Lugoff

Sister Watson

My Goodness! So much has happened!
I'm so sad that I'm no longer in Congaree! I LOVED THAT PLACE! THE
PEOPLE WERE AMAZING!
I'll go through the pictures that I took there before I left

The First is with Sister Watson, I will miss her so much! She did so
much for me! She called herself, "the mission elf!" She really was
such an amazing blessing in my life!  

This is a funny selfie with Sister Watson and her friend Sister Hurley, with Elder Jeffs and I.  Again, I will always remember these people, SO MUCH FUN!

We are dinner with Brian after his daughters soccer game on PDay.  I'm definitely going to miss Brian so much!  I love his family!

This is Bishop Rocco Del Priorie!  He is amazing! A man who I will look to as an example for a long time!  He was such a fantastic Bishop!

Anyways, Now I'm in Lugoff! It's about 40 minutes away from my previous area!

I'm with Elder Whitaker, he's from Spanish Fork Utah. He's about my
height, so It helps and makes me look less short haha!

We live in a little cottage, it's pretty nice! It's fun to have a
little home like this.

I can't believe it is my Birthday, I don't like the idea of being 20
yrs old now! FREAKY!

We have a McDonalds about 5 minutes walking distance from our place,
so that is super nice!

Unfortunately we don't have a car, and we have to bike everywhere. The
good side is the weather is amazing and it feels great to bike! There
is so much potential in this area. I only have 80 days here, so we
will see what happens! I hope to make the best of it!

I miss Elder Jeffs a lot! I'm happy though that we get to see each
other again when we go home! It will come so fast!

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE for your Prayers!

Elder Dearden

Elder Whitaker and I

Our Southern Cottage 

Missionary Math

Well, one unfortunate thing I have observed about a mission is the
following equation:

Missionary + Feeling comfortable = Transfer
Missionary + Struggles = Stay there until you figure it out

Well, my Equation looked like this the past 7 weeks....

Elder Dearden + Elder Jeffs + Congaree + Awesome members + Beautiful
weather + Great memories = TRANSFER TIME

I'm quite saddened, it's crazy how attached you get to people and
places. I'm not to thrilled to be leaving, but I trust that the Lord
has something prepared for me to go figure out and learn.

The members in the ward were relying on me to do all the Easter
Music... Primary, Organ, Ward Chior, special #s. I had practiced most
of the songs, but I guess the Lord had other plans. They have been
scrambling to find someone to fill in for me, I think they found
someone in the stake that will be able to.

I have some pics this week of some awesome people...

Sister Ta'la
Sister Basset
Sister Strange
Me

Gone Fishing

Hey people!

Last week was fun!

So pday last week, we went to Sister Watsons property and did some fishing. I haven't ever really done that, but it was fun! The weather was perfect and she has a nice pond in the woods to just chill at! 

Here are some pics:

Brian told us this week that his family from Texas will fly out in April, so that his Brother can Baptize him. We are very excited for that. 

So Im doing a musical number with some sister missionaries this week for Zone Conference. I'm excited for that, maybe I can get a video and send it to ya'll. 

In South Carolina, a weird thing happens every spring, because of the heavy vegetation, we experience a TON of pollen. Everything has a yellow powder coving it. It don't have allergic reactions thank goodness! But lots of people too. IT makes me sneeze and it gets in my eyes sometimes, but it usually only lasts about 2 weeks. I can't remember if I told ya'll about that last year, but it's weird everything turns yellow for a while.

We are still meeting lots of people and I'm always excited to see who the Lord will leads us to each week. 

I hope ya'll have a fantastic week.

Elder Dearden

Willing

Blog

Well, When I ask Siri how much time I have left, she says 101 days. That's freaky. 

I'm loving it here, Elder Jeffs and I are teaching a lot and having lots of success finding new people. 

I feel like I'm starting to run out of things to say each week...

Our mission is changing the policy on eating dinners with Members, starting in April we will no longer be eating dinners with active members, unless they have an investigator there too. I know there will be some members out here that will struggle with that, but we are going forward trusting that the Lord was behind this decision. 

Last week for pday, I painted a King Tut statue, it turned out really nice! I'm addicted to ceramics now. 

Lately my mind has been thinking about the Sacrament Prayers, and the special meaning found in the word "Willing".

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that each week we promise to be perfect. Sometimes when we hear "Keep his commandments", we sense the great pressure of the first law of heaven, "Obedience". But Christ knows that we have all fallen short for the First law, which is to be perfect, or the Law of Obedience, they are one in the same. We all fall short of exact obedience, the only one who has successfully done that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ offers to us a covenant each week, he promises to send His spirit to help us if we "witness that we are willing". We can each evaluate ourselves each Sabbath by asking ourselves if we truly are "willing". That has never meant that we plan on being perfect that week, but it has always mean that we plan on Trying. 

The Sacrament means so much more to me as I have remembered Jesus Christ and his Mercy. He promises us that if we just move forward with a Willing Heart, we will have His spirit and we will become better, one step at a time. 

When the Lord declared the first Law of Heaven to be "obedient". He was setting for us the standard that would be our goal, it is the same law as when he said, "Be ye therefore perfect". He only expects us at this time to be "willing". 

I have personally felt a increase of my awareness of the Holy Ghost as I have focused on my 'willingness'. 

A common southern phrase to finish with

"Ya'll be good"

Elder Dearden

The photo was taken before the flag was removed.  It was given to me by another Elder.

3 Months ago......

There has been a lot on my mind lately. I don't have to much to put on the blog this week. So I figured I would share with you a part of my journal from about 3 months ago. 

Three months ago...

When I entered the mission field I was fooling myself because I was full of confidence and attitude. I thought I had all the knowledge and information I needed. I thought that I knew what kind of emotional price there was to search out those who need help. I thought I had the full capacity of diligence to endure anything a mission brings. I thought that countless doors slamming in my face wouldn't cause me stress. I thought I knew how to relate and get along with anyone. I thought that following the spirit was easy. I thought that a mission was going to be this fantasy adventure where everything just always goes right and you're always happy.

However... the Lord certainly corrected my thinking. 

This mission experience has cracked my shell of pride and revealed to me how inadequate and weak I am. Never before at any time in my life, outside my mission have my weaknesses manifested themselves in full bloom. I see more than ever how much I lack. I have many moments daily where I feel frustrated that I don't have the skill, intelligence, or understanding necessary to accomplish exactly what Preach my Gospel and the Prophets have directed. I see that the bar is set high as I reach up in attempt to touch it.

But this is a lesson and experience that the lord provides to his Priesthood Holders. Moroni laments to the Lord as he is writing the Book of Mormon, "And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness..."(Ether 12:23).

I certainly have experienced this, being mocked, insulted, or cursed by people we come in contact with. More doors have been slammed in my face the past 2 months than all the rest of my mission combined. This has been a reoccurring theme almost daily over the past month. This area seems to be full of people who are either Very Nice, or Very Mean, there isn't really much middle ground.

But the Lord responds to us saying, 

"Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me--the fountain of all righteousness.

And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;"

 

I too have been comforted having read these words from Jesus Christ. I know that although I am weak and inadequate, the Lord takes what I can do and blesses me for it. I feel a warm cloak of joy rest on my heart when I recognize that perfection is not for this life. That is the bar Heavenly Father has set, and we all fall short. 

Through the Grace and Power of the Atonement we can all overcome our weaknesses.

I am so grateful for all the many tender mercies that Heavenly Father has given to me. 

I hope ya'll have a great week,

Elder Dearden :D

Happy With Life

Brother Deloach 

Hello people!

So last week started off really cold, and we got our car back finally.

But this weekend it got really warm again, one day it hit 70....so it has been super nice! It's raining right now, but I like the rain, it's refreshing.

Elder Jeffs and I are working hard and really enjoying each other! 

Last week we were meeting with Bro Deloach, and he bought an accordion from a pawn shop, it was pretty nice, I was fiddling with it trying to learn how to play it, I thought it was fun.

I'm still playing the organ in Church, I have lots of people tell me how much they enjoy it, It's fun to play music when you know people are appreciative of it. I know all my companions except Elder Parker were piano and organ exhausted after being with me because I have to play them each pday :D.

Can I just say that this Congaree ward is amazing! They Get the
picture, I love the bishop, we're good buddies now and the whole ward
loves him.

It's amazing to see the impact his leadership has on the people.

I'm happy with life, things are going well here!

Elder Dearden

Fast Week

Hey

This last week just went faster than any week I have seen yet. 

So, some Sister Missionaries in Columbia are having car problems, so we had to give them our car until it gets fixed....so we have been traveling by bike and by foot. It has been fun, but cold. The weather has been a bit chilly lately.

Last week during Book of Mormon class with Brian, we had a fantastic discussion about how the lord gives us trials to test our faith. 

We talked about how opposition is a sign from God that we are doing the right thing, and if we persevere we will receive the "witness" after the trial of our faith.

Elder Jeffs birthday was last week, and that was fun! He's 21 now. 

We had interviews with President Turner last friday and that is always fun. I always look forward to talking with him. We discussed the importance of setting realistic goals and how that applies to missionary life and when we get home. 

Have a good week

Elder Dearden