August 18, 2014
All of you know
Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 has had a profound influence on me throughout my
mission. I picked it to be the scripture on my plaque before my mission.
I always had it visible on my desk so I could see it when I was stressed
during studies or nightly planning. I repeated it with my companions in
Michigan when we were door knocking in the freezing cold. But this week,
I felt like I started to get a grasp of what it truly means to look unto the
Lord and trust Him with everything that is going on.
I think I
have been somewhat of a worry wart on my mission. When I left, I wanted
to make sure I made my mission the best experience I could. I wanted to
obey with exactness and work my hardest and really make every moment count.
But sometimes, I stressed myself out with thoughts of ´´Am I really doing
my best? Does Heavenly Father expect more of me?´´ Or when trials came,
´´What did I do wrong? How can I overcome this?´´
But as I
arrived in Brasil, I was really put through the refiner’s fire. Training
a Hispanica with only four weeks in the field here was the hardest thing I have
ever done. Going on exchanges right now
when I feel really inadequate and new here can be difficult at times as well.
But I
really feel like one reason I came to Brasil when I did was I had to learn how
to trust in the Lord. Really, truly, trust. Through the
difficulties, I have felt God’s love for me and felt the peace that comes when
I cast my burden on the Lord.
And this
week, I saw a glimpse of how wonderful this principle can be! I mentioned Iara the other week. This
week we visited her and her mom to see how they were doing. We entered
the apartment and Fernanda (Iara’s mom) was crying. She told us she was having
marital problems and she and Iara would be moving to Rio de Janeiro the next
day. The bags were packed and everything! It was a sad moment.
We said our goodbyes, wrote down Iara’s number to give to the
missionaries in Rio, said a prayer, and left. As we were leaving, I
should have been worried about the missionaries in Rio, if Iara would continue
to progress there, how we would find another person to teach, and so on...but
instead, I felt such peace in my heart. I felt a spiritual prompting everything
would work out as it should. And so Sister Moscoso and I said a prayer
for their family and continued to work.
Later on
in the week we were talking to people on the street when we felt like we should
visit William (Iara’s dad who stayed here in Sao Paulo). It was kind of a
weird thought because he works during the day when we wanted to visit him, but
we decided to follow the prompting. We were absolutely shocked when we
buzzed and Fernanda opened the door!!
She and Iara decided to stay here. It was such a sign to me all
things work out as they should when we do our part and wait patiently for
Heavenly Father to do the rest.
Things
are going really well here. We are teaching a guy who owns a pizzeria (we
teach lessons in the pizzeria)! I went on exchanges with a sister from Africa and we had some new investigators who went to church this past Sunday. I
am loving the experiences I am having and am so grateful to be a missionary!
I hope
you have a great week, and always remember to doubt not, fear not! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Sister
Dixon
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