you have to guess what you are by asking questions). We ate some potato tamales called paches and some turkey. We woke up at midnight to watch the fireworks and overall had a good time. I hope this new year brings great things for each of you.
This week we had a few great lessons with a man named Walter Telo. Walter is about 50 years old and lives alone. When he was young his father taught him never to gamble but one day he was hungry and saw a hotel that said "Free Buffet" and decided to check it out. He was told that to qualify for the free buffet he only had to put 10 Quetzales (a little over a dollar) on a card and gamble a little bit until later in the night when the buffet would start. Long story short he ends up winning a car in the casino but doesn't have enough money to buy the plates and pay the taxes so he sells it to a Chinese guy in the casino for cash and buys a little house with the proceeds. After this series of events, Walter's brothers and sisters and his dad turn against him, saying that he made a deal with the devil and that's how he won the car, and convinced their Christian congregation to pray so that he dies. Anyways, Walter is an interesting guy and he plays Christian music on his guitar when we come over and he understands what we teach and he came to church on Sunday.
There's another interesting guy we see sometimes on the street too and people call him Polo-bish. Supposedly a long time ago he was a Christian preacher until someone gave him pig's milk (my companion and I are not sure if that's code for something or not) and that fried his brain. He should be in an asylum but because we're in Guatemala he walks around the street in the same clothes he's probably worn for years without bathing asking for money. If you don't give him money he also has a handy-dandy coke bottle filled with urine that he will throw in your face. Anyways that is the basic run down of the craziest human being I have ever seen. This week he snuck up behind us in a street contact and I almost had a heart attack. Luckily we were able to escape without being doused with pee.
This week I was impressed as I read Quentin L. Cook's November 2015 conference address entitled: "Shipshape and Bristol Fashion: Be Temple Worthy - In Good Times and Bad Times". I especially enjoyed the following quote: "despite the overwhelming happiness embodied in God's divine plan, sometimes it can feel far away and disconnected from our current circumstances. It may feel beyond our reach as struggling disciples. From our limited perspective, current temptations and distractions can seem attractive." One of the great tests of mortal life lies in whether we decide to succumb to the devil's temptations and believe his lies about happiness or to follow God's plan. Modern prophets and apostles have taught us that one of Satan's primary tactics in our day and age is to encourage inappropriate forms of entertainment as a form of amusement or stress-relief or acceptance amongst peers. No wonder then that President Joseph F. Smith taught "One's character may be determined in some measure by the quality of one's amusements...Tell me what amusements you like best...and I will tell you what you are".
The thirteenth article of faith reminds us "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things" and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin teaches that "We can fill our lives with good, leaving no room for anything else. We have so much good from which to choose that we need never partake of evil."
I love the counsel of hymn 336:
School thy feelings, O my brother;
Train thy warm, impulsive soul.
Do not its emotions smother,
But let wisdom's voice control.
School the feelings; there is power
In the cool, collected mind.
Passion shatters reason's tower,
Makes the clearest vision blind.
As we choose entertainment that illuminates and uplifts we will choose to follow God's plan of happiness rather than Satan's. We shall thus refine our character and bridle our passions.
I love you all, have a great week.
-Elder Dawson
To Mom and Dad:
There´s been some problems here in the mission with our church-issued debit cards. I tried to pull some money out the other day and instead of giving me the money the machine robbed me of over 300 dollars out of my church card. This has never happened before in the mission but now dozens of missionaries have no money due to what appears like some sort of system error. The church is sorting out the issue and it should all work out and I should have my money from the church again. Just letting you know that this week I might have to use some personal money while the issue is being sorted out. I haven´t pulled money out of my card in a while from an atm but if you can check out how my account is doing that would be great. The other day we ate at Applebee's and I spent some personal money and I also bought an umbrella and a few other things a while back. Let me know if anything looks weird with my account balance. Thanks!
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