Monday, June 29, 2015

I Saw France!!

June 29, 2015

This week was way good, way crazy, and miracle filled. We traveled a lot this week, and so we had a lot of time spent either in bus or in car, but somehow we still had a 30 lesson week, which is the most I've ever had in my entire mission. We've been doing splits a ton, and the ward members are really helping us out a ton.

Probably the biggest miracle was that on Saturday we went to go visit a less active member from Germany, who lives by himself in a small town in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains, only 2 miles from the French border, which consists of three houses. (I saw France!!) It was a really neat visit, because he showed us all his land and animals and cars and the huge house he lives in, and we really just got to become friends with him. We had planned to teach family history, but in the end we shared a Mormon message and just talked about it for a long time before we had to go. Even though it didn't seem like we did much, from the feeling that was there, that visit was absolutely necessary, and the hour and a half drive was well worth it. 
Other travels were to Vitoria for a ward conference, and in Vitoria we went to go explore a cave that it turns out you can't go into.  Other than that we were all over in Pamplona. Crazy stuff....and next week we go to Bilbao to meet the new mission president. President Pace will be leaving on Tuesday, and President Dayton should be here Tuesday night. Or...you know....tomorrow. WIERD!!!!!!

Well, other than that, there was also a ward activity on Friday, and when we went to it we found that there were at least 10 investigators from our area there, and just as many for the other elders, with a bunch more that we had no idea who they were. The work really is moving forward here in Pamplona. 
So that's basically my week!
Love you all,
Elder Dixon

Monday, June 22, 2015

The work is good, my stomach is full, and I love being a missionary!

June 22, 2015

So, to start off the weekly report this time, I want to share a story. I wasn't having all that great of a day, we hadn't had very many lessons, in fact most of them had fired on us. I was just kind of floating, drifting really, and didn't know what to do. We were contacting like crazy, but literally nobody was taking the time to listen to us, or do anything other than say no. Well, as we were about to head off to another visit, I made one last contact, to a lady sitting on the bench, and she as well said no, but somehow we stayed there talking to her. We explained who we were, and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and we had a really nice lesson. She didn't set up a return visit, she wouldn't even give us her number, but it was a really peaceful visit, and as we left I just couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful it was to be a missionary, and that our purpose isn't to find new people, or teach member present lessons, but to simply invite others to come unto Christ. After that visit, I really felt free, and happy to be a missionary of the Lord.
 
Apart from that, this week was great. We had a crazy family home evening with a bunch of Dominicans, and a way neat ward barbecue on Saturday where everybody brought a friend. Also, one of the sisters in the ward got her mission call, and two other kids just submitted their papers, so we're working a lot with future missionaries now too. It's a ton of fun. The work is good, my stomach is full, and I love being a missionary!
 
Love you all,
 
Elder Dixon

Monday, June 15, 2015

Ricky turned 20!

June 15, 2015

Well, this week was a bit different than most.....first, it started off with a trip to Bilbao for an amazing Zone Conference....the last one I get to have with President and Sister Pace. They will be going home at the end of this month, which is really a bummer. Well, after we got back, we didn't have very much planned for the week. So, each night we planned as much as we could and then just left the rest in the Lord’s hands, and he FILLED our days so much. We had 27 lessons, and that was even with a full day in Bilbao. Oh, and to top it off, it was raining all week. But, it was incredible how we would get home, go over what we did during the day and realize how the Lord had blessed us. It was a testimony to me that when we plan the best we can, the Lord gives us the rest and makes it all work out. 
 
Also in the middle of all that was my birthday. It was really great, because the YSA threw together a surprise birthday party for me, which was really neat. Lots of food, a huge cake I got my face smashed into, and all that kind of fun stuff. There'll be pictures at the end:) 
 
Well, that really was the week... The Lord blessed us with a lot of visits, but not too many stories to tell. Next week we'll have a ward bbq though, so I'll have some more next time :) 
 
Love you all,
 
Elder Dixon
 
 Ricky turned 20!!
 

Monday, June 8, 2015

It's so Hot Here

June 8, 2015

Well, a lot happened this week, and we had a bunch of great miracles. 
 
It was kind of a hard week in that we didn't get to as many visits as we would have liked, and not as many members helped us this week either, but it's mostly due to the fact that everybody has been studying for the tests this upcoming week. Actually though that's where one of the biggest miracles comes from. We are working a lot
with the return missionary and his family, and this past week we went to help his little sister study English and math. Well, afterwards, as usual we shared a message, and this time it was about the gospel of Christ, and so of course baptism came up. It was pretty neat because she wants to get baptized, but she want to really be ready for it
before she commits. So we showed her the back of a baptismal calendar, and went over all the things we need to teach her and the interview questions. Then, she turned over the calendar and asked what is was for, and as we explained that she could use it to help her prepare for a specific date to get baptized, she set her own baptismal date, for the 20th of June. It was incredible, and we promised that as she read and prayed every day, she could be ready by that date. She really wants to improve, and be baptized, but she wants to feel ready first too.

Other than that, we've been finding a ton of people to work with, and we've been having a lot of fun. Something that happened to us twice was that the buses have overheated and we've had to walk to our visits. It's so hot here!  Yesterday in ward council, we were the only ones in suits. So we've been laughing and sweating a lot.

So yup...there's really only one other neat thing that happened this week, we got our iPads, so that's pretty exciting. They are really helpful, especially in studies. That's really all we get to use them for as of now anyway.

Well I hope you all had a great week, and that you can have another great one this week too:)

Love, Elder Dixon

Monday, June 1, 2015

That’s hastening the work!!

June 1, 2015
What a powerful week! We saw so many blessings and felt the Spirit so strong! This week on Thursday and Friday we did a mission fast, to "apresuar la obra"....in English it’s like.....making the work go faster...I don’t remember the real phrase. But it works! The miracle this week happened because a missionary returned this week, from the Malaga mission. He is a convert of 3 years, and he and his mother are the only members in their family. He’s got 5 little sisters, and a ton of cousins, and so the first thing he did when he got his phone was call us and set up a visit to be able to meet all of his family. We go over to visit his mom often, but his sisters always hide in the room, so in the four months I’ve been here, I’d only ever met two of them. Well, yesterday we had an amazing visit where we met his dad, and all his sisters, and they all said that when they feel prepared, they will be baptized. So now we have the task of preparing his family so he can baptize them. Then, on top of that, he made a deal with us, that if we help him learn English for one hour a week, he will give us a reference once a week. It’s a pretty good deal in my opinion. That’s hastening the work!! (I remembered the phrase in English:)
Anyway, I hope you all have a good week, and see miracles. Just look for them...they are there! Mormon 9:10-20 tells us about it:)
Love,
Elder Dixon