Week 11: Offroading on empty

 Waddup everyone! Hope you all had a good Pioneer Day this week! I miss the fireworks a lot because we can't do them here since we have been having a lot of fires. This week wasn't too exciting until today haha so I'll have to tell about it in the stories section. Tomorrow is my new sister-in-law's birthday so if you know Jane, wish her a happy birthday! :) 

Things to Know:

We are continuing to do tons of finding here in the Silver Valley, and it is hard work lemme tell ya haha! But its very worth it and I really am just loving being on that missionary grind. We saw a cool miracle this week on our way to contact this lady named LeeAnn who had dropped the missionaries in the past (they didn't want to be taught anymore). Sister Bowman and I both felt the spirit prompt us to go visit her, and so we show up and she isn't home. As we are walking away, we walk past this garage a couple houses down and see a man working on a motorcycle and we both felt prompted to talk to him so we looked at each other and then walked over. Turns out this guy was LeeAnn's husband, and after we talked to him for a couple of minutes, LeeAnn came home and met us and we had a super awesome lesson and found out she is interested in meeting with missionaries again! Miracles woo! We also had a new friend of ours invite himself to our church so that was awesome. As far as our progressing people, we don't have any news because a lot of our people have been sick or out of town. So fingers crossed for next week!

Stories of the Week:

Today we wanted to go on a hike as a zone, because one of the other members wanted to take us up to one in our area in Wallace. We were in a rush because some elders came but had to leave right after the hike, and so I didn't have time to get gas. After driving halfway up a mountain on almost empty, we stopped and I told the member we didn't have any gas. So he tells us that his cabin is 10 minutes up the mountain on this other dirt road and he has some extra gas tanks so we were like okay sweet lets go. So we start driving and I am straight up offroading in the Idaho mountains in a Chevy Equinox. It was so bumpy and full of rocks and I literally have never been so stressed in my life. Pretty sure I was seconds away from going into Cardiac Arrest. TIWI (what monitors our speed and driving as missionaries) gave me an aggressive driving, and I was really close to bottoming out a couple of times. We finally got up to the cabin on the VERY TOP of the mountain and I had been driving on empty for 30 minutes. It was so stressful I just sat and cried after we got up to the top lol. BUT, everyone survived! We got filled up on gas, and now I can say that I went offroading in a road car haha. The hike ended up being super pretty and the view was so worth it! And lesson learned in never going below a quarter of a tank haha. Also on a short little random note, Sister Bowman and I had another member from out of town pay for our meal haha!

Spiritual thought:

One of the days this week I had a hard day because every door we knocked on had rejected us and I was super worn out and bummed. The next morning I read in Nephi 1:16 when Nephi breaks his bow and Laman and Lemuel sit and complain about all the bad things that happened to them. Instead of complaining, Nephi trusted in the Lord, and went out and made a new bow and thanked God for all the blessings he had been given. I decided that I did not want to be like Laman and Lemuel and complain, but trust that this is the Lord's work and go out and work hard even if I get rejected, or "break my bow". I know that as I go out and work hard like Nephi, that I will be able to see blessings from trusting in the Lord and His timing. This is his work and I am just called to assist! I challenge you all to try and trust in His will this week and see the blessings that come from it!

I love you all and hope you have a great week this week!

LOVE,

Sister Dickson

muchachos tacos

found my favorite book!

the sisters sqaud!

me & mimi

happy 24th of july lol

painting summers house!

the hike that made it all worth it

the 3 amigos!

my sweet bowie

Week 10: Free the Greenies

 Hello everyone! Hope you all had an awesome week! I don't have a ton to update on, but I'm jumping into the work here in Silver Valley B. Sister Bowman and I are trying to work super hard to prove that greenie missionaries are 100% capable without trainers! We've been constantly tracting, contacting, and doing other finding methods to try and find others to teach. Its been awesome so far because we both have the same excitement and drive for missionary work. Also on July 12th I hit my two months! So crazy how time flies. I love being a missionary!

Things to know:

Silver Valley B is so beautiful, and just as awesome as Silver Valley A. My last area was the west side of the valley, and my new one is on the east side. The only hard thing is that the apartment is at the front end of the valley, and so we have to drive 15 minutes just to get into our area. There's not as many friends being taught, but Sister Bowman and Sister Bachman put a friend named Sharee on date! She is a single mom of 3, and one is a brand new baby! And we are also hoping to put one of our friends named John on date soon. The new sister that came into our apartment to be with Sister Wilson is named Sister Sprehn and she is from Denmark! She is so cute and so awesome. We all have so much fun together. And I love being companions with Sister Bowman, we have the same humor so it's a blast. We definitely have to rely on the spirit tho since we are both still super new!

Stories of the week:

While out in one of the cities in my area called Wallace, Sister Bowman and I were getting dinner at a restaurant and ran into some members from Utah! They asked to pay for our dinner and they sat with us to eat and it was so fun. I guess you can still get spoiled as an Idaho missionary! Haha!

Also its super smoky here from all the fires here and in the West coast. A bunch of accidents on the freeway have happened these last 3 weeks, and like 3 semi trucks have overheated and exploded. Its so crazy! 

Spiritual thought:

This week my spiritual thought is on being responsible. Sometimes its really easy to make excuses, especially in missionary work. But I have learned this last week that you can either make excuses, or you can be responsible for your mistakes and do better next time. Satan is the one who wants you to make excuses, point fingers at others, and deflect responsibility. A BYU speech called be 100% responsible talks about this: 

"When Satan tempts a person to avoid responsibility, that person subtly surrenders their agency because the person is no longer in control or “acting.” Instead they become an object who is being acted upon, and Satan cleverly begins to control their life". 

Don't let Satan gain control of you! Take responsibility for your actions, repent, and change! Making excuses will only make you more miserable. I have seen the Lord hand work miracles as we turn to Him with full responsibility. So I challenge you to be responsible this week and see what great changes and blessings it will bring! 

I love you all so much!! I pray for you all and hope you have a great week and a great 24th of July this weekend!

Lots of love,

Sister Dickson

My cute new comp Sis Bowman!

Last day with Sis Wis as my comp:(

Saw a sign with my sisters name!

"Goodbye" to Amy (I will see her at church still haha)

Dinner!

Hehe don't worry we didn't knock

Pickleball

Week 9: I'm getting transferred?!

 What is up everyone! This was a super exciting week, we had two exchanges, President LeBaron's mission tour, and got transfer calls today. I've also been a missionary for officially two months now (WHATTT!) and my sister Hailey's birthday was on Saturday, so happy late birthday Hai!

Things to know:

So yes we had transfer calls this morning. And as you saw in the subject line, I am getting transferred... TO THE OTHER AREA IN MY APARTMENT!!! HAHA WOOHOO SILVER VALLEY A TO SILVER VALLEY B! I was super sad this whole week because after our mission tour, President had a leadership meeting and told everyone that STL's were all becoming companions this next transfer. So I totally thought I wasn't going to be with Sister Wilson and we were praying all week that she could get released or that I could get called as the new STL to stay companions with her haha. I didn't want to leave Sister Wilson or all my amazing friends in my area. We seriously were praying and fasting for a miracle that we could stay together, and Heavenly Father answered our prayers! We didn't end up as companions and I moved out of my area, but seriously such a miracle that I get to be in Silver Valley still. Because now I can still party with Sister Wilson, and see my friends when they come to church since we ward share! My new companion is Sister Bowman, who was the other trainee that came in with me last transfer, so now that we are together it means that we are out of training haha! PARTY! I guess I'm a pretty good missionary if I don't need 2nd training haha just kidding. But I'm super excited to be with Sister Bowman, she is from Denver and went to BYU at the same time as me but we never met until the mission. She makes me laugh super hard and I'm excited for this new area, this next transfer will be super awesome! 

Stories of the week:

I guess updating on my friends won't do much since I'll be in a new area soon, but I'll tell you one cool story from this week. One of our new friends named Kevin had a lesson this week on the Plan of Salvation and I explained that in order to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom we need to make covenants like baptism. Then I asked if he would ever be interested in being baptized so that he could prepare to live with Heavenly Father and HE SAID YES! So we didn't put him on date, but hopefully Sister Wilson can continue to help him progress and I'll have to let you all know when he gets baptized :D Amy's mom and family came to church again this week and that was super awesome, as well as Randy! We had a super cool lesson with Randy on the Restoration this week too. The Mission tour this week was awesome too! It was so fun to get to see President and Sister LeBaron and their family, and have an intro into the mission. They have me fired up to teach about the Restoration and use more technology! I also got to meet Sister Wilson's other trainee before me, and it was so fun to meet her. It was like a family reunion since we have the same "Mom" haha!

Spiritual thought:

This week my spiritual thought is on the Priesthood. As well as fasting and praying about transfers, I got a Priesthood blessing because I was feeling super nervous about it. I felt so much overwhelming comfort and peace as soon as I got the blessing. And only a couple hours later all my prayers were answered for transfers! I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and all the blessing that come from it. I love being able to draw on the Priesthood power through my calling as a missionary. I am so grateful for all the ordinances and covenants I am able to have because of the power of the Priesthood. God's power is so real and it has blessed my life in more ways than I can count, and I honestly would be nowhere without it. I would have no knowledge of the truth of this gospel without the Priesthood being restored to Joseph Smith. I love learning more and more and growing my testimony about this gospel every day! There is always so much more we can learn, so read up on those scriptures and you will be amazed at the blessings that will be poured out upon you through God's power!

Sorry for another long one, ya'll just might have to get used to this haha. Love and miss you all a ton! Have a great week :)

Love you lots,

Sister Dickson

Fam reunion with Sisters Hopper and Wilson

Saw the LeBaron fam WOO

Last meeting with the zone

Hikes

Exchanges!

Exchanges again

Got my retainer fixed

Reunion

Week 8: Miracles galore! And spiders...

 Hello all my people! Happy late 4th of July! I hope you all had a fun week with family and friends. This was such a great week full of lots of miracles & fun (and spiders)! Which you'll get to hear more about down below :) This week was also my brother Schyler's birthday and I got to call him for a bit (I'm allowed to call for any family special occasions, like birthdays and weddings) and that was super fun! So happy late birthday Schy Last week for Pday we got to go to Coeur d'Alene and it was so fun! We ate at a nice restaurant on the resort, got a huge ice cream called gooeys, walked on the dock, and souvenir shopped! It was super fun. Also so sorry everyone, I've been trying to keep these emails short but its hard because there is so much to talk about. So thanks for bearing with me haha.

Things to know:

President and Sister Thompson are officially gone :,( but President and Sister LeBaron are officially here!!! They had a mission wide zoom on Friday night to introduce themselves and I got to say the opening prayer for it! I'm so happy they are here! They said the mission is going to have lots of exciting changes with more tech and social media, so if you know me you know I'm hyped for that! This week we had more exchanges, I went with Sister Bowman on Tuesday while our trainers were at the last Mission Leadership Conference with President Thompson. So the greenies took over the Silver Valley!! We had a super fun and successful day and our trainers were glad we didn't burn down the valley haha. Also for the main miracle this week: Your prayers are working people! We got AMY'S WHOLE FAMILY TO CHURCH! Her mom included! I was so so SO happy. Her mom Rindy listened to two of our lessons with Amy this week and said she wanted to come to church and we couldn't believe it. Our prayers to have Rindys heart softened were answered! She brought all of Amy's siblings and they said they loved church and are coming again next week! Everyone pray we can just baptize the whole family now okay?! :D

Stories of the week:

Okay so the spider stuff is because I killed/encountered 3 spiders this week. On top of like 3 last week too. The main spider story happened while we were helping Shelly move out of her house since she just got "married". She asked us to come help sweep, and I am pretty sure her house hadn't been swept since she moved in to it. So nasty. Anyway, I was sweeping a dark nasty corner in one room, and a HUGE brown recluse straight up ran out. MY NUMBER ONE FEAR PEOPLE. I have been terrified of those guys since I read a book in 4th grade about what happens when they bite you. After I screamed super loud and jumped ten feet away,, Shelly and Austin run in and kill the spider and then laugh at me for screaming. They acted like it was normal to have brown recluses in the house. Anyway, back to the miracle stuff. This week we took Amy for a temple tour with a cute member from our ward and had an awesome lesson about the temple! Amy loved it and said she wants to go inside and do baptisms so bad it was so special. While we were about to leave, two elders walk out of the church building across from the temple, and you will never guess who it was. MY GOOD PAL FROM BYU, ELDER ROCKWOOD!! I was so so excited and I ran up and gave him the biggest handshake (Such a missionary I know lol)! It was so fun to finally see him, and such a miracle we happened to be there at the same time!

Spiritual thought:

My spiritual thought this week is on miracles! Haha. All you have to do is ask for them and God is waiting to give them. I see so many miracles as a missionary just by being obedient and asking. And they don't always come in the way you expect or right away, but if you are paying attention you will be able to see so many throughout your day. There is no such thing as coincidences, accidents, or 'getting lucky'. This quote about miracles from Sister Thompson explains it perfectly: "The only different between a miracle and a coincidence is you don't give God the credit". I love that! So start looking for those tender mercies and miracles, and I promise that you will be able to see at least one a day. God's hand in our life is so real, sometimes we just forget to ask or look for those miracles! So don't forget :) Love ya'll!

Have a legendary week everyone! Love you lots and talk to you next week! :)

Big love,

Sister Dickson!

View from the dock! I love Coeur d'Alene 

Leatherbys got nothing on Gooeys (Sorry Paul)

Exchanges with Sister Bowman! :)

Temple with Amy

Elder Thomas Rockwood himself

HERRMANN FAM AT CHURCH!!

Happy 4th! We couldn't watch fireworks but we played lots of board games so that was fun!

When I was out 53 days... Sister Wilson had 53 days left. SO CRAZY!

Sister Wilson and I won an antler ring toss game for getting

the most people to church hahah so here I am as a deer