I love the work of a missionary!

April 20, 2015

This week was a lot of fun, and made me learn and stretch and grow a ton. It was a rough week numbers wise, but it was a very good week to learn, and as my companion said, from now on we can only get better. I’m having a blast with Elder Gonzalez. He’s really humble, REALLY tall (6"5), and we’ve been working really hard to get him to know the area. It’s a blast, and we’re already seeing miracles.

One miracle this week came during one of our visits. We’ve been working a lot with a family here, and the dad just never wants to read the Book of Mormon. He always says he’s too busy studying. Well, we were talking about how studying is really good, and we also need to study the words of God, and so we read in 2 Nephi 9 where it says that it is good to be wise, if we do what God asks us first. It was really neat, because as we were talking afterward about the scripture, the dad just kept rereading and analyzing the verse, and at the end of the lesson he told us that he needed to read, because of what that verse told him. It was the first time he’s really shown any interest in the Book of Mormon, or any drive whatsoever to try and read. It’s a really big step. The Book of Mormon really is so important in conversion, whether it be of ourselves, or others.

I love the work of a missionary.

I hope you all have a good week:)

Love, Elder Dixon

That was super weird.....

April 14, 2015

This week was absolutely crazy. First off, the most notable thing that happened was I went to the doctor, and they shoved a camera up my nose to see what is wrong with me. That was super weird.....I got to see the inside of my nose, and they described where all the little tubes went to and everything. The final diagnosis is sinusitis, secondary otitis, and a unknown type of infection in my lungs. So, I’m on heavy antibiotics for 2 weeks, and a lot of other funny pills to combat the side effects of the antibiotic. I’m doing better though, so it seems to be working. Not much, but better. I’ve still had to stay in piso a couple of days. On Monday night I had a really high fever, so I’ve been trying to take really good care of myself.

Apart from all the medical issues, this week was really great. This Saturday for the Jas activity we do every week, we set up a scavenger hunt, and the Jas invited their friends and everything, so it turned into a tour of the church too. Here we work a lot with the young people. They are really solid, and jump to help us. It was also pretty neat this week, because bishop called us a couple of times, just asking if he could come to visits with us. So we went with him a bunch, and one day he stayed inside with me while Elder Noovao went out with another member to our visits. The ward here is amazing.

Then, the best part was that an investigator we’ve been trying to get ahold of for a while came to church. I don’t know if you remember but about a month ago I told you about a reference from our ward mission leader. Her name is Luz, and when we went to visit her, she was amazing, and accepted a baptismal date. Well, then she came to church that Sunday, and then from there we hadn’t heard anything from her until she came this Sunday. Apparently, that Monday she had some major medical issues, and so had a couple of surgeries and has been recovering, and so hasn’t been able to come to church. But she came this week, and we gave her a blessing, and she’s doing amazing now. It was awesome to see her walk up to the church.

I hope you have a great week too!!

Love,

Elder Dixon

My favorite talk was from Elder Oaks

April 6, 2015

 

This week was pretty good. We’ve been kinda held back by me being sick so much, but we still got out and worked! So that was good. It was tough in the streets with the fiestas because nobody really wanted to listen, but we were always with a member, so that was incredible. I was going over the numbers in my old agendas, and I realized that when I started the mission I had a lot of visits, but without a member. And now, the numbers have been swapped. Lots of visits with members, and hardly any by ourselves. It’s really great.

The best part of the week of course was conference. I loved it! I learned so much! My favorite talk was from Elder Oaks, when he talked about the different kinds of soils, and I tried to think of how I could improve my soil. I’ve started a list of good habits I want to gain, and not so good habits I want to get rid of, and so as I was listening I was really paying attention for that as well. It’s really interesting to see how much of an influence the little things in life have on us and how we act.  One little one president told me in our interview last week (oh ya..We had interviews with president this week:) was that I need to stop popping my knuckles. Weird, but ok, president asked me to so I’m gonna do it!

Anyway, I hope you all have a good week too!

Love,

Elder Dixon

“I want patience and I want it NOW!"

March  30, 2015

This week’s been rough again. I’m still sick. I went to the doctors on Tuesday, and they told me I have a lung infection, and an ear infection as well, so we’ve been taking it easy the past week. I feel bad because my companion really wants to get out and work, and so do I, but me being sick is holding us down. However, one night we did go out and work, and we took a member out with us. It was really neat, because after the visit, we had an hour of contacting, and so he suggested we say a prayer, and then we would be able to find some people. Well, for the rest of the night he was directing us to people to talk too, and we saw miracles!!  He would nudge one of us and say "that one. She will listen" and then they would! It was incredible. I really had my testimony of working with the members strengthened. The neatest thing though, was we stopped a lady and her daughter, and she said she didn’t have time, and so we offered her a card, and then right as she was turning away, the member stopped her and asked if he could just say a little prayer to help her. She agreed, and so he said a little prayer, and then she went on her way. We don’t even know her name, but I do know that she will never forget that experience it was really neat.

Also this week, I went on two intercambios, because Elder Engen had to go to Vitoria for a physiotherapist appointment three times. So one intercambio was to Vitoria with him, and the second one was in my area with Elder Defendis. It’s been quite the medical week! But, I’ve learned a lot about relying on the Lord. He is always there, and he knows what’s best for us, so we just have to learn to be patient. My only problem is, to quote Elder Clark, “I want patience and I want it NOW"! At least I know what to work on:)

Thanks for all your support and prayers. Have a good week!

Elder Dixon

This week’s been a bit rougher then the past few

March 23, 2015

This week’s been a bit rougher then the past few. I’ve been sick since Wednesday, and inside for most of the time, and the weather is rainy, and a bunch of stuff has fallen through, but, through it all, it’s still been a really productive week. We’ve been able to really see the hand of the Lord this week, and the way I’ve been able to see His hand the most has been through my companion.

One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2:17, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God". Well, as a missionary, Elder Noovao already is in the service of God, but then to top it off he’s taken really good care of me, and even more than that, he’s done a ton of work in our area. On Friday, I took a good five hour nap trying to sleep off a fever, and when I woke up, he showed me the pass by plans he made for every investigator in our area book. Then, the next thing I know is he was studying the language. He didn’t miss a beat in the work, but just kept plowing ahead while I’m trying to get better. It’s been really neat to see. He has such a big heart, and he’s dedicated it to the Lord. It’s all because of him that we still had a lot of lessons.

Other than that, I don’t have much to say about this past week. We have unfortunately lost contact with the reference from our ward mission leader, and so hopefully we will be able to talk to her this week but we’ll have to wait and see. We did however find a bunch of great people to start teaching, and today while we were walking in the old part of town buying stuff, a guy stopped us and asked us if we could teach him and his wife. Apparently the missionaries had been teaching them a while ago, and he wants us to go by again, so that was pretty neat. We´re finding a ton of work to do here, even after all the work we have done already. I love this area, and this work.

Love,

Elder Dixon

It was really touching

March 16, 2015

This week was a ton of fun, and we saw miracles. Our ward mission leader works as a repair man, and this past week, he was helping a lady fix her water heater, and somehow he started talking to her about the church, and found out she wanted to learn more, and come to stake conference. So, he gave us her number, and we called her up, and had a visit with her, along with a member. In the visit, she explained to us that she had been going to a different church for a while, but never felt like she could open up an really express herself, but with us she could, and so she proceeded to tell us her life story, and how she knew that God was there and watching over her. It was really touching. She’s been through a lot of hard times, but she knows that God has always helped her out of the situations. She’s had a lot of health problems as well, and for a couple of years she couldn’t walk. But she just kept bearing her testimony about how loving God is, and then we explained that He is our father, and He loves us, and asks us to do certain things in this life. Then, we invited her to be baptized, and with tears pouring down her cheeks, she said she had been waiting for someone to ask her to be baptized, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of March. She also came to stake conference, with her husband, and they promised they would never miss a day of church. Since then, we haven’t had a visit with them, so we don’t really know her husband very well, but they truly are amazing people, and she at least has a very strong desire to be baptized. It’s absolutely incredible. It’s really neat to see what Heavenly Father does to prepare people to accept the gospel, and how He prepares and guides us as missionary’s to help His children.

Other than that, this week was really great because we had the mission tour in Bilbao, and stake conference, and even though we missed a full two days of work, we still met most of our goals, and found a bunch of great people to start teaching as well. There were so many other experiences that we had that were amazing. For example, we were passing by a house to see if an old investigator still lived there, and when we knocked on the door, and explained who we were, the lady who answered asked us very sharply what we were doing looking for her daughter. So, after talking for a minute through the timbre, we asked if we could go up and speak face to face. The look on the lady’s face when she saw two young guys in suits and ties was priceless, and then as we continued talking in her doorway for the next hour, her surprise just grew and grew as we explained what we believe, and why we do what we do, and in the end, she said we could come back on Tuesday when her husband will be home, and she gave us a reference as well. It was incredible.

Another really neat thing was that a menos activo family invited us over to eat Sunday, and when we got there, the mom said she had been cooking for 4 hours for us, because it was the first time in 8 years that missionary’s had set foot in her home. It was a really humbling experience.

Over all, I learned a lot about the correlation between diligence, patience, and blessings this week, because we have been working really hard, and even though some days have been really hard, the Lord just keeps blessing us. I love being a missionary, and especially being here in Pamplona with Elder Noovao. He really is an amazing companion. We have so much fun, and we are really open with each other. I really feel like he is a brother, not just another missionary.

I hope you all have a great week too!!

Love,

Elder Dixon

WE HAD A BAPTISM!!

March 9, 2015

This week was amazing, mainly because WE HAD A BAPTISM!! It was really great. Francisca Ruiz Cordova was baptized on March 7 2015 by Elder Noovao, and I was able to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on March 8, 2015. It was a very sweet baptismal service. We met Francisca through her daughter, who has been a member for almost three years now. A lot of missionaries have passed by their house, trying to talk to her family, but none of her siblings or parents ever really wanted anything to do with the church. Well, these past 2 months their family has been going through a really hard time, and so Francisca started reading the Book of Mormon, and she came to church with her husband for the first time in the beginning of February. Since then, she has only missed one time, because of work, and she has progressed so much. It’s really easy to see how much her life has changed. She even told us that as soon as she started reading, praying, and coming to church, she has felt more at peace and things have gotten better with her family. As a part of it as well, her oldest daughter, who has always been nice to the missionary’s, but wouldn’t go out of her way for them, has invited us to eat at her house with her family a lot. So we have been working a lot with the whole family. So far, Francisca is the only one who would even accept the invitation to be baptized, but her husband is reading, so we’re working with him as well.

One neat thing that happened was that we had the interview Friday at the church, because we figured it would be quieter than their house. However, we forgot that mutual happens Friday night, and that the young men’s leader has a two year old child that never stops screaming. So, we were praying that the interview would go well, and that they wouldn´t be disturbed by the noise, and afterward, I asked Elder Engen if he could hear everything going on. He said yes, but it seems as though Francisca wasn´t able to. It might just be that she’s a mom and so is really used to crying babies, and it just didn’t bother her, but either way, It was a blessing. I’ve never seen anyone so happy as her daughter when Elder Engen let us know that she could be baptized the next evening. The service was very neat, and very spiritual, and a bunch of ward members were there. I really have loved being able to see her progress, and now be a part of the church. The Garcia-Ruiz family really is like another family to me, and I hope to see all of them become a part of the church and go through the temple. I love fulfilling my missionary purpose.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Love,

Elder Dixon