Weeds and seeds

Oh my goodness.. Can I just say how awesome our God is. This week has been SUCH a huge blessing! It is so great!

So Tuesday was a really rough day. We didn't have any set appointments so we went tracting. Oh, and did I mention that it was raining cats and goats? We only got a little drenched. We were in a small town called LaGrange, and sadly no one was interested. One lady even slammed the door ON Sister Hoopes... Like hit her with the door. Needless to say it was a pretty rough day. So we head back to Milo and we are trying to find this former investigator, but the house number listed didn't exist. It was so discouraging, because both Sister Hoopes and I felt like we really needed to find this lady. Well we decide to just tract the street, so we knock on this door and lo and behold!! It's the lady we were looking for and her sweet husband that we met at the Food Cupboard.
Well they let us in and we taught a lesson to them and they became new investigators!!  Their house was literally the last door we knocked on, and the only one that listened to us the whole day.. More like the whole week before actually. But man, it was so worth it.

So the Williams, our recent converts, are literally the coolest people ever as you all know. I can go on and on about what miracles they are. Well a general authority, Elder Dudley, heard about all of the miracles that occurred with them so he decided he wanted to meet them. It was stake conference this weekend so Elder Dudley was up here and he asked Charlene to bear her testimony at Stake conference. Now, Charlene said the last time she tried to talk in front of a group a people she passed out.  But she had faith in our wonderful Savior, who would give her strength to do the things He asks her to do, so she got up on Sunday and bore the most beautiful and simple testimony I have ever heard.
I felt like a proud momma bird and it took everything in me to not run up to her and give her a big hug!! It is such a blessing that Heavenly Father has allowed me to witness Charlene and her family grow closer to each other and to God.

Nothing, literally NOTHING, is cooler than seeing the spark in someone's eyes as they learn about the gospel and feel the Spirit.

Well can I just say THANK YOU all so much for all of the birthday wishes.. This week Sister Hoopes and I have been spoiled with so many birthday parties! It was so fun getting to celebrate with Sister Hoopes, since our birthdays are only two days apart. The members here are so sweet.

On Friday, the Picott's threw a party for us and they had the sweetest gifts, including a neck pillow that Sister Picott made. Also Brother and Sister West got Sister Hoopes and I matching scarves.
Then on Saturday, Brother Bissell, our branch mission leader and the cow farmer, called us up and asked us to stop by. When we arrived he has a HUGE chocolate cake that he had professionally made just for us.
And the Williams, took us out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's in Bangor!

All the missionaries had to go to stake conference a little early for the Saturday adult session so we could practice the song we were singing on Sunday, well in the middle of practicing Sister Hoopes pushed me into the middle of the room ( along with another Elder who has the same birthday as me) and all the missionaries start singing happy birthday. Haha

Then on Sunday Sister Leeman through a birthday party for us too!! She also got me the cutest scarf and a photo album.

Oh my.. I have never eaten so much cake in my life. Hahaha. It has definitely been a birthday to remember.

Something kind of cool that happened is that the Williams took us to go see Stephen King's house in Bangor. I didn't know he was from Maine, but we saw his HUGE mansion with gargoyles and all. It was waaaay cool.

Sunday's stake conference was so good. I got the privilege of conducting the missionaries in singing "Behold a Royal Army". Why they asked me to lead.. I have no idea. But really, it's the coolest being able to see about 40 missionaries sing about leading a righteous army to victory.

AHHH! Being a missionary is so cool!!

Well my spiritual thought for this week stems off from what Elder Dudley said at stake conference. He talked about two things that President Hinckley taught him while he assisted him in finding a location for a temple in Connecticut back in 1991.
Elder Dudley said that President Hinckley was not afraid to step on weeds, to trample on them and to get rid of them. He also learned that President Hinckley collected seeds from every place he visited and planted them in his backyard.

Elder Dudley asked us to consider what the "weeds" are in our life. To identify them and then to stomp on them. Trample them, crush them, pull them out and throw them away. Weeds have no place in the lives of God's children.
Then he asked us to consider taking a seed that we learned that day. Something that the Spirit taught us, and to plant it in our hearts. To water it, nurture it, and then see all of the good fruit that will come from it.

I would like to invite you all to pick a seed from the gospel.
It could be faith,
Kindness,
Compassion,
Charity,
Or any other Christ like attribute that you want to develop and then plant it your hearts!  Nurture it by scripture study, prayer, church, and by action.

I most definitely can promise you that the good seed will grow, and become a beautiful tree, which will bless you by bringing more purpose into your life.

I KNOW that this church is the only church that has the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which tells us what we need to do to make it back to our Heavenly Father. That the Book of Mormon is truth that helps us to learn more of Christ and a tool to use to help strengthen our testimonies. And that we have true prophets on the earth to lead and guide us safely back home.

Miracles are all around us.

I love you all!
Have a happy day!
Xoxoxo
Sister Dickson

This week... Well it has been a week

Well hello again!!

This week... Well it has been a week. Not a bad week. And not a particularly interesting week.

We still don't have any new investigators. We did a lot of finding this week and sadly everyone we have tried to come in contact with wasn't interested in eternal happiness and floods of blessings.

Speaking of floods, it rained cats and goats like crazy this week. Plus it was like 30 degrees. Oh gosh and today it snowed! Ok go look at your calendar.. It's APRIL! And it snowed! Ahhh! Noooooo stop!!

We have been getting very creative with finding new people to teach. On Monday though we went and did yoga because a potential investigator is the instructor and she set up a return appointment with her for this coming Sunday! So that is really great!

We visited a lot of members and did a lot of service and such. Thank goodness for wonderful members. We have really been working with them and getting them excited for the new mission vision. Which is to have every member invite someone in their home to be taught by the missionaries. So we have been setting a date with them as to when they want to have someone to be taught in their home. So far we have set 7 dates with families. Which is like 1/3 of the branch, so we are off to a good start. I can feel the miracles a coming our way!!

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry that this email is so boring!
But nothing really crazy happened this week.. We didn't even get lost or almost die or anything!! Sorry I will try to have crazier stories for next week!

Oh I remember something funny that happened at church on Sunday. So it was fast and testimony meeting right, and the funniest things always happen during that. So this one member gets up (who we taught the mission vision to) and he starts baring his testimony about missionary work, since he is a convert. Haha and then he says, "the Sister's came over yesterday and they asked what blessings I have seen from living the gospel."
Then he says, "how do you answer a question like that? There are just too many blessings! It would be to hard to put it into a short summary. Might as well just ask me to write the history of the world in 3 sentences!" Well he goes on talking about blessings and such. He told of how he felt like there was a huge hole in his soul before he joined the gospel. Then he said, "Everyone who doesn't have the gospel is like a donut! They are just walking donuts with big holes. Well guess what guys! WE HAVE THE DONUT HOLE BABY!" He yells!!

Well guess what guys, HE IS RIGHT! WE HAVE THE DONUT HOLES BABY!!

Well.. I guess I will now go forth with my spiritual thought.
So as you can probably tell.. Nothing really happened this week. We worked hard but we haven't gotten anyone new to teach. But we still saw small little miracles and tender mercies of the Lord every single day. He helped us to stay busy, and we met many wonderful people.

So story of all of our lives, not everything is going to always go our way. Not everything will be easy. In reality everything that is easy isn't really worth it. Here is a quote from a Elder Holland in an article he wrote for the March 2001 Ensign, "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
          You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane."

I think we could replace missionary work that Elder Holland is talking about here and put there anything that any of us may be struggling. Testimony, self worth, and trial or any repentance process.

It'll all be worth it in the end, and that Heavenly Father is aware of all of us. And there is a point and a plan for everything.

This church is true.
Jesus is the Christ. He lives.
The Book of Mormon is the true word of God.
God is our loving Heavenly Father.
We have living prophets with the priesthood authority of God, and all the tools necessary to make it back home to Him.

I know this is true.
I love you all!!
Xoxoxox
Sister Dickson

Hardest.. Yet the greatest

This week was really the weirdest, saddest, hardest and best weeks of my whole mission. Being a missionary is just so awesome!!

Being in a district with all elders is... Well you know.. The same as being in a room with a bunch of awkward 18-20 year olds. The conversation at lunch consisted of super powers, nerf guns, wishing that the more you eat the buffer you get, and food. Super intelligent.

Wednesday was awesome! So they changed choir practice from Sunday's to Wednesday right before Book of Mormon class which is great because so many people came to the class!! It was awesome being able to read the Book of Mormon and feel the Spirit with all of my Dover friends.

On Thursday a cute little old couple took us out for lunch at a cute diner called the CountrySide Diner in Corinth. This couple were some former investigators we taught, but who are all set in their own church. But we are still friends because they are awesome.

So this week has been way hard because unfortunately we had to drop all of our investigators. They weren't progressing and none of them had that desire to change, so we dropped every single one of them.

So now we are working on getting new investigators who are prepared and ready to receive the gospel. The 2016 mission vision is to have every member invite someone to be taught by the missionaries in their home. A really cool miracle happened with the Lincoln Elders where they were teaching two members to didn't know of anyone they could invite. Well the Elders set a date with the members to when they would be having someone to be taught in their home and said they would come that day to teach no matter what.

Well the days came and at the first members house there was no one to teach- except for when the mailman showed up. Who is now an investigator by the way. Then at the second members home the same situation happened until one of her friends just decided to show up and became a new investigators too.

Moral of the story is that God will always provide a way to get the thing he has asked accomplished.

So that is what we have been working on with a lot of our members. Setting dates with them and sharing with them these miracles and asking them to act in faith. I know God always pulls through, especially as you are seeking to do His will.

Now, let's get down to the good stuff. General conference. Oh my heck guys this conference was so good I could barely handle all of the Spirituality!
Here are some great quotes that I liked from conference.

"In today’s world, no matter where we live and no matter what our circumstances are, it is essential that our preeminent identity is as a child of God. Knowing that will allow our faith to flourish, will motivate our continual repentance, and will provide the strength to be “steadfast and immovable” throughout our mortal journey" Donald L. Hallstorm

"It is never too early for you to prepare for missionary service. … All of your preparation, … whether you serve as a full-time missionary or not, will accrue lifelong benefits to you as a member missionary." Gary E. Stevenson

"One key to forgiving others is to try to see them as God sees them. …
Too often we look at the offender the way we would look at an iceberg—we see only the tip and not beneath the surface. We do not know all that is going on in a person’s life. … Please do not misunderstand. To forgive is not to condone. We do not rationalize bad behavior or allow someone to mistreat us because of their struggles, pains, or weaknesses. But we can gain greater understanding and peace when we see with a broader perspective. …" Kevin R. Duncan

"As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. Natural tendencies to childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And … we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along." Dale G. Renlund

"As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day—whether to make this choice or that—if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice." Thomas S. Monson

"To assist us in our search for peace amidst the daily challenges of life, we’ve been given a simple pattern to keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, who said: “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. I am Jesus Christ” [D&C 19:23–24]." W. Christopher Waddell

"Loving the mother of his children—and showing that love—are two of the best things a father can do for his children. It reaffirms and strengthens the marriage that is the foundation of their family life and security... We call on all fathers to do better and to be better… Despite our inadequacies, our Heavenly Father will magnify us and cause our simple efforts to bear fruit." D. Todd Christofferson

"Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us—he knows and loves you.He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.It matters not how you became lost—whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control. What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children. Because He loves you, He will find you.. While our loving Father desires that all of His children return to Him, He will force no one to heaven. God will not rescue us against our will." Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are depressingly unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that no one really progresses. … Don’t fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed... Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going... Brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. That’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength… Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." Jeffery R. Holland

I know that this is the true gospel. And here we can find the most peace and happiness in this life.

I hope you all have a great week!!

Love you and stay safe.

Xoxoxox

Sister Dickson

From City Girl, to Mainiac, to cow girl, to Indiana Jones, to cow surgeon

This week was literally the BEST!

First of all, zone conference was on Tuesday and it was so fun to see all of the friends I have made! Sister Bee, Sister Jensen, Sister Rodgerson, and Sister Watson were all there! Ah man, it was SO fun!

We learned at zone conference the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy and how we can help investigators and members to be strengthened in their conversion to the gospel by living the gospel everyday, not just on Sunday's. I will now share with you some awesome quotes from zone conference.
"If you don't set your priorities then satan will set them for you." Elder Seamons
"Wake up!! Don't waste time and enjoy and love every moment of your mission." Sister Hawkes (Thessalonians 5:5-6)
"Are you going through your mission, or is your mission going through you?" President Stoker
"Faith of multiple people can bring about mighty miracles and magnify the power of our testimonies" Pres. Stoker
"Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death" Sister Stoker
"Missionary work is professional friend making" Sister Harman
"Kill the natural man!!!" Elder Alcarion

They also had homemade Cafe Rio for lunch their.. So there I was sitting with some of my best friends eating Cafe Rio, feeling the Spirit and looking hecka cute! It was the best!!!

Wednesday we were in Bangor all day for exchanges with the Sister training leaders and I was with Sister Harman. She is a fiery red head and oh my heck she is literally the funniest girl I have ever met before!! We only got lost a few times and we only met a few crazy people. Haha it was such a fun day.

Thursday I helped give a cow stomach surgery on the farm. Yupp.. You read me right. Cow stomach surgery. It was literally the NASTIEST thing I have EVER seen in my whole freaking life. Yucky yucky yucky!!
So what happened was that one of the cows 5 stomachs was twisted all jankie. So they   gave the cow a sedative and then tipped the cow over... Hahahaha cow tipping.. Haha..
Then I had to help hold the cow so it wouldn't roll over while the vet poked two HUGE needles into its stomach and then Sister Hoopes pressed down on the stomach and all this nasty liquid crap started shooting out of the needles. It stunk so bad. Then they had to give it an IV and give it glucose and it was so nasty watching the vet put that one in.

It was pretty much the coolest thing I think I have ever done. Plus there was a little baby just an hour before we got there! She was all yet and couldn't stand up Brother Bissell's daughter in law was blow drying her! She was so stinking cute!!

Saturday was the women's conference and we got a ride with a member down to Bangor to watch it there. They had a yummy dinner before and some fun activities. Our job was to sort out all the jelly beans by color. Women's conference was soooo good!!! I love this church. If you didn't get the chance to watch to oh my gosh go watch it right now!! It was all about service and how you won't find your self until you lose yourself. I definitely know that is true!

Easter Sunday was so fun! Everybody kept giving us the cutest Easter things. I wasn't too sad at all being away from family, even though I miss you all, but I have learned so much about Easter and the true meaning of it. I feel like I have grown so closer to my Savior. Because of Him we will ALL be resurrected and live again with a perfect body. I am so so grateful for Him.
We had two Easter Dinners. One with our landlords family (who we had Christmas and thanksgiving dinner with too) and then another family. Everybody is so sweet I am so grateful that I get to stay here for another transfer!!

Oh yeah.. Transfers.. Sister Hoopes and I are staying again for another 6 weeks!! Woo hoo! But some crazy stuff is happening in our district. They are taking the sisters in Skowhegan out and putting in elders. So that means sister Hoopes and I are going to be the only sisters in our district... Haha so I can definitely tell this upcoming transfer is going to be a crazy one.

Spiritual thought!!!
It's about the commandment that Jesus Christ gave to all of us to always remember Him. Before my mission I thought that we were suppose to remember Him so that we would remember not to do anything bad, or to be thankful for the sacrifice that He made for all of us-and while I believe those things are true-that commandment to Always Remember is so much more then what we think it is. That phase is repeated in the Book of Mormon 59 times. So it is pretty freaking important.
We need to remember Him always, so that we will always be reminded that He has never and will never forget us. That He has always remembered us, that He suffered and died for us each individually and personally.
We are never alone,
Never forgotten,
Always loved,
And forever remembered by Him who so easily forgives and helps us with EVERYTHING.

Ahh.. It's like a breath of fresh air every time I remember Him.

Have a fantastic week my love bugs!
I love you all!!
Stay safe
xoxoxox
Sister Dickson

This whole mission thing is just going by way too fast..

Hello my love bugs.

OH MY GOODNESS I JUST LOVE ALL OF YOU SO FREAKING MUCH!!! I can't even handle how much I love every single one of you that is reading this email right now! I legit have the best family/friends EVER! Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

I love Maine! The sunsets here are the best ever. Forget them western sunsets because Maine is literally where God paints the sky. Sister Hoopes, the scriptures, the wonderful members here and sunsets I feel are the only thing that are keeping me sane.

People come to Maine to get away from people. People come to Milo to get away from the people who are trying to get away from people. In other words, nobody here really likes people. Which is difficult for me because I literally want to hug and love and talk everyone, but they done really like us. Haha oh well.

So it warmed up quite a bit this week. It was in the 40s and 50s. Oh gosh do you here me.. I can't believe that I think 45 degree weather is warm! But I didn't where a jacket so I guess my body is used to it.

Well on Tuesday it was like in the 50s all day and it was BEAUTIFUL outside!! People actually started coming out of their houses! I never thought I would see people walking out on the street in this small little town. But it wasn't what I expected. We were diving down the street and it literally felt like we were right in the middle of an episode of the Walking Dead. I guess that happens when you go in your house in September and don't come out until March. I guess now I can say in have lived through the zombie apocalypse.

So let's do some math with each other for a moment. Let's see if you can all get this math word problem correct. If you live in Maine in the winter and it snows 20 inches that season about how many pairs of shoes will you ruin walking on the muddy roads?
A. 60
B. 17
C. 45
D. None because you have an awesome member in the branch you serve in who took you to Bangor last Monday so you could get some rain boots. Except all of Bangor for some reason doesn't have size 10 rain boots so you went back to your muddy town empty handed. But then Charlene orders super cute owl rain boots for a ridiculously cheap price from Amazon and ships them to your apartment because you forgot to ask your mom to send you some while emailing and you can't go online.

The answer is D for those of you wondering.

Well anyways it was a sunny and joyful week of all of our plans and appointments falling through and canceling! Man, it's just the best when that happens because that means that Heavenly Father needs you to do something else.
So on Thursday I slipped on my owl rain boots and Sister Hoopes slipped on her sparkly rain boots and we went out in the warmth and passed out cards prompting the new Easter video #hallelujah for two hours and we made sure to jump in every single mud/rain puddle we saw.

Well the glorious 50 degree weather didn't last very long at all because it has snowed about 3 inches.

I really do not like the cold. Not even a little bit nope.

So when I came out on my mission I had to learn a whole new language. "Missionary Language" which I will teach you a little bit about now. So when you first come out in a mission you are "born". And when you are go home off your mission you "die". So one of the zone leaders name is Elder Cook and he is dying next week. So we had to come up with a really good way to kill him off. So we decided to sacrifice him after district meeting on Wednesday. So we went to the good old primary room and found some rope and tied him up and grabbed various kitchen utensils and I got to draw fire on the white board. Don't worry I have pictures!!

Well I don't really have any crazy stories that happened this week. We helped make quilts, contacted a bunch of people who aren't interest in eternal salvation and everlasting happiness, jumped in rain puddles, almost got stuck in the mud because of a dog, watched Sister Hoopes get out of the car and chase the dog down the muddy road which she almost got stuck in, helped cleaned a hoarders home, ate scallops for the first time, almost got killed by a diseased cat, helped clean the chapel, had custard for the first time, testified of Jesus Christ, gained a stronger testimony of the gospel and loved every single second of it.

So I guess you can say that it was a pretty good week.

Ok time for the Spiritual thought! I want to share this awesome scripture I read this week. Mosiah 14:6 All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

Every single one of us has made mistakes. We have said things we wish we never had, hurt someone feelings, lost the trust of someone, and sinned. We all do it. We are all lost sheep. But we have an amazing Shepard, Jesus Christ. He chose to suffer for each and every single one of us even though we and He will continue to watch over us and search for us when we wander off.

This Easter we get to celebrate Jesus Christ' resurrection, and that because of Him we will ALL be resurrected. We all can find new life in Jesus Christ. If you haven't seen the new Easter video #hallelujah go on lds.org and watch it right now! Do it right now!!

I have found new life in Jesus Christ by coming out here and being able to play a small role in helping others discover Him. I have found the happiness and complete joy He brings by serving Him all day everyday. I have seen Him work His miracles everyday and get a glimpse of the love He has for His sheep here in Maine.

How have you found new life in Jesus Christ?

#hallelujah

Have a happy Easter!
Xoxox
Sister Dickson

Ps Tip of the day: don't try to drive with your car in neutral because it won't go anywhere.

You know you are a missionary when..

you say amen when your companion sneezes.

This week has been the usual. Completely crazy and odd but wonderful and joyful.

It's so weird to think about that 4 months ago I didn't know any of these people here existed. Now I know all of their birthdays, likes, dislikes, blood type, deepest darkest secrets, favorite foods, callings in the church they have had, friends, addresses, family, when the best day of their lives was, when their dog died, when there cat died, and all that jazz. And what is so crazy is that I can remember their whole life story of the top of my head.
Yet when I was back home I couldn't even remember to make sure I had my cars keys before I locked the car.

Tuesday we went to Bangor to go get some blood work done-and yes I am healthy as a horse-but then we got to talk our lunch break at the mall. IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I got two cute new skirts. (Thanks Mom, you are the BEST). It was so fun to be in a actual city!! Well.. I wouldn't say city, more like a town with a mall.. but still its way bigger then Milo.

Wednesday we had district meeting where we got to watch the new Easter video early before anyone else did!! Perks of being a missionary I guess!! Our Book of Mormon study class that us and the Elders do each Wednesday had a pretty good turn out this week so that was good.

Thursday at the Food Cupboard we got trusted with the duty of lugging groceries up and down stairs so we got a pretty good work out from that. Also our good old handy jeep passed car inspections!! Woo!

Friday we were busy teaching and it was so fun!! We have dinner at a members house every Friday and their grandson had a friend over, who LOVES the missionaries. He put a pink peep on our plates as a gift for us. It was pretty sweet!! I let Sister Hoopes eat my peep though.

On Saturday it was the Dover Fox-Croft Branch annual lasagna bake off.. so of course Sister Hoopes and I made lasagnas with every intention of winning. She made a TO DIE FOR chocolate lasagna and I made a Mexican lasagna. Thanks my love bug Niki for sending me lasagna recipes, because DANG! That was one good mexi-sagna. Everybody really like both of our lasagnas and they were both all gone by the end of the event. But you will never guess who won the bake off...

THE ELDERS!!

Like what the heck.. they can't even make cereal right and they won the bake off.
Whatever though.. I am not bitter.
The members were all shocked too.
But those Elders were on cloud nine let me tell you.. so we didn't be too mean to them.

Then later that night we went to the cow farm where we got to feed 6 healthy calves. So it was a happy day!

Sunday was daylight savings day and man on man did that mess me up. I could barely even function, and to make matters worse the missionaries did primary! We volunteered to do primary so that the Sisters there could have a little rest and go to relief society! It was pretty fun. The Elders taught a really cute lesson on following the prophet and Sister Hoopes and I did music time. Apparently it was the most fun thing ever for the kids, but they are easy to please! It made me miss playing for the cute primary in the South Weber 3rd Ward.

We also had dinner with some Amish people. Well they weren't like full on no power Amish. They were Messianic or something of those sorts but oh my goodness they were so freaking awesome!! They had the cutest sweetest kids ever! one of them drew me 3 pictures! She was the little artist! I am going to hang them up on my wall!! But they were so kind to invite us for dinner and even though they weren't ready to convert they were so respectful.

As Sister Hoopes dad says, there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are LDS and those who are going to be. haha!

Then Sunday night the sweetest little old lady that lives on the same street that we do invited us over and she gave us headbands she made. THEY ARE SO CUTE. I got a purple one and a blue one, man I love the people here!!

Anyways for my spiritual thought I want to bare my testimony.

Guys, this gospel is so true. Its a happier way to live and I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have. 2 Nephi 25:26 "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Christ is the way and He will be able to make more of our lives then we ever could on our own. I have never felt so much happiness and purpose in my life then when I put my full heart into serving Him.

The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is so so so true!! It is the only church with the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ which makes it possible to make it back home to Heavenly Father. Now, don't get me wrong. There are many good churches that have truth in them. Most of them do actually we volunteer and work with them weekly! But this church has the fullness.

It continues to blow my mind that I am lucky enough to be a missionary!!

If you don't know if the church is true then get on your knees and start searching. Because you will be able to know for yourself. God is always there waiting to bless us and support us. No matter who you are, where you have been, or what you have done.

I love you all!!
have an awesome week!!!
xoxox
Sister Dickson

ps
sorry.. I forgot my camera again.. so no pics this week.. I will try again next week we will see!! haha

Well.. It's been a week

This week was just an up and down roller coaster of complete weirdness sprinkled with miracles and joy.

But that's not anything new because that is basically the definition of missionary work.

On Tuesday we went over to a members house and went to help with their sheep. Their sheep had little lambs the day before so we got to bottle feed the little runt who was rejected by his momma. :( isn't that so sad?? Poor little lamb, he is fine though because we gave him lots of loving.
Tuesday was a finding day. We were in Brownville, Maine so we went and tried to contact all the names in our area book that we didn't recognize in that area. We met a lot of really nice (but not interested in learning more about their future salvation and eternal happiness for some odd reason) people. Including one lady who I am pretty sure was not fully accountable. She let us (us being two random strange girls she's never met before) in her apartment and continued to tell us every single small detail of her life, that I don't think any other person would even tell their own doctor.
#glamorouslifeofamissionary

Wednesday was another really good district meeting in Newport. I'm trying to think of some other really excited things that happened between Wednesday and Saturday, but there isn't really anything. We taught lessons, tried to contact people we didn't know, and we felt the Spirit. But all of the investigators we have had are kind of falling off the face of the planet so we have been trying very hard to find new investigators. None yet but we have a few really promising potentials so more news on that in next weeks letter- hopefully.

Saturday we went to the cow farm and helped with all the babies. So what I am about to tell you all is way sad so brace yourselves. There was one little calf who was born on Thursday who was really really sick. So we went out to try and bottle feed her and make sure she was nice and warm under the heat lamp, but she wouldn't eat. So we went and got Brother Bissell and he made some medicine for her to drink and a shot with some antibiotics to give her. So we followed him over to the calf barn and tried our best to help the poor little thing.. But then she died. :( IT WAS SOOOOO SAD!! I never thought I would ever have to endure watching a baby cow die.. But I did and now I am sad. But now that cute little cow is up in the green pasture in the sky with Heavenly Father.

Well.. On a happier note we had two less actives come to church on Sunday which was such a tender mercy since no one, we thought would come, came. We are also working with another less active who has decided she wants to get her life together and come back to church, so we are excited for that!

Since it was fast Sunday we took our lunch and dinner hour at the same time that night and we made popcorn and brownies and watched Mormon messages. Haha it was the pretty fun.

Well... That's about it for this week but now it's time for the Spiritual thought.
It's all about the Savior. So many have disrespected Him. They spit on Him. Mock Him. Use His name as a curse word. It completely breaks my heart. I wonder how He feels when His brothers and sisters reject His love. If I was Him I would probably get frustrated and say fine and zap them with lightening or something. But He doesn't do that. He doesn't get angry or hate us. He probably wipes away a tear or two and then stretches His hand out even farther to grab ahold of us when we finally reach up to Him.

And the most beautiful thing ever, is that His hand will always be there. He will never reach back, He will always be reaching out as far as He can hoping we will trust Him. No matter what we have done, or house deep the hole we dug is. 2 Nephi 19:12 "...For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

And let me tell you how wonderful it is when you finally grab on. He brings so much joy and peace and comfort.

Love you all!!
Have a happy day!
Sister Dickson

PS I am so very sorry, I did take a lot of pictures this week, but they are all on my camera and I didn't bring the cord to put them on the computer so I will send them all this week!! So sorry!