Elder Ballard was in town...

Dear family and friends,

I know there are many of you anxious to write Ricky and we are so grateful!  Because the internet is so slow and he is allowed only a short time on the computer he has asked that you send notes to us and we will send them all on.  I think he is trying to cut down the "traffic" so he can utilize his short time more efficiently.  That may change once he is actually in the field but he won't know until he gets there.  He cannot download or upload any photos in the MTC either, so you (like me) will have to wait to see his smiling face for about 5 (yup FIVE) more weeks.  If you want to send him an actual letter the address is:

Spain Barcelona Mission

Spain MTC

4a. Planta

Calle del Templo No2

Madrid 28030

Spain

It will cost $1.10 for postage - or three forever stamps.  You can do Dearelder.com but the cost is the same as he is not a pouch mission.

The Elder Ward that Ricky mentions is his friend from High School that was in the Madrid train accident a few months ago that made national news.  He had to come home for some back and neck surgery and was able to go back out about a month ago.  He serves in Madrid.  The Lord truly loves His servants.

Thank you so much for all your love and prayers on behalf of our missionaries.

We love you,

Laura Dixon

 So, here is the rundown of my week:

Apparently I have a new district.  There are ten of us. (Elder Hunter Johnston from Bountiful is my District Leader), and there are two hermanas in the district. It's pretty cool.  My new companion is Elder Love, and he is an awesome kid from Arizona.  Not much really to say, but he is super cool. 

So we found out some cool news Friday about some stuff......

Break time!! I'll send the rest today still, but idk when.... (we're only allowed on the computers for half an hour at a time, but I still have another 15 min later, so I can finish, don't worry)

.........k, here is the rest.

....Elder Ballard was in town to teach the Mission Presidents, Stake Presidents, and Bishops from all over Spain, and he got to come talk to us before that meeting, and he shook every one of our hands.  Here in Spain, having a General Authority is super rare, so we were some of the only missionaries to get to see a General Authority at the Spain MTC.  As a part of that too, I got to meet my Mission President, who I found out stands a good 5 or 6 inches taller than me.  He is way nice though, and his wife was super kind too.  I can't wait to actually be out in the field!!    Another cool part about that meeting was that I got to see Steve Ward!!  It was weird calling him Elder though....he is really just Steve...anyway, it was really good to be able to talk to him.

The other thing we found out was that the biggest TV station in Spain was curious about the MTC, and so they filmed a bunch of missionaries and stuff on Wednesday...I don't think I'm on it, but a ton of my friends may be, and it's just cool that the MTC got filmed:) I don't know what station or anything, but if I find out I will let you know so you can go look it up.

Also last week we got to go to Del Sol, the very center of Madrid, and we saw the palace and cathedral and all sorts of stuff.   It was crazy fun.  We also have been playing a ton of futball (soccer...and yes, that is how it's spelled)   The field we play at is about a block west, and it’s a big arena. It's really cool...there is no grass here though....it's strange.  Today though we get to go to the Real Madrid stadium.  I'm way excited.

K, change of topic.  

This week all the Russian elders left, and the French left as well, which was sad because they were all so cool.  It was fun to try and talk to them because Spanglish was our common language.  The Russian elders names were Elder Gorbokoninko, and Elder Antroppov, and the French names were Elders Amico, Luterme, and Copenrath.  Elder Copenrath was actually from Tahiti though. He is so funny, and the one who messed up my room the most.  One time, we went into our room and all our beds were made....without mattresses....they were all stacked up on top of the stalls in the restroom.....we got them back with their four alarm clocks set at 1, 2, 3:30, and 4 though.....and it was my idea to hide one in the ceiling....it was pretty fun.

Well, I have to go now, we're about to leave.  I love you all and I want you to know that a mission is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it is also one of the best.  Even though it may not sound like it, the Spirit I feel is so strong.  I love this church, and the gospel. 

Elder Dixon

First P day in Spain

Here is a rundown of my week

The plane ride to Madrid was insane, it took so long.   It was an 8 hour flight from Atlanta.  Then when we got to Madrid it was only 8 in the morning, so we weren't allowed to sleep till 10:30 pm, but they put us through about 6 hours of meetings, so we were all falling asleep anyway.  It was way bad.   

My companion is Elder Roberts, and he is super cool.  Since then I have gotten to know my district...all 8 of us.   There are actually only 38 missionaries here in the MTC.  My schedule has been pretty much wake up, eat, learn Spanish, teach an investigator, played by our teacher and based on a real person, then learn more Spanish, eat again, learn more, maybe some gospel study, then eat and sleep.  Some changes however include going to Retiro Park on Saturday and contacting as many people as we could....after only 3 days of Spanish.  It was so cool though.  I could actually understand a lot of what people were saying, and I have never really had any Spanish training before!  Other than that, we also get to do a session in the Madrid temple every Thursday.   We also get to go to some soccer fields and basketball courts, actually they are one and the same... the soccer fields are cement here.  It's still a ton of fun though.  

I have really been having an awesome time.  The food is good and I have made lots of friends.  

Here's some cool stuff about the MTC.  It's on temple square, all I have to do is look out my window and I can see it.  We are in a 6 floor building, but we only have access to the top three...because the temple workers and presidency live downstairs, and the stake center is right next to us.  The 4th floor is where classes are, the 5th is our rooms, and the 6th is the cafeteria.  The three kingdoms of glory, actually...that's what President Sitterud said (he is the MTC president).

The soccer field we go to is due east of the temple in a little park, and it's an arena of sorts, it's really cool.  One side note - there is graffiti everywhere, except on the temple gates.  That's the only place I haven't seen it.  Also, there are elders from 9 different countries here.  Some of my favorites to be with are the ones from Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Tahitian French ones.  They are hilarious!.... oh ya, and pranks are very prevalent here.....and considering my rooms door is the only one that doesn't lock....ya....it's been interesting :) it's ok though, I've been able to retaliate just fine :)

K, last thing cause I'm almost out of time.   We got 11 new elders today, just barely, and now my district has 10 people, including two sisters, and I have a new companion.  His name is Elder Love.  I still haven't met him though, so I can't tell you anything yet.  O well.

 Until next week!!

I love you all,

Elder Dixon

And...he's off!

And he's off on his new adventure. Elder Richard Dixon left today for Spain! 

Here is a picture of him at the airport!