PHILLIPIANS 4:13

There aren't many words to explain this past week. It's been quite the week! I am happy to report I have survived my first week training. I still feel like I'm a brand new missionary myself! It is quite the humbling opportunity to train a new missionary. I think I'm learning more than my trainee is from this experience! Sister Danner has already taught me so many things.

Tuesday we had a very long day of traveling. Being in Dover, we are one of the furthest areas in the mission so it takes about four hours to get to transfer meeting. We hit the road just after 4a.m. Sister Sutton was an angel and drove us down to Manchester to our meeting. This transfer four new sisters came out and no new elders! Sister power right there!

A little bit about my awesome new companion. Her name is Sister Danner and she is from Coeur d'Alene Idaho and she is 19 years old. I am very lucky to have her as my companion!

We've had a lot of great experiences already. Sister Danner has jumped right in! We went on splits on Sunday and she taught a lesson on her own with one of the members. My baby is already growing up so fast! This weeks letter is going to be quite short. I'll definitely give more details in the future! I just want to share a few of the things I have learned/been reminded of this week. First of all I have learned that God knows us perfectly! Every single day I have felt God helping me through each new experience. I know that without His help, doing this work would not be possible. I have also learned of the happiness that comes from being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I could not imagine my life without this gospel. I have come to realize how truly magnificent it is to have a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. Also the knowledge that we are eternal beings and that we have a purpose in this life to become like our Savior Jesus Christ so that we can return to be in His presence again after our life on earth. I have felt the power of prayer not only helping me with new experiences, but helping me feel complete happiness and joy in doing the work of the Lord. I have never felt such joy as I have when sharing the gospel. Thanks to President Dieter F. Uchtdorf I have learned that we can be grateful in all things not just grateful for things (check out his talk from this past general conference...it's incredible https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng). I've also learned that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

I love you ALL and I hope you have an incredible week!!!

Peace and Blessings from Maine!
Sister Dixon

MAINE, THE ONLY STATE WITH ONE SYLLABLE....BECAUSE THAT'S ALL WE CAN HANDLE

Well, I guess I'll start off with the exciting news! I'm having a baby! I'm staying in Milo and I'm going to get a brand new missionary arriving fresh off the plane today! I am scared out of my mind to be a mom, but I know that God will be helping me out with this one.
We've had quite the exciting week this week, and it has flown by.

We had a district pday on Monday and got together with the Newport missionaries, which was a blast. We have an awesome district.

Tuesday we had an incredible day. We had a lesson with Eddie and Susie, and it was one of the best lessons I've had on my mission. When we first met Eddie he said that he'd listen and allow Susie to learn, but he wouldn't participate in the lessons. He said that he was raised not to discuss religion or politics. During this particular lesson, the spirit was very strong. We were teaching about the Plan of Salvation. Eddie participated fully in the lesson, and it was remarkable. We left their home filled with the spirit.

Wednesday was another great day. The youth in the ward are doing a DMTC (Dover Missionary Training Center). Wednesday night they had us missionaries teach some classes from Preach My Gospel to our youth 'missionaries'. The youth are so incredible. Backing up a little bit to earlier that day. We were driving to Brownville for a dinner appointment, when all of a sudden a wild turkey runs out in front of me. Sister Burton was reading something when this happened, so I freaked her out pretty good when I screamed "TURKEY!!!!!" She immediately looked up and let out quite the squeal herself. So funny!

We had another crazy driving experience on Thursday when we were driving home for the night. It was dark when we saw something starting to run across the road. We had the complete opposite reaction from our turkey experience. We were both dead silent....It was a bear! I'm in Maine.....I thought I'd see a moose before a bear! It was pretty crazy. Now to the Spiritual side of Thursday. We had another inspiring district meeting. The Newport Elders invited one of their investigators and a member to our meeting so that we could practice teaching and evaluate each others teaching. We were all quite nervous at the beginning, but that turned around very quickly. The purpose of our meeting was to learn how to better teach with the spirit in unity with our companions. Sister Burton and I had a very neat experience teaching the member from Newport. We were told to have a lesson plan to teach the Plan of Salvation. We had that prepared, but the Spirit took it a completely different direction. I love it when that happens. We had a district eat out at.......I'm sure you can guess it........a chinese buffet! Where else would missionaries eat? Sister Burton and I decided to grab a fortune cookie on the way out that would be our companionship fortune, since transfer calls were coming this weekend. Let's just say we didn't like the fortune. It said "Adapt to circumstances in order to make progress." Yeah we basically figured that meant we were going to be split. The whole district thought so too. We weren't too happy about that. The Dickson's treated us to dinner that night at the Nor'easter restaurant. I absolutely love them. They are a very sweet older couple in the branch. Brother Dickson absolutely loves that we have the same last name. He gives me a little history each time I see him on how the spelling changed from Dickson to Dixon.

Friday we got to do a lot of service. We went to the Oakes house and helped them get ready to move. The Oakes family makes up 80% of the primary, so we are sad they are leaving. We also got to help the Blinn's with their yard work. They've been on a mission in Vietnam the past two springs so they are trying to catch up with their yard. Black fly season is definitely here; they even have a festival for it out here in June. Black flies are tiny little flies that love to bite and are all over the place this time of year. We received a very unwanted voicemail on Friday. The assistants left a message saying that due to a stake conference in New Hampshire, they were going to do transfer calls that night instead of Saturday. We weren't prepared to hear that news! We didn't even have ice cream in the freezer! We were visiting the West's when the call came.......our hearts sank. Sister Burton hasn't been in an area more than two transfers her whole mission, so I thought for sure if anyone were to leave it would be me. Well that's what we get for thinking. Sister Burton is being transferred and I'm training. Yikes. I have definitely learned over the past year though that transfers and companions are 100% inspired of God.

Saturday and Sunday we good but sad. We helped Mike and Michele work on their house. We got to put a little message on one of the boards for the door frame, so Sister Burton and I will forever be in their house. Mike and Michele were one of the first people Sister Burton and I met so it was very sad that Sister Burton had to say goodbye. Sunday was also filled with a lot of goodbyes. Church was absolutely incredible though. The spirit was very strong throughout all the meetings. Sister Burton and I went on splits with Sister Gosselin and Sister Sutton after church and that was miraculous. Sister Sutton and I went to see a less active couple, the Maloons, who I had never met before. We got there and they were home! They invited us right in and we had a great time getting to know them and Sister Sutton connected with them very well. Sister Burton had a similar experience with Sister Gosselin at the Wiermans.

I can't even begin to explain the things I have learned over the past twelve weeks. I have never had more miracles happen than I have these past two transfers. I absolutely know that God is in charge of His work. I have been so blessed to see His hand everyday as I have been serving a mission. I know that the Atonement is real! I want to share few quotes from this past General Conference by Elder David A. Bednar.

"It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to the earth to die for us. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to enliven us --- not only to guide but also to strengthen and heal us."

"There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first"

"The unique burdens in each of our lives help us to rely upon the merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah"

I love that we can rely on the merits, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that I have individually unique experiences that are necessary for me to go through in order to better understand what the Atonement means for me. I want you all to know how much I love being a missionary and how grateful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, not only that he died for us but that he enlivens us. I love the unending amount of information that this gospel holds.
I hope you all have a great week, and please keep my newborn in your prayers!

Peace and Blessings,
Sister Dixon

SNOW BLOWERS TO LAWN MOWERS

Spring has sprung here in Maine, and it happened fast. It felt like about a week ago that there were ten feet of snow on the ground. Now the grass is so green and the weather is wonderful!

A lot of great experiences came out of this week. Sister Burton and I have learned a little bit more about the Atonement. Everything seemed a little interesting this past week and a lot of things fell through. Great investigators decided that they didn't want to progress and things were a little difficult. We had an incredible zone meeting on how we can make the Atonement personal in our lives. I wanted my understanding of the Atonement to increase and so I prayed that I would be able to understand it more fully. As things continued to be pretty hard with the work, I was wondering why everything all of a sudden became so difficult, and why people had to use their agency in unwise ways. I had been praying very diligently for help and I didn't see why God wouldn't just miraculously make everything better. Little did I know that God was just answering my prayers. Jesus Christ's mission was not easy. He worked miracles everyday and people still persecuted him and didn't believe him to be the Son of God. Why do I expect my mission to be any different? Through these experiences I was able to catch a tiny glimpse of what Christ went through for us. It goes along perfectly with what Christ teaches in John chapter 15 in the Bible.

19:If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20:Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is no greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21:But these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

I know who I am serving, and I glory in it, hard times and all.

Do not despair. We saw some pretty incredible miracles this week too. Sister Ellison invited her friend Charlotte over for dinner and we were able to teach the Restoration; she now wants to learn more. After church on Sunday we had a lesson with two of our investigators at one of the members home and it was incredible! They connected immediately and the members were able to share why they love what they believe and know to be true. It truly is best when members and missionaries work together.

I had the wonderful privilege of being able to talk about one of my favorite topics in Sacrament Meeting.....my mom! All four of the missionaries in the branch were asked to speak on the topic of moms. It was a very spirit filled meeting. We love our moms!

I don't have much time this week because we're having a district pday! Wohoo!

Well to end I want to say a very special thanks to my favorite Mom! I hate to break it to all of you readers, but I have the best Mom in the world. She is my hero and my best friend. I love her and all the words in the world couldn't even begin to describe the incredible impact she has had on me. Love you Mom! I also want to send out a special thanks to the Mother's who have changed my life....there are many of them. I am so grateful for mothers. I love this gospel and I love that I get to be with my mother for all eternity. Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Sister Dixon

CINCO DE MAYO, 11 MONTHS!

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone! And Happy 11 Months! I'm nearly a year old now!
It has again been quite the awesome week. It started off great with two new investigators. We received a media referral on Monday and we contacted them that night. Quite the funny experience. We knocked on the door and said who we were. The lady goes to the back hall and says Michael, you've got company. He yells back "Is it the Mormons?".....well, yes it was! It was incredible Their names are Michael and Crystal and they recently moved in to Milo. They have four children and are so prepared to receive the gospel. Michael has SO many questions. We began talking and he pulls up on his phone a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Then he plays the Restoration movie and starts talking about General Conference and the list goes on. A little mind blowing if you ask me. We've seen them two other times this past week, and their desire to learn more and change their lives is sincere.
We helped out at the Bissells farm again this week and I got to see a baby cow be born! Sister Burton and I named her Milo.
We had a really neat experience with a less active member this past week. We had called her to see if we could come over and visit and she said she was out raking some leaves. We went over and helped her for a bit and then had an incredible conversation with her. It was really neat because just a week ago she had received a letter in the mail from a former missionary's wife who had taught her in the past. Receiving that note softened her heart quite a bit and rekindled some of the feelings she had when she joined the church. So it was an inspired letter indeed. She also received a letter from her current visiting teacher the same week. Coincidence??....I don't believe in those.
Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference. Saturday, Beth Ellison drove us down to Bangor and treated us to Olive Garden. I think we're spoiled. The conference was great. Both days there were no assigned speakers. Elder Olsen from the Seventy selected people from the audience to address us. Quite the inspiring experience if you ask me. The conference was all about God's love for all of us as His children, and how perfectly aware He is of our individual circumstances. Because He is an eternal being, He has the ability to focus completely on each of us individually all the time. During the Sunday conference all the Sister missionaries in the stake got to sing Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It was pretty neat. The choir that sang during conference sang Did You Think to Pray. At the end of the conference Elder Olsen asked if the choir again would sing the song they had sung earlier in the program. It was quite powerful the second time through. There was quite a bit more focus on the words that were being sung that time around. So to finish off my email I want to leave you with the words to the hymn that took on new meaning for me this week. Did You Think to Pray?

Ere you left your room this morning,
Did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ, our Savior,
Did you sue for loving favor As a shield today?
When your heart was filled with anger,
Did you think to pray?
Did you plead for grace, my brother,
That you might forgive another Who had crossed your way?
When sore trials came upon you,
Did you think to pray?
When your soul was full of sorrow,
Balm of Gilead did you borrow At the gates of day?

Oh, how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary,
Don't forget to pray.

Family and Friends, I hope that you never forget to pray, no matter what life circumstances may be. I love you all and I hope you have an incredible week!


Love,
Sister Dixon