God really is in control of everything

August 18, 2014

This week was a good week. We had a ton of tourists in church, we had a bunch of visits, and overall it was a good week. We also had a pretty neat miracle. We were going to go do service for a menos activo family in a pueblo that in bus takes about 30 minutes to get to.  However, if we go in car, it's only about 15 minutes, and so we were debating if we should ask the Clark's if they wanted to come help.  (We've been restoring a car, which Elder Clark is really good at) Well, we decided it would probably be better if we just went by bus, and so we planned on being in the bus station by 10:45 to get the bus at 11.  We got on, no problem, and we headed to the pueblo. There are three stops there, one by the beach, another just up the hill, and the last one is right next to their house, and so that's the one we always get off on.  However, this time, the bus driver took a different route after the first, and so he blew past the last two, and we were still on the bus, headed back home.  So, our only options were to go back, and then wait another hour for the next bus and go, or call the Clark's and see if they wanted to come help out. So we did, and that they were there was perhaps one of the biggest miracles I have seen. Elder Clark was able to talk to the family, and we were able to figure out some of the reasons why they aren't coming to church, and overall it was a super spiritual experience, that we wouldn't have had if the bus driver hadn't skipped those stops. There is no such thing as a coincidence.  God really is in control of everything.

 

We also got to give out a Book of Mormon in Arabic this week to a Muslim man, who is actually really open.  He is super nice, and I'm learning a ton about the Muslim religion I didn't know before.  It's a completely different way of teaching, because we really are just sharing and learning about each other's religions, and we have to really focus on the points we have in common. It was pretty neat too, because to start one of the lessons, Elder Jonson said the prayer, like normal, and to end, he said the prayer, which was a neat little chant/song thing that he had memorized from the Koran. It's really interesting, so we´ll see where it goes.

 

This week, one thing I really noticed about my companion is how good he is at improvising and following the Spirit.  For example, yesterday in church there was a family from England, and so I volunteered to translate.....well, that meant that he then taught the lesson solo, and he did a great job, and I only had to help out by asking some questions.  He is really good at just rolling with whatever comes his way and dealing with it.

 

Oh, another thing too…yesterday, as we were up on the stand to bless the sacrament, right after president gave the announcements, he leaned over to us and asked if we could give the talks....yup...we had the time of the sacrament to prepare our talks. It was pretty fun, with translating and everything else. Crazy Sunday.  There were so many people there I didn't know what to do!

 

So, basically that was my week. just one last thing.   I would encourage all of you to read Alma 5.  I've been studying it for the past week, and it's incredible!!  Go read it:)

 

Love you all,

Elder Dixon