Transfer Day is a special day ...

Elder Dickson "Tebowing" on the field where "Remember the Titans" was shot.

Elder Dickson at Homer Sharp Field in Covington, Ga.

 

Hey, guys!
So transfer calls were today; I'm staying in Conyers, and my companion, Elder Kallon, is going to Covington with Elder Adams, the next area over; the elder in Covington, Elder Moore, is coming here with me! A pretty smooth transition if you ask me; makes things easy on us. Elder Moore is pretty cool, so I'm excited! 

The work is starting to pick up: we have Charles on date for baptism still, and picked up 3 new 'gators this past week, so things are looking up! The weather has been all over the place; blistering hot and pouring rain. We biked A TON! And I'm still not losing weight lol! 

My week: 

So Monday night we went to go see a less-active family on a whim (or the spirit...); we met their older daughter Rachel and Rachel's little six-year-old. She isn't a member, but had a lot of questions for us, so we came in and taught her. It was pretty sweet; God definitely has a plan for everything! We went there to see a family and found a gator instead! Nice! 

Tuesday we had district meeting, then I went on exchange with Elder Free in Covington Inner; Elder Free was trained by Elder Bowers (one of my favorite companions), so we had a lot to talk about lol! We taught the Fullers, a family they are baptizing May 4th, and a girl that Elder Bridge and I taught when I was in Covington last. Both went well, I think; it's nice to be able to sit down and teach instead of biking all day to see people who aren't home lol...

Wednesday we went to early morning seminary to share a message with the kids, then we played "Fiery Darts"; a person sits in a chair in the middle of a circle of people, and has to find the scripture mastery announced by the teacher. While they are searching their scriptures, everyone else is throwing Nerf darts at them lol! I didn't do too badly on my turn; I never memorized the scripture mastery like I was supposed to, but on my mission I have used a lot of them in teaching. I never thought I would be a scriptorian, and I am not still, but I'm a lot better at scripture chases now. I love reading the scriptures! 

After that we helped at a food pantry at Solid Rock Baptist Church for a few hours; I love doing stuff like this! We get to serve and be helpful while not being overbearing or have people feel like we are pressuring them or something; it's a comfortable way to share what we know and do without getting people angry at us lol... and I've always been a believer that actions speak louder than words! Then a member took us to Pizza Hut, and after that, we took some pictures of downtown Covington; did you know that a lot of movies have been filmed there? Dukes of Hazzard, Sweet Home Alabama, and, most importantly, Remember the Titans! One of the fields they played on in the movie was close by, so I'll be enclosing some pics of that lol; it was awesome! 

After that we tracted until we exchanged back with Conyers; we had another appointment with Rachel that night with Sister Nolden, which went well; we watched the Restoration with her and answered her questions. She was going to be out of town for this weekend, but after that she said she would come to church; sweet! While I was gone, Elder Kallon and Bridge taught Charles twice; he is progressing really fast; the only hold up is the smoking, which we are working on with him. I hope he's still good for the 11th...

Thursday we went to try to see a ton of former investigators; most of them weren't home or moved, but we did get a few return appointments, so we'll see. We taught Charles the word of wisdom that night, and it went well; pray that he can quit...

Friday we weekly planned, and biked A LOT! Most of our appointments fell through, but it's all good; as long as we work hard, I feel accomplished. 

Saturday we also went to try to see formers; most of them weren't home or moved as well, but had a bit more success; we saw alot of J. Dubs that morning lol ;) we waved and smiled at them, and they returned the favor, so it went by without incident...

Sunday was pretty good; Charles came, as well as some of the formers we saw this week, so it was sweet! They also went to the YSA fireside that night, and loved it! Things are going pretty well here now...

That's about it. 

Thanks for being awesome, love ya so much! 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

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

Mormon moving company; two guys, no truck!

Hey guys! 

Thanks for the e-mail! I had a lot of service this week; we helped 3 different families move this week, had a big service project the ward was doing for some high school, and of course, serving God by testifying of Christ! Busy week, yet not much got done...

I'll miss getting free dinners; it's been so nice to have a well cooked balanced meal every night; I know that when I get home I'll be wishing for those dinner appointments...

I have never wanted to go to the temple more than right now, on my mission, and it's out of our boundaries by half a mile! Come on! Oh well, at least I can go with my departing group with P. Dub. Speaking of boundaries, since the Macon mission is reopening, we will be giving some of our mission to the Atlanta mission in July; most of Conyers stake, actually! I'm not sure if that means I will end my mission in a different mission, or what... I don't want to, but I guess it would be kind of cool to serve in two missions at once lol. 

Anyway, my week: 

We had zone meeting Tuesday, which was fun; some of the elders and I played a trick on our zone leaders and he parted our hair down the middle; the dreaded butt-part lol! It was pretty funny, I'll send a picture. We then had dinner with Sister Wallace, who is a nice lady who helps us with team ups and rides all the time. Wednesday we ate at the Bucks, another one of my favorite families! The mom and all the kids are Japanese except for the husband, and they are the nicest people! They actually came to the church for conference! That's discipline. The dad is one of the most Christ-like people I know, and he used to be a swearing drinking sailor with a crazy beard! The gospel truly changes lives! We also got a washer with the help of our ward mission leader, so now we can stop washing our clothes in the sink! Kidding lol...

Thursday we helped the Lopes family move; us and a couple other members showed up, everyone else was at work; that's what happens when you move on a weekday...

Saturday we helped our ward and others clean up a nature park for Rockdale County, particularly the Hightower Elementary school. We worked long and hard, and we got free t-shirts! Too bad it's a red shirt...

Later that day we helped some other families move, and that took all day lol. I don't mind moving, but it is courteous to have everything packed up BEFORE the ward arrives to help... just saying. 

Sunday we had a man named Charles show up; it was someone we met just after conference last week who said he would come back, and he did! He is from Central Africa (my companion is from the west), and he seemed to enjoy everything; we'll see him this week. 

That's about it for me. About where to fly to: we can do what is easier for y'all about the return trip; my vote is to fly in to Salt Lake and hang out till I can give that talk, then head to Nebraskaaaa or whatever. But I'll do whatever works. Do my records need to be in Utah to justify flying back there? I'll call the office and ask what my options are...

I'm nervous about getting back into the swing of things with school; hopefully by the time I have earned enough money to go somewhere I'll have my groove back. 

You know, I never thought about the fact that Uncle Darren lives Rexburg and that could get me a job and a place to stay... I'll consider that. Do you know how much I miss you guys? Most of my mission, I have done pretty well with not getting homesick; I am having far too much fun for that! But the homecoming is close enough that it's starting to scare me, and makes me excited and sad at the same time. On one hand, I love my mission and Georgia and everyone who lives here, and I don't want to stop being a missionary; on the other hand, if they are going to force me to go home anyway I might as well go back to my family lol! I am pretty stoked about seeing y'all on Mother's Day, then see ya in person in July! Holy the freak cow, that's not too far away! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that God lives and love us, and that His Son did die for us, and that because He lives, we too shall live. I know that The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet, and I know this because I read and prayed to know the truth. I know that we are lead by a prophet today, and we get to hear from them twice a year. I know this church is true; how could it not be? In Jesus' name, amen. 

 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Conference, in general ...

Elder Dickson and Elder Kallon, two serious missionaries.

Hey, guys!
Wasn't General Conference awesome?! Perry and Holland threw down! And I always love Pres. Monson's and Utchdorf's talks; conference, in general, was great! (Get it? Conference, in general? I crack myself up, if not anyone else lol...). We watched it at the church; we aren't allowed to watch it at member's houses... Unfortunately, no one came; we'll get 'em next time!
This was my last General Conference in the mission... now that it's over, it's kind of a sad thought. I have never appreciated Conference more in my life then on my mission; it's like the super bowl out here for missionaries! It gets me pumped for the work, and I always find not only answers to my own questions, but for our investigators as well! Most of us don't realize how incredibly unique and special Conference is; how many other people on the earth have been able to witness so many prophets speaking to them as regularly as us? There may be over 14 million members, but that's less than 1 percent of the population at this moment, not to mention all the other people in the ages of the world who had no prophets on the earth at all, or else didn't know there was one. It is a rare and valuable opportunity for us to be witnesses AND participates of the dispensation of the fullness of times. I always looked at people going about there everyday business around Conference time, and think: "These guys have no idea what they are missing? Do they know what day it is? God could have a very special message for them and they don't even know it!"
My week:
 Tuesday we had a long district meeting, and I gave a training on the Vision of the South, by President Kimball: "Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir man's souls."  "This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together.""There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, and members of the Church of Christ, Methodists and Catholics who are honorable people, and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love him. As they see the church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for the truth. And as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we will baptize hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands. In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be Temples plural in the South States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people.""These missionaries love the South. We are making great strides and expect to continue."
I love this! It's a prophesy, one that is being fulfilled as we speak, about the destiny of missionary work in the South. Most people here have resigned to the fact that baptisms just don't happen here, and it's true that we don't baptize as much as some other missions, but I was asked to train the elders about forgetting the past and looking to the future, and that it has been promised us of the Lord by his prophet that baptisms will and are happening. We just need to believe it.
Anyway, we also had interviews that day with the mission president; he's a really good guy. He asked me about how I think I have improved since I have been on my mission, and what I wanted to work on before I left. I feel a lot more confident about everything in general, but especially about teaching. Still struggle to initiate first contact with someone on the street, but when I do it, everything else comes easy now. I talk way too much in lessons, which bugs my companions sometimes lol. I told him I want to keep focused and keep my fire going about the work so I could finish strong.
After the meeting we had a companionship exchange; I went with our District Leader, Elder Bridge, to Covington, while Elder Free came here with Elder Kallon. It was pretty fun; we taught a pretty cool gator named Paige who is pretty elect, and it always feels good to teach a lesson and feel that the spirit is working through you, and the gator feels it too. Elder Bridge and I talked all night pretty much about everything you can think of, then on Wednesday we went and helped out at a food bank this baptist church had going on. Service is my favorite way to preach the gospel; it shows an example without appearing overbearing or arrogant because we are smiling and helping rather than teaching and testifying (which are great as well, but the wicked take the truth to be hard; that which they call anger was truth...). Then we switched back around lunch and went back to work. That night we saw an old gator of mine, Keisha! She and her kids we taught for awhile when I was here last, but they were dropped after I left. It was always hard to teach them; it felt like we were dragging them to everything, and we had to work hard to get them to talk to us. We went with Sister Nolden, who is a ward missionary, and our mission mom pretty much; Sister Nolden rocks! It was a good meeting; we really just visited and got to know them again and told them about conference; they said they would watch it on t.v. We'll have to check up on them this week to see if they did...
Thursday it rained all day, so we spent a lot of the day doing indoor activities, like weekly planning or making phone calls...
Friday we biked around all across our map to make up for yesterday, and saw a few people and invited them to conference. Talked to some 50 year old guy who does nothing but play D&D (Dungeons and Dragons); again, not judging, but I don't think that pays really well...
Saturday was conference, and we spent the day at the church, and between sessions we went wherever the zone leaders wanted to go because they got the car lol. Same with Sunday; after the last session, we had someone turn up who was looking for a good church (they missed it by that much...). We'll go over this week and teach them.
I found out that Elder Youd has to go home early because his knee is really giving him problems again; this time, he'll be back for good. He would have gone home in May otherwise... anyway, I called him last night and talked to him; he was one of my favorite companions, and he still lives in Orem, so if you guys see him at a stake conference or something, say hi for me!
That's about it this week. We don't have a washer, so we went over to Sister Nolden's to do that real quick, that's why I'm e-mailing so late.
In response to your e-mail:
I should have asked P. Dub (that's what we call President Wolfert... behind his back, of course...) in our interview about where I would be flying home to; I'll have to call him this week. I want to fly back to Utah as well...
I love you so much, thanks so much for being an awesome family, Take Luck!
Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Happy Easters, everyone!

How do you like our new look?

Happy Easters!

Sorry for the short letter; thanks so much for the package! I love peanut butter and chocolate; it's almost all gone now lol...

How was y'alls Easter? Our Easter program was just ok; they sang a medley of I Believe in Christ and Beautiful Savior; they have only two men, so it was interesting. It was kind of fun the first Sunday to be back and see everyone, but now I feel like I have been here forever; like I never left Conyers. It's been hard; most days I'm good, but my companion and I have been at odds a little bit... It's really the first time in my mission when I have struggled to get along with someone. It's not that bad, I just haven't had to do it before; we'll get it figured out! 

For Easter dinner we ate at this old black lady's house, and had some rather poorly cooked soul food; mostly I just drank the Kool Aid, and got sick anyway. But she was nice; the missionaries mean a lot to her, and I was glad we could make her day. 

Anyway, my week: 

We biked A LOT and didn't get too far yet, but every drop of sweat counts! We found some new investigators that dropped us before the week was over, but we'll keep on truckin'! Also gave a lot of blessings this week, to members and missionaries and gators. It's cool, since I'm still pretty new to priesthood blessings, to get to see how important it is to have people who can help you that have God's authority to do so. Other churches claim they can help you, and I'm not discounting prayers on behalf of others, but I have seen miracles, large and small, in the mission. 

Our top investigator Gary is moving to Covington, so we'll pass him along...

With General Conference coming up (my last one at that!), I'm trying to see what questions I need God to answer; every time I come with a question, it gets answered. God and I have done a lot of chatting lately lol...

Also trying to get everyone to Conference so they can get baptized! Keya, Jerry, and Author got baptized, and they all came to conference; therefore, attending Conference + pure intent and sincerity = Testimony and Conversion, for members and non-members alike! 

 

Thanks for being awesome! Take Luck! Love ya bunches!

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

 

P.S. The pic is of me and my last companion, Elder Schmidt, with snazzy bow ties we got from little Isabelle.

Here I am again, in Conyers

Hey, guys!
Things aren't so bad in Conyers; it has been weird to bike places I've been before, to talk to people I knew a year and a half ago, and to do the same thing I was doing the last time I was here; contacting, tracting, finding potentials and formers, etc. Still, things are okay; my companion is pretty cool, he grew up Muslim in Liberia, then moved to Texas for school with his sister 10 years ago. A few years after that, he found the church and was baptized in 2007! He is like 23, so he's a bit older, but he's cool; he is much easier to understand than Elder I lol!
 
I'm surprised on how many members in Conyers remember me; when I was here last, I never said a word to anyone (I was a scared little greenie lol). This week felt very long; time passes super slowly here, just like it did last time; but it's all good, we got a lot of people to see and teach! Not a lot of them are that elect, but a few are, and I think something big is supposed to happen here; else why would I be sent back here unless there was something I missed last time?
 
It has been rainy here, which is weird; all my memories of this place was in the blazing heat lol! We bike A LOT; maybe I'll lose some weight before I get back, that would be nice...
Elder Holland said something like, "When He (Christ) comes, I so want to be caught living the gospel. I want to be surprised right in the act of spreading the faith and doing something good." We never know when someone will need us, so we must always be willing and worthy to serve. 

We just got a bunch of missionaries this transfer; I don't know how many, but they have split a lot of areas and put sisters in them, as well as opening up some area that have been shut for a while; it'll be interesting to keep watching how the mission changes, especially when the Macon mission is in full blast this summer; we'll probably have to give up some of our mission area and some missionaries to the other mission...

Go, Cougars! It doesn't hurt as much as the last time to miss all the BYU stuff, but I am excited to catch football this year! 

So, my week: 

Monday I was still in John's Creek, and we played soccer all day in a member's backyard; Tuesday we had district meeting, then ate lunch at Wild Wings and took pics and said goodbye and such. Spent a lot of time packing and talking with Schmidty; I'm going to miss that kid, he is fun and is very very spiritual; more so than any other person I have met! Keep an eye out for him when he becomes a Seventy lol! 

So Wednesday morning we had a member drive us all the way to the Conyers Stake Center (took about 2 hours) and swapped companions, then went to the apartment; the one we live at now is right next to the one I used to live in! Weird... We biked a lot that day, and I saw some people I taught last time (they haven't changed much lol...)

Thursday we tracted and found this guy who used to work at a car dealership a PM guy owned; I recognized him! It was kinda crazy we just happened to knock into him... good thing I don't believe in "just happens" anymore. Got to meet the zone leaders that day too; Elder Yates and Elder Diehl. Both are pretty cool guys, Diehl came out with me and Yates came out one after me...

Friday we had some team-ups in the morning; we taught a Muslim guy who didn't seem very open to the idea, but was nice. Biked some more and then had dinner with the Casey's, on of my favorite families from the last time! And they remembered me! Yay!

Saturday it rained pretty good; luckily we got a ride to most of our appointments; we also got to help clean the church! Yay, service! Changing lives one example at a time! 

We also saw that guy from the car dealership, Gary, again with a member; he said he couldn't make it to church, but he said he wanted to get involved in Scouting, so we are meeting him at the church next Wed. for a church tour. 

Sunday was pretty good; had fun saying hi to everyone, and an old gator we taught that week came to church! She said she would come to Easter Sunday and General Conference as well! Yay! 

We then packed up to spend the night at the ZL's apartment; ours doesn't have a washer, so we go over to use theirs. It was pretty fun. 

Today we have just been e-mailing and shopping; there are some days were I am happy and have desire to go and work; some days I'm frustrated to be back here and am tired of talking to ghetto people who are nice but won't commit or change.That first day I was just depressed and upset; the people here, for the most part, are not smart enough to understand or accept the gospel. However, it's nice to have people be nice to me for a change; John's Creek people are super rude... Anyway, I know that's an unfair judgement, and I was sent back here because there is someone here I am supposed to find or teach...I want to go out with a bang, not a whimper. I know this church is true, and that I should not be so judgemental, and that God has a plan for every single person here in Conyers, even me! I love ya, thanks for all you do, expect some packages to be sent your guys way; should I send them to Mom or you? I got a lot of stuff I can't fly home with because I don't have enough room in my suitcases...

Anyway, take luck, y'all! 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

 

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