He Loves Us

Week #25

You know you're a missionary with an iPad when mint green is your favorite color (it's the color of recent converts on the Areabook app)

They got baptized!! I am so blessed to be a missionary. I have been able to see lives change and I haven't been here very long. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I know it and I get to help others come to know it as well. We've have had an amazing (and crazy) week. I forget how hectic it gets the week of a baptism. There is so much behind the scenes that no one really sees. 

Maria was baptized in June by her son who was baptized last year. Her other 2 children were baptized on Saturday. They were all glowing. ALSO! Their dad came! His heart is opening up. He wouldn't come to his wife's baptism in June and wasn't receptive to the missionaries, but he was there for his kids' and he even wrote them a note saying that he was proud of them. I can't wait for them to be sealed as a family!

Miracles happened this week! We had exchanges and I stayed in our area. That means that I was companions with an English STL (Sister Training Leader) in a Spanish area. I was the only one that could speak Spanish all day. It was really scary. 

The first time I met my mission president he asked me, "Hermana Dickson, are you sufficiently humbled enough to learn this language?" I was definitely humble that day and I felt the power of the Atonement. My Spanish vocabulary is very small. I really struggle. I am behind other missionaries who have been here for less time, but I was able to communicate that day. At one point I opened my mouth and I honestly don't know what I said. My mouth was filled with words that I don't know. I am so blessed to be able to have the chance to be a tool in the Lord's hands.

One of the lessons that day was with a recent convert. We were talking about our prophet, Thomas S Monson. She asked me "if he is the prophet for the world, then why doesn't everyone know that?" I can testify that I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much. He loves all of His children and I know that He wants every single child to know that. He wants us all to know that He has given us a prophet to lead and guide us because He loves us. He is waiting for us to come to Him so that He can bless us. 

I know this. If you don't, then find out. 

I love you all,

Hermana Dickson

Emanuel, Daniel, Lourdes, Heramanas Brower and Dickson

Mom and Dad too!

Extra from other emails this week: At the baptism Hermanas Dickson and Brower sang "Make Me Whole" by Rob Gardner. It is a song that Lauren brought with her and was able to sing for the leadership while at the MTC. Of course it was in English so they translated it to Spanish. I had written to Hermana Dickson that Sister Gale had kindly sent a video of their musical number and she replied "We hadn't practiced once and we had just barely finished writing the translation (which was so hard!) and the harmonies." Hermana Brower's email included "It's so hard to get the accents of the music to line up with the accents of Spanish words. I had to kind of change the message of the song, so it became Sáname (Heal Me)". They wrote the harmony to turn it into a duet.

Hermana Brower also shared "The baptism was FANTASTIC. We filled the entire Relief Sociey room, which is a big deal for such a small branch! You know what is so sweet? The entire Laurel class from one of the English wards came because they heard the Lourdes was getting baptized and would be coming to mutual with them (our YW program is small and combines with them)!! How sweet is that? They'd never even met her before! The youth of the Church are AWESOME!"