OUR TRIO'S DOWN TO TWO

Well the dreaded transfer calls came and I'M BEING TRANSFERRED! I feel like I just got here! Our trio's down to two! Sister Jackman and Sister Berg are both staying here in Saco and they are going to do an incredible job! I got the boot and am off to a new adventure! My new companion and I will be switching out an elders area which will be a brand new experience!...Sisters are taking over!
My mind is still a little blown right now so if this email doesn't make sense....you'll know why.
So as you all know we got to go to the temple this past week!!!!! and oh my goodness it was amazing! Exactly what we all needed. We made it down to Boston in an hour and a half, but the ride home was a different story. It took us nearly five hours to get home(we did stop for lunch though) ha ha ha. But at least we made it safely. They actually shut down the temple after our session because of the weather! Oh the things we'll do to get to the temple.
The rest of the week was pretty miraculous. We had a lot of really neat experiences. Two of our investigators accepted the invitation to be baptized. Abby is getting baptized March 11th which is so soon Melody committed to be baptized in April!
So many great things are happening here in Maine!
I forgot to bring my planner with me so I can hardly remember what went on this week. All the days mesh together!
We helped one of our investigators paint this past week which was a lot of fun. She is opening up a community kitchen type thing as a safe place for struggling people to go. She is quite the lady!
Sister Courchene (our Relief Society President) had given us a list of less active members that she wanted us to stop by and visit. We were going to visit a particular member and knocked on the door. There were a lot of lights on so we figured someone was home. Nobody answered the door so we continued on to our next destination. Before we got too far away we felt we needed to go back and try again. We went back and knocked again....this time on the inner door (New Englanders don't believe in using front doors) and she answered the door. Turns out that she hasn't been active in the church for over 15 years. We were able to talk to her for a minute and got to know her story, at the end we had the chance to say a prayer with her. She said that it was the first prayer that she had heard in years! It was such a neat experience.
Abby's lesson was another miracle. Everyone present was very in tune with the Spirit and the lesson was incredible. When we brought up baptism she said how she feels so much more ready now than she did just a few weeks ago. She wants to be baptized on March 11th which is her parents anniversary. I have never taught anyone like Abby before . She is changing her life for this gospel, and it is so incredible to see.
We had our Stake Patriarch speak to us Sunday about patriarchal blessings. It was an incredible reminder that we need to turn to our patriarchal blessing for guidance and for a glimpse of our eternal potential of what Heavenly Father wants us to become.
I have learned so much this last transfer! I can't believe that it is over and a new one has begun! I don't know where I'll be tomorrow, but I do know that it is where I need to go! I think it's appropriate to quote the words of the hymn we sang this morning in our comp study! These lyrics apply to everyone at every stage of life.

I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go.

1. It may not be on the mountain height
Or over the stormy sea,
It may not be at the battle's front
My Lord will have need of me.
But if, by a still, small voice he calls
To paths that I do not know,
I'll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine:
I'll go where you want me to go.

2. Perhaps today there are loving words
Which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now in the paths of sin
Some wand'rer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if thou wilt be my guide,
Tho dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet:
I'll say what you want me to say.

3. There's surely somewhere a lowly place
In earth's harvest fields so wide
Where I may labor through life's short day
For Jesus, the Crucified.
So trusting my all to thy tender care,
And knowing thou lovest me,
I'll do thy will with a heart sincere:
I'll be what you want me to be.

So my invitation to all of you this week is to take the advice of the third verse of this song and trust with your all that God loves you and knows exactly where you need to be, what you need to say, and who you can become.
I love you all so much and I love this gospel, because it is true!

Much love
Sister Dixon

I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE

I'm going there Tuesday!!!!!
SAY WHAT?!?!?!?!? So I know I asked you all to pray for iPads this past week, but I'm here to announce that in response to those prayers we got something much much MUCH better. We get to go to the TEMPLE!!!! Ever since President Stoker became our mission president he has been working on getting it approved for us missionaries to be able to go to the temple. It has now been approved and we get to go once every six months(if we are within two hours of the Boston Temple)! And Saco is! We are SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED!!! We are going next Tuesday with our Relief Society president, Sis. Courchene, so our pday will be Tuesday next week instead of Monday.

Well here is the update for some other fun and exciting things from the past week.

Wednesday we got a pretty big storm so our cars were grounded. We had an appointment with Bob and Karen, our new investigators. They live about 2.5 miles away from our apartment so we decided that we were going to keep the appointment regardless having no means of transportation other than our feet. We got all bundled up and made the trek to Bob and Karens. It was all fun and giggles on the way there, but coming home our hype and excitement for walking 2.5 miles in the cold dimmed a bit. All in all it was a lot of fun though. Not something that I think I'd like to do every day though. Thank goodness we have cars! We celebrated the snowy day by going to Mulligans for dinner.

Zone conference on Thursday was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is also a pretty cool story to go along with how we got there. So on Sunday when they announced that we needed a member to take us to Augusta on Thursday we didn't hear of anyone that could. We didn't hear from anyone throughout the week so on Wednesday we were frantically looking for someone that could drive us and the Elders to Augusta. Our prayers were answered. The Mitchell's offered their van and Bro. Jarry was available to drive. Bro. Jarry, has recently come back to activity in the church. It was so neat to see how much he loved going to zone conference. It was amazing to hear him talk about the experience he had and how it was an answer to his prayers being able to take us.

We had another incredible lesson with Abby on Saturday. She is practically a member already. She said the prayer in Relief Society and she signed up to come teaching with us. She is unreal! Well back to our lesson on Saturday. So we were talking about how she can receive personal revelation, and we had this great conversation about her life and where she sees herself going. We talked about baptism and the church and it is something that she wants. She said that she feels like learning about the gospel is starting a relationship. She feels that right now she is in the getting to know you/gaining trust stage. She feels that baptism is the engagement and receiving the Holy Ghost is the marriage. She just blows my mind. She is so much closer than she realizes.

With Valentines this week we, with the help of the Tippetts, are going to go around to the homes of the people in the ward council to let them know how much they are appreciated. We're going to make some chocolate covered strawberries and spread some love to the members who do so much for us. I don't know how we got so lucky to be in such a great ward out here. Not to mention, the Tippetts helping us in everything! They are so great!

Those are a few of the exceptionally exciting things that have gone on this past week. So to finish off I wanted to share a taste of what I learned at zone conference. I know this is a mouthful, but it is worth the read!....and this is just such a small small portion of the talk we read. So before conference they had us read a talk about 4 different missionaries and the way they served their missionaries. This completely applies to life and how we have to make the choice of what we want to come from it. In the mission you often hear "Your companion becomes what you think of them." I have applied that to many more things so right now I want to apply it to life. Your life becomes what you think of it. I often think that we have to do something drastic or incredibly hard to become something great, but it is so simple. It comes from making the choice. We have to decide what we want to become. Everything we have is God's other than our agency and our hearts. When we give our hearts and our wills to God He will make us into something extraordinary. The title of this talk is called The Fourth Missionary. I'm sure you could google it to find the whole story....and I would encourage you to do so because it is awesome and this is just a small portion of the incredible things that are in the talk. So here it goes!..... 



Have you planned your greatest work? Have you envisioned who you will become? Do you plan for what kind of person you want to become? Can you see in your mind who you want to be? Do you know? The choices As you consider what kind of person you want to become, what choices do you have? The choices are more limited than what you might think. Here are most of the choices, but overall they are a choice between the qualities of light or the qualities of darkness: ' Do you want to be powerful or weak? Certain and confident, or afraid and insecure? Comfortable with your self or arrogant and abrasive? Do you want to be filled with light or darkness? Do you want to have peace or conflict within? Selfish or generous? Influential or inconsequential? Do you want to be free or be a slave? Happy or miserable? Do you want to be kind and loving, or mean and cruel? Honest or dishonest? Do you want to be forgiving or hard and unforgiving? Knowledgeable or ignorant? Do you want to be a person of faith or doubt and fear? Trustworthy or unreliable? Hardworking or lazy? Do you want to be cheerful or despondent? The first of each of these choices is an attribute of light. They are incorporated into your character as you choose to follow Christ. Dynamic process; always changing As you consider the question of what kind of person you will become, you must understand the dynamic process of life. You not only can change but you do change all of the time. Sometimes people do not believe this. They excuse their failures and weaknesses by saying: "That's just the way I am." "I am just short tempered, impatient person." I can't get up in the morning. That's just the way I am." "That's my nature." Or, "I'm just shy. That's all. That's just who I am." "I am not really a spiritual person." To believe that weaknesses and deficiencies in your character are unchangeable is to reject the central truth of the plan of salvation. You are not cast in stone. You not only can change but you do change all of the time. You are a dynamic, changing, evolving being. You are always changing. You never stay the same. You cannot stand still. You are right now the sum total of what you have thought, said, seen, heard and done. What you think, say, do, hear and see, cause you to change; to change for good or evil; to become either stronger or weaker; to either internalize the qualities of light or the qualities of darkness. You are responsible for who you are and you are responsible for who you will become. Do you know what kind of person you want to become? Do you see in your mind who you want to be? Do you know? What manner of men ought ye to be? Jesus asked a similar question. He said: "What manner of men ought ye to be?" On this particular occasion he was speaking to his Nephite disciples and so he spoke in the male gender, but the question applies to us all, and so, He asks of you: "What manner of men and women ought ye to be?" Then answering His own question he said, "Even as I am." Jesus Christ not only came to atone for our sins; He also came to show us the way. He is the Way. You not only may become like Him; everything is stacked in your favor to become like Him. Think of this life as a path on which you never stand still. As you move forward, you incorporate into your being the characteristics and qualities of God. As you move backward you assimilate the qualities of Satan. Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like Him. If you were never presented with some advantage to be gained by dishonesty, such as recognition, or money, or a better grade on a test or avoidance of punishment or embarrassment, you could never develop integrity. If no one ever offended you, you could never learn to forgive or internalize mercy. Were you never wearied by the annoying behavior of another or the repeated failures of someone else you could never become patient. Were you never subjected to the appetites and passions of the physical body for food, for water and for sexual fulfillment you could not develop self mastery. Without opposition the plan would be frustrated, you could not progress and the purpose of life would be unachievable. In short when you choose to follow Christ you move forward and assimilate attributes of light; when you do not, you move backward and acquire attributes of darkness. Can you see, have you seen, who you want to be? What will happen if you don't plan. What will happen if you have no vision of who you want to become? The purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows you.


I know that we can truly come to know our Savior as we give everything to Him. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve Him as a missionary. Never have I felt so much happiness and joy as I have serving the people of New England. I love this Gospel and I love my Savior.

Have an amazing week everyone!

Sister Dixon

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THE TOOTH BRUSH WAS INVENTED IN BIDDEFORD?

How do you know the toothbrush was invented in Biddeford?
Because if it was invented anywhere else it would be called the teethbrush!
That joke has been thrown around quite a few times since I've been here so I thought I'd share it with all of you!
Welcome February! Where did January go?!?
Holy moley!
This week was great! So here's the rundown
Sister Jackman and I went to Portland on exchange all day Tuesday. Unfortunately Sis. Keigley was sick so we basically stayed inside all day and made plans for Eliza's baptism! Wohoo
Wednesday was good, we went around to several of the ward members homes making sure they got invitations to Eliza's baptism.

Thursday we had another good lesson with our friend Betty. She is the 95 year old that we ate Wendy's with not too long ago. It was the saddest thing ever, when we came to see her and started talking with her she just started to cry because she felt that her heart was in two places. She loves the pastor of her church but she knows how much her son loves being a Mormon and she loves having us come visit her, so she felt bad because she didn't want to waste our time. No worries though, we reassured her that she doesn't have to be baptized for us to continue coming to visit! She is too sweet.

What do you get when you put three, fasting, sick, sister missionaries in an apartment doing weekly planning? We don't really know either, but it wasn't the funnest morning we've had ha ha ha, it was definitely memorable though! Everything got so much better when we actually got out of the apartment though. In our coordination Thursday with the Ward Mission Leader, Bishop and the Elders we started a little thing to get the ward involved in and well informed of the Ward Mission Plan. VGPA(pronounced vigeepa) It stands for Vision Goal Plan Accountability. Friday we put it into play and introduced it to a couple of members in the ward, and it went really well! We have been helping them create their own VGPA's so they can personally be involved in helping the Ward Mission Plan happen.

Saturday....the big day....finally came! Eliza was baptized!!!!! The first baptism I've seen on my mission!!!!! It was glorious. It was really neat because her best friend, who introduced her to the church, was able to make it to her baptism and gave a talk too! We had a lot of good support from the ward which was great! We had a really good lesson with Abby afterward. Abby is incredible. I don't know if how much I've mentioned of Abby but here is a little update on her. She is 22 years old and knows Bro. Farmer, a member of the church who is friends with her dad. A few months ago, Bro. Farmer invited Abby to lunch with the sister missionaries. They went to a chinese buffet and at the end when they opened their fortune cookies, her cookie said that the people she met today would bring new concepts into her life. The following Sunday she went to church for the first time, which happened to be a fast and testimony meeting and she got up and bore her testimony! She soaks in everything that she hears at church and is a faithful comer to all our Book of Mormon classes. When we sat down for our lesson Saturday she was telling us what she had read in the Book of Mormon and we were just all blown away! She knows it so well already. Such an incredible experience with Abby.

Sunday...Another great day. Eliza was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The fun didn't end there though, she got her temple recommend after church and she is going to the temple with the youth next week! She is just on a roll!

I feel like those are the major events for this week! The work here in Saco is going so well and I am truly loving it! We have zone conference coming up this week which will be great! I wouldn't be mad if you all prayed that we get iPads.....just sayin. There are so many ways that technology would be helpful out here. Who knows when our mission will get them, but we are all pretty excited for the day when we do.

So being in a trio is completely new experience and everyday I learn so many new things. A big thing that I've come to realize is the importance of listening. With three people trying to share their testimonies, insights, and thoughts, it's very easy for our lessons to be us talking....a lot, but so much more important than talking is listening. I've really come to realize that we don't need to say much at all. We help people so much more by listening than by trying to feed them with so much information. Not only is listening to people important, but listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I have learned a lot about the Holy Ghost this week, and the way it speaks to me. There have been so many experiences on my mission and in my life in general when the Holy Ghost has brought so much peace and comfort, right at the very moment when I need it most. I always find it interesting how something that is generally on my mind ends up coming up in a talk or in a lesson. I'm pretty sure God has a little part to do with that. So on Sunday we had a lesson on the Holy Ghost and I got some neat insights from that class. As we know the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. Every member of the Godhead is so close in unity with each other in their purpose that when we feel the comforting feelings of the Holy Ghost, it is as if we are receiving it directly from God, or from Jesus Christ. Although God and Jesus Christ can be in one place at one time, the Holy Ghost can influence anyone, anywhere at any time. I feel so privileged to be a member of the church so that I can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I honestly don't know what I would do without it! I want to leave you all with a scripture from Galations 5:22
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Whenever we feel love, joy, peace...any of these feelings, they are feelings of the Spirit. God loves us so much and as we acknowledge Him and have faith in Him, we will feel an increase in the Spirit in our lives. I KNOW this to be true!

I 100% absolutely love this Gospel and I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary. Every day that goes by I feel a little bit of sadness knowing that it is one fewer day that I get to spend serving the Lord as a missionary. I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel, and for our Savior, Jesus Christ!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Dixon

I LIKE TO LOOK FOR RAINBOWS

This week has probably been the fastest week of my life.  I don't think I've had a week go by as fast as this one! 

Monday night we had a super fun dinner with some of the younger adults in the ward and it was a blast.  

Wednesday we had a pretty funny experience.  It was one of those times when you think to yourself "Man, I love being a missionary"  So Bro. Smith had referred us missionaries to stop by a lady that lives in an assisted living home.  We've been seeing her the for the past few weeks.  Last week we visited her right before lunch so when we were getting ready to leave and we had just set up another time to meet with her, Sis. Berg said "well we'll let you get to lunch" and I guess sweet old Betty(she's 95) thought she meant that next time we came we'd take her out to lunch.  Ha ha we were all super confused because she kept saying oh you don't need to pay for me, I'll get buy my own.  We were slightly confused and were kind of hoping she might forget by next weeks appointment.  Well Wednesday rolled around, which was when we scheduled to meet with Betty.  We called when we were on our way and she said "OK, I'll meet you downstairs"  ha ha so that confirmed our questioning of what she was talking about last time.  She did indeed think we were taking her to lunch.  We told he we'd meet her at her room because we had a little video we wanted to watch.  When we got to her room she had her boots and hat on and she was ready to go.  We said that we couldn't drive her in our car so we would go pick up lunch.  ha ha to make a short story long we had a great lunch provided by Wendy's with Betty.  It was too much fun.

We got an awesome new investigator this week.  Her name is Gretchen.  She came to the Ward Christmas party we had last month and this last Thursday we were finally able to meet with her at her home.  It was awesome. She has a lot of great questions about the church and is very open to discussing religion....which is not common among New Englanders.  She is so sweet and invited us back, so we are excited to get to know her better.

Saturday we had a super fun night with Marge and Rae.  They both live in a place called the Hazelton House, a senior living center.  Marge joined the church a year ago and Rae joined just a few months ago.  We had pizza and watched some Mormon Messages, and had some great conversation. 

Sunday was awesome!  We had a Cottage Meeting, which is a casual little get together with investigators, less active and active members.  The Smith's put this one on and it was a big success!  We had dinner and then watched a couple of Mormon Messages and then discussed them and had dessert.  We and the Elders each had one investigator that was able to attend and then there were a couple of less active members that were also able to attend.  The Spirit was so strong and it was a great way for everyone to get to know each other, become familiar with the church and to feel the Spirit.

The work here is going so well and I am absolutely loving it!  To end off with the good stuff I thought I'd share some exciting news....So.....Eliza's getting baptized this Saturday!  We are so excited for her!   She is such an incredible young woman, and we couldn't be happier! 

Here is a fun little clip that could brighten anyone's day...http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1101413030001

We are ALL children of God and there is so much happiness and purpose from fully understanding that simple but divine concept!  I hope you all know that you are children of a Father in Heaven who loves us all perfectly!

I love you all too and hope you have a great week!

Sister Dixon