The trial of your faith ...

Those fine missionaries of the Georgia Atlanta Mission!

Hey, guys! Thanks for the valentine's day package, it had everything I need right now lol. The candy is gone now...

I'm doing pretty good; had some interesting trials this week... Elder Schmidt and I still get along swimmingly; he might be my favorite companion! John's Creek is my longest area now; it'll be 6 months at the end of this transfer. I like this area fine, but to tell you the truth, I'm getting a little sick of it, lol... The people here on the streets are pretty rude, and the work is still very slow; the members are fine, I am just ready for a change of scene, ya know? Where ever I go next is where I'll go home from, and my next companion will probably be my last. It's all coming together now...

The Kelly family we are still trying to keep tabs on; last Monday we went over to drop off Elder Schmidt's flower arrangement for little Isabelle, which she loved! We missed them at church this week...

Tuesday was the last district meeting before the transfer ended; said goodbye to Elder Bushaw and Elder Larsen, then went to this fancy-pansy Italian restaurant called Ippilito's, which had really delicious rolls. We had a gift card from a member, so we went and treated ourselves. I'd never go there if we didn't have a gift card; it was like ten bucks a plate! We are switching from JP Morgan Chase to Bank of America starting in March, so we had to withdraw all our money off our old cards and use that cash until the new cards activate...

On Wednesday we went with Elder Tarver as his temporart\y companions to go pick up his new comp., Elder Cundiff. It was fun, actually; I saw Elder Youd and Bowers and a bunch of other people I haven't seen for a while there at that Stake Center we were supposed to all meet at. It was a party lol!

We had weekly planning with our zone leaders on Friday, which was fun... yay...

Later that day we went to give a blessing to a less-active guy who is struggling with smoking. He was very nice and open, but feels uncomfortable at church due to the smoking, as well as his work schedule getting in the way of church. We testified of the importance of church, and that the sweetest smell in the church is cigarette smoke, because that means that someone was there trying to change their life. We missed him at church this week too...

Saturday PeachTree North had a baptism, Vanessa; Elder Larsen came back from Snellville to baptize her. I love going to baptisms, they are something that is so tremendously important, yet it's so sweet and simple and peaceful...

Sunday we had church, of course, which was good; we were asked to share our testimonies of Jesus in Primary, which is always fun lol. I had forgotten what it was like, when I taught Primary with you before I left; the lack of control the teachers have on the kids at times, but also how pure and simple their answers to our questions were...

We went to a kid in the ward's farewell (free food!); it seems like just yesterday I was getting ready to leave; now I'm getting ready to come back lol. It goes by way too fast...

Later that night, we went to a fireside that we took some potentials too; have you ever heard of Lindsey Stirling? She was on America's Got Talent; she plays the violin and dances at the same time, kind of a rock star violinist. she had gotten X'ed in the finals for not being marketable enough to go anywhere in life. Now she is a YouTube sensation, and is in the process of going on 30 something tours around the world until May! And best of all, she is a Mormon and a return missionary! She had both preformed and gave a talk at this fireside, and both were incredible! She quoted the Lion King and Cool Runnings (both of which I approve, lol), and she talked about not letting the world tell you how to look or feel or do or be; how to be creative and unique while also following the spirit, and having confidence in God, not caring how others think of you. It was pretty cool; it's a talk I think a lot of young women in particular, but also youth in general, needed to hear. It was a good ending for our week.

We were riding on the spiritual high of our baptism, and we thought we were on top of the world. My companion and I had recently listened to a series of talks from General Conference; Mountains to Climb by President Eyring, and Trial of Your Faith by Elder Anderson. We had both decided, without telling the other, that we were going to pray for more trials, so as to have more patience and charity and faith, and opportunity to prove ourselves. We were pretty sure we could handle them... We got what we asked for; pretty darn quick, I might add. I'm not sure if I have had God answer a prayer so quickly. Elder Schmidt had some stuff happen outside the mission, and we both had some inside as well. Our top investigator dropped us, the rest have gone into hiding, the weather took a turn for the worst, Elder Schmidt's health started acting up, dinners became scarce, ants infested our apartment and ruined a lot of our food, got in some bashes, talked to some crazy people, got in a small disagreement with our zone leaders, popped a bike tire, before that biked all week without much success, and so forth lol. This kind of stuff happens all the time to everyone, it was just interesting to see it all go down in the same week. Other missionaries around the world go through far worse, and the early saints, as well as the first apostles, and Jesus Himself, went through more than I certainly can comprehend, but it still was not fun. It's the kind of thing that either allows you to become closer to God, or to push Him further away from yourself. Also, despite everything, I now know what I already knew, but often forget, that God is there, and answers prayers. Sometimes I wish He would answer some of my other prayers that quickly, I know that it's His time in His way, because His ways are higher than our ways.

Anyway, those little things are not that important, or were even that bad, and the end of this week definitely made up for it all. I continue to gain a stronger testimony of our Savior and His true Church and gospel; there will always be opposition, but that only proves to me that we are on the right path. Why would Satan try so hard on our Church in particular, to bring it down, if it wasn't true? Our God is the grand and wise Master of the Universe, who looks down with all the tenderness of a loving parent on His rebellious children; how truly great He is! The book of Mormon is true, and I strive to read it everyday! We have learned a lot recently about the difference between testimony and conversion, and how to strengthen and deepen both of them. It's something we got to keep up everyday until we have our PPI with Heavenly Father. The church is so true; how could it not be? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sorry if I sound preachy; I'm not trying to impress y'all with my amazing testimony or my wild adventures, I'm just trying to be honest and share my thoughts.

So how is everyone? How is scholl/work/play? Write or email! Thanks for being the best family in town! Take luck!

 

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson