A Merry Heart!

Before I start my email I need to make a correction, last week in my
spiritual thought I typed that commandments are restrictions, which is
so NOT true, I reply need to proof read these emails haha. But FYI
commandments are not restrictions..
Well anyways... On with the goods!

"Sister Hallam, do you know how practically every morning I tell you
that I feel like I got hit by a truck?" I say as I lay in my bed.
"Yeah," she says "except this time you actually do feel like you got
hit by a truck!"

*3 weeks earlier*
"Sister Dickson! I have a wonderful idea! Let's tell the Ellsworth
district to have their district pday at Acadia National Park!" Sister
Hallam says

*Last week sometime*
"Yeah we talked with President and he said we can go to Acadia. We
thought it would be fun to go on a sunrise hike. Meet us at our
apartment at 4 am. You could stay the night at the Sisters." Says the
Ellsworth Elders.

*3:30am this morning*
"Sisters, I am so sorry. I am going to be lame but I just really don't
want to go on that hike this morning. I am just barely getting over
this cold!" One of the Ellsworth Sisters tells us as I look out the
window watching rain flood the streets.

That my dear friends is the story of how Sister Hallam and I went on a
hike at 4 am in the rain with 8 random 18-20 year olds that I hardly
know, otherwise known as Elders. It was so fun though! The only down
fall was that we were basically rock climbing (not really but there
was a bit of climbing involved) and I slipped on a wet rock and fell
flat on my bum, knocking the wind right out of me. Oh man.. Did that
hurt. My back is still a little sore but it was totally the grace of
God that helped me hike 600 feet down back to our cars.

I feel so blessed to be in such a sweet mission, there are FANTASTIC
missionaries here. Especially all those elders we went hiking with who
made sure they were behind me and in front of me to make sure I didn't
fall down hard again. It was such an adventure! Sadly we didn't see
the sunrise because of how foggy and rainy it was, but it looked so
beautiful against the green trees.

Oh my! So much has happened this week! There is so much I need to say!
Well first off last Monday our pday was cut short because we had to
drive down to New Hampshire for MLT ( missionary leader training) and
we were driving with the same elders we were with last time we went to
NH. The ride down was just as entertaining as last time. This time the
elders tried to get every semi truck we passed to honk their horns.

We stopped at the Portland Headlight on our way down. Apparently it's
like the most photographed lighthouse in the world. We were so excited
and when we got there the lighthouse was covered with scaffolding.
That was a bummer, but the ocean was still sooooo pretty!! I love the
east coast. It's beyond beautiful.

MLT was FANTASTIC! President Stoker gave so many great trainings. It
was so fun. On our was home we stopped at the Portland Mall to use the
bathroom and the Elders said we had 15 minutes or else we would be
late getting home.

So Sister Hallam and I went to the bathroom real quick and waited in
the food court for them. And we waited.. And waited.. But no Elders.

We know one of them wanted to get their iPad looked at so we though
maybe they were at the Apple Store. So we went there.. No elders.

So we went out to the car.. Still no elders. So we went back to the
food court and waited for no joke 20 minutes. So we went back out to
the car and stood there. Mind you that our phone was in the locked car
so we had no way of getting ahold of them. 45 minutes later we see the
Elders walking out with Macy's bags. THEY WENT AND BOUGHT TIES! Those
dang Elders. Hahah they also put on some nasty smelling Johnny Depp
cologne. So the whole 3 hours home we spent most the time informing
them which colognes are really ok and not ok to wear. Haha

This week we were on exchanges with the Dover Sisters! It was so fun
seeing sister Hoopes again! We had a party and went up to our creepy
third floor and had a dance party with our black light. Haha exchanges
are so great! I am a firm believer that exchanges brings miracles
because we got 5 new really awesome investigators this week!!

Ah.. Such a great week. Such a great 11 months, I LOVE being a
missionary. All the blisters and sore muscles are worth it.

For my spiritual thought this week, it's all about attitude. I love
the scripture in Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a
medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Attitude is really everything, especially in a world where it is so
easy to get caught up in all the junk. But how is it possible for us
to remain positive and optimistic in such a scary world?

Well the answer is Christ. Christ is the answer to everything but He
will bring that hope and happiness into our lives that we need. He can
turn doubts into optimism. He can turn hopeless into hopeful. He takes
the pain and gives us strength to go on.

Sometimes we may think that they trials we endure are to hard. We may
want to give up.

But when Christ was in the garden suffering for your pains, and your
trials, and your temptations and your fears and heartache He didn't
throw his hands up in the air and exclaimed that this was just "too
hard". He never has and never will give up on you. So don't give up on
yourself. Lift up your head, paint on a smile and enjoy all the good.
There is so much to grateful for and so much to be happy about.

I love you all!
Have a happy week!
Xoxo
Sister Dickson