September 21, 2015
Well, this is it. The last email that I will be
sending to you as a full time missionary. This week has been really good, we've
been working like crazy, and really, just having a lot of fun finding, and
teaching. We had kind of a letdown, because the girl who was going to get
baptized wasn't able to get baptized, but we're going to see if she can this week.
But, other than that, we've been having a great time, working a lot with the
members and stuff. We have an eating visit for every single day this week. It's
pretty neat. It’s been pretty neat to see how the members love and appreciate
the missionaries.
So, yesterday in church, the topic was the Atonement, and it was an amazing
sacrament meeting. I really gained a deeper appreciation for the Lord Jesus
Christ and what He did for us. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the
plan He put in place. We also studied a bit about the fall, and it confused me
a bit. I have so much to learn. Why did God give two commandments that were
contrary to each other? It doesn't make
sense to me. But, as it said in the scriptures, God is wiser than us, and so
it's His plan, and I just have to go along with it.
Well....that's really it I guess. I hope you all have a good week!
Love, Elder Dixon
This week was really good, mainly
because we had a baptism! It was incredible! The girls name is Andrea,
and she actually contacted us in the street, saying she wanted to be a
part of the church, and that she already believed in the Book of Mormon,
and Joseph Smith and everything , so that was kinda a shock, but then
she explained that her family in Murcia are members, and shed taken the
lessons for a bit while she was there. So, we set a date with her, got
her to church a few times, and she ended up announcing her baptism to
everybody in the ward. She even got up on fast Sunday to bear her
testimony, and she was so ready to be baptized, she didn't let anything
get in her way, not even the fact that none of her family could make it.
( a neat little miracle side not is that her aunt and uncle from Murcia
came up to support her as a surprise). Well, the funny part of the
whole thing was that since satan couldn't stop her from coming to the
church at the time to get baptized, he tried instead to make it so we
couldn't fill the font. There's a door you have to open to turn on the
water, and the night before we realized that our key couldn't open it.
So then we asked bishop, and that's when he let us know that his key
didn't work either. So, we went to the church at 10, to try and find a
key that worked...but since we couldn't find one, bishop literally ended
up just breaking the door down, popping off the hinges, and prying it
open with a fork and spoon, all only about a hour before the baptism.
But wait, it gets better. We then turn on the water, or at leashed tried
to, but the water heaters wouldn't work, so bishop pulled those apart
too, and in the process, one of them blew up in his face. It was kinda
funny because he came stumbling out of the room followed by a big flame,
and then he just looked at us and gave us a bow and a huge smile, and
turned around and whent back to work. Fortunately he wasn't hurt at all,
but the heater probably won't ever work again. So it was a cold
baptism. But, with all of that, it was still absolute amazing. So many
people showed up, and we had such a good sprint the whole time. It was
incredible! Then, yesterday after church, we asked her how she felt, and
she just couldn't say or do anything but smile. That's really what I
like about being a missionary. The smiles I get to see when people come
closer to God and Jesus Christ. It's been such a great week. I hope you
all have a good one too.
Love,
Elder Dixon
September 7, 2015
This week was a
really great week, and we received a lot of blessings, but I want to share with
you just one. We've been working with a girl for a long time, and she's
completely read the Book of Mormon, has a testimony of everything, and really
wants to be baptized. The only problem is that she's only 15 and her mom won't
let her be baptized until she sees some sort of change to tell her that her
daughter is "ready". The confusing bit is that her mom loves us, and
actually gets mad at us if we don't go over to their house for a few days The
whole family is amazing, and so this past week while we were on intercambios we
went over. We had a great visit, where we talked about and showed the video
from president Uchtdorf about living below our privileges. So of course the
subject of baptism came up, and we were talking again about how the mom just
doesn't think her daughter is ready, and my zone leader just kinda stopped, and
said, "to tell you the truth, I think your daughter is ready". Then
she asked who he was to say that, and he replied that he was the one who
actually would have the final word. She was so surprised, because I don't think
she realized that an 18 year old kid could be the one to say if somebody was
prepared or not. So then he asked her if she would let him conduct a baptismal interview
for her daughter, and then if he found her ready, if she would let her be
baptized. The mom just looked at me and just said, "I wish I could see the
look on Elder Stations face when I say yes." Well, I’m pretty sure the look on my
face, and on her daughters was enough. It was a huge miracle, and I know that
the Lord really does inspire us in this work, and does inspire our leaders as
well. The mission truly is incredible. On top of that experience, we had a
great zone conference, and just had a blast all around.
I hope you all have a good week as well!
Love,
Elder Dixon
