At Hu Wen Qi's first baptism

October 28, 2013

Ola familia! 

Thanks for all your e-mails and sweet hellos.  Aren't we all so blessed to be in a family with each other?  Seriously, though, our family really is so great!  This week was amazing!  It flew by.  I really can't believe it is P-day again.  Time is so bonkers on a mission. 

The weather here is definitely getting chillier.  This past week we had a little snow even!  I love tracting in crazy weather though!  The other day we got to go door knocking in some hail and it was SO fun!  It makes you feel like you are working harder for some reason.  Luckily we have a car so the weather usually isn't too terrible, but we are losing our car this Wednesday for a week so hopefully the cold weather can hold out for just a little while longer!  I checked on the missionary portal and it said it should be in the 50s all week so that is definitely manageable. Phew. 

It really was such a great week though.  We experienced a MIRACLE!  Thomas has not been able to come to church because of his work schedule.  He said it's impossible to get work off at Walmart on Sundays.  He even had a family reunion over the summer and they didn't give him work off so he had to call in sick.  Anyway, we fasted with him last Sunday so that a miracle could happen and he could keep the Sabbath day holy.  He told us during the week he couldn't come to church, but he would come watch a baptism on Saturday.  We were sad, but happy he would come feel the Spirit at the baptism.  Well, he texted on Friday and said he got work off!  He switched his days around and he came to sacrament meeting.  He is student age, so we went to the MSU ward with him and this week we will be passing him off.  The Spirit was so strong at the meeting and I felt like the talks were directly applicable to him.  That was such a beautiful answer to our fast and I could feel Heavenly Father's power and love in my life.

We had exchanges this week and Sister Smith came to Williamston with me.  It was my first day in the mission with only one companion, haha.  I am so grateful for her wonderful example.  We found such an amazing man as we were door knocking and we got to tract on a street called Mullett Street.  It was a great day! 

Sister Anson shared something cool from her sister this week.  The gospel is full of paradoxes.  For example, we learn in the scriptures when we find our lives, we lose them; but when we lose our lives for Christ's sake, we find ourselves. I love that beautiful and simple message.  Her sister shared another one with us this week. 

If you read 1 Nephi 8:30, there is a huge paradox.

"But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the^arod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."

It says they fell down and partook of the fruit but we know fruit grows at the tops of trees.  There is a beautiful message in there that we have to go down to feel true joy.  We have to experience humility and find ourselves willing to submit to the Father in order to feel God's love for us.  If you notice, the people who partake of the fruit and don't fall down (vs. 24-25) end up eating it and then being embarrassed and falling away.  So interesting!

I am so grateful for a gospel that tells us it's ok to rely on God.  It is beautiful to trust in Him and know we can't do it alone.  When we seek Heavenly Father first and humble ourselves, with an eye single to His glory, we are able to experience eternal bliss.  This is definitely not what the world teaches, so I am grateful for the scriptures that help us to know otherwise.

We went to a baptism this weekend with one of our other investigators, Jazzameen.  She ended up coming late and she missed the actual baptism which was a bummer but the baptism was really cool because Hu Wen Qi baptized the girl!  It was so amazing to see him do that and he told me he felt the Spirit really strongly.  These people are amazing.  The gospel is amazing.  I love being a missionary so much!

Earlier in the week, we were looking through our formers and there was one family who intrigued me because they were dropped due to a trip to China, and not for any other reason.  We decided to call them and they said they were interested in learning more and we scheduled an appointment for Saturday night at 8 p.m.  We were super excited because they were from China and they seemed so solid.  We got a member who spoke Chinese to come with us to translate.  We arrived on Saturday night and knocked on the door.  They opened it and we were shocked because their family was there but also our zone leaders!  It was so bonkers. We were both there to teach lessons and we still aren’t sure how it happened.  We think our former investigator gave his old phone to this family who just barely moved to Michigan like 2 days ago.  The zone leaders helped them move in and scheduled a lesson with them for the exact same time we did.  It was soooo strange.  But, it was a huge witness to the power of prayer because the zone leaders were looking for a fellowshipper who spoke Chinese.  So we brought them a fellowshipper and ended up leaving and their prayers were answered!  We were able to visit someone else who really needed us too so it was amazing to see how plans work out.  I don't know if that conveys how confused all of us were but it was really strange but also really hilarious. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!  Remember during the down times that we have to go down to truly feel God's love and joy!  I love you all!

Sister Dixon