Jan 20, 2014 Work, Work, and more Work

hello everyone!

Well goodness, today is a great day. For one I get to write you all, I truly love writing about my experiences. Or is it that I just like writing about myself...? Ha ha no, it is most definitely the former of these, I just love describing the crazy things that are happening as I serve the Lord. 

So I could if I wanted to just quote King George III and say "nothing of importance happened today" and substitute "today" for "this past week". Nothing huge or life changing really happened this past week, just work work, work. The work of the Lord is rolling along here, more and more people are learning about the restored gospel of Christ. However, even though nothing huge happened there were a few things of note that happened that I feel I should bring up. 

The first one is something that I honestly have no idea how I lived through this. So we went a whole week without water. I don't think Ive ever been so happy to see water run out of a faucet in my life than I was this morning. I think my companion thought I was crazy at first, but when he saw the water he did the same thing. So to those of you back home in the states, please remember this poor little missionary by choosing not to waste water. 

In reality, the majority of this past week was just as I've already said, work work, work. we spent hours each day finding new investigators, declaring the message of the restoration and teaching, day after day after day. The fruits of our labors were definitely evident, as we taught 33 lessons this past week! that averages to about 6 lessons per day! Also, we have 2 investigators who have agreed to be baptized, with 3 more we will challenge this week! I am praying so much that these people will truly develop the desire to accept the truths that we have and be baptized into the Church of Christ. 

If Ive learned something this past week it is definitely that God respects agency. Agency is a gift from God, and is an evidence of the trust that he has in us to make right choices. In effect, I learned that even when we do all that we can do, and ever receive the help and strength of the Lord, people still have agency. Yes, that sounds kind of obvious but it is something that we sometimes forget, especially as missionaries. We can teach and testify through the spirit, but it is ultimately up to the investigator to decide whether or not to accept or reject our message. It can be a struggle, but his past week I felt a great feeling of peace, even when my heart sorrowed from seeing people reject the simplicity of the gospel. Just as Joseph Smith wrote "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may". That doesn't mean however that I will preach the gospel of Christ with any less vigor, because I know it is true. Even if people flat out say to my face I don't know anything about anything and am wrong (because that has already happened quite a lot on the mish), nothing can or will change my testimony of the divinity of this work. 

Tchau todos. Até mais!

Elder Dimmick

Jan 13, 2014 The Tender Mercies of the Lord

Hello everyone once again!

SHOOT we just finished another transfer and I literally have no idea where it went. This means that I've been here in Brazil now for 3 months. I literally can't believe that. 3 months already. But at the same time October seems so far away now. Yet the fact that it is already January of 2014 just stuns me. 

So today I wanted to express my feelings about something that took place within this past week, and even more so for the greater part of this past transfer. As I have said in past letters, things have been extremely difficult. From loosing water, to loosing baptisms, this transfer has been a trial of both faith and patience. Yet in the midst of it all there have been great and profound blessing that have come into my life. I cannot deny that the hand of the Lord has been present here in my life these past few weeks. 

As I have said before, these past few weeks have been extremely difficult. I will start the week with an optimism and confidence that seems to fill my soul to unknown levels every week, and then come Sunday morning before church I feel drained of all energy: mentally, physically and spiritually. After spending the week being rejected, and watching people not keep commitments and not open their hearts to the simple message of the gospel, and then after anxiously waiting for investigators to come to church, you could pretty much ask, "Well why keep going if it is so hard and has no rewards?" Well that is the thing, it all depends on your outlook and something that Nephi calls in the Book of Mormon, "the tender mercies of the Lord".

For example: We had 4 baptisms fall through this past week. Four!! The worst was 3 of them, a mother and her two children. Her name is Raquel. She has been keeping every commitment and our only progressing investigator for weeks. And because of things that developed, her husband will not let her be baptized. He hates the Church. At first he was completely fine with it, but because of lies that spread about our beliefs from his neighbors, he will not allow her of the children to be baptized. This was so crushing. as we said our goodbyes after our meeting on Saturday, I felt as if we had completely lost her. Combined with the other baptism that fell through, as well as becoming drenched in pouring rain I asked the same thing as Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, "O God, where art thou?". Choking back tears I felt an unexpected feeling of peace, and I knew that He was there and knew what I was experiencing. 

Then came Sunday. as we sat waiting for the meeting to start, none of our investigators who had promised to come, showed up. We couldn't go bring them to church because we had been invited to speak. I decided to count my blessings and I realized that 3 less actives had come! But the best and greatest miracle happened. Raquel showed up by herself. She has never done that. we always have to go wake her up to bring her to church, and she showed up by her self, no reminders, nothing. And she came and  brought one of her daughters. I was overcome with joy. I felt the Spirit testify to me so strongly that the gospel changes lives because it is the Gospel of Christ. I know that she will be baptized this transfer, because she is showing the Lord that she wants this, and that will soften the heart of her husband. 

The reason I say this was a tender mercy was from what Elder Bednar said about this very thing. He gave a talk about this a few years back, and said that when we are faithful, according to our faith the Lord will show his power and tender mercies to strengthen our faith even unto, as Nephi says, the power of deliverance. He said that the reason they appear to be coincidental is because of the Lord's timing. That is why we sometimes pass through sorrow before we are delivered by the tender mercies; it is the Lord's timing and he will ALWAYS bless us. I encourage everyone to listen/read to his talk. 

Well everyone, that was the week. Here's too a new one and a new transfer. Keep the faith and remember the Lord's tender mercies. 

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Dec 30,2013 Difficulties and Struggles

Hello everyone!

Once again I am so glad that I have this opportunity to briefly write to you all about my experiences. Hopefully, especially what I write about today, can be a benefit to some in some way or another. 

So this past week, honestly was the worst week I have yet experienced on the mission as of yet. Everything, in spite of the fact that it was the week in which we commemorate the birth of the Savior of the world, seemed to go wrong and work against us. We ended up having to drop 2 investigators, our baptism for this week fell through, and practically everyone we talked to this past week was hostile to us and wanted nothing to do with us, something that rarely ever occurs. After talking with my companion about this, we both agreed that what was truly happening was that Satan was working harder than normal to counter-act our missionary efforts because it was the week of Christmas. It is obvious that the week in which our hearts are turned to him, and we remember that the Savior came for us, would be the week that the enemy of truth would seek to blind hearts and plant seeds of enmity in the hearts of the people. As such, my companion and I after much prayer and pondering as to what we can to to make things better, we decided that if he wants to work harder, than we will work harder. We have been called of God and as such that brings true power and authority. This area has amazing potential to have many baptisms and many people brought to the knowledge of the truth. 

The lesson learned was one that I have heard before many times. As i was pondering why things were going completely wrong, and why it appeared that we were having no success, I remembered the words of a general conference talk that has stuck with me for a long time. I do not know who gave it but they said something along the lines of this, 

When trials and rough times come when you are trying you best to do everything you can, don't think, "what is it that I am doing wrong?", but ask yourself "what more can I do that is right?"

What wisdom! When we look at our trials as an opportunity to grow and better ourselves, true progression occurs. instead of spreading our time moping and moaning "why me, why is this so hard", when we start to take command of the situation, and use it as an opportunity to better ourselves in some are we may be lacking, we start to change and our situation changes. Truly, optimism is completely mental and will make our lives better than if we sit around and bemoan our situation. Remember Nephi from the beginnings of the Book of Mormon who said, in effect, 

I will go and do, not sit and stew.

Well everyone, I must leave for now, but I love all of you dearly. Have a Happy New Year!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Dec 23, 2013 Be Prepared for Anything

Olá todo mundo de novo!

Novamante, eu sou muito muito grato por este oportunidade para escrever uma nova carta a meus queridos. As in the past, things are really just rolling along here. As Joseph Smith said, the work of the Lord will go forth boldly and nobly until everyone has the opportunity to hear it. I'm so grateful that everyday I have to opportunity to witness the work of God in progress. 

So as the title of this weeks letter says, what I have to say really focuses on just that, being prepared for anything, literally anything that can come your way. So I have 2 experiences to share that really illustrate this principle, one more temporal and humorous, and the other instructive and of a more spiritual nature. 

So the first experience was something that I just think is absolutely hilarious because it happened to my Father when he served his mission in Argentina (Which by the way I found out that Brazil and Argentina are rival countries. Ironic that I would get called to the country that rivals where my dad served). So when I went to our lunch appointment yesterday after church, I had to eat something that I really thought was only a joke, cow tongue. Yep. You read right, I had to eat cow tongue, or língua de vaca as it is called here. Oh boy I don't think I've ever gone blank like this when I heard that the kind of meat that was prepared was cow tongue. Well, I ate it, and just like everyone here told me, it actually was really good. I was super surprised by how well I reacted to eating it, but this completely reinforces the idea of BE PREPARED for literally ANYTHING that can come your way, even your stomach.

So the second experience is actually slightly embarrassing for me, seeing as I should have already learned to be prepared for this. Last night, as we were waiting to teaching a lesson, we were at the house of a member who was very sick. She asked for a priesthood blessing, and I readily accepted, willing to exercise my priesthood to bless this sister. But as I opened my bolsato get my oil I realized that I had not brought it with me and neither had my companion brought his. I was extremely embarrassed, because as a priesthood holder I should ALWAYS be prepared to give a blessing to someone, including being prepared with having the oil to do so. Thankfully we were able to go the the house of a member who had some and assisted us in the blessing, but I learned a great lesson. The scout motto isn't just a cute little phrase to say, in life we really have to be prepared. Many unplanned events will occur in our lives and we have to be ready to tackle them in every way possible. 

Well my friends, that's all for now. Take care and have Merry merry Christmas!

Feliz Natal!

Elder Dimmick

Dec 16, 2013 The American-Only Illness

Olá todos!

Well, as the title of this weeks letter suggests, I caught the dreaded sickness that comes to every American Elder serving in Brazil. As much as you try to avoid it, you get it. Just because you forget about it (like I did) doesn't mean it doesn't exist or has forgotten about you, because it never passes up an American missionary. Basically I was bed-ridden for 2 days with a high fever, headache, stomachache, whole-body ache, and other things I would rather not say. Pretty much, as what Sister Lanius (that's the president of the missions wife) and other elders told me was that my body was just accustoming (wow I cant even English anymore) to Brazil because the food and environment are just plain different. But things are all good now (I'm pretty sure my mom and grandma are freaking out right now) and I'm able to work.

That being said, I had baptism #4 this past week! Her name is Kirsheline and she is 43 years old. She has a very moving story behind this baptism too. So when she was brought to us by her family, she had already been introduced to the church but had previously declined to accept the invitation to be baptized. just 3 days before the first time we taught her, her husband died, and she was really shook up about it. When we started teaching her a month ago her heart was very open to the message. We taught her how the knowledge that families can be together forever was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and on the first lesson agreed to be baptised. it truly was a great miracle. The baptism itself was even better. She had asked her cousin, she didn't serve a mission because he was a convert to the church to baptize her. That baptism was so spiritual. To add to it, her aunt, which is pretty much her mom at this point because all of this woman's family is dead, gave the closing prayer and just wept like a child because of the joy that she felt and the spirit that was there. I could feel it so strongly. After the baptism I went and congratulated Irmã Neidy (the aunt) and she just cried even more and said she had been praying for this moment for a long time.

This baptism really strengthened my testimony about the divine nature of families. The family is ordained of God and through the sealing power found in holy temples we can be with those we truly love, our family, for time and all eternity. We can see a glimpse of heaven in the home. When a home is centered on the gospel of Christ a sense of peace is felt and lives are changed. I'm so grateful that I have parents and grandparents who are faithful in the Church because I couldn't imagine living forever without them. 

Well, that's really the highlight of the week. Near death sickness (just kidding mom I just felt that way) and a killer baptism. All in the life of a missionary.

Até proximo!

Elder Dimmick

Dec 9, 2013 Christ is at the Helm

Opa todos!

 

Well time is just rolling on isn't it? It is already December holy wow that is just nuts. In just a few short weeks it will be a new year, with new challenges and a new opportunity to begin again. New goals, desires and wishes. I encourage everyone to really make new years resolutions. missionaries are always setting goals, and honestly i know why. when you set goals and then make plans to accomplish them, you can measure your progress and you are making yourself accountable for what you have set out to do.

 

So this past weekend I had my third baptism. Once again it was an extremely spiritual experience. As I raised my arm to the square and said the words, Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I felt a confirmation in my soul that testified to me that I truly have authority given to me to baptize. I have been commissioned of Jesus Christ to bring souls unto repentance. There is nothing I have done in my life that has brought me such fulfillment.

 

That being said the day of the baptism was not very good. everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. We didn't have keys, the time of the baptism was changed, practically everything wrong was occurring. It seemed as if the evil one was literally throwing everything at us, and was as if he was trying to intentionally stop us from baptizing this woman. I was super stressed and as such I asked my companion for a blessing. As he spoke the words of the blessing, I knew everything would be all right. I didn't feel an instant relief from the stress I was facing, but I knew that all would be well and that was enough to bring peace to my heart. Everything after that flowed smoothly. The baptism was a very spiritual experience. Why? because Christ is at the helm. he is standing directing this work through the storms and attacks of Satan. This is the work of God, I just know it is. I have had so many experiences, and answers to prayers that I just know that God is our loving Heavenly Father who will do anything to help us. What Father wouldn't do such a thing?

 

My studies this past week included ironically the missionary work of the sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. I so believe that that section is in the Book of Mormon to show missionaries how to be successful. The book of Alma, although is super long, is pretty much the missionaries how-to. I just love studying that again and again.

 

well everyone, things are just great here, except for the fact that it is hotter than all get out here. write me some letters and send me some cold pleeeaaaase.

 

Até mais!

 

Tchau tchau!

 

Elder Dimmick

Dec 2, 2013 The week of... What?

Opa todos!

Como estão vocês! Im still doing well and things are still plugging along. Summer is starting to hit with some crazy intensity. and it is only going to get hotter here. Oh boy this is going to be fun (cough cough)

So as the title for this week suggests, this was the week of... what?! for two reasons. First being that we had a baptism scheduled for yesterday, but it didn't happen because the church ran out of water! WHAT? All I can say is well, shoot. It's very interesting living in a place where your water level is based on when the next truck comes by or when it rains next (our drinking water and general use water are different for this very reason). But nonetheless, it happens here and our baptism has been rescheduled for Saturday. details will follow next week!

The other huge what is that my companion was transferred. WHAT?!?! Oh minha nossa this will be interesting because I still don't know the area very well, I mean I just got here in Brazil 6 weeks ago and now I have to lead us around and take the leader position. But in spite of this huge what moment, there is a great lesson that can be seen for the future. All that I need to do is trust in my Heavenly Father. He called me to this and inspired my President to put me with a new companion. Why? well I wish I knew myself. But God knows. Everything in life prepares us for something later on in life. I never have really been a leader type person, only a follower so to speak. Maybe this will be an opportunity to really learn how to take that leader role. 

So my new companion is the bomb. His name is Elder Basilio and he is a Paulista (he is from São Paulo)! That is so cool, my first Brazilian companion. I'm so excited for this opportunity, and I know that miracles are coming our way. 

Mission life is still mission life. Keep the faith everyone, and send me some letters and some COLD!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick