The Exceeding Joy That the Gospel Brings

Week #20

You know you are lucky sister missionaries when you have Elders as neighbors who will come and change a flat tire.

I have a companion! Who speaks Spanish! No more trio life for me. Hermana Brower is from Arizona. She actually came out with my trainer so she will be going home in 2 transfers. Maybe I'll send her home too :) This week has been good. Last Pday was crazy crazy busy, but we made it to transfers on Tuesday. We had pretty much already guessed who my new companion was going to be.

Investigators are progressing! We have been teaching the daughter of one of our recent converts, but she wasn't progressing very well. She would switch off going to different churches. I felt like she was more examining our lessons than actually listening to learn. BUT this week was different. We went by to visit her and she actually cancelled our appointment, but we started talking about what she likes to do and we found out that she wants to learn piano. So we are teaching piano! (#service) We set up lessons for piano with her and then we teach her a lesson after. So that gets her to the church and this last lesson we had with her was amazing. 

The Spirit was so strong. She really felt it and she asked sincere questions, not examining ones. She asked us how we know. How we know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. I realized that my answer is actually quite simple. Because I am happy. There is a happiness that you can only find through Christ and His Truth. One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 36:24. It is Alma telling his conversion story. He says that since his conversion he has labored without ceasing, so that he "might bring [others] to taste of the exceeding JOY". That's what this Gospel brings. Joy. I know because I am happy.

Joy also comes from serving others. This weekend we painted another investigator's house. And the girl we have been teaching came! It was really cool. And then she came to church! I'm so happy! We already have two more lessons set up with her. Hopefully she will be getting baptized in September.

So we are teaching three people piano; which is awesome. We teach them at the church and then we talk about the Gospel. It's such a good teaching/finding tool. Also music is life. And church is life. So church music is life squared.

So funny moment this week. We went to find a referral and we knocked on the door. We could tell that someone was trying to open the door, but couldn't for some reason. Then we saw a little boy trying to open the front window to talk to us. . . and then the other windows in the house. . . and then the door again. He literally spent a good 5 minutes trying. We were dying laughing. He finally came out of the garage and said "Are you from the church?" His family was waiting for us to come. It was super cute. We get to teach his family this week.

This week has been busy, but I feel like I say that every week. We are both super tired so it is nap day.

I hope you all are able to feel the exceeding joy that the Gospel brings!

I love you all,

Hermana Dickson

Hermanas Dickson and Brower eating Hawaiian Snow (thank you Sister Merrill for the photo!)

Elders who change flat tires