Bless the rains down in Africa (or in Georgia, or in Nebraska ...)

 

Hey, howdy, hey!  

My week: 

So Tuesday we had District Meeting, then biked A LOT and talked to a former investigator of mine, who enjoys talking, but doesn't really want to come to church... oh well, I'll keep working on 'em! 

Wednesday we did some service for a member; tore up their weedy backyard so they could lay down sod. Then we taught Tasha, a gator of ours who actually reads the assigned scriptures we give her lol, and she enjoys studying with us, but has yet to come to church because of her work. Keep praying! 

We had dinner with the Nolden's that night, who are the all-star members of the ward; Sister Nolden is one of our ward missionaries, and she goes above and beyond the call every time! We are really grateful for her. 

Then we had a meeting with our ward mission leader (Brother Mitchell) to have missionary correlation; there is some big YSA thing in the Southeastern U.S. that Elder Bednar will speak at in August, so we are trying to get all the young single adults to get active and come, as well as non-members between 18-30. 

Thursday we saw Charles, a man from Cameroon, Central Africa, who has been living in the States for 13 years; he is pretty golden. He was living in North Dakota, and a member of our church gave him a car when he really needed one... for free. Because of this Christ-like man, Charles has sought out the church so he could learn more about what would cause someone to do what that man did. He has been to church twice now, and has been taught the first three lessons; he is on track for baptism on May 11th. He's way legit! He really loved the idea that he can get baptized for his deceased father; it truly is amazing the covenants and miracles of the temple. Us and our past and future families can be bound together; I don't know of any church that teaches salvation for the dead. 

Later that day we also taught Danquarius at Tasha's; we talked about the safety and freedom that comes from the Law of Chasity. He said he would think about it. 

The rest of the night we tried to find some formers of mine, and we ended up finding a pretty cool Jamaican family that we are going back this week to see. 

Friday we saw Charles again, and got him prepped for church and the open house, a Meet Your Mormon Neighbors presentation was had Sunday night. Then we got rained on pretty hard lol and spent the rest of the day weekly planning inside and had an appointment with a gator; a member took us there, and we answered their questions and invited them to the open house (they were Muslim, so they were very interested about us...).

Saturday we went to Sister Nolden's son's baseball game, so Sister Nolden could introduce us to her friend who was somewhat interested. Turned out her friend wanted to argue instead... Our team won, anyway! 

Then we biked to Keisha, one of my old gators, and we talked religion for a while; she says church is too long for her...

Then we went to go teach Tasha's grandma, Ruby Kate, with a member. She didn't understand much, but we made sure she knew we loved her, and she was thankful. She had 12 kids, worked 2 jobs, and retired at 79; she is almost 84. She is a trooper, and we are grateful for her example. 

Sunday we panicked for 30 minutes until Charles showed up; turns out he thought we met at 930; that explains why he was late last time lol...

We had an early brunch with the bishop so we could get back early to set up for the open house. It was a great idea... I wish it worked. Charles and his kids were the only ones who came, aside from the members... we invited at least 30 people, we were hoping for at least 10... oh well, we'll try again in a few months...

That's about it; the open house put me down, but Charles lifted me up; it's been a roller coaster kind of week...

I found out that I need to talk to the mission president about where to fly when I go home; since he used to be a stake president, he will probably tell me to go to where my records are; still, doesn't hurt to ask! If I can, I'm flying to Utah. I want to work and get some money before I go to school; I really don't want to get tangled up in loans until I have to. I certainly don't mind suggestions; I really have no idea what I want to do or go. I need to fast and pray as well. I'll also do whatever is easier on y'all.
I have been working too hard to think about home too much, but it happens occasionally... I plan on going out with a bang, not a whimper. God needs three more months out of me: I promised. 

Thanks for all that you guys do and have done! Take Luck! Sorry this is kind of short...

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson