Thursday, October 31, 2013

Week won in Williamston!

October 14, 2013

I hope you all like the alliteration . . . sorry it's not grammatically correct but I hope it doesn't make mom cringe too much. Well, it's been an amazing week here in Williamston!  Everything is different from the singles ward, but different in the best ways.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have a change because I am learning so much.  Here are the details of the new area:

We cover the Williamston ward and there is also a set of elders in our ward.  Williamston just underwent a ward split right before I came.  The ward is about 1/7 the size of what it used to be so the members are really having to step up their game to keep the ward moving along!  With the change, our apartment is not in the ward or our area anymore.  We are on a car rotation but this past week we didn't have a car so it was an adventure for all of us to coordinate where to go.  We walked a lot of places which I absolutely loved!  The trees are beautiful and the weather was perfect this week.  Plus there were many crunchy leaves to walk on so it was just really fun.  Sorry I don't have pictures of the new area or companions yet but it is beautiful here!  We have some awesome investigators here.  I haven't been able to meet all of them yet, but we did have a few lessons.

Thomas is a college-age student.  He is a miracle find!  The sisters got him as a media referral (it comes in as a text on the cell phone) so they went to find him.  It turns out he didn't ask for anyone to come and he doesn't know anyone Mormon so it's like Heavenly Father sent in the referral Himself.  But Thomas was interested in learning more.  We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and set a date with him for November 16th.  He works every Sunday at Walmart--we are hoping a miracle will happen with his work situation so he can come to church!  He is such a sweet guy and really loves reading the Book of Mormon.

Jazzameen is hilarious.  She is a middle-aged woman who used to be Jehovah's Witness.  She is reading the Book of Mormon now and is waiting to get her answer.  Whenever she would try to say "murmuring" in the scriptures, she would say "mothering."   She is so funny . . . I don't really know how to describe it but here is one funny incident.  She went to conference last weekend at the stake center and ordered a pizza into the foyer so she could sit outside and eat it.  Needless to say, she told us she didn't learn very much. 

Dayra is another investigator.  She is actually from Guatemala and doesn't speak very much English.  She has a very hard life--she has 3 children and her husband got deported to Mexico so she cares for them by herself.  Her littlest daughter is in and out of the hospital and is very sick!  We went over yesterday with Katie Parent from the MSU ward.  She recently got back from her mission in Argentina.  The lesson was awesome.  Dayra has so much faith!  She said such a beautiful prayer at the end of the lesson.  It was cool because I could understand most of the Spanish they were saying.  Hopefully that will be the same in Brazil.

We do a lot of door-knocking which I have really grown to love.  It is such a huge adventure and you never know what the person on the other side will be like.  People say the funniest things, too.  One couple started telling us if we really wanted some good work in the area then we should take up bowhunting deer.  Apparently people get paid for that because there is an overgrowth of deer in the area.  It made me think of Napoleon Dynamite haha.

I am really loving being in a family ward.  All of the people I have met are so awesome and really have strong testimonies of the gospel that are apparent in how they raise their children.  Oh and the Hunters are in my ward now!  We are having dinner with them on Friday.  The things I am learning here are teaching me so much about how I want to be.  I love the gospel because it is a gospel of progression and change.  I live for constantly learning and becoming better.  And the only way to do that is through the Atonement! 

I am excited to keep working in this area and to see the miracles that happen.  It's been a huge blessing to be here so far.  I am not the best door-knocker currently but I am learning more and more every day about how to help the gospel message resonate with people.  If anyone has any tips let me know!

Here is a quote I found this week that I liked:  "All the water in the world, no matter how it tried, could never sink the smallest ship unless it got inside.  And all the evil in the world, the blackest kind of sin, can never, ever hurt you unless you let it in."  I think it applies to discouragement and doubt as well.  We always have the choice to be happy!

Have a great week.  Love you all!

Sister Dixon

Sunday, October 13, 2013

It doesn't matter where you serve, it matters HOW you serve!

Farewell MSU!

October 7, 2013

Hi family!

Thanks for the wonderful e-mail!  I did indeed get transferred.  I leave tomorrow morning for my new area at 6:40 am...but it's like a 10-minute drive haha so not too crazy.  I am now serving in the Williamston ward with Sister Anson and Sister Kaegi.  Sister Smith used to serve in Williamston and loved it so I am really excited!  Sister Anson is also from Colorado--I think Firestone?  We will be co-training Sister Kaegi.  She is on her second half of training and is already amazing--I think she will be training me.  I got to go on exchanges with her last transfer and I was blown away so it will be fun.  Plus she is a visa waiter too!  We will get to have language study together which will be otimo!  She was in the same MTC district as Brianna Vail.  Small world:-)

The ward boundaries of Williamston just changed so the ward is a ton smaller than it used to be.  I think it will be a really great opportunity to know the members really well and get them involved in the work.  I am going to miss MSU SO much but I am excited for the opportunity to learn and grow.  I know it's where God needs me.  I never would have guessed I would be here for at least 4 transfers but it feels right!  I love Michigan so much!

The highlight of this week was definitely General Conference.  We had some investigators and recent converts come and it was amazing.  The talks answered my questions as well as their questions and it was such a revelatory experience for all.  We got to watch it together in the institute and it was fun!  I loved being there with the people I have grown to love and getting to spend time together before I have to leave.  It was the best conference I have ever experienced.  Can you believe it's already been a year since they made the announcement?  Boy has my life changed a ton!  I am grateful  for the opportunity to be here and to be surrounded by many amazing people.  I love this gospel so much.  

Love,

Sister Dixon
1862 Hamilton Rd. Apt. E6
Okemos, MI 48864

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Hu's baptism

September 30, 2013

Hello family!

We had an amazing week here!  Hu Wen Qi got baptized on Saturday and it was a great day.  He said what first attracted him to the Church was how serious we took sacrament meeting (there are a ton of churches in East Lansing that have rock bands and stuff that play during church) and the high standards of Latter-day Saints.  It's wonderful to have been able to see him grow and progress!  He truly has become so much happier because of the gospel in his life and I feel so blessed to have been able to be the one to share it with him!  I'll attach pictures.  Also he bought that suit for his baptism!  It was so precious to see him stroll in.  Oh and by the way his name is pronounced Who When Chee.  We sang another musical number so look for it on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajw0yQFAszQ) and I gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Mom--he wanted to sing “When Faith Endures” for the closing hymn so that was cool!  He was able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday as well which was a really tender experience.

We have been blessed in so many ways!  We have been meeting incredible people.  There is one guy named Steven who walked up to us as we were talking to people on campus.  He was like "Are you Mormons?"  We started talking to him and it turned out he took missionary lessons over the summer in Troy, Michigan--that's in the Detroit mission.  He was hesitant about meeting again but he told us every time he wants to sell his soul to the devil, missionaries find him and so maybe he should take that as a sign.  We ended up meeting with him yesterday morning and he told us he already knows the Book of Mormon is true and so we committed him to baptism!  It was amazing!  He was so prepared and it was such a miracle to cross paths with him.  It was so funny at his lesson.  We finished teaching and then after he was like "Wait--I do have one question."  He is really smart and was asking really deep questions the whole lesson so I was pretty nervous.  Then he said "How does the church feel about polo?"  It was really unexpected and I still have no idea why he asked that but he is awesome and so prepared!  He ended up coming to church later which was such a blessing too.

Saturday was the best day of my mission!  We had Hu Wen Qi's baptism and after we went and got Tasty Twist together.  Then we had a ward BBQ which ended in cooking s’mores in the fire pit behind the Living Center.  It is sooo beautiful back there!  The trees are changing right now and East Lansing is seriously gorgeous.  I have heard it will get pretty cold soon though so hopefully I can find some cheap winter clothes.  After the party we went to the RS broadcast.  Wasn't it amazing?  I loved hearing them talk about covenants!  Covenant people are happy people.  I am grateful for the chance we have to make promises with God.  We were all so happy that day and felt so grateful to be missionaries!

Transfer calls are this week.  I really hope I get to stay with these wonderful companions.  I kinda have a feeling I will be transferred, but we will see!  

Also, mom, I have heard that visa website is pretty unreliable.  One guy in my district at the MTC got his visa and it said it hadn't even been received and then someone else said his was done and he didn't actually get it for like 2 transfers.  Who knows?!  I love the adventure and suspense behind waiting for my visa.  The good news is it's all working out like it's supposed to!

Have a great week everyone!  I love you all so much!

Sister Dixon

Friday, October 4, 2013

Matching missionaries!

September 23, 2013

Hey family!  

I can't believe I am here e-mailing you again...the weeks are seriously flying by!  Tomorrow is my 5 month mark (and also Nick's birthday--happy birthday Nick!) and I can't believe it.  It's sad to me that the time is passing quickly.  There is still so much left to learn but I just have to work my hardest every day and hope for the best!

We had an amazing week here.  Hu Wen Qi's baptism didn't end up happening this past weekend because all of the ward was supposed to be gone for a YSA conference and there were some scheduling conflicts for the building.  But we are definitely having it this Saturday at 11 and he is sooo excited!  He came to church yesterday and had a great experience and we are just stoked for that day!  Saturday will be amazing.  We are also having a ward bbq that night and then we get to go to the Relief Society broadcast.  Hopefully we are going to get some investigators there as well but it will be amazing!  The broadcasts are all 2 hours later here so it will go from 8-10 which is kinda crazy.  We will be up late!  And sessions will be from 12-2 and from 4-6 on those days.  It will be different than watching it in Colorado and Utah!  All of us missionaries are SO excited for conference and Bruce and Yifan are really excited too.  Also Hu Wen Qi has started reading my blog as well hahaha all of the Asians just love my blog for some reason.  And we had a half mission training this week and there was a missionary named Sister Kane in Midland and she said one of her investigators is reading my blog as well.  I am starting to get really self conscious of what I put on it. Anyway...

Here are some updates!

-Sister Kaegi came to MSU for a day and it was a blast!  She is amazing and it was so fun to work with her and Sister Richardson.  We got to do language study together as well which was fun.  I did a door approach in Portuguese and I didn't forget everything yet so there is hope!  Speaking of, mom, I haven't heard anything about the police letter forms.  Hopefully they are safe with the consulate but maybe you can check with Veronica or something?

-We had half mission training last week on Thursday.  We went to Mt Pleasant for it and it was seriously incredible!  We learned so many things that will help our investigators progress and it was a very spiritually uplifting day.  The missionaries in this mission are amazing. They are all striving to be their best which I think is such a nice environment to be around.  We got to ride up and back with President and Sister Hess and we stopped by a cider mill on the way home.  It was a blast!  We got to watch a little factory make the apple cider and then we ate cider and donuts.  I love President and Sister Hess so much and I was blessed to be able to spend that time with them and learn from them.  Michigan is beautiful right now so it was fun to explore!

-The weather is getting chilly!  I haven't broken down and bought a jacket yet--so far cardigans have been sufficient--but I feel like I might need to soon!  Yesterday was really cold at church.  The weather was in the 50s.  You might remember around when Bruce got baptized, the church flooded.  They have been re-doing the gym floors so yesterday church was only sacrament meeting because of the fumes and they kept all the doors open.  It was pretty nippy in the chapel!  Sister Smith got snowboots; I am starting to get nervous about what to do if it snows...what an adventure!

-Sister Richardson and Sister Smith are so great.  I haven't really taken very much time to write about them but I feel like I would be ungrateful if I didn't say something about how amazing they are!  I have been blessed with companions so far.  Sister Smith is 23 and I am so glad she waited to come out until this time because I know there were things I needed to learn from her.  She is so poised and such a good teacher and so smart!  She already graduated with a teaching degree and she has taught me so much about how to be an elegant advocate of the gospel message.  She is also the most hilarious person ever and loves the sisters in the zone so much!  I have learned so much from her.  Sister Richardson is SO sweet.  She loves everyone she meets and the way she treats them reflects her testimony of Christ.  She has had some really hard times in her life but she doesn't let that stop her from being happy and positive.  She is so hard working as well.  I am just loving the opportunity to be companions with them.

We really think we have the best area and the best companionship!  We are loving the work so much.  This transfer has been such a grand adventure indeed.

Love,

Sister Dixon

p.s.  I can't believe how many missionaries there are from the stake right now.  You should post the video on my blog--I bet my readers would love to see it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cR3dM-xwGk).