Week 16: Thriving!

 Hey! What is up everyone! I'm loving it here in North Spokane! My new companion Sister Pardo is my twin and we have so much fun together, and the sisters in my apartment are the funniest people alive haha! And I absolutely love my new zone, we are all best friends already and it makes missionary work so fun. And I absolutely LOVE being an STL! It is so much fun. Ahh so happy.

Things to know:

We are teaching a ton of really cool people. One of our most progressing is a 10 year old girl named Adora. She really wants to get baptized, but her dad is catholic and made a deal with her to take the missionary lessons for a year and then see if she still wants to get baptized (anyone getting deja vu? it sounds just like Amy's situation... haha). Her mom is a member though, so hopefully we can convince them to push it up. Another thing, I get fed by members like every night here now, and I seriously am going to get fat haha. 

Stories of the week:

A super cool miracle happened this week! We had a really spiritual lesson with an inactive member about faith, and yesterday she came to church for the first time in 30 years! So awesome. Another miracle was a recent convert brought his nephew to church, and we taught him a lesson after church and he seriously loved church. He answered a question in young mens, was praying during the Sacrament, and is already reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon! He seriously will probably get baptized! So cool. Okay last one, we met the coolest couple street contacting and they said they have been looking for a new church to raise their daughter in, and they were super interested in what we had to share! So many miracles!

Spiritual thought: 

My spiritual thought is on being happy where you are. My cousin Kenzie gave a farewell talk that I loved and was able to listen to during my free time, and she shared how we can't just wait for things to get "better" or "happier", because we will always be waiting! Find joy in the journey, and always look for the positive and you will be amazed at how much better and happier your life will become! And don't forget to say your prayers and thank God for all the good things you've been given :)

HAVE A GOOD WEEK! LOOK FOR THE POSITIVES! 

Love you!

Sister Dickson

Said bye to Sis Wis

A fun pic

Saw my bestie Sis Bird!!!

Got my new comp!

My roomie Sis Fotu and I

Week 15: See ya Idaho!

Honestly I'll just get right into it this week! :

Things to know:

Crazy transfer news everyone, I'm leaving Idaho! We got calls yesterday and I'm headed over to Spokane! I'll be in the North part of the city, and I could not be more excited! My new comps name is Sister Pardo, and she seems so so awesome. Even crazier news, we will be Sister Training Leader companions! I got called by President on Saturday, and I'm feeling very very excited to get to serve in leadership already! Kinda crazy to get called so early into the mission haha, so everyone pray that I'll be able to fulfill my calling! But just wait! It gets crazier, Sister Bowman got called to be an STL too, and so we are both leaving our area! We were kinda stressed thinking we had to prepare it for two new missionaries, but we found out Sister Sprehn (the Danish sister in our apartment) is taking over both areas with her new companion! So that is also crazy that two areas will now just be the Silver Valley area! They are getting senior missionaries in the Valley too though, so I'm glad they won't be alone because that would be stressful!

Stories of the week:

Honestly not too many noteworthy things happened this week besides transfers, but we had some more exchanges and I got to go with Sister Sprehn again because the sister in my zone has Covid. Good thing we don't live close to them so they found out beforehand and could quarantine! I have already started packing and saying bye to my friends. I will miss a lot of the amazing ward members and my friends I've been teaching, but I know that they will be guided by the Lord after I leave. We are having our last p-day with the zone today and I'm actually super sad to be leaving because I have loved serving in this zone so so much. The friendships I made with my apartment, my zone leaders, district leader, and all the other missionaries makes it so hard to say goodbyes. Sister Wilson goes home on Wednesday too and I am not excited at all to say bye to my best friend for a year haha :'(

Spiritual Thought:

As I reflect on my last two transfers of my mission, I've really learned so much about being the missionary that Christ wants me to be. Sometimes it's rough trying not to compare yourself to other missionaries who are seeing the fruits of their labors (like tons of baptisms haha). But I know that as long as I am committed to find those to teach and baptize, that I will be seen as a successful missionary in the Lord’s eyes. And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks! This applies to real life as well, so just remember who's opinion matters most next time you go to compare yourself! As long as He is pleased with us it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

I hope you all have an awesome week with everyone starting school back up! Message me on Facebook or email me if you want! :)) Talk to you next week from Washington!

Miss ya!

Love ya!

Sister Dickson

I'm gonna miss my homies

For real they are the best

John made this picture for us since we are leaving HAHA

Some of my cute favorite kids I said bye to

Last day of church with my 4 best friends :(

Enjoying my last week with my comp :(

Dressing up as gangstas lol

Exchanges with my favorite again

I am going to die tomorrow saying goodbye hahahaha not kidding

Week 14: Broken Retainers = Miracles

Hey everybody! Hope ya'll had a good week, I sure did! I had interviews, some more exchanges, hit my 3 months, and had some huge miracles! So get ready

Things to know:

-There was a mama moose and a baby moose just chilling in one of our lessons this week haha, it was cool but I was kinda scared because they were so close.

-Today we went to President's house for pday and it was so fun! Sister Wilson and I lived up to our pickleball wizard shirts by beating him and Sister LeBaron hehe

-1/2 John's decided he did not want to be taught anymore so that was sad. One of the hardest parts about being a missionary is other people's agency haha! 

-The other John that we found on Facebook is still going strong, but we had to push his baptism back to Sept 6th because we found out he was struggling with some Word of Wisdom issues. After we taught him about it and how many blessings we can receive from sacrificing and becoming clean and prepared for baptism, he has been tobacco free! He came to church yesterday and told us and we were so happy! So that is one of the huge miracles

Stories of the week:

Okay so the biggest miracle of them all has been in the process since last transfer. I went to the dentist with my trainer because my permanent retainer broke. The dentist is a member and is the coolest person ever, and we found out that one of his hygienists named Kendra said my companion and I had so much light and happiness, and she literally asked him for a Book of Mormon like a week later! And said she has been questioning her church for a long time and knows that our church was the answer she's been searching for! We just found out this week about all of this, and that he has taught her basically everything and she came to church yesterday and LOVED it! And she said she already wants to be baptized, so Sister Wilson and Sprehn are teaching her and she seriously will probably be baptized within the next month! SO AMAZING! GOD IS SO GOOD!

Another story is Sister Bowman and I had to clean the nastiest bathroom ever haha the floors were covered in poopy and were completely brown haha it was so fun.

Spiritual thought:

My thought this week is kind of just a continuation of what happened with Kendra. It really showed me that while we are here on our missions to try and teach people to get them interested in our message, the Lord is also preparing people for our message! And just being your happy, Christ-like self will guide them to the truth! Sometimes you have no idea who you are influencing until a bit later, but as we are kind to others and act as true disciples of Christ, they will have a desire to know what we know! So this week, go spread your light and your love for others. You will bless more people than you know!

That's all for now! Hope you all had a good end of summer and are prepared for school to start these next weeks! I can't believe how fast summer flew by! Anyway, you know how much I love ya'll, thanks for reading my email!

Love,

Sister Dickson!

3 months old with my comp!

Kendra at church with us!

The funnest p-day ever!

Mama and baby moose!

No explanation for this one.

Exchanges with my favorite again!

Week 13: The Forbidden Gondola

Hey all! This was another great week (I don't ever think I'm going to say it was a bad week because the mission is too awesome, and there is something positive you can find every day!). We had exchanges, ZONE CONFERENCE, a few random fun things, and some nice miracles this week. Also I have been a missionary for 90 days... How is it flying by so fast?! My official 3 months is on the 12th, but seriously so crazy. I know I just started, but I never want my mission to end! Every day is another day to grow closer to my Savior Jesus Christ and learn more about Him and myself as I help others come unto Him. Sorry I'll stop blabbing now and get down to the nitty gritty (*read in Nacho Libre voice*) hehe.

Things to know:

-Thursday was our first zone conference with President and Sister LeBaron and it was so amazing. I always come away so spiritually uplifted and hyped after ZC haha. And you get to see your missionary friends from other zones too so that's a party too! I love ZC so so much.

-John came to church yesterday! He even bought his own church clothes at Walmart the day before (most people just wear jeans and a t-shirt lol bc they say they don't have nice clothes to wear). He said he loved it so much :)

-Had exchanges with Sister Christensen this week and they were so great! She is so fun.

-Also got to ride on the longest Gondola in North America today! It was so fun. It took us to the top of Kellogg (a city in both the Silver Valley sisters areas) to a ski resort. No one has been allowed to do it for the last three years but President LeBaron said we could so that was swag we got to ride the forbidden Gondola.

Stories of the week:

-On Saturday we went to Pinehurst days during our lunch hour and saw the car show! It was so much fun and I was reminded a lot of my high school car show haha! We saw lots of cool cars, like Bel Airs and Corvettes, and took pictures with them. One guy even let us get inside his '58 Bonneville Pontiac! It was awesome. 

-I went on a short exchange with Sister Wilson Saturday night and it was super fun to be back with her. We visited some of the people I used to teach and it was so great to see them! We even put my old friend Dale and his son Aiden on date for September! Exchange miracles woohoo!

-It also finally rained this week and the smoke has cleared up so that was a miracle too! And Sister Bowman and I danced in the rain hehe.

-I keep seeing way too many spiders... someone we visited had two huge ones in his bathtub and said they were his friends... nasty. He even named one. Reginald was one ugly sucker.

Spiritual thought:

This week I had a lot of humbling experiences haha. In Zone Conference we learned about what true conversion is, having faith and ACTING on it. Everyone has a testimony (knowledge or experiences about Christ), but until you act on what you know or start to share it with others then you are not truly converted to the Lord. I realized that I had been doing great at the faith part, but not the action. So I got down on my knees and repented and asked for help to become more converted. And I ask you to do the same! It won't happen overnight; but when you truly align your will with Christ's, He will help you become a more converted disciple. Whether it's helping you serve more, obey more, share the gospel more, study your scriptures more, and so on... He will help you accomplish what you've been wanting to change. So just do it! Don't wait and say you'll change tomorrow. Start now and show the Savior that you truly love Him and want to do everything to follow Him. And know that I love you and you can always message me if you're struggling. I can't respond til P-days, but I will always respond! And I will always pray for you!

Anyway thanks to anyone who still reads these haha, I know you're out there somewhere! Have a good rest of the Summer everyone, can't believe it's almost time to go back to school! 

Love you almost as much as Jesus does!

(only because it's physically impossible to haha)

Sister Dickson

Me driving the Pontiac!

I love President and Sister LeBaron SO MUCH

 No explanation for this picture

Me and Sister Wilson in our cool shirts

Gondola ride up the mountain

The coolest zone to ever live

Twinning with Sister Christensen on exchanges

Fantastic 4

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Mi companera

Speed, I am speed

Week 12: New Race Unlocked!

 Hey All! Hope you had an awesome week! My week was SO great! Probably one of my favorites in the mission so far. One thing that made it so great was we got news that President LeBaron was changing the rules on messaging friends and family at home, and I'm now allowed to message everyone on Facebook Messenger on p-days! So if you're like me and hate emails haha feel free to message me throughout the week on messenger and I can respond on p-days! :) 

Things to know:

Sister Bowman and I put our new friend John ON DATE! WOO!  I found John on Facebook last Friday and sent him a video introducing my companion and I and what we do as missionaries. He loved our video and wanted to meet to learn more, and we have been meeting with Him every day since Wednesday! He shared that he had been searching for more direction in life and he knows that God led us to him and wants to learn everything from us! We taught him about baptism on Saturday night while reading in 2 Nephi 31 and I felt the spirit so strong to ask Him to be baptized, so I did and here we are! He is so excited and wants to do it as soon as possible so he is set for August 23rd as of right now so we can still help him prepare. I am just mind blown at how technology finding works and you can see such great miracles from it! I also saw my good friend from BYU Camryn Hinckley this week and it was the biggest miracle. I was so happy to see her!

Stories of the week:

Okay so this one has to do with the subject of my email haha since I know you're all wondering what it means. At least once a week on the mission I have someone ask me what ethnicity I am, and they never believe me when I say I'm white. I have gotten just about every race you can think of, so every time I get a new one our apartment jokes by saying "New race unlocked!" haha. I apologize if that is insensitive at all and I really hope that doesn't offend anyone, but I have to joke about it so I don't get offended myself (because some peoples comments are not very nice haha but oh well). Sister Bowman and I have also been killing it and everyone is super proud of us so that's what's up hehe. 

Spiritual thought:

Here is your spiritual thought for today! It comes from the Daily Joy book by President Nelson: "Of course, we are keenly interested in conversions, baptisms, and strengthening members of the Church. But if you have only one convert during your mission, I hope it would be yourself. Teaching the gospel is sacred work. There is not a better way to get the gospel of Jesus Christ into your heart and mind than for you to be a missionary and teach to others the resplendent and glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ." Just thought this was a great quote and that is all:) 

LOVE YALL

Sister Dickson

Chopped some wood and my whole body is sore now

The prettiest sunset because its so smoky

Wallace is the best

SAW MY PALS

My cute comp

My cute apartment

Exchanges with my favorite