Sister Maranda Dickson : Don't forget anyone at the table

Hello folks!

How is everybody?

I am just fabulous! I just got back from a hike sister bee and I went on. We went with a sweet girl named Hayli! It was pretty neat but now I am sweaty and tired. Haha. Thank goodness for Mountain Dew. Not that I drink it a lot.. Just sometimes!

This week was.. Another very interesting and challenging week. Probably one of the hardest weeks I have had in my life. But it was also so wonderful!

Fun fact about New Englanders is that they talk. Like a lot. All the time. Non stop. ALL THE TIME. I have no idea how they have so much to say. But they do. We could literally be standing on a doorstep for an hour just talking. Well.. We wouldn't be talking.. They would be. About everything and anything... Except the gospel. It get kind of frustrating sometimes but I don't mind listening. Maybe that talk was what they needed that day. I hope I can learn to be more talkative. Haha it's hard to keep up with these people!

I broke the blinds in the bathroom. Don't ask me how cuz I have no idea. Haha all I did was pull on the string to close it and they just came crashing down. It cut my finger open. Haha but no worries it was only a little cut! My luck as always.

We had a wonderful baptism on Saturday! The spirit was so strong and you could tell sweet Pam was so happy. It was wonderful. We got to go early and fill up the font. Which was cool. I never had done anything like that and neither has sister bee. We couldn't figure out how to close the drain. They told us that all you need to do was step on it and it would close. They lied. It didn't close. Haha. So we had to call our ward mission leader to come do it for us. You best believe that he got it to close on the first try, cuz ya know, that's how it works.

On Saturday we went and had lunch with our sweet friend Eileen! She runs a charity we help with called the Clothes Closet at a Methodist church. She invited us to her camp ground that she works at and oh my heck, it's gorgeous. We sat and had lunch then she took so on a tour. That place is so fun, mom and dad when we go visit we have to camp there! Then after that we sat under the trees and read the Book of Mormon together. It was so peaceful!

We finally have real new investigators!!! Woo hoo! I thought the day would never come but we do! It's so awesome being able to teach people now instead of just knocking on doors where naked people answer. I will definitely keep you all updated on the deats!

A lot of.. Drama has happened this week. I am not too sure if drama is the right word but just roll with the flow. I never could have imagined the mental exhaustion that comes with being a missionary. People open up to you about so many personal things. Like there is some deep deep doo doo we have to listen to. As a little 19 year old girl from Utah I have absolutely no idea what to do for these people except to hope and pray that they will accept the gospel. I know that the gospel will help us if we just let it. But it's hard to mentally cope with all the sadness. It just makes me so grateful for the wonderful life I was able to live.

We had a really great sacrament meeting in Sunday. The topic was family history and temples. In her talk a lady from my ward told a story that when she was a young mom with five kids, she remembers eating dinner around the table with all of them. She looked around and felt as if someone was missing. Soon later they had their sixth child and she said her family felt full. She related it to family history and said that in the spirit world she doesn't want to be sitting at the table and have people missing. Family history work is so important. I don't have a whole lot of opportunities to do it because my job is to work on the living, but that is where you friends come in! How would you feel if people were missing from your table because of your laziness? We'll knock it off and get to work! If it weren't for you ancestors you wouldn't be here. So help 'em out a little and get their work done!

And there is my challenge for y'all! Go and have fun!

God is so good.

He is so fair and you can count on Him.

He loves you so much

And so do I!

Love,

Sister Dickson