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