WEEK 13- ANOTHER 6 WEEKS IN PARADISE

Well it looks like I'll be staying in the village another six weeks! Both me and Sister Deters are staying so we are excited. We've got some good things going here in Orleans. We had a pretty good week this week. I went on exchange with Sister Kotter again because her companion and my companion have a leadership meeting at the first of every month. It's pretty funny because every time me and sister Kotter are together we say "I can't believe we've been out a month" "I can't believe we've been out two months" "I can't believe we've been out three months" Ya time is FLYING by. It's a little crazy. It is kind of hard though because when we are on exchange Sister Deter's and my area gets neglected for a day, so we aren't able to get as much done during the week. It's surprising what you can do in a day! We got to do some fun service this week, picking apples and stacking wood! It was a lot of fun. We had a really awesome experience with one of the less active members in the branch this week. We've been meeting with Chris and Phil Wolf weekly for the past several weeks. Chris is very active in the branch and she was just recently called to be a branch missionary which is awesome. When we first met Phil he was pretty uneasy and a little anxious talking to us. It is so neat to see because now he is totally open to talking to us and is so much more relaxed. At the end of the lesson when the time came for the closing prayer, he offered to say it!!! I know that doesn't seem like a big deal....but it is! I just felt chills run through my body and seeing the look on Chris's face when he offered to pray was priceless. Those are the moments that make missions completely worth it. Sunday was really neat, there were so many people at church today. It was nice to see the chapel so much more full. Me and Sister Deters taught Sharing Time today so that was a lot of fun. The little kids are so cute! We weren't in Relief Society, but one of the members told us how incredible the spirit was in the meeting. What makes it even more neat is that we had a girl who had never been to church before there and she had quite a great experience. Something else that I found interesting about Sunday was that in Sacrament Meeting one of the speakers talked about the importance of journal writing, and in Sunday School, the lesson was on sacrifice. I don't think that was a coincidence! Both of those things are things I've been thinking about a lot lately and trying to improve on so it was really cool that to have my testimony in both those areas strengthened once again! We are teaching the Stop Smoking Program tonight which I hope will go well. It's a pretty cool program so I'm excited to see how it goes.

Again I'm going to bring you back to Alma 17. I just can't get enough of this chapter. I love what this chapter teaches about being a good example. As members of the church people watch us closely because of the standards we strive to live. It is through our examples that we can be missionaries no matter how old we are or where we are in the world. The phrase "actions speak louder than words" is true! By being good examples God will use us as an instrument. Verse 11 says it perfectly "..be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls" Although we may not recognize it, people do notice the way we live our lives, and it is through this example that we can be the means of bringing many souls unto Christ. You just never know who is going to accept the gospel, or who who come back to the church. I do know that God has prepared to use each and every one of his children as an instrument. It is usually through someone else that he meets the needs of others. Through our examples we can be the means of helping someone who is in need. "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father." Doctrine and Covenants 18:15

Sister Dixon