Another week come and gone 3/5/12

Dear Family of Mine,

The work goes on. We have found so many more people to teach!! The
one problem with most of them is coming to church. That is the key to
almost everything. Beyond reading and praying, if they don't come to
the church, they may never feel the Spirit strognly enough to desire
baptism. We were waiting for a list of about 20 people to come to
church, who committed to come. Out of those twenty precious soulds,
only one of them came. Nine year old Sebastián, who is the friend of
a recent convert, has begun coming and has told us that he wants to
come every Sunday for the rest of his life. We are preparing him for
baptism this coming Sunday, and he's really excited for it all. We've
found so many other people through our recent converts and through old
names in our Area Book and old investigators. But by far, the most
plentiful harvest is found in referrals.

Out mission president is focusing a lot on the convept of Love, as you
all have told me was the focus in Stake Conference this weekend.
Beyond simply loving the people, we also need to gain the vision that
every visit and person we teach is a field, white for the harvest.
Even if the people themselves don't want to know anything, they often
have someone to whom they can send us. It is through that
realization, that the field is white already to harvest, that we can
truly find the people. The other focus is on opening our mouths, to
teastify, teach, and invite. I've truly been seeing miracles in our
area and in those of the other missionaries in our district and zone
through opening the mouth. Several of the recent converts already
have this vision and have been inviting other family members and
sharing the gospel with everyone they know. So many baptisms and
miracles have come from those simple invitations of those people. Two
of the recent converts we have now are starting to prepare for
missions, one of whom still has to wait for two years before she can
go. The field truly is white!!!

May we all be examples of steadfastness in this gospel, as were
Moroni, Ether, Joseph Smith, and others in the face of unrelenting
persecution. It is through that example and a simple invitation that
a miracle can occur.

In other news, my allergies have come and hit me full swing.
Yesterday, they were so bad that I was reduced to spending a lot of
time with a toilet paper roll close by to stop my nose up. And my
eyes decided to be rivers. During church, I had to return to the
apartment on an emercency split to take some benedryl, which tamed it
for the most part, but after lunch with the Bishop and his family, we
had to return to the apartment once again. Stupid allergies.

And so it goes. I love you all!! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

With Love,

Elder Dewsnup

p.s. pictures will have to wait a little longer. This computer
doesn't work all that well. Plus also, Mr. Fredrickson from Up lives
in our area and is a masterful cook.

Once Again 2/27/12

Familia,

 

A cheery hello from Lopez Camelo!!  Things are shaping up and shipping out and sailing forth in the work here.  Mirta was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints yesterday!!  And now we've begun teaching one of her daughters, Sabrina, with her family.  We've also started teaching a boy named Sebastian who is the friend of one of the recent converts in the neighborhood.  Our visits continue to progress with the people we baptized last transfer and they are already receiving visits from women in the Relief Society.  Sadly, home teaching and visiting teaching is done less here that I remember occuring in Missoula.  It's so frustrating when we visit with less active members and those who have gone inactive for years to find out that they stopped coming because they didn't feel welcome or loved by the people.  Brief visits can make all the difference in someone's day and makes them feel like they have a friend in the church.  On the part of the recent converts, that is someone in whom they can confide and to whom they can ask questions when the missionaries aren't around.

 

Something that we are told to do as missionaries is try to NEVER have a lesson with an investigator or recent convert without a member present.  Mom expressed to me in her letter that often in Ohio it felt like the missionaries just baptized a person and dumped them on the doorstep of the ward without giving the ward the opportunity to fellowship them.  At least here in our mission, we are told that if the person we are teaching wants to be baptized, then we are to baptize them as soon as possible, as long as they meet the requirements established by the Church (see D&C 20:37, plus willingness to live the laws of tithing, chastity, and the word of wisdom).  When investigators come to church, we try to introduce them to their teachers, the bishop, and the leaders they will have as members, but beyond that the members need to extend their own hand of welcome.  I'll admit I wasn't good at that, but it's something I intend to change when I return home.  I want the people to know that they have friends in the church and they won't be alone.

 

I apologize if that sounded preachy, and I hope you weren't offended by it.  I guess I rambled a bit, but it's all true.  Then again, we can only do so much.  There have been some people who just won't come to church, despite repeated invitations, calls, reminders, and even people who are family members or friends who can bring them.  It's sad in that respect because if they don't come to church, they can't progress in a manner strong enough to really get into their hearts.  After all, after the reading and praying we can to daily on our own in any place, God has asked us to be in His house for a small period each week.  And for doing that, he has promised us that we will receive an added measure of the Spirit.  There are things we can receive in the church that we can't receive at home (the sacrament, to name one very important one).

 

And now I have rambled my time away.  One thing that keeps coming to mind is the story of the Nephites between the end of 3 Nephi and the first few pages of Mormon.  The people went from being entirely devoted to Christ and serving God, to cursing God and refusing to acknowledge His blessings.  Because of this, they removed themselves from Him.  He withdrew because no one would turn to Him, even after delivering them time and time again.  This happened in the course of less than 300 years (between 34ish AD and 320 AD).  I don't ever want to forget Him, because I want to feel the love of His embrace.

 

I love you all.  Remember.

 

With my love,

 

Elder Dewsnup

-- 

Elder Matthew H. Dewsnup

 

Mission Buenos Aires Norte

Gral. Lavalle 1828

1646 San Fernando

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Week??? 2/20/12

{Sorry guys! I'm a month behind. of the next few days you'll finally get caught up}

Aloha!!

 

Not sure what week it is, but today has begun my third transfer in the mission.  I haven't moved, so for the next six weeks I'll still be here in Lopez Camelo, with Elder Tidei continuing to be my companion.  And we have a lot of work to do.

 

We had another baptism yesterday.  Her name is Mirta, and she has had a lot of religious experience.  She recognizes the Spirit really differently from most other people, but she knows God loves her and has a plan for her.  The first time we taught her, she knew the Book of Mormon was true.  When she heard about President Monson, she said she wanted to meet him.  She paid her tithing, fully understanding the concept (though maybe not what it's used for) before we taught it and before she was baptised.  We quickly followed that by teaching about tithing and what it is used for in the church.  She is really excited to be a new member and wants to learn more, even though from her standpoint our meetings are a little strange.

 

WIth her, that means we have 5 people that we baptised during the last transfer, so we have a lot of work to do to finish teaching the lessons of retention.  We are also teaching a few people who are references of them, along with the family members of other recent converts from the last year.  So we do indeed have a work for us to do.

 

I am reminded of Doctrine and Covenants Section 4, when we are told the "field is white, already to harvest."  Indeed it is, all we have to do is thrust in our sickle with our might to gather the wheat.  In another section of the Doctrine and Covenants, it says somewhere three times in as many verses that we need to "open [our] mouths." I think it's section 33.  And we are then promised that they will be filled.  I'm learning that lesson more and more as I begin to open my mouth more in the lessons.  I find that it has become easier and easier to speak to the people.

 

Argentina is wonderful!  Many people are ready, and as I said before, people are beginning to run to our church.  Once they hear of it and of the beliefs, people are for the most part willing to listen.  But the only way people will hear is if we "open [our] mouths" and "fear not."  When we invite and share, people will listen, and in many cases will be willing to learn more.  I know that to be true.  I've seen it happen here in Argentina, and I don't believe that to be any different no matter where we are in the world.  The people of the world are ready to hear, so for those who have ears to hear, let them hear.  For those of us who have the knowlegdge and mouths, let us open them.

 

Believe.

 

I love you all!!  My time has just about run out before we have to head home.  So I'll talk to you again next week.  You are in my thoughts and always in my prayers.  Even if we have a big head and little arms, we need to keep moving forward ;)

 

With love,

 

Elder Matthew Dewsnup

Another Week! 2/13/12

Hidee Ho, Family!

 

One more week has passed.  The time just flies.  Out of the 16 total transfers that I will have in my mission, I have almost completed the second. I've already passed the 1/6 mark of the mission too.  It seems like I boarded the plane yesterday.  I can still remember Mom, Dad, and Joseph as I walked up the stairway to the gates.

 

Miracles continue to happen in Zion.  As her beauty rises, more and more people are beginning to recognize the church for what it is. I recall a quote I heard, I believe given by Elder Ballard, in which he was talking with a recently called member of the Seventy.  He said that one day in the lifetime of that Seventy (perhaps it was a different calling, but I don't remember), the difference between the morals of the Church and those of the world would be so different that people would flock to the Church.  The man then said something to the effect of, "But that's still a long time left."  Elder Ballard then said, "It will happen in my lifetime."

 

Think of it.  The morals of the world really are so different from ours as members of the Church.  It is prevelant and visible everywhere you go that that is true.  I really believe that people will begin to flock to the Church on their own, as Elder Ballard said.  Dad, if I was wrong in quoting who said all that, would you be able to change it?  That's just what is sticking in my memory right now. 

 

We are teaching a woman named Mirta who when we first stopped by, was reading from the introduction with us.  In the second to last paragraph, the second sentence says something to the effect of "Those who do this and ask in faith will receive a testimony of the truth and divinity of the Book by the power of the Holy Ghost."  Again, if that's not the exact wording, you can look it up in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, but she stopped after she read the word "testimony."  She was crying.  She knew already that it was true.  We set a baptismal date for this weekend and will be teaching her all week to prepare her for that day.  She's excited about it and said when she came to church on Sunday that this is what she's been looking for all her life.

 

I love you all.  I'm running out of time, so I have to say good bye.  But I want you all to know that I know this church is the true church of God, restored by Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith.  I know that we receive continuing direction through Thomas S. Monson, the prophet of the Church today.  I know it, and I cannot deny the feelings I he received from the Holy Ghost testifying of the truth to me.

 

I love you,

 

Elder Matthew Dewsnup

S.M.I.L.E. 2/6/12

To the family,

 

I have less time this week than I have had in all the mission, except for the MTC, to write to you. Because of this, my message will be shorter than usual, but I don't love you any less.  In fact, my love for you all grows with each passing day. 

 

I don't know how many days I have completed in the mission, but people always ask how long we've been out, so I know that I've been in Argentina for 10 weeks now and I was in the MTC for 9, so I have a total of 19 weeks, equal to about four months and a week.  The time has flown by.  As I hear about news at home, I marvel at how fast the time keeps passing.  For example, Mom and Dad both mentioned to me in their letters this week that Joseph had to the Montana State Thespian Festival last weekend.  I remember going to those, and they seem forever ago, and yet yesterday.  I think I've mentioned this before, but Lehi talks about how the days of man were lengthened in 2 Nephi 2.  If our days have been lengthened, it feels like they're getting shorter all the time. 

 

Work here in the field has been slow this week.  We have few investigators and those we do have have not been progressing, so much so to the point that we have been discussing dropping a few of them.  That is something that I don't want to do, but I realize that in some cases the people just aren't ready.  I'm just scared that someone is and all we have to do is put in one more visit past the point when we drop them.  I've been in Lopez Camelo for a full month now, and I love the people.  And I know there are more people that the Lord has prepared for us to reach, but we're having a hard time finding them.

 

I don't remember where I was in my personal studies last Monday, but I've now made it through 3 Nephi 6.  The people once again are ripening in their wickedness.  It seems that after the people are so faithful, it takes only a year or two of relative to abundant prosperity for the people to become puffed up in pride.  I've found that as I think about different things in my own life, I have been a little (or perhaps more than a little) prideful in a few (or several) areas.  For that I'd like to apologize if I have been overbearing, arrogant, snobbish, and for all intents and purposes, a jerk.  I've been looking a little further into the Christlike attributes of humility and meekness. While these traits mean to be submissive and patient, walking in the ways of the Lord, they do not mean that we have to deny our gifts, talents, and abilities when complimented by others.  But then neither should we go on and begin boasting about it.  I recognize that often I have done both, and I'm sorry.   When complimented, the right thing to do is accept it with a simple thank you and continue forward in gratitude to God for having blessed you for that.  It's something that I am continuing to learn, and will likely be learning for a lot longer before it finally sinks in in my own life.

 

Last night, we were in the house of a member who is of mission age and is struggling with the decision to serve.  He's been researching a lot into different things, but he accompanies the missionaries (that is, us) a lot during the week.  The thing that he's not doing very much of is reading the scriptures.  This is why he has begun to doubt.  There are certain things that everyone must do in order to keep building their testimony.  They are: read the scriptures, pray, and go to church.  In prayer we ask God for the strength and help to keep going.  In the scriptures and with the members we find and receive revelation and strength to do it.  But not simply read, pray, and go; study, converse, and be.  We need to study the words, which means to ponder them and cross reference, finding connections.  We need to converse with our Father, for that is what prayer is, a conversation.  Quick side note, Dad, in his email to me either last week or the week previous, mentioned Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof."  We need to have a relationship with God, not just rote phrases, but an actual, spiritual connection with the Being who created our spirits. Tevye often talked openly with God in the street, to and from visits, and even as asides while with his family and guests.  Last, we need to be in church.  Not just present at the meetings, but also mentally and spiritually, paying attention to the promptings and feelings we receive through the Spirit.  The sacrament speaker could be relating something about carpentry, but because the Spirit is present, we receive an answer to a question about our child, or about how to approach that friend we've been wanting to share the Gospel with.  Things happen that way.  I've seen it.

 

Things here will progress and continue as we pray, fast, and work.  That is all that missionary work is: work, with a lot of the Spirit.  Preach My Gospel says faith leads to action, or as Dad teaches, faith is action based on belief.  When we pray, we exercise faith that God will listen.  When we study and attend church, we show that we are willing to listen to Him. But the important thing is then to act on the revelation we receive, because revelation doesn't do anything for us if we don't decide to act on it.

 

Well, I've carried on more than I intended in a direction that I hadn't planned, but the message is true.  Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, the Prophet called to restore His church upon the earth again.  God lives, and He loves us, individually, profoundly deeply, and beyond our comprehension.  Spencer W. Kimball once said, "Nothing will surprise us more when we pass through the veil that to realize how well we know our Father, and how familiar His face is to us."  Oh, how I look forward to that day when I can kneel before my Maker and look up into His face, knowing perfectly who He is.  I hope and pray that I will be found worthy to be with Him again.  A pray the same for you and for all the people I teach.  May God in His mercy open our hearts to receive His love, for He is willing to give it.  The only thing that stops Him is our own action.

 

I love you all,

 

Elder Matthew Dewsnup

Hola!!! 1/30/12

Para mi familia,

Miracles are all around us.  All we have to do is open our eyes.  We had another baptism yesterday.  Maria Lopez Rivas.  She's a woman who is always smiling, always happy, and ever willing to commit.  She was a Catholic, though not attending meetings. I think with a little time and more learning, she'll become one of the stalwarts in the ward.  Pictures will be included in this letter this time.  I was the one she asked to batize her and she'll be confirmed next Sunday in Sacrament Meeting.

The family who was baptized last week is doing well too.  The father was interviewed yesterday to receive the priesthood and will receive it next week, so this week we'll be teaching about the priesthood to him and his family, along with the other lessons of retention.  After her, we don't really have any investigators, so this week we'll be doing some finding activites by visiting with recent converts, less active families, and old investigators to try to find new investigators.

I don't really have any more news, but I know that I'm here to help others feel the joy I have through the Gospel.  I know God lives.  I know He loves us.  I know He hears us.  I know He answers us according to our needs.  I know that Joseph Smith restored His gospel.  We will all be blessed as we follow our own knowledge of His love and as we obey His commandments.

With Love,

Elder Matthew H. Dewsnup

Mission Miracles 1/23/12

Para la Familia,

 

Les amo mucho!!  Les amo tanto que no puedo decirles!  Hay muchas cosas que pasaron esta semana las cuales son milagros!  Milagros digo.  El Señor nos ama y esta cuidandonos y bendiciendonos.

 

I love you a lot!!  I love you so much that I can't tell you!  There are many things that happened this week that are miracles!  Miracles I say.  The Lord loves us and is caring for us and blessing us.

 

This last week marked the "first time" for a lot of things for me.  For the first time, I did my personal study entirely in Spanish (and surprisingly I understood most of it).  For the first time, I went on splits and taught a lesson almost entirely on my own (of course with the help of the Spirit).  For the first time, I witnessed baptism and confirmation in the mission.  For the first time, I baptized someone.  And for the first time, I gave someone a blessing in Spanish.

 

All the things, minus the study, happened with the same family.  They've been taught before but were never all that interested until a little while ago.  They got married about two months ago in the beginning of the last transfer (I think), at the gentle urging of previous missionaries, but they still weren't interested much.  Last transfer, with Elders Tidei and Burton, things began to really progress, because the Elders came by about twice a week to do service for them and taught while giving service.  The family could see that we didn't just preach about some wierd religion, we served, loved, and helped.  And I think they began to realize that that's what it's all about.  While I was on splits last week, I was finishing up most of the teaching required before baptism, teaching them about certain of the commandments.  I used the ones they were familiar with (the 10 commandments) and then from there talked about the Law of Chastity and the law of the Sabbath (or keeping the Sabbath day holy).  It was a miracle for me, because before hand I had no idea how I would be able to teach people when no one could understand one whit of English and with a member I knew nothing about.  But I prayed for strength and help, and it was given to me.  I understood almost everything said by them and they understood me, much due to the help of the member who is a convert of 13 years and had many questions about the commandments that he has come to understand through years of attendance.  He was able to answer some of the questions better than me, because he had experience in overcoming things that I hadn't, for instance, worship of the Virgin Mary.

 

While reviewing the baptismal interview questions with them, I could see that they knew the answers and that their testimonies were like the sprouts of seedlings, in connection with the parable of the seed of faith in Alma 32.  The family we baptized comprised of a couple and the woman's sister, who are both sisters of a convert from about a year ago.  The couple have a 4 year old boy and a baby boy one week younger than Annie (which is what, about 8/9 months old now?).  Their names are Gustavo and Yesica (pronounced almost exactly like Jessica) for the couple, and the sister is Florencia.  Gustavo asked me to be the one to baptize him and Florencia wanted me to do her confiramation.  This last weekend was the first time I had personally performed either ordinance at all, let alone in Spanish, so I was a little nervous, but I could definitely feel the Spirit with them during those occasions.  They're a wonderful family and I'm anxious to continue watching their growth for at least another four weeks here.

 

Another first time was that yesterday, I taught Sunday School.  The Gospel Principles (the class for recent converts or non members) teacher was sick, and when that happens, the Elders teach the class.  Then Elder Tidei had to do an emergency split to make some visits to other members, so I was left at the church, with another brother as my temporary companion, to teach the class.  I taught lesson four from the Gospel Principles book, which is about Agency, and with the intermittent help of the brother, and help from a recent convert with my Spanish vocabulary and conjugation, it went over very well.  One thing that I felt impressed to relate to them during the class is that there are really only two options: We can follow Christ, meaning to do the will of the Father, or we can follow Satan, which is in essence doing any will other than the Father.  We know that in the Pre-existence Jesus said, "Here am I, send me...and the glory be thine forever," while Satan said, "Here am I, send me...and I will save them all, that none shall be lost, wherefore, give me thine honor" (or at least the quote is really similar to that, that's the translation I'm getting from what I remember of the Spanish in the manual, since I don't know the reference).  In this Jesus sought to do the will of the Father, and Satan sought to do his own will.  So we can either do the will of the Father, or our own.  And when we do our own, we are in essence following Satan, for if we aren't doing the will of the Father, it is not of the Father.

 

I like to think of the other miracles we have as well.  Elder Foster of the Seventy came on a mission tour and spoke to us on Friday.  He showed us the clip of when the Hubble Space Telescope was pointed at "nothing" and a photo was taken, twice.  And how many galaxies were revealed in those pictures taken of absolute blackness.  He then showed us a Discovery channel clip of the Earth's gravity and Magnetic fields and how complex those concepts are.  He then told us that this is what Moses saw, in the story relate in the Book of Moses, chapter 1, when he was shown the works of God.  That really put into perspective the fact that man is nothing, and yet the whole work and glory, that is to say, the purpose, of God, is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life, which is to say, our happiness as His sons and daughters.  Something else that I noticed in Abraham 3:28 is that the reason Lucifer was cast out was because of anger.  The thing with this anger is that it was anger at having someone else be chosen over him.  Christ was chosen over Lucifer, which made him angry, so he chose to rebel and thereby became Satan.  The things that I learn day to day in studies and/or conferences are truly amazing.

 

I hope I didn't confuse anybody and I'm sorry that all my emails are more or less preachy in nature.  Everything I do is centered around preachyness; such is missionary work.  I love you all and, as always, I love questions, they give me a direction in which to go when I write.

 

The Lord bless you and keep you,

Elder Matthew Dewsnup

The first one is Elder Tidei cleaning the font, the others are the family.  Again, I baptized Gustavo, and I confirmed the woman I'm standing next to in the other picture.