It was the best day so far on my mission

October 20, 2014

So, this week was probably one of the best on my mission..it was great. To start, I got a haircut, finally.  Then,  I got to go into Barcelona again to do my residency stuff, since I'm illegal. Basically what I had to do was go to the government office and say I live in Barcelona, then in a couple of weeks I have to apply for a new DNI card. Well...turns out I didn't have to go since I served there before, so they thought I still lived there, so...that was fun. But then afterwards, I was able to take Elder Lesueur around Barce and see some stuff, and we went to the subway by the Sagrada Famila where some of the people I taught work, so we got free food, and also, Oscar was there, so I got to see him, and it was a really big blessing. I had a blast, and I think my companion did too, even though I was kinda dragging him everywhere. But he's super great and was able to deal with it.

 

The other thing I want to share with you was a very tender experience.  After we got home from Barce we went to a recent converts house who has been having a really hard time, and when we went in we asked where she was reading in the Book of Mormon.  Well, she then gave a very detailed, in depth analysis of Alma 48-50, that was amazing.  She explained that she was like the Nephites, and that she had had a bad part in her, like Ammoniha, that had been destroyed, but now it was up to her to find it and fortify it so that when the devils armies came again, they would be afraid and go to the next place, and that she would have to make that even stronger. So she started a notebook with her weak places, and was now trying to fortify them, and the first one, was come to church. (she came:) but then, the most spiritual part was when Elder Lesueur had her read in D &C 122:6-7 which talks about when all the trials are coming, and when the very gates of hell gape wide after us, it is all for our good.  And when she read the words  the Spirit HIT so hard, literally, physically hit, all of us.  We went home on a spiritual high.  It was the best day so far on my mission. The scriptures are amazing!!  They change lives so much and for me to be able to see that is a huge blessing.

I love being on a mission.

Love you all,

Elder Dixon

Just livin' the life on a desert island in a white shirt and tie.

September 29, 2014

So...this week was crazy!! We had some great activities, like a sports day, and we did a karaoke activity that Manuel (the recent convert who just got ordained an elder) was in charge of, and a ton of people came.  It was a blast!  And then Sunday Manuel blessed the sacrament for the first time, because he couldn't walk very well before, but since he came back from Palma, he has changed so much! He passed the sacrament too, because he didn't understand he was just supposed to hand it to the person who would pass it, but it was really sweet to see him pass to everybody., and he looked so good in a white shirt and tie.  I think he forgot to take the bread too, but hey, it's his first time, so I'm sure the Lord understands.  Oh ya, and when he came back from Palma, he brought us shaving cream....he's a great guy, and I love visiting with him. He's so neat!  

 

We also visited every member during the week, that I have met, so that was a really neat thing, cuz usually they are working or too busy or something, but not this week!  We either saw them in the streets and stopped to talk or we went to their house.  It was a pretty good week.  A ton happened, but the problem is that it was all small little things that just are a part of missionary life, so I don't really know how to write it all in an email....oh well.  Anyway, things are doing great.  Just livin' the life on a desert island in a white shirt and tie.

 

Love ya!

Elder Dixon

Palma, zone conference, miracles...and PICTURES!!

September 8, 2014

This week was amazing!  So much crazy stuff happened, from going to Palma and the Zone Conference, to seeing miracles, and having the fiestas de Maó, it's been a really good week.  One of the miracles we saw here in Menorca was that Maca and her mother, Uriana came to church this week, for the first time since I have been here, and that was absolutely amazing!!  We had people to participate and everything!  They are both really less active and we have been visiting them a ton, and finally they came, and both gave beautiful testimonies as well.   The only bummer is the Clark's are in Barcelona to do piso inspections so they didn't get to hear them.  

 

Anyway, the miracle I really want to tell you about though is one that happened when I was working with Elder Dailey (my district leader) in Levante(Palma, Mallorca) while we were there for the conference  (we stayed two days, so we went on splits and worked the first night) anyway, we passed by an investigators house, but she didn't let us in, and wouldn't even talk to us through the timbre, so we left and passed by more people.  Well, later, we had to walk by again, and so we decided to try and find out if she wanted us to come by at a different time.  Well, Elder Dailey did a really good job of talking to her through the timbre (I was on the phone, so I missed his conversation) and we got in, and the following lesson we had was one of the most powerful I have ever been in.  As soon as we entered, she began to cry, because so much had been going on.  She has a handicapped daughter, and she and her husband are about to go through a divorce, and countless other things are going on, so she feels like she can't talk to anyone about anything, not even to Heavenly Father through prayer.  So we read a little bit of the Book of Mormon when the people of Alma are enslaved, and how they weren't allowed to pray, and then the Spirit just took over, and we  both felt impressed to promise her that if she were to read the Book of Mormon with the district, 2 chapters every day, then her whole situation would work out.  It was absolutely amazing, and at the end she was laughing and smiling, then crying from happiness and everything.  I really gained a huge testimony of both the power of the Book of Mormon, and of the promises we as missionaries can make.  And all this happened the day before the zone conference, where we talked about the exact same principle.  It was absolutely amazing to me to see and be a part of it.

 

That really was the highlight of the week.  We're also trying to avoid all the drunk people here because it's the biggest party of the year, with dancing horses and everything.  It's pretty crazy.

 

Thank you all so much!!

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

Photos are of Menorca and Elder Jonson is the comp.

 

 

 

We will finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year!

September 1, 2014

So here in Spain a cool thing is happening, that for all the Barcelona mission, every missionary, and hopefully every member is going to read the Book of Mormon every day, about 2 chapters a day, and we will all finish by the end of the year.  The whole thing is to study the testimonies, attributes, and teachings of Christ, and then share that with everyone we can.   We are starting today, the 1st of September, and it hopefully will become a focus point throughout the mission.  I would venture to guess that it may be through Spain even, but I'm not sure.   Still, it's really cool, and even though we only started today, I learned something really neat.  Every time that Nephi or Lehi talk about the Lord, and his commandments, or his words, it is a testimony that He lives.  It's really neat to see that.

 

Aside from that, life here in Menorca is going well.  Things are starting to slow down for the tourists, which means that the work is picking up for us. This week we have been able to get a lot done, and we have seen miracles.  A miracle that happened this week was that one of the investigators we lost contact with for a while came to church yesterday, and so we had a great opportunity to talk a little more with her and try to help her out, and she said that she would read the Book of Mormon with us to be done by the end of the year.  Apparently, she has known the missionaries for at least 4 years, and she still hasn't ever read, but she said that now she has a schedule to follow, she will, so we will see what happens.  I'm really glad to have the schedule for me personally as well, because one of the problems I have with studying is that I want to cover so many topics, I pick up one and then drop others before I get done, so to have a set schedule is really helpful.  I'm really excited to be able to focus on Christ a little more as well.

 

We also went to a less actives house yesterday, to be able to teach her non member boyfriend.  It was really interesting, because he has no religious background at all, so things like praying, or thinking that there is a God, are completely foreign to him.   He's never really thought about it before, and so to teach him is really different.  But he loves to read, so we'll see how it goes.  Hopefully he will read the Book of Mormon with us too.

 

So, it was a good week.

Thanks for all your support.

Love,

Elder Dixon

He said "so and so" in English....

August 25, 2014

This week was pretty good here in Menorca.   We are having a pretty great time, and seeing miracles.  One that was pretty neat happened Tuesday actually. We were going to go visit a lady named Maria, who really hasn't been progressing.  She wouldn't ever read the Book of Mormon, and she really likes all the saints that she has, so this visit was planned as a possible last, if she wasn't reading the Book of Mormon. Well, we went, and to start with, we were just talking, and I noticed that all of her saint statues, which are usually on the top shelf in a corner, had all been moved to the bottom shelf, which was surprising.  So, it was even more surprising when she let us know that she had been reading, every night, and was in chapter 4 of first Nephi. She told us that she had had the book for so long, at least for 3 years, maybe more, and she hadn't ever taken the time to even open it, until one day last week, she decided to just try a bit, and she got hooked. So, she started at the title page, and read through the whole introduction, all the testimonies, and everything.  It's really great, and so we have a visit with her set up tomorrow.  Then on top of that story, we went to another investigators house, and it was planned to be the same kind of lesson, and we again were surprised that she has read a bit.  Not very much, but she committed to read every single day, at least one verse, so we will see how it goes. We are finally coming out of summer, and people seem to have a bit more time.

Also, we have now started to restore another car....apparently word got out that we know how or something, so here we go!  I'm still not sure what I'm doing, but hey, it looks ok so far!  Maybe I should start a business when I get home.

So, to end here is a fun story.  We were in a lesson, and explaining to some tiny kids why we call each other brother or sister in the church, since we're all children of God, and so on.  Well..Elder Jonson was trying to give an example of who we call people "hermano so and so, or hermana so and so" only problem? he said "so and so" in English, and we were teaching Bolivians, where apparently, that's what they say to mean dumb, or stupid. We had a pretty good laugh over that one once he saw the confused looks on all our faces:)

Thanks for all your support, and if you need something to study this week, read alma 5 or D&C 98, they are amazing.

Love

Elder Dixon

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

I love old crazy Spanish people :)

August 11, 2014

This week was super crazy. So much happened, it was insane!! We did a bunch of service again, and went to Palma, met with a ton of members, and had 21 people in church! All in all a good week. This Saturday was pretty neat too, because one of the high councilors from Palma and another brother came to help us out with some stuff and go on visits with us, and so we had some amazing miracles. The biggest one was that we went to visit one of the YSA named Eddy, who has been having a rough time recently, and doesn't really enjoy talking to us. But apparently he is really good friends with Hermano Waldir, the high counselor, and so we had a super great lesson. It was really spiritual, and I think it really helped Eddy out a bunch. We also went to lunch with them, so that was a fun little treat.

 

One thing I want to say about my companion, is that he is really good at seeing what needs to be done, and doing it, even if he doesn't want to. For example, we were talking to a menos activo, but his kids just kept getting in the way and interrupting because they were bored, or because they had just spilled a cup full of Fanta into my lap (ya, that was fun...) and stuff like that, and so Elder Jonson just got up and started playing a game with them, and I was able to have a really good conversation with the menos activo that I wouldn't have been able to if he hadn't. And to make it even better, since we were in a busy park, about 20 other kids joined in the game and it turned into a great time, with both of us having to shower once we got home (me cause of the Fanta, him because he was running around like crazy with the kids) Even though he would have preferred to stay and talk, he was able to help out a ton by playing with the kids. He is a great example to me.

 

Ok, so one funny little story. Hermano Waldir is a guy from Colombia, who is really dark.  So, we were standing with him talking to somebody on the street and a really old lady walks past, and as usual, I say hi, and go back to taking to the person I was talking to...when all of a sudden this lady grabs my hand, drags me over to a bench cause she wants to sit down, and starts telling me about how she knows me from Granada, which I've never been to, since that's the south of Spain...so I'm thinking, "oh boy, another Andalucían" (remember, Elder Ferrer is from Granada, and the people from there are crazy, and when they really are off their rocker, even more so...) so, she just keeps talking, and won't let go of my hand...then she asks where I'm from, and when she found out I was from the country with the black president, she looked over at Hermano Waldir, and well....I guess she made the connection that he was President Obama.....so she drags me over to him and grabs his had as well, and starts screaming a prayer at "President" to stop the war, or something......it was fun:) I love old crazy Spanish people:)

 

Anyway, that was my week.

Love you all!!

Elder Dixon

Last post until Monday...

May 19, 2014

This week was crazy!! We have seen so many miracles already! The biggest one was yesterday, the Clark's took us to two different pueblos to visit some members, and it was pouring rain, so that was a blessing, but the miracle came that we got to go see our ward mission leader, who we haven't seen for the past 4 weeks! We had a great lesson, and it was super great. Then we went to a menos activa lady and that was great too. I love the rain.  It seems that when the weather is bad, somehow, the miracles just explode. It reminded me of when I was in Zaragoza with Elder Wiscombe after we had gotten 4 fechas and it was a really rainy day. I loved it.

 

My companion is really great as well.  We have our differences, and we work super differently, but its good.  I'm learning so much.  He really likes to work quickly and efficiently.

 

I am still trying to adjust to life here, it's just really different, but, I love it already, and my district is great.  It's so pretty here.

 

One thing that was neat too, is that yesterday, one of the recent converts gave his first talk, on faith, and it was so good.  He did a great job, and it was a really spiritual experience, even though he was super nervous before hand.  I love the members here. They are really great.

 

that's really it. Maó (the city I'm in) is super small, and so there aren't that many people here.  It's really pretty though.  Everybody knows everybody else too.   It's crazy, but good:)

 

I hope you all had a great week too:)

 

Love ya!

Elder Dixon

Number 2

May 14, 2014

 

This week was a crazy rollercoaster of miracles, surprises, adventures, and everything in between. It was super fun. One great miracle that Elder West and I saw happened because we followed the Spirit and it yielded miracles.

 

Elder West had been wanting to go to a certain part of our area for a while, but we hadn't ever been able to because of other things that would come up. However, we finally just set aside the time to go, and we saw an amazing miracle. On our pass by list there is a menos activa with a note that she doesn't want anything, but we decided to try and go anyway, and when we knocked on her door, she actually invited us to come back again, gave us her cell number, and we talked for about half an hour in her doorway (there wasn't a man present so we couldn't go in) Well, later, we talked to some ward members about it, and they said that something must have changed, because just last month she didn't want anything, but now she does. Following the Spirit really is important, and even if the first few times that we try to we can't, at least we are showing the Lord we are trying.  It was really great.

 

Also, this week there were the transfers, and so now that I am on the island of Menorca. I hope to be able to see more great miracles. The area here is absolutely exploding! My new companion is Elder Ponce.  He is super great, and I can tell he will be a ton of fun to work with.  He is from Ecuador, but lived in Madrid, and now lives in Belgium, so he speaks Spanish and French, but little English.  I'm super excited to work with him.  I flew out of Barce last night at 8:50, and now I'm here on a super tiny island in a super tiny city.  It is a huge change from the packed Barcelona I'm used to!

 

So yesterday while I was waiting to leave we went to a museum, called the Cosmic Caixa, that is HUGE!!!!  It has a flooded Amazon forest inside, with all the animals and everything, and its super neat...it also has a ton of physics stuff and a ton of stuff about the Mediterranean ocean....all on the bottom floor.  Wait...how many floors are there? Ya...5. and how long did it take us to go through a half of the bottom one? Ya...2 hours. I HAVE TO GO BACK!!!   Oh, and it was super cheap too. Best museum ever.

 

Anyway, I hope you all had a great week. Love you all!!

 

Elder Dixon