Elder Dickson at a monastery and the danger of dinner appointments

This is us at a monastery a few weeks ago: Elder Yates, Sister Mayes, Elder Kallon, Elder Diehl, Elder Free kneeling, yours truly, Elder Oblad, Elder Mayo, and Sister Worthington.

Hey, y'all!

Things are good in the glorious land of sun worship and poorly cooked soul food!

Let me explain lol...

So last Tuesday we had dinner with a wonderful sister who makes very terrible food... it takes all the charity I have to go over there and eat with her. I feel terrible for saying that, but not as terrible as the food made me feel; one elder who came on exchange got violently ill after eating there... not only that, but the house is like 100 degrees (she doesn't like the cold...), and this sweet daughter of God eats with her hands (most of the food is not finger foods...), which makes it difficult to look at her when we talk to her... not only that, but we ate with her twice this week! I repent for saying this, but it is certainly a test of patience and charity to go over there and eat with her...

Enough about talking about someone behind their back...

That night we caught a lady whom the bishop asked us to see a while ago at home; she invited us to come back the next day...
Also saw Margret again since it's been a while since we have been over to see her, and introduced her to Elder Moore...

Wednesday we helped our ward mission leader build a deck and stairs for a less-active lady; it was pretty fun! I've never been that handy, but I can certainly hand someone screws like a champion! Then we had lunch and got cleaned up so we could go she Ruby Kay; she had to cancel on us, so we saw Henry and Ashley instead. They are the same... we hope they start making some progress soon...

We had dinner dropped off at the church, then we saw the lady who told us to come back; she and her husband joined the church the time that blacks couldn't have the priesthood. Her husband was upset about that, and made the decision that he and his family wouldn't go to church; even though this woman believed, she followed her husband's decision. Since then they have divorced, and she has been trying to change her work schedule so she could come back to church! It was pretty cool to see that her testimony withstood the years; we will see her again this coming Wednesday...

Thursday we helped Tinoah, a lady we helped move last week, finish moving in and lay down new carpet at her old place (again, I'm pretty good at handing people carpet lol); she agreed to have us over when she got settled so we could teach her! Nice!

We also had a good phone call with Charles, who is in North Dakota looking for work; people always seem to move from the ward, including most of the converts lol...

We had dinner with Sister Hanes at her new place, then we tried to see some referrals we have been given... Those usually take most of the day, since we bike there, and most of those streets are very narrow with no shoulder or sidewalk lol... Like a wise elder once said, "Georgia has the appearance of sidewalks, but they deny the power thereof."

Friday we weekly planned, then went to Zaxby's with Spanish Yellow River for lunch as usual lol; Ruby had to cancel on us again, so we saw Sister Huffman, a less-active older lady who doesn't get visited much by anyone (there is one in every ward...).

In the evening we played volleyball with the ward and with the Spanish branch; I'm still terrible at volleyball, but it's a lot of fun! A good stress reliever lol...
Saturday was very interesting... we were invited to a Seventh-day Adventist church; there was a lot of singing songs that only had one verse we repeated for hours, and some interesting doctrines were taught about the seven plagues in Revelations... We were taught that the plague about the sun scorching the earth symbolizes that those who worship the Sun (or Sunday, as she explained) will be burned, while those who worship on Saturday will escape the Sun's wrath. Not sure if I buy that lol...

We had an early dinner with a very nice Part-member family, then tried to follow up with those referrals we were given... when that was a no go, we went and played soccer with the branch

 (which I am still terrible at, by the way)...

Sunday we had a good meeting; it was my second to last Fast Sunday in the mission... I've had a lot of lasts recently, and despite my best efforts to not think about it, my mission is almost over... It makes me want to go out and testify without fear, since I won't be able to testify as a representative much longer...

It has been so great to be here in Georgia and serve these wonderful Christians; I complain about them sometimes, but these really are great people, and the Lord knows the time is soon when this place will be full of members and temples, as the Vision of the South declares...

I never thought I could know the scriptures like I do now; I still don't know nearly enough, but last night we played a card game involving scriptures; back home that would have bored me to death, but I was really getting into it! The gospel is awesome! I understand now why these things are important, and I wish I knew how to teach the youth about how exciting this all is! I know that when I was young it was hard to see the why and how, but I know that t.v. and video games and sports and such don't really matter, and that family, friends, the gospel, and eternal life do matter! I can't take my Game Boy with me, but I can take the knowledge and testimony I gain! This church is so true; how can it not be? I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He has the only way to be saved. I know the scriptures are the Word of God that in them we think we have eternal life (John 5:39). I know this church is true, and any honest seeker of truth will find it if they ask in faith, with sincerity and real intent (Moroni 10:4-5). In Christ's name, amen.

Have a glorious week! Love y'all! Take luck!

Love, Elder Casey Guy Dickson