Sisters Anson, Dixon, and Kaegi

October 21, 2013

Hey family!

It's been a great week here in the Williamston area!  I love the area more and more with every day I serve here.  The investigators we have are all progressing nicely and we have met some more amazing people.  It's so wonderful to be able to feel of God's love for people and watch them be touched by the gospel message.  I learned especially this week that Christlike love and service and charity bring such a sweet spirit. 

Dayra is doing well.  She is such an inspiration to me.  We were able to go over this week and wash her dishes for her.  It was a simple act of service but she was so grateful for it.  Her children have been sick recently and the dishes were piling up--we came at the perfect time.  We sang hymns as we washed her dishes and it was just a powerful moment for me.  I felt blessed to be there and be able to help her. 

Another experience was when Jazzameen came to church on Sunday.  We went to Gospel Principles with her and our ward mission leader, Brother Winder, taught the class.  He showed us a few videos, so he set up his laptop and speakers to play them.  At the end, he was packing his stuff away and Jazzameen told him his speakers were nice and asked where he got them.  Then, he proceeded to say he had another pair at home and she could just have them.  It was amazing to see how charitable that gift was.  Jazzameen comes from humble circumstances.  I almost started crying because she was in such disbelief that someone would do something so nice for her.  She said, "Well, what can I do in return?"  And Brother Winder said, "Keep doing what you're doing.  Keep learning about the gospel."  It was powerful.  True conversion comes when we are able to disregard every worldly care and devote ourselves to the cause of bringing happiness through the gospel to others.

We had lots of finding time this week and we had some awesome experiences.  One of them was with a man named Kenneth.  We initially passed by his house and didn't knock because he had people leaving.  As we were walking by, they came over and started talking with us.  They were Jehovah's Witnesses (We have knocked on multiple JW's houses this week.  It's always kind of funny and bonkers how many we meet!) and we talked with them and exchanged literature and such.  They said they go to Kenneth's and read the Bible with him.  Later, as we were finishing up door-knocking, we went back and knocked on his door.  He invited us in and we read the Book of Mormon with him.  We invited him to pray about what he read and he told us, with tears in his eyes, “God will say it's true!”  It was so powerful.  We went back the next day and taught him the plan of salvation.  It was really powerful because he is a widower and he has had a son and a daughter pass away.  It's kind of an interesting situation though because he is not physically able to come to church due to his older age but it was definitely such a miracle and it brought such an amazing spirit!

Yesterday we were sitting in the chapel when all of the sudden Bruce came in with Erin and Greg!  They came to our sacrament meeting and it was really cool because one of the speakers was a recently-returned missionary who shared stories about the change he saw in people due to the atonement.  His message was powerful and I was grateful that we got to tell Bruce about God's love for us and that we can change and that he was sitting right there with me!  Afterward, I talked to Bruce and it turned out he and Yifan got to do temple baptisms on Saturday for the first time.  Ah it was so wonderful to hear!  Bruce said the temple workers looked like angels and he felt like he already knew the people he was doing baptisms for.  Also, bishop requested Bruce get the Melchizedek Priesthood early for some reason.  We don't really know why, but Bruce came to our ward yesterday so he could get interviewed by the stake president during the MSU ward's sacrament meeting.  It was just so cool to see him progressing so well in the gospel and to see how happy he is because of it!  I am grateful to have witnessed that.  The gospel is amazing.  God's greatest gift to us is our ability to change.

This past week was fun because we got a car.  And ya I will get to drive a bit while I am here.  We have a pretty nice car too! I'll have to send a picture.  We are on a rotation but it's definitely good when we have a car because we can knock in different areas.  We live in Okemos which is not as much of a rural area but when we have a car we can actually go to Williamston.  It is a very beautiful rural area indeed!  The farms and fields are SOO pretty, especially right now in the fall!  It is crazy I have been waiting here for so long, but I have been cherishing my experience here.  This week is my 6-month mark--I'll have less than a year in Brazil.  Time is flying!  I am nervous about getting there at times but I know it's all in the Lord's hands!

We are going thrift store shopping today so hopefully I can get some boots and jackets and tights and such.  Wish me luck!  I have gotten a few new skirts but I also have companions who love sharing clothes so that makes it fun:-)  Probably very different from elders, haha. 

Love you all!!

Sister Dixon