This was an exciting week! I
got to go on exchange with one of my MTC companions Sister Kotter. She is
in Lemoille, so that was a neat experience seeing how the work is going in that
area. One thing I love about the church is that no matter where you go,
the church is the same. Every ward or branch is filled with incredible
members of the church! I love it! Thursday we had some pretty neat
experiences. We had quite a few plans for the day but quite a few of them
fell through. Torre called and cancelled because she had hurt her foot, so that
left a pretty big chunk of time to fill. We went to Barton and a few
other things fell through so we decided to go to Bella and Sara's house.
Sara was home so we asked if there was any service we could do at their
home. She called her mom and asked if there were things that they could
use our help with so me and Sister Deters mowed the lawn and cleaned up the
yard and did some dishes. It's pretty awesome how the Lord always
provides a way for us if we look for ways to serve. We also got a new investigator
today! She was on the potential investigator list so we decided to stop
by her home and see if she was interested. She talked to us for a good
half hour and we answered a lot of her questions. She already basically
believes everything we believe and so I really think that once we share with
her the fullness of the gospel she will be solid! We're going to start
teaching her the lessons on Thursday! Friday we had a pretty good lesson
with Phil who is a less active member in the branch. He seemed so much
more relaxed and open to learning so that was wonderful! We hadn't been
able to get a hold of Danielle (one of our investigators) over the phone so we
decided to stop by after seeing Phil. She was home and we were able to
talk to her and it was incredible. She basically shared with us her
desire to change so that she can have the gospel the center of her life.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ can work miracles on those who have desire
to change. She came to church on Sunday and we had a lesson with her last
night and we have another one planned for Thursday so things are moving right
along. Saturday we were able to help Tammy again with getting her things
unpacked and sorted out. She fed us dinner and we were able to answer
some more of her questions about the church. We had our first zone
conference on Monday! It was at the Joseph Smith Memorial so that was
incredible. The spirit there is so strong there and I feel so lucky to be
able to serve in the area where the Prophet who restored the gospel was born.
We learned some awesome things in the conference and I am extremely
excited to see how things will change in our area as we make the changes that
were taught. I think the biggest thing is having a positive attitude!
Attitude is truly everything. There are quite a few reasons that
could make it easy for me to have a little bit of a negative attitude being in
the area that I'm in because of the 'lack of success' this branch has felt
they've had in the past, but God is hastening the work and this area is not
excluded from that promise! I've already witnessed so many miracles here
in the past couple of months and I know that many more are in store! I
couldn't have been put in a better place to serve at this time. I learn
so much from the wonderful members here and I want to do everything that I can
to help them see the miracles of missionary work.
My companion had me read Doctrine
and Covenants Sec. 11 this morning and I thought it to be very enlightening and
motivating so I hope it can have the same effect on all of you, because we are
ALL missionaries.
Verses 8-14 were the ones that
really stood out to me.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, even
as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall
be the means of doing much good in this generation.
Say nothing but repentance unto this
generation. Keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work,
according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.
Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou
shalt have a gift if thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart,
believing in the power of Jesus Christ, or in my power which speaketh unto
thee;
For, behold, it is I that speak;
behold, I am the light which shineth in darkness, and by my power I give these
words unto thee.
And now, verily, verily, I say unto
thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good-- yea, to do
justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I
will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall
fill your soul with joy;
And then shall ye know, or by this
shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining
unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.
God has blessed us all with our own
individual gifts, and with these gifts He has given us we can "be the
means of doing much good" and our souls can be filled with joy!. I
know this to be true! I invite you all to identify the gifts God has given
you and when you do this God will bless you with even more gifts. I send
my love and prayers to all who are reading this. I love you all and wish
you the very best! I hope you all have a wicked good week!
Much love, Sister Dixon