June 17, 2013

Hey Family!

Whew! What a week! It sounds like all is well back home! First things first. HAPPY FATHERS DAY and HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO GRAMMA AND GRAMPA DREDGE!! It sounds like it was great day, and week! I remembre those camps and EFY. I loved it all!! "The soggy bottom bunch"??? Thats a new one. Há! I like it! Good luck with Ragnar!

Dos Anjos leaves to Luanda the beginning of next month so it will be the privilege of the other misionaries to teach him and his family. I love this work!!

This week we sat with a man named Angelinho. He is basically a pastor for his church. but after we sat with him on Saturday he told us that our docrine was better than theirs and that as soon as he was done with his commitments that he already has in his church that he will come to ours. Wow! I was not expecting that . He knows so much about the bible, and he knew that there was something missing. And so when we were able to answer ALL of his questions he was amaized. I loved it!! That was one of the highlights of my week!! But I do have to tell you an experience we had with two people of aother church. We sat down and right off the bat all they wanted to do was bible bash. So after we calmed them down we tought The Restoration. It went well, until we ended. They were NOT in favor of our beliefs at all and were sure that we are an apostate church. As soon as they started talking bad about our church and The Book of Mormon AND Jesus Christ I couldn't take it anymore. I raised my voice and told them that they could not talk like that! I bore my testimony almost yelling, but at the same time I felt the spirit literally like a fire that engulfed my whole body. I will never forget that feeling.

I know without a doubt that Christ suffered for our sins. That He is our savior and it is our privilage to help out with His work. I know that Book of Mormon is true! I know it and can never deny it! I love you all so much and am so grateful for the blessing I have to be a part of this wonderful family.

June 10, 2013

I did have a fantastic week, thank you! And I am sure that you all had a great week as well. You have to speak next week! Boa Sorte! I spoke yesterday in our Branch on the importância das famílias. I usually don't like getting up in front of people but it doesn't really bother me anymore. The only part that I was worried about was that they wouldn't understand me, but it all came out good!

So you took apart the trailer huh? sounds like a project! All the summer activites are making me jealous. Lake Powell, Saint George, High Adventure! Sounds like a blast! Leave some of the cabin for me to work on yeah? Dont get too carried away.

 We had most of our lessons fall through this week every day. So it was a low lesson week and we knocked on a lot of doors with not a lot of positive reaction, but we found some pretty cool people too! One man just showed up to church because we asked him to. Linda (in the wheelchair) had her 51st birthday yesterday and she invited us. So on Saturday night Elder Kearney and I made something like 80 snickerdoodle cookies and brought them to her party. I will tell you right now that Angolas party like crazy! There was loads of people there. Everybody was drinking too, but they were all so happy. (Linda doesn't drink). There was even this little old lady that was sitting next to me that must have bem 70 something that was just chugging down the bottles. I was impressed, but at the same time suprised, shocked, sad, all of those feelings. But it was pretty cool! A party that I will never Forget. They even played American music because they heard we were coming! Heh!

Mas, we met with Dos Anjos this week and after a great lesson on the Restoration he asked us when we did baptisms!!! AHHH I love him to death! We didn't set a date with him yet because he needs to be married to his wife legally. They are married by the church but it needs to be legal as well. I am excited to see where it goes! Our Mission leader of the Branch is named Ilideo, he is Portuguese, He is an amazing man and he helps us out so much!

We met a man named Denish two weeks ago and sat with him 2 times then last week we sat with him again but this visit was a bit diferente. When we first met him he told us that he had been praying for help and then we knocked on his door. He told us we were angels. We went in and taught the 1st lesson (this is the 3rd visit) and he and his wife were asking good questions and were very active during the lesson. We gave them The Book of Mormon and challeged them to read it. After the prayer Denish said "thank you for your help, but me and my family are catholic. Please don't ever come back, I have a wife and kids, Don't ever return. Do not come back to my house." At first I thought I didn't hear right, but he said don't come back several times so there was no mistake. He gave us back the book and told us to leave his house. His wife said she would read it. Without another word we took the book and left.... Few times have I had so may emotions run throught my body and my mind. I was on the verge of tears. I had just poured my soul out to this man. and for some unknown reason he had rejected our message. I know that there is a lesson behind every experience! And I learned a lot from Denish and I still pray for him a lot. The Lord is in our every moment.

I love you all

June 3, 2013

Hey there all yall! I was glad and super happy to recieve all of your emails! I love hearing from you all! I am sending some pictures. I hope they make it. This weekend sounded like a blast and it sure sounds like summer is in full swing.

This week was a crazy one! But I loved every min of it. It was super hard just to keep myself going. Linda the lady in the wheelchair is out of town so we havent seen her for a week or so, but we will for sure go back this week when she returns. Tohy and Gata, well, they have been pretty busy too. But we got 12 new investigators this week and half of them are families!!!! We met a man named Doiz Anjos and sat with him on Saturday and he came to church yesterday. He even bore his testimony! He said " I dont know much about your church, but I know its true, ámen."  Heh! It was amazing!!!

We also sat with Antonio. He lives a long ways out of the city in a mud hut. He is very humble and has 2 children and will be baptized on June 30th.

Oh and Jesse (friend of Denílson) from my old área was baptized on Saturday!! I love him so much and am so happy for him!!

We also saw 2 wild boar just walking around. They had some big tusks and I had the sudden urge to go tackle one , but I decided against it.

I know this Gospel I true and I absoulutly love this work and this people with all my heart and I can't wait to get to know more of them and share the Gospel with them!  Below is a statue of a guy I don't know, but it was full of bullet hole, so I decided to take a picture.

 

 

 

 

 We had a big breakfast with A LOT of pancakes! and some sausage!

This is my bed. If you notice it is above my desk and above the window seal. That is because it is 5 matrasses (Camas)

Here is one of the roads we walked down. Full of mud huts and cool stuff. (This is where we saw the 2 wild boars with tusks!)

 

May 28, 2013

Ola! Familia!

> Desculpe que nao fiz email ontem mas temos uma conferencia com
> Presidente e Irma Kretly. Entao fazemos p day hoje e tambem email.
> It sounds like you all had a blast this weekend at the good ol ranch!
> I alawys did love that place!
>
> So Huambo was the central point during the civil war and we see blown
> uo buildings and buildings COVERED in bullet holes. There are even a
> few half traks (its like a tank) still here with the guns mounted on
> top and everything! They are a bit rusty but its pretty cool. I will
> have to take a picture and send it. I dont have loads of time today
> so I will do pics next week...maybe.
>
> We became a Ramo (Branch) this Sunday!!!! Elder Castleton is the
> Branch President and Elder Fergesun is the second counselor and a
> Recent Convert of 2 months is the First Coulselor!! I cant believe
> what a miracle I witnessed on Sunday. The spirit that I felt then and
> that I feel now is a clear and perfect response from the Lord that
> this is right and it is now time for Huambo and the people here. Ah!
> It was amazing! I cant describe it. I love it!|
>
> Our conference yesterday was amazing and I learned SO much! And also
> learned (again) how incompetent I am, and how much more there is to
> learn. We have a new goal here in Huambo, To focus even more on
> families and to have 1 new lesson with 1 new family every day. It is
> a ginourmous goal....I love it!! We have been coulseled to do this,
> and I am reminded of what Nephi Said in chapter 3 verse 7. The Lord
> provides a way.
>
> Elder Kearney is a great guy!! I love him to death! We get along
> really well. Our investigators are mostly families and we even have
> several progressing families!! (the entire family!!) ( Sorry for my
> spelling) We have an investigator named Linda. She is 50 somthing
> and has lived a long life. She was shot during the war (when she was
> 16) in the stomach and the bulled paralyzed her from the waist down.
> (The bullet is still in her and has started to infect her blood, she
> is in a wheelchair) She is the most amazing woman ever and I love her
> so much! When I gave her the Book of Mormon she almost cried. She
> comes to church and we are also working with her son Supresa. She
> loves this gospel and I can fell the love that the Lord has for her.
> We met an amazing family the other night! They accepted to be
> baptized, but only on terms if they came to know that the gospel is
> true. I am very excited for them and know that they will progress as
> they learn more! The fathers name is Tohy and the mothers name is
> Ghina and they have a 10 month old child.
>
> Well I need to go. But thank you for all you do and for your support
> and know that you all ar in my prayers and I love you all so much!!!
> Just like President Eyring said "The lord is in a hurry in Africa!" I
> know it is true and I can see the vision of the Prophet Daniel and
> Joseph Smith, about the stone cut out of the mountain, taking place!!!
>
> Elder Dredge

May 20, 2013

Hey Everybody!

Thanks to everybody for all the emails and the support! I still cant believe that school is almost out! Im getting old, whew. Caleb, Emma, and Zach are doing a play in Chineese! Che! Thats crazy! They probably know more Chinese than I know protuguese. Noelle: Good luck with the job application and drivers licence eh?

Ok, so Huambo is pretty cold compared to Luanda. Or at least thats what everybody told me. it is like perfect weather. The Angolans think it is super cold and they all wear winter coats. Yeah, big poofy winter coats or at least a light jacket all day. We are in the mountains and there is A LOT more trees and plants and fields and flowers. There are for of us missionaries here and we dont have a senior couple here. Oh, and President Thompson is leaving tomorrow for Canada. I will miss him and Sister thompson a lot. They are amazing. My new companion is Elder Kerney. But he has been in Luanda the whole time ive been down here. I have not yet worked with him, but he should be getting here tomorrow. Our house is alot nicer than the one I came from. We have a table and chairs and even a water heater!! I havent taken a hot shower in a long time. We still fault energy a bit. Ad there are a lot less bugs here. So in the airport in Luanda I had to wait for three hours because my flight was delayed so I started talking to this lady that was going to Huambo as well. Before I knew it, it was time to board the plane and I had given her the first lesson, and gotten her contact information. My second day here we went by her house and did na overview of the First Vision and answered questions. We went back yeserday and levf her with a book of mórmon. I am really excited to see where it goes with her.

Interesting fact: We can but ice cream popcicle things on the street for 25 cents. Its pretty nice. I love it here in Huambo! On Sunday we had 30 people there including us missionaries and 5-6 babies. There are about 15 active members here in Huambo and we will be made a Branch this week!! I am so excited!! I know that the lord is with Africa right now and that Everything is possible through him! I love my Savior more and more every day. Without him I am nothing. Thank you for all your love and letters! I love you all! Keep the faith!

Elder Dredge

Oh yeah, letters will take a while to get here because they will still go to Luanda, so the only time we will get letters will be when someone needs to travel down here to us. Ate Mais!

May 13, 2013

Ola Famllia!

It was good to see you all yesterday! I loved hearing from all of you and and very happy that all is well at home!! Caleb that is a pretty cool machine that you have there! Dave also seems like a really nice guy! Heh, we skyped yesterday and now I get to do emails. Cool huh!? I am going to send some pictures so this email will be a little shorter.

We found out transfers and I am going down to Huambo... I dont really know anything about it except that I will be flying down some time this week and that it is only a group right now. It is a little province town. I dont really know much. just that Thats where im going. Im pretty excited! But I am a little sad that I have to leave my area. And I just found out that they are dessolving our area. Luanda 1 C. It will be split up between two other areas. Or something like that. But I will miss Palo and Dalilson and all the other members and Investigators that We will have been teaching. It is the will of the Lord and I am totally fine with that. Thanks so much for all you do and for your support and love!! I love you all! And I know that Christ is our Savior! I know that The Book of Mormon is true and that it changes lives! I have seen it. I love what President Holland said two conferences ago. "The crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty!" I know that to be true! If we love the Lord then we will always strive to follow him and submit out will to his! Of this I testify! His hand is beckoning to us. All we need to do is have the courage and love to grab hold.

Com Amor, Elder Dredge

May 6, 2013

Ola Dredges!

This week was great and as always it is great and I love to hear from you all! Jessiqa!!!!! AHHHHH che! I cant believe that you are actually going! I think im more excited then you are!! Is is Spanish speaking? Waow, Carlsbad California! Congradulations! I love you all and am so happy to know that all is well.

We will be doing a skype thing this Sunday the 12th at 16 or 17 hours our time, so it would be 7 or 8 or 9 oclock for all of you. I dont know exactly how it works but, we shall see. I know that you need to make 2 different Skype acocunts. one for me and one for you. And then you will need to "Friend" the two accounts. Send me the login and passcode stuff for the account you make for me and I will log on on Sunday at the appointed hour. I will just get on my email right before we skype to figure it out. ON Sunday I guess you just log in and we connect. Thanks!

This week we had Danilson Baptized on Saturday and Confirmed the next day in church! I cant begin to describe how it feels. I even got a little choked up when he was lifted from the water by his best friend Nuno. In total the mission had 15 baptisms that day!! What a blessing!! We also did a lot more contacting and for some reason this week we ran into a lot more door slams. More than ever before...it was a little weird. But the lord is blessing his people here A LOT! Palo is just a spiritual sponge and he wants every single pamphlet we have and film we have to watch. He asks us at the end of evey lesson if we have a another pamphlet for him. We ran out last week. He understands the gospel better than I do. He understood about Stick of Joseph and Judah and made the connection with the Book of Mormon and Lehi, how those families are related. Just from reading!!! He is amazing and now we are teaching his wife who is a Methodist but she really likes our message and she has started reading the BOM! We are so blessed here! Thank you so much for all of your support and I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday! I will try and send some pictures this week or the next week. Remember, The lord is in everything we do. I love my Savior and know that He lives!!

Elder Dredge