Back to the beginning ...

Elder Dickson, Elder Schmidt and the priest quorum in the John's Creek Ward.

Hey, how y'all doin'? Happy Saint Pattie's Day yesterday! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

So, transfer news, I'm going back to Conyers Inner, where I started my mission ... I'm not sure how I think about it. I mean, there are people there I miss and am excited about seeing, but I never saw much success there, and that's selfish of me, but I kinda put that area behind me. I'm going to be with Elder Kallon, who is pretty new and is from Africa, so he is still learning English (here we go again...) and Elder Schmidt is staying here and getting Elder Kilmer. This will be very interesting...

So this week:

Tuesday we had our Zone Training at our stake center, which was alright; I don't know why, but this zone training was just kinda blah; the best part was seeing Elder Ball and Elder Spear and all those guys! We had lunch at Olive Garden (I haven't eaten there for the longest time; I can't even remember the last time I ate there...). That night we had a split with the High Priests, which is always fun... we saw a member who is still potentially crazy, but less so than usual, so it wasn't so bad. Then we saw the guy with the robot again, and asked him to pray to see if God loves him. We hope to see him come soon.

Wednesday we had our apartment inspection (which we passed, don't worry, Mom lol), then we biked all day with minimal success, then had dinner with the Gunnels, a very fun young couple with hilarious kids! We had Spanish with us there, because the Gunnels knew ElderTarver from their old ward, before he left on his mission; crazy! Brother Gunnel also cut our for us; free haircuts!

Thursday we saw a less-active family, who are HUGE BYU fans; finally, my large reservoir of BYU football and basketball knowledge is getting me somewhere lol! Who says I know tons of useless information? I just used the talents God gave me to fellowship with a less-active, how cool is that? I was actually super nervous, since I don't really know the new stuff, but we had an hour long conversation about just BYU and Jimmer lol. Go Cougars!

Friday we spent a lot of time on the phone for weekly planning session; got a hold of some referrals and other 'gators who had recently been off the grid, so Elder Schmidt and his new comp. should be busy this next week. Then we played indoor soccer with the Spanish elders and their branch members; indoor soccer is so much more fun then regular soccer lol! I even scored a few times! Go me! 

Saturday we taught Sam, the old man who knows everything, and yet nothing. We asked him if he knew God loved him; he was silent for a while, then shared with us a story of a son of a friend of his, who had polio, and how he overcome polio by prayer. He said he has had times in his life when he knew God loved him, but has never been certain. We ate lunch at this Italian restaurant, then went back to leave the Savior's Peace and Blessing in his home. As we finished, my companion shared a story about his many surgeries he has had, and how he used the Atonement to get relief from the pain, and he commissioned Sam to pray to see if God is there and if He loves him. He said that he would; it was the only time I have seen Sam quiet was during Elder Schmidt's testimony. He is making baby steps...

Sunday was really good, very eventful; Elder Schmidt and I got the chance to bless the sacrament (not because of the lack of priests, the ward has so many; it was because we asked if we could); I miss getting the chance to help stand in the Savior's place and offer a prayer to be able to provide the congregation with the remission of sins. It is a much bigger deal than I realized as a youth, and I really enjoyed doing it this past Sunday.

We had a good lesson in Gospel Principles; Brother Gunnel brought a friend to church, and she loved every minute of it! We taught her the first lesson, and she asked for a Book of Mormon (she promised to read it in two days; nice!). She made awesome comments in class, and had a ton of fun in relief society, so we are trying to get over to her house, Brother Gunnel is going to set that up for us.

Priest's quorum was good as always; the picture is of those guys. I hope they all go on missions, they can do some spectacular things with the Lord's help. They are a good group of boys...

After church we went over to our Ward Mission Leader's house for a correlation meeting, then went with an 18-year-old elder waiting to go into the MTC with us to go teach Desire, a man from the Ivory Coast of Africa. It was difficult to understand him, but we had a good lesson, and left him with a BoM, which we said he would read, and wanted us to come back next Sunday. Nice!

Then we went over to the McGuires for a traditional Irish meal, corn beef and cabbage, which was really good! You guys are going to be surprised what I eat now lol; even salad is starting to taste good! Brother McGuire then took us to Brother Lakips again to have a lesson with a Part-member family from Russia, and their Inactive daughter. At first, there was a bit of arguing about prayer and God having a body, which Igor (the husband) and the daughter was against. We both bore very solemn testimony, and we saw the spirit carry it to their hearts; by the end, they were speechless. It was cool to see the change that took place when we started to testify instead of debate. 

I hope they will take up the challenge we have been leaving with everyone recently, about praying to God to see if He is there and if He loves them; I ask all who read this to try this for themselves; we may know that God loves us, but I don't think I have ever asked. I have recently, and a warm feeling washed over me and I felt like I could baptize the world; with God's help and strength, I feel like I can not only finish my mission strong, but to go out with a bigger bang than I came in (which I get the chance to do, since I'm going back to my first area lol). I again ask you all to ask God if He is there and if He loves you, and I promise He will answer, and that answer will give you more comfort and peace and strength than you can possibly imagine. I know that God lives and loves us, and so does His Son, our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ; they love us with a love that is perfect and want to give us the peace that this world can't provide us, even if it wanted to. I know this church is true; how can it not be? I know that prayer is God's way of staying in touch with His kids who are far from home, so that we can stay as close to Him as we can. I know that the scriptures our a way that God speaks to us, and they have the Words of Life. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 Thanks so much for being the best family in the world! You guys rock! I love y'all so much, write me please!

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

He looks tall in this picture, doesn't he?

Hey, guys!

I heard about Grandpa and Grannie Sheila's mission call, they e-mailed me; that's so cool! And ya, I could use a job, I'd love to work in Utah so I can save up money for school! I am still considering athletic training, as well as physical therapy possibly; I'm still praying about where I should go and what I should do; all I know is that I want to go to school in Utah, but I got to get a job. I'll get back in July, school will start in August, but you're supposed to apply way early and I missed it, so either I will live and work in Utah or live with y'all in Nebraska and work. Do you know if I am flying back to Utah, or Nebraskaaaa? If I fly into Salt Lake, we would have to find someplace to stay and to hold all my luggage and whatnot, but that's where I wanna be; if I fly back to Lincoln, I can drop off my stuff at home and then we could drive over for a couple weeks or days or so. I'm not sure; whichever works for you guys!

Also, has there been any news on the driver's licence? Because I haven't gotten a packet to fill out, and I need at least an I.D. in order to even get on the airplane lol! I gotta get a Georgia driver's licence if I can; I would need my birth certificate, and to have that fine paid off in Utah, and then I could try to get stuff done here. Let me know! Sorry to pester about it!

Anyway, my week: Tuesday we had district meeting, then we had a team up with a high priest and tried to see a bunch of people, with minimal success; at least we know where they live now! 

Wednesday we went with our ward mission leader, Brother Lakip, to see a new family from someplace in Africa, I forget. They were both pretty cool; the husband is an RM who is looking for work here in the states; he is an accountant, but he'll take whatever they can get! Afterwards, Bro. Lakip took us out to Outback. Nice! 

Thursday we ate lunch with one of our gators, Sam, this old guy who knows every single stinkin' thing about every single Christian religion, which is frustrating; not that knowledge itself is bad, but knowledge without a witness of the truth, reason and logic without faith, is like a one-winged airplane; they don't fly that far. He seems to be warming up to us; Schmidty and I are gonna cook him a Spaghetti dinner! That ought to do it! That night we ate dinner with one of my favorite ladies, Sister Koch, and her crazy little girl, who is a hoot! We gave a blessing to her son, who was sick (Sister Koch is divorced, so us and her home teachers are the only priesthood she gets...) Then we went out with Bro. Oyervides and got a hold of some less-actives and set up appointments for next week. 

Friday we saw the Kelly family; they are still doing great! Little Isabelle is reading her scriptures still and praying every night; so is her mom. They came to church two weeks in a row, which I think is the record lol! 

Saturday we ate dinner at a part-member, and gave another blessing; Sister Morgan is a sweet lady from China, and her husband is a very nice Catholic man; we're trying to get in there more so we can teach! We spent the rest of day working on our missionary presentation to the Priests, which went really well; We showed them two Mormon messages: Sanctify Yourselves and Stay Within the Lines (both by Holland, of course) and shared some stories about an elder who was fairly uneducated who bore powerful testimony to a knowledgeable basher, who got baptized because of his sweet, simple testimony. You don't need to be a fancy speaker or a Scriptorian to be a missionary; you need to be a clean and worthy vessel of the Lord, who knows that only by the Holy Spirit can you hope to teach. Then Elder Schmidt shared a powerful story about an old woman who the missionaries found, who, after she got baptized, saw that in her patriarchal blessing that if a certain missionary had accepted his call to serve a mission, she would have been baptized 25 years earlier... that shook the priests pretty good. The spirit was so strong, and hope every one of those boys got something out of what God was trying to tell them, and that they all will serve faithful missions. Only time will tell. 

That's about it for the week. 

Yeah, it has been a long time; it's closer than it ever has been, though! Not that I am getting trunky (at least I hope not), but when it's time to go home, it'll be time to go home. I promise to finish strong, and I can already see how my mission has changed me; still doesn't mean I can't wait to see y'all! 

I know that God is in the details of our lives; he does not take away trials, but gives us the strength to handle them and overcome them; he makes them more bearable. I know God lives and loves all of us, and that as His servant, I have been able to enjoy seeing His hand in all things; I left my home and family because I knew God would take care of you guys. Take Luck! 

Love,
Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Is spring here yet?

Smile big, you're a missionary!

Hey Family!

Thanks for the email! How are things?

It's staring to get cold finally, but not nearly like it should be. Ah, snow! It is not even cold enough for a long sleeve shirt here, but people are freaking out! There is no one outside for us to talk to, so we've been knocking a lot of doors; everyone is inside or heading to Florida! There was some small baby snowflakes the other day, and everyone was bundled up; It is funny to see, but I know that when I go back to Utah or Nebraska I'm gonna die because I'm not used to it. When spring gets here, the pollen will break out like crazy lol! I'm glad I don't get that bad of allergies, but still. 

Anyway, my week: 

Been spending a lot of time knocking and walking to no avail, so we decided to get a GPS to find our way around, and to try to focus on Part-Members or Less-Actives, as well as finding gators. Tuesday night we gave a recent move-in a blessing, then went out with Bro. LeCheminant to see a referral and some less-actives; ran into some people who never want to be contacted again; oh well. 

Wednesday was Zone Conference, which is always good. We had our Mission President talk about the Abrahamic Covenant and how it pertains to missionary work; it was quite interesting. The Old Testament part of Seminary I may or may not have been awake for lol! We had his wife and our assistants (my good friend Chugg, who you guys said hi to on Skype, and his comp) spoke as well, and a testimony meeting of the departing missionaries; Elder Youd goes home in May! And I go home in July! Ahhhhh!! 

We then had dinner with the bishop and his kind wife, which is always good; if you are on good terms with the bishop, the work is sooo much easier lol...

Thursday we had an awesome, very spiritual lesson with Ian, our top gator; he is in his late 20's or early 30's, has a fiance, and is very interested in finding a faith in Jesus Christ. It's weird to meet someone who has lived in the South all their lives and they haven't been brought up religious... anyway, he is uber-prepared; he answers questions, and asks all the right ones! We felt impressed to use the Finding Faith in Christ DVD for our lesson; it was one of the most spiritual lessons I've had in a while! His only hang up is that he doesn't feel ready to get baptized yet, which is fine, because that will come. We just have to make sure that he understands that when he knows this is true, he is judged by that standard, and must be baptized soon after that realization. It's a tricky thing to know when people are ready; it's all case by case, and by the spirit. the criteria in our mission is they have to come to church twice, and receive all the lessons. Rarely have I seen someone get baptized in two weeks; most of the time it is a month or more; some take years. It's all about not giving up on them, and also helping them know what having a knowledge of the truth means...

Friday we had a referral we set up an appointment with that fell through; gotta keep trying! We also tried to see a Less-active family with one of our ward missionaries, Bro. Nichols, but they had something come up, so we ended up going over to dinner with our team-up and had some Korean food (it was interesting... I'm glad they also had burritos lol!). The food, coupled with Elder Schmidt's health issues, just about did him in that night, and it lasted till today... We had to stay in mostly Saturday and Sunday so he could rest. It's all good, though; now I can finish Jesus the Christ and be able to start the Book of Mormon again with all the extra reading time! 

Sunday was still good, though, because Ian came... half an hour early lol! Most of the members don't show up until 5 minutes in lol...

Elder Schmidt was dying, but still had enough strength to go up and bear his testimony, which was powerful, as always; this kid is a trooper! 

that's about all that has happened recently; today we are giving Schmidty some more time to relax so we can tackle this week with all our heart, might, mind, and strength! 

Sorry this isn't super long, we have a limited amount of time of the computers at the library...

I want a change just because this area has been very slow; things have picked up slightly, though, so maybe staying wouldn't be so bad. It's just hard to be on a bike in a large area, everything we do depends on whether we can find a ride or not; shouldn't complain, this ward is pretty good about rides and dinners. My companion is great, so we'll see how long the keep me here. 

Despite my best efforts, I am about thinking about home lol... the term in the mission is Bump, Hump, Slump, Dump, referring to 6, 12, 18, and 24 months; I'm in the slump lol. I'm trying my best to stay strong and stay focused, and I know I am here and the Lord's time and I need to use it well. I'm grateful for this chance to serve my God, and I feel like I have changed a lot; however, one of the most important parts of the gospel is to endure to the end, and I am trying to live by that principle. Thanks for being an awesome family, know that I love ya'll and am grateful for your examples. Take Luck! '

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

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

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

"I like to look for rainbows, whenever there rain ...‏"

Elder Dickson and Elder Schmidt with Isabelle and her mother at the baptism.

Happy Monday! How y'all doin'?

First, we had Isabelle baptized this past Saturday, it was great! More details to follow...

Second, Transfer calls were today and Elder Schmidt and I are staying together; yay! Elder Schmidt is one of my favorite companions, and we got a few baptism prospects to finish up here before I go, so I'm happy! My buddy Elder Chugg is the new assistant; Elder Hanny (who was AP for almost 10 months) is a ZL in a troublesome zone lol. It's been kind of a crazy transfer for everyone except us...

So Tuesday we decided to do a last second exchange so our district leader, Elder Gomes from Brazil, could interview Isabelle for her baptism. I went to Peachtree South with Elder Larsen (my buddy Elder Everett's greenie!); we had dinner with a fun family that had a nephew who went to Mt. View... don't know him, but he played lax and football, so we probably played each other...

Later that night, we went and taught a Part-member family; the husband was a non-practicing Jew who thinks too much, which was a little frustrating, but by the end we just testified of our love for him and that he should pray to God to find out for himself. He seemed touched by that, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, in John's Creek...

Elder Schmidt and Elder Gomes taught a super spiritual lesson to Isabelle, gave her a blessing (she was sick...), and did the interview. It went perfect, from what I heard. The mom is expressing more and more desire to come to church and read the Book of Mormon, which is a lot of progress from like a month ago, when she wouldn't even talk to us or answer the phone. The Kellys love us now, especially Elder Schmidt; I might have told you he arranges flowers for a living (which is a lot cooler than it sounds), and he made a corsage for Isabelle and her mom for the baptism. We have them now!

Then Gomes and Schmidty taught seminary the next morning, while Larsen and I got to sleep in to 630 lol. In Peachtree I helped a family move in, then we swapped back.

Thursday we had a team up with Brother Oyervides; we tried to see some referrals with little success, then went to go see some new move-ins, another part-member family; they were super nice, and they live close, so we'll see...

Saturday, the big day, was super stressful, of course; Satan never tries harder than the week of a baptism! Everything seems to go wrong at the last second. However, "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing"!

They showed up a bit late, and we had a very sweet service; her 16 year old cousin baptized her, and her uncle confirmed her the next day, at church (which they were late to, of course...). We got to bear our testimonies at the end of the program, and Elder Schmidt blew it out of the water, of course; he is probably the most hyped-up, quirky, spiritual person I've met!

That Sunday a young man was having a farewell, as well as a senior couple, the Johnston's; they were heavily involved

in helping the Kelly's come back to church and get their daughter baptized. They are going to Japan, where Brother/Elder Johnston served many years ago lol. They gave great talks and we went over to their farewell party. They had it at the Tanner's house, which is pretty much a mansion! They had chauffeurs to take us from the parking lot to the front door, and had a racquetball court downstairs lol! I totally want to be rich when I grow up lol!

Today we probably won't do much, since everyone has to pack (except for me... ;) ). All these pics our of the baptism except for the last two, which are of the day we moved.

Thanks for being the best family I could of asked for! Take luck! Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

The coolest missionaries in Georgia!

Saving souls LIKE A BOSS!

"Going tracting LIKE A BOSS!"

"Making faces LIKE A BOSS!"

Hola, familia!

 

I had neglected to mention last Monday that we had gone to early-morning seminary (taught at the Colton's home) to talk about missionary work. It went well; the youth here are pretty awesome!

So this week we had some excitement; a tornado warning! My second one(The first one was in Kennesaw)! Elder Schmidt's first, how sweet; this Wednesday we were told at about 10 in the morning to stay inside and stay down. We spent the whole day playing board games and sleeping and watching and listening to the wind and rain. The Tornado wasn't anywhere near us, but it was still both exciting and boring at the same time. We were allowed to go back out at 6, so we went to the Bishop's for dinner, and got a list of people he needs help finding. It was good, but as a missionary, inside days are even worse lol! It's not like we can watch t.v. or drive somewhere; on the positive, I got to know my scriptures a lot better!

 

Thursday we taught Matt, the guy who used to be a member, and wants to be retaught; we spent a few weeks trying to locate his records (just to make sure he wasn't still a member), and when we didn't find them, we went over and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). He is so legit! It's almost like he has gone through the lessons before lol ;) He answers all the questions correctly, asks good questions, and does the thing we ask him to do (pray, read, etc.) It's refreshing; it's been awhile since we have taught in general, let alone anyone legit...

He also came to church, which is stellar! It's been awhile since that happened as well...

 

Friday we had dinner with the Macks, who are pretty cool; they got 2 sons on missions right now. We also had a surprise guest; the former Elder Hernandez (a.k.a. Leo, pictured below)! He has only been home for like 3 months or so, but he came back to say hi to everyone! It was cool to see him. We might be playing ball with him today...

 

Saturday we helped someone move... surprise! Mormons helping with a move? That never happens lol! The lady that was moving was a less-active member; the first time I met her was that morning... don't mean to be rude, but it was interesting the way she resurfaced when she needed help moving...

 

Anyway, happy thoughts! Sunday was fantastic; we had our mission president and Elder Giddens, our Area Seventy, came and spoke for the third hour, and he sat in with us for Gospel Principles! It was a good Sabbath for Matt to come! It was fast and testimony meeting, which is always good; a formerly less-active member, whom we had help move a few weeks before, bare a powerful testimony about how his daughter, who is on a mission, baptized her grandparents in Japan! He says he is back for good, which was super cool to hear! President Wolfert is a good guy; his comments in class and his training in combined elders/high priests were awesome!

 

The nine year old is still on track for her baptism this coming Saturday! Cross your fingers! She was sick, so they didn't make it to church, but we only have one more lesson, then the interview, then the water!

We spent plenty of time biking and finding, so we are still trying to get new gators, because our old ones stink...

All these pictures are of Elder Schmidt and myself, posing like bosses! We are definitely a weird companionship; he's the bad cop and I'm the good cop. He is bold and fired up, I am the peacemaker; it makes teaching interesting...

 

That's about all this week.

 

Go Ravens! I was excited when I heard they won, go Pitta and Kruger!

 

I'll write y'all more next week, the timer is almost up...

 

Thanks for being the best family in the world! Love y'all!

 

Love,

 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Return with glory! Former Elder Hernandez and current Elder Dickson.