13 10/27/12

Dear Family,

Tomorrow marks quite an interesting point.  I will hit 13 months in the mission tomorrow.  As I sit and think about it, Stuart Anderson and Wesley Thomas should be home now or returning within a couple of weeks.  Tyler Rauckhorst should be getting home soon too.  Time is flying.

Speaking of flying, transfers are already up on us again.  It's way weird to be seing transferes from the administration point of view.  We have to deal with flight information getting people in from the south, down to the south, getting people the right amount of money on their support cards for rent, personal assignments, etc.  We deal with the remis (taxi) costs and company...  All in all, it's really hectic right now.  The number of missionaries coming here from other countries keeps changing because of people who are waiting for visas, people who get them at the last minute, other people who are postponed, etc.  On my end of the work, I have to make sure that everyone has a place to sleep at night that is safe, secure, and appropriate for a missionary's calling.  We currently have about 90 apartments in the mission, and we have extra missionaries coming in this transfer than we originally had planned, so I'll be crunching in the first two weeks of the transfer to be able to secure contracts and new apartments in the new areas that will open up.

Dad asked me to explain a normal day in the offices, so here goes.  We begin the day at 6:30, like the rest of the missionaries, exercise, study, eat, etc.  The main difference is that we need to be in the offices shortly after 9:00, so we miss out usually on being able to do a really effective companionship study, if we get one at all.  From 9:00 to about 5:30-ish I'm accepting calls from missionaries and real estate companies, and occasionally landlords.  For instance, we're currently trying to renew a contract with one of the landladies and it's getting a little frustrating because of certain issues that I can't discuss openly online.  Needless to say, some of us didn't have parents as clean as you are Mom and Dad.  The landfolks notice if they visit the apartments.  But moving ahead, once 5:30 hits, we go out to proselyte. We normally get about three lessons of some sort in, be it to investigators, recent converts or less active members.  The best way to find new people is through referrals, but people don't like giving us referrals.  We have, however, gotten a few that we will be contacting really soon.

We're currently teaching one young man named Jorge (hor-hey).  He's really cool, but has a lot of doubts.  The biggest one that we think about is that he was super catholic, including the fact that he helped several young people take the comunion and confirmation.  He was batptized twice in the Catholic church, and we think that he feels it would be almost an hypocrisy to change religion now.  He has felt several times that he should get baptized, but he still feels iffy about it.  One of the things that he told us dealt with him having an inability to forgive himself, something that I have great experience with.  He also feels sure that he'll go right back into sinning, even if he gets baptized, and he doesn't want to do that.  

Things are progressing here, slowly but surely.  The work of the Lord will not be frustrated.  "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... 

The truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and dependent...until the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say, 'The work is done.'"

I love you with all my heart.  I pray that day to day you can find the strength to keep on going.  I have a picture of Christ above my screen, the one of Him at the Second Coming seen in most temples.  Periodically throughout the day, I look at it and think, as Elder Andersen asked, "What does Jesus think of me?"  I know He is our Saviour.  I know He loves us and that we are children of a loving Father in Heaven.  The newest addition and proof of this in our family is Zayne.  What more evidence could we ask for of a loving Heavenly Father than the responsibility and privelege to help others of His children return to His presence and partake of this wonderful experience.

I wish you all the best and pray for you daily.

Elder Dewsnup