Dillon's Missionary Blog: Mothers Day skype with the Family!!!

Mothers Day May 10th 2015

Best Mothers Day Ever

May 4th, 2015

So there´s no doubt that this last week was probably the most spiritually exhausting week yet. Training sure isn´t, easy especially when you don't know how to communicate with your comp very well. But bright side ya eu podo falar portugues melhor! hay que aprovechar cuando tienes el único brasileño en toda tu misión:) ....oh wait, sorry;) But Elder Vitor is a great guy with a good desires to serve the Lord. He is very humble and wants to learn. He is the only member in his family and is only a convert of about 2 years. He comes from a family that really has nothing and had been living alone for some time before the mission. His parents are separated and are both very poor. He cant ever write them through email and we have to find out how he can send written letters to them each month. He was basically surrounded and supported a ton by his ward back home to get him baptized and moving onto the mission. He is a super friendly guy and though the people have troubles with understanding him they do love him, and there is a lot to learn from him!

But this week we got Brother Tubay officially reactivated and his wife and son are getting baptized this week after their marriage Tuesday or Wednesday. Rosio and Luis as well are super excited for their baptism, but we did have a little bit of a scare yesterday when the bishop forgot their names in the sacrament meeting while announcing the baptisms. I noticed it and was hoping they didn't, then the member that is friends with them leaned over and asked me if they were getting baptized too. I think Rosio might have gotten a little upset but we did the baptism interviews after church and Elder Mendoza told me that she was fine for her baptism!

We also found a few other families that are really ready for the church and will be working with them this week to get them dates and helping them to know their savior more!

Elder Rawson=)

My comp is addicted to coke! (we also still didn't have light for half the week which stunk)

Chillin before a devotional we did with all the missionaries in the stake!

Rosio and Luis at the devotional of the life of Christ!

Christian, an investigator of the sisters, asked me to baptize him on Saturday:)

May 11, 2015

"Si me amais..."

Hey ery body!

The work is still great and Brother Juan Tubay´s wife and son and our other investigator Rozio got baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was was an amazing experience. Even though this past week was by far the most exhausting and stressful week I have had in my whole mission! It´s definitely not easy to train at times especially when you can´t understand you comp half the time. And for many other things that I guess I let get to me. But throughout these last few months I have come to the conclusion that there is such thing as a sense of being alert to get things done and there is stress. I really believe that stress is a result of a lack of faith and becomes a big distraction for feeling the spirit. Its from believing that the load we have is too big for us too handle and we believe to only have our own strength and abilities to to carry it. Causing us to worry and losing the trust in God that comes from understanding that He is all powerful and truly loves each one of us more than we can imagine, and that´s why He sent His Son to suffer so we don´t have to. I have been trying to be better these last few days to recognize that and keep the thoughts and feeling of stress out. I´ve tryed to take the time to breathe every now and then and pray more! Obedience is key:) Read the scriptures and pray!

"If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments." Note that it doesn´t say, "If ye want blessings/baptisms/eternal life, keep my commandments" -Love your Lord:)

Elder Rawson=)

Watching Frozen as a zone on Pday:) (with permission)

Teaching Garfield..#LikeElderTeerlink:)

Married!!

Baptized!!

Chattin with the fam! missin 1 tho!

May 18, 2015

Hola mis queridos amigos

So this week has been a usual one. The work is still good but sometimes hard to get people progressing. You stop by and share a good powerful, spiritual lesson and the next day they turn into whole different people that don´t care. But this past week we have found some great families and we´ll see if we can get some miracles rolling!

Elder Mendoza that was my old ZL got transferred and left as the oldest in our house. Now we have Elder Hunsaker from Orem joining us in San Camilo. We have an investigator Orlando that I found a while ago on an exchange with Elder Alguera and he has a testimony bigger that somebody with years in the church and is doing his best to get his family involved. We are doing a family home evening tonight with some members that live across the street from them and hopefully the spirit is strong enough to touch his family´s heart.

But this week we are going to Guayaquil to learn about family history from some representatives from Salt Lake and knowing president, probably to enter the temple again! I seriously love that place. Go there! I´d go everyday if I could!

But not much this week.

Chao!

Elder Rawson=)

Old Comp y New Comp

Las piñitas on exchanges, best restaurant in quevedo:)

We made burger cuz lunch fell:)

Comp completed 2 years as a member today!

May 25,2015

So this week we spent most of our time traveling or in conferences. We went down on Tuesday to have a conference about family history. It went well but we had a lesson right before that went a little longer so we ran a little late getting to the terminal to travel with our zone and i realized on the bus down that while getting my stuff from our house in a rush i forgot my suit pants! so I rocked the old man style with light great pants and a dark jacket:) So I guess I´m still kind of that dumb forgetful kid I was before! While down there I tried popping my head into the South Mission´s office because my cousin Elder Dalton is serving in there but when we went by he was at the airport running errands so that's a bummer but I'm sure we will see each other ya mismo! (soon, Ecuadorian style)

But we have had an investigator named Orlando Cortéz for a few weeks. He reads the BoM a ton and has a testimony like a 2 year faithful convert. He hasn't been able to get baptized because he isn't married to his wife and she still has a hardened heart and hides when she sees us. But we needed to let him know that he needs to enter the waters of baptism soon before turning into an eternal investigator and spending a long time not being able to progress more in the gospel. We hit the point of marriage yesterday and he understood clearly and has committed to getting married before the 11th of June. He is chosen! Its just a bummer that Satan is attacking his wife so much but one day they will enter the temple together as a family.

But there is no doubt that these last few weeks have been the most stressing of my life. Maybe training has a big part of it. But I testify to all of you that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real! And learning how to apply it in our daily lives is what I believe to be the most important ability that we can develop in our time on Earth. Seek to understand to atonement more. And please spend some time on your knees asking your Father in Heaven how you can apply it in your life to carry you forward. The atonement truly is the most important and biggest act of pure love that will bless us more than we can ever know.

Elder Rawson:)