New Assignment...

 (Oh my goodness! We are so excited for him!)

Hello!

  Yes, I know that it's weird that I'm writing on a Saturday. But... some changes have been made in the mission, so my p-day has been switched to today. It's been a crazy week. FIRST Elder Tryon and I talked to President on Wednesday about the chinese work, he wanted our opinions on what should be done next transfer. So we discussed for a while, made a decision, and he said "okay, thats what we'll do then". Elder Tryon and I were going to stay Zone Leaders in Hacienda Heights, and they'd be taking the other 2 elders out of our ward, so we'd be covering the whole ward by ourselves (half the mission). So we've been preparing for that the past few days... getting to know the members better, finding out which investigators we'll be taking from the other elders... yeah. So we supposedly had it all figured out. THEN, this morning at 7:47 AM I was ironing my shirt when President Becerra called. "Good morning Elder Dixon... after much prayer and consideration, the Lord has decided that you'll be my next Assistant to the President." MAN I'm so scared out of my pants right now! That was honestly the last phone call that I expected. I don't feel ready for this new calling, but I've decided that the only way to be ready for it is to be thrown into it.

   But, I'm excited for new learning opportunities. I'm excited to be around President a lot more and learn from him. My new companion is Elder Ebanks, he's from Florida. We'll be serving in the Glendale 2nd Ward as well as the Glendale 7th Singles Ward... and yes, that means i'll no longer be in chinese work :(. I'm super sad about that, It'll be hard to leave my people! But all will be well. I'm going to miss Elder Tryon a whole lot. I've never grown and progressed so much in my life. The last 5 weeks have been the best of my life, especially this last week. I wish I could explain in words the miracles that have happened this week, but they are so sacred to me that words cheapen them. The gist of it is that this week the Lord truly prepared me for this new calling. I'm so grateful for the things the Lord has shown me.

  It'll be pretty hard to leave all of my investigators. The ones that we've had lately have taught me so much. I really hope to see them all get baptized someday. Man I don't even know what to feel right now, I definitely have a weird feeling inside. Mixed emotions. Excited and sad. Elder Ebanks says they just picked up a chinese investigator though, so I'll still be able to use my chinese. This letter is super scattered.

  Mom and Dad, would you give me some doctrinal advice? That is what I need right now... Elder Bednar once said "Faith faces the future, looks to the past, considers the present, and initiates action." That is what I'll be needing the most. Faith. Such a general word, but filled with so much specifics and details...

  Well. We're about to go to lunch with our new Elders Quorum President. I love you all so much. Keep me in your prayers!

Beach?!

 (Doing some service!)

Hello!

 

   Sounds like you guys will having the time of your life! again! this time at the beach! :) That'll be super fun. It's crazy the last time we went to the beach was when we were in Mexico forever ago. Good times.

   I've kinda had a mid-life crisis this week. Or you could call it an I-only-have-6-months-left crisis. Elder Tryon and I both have it! I've really wondered if I have used the past 18 months of time the way the Lord would have me, and if I've truly become the person the Lord needs me to be. I was looking through some of my old journal entries at the beginning of the mission. My biggest fear at that time was if things would change when I got back. I wanted everything to be the same and life to continue on as it had before. But now my fear is the exact opposite, is everything going to be the same when I get back? I'm worried I haven't been becoming. Okay maybe it's not that serious, I know that I have changed a lot, but have I been reaching my potential? I don't know. I know there is so much more I can be doing. I got a letter from Scott this week, it came at the perfect time. He said "i've changed a lot on my mission, but I'm exactly the same. I like it because the evil desires in me are fading away and the good desires are being refined and refreshed." I've determined that is whats happening to me as well. In a lot of ways, I am the same. But my priorities are so much different than they ever have been. My will is being more aligned with God's will. Something that President always says is constantly on my mind, "The Lord is always pleased but never satisfied." That is something that has always been pushing me.

  We had a mission conference this last Friday, as well as a mission party. We had water baloon fights and played kickball and stuff, it was a super fun day! In the morning we had some doctrinal training that blew my mind. It was about morning studies, and he used Ether 2:14 and the footnote attached to the word "windows". This is when the Brother of Jared is asking the Lord what he should do in order to have light in the barges. The footnote takes you to Genesis 6:16, which is the Lord telling Noah how to build the windows. I looked that up a few months ago and it confused me so badly. But now I get it. In genesis, it says the hebrew word for "window" means some sort of glowing stone. In Ether, the Lord tells the brother of Jared he can't build windows, but doesn't tell him what he should do. He just asks, "what would you have me do?" President then explained to us that the Brother of Jared had scriptures. He had the books of moses. So the purpose of telling him about the windows was so that he would turn to study in order to find out what he should do to put light in the barges. So the next time he goes to the Lord, he takes the stones and asks the Lord to touch them. The brother of Jared received revelation through study. I really think President Becerra will be an apostle, haha. His way of teaching and talking is just like the brethren. He has really changed my life in so many ways.

  Well I hope you all have a good week in California! The weather for the past 2 days have been great down here, it's only been 98 degrees! haha, it did get really humid for a few days, that was weird. I love you all! Thanks for the packages too, mom!  Thank you for all the letters from the family as well! It was so good to read those, they still remember me! haha. Talk to you next week!

 

Ben.                                                   (Soarin' over California!)

 

 

Great Reunion...

Good morning!

 

    All those pictures look so great! sounds like you all had a super good time. I can't wait for the next one, it definitely looks like a good time. I can't believe how old some of the family looks! Tess and Hannah look like grown ups. And Noah. man. that smile of his is one of a kind. haha.

   We had some really good experiences this week. We met with William, the guy I was telling you about last week, and had one of the craziest lessons of my life. We decided that we were going to be really bold with him, because he didn't come to church. So we asked him the hard question, hoping the spirit would prick him just hard enough. "If you really want to see your wife and daughter again, why didn't you come to church this week?" After I asked that, he exploded. He was so mad that we had the nerve to ask a question like that, and was yelling at me. I asked if I could share my testimony with him, and at that point God really filled my mouth. "Let me tell you how I feel in my heart, William. You're right, you owe me nothing. But you owe God a whole lot. I honestly don't care if you come to church, this isn't about the missionaries and it never has been. But I know how much God loves you and how much he wants you to come to church." In his closing prayer, he asked for forgiveness for losing his temper, and told God he knew that he had to go to church now. He came yesterday, and loved it! Also, Sister Duan came up to us this week and said something super surprising. She feels like if her 6 year old son is going to grow up in a healthy and safe environment, she needs to be baptized. We're trying to get her ready for this Sunday. :) It'll be great, July will be a good month for us. AND one more miracle. We ran into a 40 or so year old couple last week, and they came to church this sunday. They love church, they feel like they're part of a big family now. We told them about the Word of Wisdom and some other commandments, and they already know they're going to give drinking tea and alcohol up in order to be members. They'll hopefully be ready by the end of the month. So exciting! The Lord has truly been watchful over this area. He knows we're working hard, and he's placing people in our path every day. The Lord has been teaching me so much in the mornings. I've had some really special experiences in my studies of the scriptures lately, and he's even sent me a few dreams that are very special to me. I have so much more I want to say, but we're pretty rushed on time today. We're going hiking in Pasadena, I'll send some pics next week. I love you guys!

 

Ben.

July 2, 2012

It was kind of a nice change this week getting emails from brad and ty! haha. I hope all is well in Brian Head, i'm sure that's been a good time for the family. I'm doing well this week, really well. My spirituality has really been increasing and I feel like my ability to learn things from the spirit is increasing as well. One thing that is decreasing, though, is my weight. So thats good. I've lost 10 pounds in two weeks! I'm back down to where I started... but there is still some unusual material on my stomach that needs to go. It's kinda like theres a flat tire above my waist line, why is that. Anyways, it's getting better. We run 3 miles every day and only eat one meal. It's been great. We've also been blessed with no member meals the past 2 weeks. :) But they are soon to be coming back so we'll have to be more careful. Elder Tryon and I are great companions. We really push each other and have very similar goals to work for. We're giving a training on the Doctrine of Christ tomorrow at Zone Leader Council and we're super excited about it, it should go very well. We're using the story of Enos and how his conversion story relates to the Doctrine of Christ.

  Our investigators are doing well, but we still need a lot more. We have a high goal for baptisms in the zone for the month of July, and we're really excited about it. The zone is doing well and they're getting closer to the Lord every day it feels like. Everybody is pretty positive and working hard. We met this man named William a few weeks ago, he wanted to come to english class. We invited him to come early and take a tour of the church, and he accepted. As we sat down with him to explain some small portions of the gospel and how they would bless his life, he mentioned how his wife died about 5 years ago and he still struggles with it. We told him that there is a way he could see his wife again, and he replied "how did you know what I was thinking?" We told him how the spirit works... it was awesome. He's preparing for baptism. When we invited him to be baptized he said "I have no choice, you read my mind." He truly believes that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, it's been awesome.

Well family, I love you all so much. I hope all is well! Tell everyone hello for me, I miss you all.

 

Love, Ben.

Wonderful week!

 

Hey everybody!

  Man I can't believe how old all the little cousins are getting. They all look grown up, it's crazy! Sounds like it'll be a fun week.

  This week has been great. Probably the greatest week of my life so far. So many miracles have happened, and I've become so much closer to the Lord. We're meeting lots of new people and people are progressing to baptism. Duan Hua is doing well, she'll still need some time. She has a date for July 8th, and we're praying she'll make it. Lily's husband was supposed to be baptized yesterday, BUT this happened: They're moving to Irvine this weekend, and we felt that if he was baptized in the Irvine chinese branch, they would do a much better job at fellowshiping and helping that family continue to grow in the church. That family is so great, and I'm so glad I've gotten to work with them. I'll definitely be back here when they go to the temple to be sealed :)

  I don't have much time today to email, but I just hope you all know how much I love you all! I'm happy and doing well. The gospel is true. You guys should take some time to read Pres. Thomas Monson's talk "The Race of Life" from last conference again... it's amazing. But I've gotta go. LOVE YOU ALL. I'm sending some pics of some of my favorite people. Jiang Dong and Sister Hu. Jiang Dong is going back to Beijing this week, but she'll come back here just before I leave, and hopefully we'll get to go through the temple!

 

Ben.

June 4, 2012

Hello!

  How was your guys week? Mine has been great. I confirmed James yesterday, it was a special experience. He may only be 8 years old, but his knowledge of the gospel is stronger than when I was 8! He reads the scriptures every day with his mom, and knows the plan of salvation like the back of his hand. It's crazy, he's only known about the church for 2 weeks. Now we're just working on his dad. We had a lesson yesterday with the family and before the lesson started James blurted out, "I committed him to not drink coffee this week, but he drank it yesterday! He can't be baptized yet." Haha. It was so funny. His dad has a goal to be baptized on the 17th of this month. He wants to be joined together with his family, he just has a hard time believing in God. Speaking of which, we're teaching another lady right now, Duan  H__, who is very special to me. Definitely one of my favorite investigators. I don't remember if I've told you about her. The first time she came to church she was really scared and had a bad feeling in her heart the whole time. The lesson after that she cried the whole time because she just felt to uncomfortable and bad inside. I even cried a little in that lesson, I just couldn't understand why she would feel that way in God's church. But for some reason she keeps coming back, so there is a reason there even deeper than she understands herself. She's come to church 2 or 3 times since then, and has seemed to lighten up, and her 6 year old son is attached to us. She told us yesterday that we're her only friends in America, she has really struggled to adjust to American life. She doesn't believe there is a God right now, but she has such a strong desire to know. We talked all about the "seed" in Alma 32 with her yesterday, she's definitely progressing from when she started.

   I had a really special priviledge this week of interviewing a lady, Rona, for baptism this week. She has an incredible story. The first time she took the missionary lessons was when she was 18, because she was dating a mormon at the time. She was going to be baptized, but her mother was very against it. Time passed, she got married to someone else and had a daughter. When her daughter was 18, she took the missionary lessons and was baptized. Rona felt inclined to learn again, but seeing her mom almost have a heart attack about Rona's daughter getting baptized, she didn't want to do it. Then, in 1991, some missionaries knocked on her door. She decided it was a sign, so she met with them often. She studied with them for a long time, but decided she couldn't hurt her mother. About 3 months ago, her 16 year old granddaughter was baptized. After seeing her daughter change, she decided it was time. Now 62 years old, she started meeting with the missionaries again. She was baptized on June 3rd. The missionary that baptized her was baptized on June 3rd, 12 years ago, and it was his very first baptism. Miracle! An absolute miracle. So much preparation has taken place for that family of 3 generations to be joined together in the gospel.

   I love you guys! Have another good week!

Happy B-day EJ!

Dear Family,
   Sounds like it has been a great week! Can't believe Ethan is 12 years old.. that is awesome! So proud of that guy. I'll send you a little present today, EJ!
   This week has been good for us as well. Lily, her son James, andKyle were all baptized yesterday. James flew in to America on Wednesday, we taught him Thursday and Friday, and then baptized him on Sunday. It worked out great! All this time Lily had told us that hewas 8 years old, but Chinese people say their age by the year they'rein not by the actual date, but it worked out PERFECTLY because James' birthday was on Saturday... the day before! We didn't know that when
we set the date... but the Lord did. That was a miracle. Lily's husband came to church and was really touched by the baptism, we'll be working on him to be baptized in June :) He just has Word of Wisdom problems, but the other man that got baptized yesterday, Kyle, after he was baptized he bore his testimony about how the gospel helped him quit smoking and drinking, so it worked out perfectly. We're excited for the things to come.
   My companion is crazy trunky. He still works pretty hard, he justtalks about home A LOT.  I'm pretty sure I know everything about Snowflake, Arizona. This is the 3rd missionary I've sent home though so I'm kinda used to it. We had a trunky experience on Saturday. The English ward in the building we meet at held a "star wars marathon" at the stake center to find more investigators (yes, only in California would they do that) ... all 6 episodes in one day. One of our investigators sons (6 years old) asked if we could go and translate it for him... so we got permission from President. We watched half of episode 4 and we just couldn't take it anymore! haha. Star wars is hard to translate, there is no word for "storm trooper" or "death star". It was a good time though.

   Our zone has done AWESOME this month. We're so happy with all the missionaries in this zone. We set a goal of 12 baptisms for the zone, and we got 12. We set a personal goal of 4, and got 5! So the Lord has really been blessing us. President is happy and pleased, so that feels good.
  I love those pictures of Ty and Kalvin, hahaha. He's growing up so much, can't believe it. I'm excited to have yet another boy in the family! That's all we get, but none of us know anything different so it works out great! How many months is Kelly now?
  Well I love you guys, thanks for everything. I'm sorry if my emails
are boring, haha. Hope everybody is happy!