Trainer

Hello everyone!

   Things in the mission are so different now! This area and my last area are way opposite. My new companion's name is Elder Dodge, he's from Provo. He was born in Taiwan and his mom is chinese so he speaks the language pretty well. It's weird to be back in Alhambra, but I love it. So many memories flood my mind everyday, good memories. We're working with a small chinese group in the Alhambra english ward, it's an interesting experience. We sit up in a room above the sacrament room and translate the meeting through headsets for the chinese people in the congregation, it definitely tested my chinese skills yesterday! especially because it was the primary program, where you can't understand the kids even in english sometimes. After sacrament we have our own chinese gospel principles class, and then a combined priesthood/relief society class. It's a really small group right now with only about 3 active members that attend, but the investigators that come love it. It has such a small family feel to it, it was a great experience yesterday. We came into this area with nothing and really had no idea where to start, but we have one person being baptized on the 18th and we'll hopefully find some more new investigators soon. The person on the 18th is the mother of a member that I knew back in Glendale, so that connection really helped out. That's a testimony to me that the Lord really does know what areas we need to be in. We went back up to Glendale yesterday for the baptism of Jorge, one of the guys I had been teaching there. He was so happy and excited to be baptized, what a good guy. One of the families we taught up there is getting baptized in a couple weeks too, its good to see the fruits of our labor pay off. It was really good to see all the members up there again, although it has only been one week since I was there it feels like I've been gone for months! Going from an assistant to a normal missionary is a huge change. I have so much more time on my hands now, it's crazy. But it's a good lesson for me to learn. In the church you can't always hold the same calling, even if you do love it.

   Elder Dodge is a great missionary and I'm excited to be with him. He's got a lot of fire in him and really just loves the work. He doesn't quite know how to channel all that fire yet, but we're working on it! He has great potential and he'll make a great leader in the future. I'm excited for things to come. He's taught me a lot already.

   I love you all! Hope all is well at home.

 

Love Elder Dixon.

Moving...

Last week I got the best phone call! "Is this Sister Dixon? My name is Cody from Glendale, CA...I just had to call and tell you how amazing your Missionary is! Elder Dixon has changed my life... he is the most awesome guy! I am 21 yrs old with no intention of serving a mission, then I met your son. He has been the best example and a dear friend. I have been out working with him regularly over the past couple of months, and now I am working on my Mission papers! Thanks for sharing him with me!" WOW! I know he is amazing...but it's awesome to hear it from someone he is working with right now!  Then Ben sent pictures of Cody with him... So cool!

Hey!

   It's been a crazy day, I don't like moving! I'll be staying with 2 other chinese elders tonight and pick up my new companion tomorrow. It was hard to leave the singles ward, I love those guys. They've been so helpful and have brought many into the church. I sent some pictures, Cody took a bunch on his iphone. I'm glad you got to talk to him! haha, he's super funny. I'll miss the family ward we served in too, they were awesome as well. Elder Ebanks and his new companion should have around 10 baptisms between November and December in the family ward. Oh speak of the family ward, we visited with a young couple that had just moved into the ward a few months ago the other night, the Coopers. We got talking about the mission, and it turns out that Brother Cooper served in Tijuana and knew Tyler, small world! He's now married and has a 14 month old girl, and he's doing an internship at Disney Imagineering. Last week we had a really cool experience, my companion and I and a few members of the singles ward got to listen to Jenn Blosil sing and play the piano. She's a rising star, and has a song on EFY 2011. She was offered a deal with a huge label in LA, but turned it down because they wanted to turn her music into something that compromises her standards. She has an incredible voice, look her up! She has some friends in the singles ward and came to visit for the weekend, it was a tender mercy!

   I'm excited for this next part of my mission. It'll be weird to have so much time to do things, that'll be a challenge and a blessing. I know I've got much to learn, it'll be a humbling experience. I've been learning so much lately, I wish I had time to tell you about it all. I've studied a lot about integrity lately, and that has changed my outlook on a lot of things. It's a difficult attribute to develop, but one of the most important.

   That's so cool that Bryson and I are coming home on the same day! That is awesome, I'm super excited for that. I haven't heard from him in a long time, probably a year and a half, haha. I wrote him a short letter a few months ago just to make sure he's alive, and haven't gotten anything yet. I'm sure everything is well and he's just too busy!

  Well I love you all! I wish I had more to write. Have a good week!

 

Elder Dixon.

A variety of pictures with the Singles Ward...

  And pictures of Ben with Elder Ebanks...such a great companionship!

 I LOVE this one!

 What great experiences he is having... with amazing people!

Back to the Chinese work!

I'm writing this email exhausted. I'm just burnt out, to say the least! It's been 3 weeks since we had a p-day, haha. We teach so much it's ridiculous (in a wonderful way!). We had 2 baptisms this weekend, Alan and Carl. They're both awesome and the baptismal service was amazing. Alan brought his family and friends, and they were all touched by it. Carl doesn't have any family here being from Croatia, but he is looking to building his own family soon. Speaking of families... we just found the most amazing family of 7 to teach. 5 of them over baptismal age. They met with missionaries 5 years ago, and once they got transferred nobody followed up. We were waiting for a member to come to a lesson with us and we decided to knock a couple of doors. They were the 2nd door we knocked, and they were so happy to see us. We talked to them again last night and they said we came at a PERFECT time. They had just gotten into a car accident and were praying for help, and then we knocked on the door. We gave them cookies and all the kids were so happy. BUT. I'm so used to keeping secrets about transfers as an assistant but I guess it doesn't matter if I tell my family. I'm going back to Chinese work next week. I'll be training a new missionary where I was trained, Alhambra. I'm super excited, and also a little torn because I won't get to see all the people we're teaching get baptized. But hey, they're the Lords baptisms and not mine. I've loved serving in Glendale. I've learned so much here, it's been life changing. It's amazing how right when I feel like I'm figuring out how to do missionary work as a full time missionary, I don't have much time to do it. But I won't let that stop the work from moving forward. I'm so excited to be with my people again! Haha. Alhambra has changed a lot since I was there last. They now have a Chinese Group at the building there, not quite a branch, whereas before we went to the Mountain View Ward in Arcadia. I wouldn't be surprised to see it grow into a branch in a short while. Isn't that amazing to see that progression? 2 years ago there was nothing in Alhambra... and now they're baptizing new members every other week and have a group.

  This weekend we had a Mission Conference with Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge of the Seventy. He met with half the mission on Friday and the other half on Monday. I conducted the meeting on Monday, it was a blessing to be able to attend twice. We got to see how he improved and changed his teaching and that taught me a lot. Sister Corbridge said she was from Las Vegas so I had to inquire... turns out that Aunt Mary (Ric and Mary) is Elder Corbridge's cousin. I took a picture with Elder Corbridge and Sister Corbridge said she'd send it to Aunt Mary. What a cool connection!

   Well I love you all! Sorry it took me a day to get to a computer and write this!

 

I'm sending some pictures of Carl and Alan. Enjoy!

 

Elder Dixon.

Welcome Rhett!

 (Recent convert Clarence... amazing, spiritual baptismal experience.  What a wonderful man!)

      Little Rhett is here! I can't believe how fast he came. Thats so exciting! Little Nebraska boy, can't wait to see him! He's a great addition to the family.

  I'm so excited about the new announcement for missionary work. That'll be amazing. I don't know if you watched the news conference afterwards... Jeffrey R. Holland said "God is hastening his work". What an exciting time we get to be a part of! I expect there to be thousands of more sisters that want to serve missions now too, they're usually the best missionaries. Conference was amazing this weekend. We watched it at President's house Sunday morning with a couple investigators from the singles ward, one of them was Brynn's friend that we're teaching, Sarah. Brynn has decided to go on a mission by the way, she'll make a great missionary. Sarah is doing well, President has kind of made it his own personal goal to get her baptized. She loves visiting with the Becerra's, and President thinks it's because they're the family she's always wanted in the gospel. She'll either be baptized this week or the next. We also have 2 other guys getting baptized this week, Carl and Alan. Carl is from Croatia, and is incredibly smart. He got interested in the church from reading biographies of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, he's awesome. We also picked up a new investigator named Jorge, he's from Cochabamba, Bolivia. He was excited to know that my father served in Bolivia! He didn't know there were missionaries there. He'll be baptized on the 28th, and he's doing great. When we first invited him to be baptized he was really hesitant, but then later in the week he sent us a text saying "After I read and prayed about the Book of Mormon, I have no doubt in my mind that I'll get baptized." He's awesome! Tonight we're doing an FHE at president's house with 2 investigators, it'll be a neat experience for them.

  I loved David A. Bednar's talk about consistency. We always seem to base our testimony of the gospel off of one dramatic experience with the spirit, maybe one amazing prayer or experience with repentance, but true conversion happens over a period of time from consistenly living righteously. Those big moments are important, yes, but not nearly as important as consistency. I took a question going into conference, "how can I have a lasting conversion to the gospel?" It was answered throughout the conference, but especially by David A. Bednars talk as well as Jeffrey R. Holland's. The talk that Jeffrey R. Holland gave was very simalar to the one he gave at an MTC devotional when I was there, I was so grateful to have re-experienced that feeling.

  When President Monson gave that announcement about missionary work, I felt something I'd never felt before. I knew at that moment that we truly have a living prophet that is guided and directed by God in all things. I know now better than I ever have before that this is the only true and LIVING church. It lives because of the constant revelation that is received. I'm so grateful for that knowledge, and so grateful to have grown up in an environment that allowed me to find the truth.

  I love you all! Have a good week!

 

Elder Dixon.

 

 Elder Dixon and Elder Ebanks...

 Some of the great people in the Singles Ward...

 

Tender Mercy

While I was at the grocery store yesterday I got a text from my sweet Jennie... "Guess What?? One of my old Young Women and Friend Brynn Hewitt (who is living in Los Angeles) just sent me this picture and said she taught a lesson with Ben today!:)"  Oh.my.goodness!! Can you imagine me stopped in the middle of an aisle at Smiths squeeling??!! This was a picture of my boy right at that moment!! That doesn't happen every day ya know... or ever, really!!! Ben is serving in the singles ward... he said the members are amazing are always helping the missionaries with referrals and bringing friends to church.  I am assuming Brynn must be in that ward and invited Ben and his companion over to teach a friend.  What a Tender Mercy for us today!! Thanks Jen and Brynn!

ALSO... In Ben's email this week he gave us his release date... DECEMBER 18!!!

 One week before Christmas!  PERFECT Christmas present for this Missionary Mama! 

 

Labor Day...

 A picture Ben took outside the home of a member...

   I can't wait to see my new nephews! Man it's been a long time. Everyone in those pictures look so much older! Especially Ethan. I can't believe how big they're getting. Still hard to believe that Ethan is in Jr. High. I remember feeling so old when I went there. Weird. Sounds like you had a good labor day weekend though!

  This week has been fantastic. We're teaching a ton and finding a ton more. We've been focusing a lot the past couple weeks on becoming better planners. We finally realized why sometimes the work goes slow, it's because the Lord can't trust us with all his children if we don't know how to plan and prepare and be organized for them! If they're just going to fall through the cracks, he's not going to give them to us. So we've been really tested this week, we've been really trying to stay on top of things and be as organized as possible, and we've been given a lot of new people to teach. We're teaching a huge  guy named Clarence, he had football scholarships all over the place but was turned down once he tore his rotator cuff, so now he's just going to Pasadena city college, where we met him. He went to a camp last summer with a bunch of LDS kids preparing to go on missions, and he was touched and wanted to become a member. Now he's reading the Book of Mormon and a bunch of other church books and loves to learn. He's awesome. BUT yeah, things are going really great. We should have possibly 3 baptisms this month, and 4 in October as of right now, if things play out like they should.

  We went over to presidents house last night and watched the special on Mormons that NBC did the other night, it was really interesting. I didn't really realize how much the church is being put out in the media. I was definitely surprised on how positive it was though, seeing how liberal nbc is. They could have done a lot worse, right? President Becerra is so funny. He tries to avoid talking about politics, but he can't. He's a huge Romney supporter. HUGE. He's one of the funniest guys I know.

   Thanks for everything family! I love you guys. I'm sending a cool picture I took outside of one of our members houses. Los Angeles is a crazy city. Have a good week!

 

Love, Elder Dixon.

Great Sunday

Hey family!

  Thanks for those inspiring words dad, I loved reading that. I love hearing the stories of rescue, they help put in perspective that the Lord puts us in certain places at certain times for certain reasons. We were able to bring a less-active family to church yesterday. They just moved to East LA from New Mexico, and felt inspired to go down to the church and get their records moved over and start coming back to church. The father is covered in tattoos, but it's awesome to see whats on the inside of him. He wants to raise his family right and keep his kids out of the gang life they were bound to be in if they didn't go to church.

  We were able to have a baptize yesterday for Gloria, my first english baptism! It was an amazing baptismal service, she has studied and prepared for a long time. She was found by some Armenian speaking missionaries knocking around in Glendale last October, and has been learning off and on ever since. 2 of her children will be baptized in September, as well as some other people we have lined up. I feel now more than ever the desire to baptize. These last 2 weeks I've felt so enlightened. We've learned so much about how to become better missionaries. Is it weird that I only now feel like I know how to be a missionary? I think the Lord does it that way on purpose. He's the master teacher, after all.

  Well I love you all, we have to go work on transfers with President now. It'll be a good day! We're taking one of our investigators to Presidents house for a family home evening tonight, I'm super excited for that. Have a good week!

 

Elder Dixon