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

Nov 27, 2013 Scripture Study is the Best Thing Ever

Oi todos!

Como estão? Me manda emails eu gosto escutando sobre suas vidas! (send me emails i like hearing about your lives). Well today is pretty awesome because it is TEMPLE DAY!! Our P-Day was moved to Wednesday this week because of that, so I get to go to Recife today and do some sight-seeing, shopping and hang with other awesome Elders. The best part about going into the city today is that we get to visit he Temple here. I just love going to the Temple, the spirit there is so strong. I know it is the House of the Lord. 

Well, nothing really huge happened this past week. The work is moving forward and more people are learning about the message of the Restoration. This makes me super excited. The crazy part is that our area is huge and has hills everywhere. The city of Cavaleiro is pretty much San Francisco in how the roads are super steep. picture that, and then realize that I walk that every single day. Não legal (not cool).

One thing I did learn a lot about was how much I just love studying the scriptures! Everytime I read I just learn so much. The words of the prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon truly can enlighten the soul, because they are the words of God! /he is our loving Father and he has given those words for us to learn about him and his great Eternal Plan. The scriptures are the window for personal revelation. Whenever I have a question pressing on my mind, and i study the scriptures prayerfully about those things, i always receive answers and direction from my Heavenly Father. If you have developed a habit of daily scripture study, kudos! Keep it up and I promise blessings will come as well as answers to your personal questions. If you have yet to develop the habit or have slacked off, start today! I promise that the moment you start, if you do so with faith, you will begin to receive personal revelation.

Well everyone I have to head out, its time to go to the TEMPLE!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Nov 18, 2013 Being an Instrument in the Hands of God

Olá todo mundo!

Goodness its great to be able to write to you all once again. I love having this time to send this big email to all of you and let you all know of the wonderful experiences I am having. I know that this is the work of God and I feel honored to be a part of such a work. 

This past week was tough, but there was a pretty rewarding experience that I wanted to tell you all about. So my companion and I have been struggling to get people to keep commitments and come to church. During our planning session on Friday, we decided that we needed to have a special fast for the people we were teaching that they would develop the desire to come to church and have the spirit touch their hearts so they would want to be baptized. When we started the fast an amazing this happened. We went to go see an investigator who we had only seen once before and who we had struggled to see again. Her name is Rosemary. As we taught her the Restoration the spirit was so strong and the lesson was powerful. Towards the end, she said something I will never forget. Even in Portuguese, I could make out that she said that she knew this was the path that God had intended for her. She then told us that her life is a wreck right now, everything that could go wrong is for this woman, and she decided that she needed to pray for help. She said, in effect, God, please send me help. Not a moment later she said, we knocked on her door, and she said the whole time we were there she felt closer to God than ever and a feeling she wanted to have with her always. We then bore testimony of the truthfulness of our message, and challenged her to baptized, and she accepted. If all goes well, she will be baptized the first weekend of December. 

There is also more to this story. Sunday came along, and as we were continuing to fast a miracle occurred. 4 investigators came to church with us! They came and stayed the whole time, and have all accepted to learn more. one even wants to be baptized as well. None of this would have happened without faith in the power of fasting. The powers of heaven are literally accessed when fasting occurs. Whenever we fast, acting in faith, and stud the words of the prophets in the scriptures and seek out the will of God, answers o prayer are received and divine help is given. IT is an act of humility to fast, but doing so with a willing heart and mind will bring blessings, this I know and bear testimony to. 

As always, I know that this work true, because Christ stands at the head of it. Already I have seen lives begin to change because of this gospel, and it reinforces my testimony that it is true and that God lives and is literally our father.

Keep on keepin on everyone! I love you all!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Nov 11, 2013 Fear Not What Man Can Do

Hallo tudo de meu amigos e familia, 

So for starters, my apologies for not having a bigger message home last week. I lost track of time with other emails and reading the mission journal, but I took extra time out of my already short opportunity to tell you guys of the mish in Brazil. 

I'll start by saying, we had our first baptism last week here in Brazil, and i had the opportunity to perform the baptism. What an experience. His name is Guilherme and he is 11 years old, and already is growing fast in the gospel. As I raised my arm to the square and said the words, Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, even though in another language when I did, I felt inside me an assurance that I truly had been called of God and a verification inside my soul that the priesthood authority that I hold comes directly from the Savior of the World and not from any other means. 

Well now about Brazil. The people here are seriously the most carefree people that exist on this planet. As someone from a completely different culture, first glace makes it seem like everyone here is just oblivious to everything. Nope, they just realize that we are all human doing human things. They know when to be serious and when you don't need to be serious just kick back, relax and live life. This is completely opposite of me, because everyone who knows me knows that I'm all about taking things seriously and not messing around. For example, yesterday being Sunday my companion and I came home from a great time at Church. I felt spiritually rejuvenated, and sat down to stud the scriptures. Well it just so happens that directly across from our casa is a DJ, and Brazilians love American music. So in the middle of me studying the scriptures the song Sexy and I Know It starts playing super loud. Yea, I'm not sure that song is the most appropriate song to hear when reading the scriptures.

So pretty much everyday, as I have said before, we walk...and walk... and walk. when we don't walk we take the bus, and that is ALWAYS an adventure. Pretty much taking the bus here is like riding on the Night Bus from Harry Potter. The drivers pay no heed to speed limits so we just fly through neighborhoods and take turns at who know how fast. Yes there are bus stops, but the buses only stop for pick ups if someone sticks out their hand, so you could like I said be going 60 kph and then the bus driver will slam on the brakes. Yet somehow in the midst of this being so crazy, the bus system is super efficient. 

So this past week we had a huge spiritual experience. Our area is very slow, the people here are very set in their ways and really don't like listening to us because they like where they are, the whole idea of complacency I saw in the US. On one particularly rough day, we had every appointment fall through. To make things worse, it was already dark, and in Brazil if you are not where you need to be, especially in the area where we are serving, things can get dangerous, or perigoso. As we were walking i saw what happened to be a family sitting outside of their door, and I felt impressed to go talk to them. I kept thinking, how? I barely know the language and I need to talk to these people, what can I even say to them. I decided to just do it, to open my mouth and speak, and that is exactly what happened. I opened my mouth and the words came to me. We had a powerful lesson about the Restoration and now a whole family is being taught about the Restored Gospel of Christ. What the Lord says about giving us in the very hour what to say is true! This applies to everything in our lives. If we just press forward with faith and don't have a fear of what others will do or say, God will strengthen us and allow for all things to become possible. A fear of God is not necessarily fearing his judgements, it is obeying his commandments with faith, because once we do he will immediately bless us. 

Well everyone, I have to get going. As always, I wish I could say everything, but time is short. Yet all the experiences I am having I know everyone can have and can feel of the same spirit in their lives. What do you need to do? Ask the missionaries. 

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Nov 4, 2013 New Country, New Life, Same Gospel

Oi todo mundo!

Como vai meus amigos e familia?! Goodness once again it feels so great to write to all of you. I feel so close to you even though I am so far away. I don't think i have gotten over the initial shock of the fact that i am in another country at the moment. it just feels like Ive been doing this for a long time. 

So my time is not very great today, but I wanted to share a lesson that was learned this past week. I have learned, that no matter where you are in the world, the church is still true! Why? Because Christ is at the head of this church. We are all children of the same God who loves us more than we can ever come to comprehend. the spirit teaches us in the same language, because he always bears witness of truth. no matter what the language is, he will bear witness that the message of the restoration, and the Book of Mormon are true! At times our faith is tried, but don't let that shake you. Hold to the faith that you have and know that God loves and is mindful of you. 

next week Ill have more time to say more things, but until then, Até mais!

Tchau tchau! 

Elder Dimmick

Oct 28, 2013 Hello to all from BRAZIL

Oi todo mundo!

What is going on everyone, hello from BRAZIL!!!!!!!! I still cant believe that I am in a completely different country right now, and brazil for that matter (oh, i should preface this with the fact that I am using a brazilian keyboard that is jank, so some spellings will be off. Don't hate, appreciate). This is probably the craziest thing i have ever done in y life, but I am having to rely more on the Lord than ever before. Ill explain more about that in a bit, for now I need to recap the past 2 weeks. 

Leaving Nebraska was one of the hardest things ever. I never thought it would be too. I got so attached to the people there and I felt such a love for them. I think the fact that most of them were farmers or had lived in Nebraska for all of their lives made them a very humble people and willing to listen, even if it was just a door approach. They were all kind and courteous and some of the best people i have ever met in my life live in that state. Nebraska will forever be a special and almost sacred place for me. 

All right, so now we get to Brazil. The first thing i want to say is, oh my living gracious what in the world am i doing here. okay, now that that is out of my system (I felt this way for about 5 days), there are some very different cultural observations i want to make. First of all, the people are super laid back, like nothing bothers them really. even if it is something super wrong, they could really not even care less. this is evident in the way they drive. Brazilians drive ridiculous! there are no lane lines, and it is totally okay to go 20 over (or under) the speed limit, and you can if you just so happen to feel like it cross over 3 lanes (if you can call them that) to turn onto another street, or rua. It is totally normal for motorbikes to drive between cars and it happens all the time. It is also totally normal to see 2 cars driving on a one lane road with the drivers talking to each other. Horses and dogs roam the streets, and people just throw their trash where they want. That being said, it is super dirty. Mosquitos are everywhere, and I think I counted 17 bites on my skin this morning.

We walk all the time. I don't even think i can explain how hard this is. Even for someone who is fit and walks fast, brazilians walk faster and they do it all in flip-flops. Yet somehow when we walk I'm able to keep a smile on my face. our area is huge and some days when we cant take a bus we have to walk the whole thing, which means we walk about 10-12 miles a day. 

The language is a royal pain. I thought I was going to be able to adjust decently well, but yea that didn't happen. It is very difficult o communicate and at times it can be very very frustrating. My companions name is Elder J. Sanchez, and he knows absolutely no english, so you can imagine how hard it is to communicate even with him. 

The work in our area is very slow. Not very many people here want to listen to our message and we are not really teaching anyone. This, combined with the fact that it is hard to speak and understand makes it very stressful. But, the lord always provides a way. In all the things the lord can help us and give us the strength to overcome. the past 2 days have been particularly stressful. For starters we had a huge rainstorm come through. it flooded streets for a time because the sewer lines are terrible. and well, we were out walking so we were soaked from head to toe. Yesterday was church and I understood jack squat. Members would ask me questions, and when i didn't understand they would get frustrated and walk away. all this being said, I received some great help from the Lord. In spite of all this terrible events taking place right now, I still managed to be optimistic. Walking in the rain I started to sing count your many blessings and I instantly felt the spirit and knew that heavenly Father was mindful of me. He knows all of us and he will not let us travel through tribulation alone! He has called me to this mission all the way in Brazil for who know why, and as such he will help me because it is his work. As President Monson says, who the lord calls, the Lord qualifies. Every missionary in the world was called of God, and he will not abandon his servants. During my study this morning i continued to receive what i know to be inspired revelation that helped me know what to do and that the Lord knows my struggle. I remembered the story of Gordon B. Hinkley when he was a missionary, and even he felt he couldn't do it it and wanted to give up. He then said his father wrote him and said, forget yourself and go to work. what a great hing to do. As King Benjamin says in the Book of Mormon when you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your god. I also remembered a quote from somewhere that says, as a man thinketh so is he. That is so true! You reap what you sow, and if you sow seeds of despain and grumbling you will get that and see that in your life. When you count your blessings you see that god is merciful and you live optimistically. Living with a smile just makes you feel better, so live smiling on. I also remembered the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, when he was struggling with he missionary work. he said he wanted God to take away his weakness, but our wise Savior and Advocate said, my grace is sufficient for thee. that is the key. The grace of Christ strengthens us and allows us to overcome our weakness. He doesn't take the away from us, but rather he allows us to endure through them so we can learn how to rely on him for strength and exercise faith in him.

Well, this is all I can say for now. Keep smiling on everyone, and live life with optimism and hope for the dawn of a new day!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Oct 21, 2013 On My Way to Brazil

Elder Andrew Dimmick's VISA finally came through. He is headed to Brazil.

Oct 14, 2013 Press Forward Having a Perfect Brightness of Hope

Ola todo mundo!

Goodness gracious, I can not believe that it has already been one whole transfer out in the field. It just flew by so fast. Even for being in the MTC for the same amount of time felt much much longer than this. I think I'm beginning to see how everyone says that the 2 years of mission service just fly by. The days truly feel like weeks and the weeks most definitely feel like days. 

Even though time has flown by that doesn't change the fact that things have gotten very difficult, for one reason or another. Perhaps the biggest struggle is the struggle to find people to teach. With most of our teaching pool already baptized, and the rest of the people not very interested anymore, it has been a struggle to find new investigators. When we had a trainer/trainee meeting I talked to President Weston about it. I expressed to him that finding was tough and he said something pretty much to the effect of well of course Elder that is why it is called missionary WORK. we then talked about how we had been finding and then how I told him we had been trying to avoid tracting because of it is not super effective. He then said something that really changed the game I thought for me. He said that trying to avoid tracting was not a fulfillment of your purpose as a missionary. He said as a representative of Jesus Christ, you are supposed to go out as Christ did, sharing the gospel to everyone, not just the ones that came to him or were referred to you. Going door to door and house to house is what the Savior did and taught when he said, "Go ye therefore, and teach ALL". Our President told us that we have to do at least one hour of finding a week, and well what President says is inspire and what we need to do. 

With that has come added discouragement as well. Door after door of refusals can take a toll on someone's drive and energy. Basically the way my companion and I have been doing things is we schedule an appointment, have several backups in line, and even several lessactives to try and see, that way if something falls through we have a good list of people we can see. Sometimes though, everything falls through. Those times can be the worst and the biggest traps for laziness and ineffectiveness. You just have to keep working, and so when eveything that we could possibly do falls through, we then switch our focus to finding. Of the many and many doors we have tried we have only gotten 2 potential investigators and placed one Book of Mormon, and both of the potentials said that they were no longer interested when we came back at the time they asked us to. I remember after a particularly rough day just feeling super down. I felt that everything was working against us and I was slowly loosing the drive I had for the day, and it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I had just lost all motivation to do anything because everything had fallen through, and no one was receptive to the message. My companion and I then read several scriptures that I had read before and understood, but really helped to turn the day around. We read Alma 26: 27 which says, 

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

and 2 Nephi 31: 20 which says, 

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

That is the key. when times are tough and things seem like they are just failing and not going the way you had planned you have to buckle down and drive through it all. There will always be opposition in life and times that do not go smoothly in our lives, but the true measure and test of character comes when we push though our trials and endure, with a hope and faith in Christ. That is when we are blessed and strengthened by the Lord. I believe it was Ezra Taft Benson who said the secret to missionary work is work! That is one of the truest statements ever said. Just work. Work, work, work. The best things, and most worthwhile things in life are the things that you have to work for and endure the heat of life for. The Savior puts it the best:

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be yourjoy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (D&C 18:15)

Well everyone, that is all for now. As always, I don't have all the time I wish to say everything I wish I could, but I am loving every minute here in , yes of all places in this world, Nebraska. \

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Oct 7, 2013 Apostles and Prophets and Others, Oh My!

Hello once again my wonderful family and dear friends!

I don't even know how much I can even begin to express how much I love the General Conference of the Church. Every year the speakers are so amazing. I am so glad that my amazing parents would always be faithful in watching General Conference each year and raising me to have the desire to hear from the Prophet and Apostles every 6 months. I just love it! When I was at BYU I had the chance to attend Conference in the Conference center, and boy that was a fantastic experience. I am so grateful to the God of Heaven for allowing me to listen to Conference once again in English! (being in the middle of nowheresvillle Nebraska has some very awesome perks) As always, Elder Russell M. Nelson was my favorite. I mean, I love all of them, and Elder Holland is one of my absolute favorites especially when he throws it down about the truthfulness of the Church, and so is Elder Bednar because of how direct he is, but Elder Nelson is just my favorite apostle. He's what I call my classic favorite, kind of like how everyone just has that fondness for Nintendo 64 yet loves the intensity as well of an HD PlayStation or X Box. 

Even though Nelson is my favorite apostle (I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I met the man) President Uchtdorf always manages to touch my soul and give me an inspirational quote to take away. He said something so profound. He said, "Doubt your doubts but never doubt your faith" (or at least that is what I believe he said they haven't printed the talks yet) Regardless of the exact wording that is so true! Faith is a principle of action, and when we have doubts that come we should hold fast to the ground of faith that we have instead of worrying about how much faith we don't have or why such and such doesn't make perfect sense. God knows all things and he will reveal them to us "line upon line, precept on precept". God only reveals truth to us if we ask him, so we must ask! And then after asking, we must act! One thing I have come to see is the divine mercy that our Heavenly Father has for each of us as his children. Unless we are willing to act on promptings or answers, he will withhold them so we can exercise and develop that faith! Why would he reveal to his children greater light and knowledge if they are not willing to act on it? He protects us that way. We know that when we sin against a greater light we receive a greater condemnation, and God, I don;'t think, wants to condemn his children by giving them a witness of the truth of the restored gospel, or anything for that matter, if they do not have real intent. What mercy! The Savior demonstrated this principle perfectly in how he taught the Jews through parables. This protected those who were not sincere about his teachings from gaining a witness they were not willing to act upon and from learning of a Savior who they were not willing to follow. As Nephi says, the Jews were the only ones who would crucify their God, and surly their inability to act on spiritual witnesses is one of the many reasons for that. They could not recognize his role as their Messiah, and so now God has once again extended mercy to all his children. If we desire a witness that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true than we must be willing to act on the answer that comes. And that answer is that he was a Prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is nothing but pure truth. I know it, because I have received my witness of the truth. I know that God lives and that he is my Eternal Father. As Elder Cortez, my amazing companion, put it, you cannot have faith without doubts that come occasionally, because if you do not have doubts then there is no reason to walk by faith. The only way we can come to a perfect knowledge of things is by excising faith upon him who is mighty to save, Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel. That is what the Brother of Jared did, and we must do the same until our faith grows to a perfect knowledge. 

Well everyone, time is short today but I am so grateful for your love. Send letters! I love to hear from you and read of your experiences! so many things have happened on this mission already and even in this past week, you will all just have to read my journal when I get back to find out. Oh, I guess one more thing I could say that happened is that I met a lady who has a flying squirrel. Well, a sugar glider is what it is called, but it is pretty much a miniature flying squirrel.

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Sept 30,2013 Being Guided by the Spirit

Hello family and friends!

How is everything?! Tell me about what has been going on in your lives people, I love getting emails and letters! So if you have been sending some, keep doing so I really appreciate it. If you haven't and you want to, go for it! I love to hear how everyone is doing.

Well mission life is mission life here in Nebraska. The ward is just as awesome as ever, and has some of the coolest and greatest people. There were probably 75 kids in the primary program last week! Yea, talk about a mad house in the chapel when all the kids were getting up and down, but it was nice and the Spirit was definitely there as the children sang and bore testimony about gospel truths. 

As always, this week was super busy, tiring, and full of awesome experiences. There was perhaps a central message to it all though, and that was the importance of following the Spirit, and how to really recognize promptings. I'm pretty sure that knowing how to be guided by the Spirit and knowing when we receive promptings from the Holy Ghost is perhaps one of the hardest things to learn and to master in this life. Something I have come to know over the past week as well as things that were reminded to me was that whenever we are acting on good thoughts and impressions, we are always following the guidance of the Spirit! yes there can be times when the Spirit will direct us in a very direct way so that we know that it is a prompting, but oftentimes the voice of the Holy Ghost comes as quiet thoughts that as long as we are focusing on being, as Elder Bednar calls it, a good boy or a good girl, then we do not need to worry about whether a thought or impression is of the Spirit. Why? Because if our will is in line with that of the Lord's, and we have a desire to do good and to follow the promptings we receive, then naturally our thoughts well be directed by the Spirit of the Lord and we will not have to worry about if we followed our own thoughts or the Spirit, because they will be one in the same!

Stemming from this is the wonderful gift of agency. I have come to really understand and appreciate this great gift from our Heavenly Father. as human beings with the capacity and the potential to reach Godhood, we have to learn to choose good from evil and how to make these decisions on our own. Our all knowing Father in Heaven respects our agency, so naturally he will not tell us what to do with every decision we have to make. If he did, how would we grow? By making our own choices we learn how to exercise agency and exercise critical thinking. As long as we are in tune with the Spirit, we can receive confirmation that our choices are right. So, when we have to make decisions about careers, schooling, marriage or whatever the case may be that are big decisions in life, God allows us to choose. Repeatedly we find in the scriptures the witness someone receives comes after they exercise faith. Since faith is action, we must act and choose for ourselves, and then let the confirmation come from our Heavenly Father after we start to travel down that path that it is the correct thing for us to do. Obviously if it was not the path that is best for us, our Heavenly Father will straighten us out and help us get to where we need to be. This doesn't mean we were misguided by the Spirit, but rather that we have to learn how to correctly exercise agency. Of course this is different for everyone, but the principle is the same.

Goodness there is so much more I could say about things that have happened this week but I don't have to time finish writing them all if I started! That is why we have journals. that is another thing I have come to appreciate, journal writing. Taking the time each night to reflect on the day and the Lord's hand in my life is a blessing. I love seeing all that he has done for me and being able to see what I have learned throughout the day. Many prophets have told us to do that so... write in journals!

I wish everyone all of my love.

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Sept 23, 2013 The Search For The One Lost Sheep

Oi Oi Oi todo mundo!

Goodness gracious, I still don't think I can get over the fact that I am in Nebraska. What in the world. Anyways, once again, so much has happened this past week. So I'll just start off with the best of news; I had my first baptism! Wow what an amazing experience. It was JeanAime, the man I told you guys about last week. The craziest part about it was I was the one who was asked to give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. That was seriously one of the most nerve racking experiences of my life thus far. At the same time, it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life thus far. Pronouncing the words "Receive the Holy Ghost" was such a powerful moment. I have never experienced anything else like it. I felt so connected to the spirit as I was giving him the blessing that followed. I know that everything I said came directly from God. It was a testimony to me of many things, especially about the authority of the priesthood. I know that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

We even had one of our investigators, Terry, come to see the baptism. It was such a spiritual experience, I'm so grateful that he was able to and wanted to come and see. The change in Jean is so evident that I know that he will want to experience that as well. We even have two of our progressing investigators who want to come and watch General Conference! Wow!

As I've spent the time I have thus far on my mission trying to serve as many people as I can, I have developed a great love for reaching out to less-active and inactive members of the church. President Weston (my mission president) promised us that if we help bring someone back to church and back into the fellowship they once had then the Lord will bless us with new people to share the gospel with. It makes complete sense too. Why would the Lord bless us with the ability to find new people to teach and share the message of the restoration with, if we are not willing to help those who are already in our stewardship? This is expressed so poignantly by the Savior when he said,

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

(Luke 15:4-7)

This principle is one that we often reference, yet we do not go out and reach out to those who are struggling to maintain their activity in the church. We are promised joy that we cannot comprehend when we do all we can to recover the lost sheep of the fold. It is not very easy, but it is so very worth it. And the best part about it is you don't have to be a missionary to do this either! Think about what would happen in the church if every member reached out to someone who was less-active in the Church. Wards and stakes would grow in attendance, more buildings could be built, more temples even, and then they would in turn reach out to their friends and neighbors so we as missionaries could continue to spread the gospel to every nation, kindred tongue and people.

I've also come to see, even though I am not super great at it, the importance of setting goals and planning effectively. Setting goals drives your work and gives you a focus you could otherwise not achieve. I have always hates writing out schedules because I just don't like being super meticulous about things. Not that I like to just wing things but I like to be open and free with my time. But time on a mission is super precious. I've only been given 2 small years to find, teach and bring God's children to the truth, and every minute is valuable time. You have to plan every moment with prayerful consideration and set goals to help you strive to be the missionary God wants you to be. And once again the cool thing mission life has been showing me, is that you don't have to be a missionary to do these things! The only difference is this is what I do on a daily basis because I have been called and set apart to do so. As Elder Holland said, paraphrasing of course since I can't come close to quoting the man, a mission isn't where you leave real life and then come back to it, this is real life! This is the start of a lifetime of service to God, and there is no better place to learn how to best do it than on a mission.

Well, I'll be seeing everyone around! Send me your love and support please, as much as you can. I love getting letters from people (I'm a missionary we fight for the mailbox duh) so keep on sending them my way. All the way to the middle of nowhere in Nebraska :)

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick

Sept. 16, 2013 Open Your Mouth and it Shall be Filled

Oi oi oi!

How has everyone been?!  I hope everyone has been doing well I haven't heard from anyone in a while... just because I'm in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska doesn't mean I've fallen off of the face of the Earth! So.. hop on those emails and letters! They seriously keep me going whenever I get them.

This past week was filled with both challenge and excitement. We had so many lessons to teach this week! this area is exploding with new investigators and less-actives that we have been teaching and inviting to come to church. We even have a baptism set for this Saturday, with two more progressing investigators who are soon to follow in the coming month. Their faith is amazing to me. Well as for our baptism this weekend, that is a crazy story. His name is Jean Aime (pronounced like John) and he is from Congo, and shoot this guy is super cool. He is here in the United States studying political science because he is running for the President of Congo! And the crazy part about it is this is a revolutionary idea for his country. He was telling us that whenever he travels home he has to be protected because people are always trying to kill him for his democratic ideas. He even has a website and all this stuff. And through it all he has amazing faith. He had been meeting with the missionaries for several weeks before I arrived, and unfortunately had his baptism delayed. But when we spoke to him about it, instead of being upset, he said that he knew that there was a reason for it, that God knew what was best, and that even if he had to wait a year, he would wait that year and then be baptized. What faith. He even said hat when he goes to Congo he is going to tell all his friends about the Book of Mormon so he can let other people share in his happiness. He wants people to see the new Jean Aime as he said it.

But things are not always peachy on missions. Times are tough, and the work is hard. It really is "work" there is no doubt about that. Missionaries don't just drive around and then horse around on P-Days. We have to always be spreading the gospel and finding people to teach. It is extremely exhausting work. I go to bed at 10:30 and it seems like 6:30 always comes earlier and earlier. It's strange how 8 hours of sleep can feel less than the 6 or so I would get at school and over the summer. Anyways the part that is so difficult for me, is talking to people I don't know. It just frightens me. Whenever we are walking down the street and you see a person walking the opposite direction or someone sitting in their yard there is this constant battle of should I say something, should I not, and just on and on and on. But the key is to just open your mouth. Be an "open your mouth missionary" as Elder Bellows calls it (he is part of our tri-panionship and is going home on Friday) and constantly invite others to hear the message of the Restoration. You never know who is waiting and searching for the truth. Such an experience recently happened. On Friday my companions, the mini missionary, and I had an appointment scheduled, and then it fell through. Well, just because we have an appointment fall through doesn't mean that we go home and rest, we have to keep finding. So the two experienced missionaries went to go see a less-active, and I was left with this mini missionary, I didn't know the area, I didn't know anyone, and I had to go and find. I started panicking inside. How in the world was I supposed to even do anything when I literally had been in the field for 6 days, and was with a mini missionary who knew less than I did? Well I pulled out the Ward Directory and started looking over the inactive names. One name jumped out to me, and I wanting to act on any inspiration I received said okay lets go for it, now where is it? Well I pulled out the map and it happened to be on the opposite side of the area we were in that day. So we walked all the way over there and knocked on this door, and guess what happened? Nothing. I kept thinking to myself what the world is going on I thought we were supposed to come here? So I looked at the list again, and once again a name jumped out to me that happened to be close by. As we were walking I saw a little old lady by herself in her front yard pulling weeds or something. I kept feeling like I should talk to her, but in the back of my mind I kept saying what the world I don't know her. I have no idea what to say, and so on. But when we walked by, I opened my mouth and just started speaking, and I think I honestly freaked her out a bit, but we ended up having a wonderful conversation. She doesn't want to hear our message, but we offered to do service for her and he face beamed. She was so grateful and she is going to call us and put us to work. We ended up talking about temples and parts of the gospel, something that would never have happened if I had not opened my mouth. That truly is one of the keys to missionary work, just open your mouth! If your don't know what to say, well no one does. That's where relying on the Lord comes in. You have to trust that when you step out of your comfort zone, and try to share a message with a complete stranger that through the Spirit he will put into your mind what to say. and he does, he truly does. I have never before felt so guided by the Spirit then I am right now, and I love this feeling so much. Yes, I may have no clue about anything in this area, or what to say or how to say it, but the Lord does, and by doing all that I can to be worthy of that Spirit of inspiration I can be the missionary that God wants me to be.

Well, that's about it really, well all I really have time for there is so much that goes on and I don't have enough time to say it all! The Lord really has his hand in all things. He knows everything from the beginning to the End and he will give us success is we are wil.ling to be that instrument in his hands. Yes, not everyone will accept the gospel, but they are not who we are searching for. We are searching for those ready to be harvested, those seeking for truth and do not know where to find it. People may mock and ridicule the gospel and Joseph Smith but truth is truth, and I know that the message I share with people about the restoration and reality of the Book of Mormon is pure truth. I have seen it change people's lives already, including my own.

Tchau tchau todo mundo!

Elder Dimmick

Sept 9, 2013 #missionlifeinomaha

Oi todo mundo!

It is crazy to think that I am now sitting in Nebraska, when roughly 48 hours ago I was in Utah. WOW! This is probably the coolest and craziest reassignment ever to happen to a missionary going to Brazil. Seriously, of all places in the United States that could possibly have been the place to go, Nebraska was where the Lord needed me. Aside from how bizarre that seems, this has already turned out to be a major blessing. One being that I just had P-Day on Friday and now I get another one out in the field on Monday. Chea.

So much has happened in the past 3 days I don't know where to begin. Well for starters I had a super cool experience in the airport when I was checking my bags to the airline. On the way to the airport I was kind of bummed because I was never going to be able to speak Portuguese again for who knows how long. I mean, yes in the field as a visa waiter I still get language study, but it is not the same as being fully immersed in the language. So as I'm standing in line, I don't know how but somehow I heard Portuguese behind me. It kind of took me back, and I said to myself, no way I just heard that. I turn around and there were probably 4 or 5 Brazilians. What. Are. The. Odds. I turn to the Sister I was flying with and then shout out, "They're speaking Portuguese!", and then we both turn and I started talking to this older man in the group. I think I kind of freaked him out too by how I just turn around and started speaking Portuguese to him. We had a decently long conversation and we even shared a short message about the gospel. This was so crazy for 2 reasons; I am not good at all with talking to people I don't know, and I thought it was so crazy how the first people I talk to, in the Salt Lake Airport, happened to be Brazilians. After pondering on that experience, I am thoroughly convinced that the Lord placed them in my path to help me realize that I will eventually get to Brazil and that he hasn't forgotten about me and the sacrifices I made to learn, or start to learn, Portuguese.

The mission here is so amazing. I am in Lincoln Nebraska, in an area just south of the University of Nebraska. College football is everything here. Just like soccer for Brazil, Nebraska football shuts down the city and you can hear the stadium for miles. They announced a primary activity, and people went and complained because it was scheduled at the same time as the football game. Super funny. My new companion and trainer is Elder Cortez, and he is the bomb. He is from the bay area in northern California and he is a visa waiter too! What a blessing to be paired with someone who is also trying to keep up the language! The Lord truly looks out for his servants. He is a pretty chill missionary yet still is a super hard worker and has so much knowledge. The crazy part is he has only been out for 2 transfers and is already training. Right now we are in a trio with an Elder Bellows from Mesa Arizona. He has about 2 weeks left on his entire mission. He is so trunky, but when it's time to work and study you could never tell that he was about to go home. He is so hardworking and is not afraid to speak to people which I hope to learn from him. We also have a mini-missionary from Iowa right now (yea the mission covers Nebraska, and parts of Kansas, Iowa, and South Dakota) so our apartment is crowded. 4 people in a 1 room building. It's so crazy but way awesome at the same time.

The first night was no excuse to take it easy. We went out and had a lesson with an amazing man named Terry, my first Investigator. He moved to Nebraska from Kansas at the beginning of the summer and has had it pretty rough since then, more than happens to a lot of people. On Wednesday he just up and walked into the Church, and he said it was the hardest decision of his life because of how crazy his life has been. So, we started teaching him. He is the man. He has been studying the Book of Mormon for 6 years now, and he knows it is true based on the research he has done into Meso-Amarican history and Archaeology. He was investigating ancient civilizations in the Americas, and kept coming up with loose ends and didn't know how or why civilizations separated by thousands of miles and hundreds of years would have the same legends unless there was a base culture they came from, something he could find no records of. Then he found the Book of Mormon, and he said all his loose ends tied up and he knows it is true. We are working with him now to gain a spiritual testimony of its truth as well, and I know he will because he is already extremely religious, and believes that God is a real being. He has amazing faith in our Heavenly Father and Christ and I just love him so much. He even came to church and said he wanted to come on Sunday even before we extended the invitation to him. He is so eager to learn and find truth. The coolest part was it seemed like every single talk or lesson was somehow directed to his needs, and these people didn't even know him, his needs, or the things we had talked with him about. I know that the Spirit was there on Sunday and impressed upon their minds the things they needed to say to help Terry and answer his questions.

So much more has happened I can't even express it all. The next amazing thing happened when we went to try and see an inactive member of the Ward. We knocked on the door, and it turned out that the person we were looking for had moved and left no forward address. When at first it seemed like a bum deal and I thought we were going to leave, Elder Bellows the super experienced missionary asked this woman who answered the door if she had ever met with the missionaries before. She said no and he explained our purpose and message, and asked if she would be interested in listening to us. She said yes! Her name is Angelina and she is married and has several kids. Her and her husband invited us over for next Saturday since they are going out of town. What an amazing experience. I learned that when it comes to spreading the gospel, you really do just have to open your mouth and it will be filled. Because of that bold missionary we have a new potential Investigator and someone willing to hear the message of the Restoration and the truth of what we go around trying to share with everyone.

The ward her is super awesome and they work so well with the missionaries. We still have to work to get help finding people, but that should be expected. Why would they give us the names of their dear friends if they do not think we are diligent and effective missionaries? so at our dinner appointments today we are going to share a wonderful spiritual message and see if that will gain their trust. That is also what is crazy. They always want to help us with food. One member bought us groceries on Saturday. Every single night there is someone signed up to feed us, and some nights the members are double booked. I know the Lord blesses those who help his servants, and I am so grateful for their sacrifices. Keep feeding the missionaries! I know when you do you are blessed extremely and in ways you might not even recognize.

I am so grateful to be a missionary. This truly is an amazing time to serve the Lord.

Until next week! Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick