Sister
Dixon didn’t include a picture for me to post this week. But she did include the paragraph below. If you’d like to participate, please send
your testimony, favorite scripture, and/or favorite hymn to debibd@earthlink.net. I’ll print everything up and include it in the
“little book” I hope to send her December 23.
Thanks in advance!
Debi
Dixon
“I
thought of a Christmas gift...I would love a little book that has pictures from
my mission thus far and also little snippets from family members and friends with
their testimonies, their favorite scriptures, and/or their favorite hymns.”
December
9, 2013
Hello
family and friends!
We had a
wonderful week here! Christmas is coming so soon and everyone is being
touched by the spirit of the season so it is a great time to be a
missionary. It was a difficult week as well due to the fact that almost
all of our investigators, potential investigators, and members have been coming
down with nasty colds and haven't been able to meet. I guess the spirit
of the season is responsible for that too because the temperatures are dropping
and it's been snowing quite a bit! It was difficult to schedule lessons
and we experienced disappointments with many of our lessons being cancelled and
people not showing up to the ward Christmas party and such, but it's amazing to
see that the work is still progressing and that we still feel joy. I
have come to learn as long as we are obedient, working hard, and using our
agency to choose to be happy, there is no reason to ever feel discouraged or
disappointed. There are many things we can't control, and as we seek to
focus on becoming better ourselves and loving the people, Heavenly Father will
provide us with tender mercies and opportunities to feel joy along the way.
For example:
on Friday we had 3 member-present lessons set up, which we were really excited
about. Well, in the course of about an hour, 2 of them canceled. We
went to visit the third investigator and he said it actually wasn't a good
time. We were walking away, feeling a little bit bummed, and then I
slipped on his front porch steps and fell down all of them. Here is where
agency comes in: We could have said, “Wow, that is the worst luck ever!” but
instead we all laughed about it and went about our work. I know it sounds
weird, but that was definitely a tender mercy from God. We laughed about
it for sooo long and throughout the day we recounted what happened and it was
still funny every single time. It brightened our spirits all day and we
found ourselves being more charitable and excited about the message we get to
spread. And now I have a HUGE bruise on my backside so that's fun.
I bet you are glad to see that though I am changing in many ways, I am still
the same old klutz I have always been.
We
haven't been finding very many new investigators lately. It's been pretty
hard. Please pray we will be able to! There are still so many other
things to be grateful for, though. The Williamston ward hasn't had a
baptism in over a year which is a huge contrast from the MSU ward. It's
been hard for me to adjust and I have been pretty hard on myself at times, but
I know the work is still progressing in different ways. I would really
love your prayers!
We were
able to make a ton of progress with Jaszzameen this week, though. We
figured out she has a testimony of the gospel except she still lacks a
testimony of Joseph Smith seeing God and Jesus Christ. We had a wonderful
lesson about Joseph Smith and were able to share scriptural accounts of God
appearing to men. The member we had with us bore a really strong testimony
of Joseph Smith and her son had given a talk about Joseph Smith a few weeks
earlier so she was able to share his experience as well. It was
amazing. Jaszzameen still has to receive the answer for herself, but I
know it will come soon because our accounts strengthened her desire to know the
truth for herself. She wasn't able to come to church because she was
sick, but her daughter came to the singles ward and then Jaszzameen came to the
stake musical program and Christmas devotional and I know she felt the Spirit
there. She is so close, I can feel it!
We had
our ward Christmas party on Saturday night, which was wonderful. All of
the investigators who said they would come ended up canceling because of
sickness, but we still experienced a huge miracle. Sandy, one of our
investigators, has a strong testimony of the gospel. We have set a
baptismal date with her for January 4th and she is progressing and reading the Book of Mormon but she hasn't come
to church yet because she is held back by her daughter Haley. Haley is
really involved in a different church--she is in the choir and dance programs
and has performances almost every week. Sandy and Haley were both going
to come to the Christmas party. Sandy canceled but Haley was still able
to come with a member in our ward and her daughter--they are in Girl Scouts
together. It was such a blessing Haley got to come because she made so
many new friends there and really got out of her shell. Sandy and Haley
should be coming to church on the 22nd and we think it will be a much easier
transition for them now Haley has a friend base! It was cool to see
how that all worked out! There were also a bunch of less-active members who
were able to come, so it was a really nice evening and a really fun
party.
On Sunday
there was a stake music program before the Christmas devotional. Holy cow,
it was beautiful! There were many non members in attendance and the
Spirit was so strong there. I was touched by how much Heavenly Father
loves us--so much that He would send His precious Son to atone for our
sins. The Christmas Devotional was really cool as well. It's crazy
because I was at the Conference Center for last year's devotional. Time
flies so fast! I really wish it would slow down. This will be my
only holiday season on a mission, so I am really trying to embrace every
moment.
This week
I was really impressed by the story of Enoch in Moses 7. Enoch and his
city have been translated. The Lord is looking at the residue of people
and weeping because they are not following His path. The Lord loves His
people SO much. Enoch cannot understand why the Lord would weep.
These people have just rejected Him and are not choosing to follow His
ways. The Lord explains to Enoch that these are all His children, despite
whether or not they are following Him. Then, the most beautiful thing
happens in verse 41. Heavenly Father grants Enoch the ability to love the
residue as much as He does. "And it came to
pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and atold Enoch all the doings of the children of men;
wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and
wept and stretched forth his arms, and his bheart swelled
wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook." Is
that not the most beautiful verse? I love the phrase “his heart swelled wide
as eternity!” I have learned loving the people, loving God, and loving
your companion is really the only way to do missionary work. When we
allow our hearts to align with God's heart, the necessity for the gospel
becomes that much more urgent. We just know. The Spirit is much
more able to penetrate our hearts. I aspire to have a moment similar to
Enoch's--once he had that love, all eternity shook. I take that to
mean the gospel was able to have success among the people. I just think
that story is so beautiful.
Sorry
this e-mail has been scattered. I wish I could adequately express my
thoughts during my e-mails but it is pretty much impossible to write what I am
learning and feeling out here. I am pretty sure I sound bonkers at
times, but I want you to know that my testimony of the gospel is deepening
every day and that I do have times where my faith wavers, but I am learning how
to trust in the Lord and His plan more and more.
On a
funnier note, we had a crazy experience this week where we helped a member
clean his house that HE HADN'T CLEANED IN SEVEN YEARS!!!!!!! SEVEN!!!!! It was soooo disgusting and I volunteered for
bathroom duty because normally I enjoy cleaning bathrooms (weird, I know).
BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!! It was really fun though and I definitely gained
a testimony of cleaning our apartments every P-day!
Thanks
for your notes and experiences. Love you all and have a wonderful
week!
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