Sister McKay Dickson: Week 6: Free meal!

Hey hey hey! Another week has come and gone and I am in awe at how fast time is already flying. I love being a missionary so much!!! Every day is something new and I have already had so many experiences seeing how much light Jesus Christ brings others. Also, I accidentally sent last weeks email out as a second "Week 4" instead of "Week 5"... oops haha. So just pretend that never happened, and we can be back on track with Week 6 :). Anyway, this week was so awesome and was filled with so many fun things and spiritual experiences. I wish I could tell everyone about everything, but I'll just have to pick my favorites so you don't have to read a super long email.

Things to know:

This week we had interviews with President and Sister Thompson! They are so amazing, and I am honestly so sad I only get to be with them for only a month :(. They have helped me feel so welcomed and loved, and already taught me so much. We have Zone Conference this Thursday and I'm super excited to get to hear from them before they go home! This week we also had another exchange (since my companion is a Sister Training Leader she has to exchange with all the sisters in the zone, which means I get to do the same!) and I went with Sister Anderson. She is the sweetest person on the planet, and we found out we have so much in common. I love her so much! And yesterday at church we had 6 friends there! It was so awesome! Cayden is there every week with his family, Amy came for her second week in a row, and our friend Randy I talked about last week came for his second week too. Sister Wilson and I started teaching him last week and his friend Janell this week, and she came to church with him! We are hoping to have some good lessons this week with Randy and Janell; and with Amy and Cayden as well so that we can get closer to putting them on date! Our other two friends are named Sandy and Shelly and they weren't able to make it to church to watch in person, but they were able to watch over zoom which is still so great!

Story of the week:

This week we went to Cafe Rio for lunch after interviews with President. Sister Wilson and I were making friends with one of the workers and he was super funny. After we ordered and ate our lunch he literally brought me over a Tres Leches cake and a gift card for a free meal?! I was like what is happening bahah. The other sisters and I were laughing so hard. So anyway, just be friends with people and they'll give you free meals haha! On a more spiritual note, when I was on exchanges with Sister Anderson I had the coolest experience teaching this lady named Jennie. She told me basically her whole life story about how she grew up in the church but has never believed in God. Her whole life she has prayed but never felt him because she has super bad nightmares and sees demons at night (I am literally not making this up!), and a couple months ago it was so bad that she literally wasn't sleeping for months. She wanted help and the only thing she could think of was to get a blessing from the bishop (She is 31 and hasn't gone to church since she was 13!), and she said that after she got the blessing she slept for a full 8 hours for the first time in years! She was crying her eyes out and so of course I was too. I couldn't believe all the hard things she had been through but that she has been able to be guided back to God. I told her that it wasn't a coincidence that this happened, and that God was really there and loves her and was answering her prayers. She gave me the biggest hug and just broke down crying in my arms. It was seriously such a cool experience and I wish I could put it all into words.

Spiritual thought:

My spiritual thought this week is a continuation of what happened with Jennie. I don't know why Jennie had to go through those things to be able to find out that God is real, but I know that He did answer her prayers. This experience with her taught me that it's not a matter of IF He answers our prayers, but WHEN. Sometimes you might have to hang on a little longer to be able to learn what God needs you to learn. Sometimes you might feel like there is no way you can keep going, that God has given up on you and that it is too hard to keep going. Please be like Jennie. Keep trying, keep having faith, and I know that in the end it will all work out. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can strengthen us if we rely on them. I know that they will always be there for us, even if it is hard for us to see it. When you feel like you can't go any further, find something that makes it worth it for you. Ask Heavenly Father for strength to continue. He won't give up on you so don't give up on Him. I promise that if you have faith and keep enduring, you will see those answers to your prayers come true. And please know that I love you so so much (and so do Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ hehe!)

Helaman 5:12- "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Alright thats all for the week! I hope you are all having a fun summer so far and that you all had an awesome Father's Day yesterday! Thank you to all the great father figures in my life who have been such great examples to me. Have a great week this week, and don't forget about me ;)

So much love,

Sister Dickson