Prepare, prepare, prepare

Don't they look handsome?

Hola, Dickson clan! 

This week was a pretty good week; we found some new investigators and got in with several LA's (Less Actives) we haven't been able to get a hold of. It was a remarkably easier week than last week; either this was our reward week for being good during our trials, or it's the calm before the storm lol...

Tuesday we had our district meeting, and later that night had a short ping-pong game with a member when we were over there for dinner; I hung in for a while, but Elder Schmidt and Brother Gunnell are WAY better than me lol. Then we had a team up that evening with a cool old guy Brother Lang and saw a inactive member who calls himself a "free-thinker". Oh, brother. There is a lot of that kind of attitude out here, that as long as you got Jesus, you're good, that there are many ways to get to heaven, and we just got to find the one that works for us. I can see the appeal of not getting mixed up in all the doctrinal confusion that sets these churches apart, but we know that authority or permission from God is necessary to preform the saving ordinances, as well as correct knowledge of the plan of salvation is required. We need to change ourselves to God's ways, not find or create a church that conforms to our ways. God doesn't and shouldn't change for us, we change for Him.

Anyway, ranting again.

Wednesday we had an appointment with Ian, a person we had contacted on the street a few weeks ago, who had called us back and asked if we could meet that day. We met him at the Chick-fil-A by his complex and taught a first. He is way legit; he bought us lunch, first of all lol, and he asked a lot of good questions. He doesn't have much of a religious background, which is kinda nice, since those who do are sometimes more difficult to teach, because they tend to hold to the traditions of their fathers; a clean slate to start on is almost better. He did have a concern with the Church's view and response to same-gender attraction. He has family who are gay, and while he isn't, he can't grasp why God would hate on what he sees as a personal decision of preference, and that if they are happy and love each other, it's okay. I have been hearing about the boy scout thing, and the Church's statement about it is on http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-cautions-against-speculation-on-scouting-decision, while additional information about the Church's look at this is found on the Church's official websites, such as Lds.org and mormonsandgays.org. That's the same answer we gave to Ian, and I'm not sure if he was satisfied with that. It's a hard thing to explain sometimes, but the Scriptures are clear about how God feels about that kind of behavior, as well as the Church's The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It's all stuff I'm going to have to do more study on.

Anyway, that same night we had dinner with the LeCheminant's, who are a very interesting couple; they asked Elder Schmidt if he could arrange some flowers she bought for them (I don't know if I told ya, Schmidty is a very talented florist). He was very excited to do it, but wasn't nearly as excited to see Sister LeCheminant show it off at Church to the Relief Society lol! We're expecting phone calls with requests soon lol!

Thursday we had a team up, and we saw some referrals and a LA who is building a robot; it was so creepy, and so awesome! We need a robot to knock doors for us lol! The future is now!

Saturday we had lunch with Sam Chambers, a guy who has been an eternagator in Florida for like 5 years, and just barely moved here. He is very knowledgeable about all Christian religions and their history, which is his downfall (2 Nephi 9:28-29, Jacob 4:8-10). He is a super nice guy, though, who tries to find people for us to teach. I don't get it; our religion is not good enough for him, but it is for his friends? Oh well; it'll be fun teaching him, I'm sure lol.

Sunday we gave a missionary presentation to the High Priests, and we threw down on them! We had quotes from Prophets and scriptures and bore powerful testimony of the work; I hope we didn't scare them too bad lol. I made sure we expressed our love for them and our desire to work together to further the Kingdom, but we were pretty bold; hopefully we shook them up enough to get them a-movin' lol! We were nicer than my companion wanted to be, though; he's a firecracker lol!

Also we sat in as the Priest's Quorum practiced teaching the Plan of Salvation to one of the priest's non-member dad. They stumbled here and there, but didn't too bad. The best part is when my companion was impressed to tell them that the son needed to bear testimony to his father, and when he did, a very sweet spirit was in the room. Hopefully this will open the door for us to get in and teach this guy soon!

That night we had dinner with the Hawkins, and we went to see a part-member family the Browns. The non-member husband didn't join us, but Sister Brown was a hoot! She was a sweet old lady who was funny and spiritual at the same time; we all enjoyed the sweet spirit that was there. It made our night to make her night :)

That's about it for now.

I have been thinking a lot, and I realize that I was certainly not as prepared for my mission as I should have been; I spent my time doing things I would miss doing, which isn't a terrible thing; the problem was I spent more time goofing off rather than reading Preach My Gospel or developing mission skills. I've spent my whole mission playing keep up with everyone else out here. My new companion is not only a better missionary than I was when I was his age (can't believe I said that lol), but he was the most prepared greenie I have ever seen! Makes me want to be better. I know everyone has different talents and whatnot, but I feel more like the man who buried his one talent paired up with the servant who made 10 additional talents aside from the ones he had previously. You guys know I'm pretty lazy, and I have a hard time finding the drive to accomplish something. Devin and Shelby, please prepare now, because when you're out here it is almost too late lol! 

I had a small epiphany yesterday that I am maybe not taking my mission as seriously as I was earlier; just like how we go to church for years and it just kinda becomes routine, and the spiritual experiences are sorta taken for granted. Talking about the gospel has become second hat to me; not that is necessarily a bad thing, but it hasn't felt as special as it really is. We talked to a family in the ward that had a son on a mission, and they really enjoy his spiritual experiences he shares. It makes me want to write better e-mails lol; it's REALLY hard sometimes to write e-mails and put lots of detail into it aside from the day by day events.
Things are kind of up and down here; some weeks there is a lot going on, others when we can't find anyone. I know that they are out there, and I'm doing my best to stay excited about this area. It has been kind of dragging for me just because I have been hear a while and I have had a bad attitude about it. I'm getting better, though! 

I love you all! Please write! I wanna know what y'all are up to! 

Take luck! 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson