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| Sister Worthington, Sister Mayes and Elder Dickson. |
Hey, Howdy, Hey!
Bit of a slow week work-wise... and yet at the same time the weeks are flying by as July 25th gets closer and closer...
So this week:
Tuesday we had a mission-wide fast in preparation for the Month
of Consecration in July (I'll explain in a sec.) We fasted from Tuesday
morning to Wednesday morning, which I have never really done before.
It's hard to fast as a missionary lol; we got permission to drink water
because we were biking, thank goodness! We spent the whole day on
Tuesday tracting, hoping we could find a new investigator... we talked
to A LOT of people, and few of them said we could come back, so cross
your fingers! Wednesday was district meeting as well as interviews. We
met at the stake center (after breaking our fast at Chick-fil-A lol!)
and had a pretty good meeting. President Wolfert interviewed all of us;
when it was my turn, we talked about logistics more than spiritual stuff
(out of necessity, of course); he also gave me a temple recommend
interview; turns out the temple will be closed for maintenance the week I
leave, so we won't get the usual trip to the temple like other
departing missionaries do... oh well. (Speaking of which, is there a way
we could have a couple of temple sessions at Salt lake or Provo or
Timpanogos or somewhere when I get back? I really miss the temple...).
He gave me the info about the departure devotional, so I gotta start
inviting people to that for a last hurrah!
Later that night we had a delicious steak meal (which we don't get a
lot of; we always get chicken lol), then we taught Becky and Larry, are
only true investigators, with Brother Challis; she reads and asks good
questions, but neither of them are "ready" yet to take the steps
necessary like quit smoking and coffee and come to church; we tried to
explain that we are not pressuring them, but the sooner the better.
We'll see how that goes...
Thursday we walked A LOT! Then we saw Dan, a less-active who is
super nice; we can't figure out for the moment why he is less-active...
Friday we weekly planned, then painted and did yard work for a very
funny sister named Sister Seghi; she is a hoot, and her husband is a
very nice non-member who hands out programs at our church... we have yet
to determine why he is not a member yet... Later that night we bought a
homeless guy some McDonald's, and he was so grateful he took a Book of
Mormon as well; Nice!
Saturday we helped like 3 members move (it's that time of the year
again lol!); there was a lot of support from the Elder's Quorum, and
those who were moving had there stuff boxed up BEFORE we got there, so
things went by very smoothly lol... After that we walked A LOT and
talked to a lot of people, then went to Chipotle with some rich members,
which is always fun lol! I'm so grateful for all the support the
members have given me over the past two years! So many good meals and
team-ups! God bless you all!
Sunday we taught a missionary lesson for 3rd hour about how to talk
to your friends about the gospel; I think it went over well... everyone
loved Elder Bowers skit, he's a funny kid! After trying to see some
referrals after church, we got a ride to the Nelsens, a new family who
moved in about the same time I did! Had some Spaghetti Squash, which
I've never had before, with meatballs and tomato sauce; it was
scrumptious!
That's about it for the week.
So the Month of Consecration is something we did as a mission last
August, where we promise to be EXTRA obedient and diligent, and to watch
the blessings flow; last time we did this, the mission doubled in
baptisms! Wow! The problem is, we couldn't seem to keep it up in
succession afterwards, so we are trying to start again. To consecrate
something is to make something holy, to set it apart as something
special; so as we set aside the things we want to do, so we can do the
things we need to do, the Lord will bless us with his miraculous power.
It's a good way to go out with a bang as a missionary; obedient and
diligent to the end!
In response to your letter:
Shelby: I'm glad I'm safe from the tornadoes as well I don't know
what I'd do without me lol ;) Glad girls camp was fun; was that your
last one? I forgot you were in the marching band; I thought about doing
that, but I wanted to play football more lol. I can't wait to be back to
come watch your parades and volleyball games and such! I miss going to
Summerfest; they have a lot of festivals out here in Georgia (more
booths and less rides then ours...), but they aren't as fun as a
missionary lol... How goes the packing? How does it feel to be moving
back to the old house? Have y'all started working at the Owlz yet? How
do you like it? I thought it was fun because of the people, but it was
hard at first when the nights are super busy; you have no time to catch
your breath! Still, the occasional free food was nice lol! How is your
summer? Any movies or swimming, or is it all packing and marching and
working? How is mission prep going for ya? Do not deny me your gifts
(from the Testaments movie, it's a missionary joke...)!
Thanks for being the best sister ever! Can't wait to see ya in a month! Stay sweet!
Hi Mom! Don't worry about the writing, I haven't really written
y'all either for the same reason: stress lol. Where is it that you are
working at again? Is it the old folks place like before? Thanks for
asking about the gators! I haven't heard yet from my old comp down in
Conyers how Henry and all them are all doing, but my guess is they
haven't changed much... unfortunately... We don't have very many gators
here; they ones we do have want to take things VERY slow, which is fine
as long as they are coming to church (which they are not...) and such;
you just have to be careful. You don't want to jump into something
without knowing what you are doing, but when do you know enough? When
you know the Book of Mormon is true; if it's true, then Joseph Smith is a
true prophet; if he's a prophet, then so are his successors, which
means the authority to lead God's church on earth and bless His children
lies in this church and the words that His servants speak is what He
would say, etc. That's why it's so important to pray about the Book of
Mormon, and to act on that knowledge once you do; we are judged by what
we know, and we don't know how long we'll have on earth...
I'd love to help y'all move back into the old place lol, thanks for
asking! Where will y'all live until then? I don't know about UVU yet; I
want to work for a semester or so, then keep working while I go to
school (hopefully Weber State or somewhere)...
I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see you too! Love you so much!
Ollo, Deverino! What classes are you taking at UVU? Are you taking
one of Brother Hugh's classes? He is an awesome guy! How is working at
the Owlz treating ya? How is SWTOR? How far are you, what does your guy
look like, etc? TELL ME!! How is mission prep going? How does it feel to
be done with high school? Are there any friends of yours that are going
to Georgia? Thanks for being studly, remember, "There is a connection
between heaven and earth. Finding that connection gives meaning to
everything, including death. Losing that connection makes everything
lose meaning, including life." (Elder John Groberg, The Other Side of
Heaven. Good movie.) take luck!
Love, Elder Casey Guy Dickson
