I just got transferred to...PAMPLONA!!

January 21, 2015

Well, just so you all know......I just got transferred to...PAMPLONA!! I’m now companions with Elder Noovao, from New Zealand, and so far we have been having a blast. he’s only been in the mission a little while, but he is a spiritual beast, and, turns out, was one of the elders in Cornellá right before Elder Frederich and I, so that’s pretty neat...we stayed up late last night talking about all the people there and his converts and everything....I didn’t even ask him about himself ‘til this morning. He’s really great though, and rearing to work.

So ya. Oh, btw, Sorry this is late, my train got in last night to Pamplona a little late, so we didn’t have time to e-mail until now. But I made it safe and sound, and got two references while I was on the train, so all is well:) It was kinda hard to leave Cornellá, after working so much there, and getting to know so many people, but I am really excited to work with Elder Noovao. He is really great, and in the short time we’ve been together, I’ve been able to see that he is a really hard worker, and we are going to see a lot of blessings here for sure. I’m really looking forward to working with the people here. It’s a lot different from where I’ve been before, but so far, I like it.

I want to share with you a little of what Elder Frederich and I were able to do in Cornellá. Together, we made over 150 changes to the ward list, updating it. We found quite a few part-member families, and were working with them, and we also have been working really hard to try and make San Boi (a pueblo we worked in a lot) be a good place to put a branch in someday. While I was with Elder Frederich, I learned so much, and grew a ton. He is a really good missionary, and a really good friend of mine as well. It’s a good thing he is going to BYU after the mission, so we can hang out afterwards. It’s really weird to think that this is his last transfer.

It’s kinda weird to think, but 6 of the 10 companions I have had, are already home, and my trainer is about to get married... I still can’t wrap my brain around how fast the time has gone. The mission really is the best.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good week.

Love,

Elder Dixon

Wow, the Lord really does only give us what we can deal with

January 12, 2015

So, this week was really great, starting it off with a huge parade for the King’s festival. It was super neat, and they threw so much candy!! It was kinda weird though...some person in the parade came up to me and just gave me a huge handful instead of me having to catch it. I have no idea who it was, but I figure they just saw my name tag and figured "he’s a poor missionary, let’s give him some candy". Well, I’m not complaining!! 

Also, this week we got a knock on our door from our downstairs neighbor. Apparently, our toilet leaks, and so she had water falling from her ceiling.  Yup...and the plumber was supposed to come today, and didn’t show... so that’s fun. Other than that though, we have been seeing a ton of miracles and blessings here in Cornellá.

One neat thing that happened was with yesterday, where we learned that the Lord only gives us what we can deal with. We went to go get an investigator to show him the way to get to the church, and we made sure to be there about a half hour before church started so we could be on time. Well, we got to the park where we were going to meet, and sat and waited for 15 minutes. Then, once we were finally on our way, one metro stop away the train broke down, and so we waited for another large chunk of time, and in the end we got to church just as they were singing the sacrament hymn. So, we took the sacrament, and then the meeting started, which happened to be ward conference.

Well, the first speaker started talking about family history work, and the temple, and then the next one talked a lot about tithing and fast offerings. I was kind of worried, because some of the things said were really fuerte, (strong) and we have only taught him one time. Well, it was fortunate, because he fell asleep, and so missed most of the talks that he wouldn’t have understood yet. Then, in the next class, as we started talking about the church welfare program, and the brother in the back who is a also really fuerte started to talk, our investigator got a phone call that lasted exactly as long as the discussion about the welfare program lasted, which avoided even more topics that would have left him really confused. Then, just as priesthood was about to start, he had to leave. Well, turns out the whole class in priesthood was about how we as priesthood holders have certain responsibilities, which also would have left him really confused.

It was really neat to afterward think about church and realize, wow, the Lord really does only give us what we can deal with. 

Well, I hope you all have a good week!!

Love Elder Dixon

Happy New Year!!!

January 5, 2015

We have been having a ton of fun here, and it’s been really great in Cornellá. We do so much, and we have so much success, and the blessings just never stop. One neat thing that happened this week was that on Saturday, we had a visit with a menos activo we have been working with for a while, and he was sick, and so asked us to give him a blessing.  As soon as we finished, he felt better, and so we had an impromptu noche de hogar with him and his two kids, and then he and his wife were in church Sunday for the first time in over a year. They only stayed for sacrament meeting, but the fact that they were there was amazing.

 

This week we also had zone enfoque, (where I got a huge package), Interviews with president (my companions last one until his release interview the day he goes home) and Intercambios (I finally learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube). Then, to top it all off, NEW YEARS!! It was a crazy week.

 

To end, here is another little thing happened while we were on intercambios. I was with Elder Jacobsen in my area, and we had a visit in San Boi, a little pueblo about 20 minutes away.  Well, we went out there, and the visit fired, and so we went to go try some passby’s, which weren’t really fruitful, until we went by a recent convert’s house. We couldn’t go in, but we stood in the door, and talked for a bit. At one point, I was ready to go, but Elder Jacobsen kept talking...and talking...and talking, but eventually we left, and just barely missed the bus. So we sat down and waited for another 10 minutes, and caught the next one. Well, as we got on, somebody behind us said, in English, “hello elders.” So we of course started talking to them, and turns out it’s a family from Honduras who are members. The dad has been here for six years, and looked for the church when he first got here, but gave up real quick because his wife isn’t a member.  However, his daughter came only a year ago, and she really wants to come to church. So we got their address and number and everything else, and we’re going over there this week. It was really neat, and we thought about how many things had to of happen for that to work out. The visit had to fire, our passby’s couldn’t have been, and Elder Jacobsen had to keep talking, even though he didn’t know why he did either. It was a really neat experience. The Lord really is in charge of everything.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good week.

Happy New Year,

 

Love, Elder Dixon

I can’t go to church because of Dragonball Z...

December 29, 2014

THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!! Why? Well....CHRISTMAS!!! Yay. And because I can’t stop laughing at everything that happened this week. It was crazy.... to quote my companion, "We’ve had to cancel on 2 visits this past week, but it’s because somebody was either dying...or dead". You already know about us having to go sing at the funeral, well, as part of it we missed singing in the ward choir, and they weren’t really happy, since we make up half of the men who sing. The other time. Well,  ya...we were in the hospital again. We were having a white elephant activity with the youth, and one of the young women in our area lost all feeling and control of her hand, so we went with her to the hospital, and we missed a visit because of it..oh well. Emergency’s just go hand in hand with the mission. It was kinda funny though, because before we took her to the hospital the other youth were having fun asking her "does this hurt? How about this? And this?" We made them stop once they started poking her hand with a fork...no blood was drawn though!! Apparently the doctor played the same game though, and did draw blood.....fun stuff!! Then on top of that, people were giving us the craziest excuses as to why they couldn’t meet with us, or come to church. My favorite? I can’t go to church because of Dragonball Z". Waait....what? Ya, I still don’t understand.

It was just a great week, and of course the best part was talking to my family. We went to a guy in the ward who is an IT and his set up was sweet!!! The first time everything worked perfectly from my end. Now if my parents could just figure out my dad’s new computer, we’ll be fine:)

Over all this week was really great, and I hope that all of you have a great week this time around!! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Elder Dixon

 Elder Frederich and Ricky

Christmas Skype calls are the BEST!

Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2014

Ok, so this week was crazy.....really. Tuesday we had zone Christmas conference, and got the flu shot....ya, fun, I know....we walked in and Sister Pace was like “Merry Christmas! We got you all a gift! A shot!! Yay!!" and I was like.....are you kidding? grr....oh well:) it didn’t hurt too bad, and only one of the zone leaders fainted and had to go to the hospital...for real though, he did. anyway, then after that we have been working on piso repairs, still, so that’s some of our Christmas gift:) and oh, ya, we went to help a member move some stuff...and turns out he’s a dj, so he showed us all his sound stuff...I died for a bit, cuz you know I love that kind of sound light tech stuff. It was sweet. Then, of course, Saturday we went to a David Archuleta fireside / concert. He’s really really good…. and his Spanish is ok...he lacks the theta, but other than that, he’s really good!! 

So, this week was really really good, but really, what made it really special was Sunday. We have been practicing for the ward choir for the past month-ish, and we were really excited to sing in Church on Sunday. However, we didn’t get the chance to. On Friday, the mother of one of the members who we are really close to passed away, and so he asked us to go sing at her funeral, which would be at a Catholic funeral home. So, we figured it out with our bishop so we could go and get the sacrament at a different ward, and then we went, and sang, and it was a beautiful ceremony, even though it was a catholic thing, the Spirit was still there, testifying of the truthfulness of some of the things that were said, and especially during the song.  We sang Mas Cerca Dios de Ti, and it was powerful. When we are called to be disciples of Christ, it’s not just to preach, but we are also to "mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those in need in comfort" even if it is at our own expense. So, even though I was super scared to sing, and even though we missed the chance at church to set up Christmas visits and will probably end up contacting in the streets, I learned more about being a disciple of Christ than I ever have before. It truly was a blessed experience that I will never forget.

I love to be a missionary, especially during this special time of the year, when we are supposed to remember Him even more. The Christmas Spirit is in more than just food and gifts, but really, in becoming a true disciple of Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Love,

Elder Dixon

David Archuleta is going to do a private concert !!

December 15, 2014

 

We had a lot of stuff going on this week, and taught a bunch of lessons to less actives. It was a pretty good week. With Christmas right around the corner too, we have been preparing a bunch of stuff, like activities and visits, so were pretty busy.

This past week was also the birthday of one of the less active JAS , and so we prepared a surprise birthday for him with a bunch of the youth from the ward, kind of to show him that he had friends in the ward. He got offended a while ago, only the people who offended him didn’t know, so it was kind of awkward when one of them showed up. However, by the end, they were talking like old times, and they worked stuff out, apparently, so it turned out to be a little blessing. We were stressed out of our minds though. Just goes to show that when you do all you can, God does the rest, even if He does it in a way that may freak you out a bit at the beginning.

This next week is going to be crazy too, because we have the mission Christmas program, like we did last year, so that will be fun, but then on top of that, we’re in the ward, and stake choirs, so there’s more stuff to do....and then on Saturday David Archuleta is going to do a private concert for the missionaries and investigators, and some of the youth from the Barcelona, Hospitalet, and Badolona stakes. It’s gonna be crazy! Each companionship has 3 tickets to give out, and then each ward has 20. Fun stuff!!!

So to end, I want to share a sweet experience that happened to us Saturday. We got a call from a member early in the morning, about 8 o’clock, asking us to go give a blessing to his mother in the hospital. She had gotten home from a two month trip to Bolivia literally 5 hours before, and all of sudden she couldn’t breath, and she went into cardiac arrest, and so we went to give her a blessing. It was a very sweet experience, because her son is the only member of his family, but his 3 siblings were all super glad to see us. We had to wait outside for a while because the doctors were working. She was in the intensive care, critical unit, and so we were only allowed in for about 2 minutes, and only two at a time. However, the nurse was really nice and let the three of us go in. There were machines beeping and tubes everywhere, and his mother was shaking, and there was a nurse checking everything. So, while all this was going on, we gave the blessing, and as soon as we started, it all went calm, and we could feel the Spirit really strong. It was a sweet experience. After we left the room, we stayed around talking, trying to console the family for a little while, and then we left, humbled. I am so grateful for the priesthood power, and that I am worthy to exercise it. It truly is one of the greatest blessings.

I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Dixon

"He is the gift", or in Spanish " El es la Dádiva"

December 9, 2014

This week so much happened, and yet, looking at my planner, it seems like we didn’t do anything. We were running everywhere, doing so many things, a ton of visits fired, and it was just a crazy week, but, we saw a lot of blessings too. One really neat thing this week was that we had zone enfoque, which was amazing. The whole thing was about the new church video, "He is the gift", or in Spanish " El es la Dádiva". The whole idea behind it is to get people to think more of Christ during this season, and to help with missionary work. Do you remember the video "Because of Him"? ya, that was just a test for this one. It wasn’t very advertised or anything, and yet, it was a huge success. So, now for the "He is the gift" video, 80000 some odd missionaries have 250 pass along cards per companionship to share it, and we have to give a weekly report of how many people start investigating the church because of it. It was also the huge advertisement on you tube Sunday, so everybody could see it. During the month of December, Times Square in New York is covered in banners and other methods of advertisement, and here in Spain we have been working a ton with it. I love the new church video. It really is super great, and when it is combined with a lesson afterwards, it is really powerful. One really neat story with it is that the day after we talked about it, we went to a part member family for a visit. The parents are starting to come back to church, and want their 10 year old daughter to get baptized, but she has been kinda reluctant. Well, we watched the video, and then we asked her specifically if she would be baptized on the 27 of December to start the New Year, and to give a gift back. The spirit was really strong, and she agreed. She has been reading every day since then, and came to church and everything. We had a family home evening with them yesterday, and she sounds really excited. It going to be a white Christmas after all! It was a really neat experience.

I love the church. Really, it’s super neat how organized it all is, and how Heavenly Father just makes everything work out somehow.

I hope you all have a good week, and share the video with some of your friends.

Love,

Elder Dixon