Freezing Siberian winds, Great youth activity with a great turn out, and last visa trip next week...

Well, It's been a while since I have had the chance to write my letter home before I actually sit down to email so I took a little extra time today to write down a few thoughts beforehand. I will start with the beginning of last week when we spent most of last Monday with the Elders in Kurgon. It was fun to see Elder Campbell one last time before he heads for home.  Although I know that I will see him again someday, I am really going to miss the kid.  We went to a really cool mexican cafe.  It was pretty funny because it tasted like mexican food but had some weird things in it.  Who the heck would think to put broccoli in a burrito?  I know they don't do that at Filliberto's…haha!  We had a crazy bus ride home to Tyumen that evening.  The bus driver might have had a bit too much of that really strong juice if ya know what I am saying…haha!  He sure looked like it anyway, but maybe that's just his normal look... who knows. 

The rest of the week was really good, although most of our appointments that we had scheduled decided not to show up which was disappointing. It was just one of those weeks. I am sure the freezing weather had something to do with it because it's been pretty fierce lately and the good ole Siberian winds makes it even tougher. When the wind hits my face it just feels like someone is taking a pressure washer and spraying my face with ice.  Thank goodness for my fur hood.

Saturday was my birthday…the big ole 21!!  To be completely honest, I was feeling a bit homesick and missing my family and friends in the morning but was able to snap out of it during English. We had my birthday lunch at McDonalds…hahaha…pretty pathetic huh?  But it was good all the same, just not the healthiest so I didn't feel too great afterwards. 

We had an amazing English with a great turn out.  After English we had a youth night for all those who wanted to come.  We had about twenty people which included four missionaries and four members so that means we had about twelve nonmembers attend.  We played "Do you love your neighbor" and "Mafia".  It was a great time and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. We were really happy with the results because the members who came were a great help with making everyone feel welcomed.  The youth showed a lot of interest and started to ask questions about the church.  Hopefully we can work with some of them soon. I know I have mentioned many times how I love working with the youth here in Russia, but I have to say it once again…they are the best and truly have so much potential.

Sunday was also a great day. The Palmers invited us over for dinner.  It was really great as usual. We had a great discussion about parents. It made me really appreciate all the stuff my parents put up with through the years and how they always had a lot of patience with me.  

Well, time is up. I was hoping I had a little more time but I need to get going. I hope you all have a great week.  I will be on my last visa trip this next week. I look forward to seeing everyone in my group, it will be great to catch up with them.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Take Care,

Elder Dewey

Great missionary experiences in Kurgon

Hey Everyone,


Once again I have been traveling so I didn’t get the chance to write a pre-written email home so this will have to suffice. This week was filled with the best adventures and great missionary experiences.
Last Monday we had a regular p-day and later that evening we had a family home evening at the Palmers house with a cool member lady. It was great because she knew English so I didn’t have to translate. Don’t get me wrong, I love translating it just wears me out a little.
Tuesday we had a really busy day with just a lot of crazy things to do with finally being back in our area. We also had a really cool English club. I really enjoy the English club here because they are all younger and remind me a lot of my friends back at home. They are a pretty cool group of kids that come on a regular basis.
Wednesday we had two really great meetings, one with two investigators and another with two new recent converts. Also, we had to pick up the sisters from the train station because they were coming in from a Visa trip.
Thursday we had an awesome district meeting. Sister Palmer made some really good spaghetti! It was really spicy and so good!! We had a meeting with a cool African member living here in Tyumen. He promised he would come to church on Sunday but he didn’t show….hopefully next week.
Friday we left Tyumen to go to Kurgon for splits with the elders here.
Saturday I was with elder Campbell and we had a really good day. It was amazing to see the members here. The coolest part of all though was that they actually remembered me and were really happy to see me! I really really felt so much love coming back to Kurgon, it was one of the coolest missionary experience… I really loved it.
Sunday I was with Elder Elmer. He is a really cool elder. We went to some meetings with people I used to work with. It was so awesome to see them again and see the progress they have made since over a year ago!
Well, that was basically my week. Right now I am just on fire from seeing all these really cool people that I love so much. We go back to Tyumen today so I need to get going. Thank you all for your love, support and the emails…keep it up!


Love,

Elder Chad M Dewey

Tyumen...new area

Hello Everyone,
This week was a pretty crazy and eventfull week.   Monday we had a guy from our English club who took us out to dinner to a really cool Georgian(as the country) place and it was really really great food!! It was the first time on my mission where I kind of felt like an American Elder because he paid for our dinner and was so extremely kind. 
Tuesday we prepared for the transfer to Tyumen.
Wednsday morning I traveled to Ekat and had a quick lunch at Subway with Elder Holden and Zhenya, a member from Ekat. It was really cool to have a few minutes to visit with both of them. After lunch I left Ekat to my new area in Tyumen!!! It's about ten degrees cooler here in Tyumen then it was in Perm... haha! Yeah, just pressed the rewind button on Russian winter for Elder Dewey!!! NO worries though...I love Siberia. I unpacked all my stuff and we got to work. I really like Tyumen its a very very clean city and the branch members all seem really nice.
Sunday was really fun to talk to a bunch of the members and get to know them a little bit better. This next week I am  looking forward to meeting with a lot of the members to get a little more aquainted and learn how they came into the church. I always hear the coolest stories. Also. I am excited to be around the Palmers, a really cool Senior Couple here in Tyumen. They fed us Sunday night because we didn't have to time to go home inbetween church and a meeting with an investigator. Sister Palmer is a terrific cook and makes the best dang  food.
Today I woke up a little early around 5:30 to clean up our apartment and get it in living conditions a bit and didn't take time to prewrite my email so I apologize for the shortness of this letter home.
I hope everyone is doing well back home. I'm loving it here in Tyumen.


Until next week,
Elder Dewey








Love Elder Dewey

Last Zone Conference in Perm...

Dear Missionary Families,




We love our missionaries! Our last zone conference in Perm Zone (1/18) focused on Christ's atonement and also on planning. We enjoyed a great musical number by Elders Brown, Mathews, Pearson and Heuer with Sister Rogers accompanying. Thanks for all you do to support your missionary.


Love,


Sister Allcott

Transfer to Tyumen...back to Siberia!!

This is how we shovel snow...

winter olympics in perm-  canada vrs Usa and usa got owned. I am from az... what can I say?

some ping pong skills...

youth at fireside at the Nehrings  - my last time translating for them I am going to miss them.

me and elder anderson a year ago in subway...haha - he is my new comp.

Hello Everyone,


Well, while I am waiting for all my pictures to load to the computer I am going to write a very short email because thats how the cookie crumbles this week. If you want pictures that means the email is going to have to be a bit shorter than usual. We had a great week, which included some really good meetings with investigators. We also had an awesome Sunday, we had an investigator come to church and attend all three meetings.
I found out about transfers on Friday night. I will being going to the Siberian Zone to Tyumen! I am so excited. And I will be with Elder Anderson from Idaho. He is a pretty cool kid, we have known each other since the beggining of my journey because he was my zone leader in the MTC! I am really excited to spend hopefully my last two transfers in Tyumen! I love Siberia it has a very special place in my heart... haha! (It seriously does)  Kurgon being my second area. However, I really am going to miss Perm though. There are so many great people here and amazing youth. It seems like the Youth in Russia have so much potential and the members who are youth use that to their advantage and they are amazing! I really am going to miss Russia when I leave, but i still have some time to take it all in and enjoy it while I can.
Well, untill next week. I love you all and have a good week. I will be back to my old way of writing next week and have a better prewritten email.
Thanks for the support and hope you like the pictures.
Love,

Elder Dewey

A note from Elder Dewey's mom -

Chad cleared up a few of my questions about maintaining a blog.  He informed me that his blog is okay to publish as long as he is not the one maintaining it.  I apologize for the confusion. 

Restless sleep, warmer freezing weather, transfers next week...

Hello everyone,




Well, I wasn’t really able to write my weekly email home before hand because my companion and I are now living with zl’s because of some apartment trouble..... don’t worry though they have a very soft ground at their place... haha. Anyway, this week was a doozey and since I've had restless sleep lately my memory isn’t serving me too well right now and I’m having trouble remembering everything that happened last week.
On a good note…we have a couple of new investigators who we are working with and seeing some great progress, which is pretty exciting.
Transfers are coming up. I’ve been a little more nervous about this transfer more than usual, I guess because this transfer will determine where I will spend and finish up the rest of my mission. I won’t learn if I will be staying where I am or if I will be transfered to a new area until Friday, I guess it’s a wait and see.
The weather is starting to get a little warmer which makes our work (contacting) a little more pleasant. It’s still below freezing but it’s not unbearably cold.
I had a great time translating for the Nehrings in church this past Sunday again. I really enjoy translating, but I don’t ever think I would like to be a translator.
Lately, I have been thinking about the future (don’t worry…I’m not at all trunky) and bugging my companion and asking him a million questions about what I should major in. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to do something in the medical field, possibly a pediatrician. I really love kids and nothing could be better than helping them with their health.
I am enjoying speaking the Russian language more than ever. I sure hope I don’t forget it, that’s become a big fear of mine. I will have to continue to study the language when I get home.
I know this is a pretty uneventful email. I hope to have more news for you next week. The work here is going better and things are looking up and hope is getting stronger. I hope you all have a great week. Continue to pray for the Russian people.


Love,


Elder Dewey

Hello Everyone,


I hope everyone had a really good week. As for me, it was one of those weeks. To be honest, I’ve had better weeks. I don’t want to go into much detail, I just want to take this new week and make it a  better one than last week. I refuse to let unfortunte things said or done get to me.
There were a few good moments; we are working with this new less active guy who looks exactly like Charlie Chaplin, it’s pretty funny, he seems to be a real nice guy. Tuesday we had a really cool experience, a guy from our English class who knows English fairly well took us out to dinner to talk about more English phrases and in what cases they should be used. He took us to a really great pizza place. Christmas was on Thursday here in Russia. Yep, Christmas for Russians is on January 7th. We had English club and surprisingly some people came even on Christmas! I would never go to a club on Christmas, seemed somewhat strange. On Saturday we were able to go see a baptism in the other branch, it was a great experience and very cool. Then we all went to our branch to have a Family Home Evening for those who can’t really do it at their own homes or have trouble. It was a fun time, we played a lot of fun games and there was a spiritual thought given. I really love working with the youth here in Russia they have so much potential, they are truly amazing people.




Well, I need to run. Love you all.






Elder Dewey

Happy New Year...parties, personality tests, long legs, small seats, Nutcracker and NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS...

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Dear Family and Friends,

This is another episode of writing home and another attempt at writing my letters before hand. It gives me a little extra time to put some thought behind the words instead of a bunch rambling thoughts thrown out into cyber space.

This week was a pretty crazy one with New Years and having to stay home cooped up in our apartment. There is too much that happens out on the streets here to be out amongst the craziness. Some may welcome this opportunity not having to be out in the freezing temperature, however I prefer the numbing cold and the feeling of being productive rather than sitting in an apartment feeling like the walls are closing in. There is only so much studying one can do.

The following are a few of the highlights from this past week. On Monday, we found a really nice tie store. I found the coolest tie I have ever seen on my mission and dedicated it to my new niece Piper Jane Dewey. It’s pretty weird that I am not there to hold her and be the coolest uncle ever, but I have to give everyone else a head start (you all need it...just wait until I get home!! haha! Of course you all know I will steal her heart once I get the chance to spoil her rotten. I will be her favorite!! Congrats to BJ and Britt on their new baby girl. She is pretty dang cute, however I might have to call in a blood test to see who the real Papa is because I didn’t think my bro could create something that good looking. Maybe it skips the first son in the family or something. I can’t wait to hold her! I will have to teach her all the tricks that will drive her dad crazy. I just want my bro to know I don’t do the whole dirty diaper thing though!
Anyway, Wednesday we had a great district meeting. It was funny because we took a personality test. I am sure everyone knows what those things are. This test matched you up with certain colors to your personality type. Turns out I am half red and half yellow. Red means I am very aggressive and like to be in control of situations. It also means I am very straight forward and don’t like to beat around the bush. Red also includes being cocky... I like to call it confident. Yellow means I love to have fun and be around people a lot. It also, means that I like attention and like to get compliments and I always want everyone to be happy and have a good time. So basically, to sum it all up with these colors mixed together I am aggressive, intimidating, cocky, fun loving, friendly, happy, and a complimentary loving person! But hey, I am who I am and I am okay with that. I can only really remember mostly the bad parts of the tests results because everyone was teasing me and giving me a hard time, but its okay. All those things can be controlled and used to my advantage. I am happy with who I am, if we don’t have different people in the world it wouldn’t work...if everyone had red personalities than it would be one big power struggle. With all yellow no one would stop from having too much fun! There’s was also the colors, blue and white but I can’t remember what the meanings were because I didn’t have any of those attributes haha. Luckily, God made us all with different personalities to give life a little bit of flavor and variety.

Moving on...
We went to the Nutcracker on Wednesday. It was pretty funny because my original seat didn’t have enough leg room. (I wasn’t just complaining, I really couldn’t even sit down!) So I went over and got the lady working there and she didn’t believe me and thought I was being unreasonable, so I kindly asked her to come see for herself. Once she actually saw my actual seat she was pretty shocked, and I said “yep, we are pretty big in America”… haha - everyone laughed and gave me the end seat with all the leg room I needed! The ballet was really cool and even better to see it in Russia. And of course, I am sure you are all aware that the man who wrote the music is a Russian!
Thursday we had our “New Years Eve” party, sitting at home! Haha! I made some really great tacos. (mom, I hope you know how much I loved you being my personal cook and maid) I know from experience now that its not the easiest thing to do. I think I would make a good mom because I just deal with it and don’t get mad. The conflicts are not worth it. The only thing that drives me nuts is when I am hard at work in the kitchen cooking some really good food like tacos or chow mien or something cool, and the only thing my companion can do is just stand there and watch, scratching his hungry stomach! That drives me nuts. (Please note - this is no companion in particular… haha - many have done it.)

I made some good “New Years Resolutions” which include (in no particular order) …
1. Tell those that I love more often that I love them.
2. Mountain bike at least 3 times a month with dad

3. Do any dirty dishes that are out.

4. Continue to do my own laundry when I get home
5. Meditate for at least 5 minutes a day.

6. Don’t use stupid slang (even Mormon slang)

7. Never go a day without giving at least 1 compliment.

8. Eat healthier.

9. This one is pending…Find my future wife.

Remember that last one is pending, please don’t forget! Haha…I don’t want to jinx it and give myself bad luck!

Well, those are just a few of my goals for the year just the fun ones. I have more serious goals, but hey I will leave those to myself… haha!


Love yall ! Have a good week!


Love, Elder Dewey! ~ qensuha!@!!

Elder Dewey becomes an uncle

Piper Jane Dewey - born December 28th

7.15 lbs

         

2009 Christmas in Perm Russia

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, I have decided I am going to start a new way of emailing home instead of my usual random rambling and babbling about things that aren’t really interesting and or important. I’ve decided that I am going to write my weekly letters home before I go to email so I can do some editing and revising before sending them off. So, today is my first real attempt and we will see how it goes.
My First piece of business is an attempt to apologize for my lame phone call home on Christmas. I found myself somewhat frustrated with hearing that there is “Nothing new” going on in everyone’s life. I might take that answer as legit if I had just left home and only been gone a few weeks or even months, but I’ve been gone for nearly two years…and that is not the response I should’ve been hearing, especially when there are so many changes going on. I have been on my mission far too long to think that nothing at home has changed. How can nothing change in the past 21 months? It just blows my mind. I guess someone just put the pause button on Mesa. Ha-ha… just kidding, I understand life is just the same old thing for you, but next time for anyone who will read this just think of anything new to tell missionaries! Often times one might think that the things you might think are just boring and lame could be very exciting to your missionaries. Missionaries love to call home but hate hearing that nothing has changed!!!!!!

Also, all the many comments from people saying "Hey don’t get trunky!" Do absolutely no good to a missionary. I am sorry, but my opinion is that all those people who tell a missionary not to get trunky probably got trunky on their missions! I am not trunky in the least. I find myself working harder than ever just trying to do everything I know how to keep this area afloat. If anyone has any good advice for a missionary coming down on the home stretch I would love it, but "Don’t get trunky" Is the sorriest piece of advice I’ve gotten. So now you know why I may have sounded a bit down. It was still great talking to everyone after we got past the trunky comments! I wish I would have had more time. And… I want you to know that I forgive all of you for those unappealing comments. Some of you still need to polish up those social skills every now and again...(BJ and Britt) But Britt has an excuse she’s about 12 months pregnant haha! And…it was a little too early in the morning for her.

Now that I am done with my reprimanding I will tell you about my amazing Christmas experience here in Perm Russia… I really enjoyed it this year, so much more than last year, being stuck with four missionaries in Kurgon. It felt a lot more like Christmas. However, talking to my family was still the highlight of the day, despite the above comments! I love the heck out of each and everyone of them! I still miss you guys even though you all seem like some made up piece of information that someone put into my head. It seems like I’ve been gone forever and you are all just a distant memory. Anyway, let me continue on with my Christmas experience…in the morning we stopped by the Central Market where we and went to our favorite donut kiosk and ordered 4 kilograms of donuts, the lady was pretty surprised that we ordered so much, but I am sure when she realized we were Americans everything was clear. Then we went to the Nearhrings (can’t spell) and helped them set up for our missionary Christmas party. The party was really great. We had tacos and played games. After eating, we had a white elephant exchange. We all picked out gifts a few days before. For my gift, I bought a Max Lucado book titled "You are Special" in Russian… how cool is that!!!!! It’s a story with an awesome meaning. It’s about a town filled with small wooden people. These people go around and give out stickers either a gold star or a grey dot. The gold star means you’re pretty or talented and the grey dot means the opposite. There is a small wooden guy who doesn’t get any stars and a whole lot of grey dots. His life is pretty sad to be honest and then one day he meets a wooden girl who doesn’t have any stickers at all and she tells him all he has to do is go and see the master that made them. So one day he goes and talks to the master and the master tells him how special he is to him and how much he loves him and that no one else’s opinions matter but his. And he also tells him once he realizes his is the only opinion that matters then the stickers won’t stick. It’s a really good book! I love it. I was worried for a while about whose hands it would fall into, but then when it all came down to it, Sister Rodgers got the book and I was pretty happy, one day I think she will be able to understand how awesome it is and what a great find it is. The ironic thing is, I got her gift she picked out which was a song book of all the Russian folk songs which was pretty dang cool and a tube of bubbles.... pretty cool huh? She is pretty funny. We also played some mafia which was a lot of fun. I am terrible at being Mafia, but really good at being the detective and persuading people… ha-ha. It was pretty dang fun and reminded me a lot of home playing with the family.

After the party, we went with some of the missionaries and Katya to the main square where we took pictures of lights and the ice sculptures which was pretty cool. We also had a big snow fight and about froze our hands and feet off!!! We just jumped around in this big field of snow it was a blast and a great night to remember! Honestly, Christmas kind of made me take a step back and look at my mission as a whole and a real sense of peace set in and I realized how happy I am with it and all that has happened and the growth that I have experienced. Mostly, I am grateful for the people of Russia and all that I have learned from them and the way they have touched my heart. I have a great and deep love for them. I am just really happy with my whole experience as a missionary and have made it through with very few regrets. I really am doing well and just trying to make everything better one day at a time. I am sorry for sounding a bit down on the phone. I want you to all know my spirits are back up and at full speed so don’t worry about me! Take it easy!


Love Elder Chad M Dewey

A few older photos of Elders Dewey and Shreeve

(photos from Elder Shreeve fb)

Elder Sam Shreeve returns home to Mesa Az...

Mesa Az. Elders

Elder Sam Shreeve Home Coming is tomorrow.  We look forward to hear his report home.  Chad will really miss him in Russia, but will see him this coming April!!

A personal note to Elder Ellsworth's mom...

This post is for Elder Ellsworth's mom. - Thank you for leaving such a kind comment in Elder Dewey's last post.
By the way, I have a few pictures of your son in some group photos that Chad has sent home. I would be glad to email them. Leave me your email address at dadewey1@gmail.com.
Merry Christmas!

Mr. Frost nipping at your nose...

С Рождеством Христовым,


Well, I am kind of running short of time today so this email home will be brief. I did want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will be calling home Thursday morning around 8: oo am and we are allotted around 30-40 minutes.

I am feeing oddly old these days. I am turning into an old man here on the mish. I’ll explain how one knows when the “old man” (missionary) syndrome starts to take place. One of the first signs is when you start talking and no one wants to listen however, you continue because you believe you have experience and possibly a bit of wisdom that some might benefit from if they would only listen, or perhaps you just like the sound of your own voice. Another sign is when Mr. Frost hits and you find yourself numb to the bitter cold. This week was sooooooooooooooo cold, let’s just say a big NEGATIVE 40!!! Yeah, we had a great time walking around with frost on our eyelashes. It was actually pretty painful to be honest. Then a lady started yelling at me because my cheeks were turning white and she said if I don’t rub them out fast I would get frost bite.

This past week was somewhat disappointing because our district is not going to exist come next transfer because an area is closing. It’s hard to see Elder Haderlie, Elder Cordan and Sister Mezinets leave. We are losing three awesome and extremely cool missionaries. I hope they will always remember our district meeting and my thoughts on inner peace and pacification.

I have been kind of sick this past week, but seem to be recovering. I feel as though I am just doing my usual rambling. None of this is probably making much sense infact, I doubt that anyone reads these emails by now besides my mom (bless her heart). I am a pretty lucky kid to have cool parents that love me enough to put up with me and these crappy emails. Anyway, I am gonna call this one quits for now. I wish you all a merry little Christmas. The Bob Dylan Christmas Album is now put to good use. He is making my Christmas a little more American, so it’s cool. Anyway take it easy. I love you.

Elder Dewey

Random thoughts...

Hello Everyone,

Well, this week was a doozey to say the least. I won’t go into too much detail and bore you with my usual scheduled outline. This email home will be of some random thoughts I've had recently. Lately, I have been working on self perfection and I have come up with a few different theories on how it really works.
My first theory is about perfection. It is impossible to become perfect during our time here on earth, no matter how hard we try. Sorry to disappoint those perfectionists out there - it’s just not possible. "The joy is the journey.” (popular EFY theme) If we were perfect there would not be a need for humility or the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our job is to do everything possible to become perfect, and yet at the same time realizing that we will always come up short (in my case really short). We need to believe and have true faith that the Lord will fill in those many gaps of imperfection.
Love is the key to everything worthwhile- The only way to get deeply involved and care about anything is to love whatever your doing or whoever you are around. I have noticed on my mission that the more I love the better my life becomes in every single aspect. When I love the people around me I am happier and work harder. I really have fallen in love with Russia. This place has something mysterious and magical about it and I know the secret, but that’s for me to know and for those lucky people who have the opportunity to serve here to find out! It’s too difficult to really explain my feelings about Russia. Russia is just something that you really have to experience for yourself to truly understand it.

Daily Meditation- Some like to be more spiritual and call it "pondering" it’s all the same though! I have been trying to meditate and refocus on what’s really important in life. I have felt more calm and relaxed when I meditate and I think that everyone should meditate. Everyone has there own way to meditate though, you just have to find your own and stick to it!
Next Theory- Fear is the opposite of faith.I know many church leaders have said this before, but I will add my own opinion. I think that there is nothing at all we should fear. Fear has absolutely no positive outcome on anyone or anything. However, for some odd reason I’ve been experiencing more fear lately... What have I been afraid of?? The future!!!! I am coming to the last few months of my mission and see that my time here in Russia will be coming to a close. I’ve worried a lot about leaving Russia and leaving my friends. A very wise missionary gave me a talk to read about how fear and faith are opposite and cannot co-exist. I read the talk and figured out exactly what was up. I didn’t realize that all these friends I have made here in Russia will always be my friends in the “big picture” we will be together in the end and we will be able to spend more time together, if not in this life, I will see them again in the hereafter where our meaning of time will not exist. That talk helped a lot and allowed me to let go of some of this fear.
I know I am not perfect and very far from it. I fear many other things and I am tackling them one by one. Honestly, I think I will leave a very big chunk of my heart here in Russia. So even if I don’t make it back there will always be a part of me here. (but I am determined to make it back.) I’ve learned a cool concept… when you give some of your heart away it seems to grow twice as big and then there is more for the giving.
I hope whatever I’ve said wasn’t too cheesy or weird. Maybe it’s the freezing cold weather that has gotten to me,,,haha!
Well, we are on our way to go bowling. Have a great week everyone, I love you all!

I will leave with you this statement from Bruce R. McConkie -

“There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the laws strictly, wholly, and completely to be eligible for eternal life, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet Joseph Smith taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation.
“And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability that we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness: by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity.”

Love,

Elder Dewey