I'm Elder Dickson, and I approve this message

!Hola familia! ?Que hora es? Estoy bien, gracias.

Seriously, how the heck are y'all doing? Is it snowing in Nebraskaaa yet? How is school/ work/ play/ life? How is everyone else who reads this e-mail?

My week has been pretty good; we actually got some lessons in, and got a hold of people on the phone we have been trying since we got here, so things are moving in the right direction.

Tuesday was a bit crazy; we were told we had to be in by 6p.m. just in case something happened during or after the elections. Kinda sketchy, but we made it okay; just played RISK and read scriptures the whole night, then found out from a member texting us who had won. A bummer I guess, but on Wed. our Mission President made us feel better about it by explaining that all things are in the Lord's will, and that the campaign brought a lot of awareness and curiosity about the church. There were some rough patches, but I'm confident that most of the feedback from this whole "Mormon President" thing was positive; myths were dispelled, people were asking questions, and Billy Graham took us off his cult list, so that's something lol. I feel like a lot more people understand that we are Christian (those that followed the race, anyway), and if that's all that came from this campaign, Mitt did his job. Despite any ill feelings we have, we need to shake it off and remember that we support our leaders in this country. Anyway, enough of me being all political and philosophical, no need to continue torturing y'all with my babbling lol; it's just my views on a lot of things have changed, as well as my priorities. A few years ago, I would be the last person you would catch talking about politics or whatever. Every time I read out of the war chapters in the Book of Mormon, all I see are politics and the world today. The theme of the Book of Mormon is that when a nation is divided against itself, they will destroy each other. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land. If ye keep not my commandments, ye have no promise. That is in the Book of Mormon about 20 times or so. Coincidence? I think not! That promise is still in effect on this continent...
Anyway, I'm doing it again.
Wednesday was zone conference, and we had Elder Giddons of the Seventy spoke to us about justification and purification, pretty much calling us to repentance in a super spiritual way. It was pretty cool, I love zone conference; it gets so so pumped up for the month. It's like a missionary pep rally, except less screaming and more testifying. I also met another Elder I went to school with (what's with Timpanogos and cranking out the GANM elders?); Elder Thorne. That brings it up to 4, being Elder Youd, Elder McAllister, Elder Jones, and him. Sister Coleman was our neighbor, but she went to MT. View. It's just kinda crazy to see people from my premortal existence (before my mission I mean lol).
Thursday we did work! We biked all over our map and contacted a ton of people, including less-actives and former gators. Trying to fill our teaching pool has been a slow process, but were working on it! We saw Keithe that morning too. He told us he was praying to see what was it he was supposed to get out of meeting the elders and coming to church... then told us his answer was that when he was coaching soccer, he didn't play one of the members daughters (like 10 years ago) because he wanted to win, and has felt bad about that ever since. He feels like the reason he was brought here was to apologize for something that the girl doesn't even remember. It was sort of anti-climatic when he started talking about praying for answers lol, but it brought him to church, so I'll take it for now lol!
A kid named Jordan Mack (younger brother of Jenn Mack, the member's soccer playing daughter just mentioned), is leaving tomorrow for a mission in the Philippines; he gave a super spiritual talk this Sunday; I wish him luck, he's a good kid.
Spanish elders had a baptism last Saturday for a 10 year old girl whose siblings are members, but the parents are not (yet!). It was pretty cool to see Elder Grant get his first baptism (she asked him to baptize her) in the mish.
I don't have time today to write all I want, but I feel like it is time to talk about what I should do for school and such; also, when I get the chance, I do have a small Christmas list of some necessities, like shoes and shirts and stuff.
I love y'all and miss y'all and will see your bright happy faces in a little more than a month on the computer screen. Take Luck!

Love,
Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Happy Halloween from the mission field!

Elder Chugg and Elder Dickson painted up for Halloween.

Hi, how are ya?!

I've pretty good here, just getting off being sick; this weekend I was getting a little tipsy on NyQuil lol that stuff is the best I feel fantastic today!

I have really liked the new area as far as members and member involvement in missionary work; it's a change lol. The work has yet to pick up, but it always takes a transfer for everything to start clicking. Most of the people here we talk to are referrals for Spanish (because they are the only ones here without cars, so they walk to and from work, lol), Asians that take cards and smile but don't know what is going on, or people who are too rich for the gospel; they have everything they need, what do they need God for, right? Haven't gotten into any conversations where I have dusted my feet off here, but I came pretty close to in Kennesaw lol; that area has a melting pot of religions, and they were really really open or not at all.

We have a few though that are nice and we have plans to see; there is a less-active family who has a 9 year old daughter who wants to get baptized, which is cool, and a girl we met in the park. We have some referrals we still haven't caught home, and plenty of formers and potentials, so we are plenty busy!

Sunday our referral from Web Bridge came to church, which was awesome; he already knew a ton of the members from coaching soccer for his and their girls when they were like 10. He seemed to have changed after coming to church, in a good way; he was investigating because he wanted to know more about Mormons since we might have a Mormon president in a few days (cross your fingers and say good prayers!). I don't know what he was expecting, but he really enjoyed it, especially High Priests, when a member shared a really spiritual story about when he accidentally shot himself while cleaning his gun, the blessing he got, and the faith he knew he would lives through it since God told him before that he and his wife to serve a mission. Then he shared his experience
of giving a Article of Faith presentation to a Presbyterian church (3 weeks after his accident) which was pretty cool. It was also fast Sunday, which is always scary to bring gators to (just in case some member decides to preach false doctrine or flip out on everyone... it's happened before...), but this one was pretty good. Keithe (the gator) was quite impressed with the youth and how strong and knowledgeable they were in the gospel (the youth here is solid!). Keithe is one of those guys that likes all religions, and that if you believe in Christ, it doesn't matter what religion you are. Most people here are like that (or else totally the other way like Strict Southern Baptist or Jehovah's Witnesses), so it's a little frustrating to teach concepts like the priesthood authority or apostasy very clearly and simply and they don't get it; not angry at them, of course, but of the doctrines of men that teach the easiest and quickest way out or in is the best way, and if every church is true, there is a lot less pressure and contention, but also a lot less truth or structure. The scripture that comes to mind is Matt 7:21-22; just saying it is not enough, it's doing the will of the Father, and the will of the Father is to have faith and repent, be baptized by proper authority, to receive the Holy Ghost by the same authority, and endure to the end (keep the commandments); makes sense to me.

Anyway, I digress; I brought up that point in the first place to describe Keithe's attitude towards organized religion and our church in general, and how he was more subdued and a little in awe from the experience he had; I know he felt the spirit! We have an appointment with him on Thurs., and he is planning on bringing his daughters to church this next week so they can catch up with their soccer friends. Nice!

 So Halloween was kinda interesting; we are supposed to be in by 6 p.m., so we worked till 5 (met Keithe that morning, actually), then went to dinner; we got there early, so we knocked a few doors. I thought it was pretty funny; two elders knocking doors on Halloween handling out fliers for the Nativity activity in December, lol! We actually didn't think about the fact we were knocking doors on Halloween till we had been at it for a few minutes, lol! Then we met the Spanish elders at our apartment for Risk and Uno and Phase Ten and Monopoly, lol; it got pretty intense! Elder are usually pretty competitive in anything, but these guys were nuts!

Went and got my tire rim fixed with the money y'all sent me (Thanks!!!!!); I had been borrowing another elders bike for the past week. John's Creek has plenty of sidewalks, but the places that it doesn't is scary, since there is so much traffic here. I think my life flashed before my eyes at least twice this week, lol!

Thursday was when we met Jessica while we were contacting in the park; found out just barely that see is just BARELY out of our boundaries (gosh darn it!!); she actually lives in the AP's area. Turns out they had a referral for us, so we traded gators; we have yet to meet the lady they met, she hasn't called us back yet...

Friday we had an appointment with a less-active member and his son; they both want to come back to church, but they are embarrassed because they don't remember anything about the doctrine; they asked us to teach them, which we gladly accepted. They are good guys, and have been coming to church consistently, so keep your fingers crossed! The father has to get past smoking, which is always fun lol; if there is one thing standing most in the way of people getting baptized, it's an addiction. They just can't quite let them go, even when they know the church is true; it's sad to watch, but I have met a few who have overcome it, one of them being Grandpa Dick, lol (even though I didn't know him before then, lol)!

Saturday was a super busy day; the elder's quorum had a service project at the local high school to pull up some trees and replace some of the wood around the boxes of trees they had. It was good hard work, and I enjoyed it a lot; I can be pretty lazy, but there is something about doing service with cool people for a good cause that just fires me up! Hammer down!

There was also the Fall Festival that day; since Halloween fell in the middle of the week, and last Saturday was the BYU game, they moved the Halloween party to this last Saturday and dubbed it the "Fall Festival". It was pretty sweet; it was at a members house (which was ginormous! I couldn't imagine having to clean that thing!) with chili and bouncy houses and games for the kids, and a pretty good warm-up for Turkey bowl game with the youth; it was a blast! There were also a lot of non-members there (who we talked to, of course), so it was a good use of our time. The Spanish elders even found a family that had been taught a year ago that sorta disappeared and has since resurfaced there, so I'm glad we all went!

That's about all for my week. Elder Rogers and I are doing pretty well together; we have had some in depth talks about how we can get better and work smarter; we are both kinda lazy, so our resolution is to make sure we have something we can do every hour of the day.

Go Nebraskaaaa!!!

Go Dickson clan! Way to be attending activities, getting into family prayer and study, and doing missionary work!

So Wreck-It-Ralph was good? I haven't heard much about that movie; was Brave good? I keep hearing mixed reviews; same with the new Spiderman.

Adults dressing up for Halloween is a little weird, but I love dressing up still; if you haven't noticed, I still got a lot of kid in me! I have taken a lot of pictures of me in hats or masks, I noticed; makes me feel a bit narcissistic when I see all the pics I have of just me making faces lol.

Thanks for all the e-mails, packages, prayers, and money over the past 15 months; I can't really describe how I appreciate it. I wish I would have tried harder to earn more money for my mission than I had...

You're the best family anyone can ask for! Take Luck!

Love,
Elder Casey Guy Dickson

 

I'm crazy face-painted guy ... now give me some candy!

The next Spiderman sequel, straight outa Georgia!

P.S. The last pic is Elder Chugg (Spanish Elder) and I after getting our faces painted at the Fall Festival!

His secret identity is Elder Dickson

"Who are you?"
"I'm Batman!"

Hey, Family!

First off, thanks for the super awesome Halloween package! It was so great, and right on time, lol! Now I got candy and money (the things of greatest worth). Tanks a bundle! You guys rock!

My week:

Wednesday we picked up a new investigator named Keith who the Web Bridge Elders met; he's a nice guy, and is big into God, but not so much organized religion; he wasn't able to make it to church this week, but he promised for next week, and we are meeting him again this coming Wed., so cross your fingers!

Sunday was pretty good; there was a primary program, and we had a lot of less-actives come out of the woodwork to Gospel Principles, which is always welcome, lol! We usually go into Priests Quorum instead of Elders, so we can get to know the youth and help them with mission prep (since they have a lot less time to prepare lol. Speaking of which, how is Devo's and Shelbster's prep going?) The Priests Quorum rocks here; they organized there own Preach My Gospel study class, taught by themselves. We went and gave a small presentation; the kids here are so fun and cool and I hope we can persuade some of the not-so-sure ones to go on missions.

We did a ton of biking this week, bounty-hunting and trying to find people; not much yet, but a lot more than Jackson, that's for sure! More to report as things progress; Mandi's boyfriend has been sick so nothing has happened with that for now.

The past few months has absolutely flown by; I feel like Independence Day was just a week ago (except it wasn't)! After I got over the hump (one year in the mission field) the time has been slipping through my fingers; AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well.

Holidays for me are conflicting; I love the spirit of Christ and the fun and the goodies, but no one wants to be bothered during the holidays, so the work is super slow. Still, I am way looking forward to the best part of the holidays, which is calling y'all on Skype! I hope I am here in John's Creek still when it happens, the is a very high percentage of people here who probably have Skype than in say Jackson lol.

Funny thing about the BYU game... going back to when Elder Rogers (my companion, who is a big BYU fan) first got to the mission he talked to President Wolfert about the BYU-Tech game. President Wolfert talked to BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe and was going to get tickets for us all to go and was getting things set up... and the Brethren told him that we couldn't go, because it is out of our mission boundaries. The temple is out of our boundaries too, the chances of getting to go the the game when we can't even go to the temple were very slim... the missionaries you saw at the game were GAM elders (Georgia Atlanta Missionaries, not Atlanta North)... they got to go. Not that I'm bitter about that or anything...

I was so happy to hear about the Cougars, though; sounds the they smashed GT; apparently BYU's defense is unbeatable and the Cougs have a new young running back that just ran all over Tech. What was his name again? It's been weird not knowing BYU's roster by heart anymore lol; maybe Deverino can fill me in... ol buddy ol pal!

Go Nebraskaaaaa!!a!
I'm so happy to hear about y'all going to the temple and helping the missionaries and getting involved in the new ward; none of this stuff (especially missionary opportunities) happened much in good ol' Utah; I loved our old ward back home, but it sounds like this has been good for y'all and I'm excited to hear more about yawls adventures! How is school, kiddos? How's sports? How's life in Nebraskaaaa?
I have only made cookies once since being out here; it's just not the same. And it's a bit outside the missionary budget to buy separate ingredients that are used only for cookies pretty much lol. Though since I gots the green now I might just make some during the Christmas Holidays!

I forget a lot about the last Harry Potter movie, since I only saw it once; still glad I could see it, though. The first movie we are watching is Avengers, then Batman, then Hobbit if it's out on DVD then, THEN we can get into Harry Potter, lol!

That's been my struggle my whole mission; some days, I am so absorbed in what I am doing or who I am teaching that I forget I haven't been a missionary all my life! Other days (more recently, unfortunately, I have been thinking of home... I have more dreams about being home than I ever have before (which is funny, since I'm not going home... not really... lol ;)); and since both Elder Rogers and I enjoy superheroes and Star Wars, we both have been chatting it up about movies and video games we have missed and will watch/play when we get back. I have been easily distracted lately, and it's been bugging me, but I know that this work is far more important than anything that man has made back home, and that I can most certainly wait another 9 months (as of this past Saturday). I can't possibly conceive any video games or movies that can compete with the experiences I have had! The church is true, the book is blue, and God is a Mormon!

I miss y'all so much, and I look forward to seeing everyone all together this time! It makes me so happy to hear y'all having fun together and living life and representing the Dickson clan in Nebraskaaa!

Thanks for being the best family ever! Take luck!

 

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Just acting like a kid.

Sad wolf-missionary.

 

God bless America and the missionaries!

If I were president, every day would be P-Day!

Hey, Dicksons!
Greetings from Georgia, home of peaches that aren't even that good and people who smoke A LOT!

So this week I gave a training in District Meeting about Hope, and gave a talk on Sunday at church about feasting on the word of Christ at General Conference. Just my luck that both happen in the same week, lol! I was the last speaker; however I was left with 10 minutes to speak, so it wasn't too bad lol. I got a lot of compliments afterward, so I guess I did okay. Even as a missionary, I still don't like speaking to large groups of people about a subject I don't really know that much about. Oh well.

Tuesday we had dinner with Mandi, a recent convert, and taught her boyfriend the first lesson; he is open, but more lessons will tell where his interest level is. Mandi is pretty funny, but she needs to come to church more if she wants us to teach her boyfriend; the best teaching tool will be her example. Seeing them again tonite...

A member named Susan takes us out to eat twice a week; she is actually in PeachTree Ward, but she lives close and knows Elder Rogers from when he served there. She is super funny, and bought Elder Rogers RISK so we can play it on P-days. I never played it much, but now I love it!

We have done a ton of biking this week, looking for all the formers and potentials and such; success will come.

We have a lot of people to talk to, just need to sift through and see which ones really want this. Most of them are never home... 

Went to Stevie B's on Saturday... I have missed it A LOT since I have left Kennesaw...

Sunday was good; it's weird to have it so late in the day; with that and dinner are days pretty much planned!

Today we are playing basketball; YES! I have missed that too! Let the games begin!

Glad things are moving forward for Mom getting better work, I pray about that every day and night...

Darn it, BYU! Why do you toy with my emotions like this? I heard all about it from a member...

Go Nebraskaaa!

I think it is so cool that y'all are fellowshipping and are working with the missionaries; stuff like that never happened in Utah, so this is super exciting for me to hear, and probably exciting for the fam; it'll be good for all of us! Good call on promising blessings, Dadio! Elder Dick Reloaded! He lives again! Please keep me updated on what happens with them...

Anyway, my new companion is Elder Rogers, who is pretty cool: he loves BYU as much as we do, and actually wants to get into broadcast journalism at BYU! He wants to get a Communications degree, just like Dad! Do you have any advice for him? John's Creek is a ritzy area that is very diverse, as far as whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc. I like it; the members are very nice, and we have been fed every day this past few weeks! Met a few members that lived in Utah county temporarily, and knew some kids I knew from school and youth stuff. I have enjoyed it a lot! The work is a little slow, but we have some good potentials, and some 9 and 10 year olds that need help setting up baptisms, so we got some work to do!

Thanks for all you do, and know that y'all are always in my prayers. Take Luck!

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Elder Dickson's new companion, Elder Rodgers.

Welcome to Johns Creek, Georgia!

Casey's new mission area, about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Hey, Dicksons!
I loved the pictures that were sent they made me laugh! Turns out things like sidewalks and multi-lane streets only exist in the West... that's what happens when God plans things, lol.
The new area has been good to me so far; we are almost white-washing it, since an elder had gone home early, his companion was put in a trio with a different area for awhile, so there isn't too much to start with here at the moment. However, I have high hopes; there is great potential in this area, and the members are awesome, so I think it won't be long until the work gets rolling! John's Creek is a lot more city than Jackson; most of the people who live here are fairly wealthy; the members have taken us out to eat every night, and the ward mission leader surprised me some new shirts when I had ripped the pocket in one accidentally. How cool is that? There is a lot of diversity here; not only plenty of white and black people, but lots of Hispanics and Asians as well; there is a large population of Koreans in our branch, so they have there on Sunday school class. Church here starts at 1:30... holy cow! That takes up most of the day lol! All the members have been pretty friendly, and very willing to assist us when we need it; we will certainly keep that in mind lol.
On bike again, lol; Jackson wasn't too bad as far as distance or hills go, so I'm actually getting a workout up here in John's Creek lol! We have had some interesting adventures already biking and contacting, lol; John's Creek is a lot better about sidewalks than most of the areas I have served in, but of course not in it's fullness, lol. Have been ran off the road a few times; traffic is a lot busier here. We meet a lot of Hispanics walking, so the Spanish elders get lots of referrals from us, lol! Still learning my way around; you know how I am with directions, lol! I'm surprised I have done this well!
My companion is Elder Rogers from Heber City, Utah; we have gotten along swimmingly so far! It has actually been the smoothest transition I have had in a companionship; he's pretty chill, and loves BYU as much as we do! In fact, he would like to be a sports broadcaster, for BYU in particular; he did a lot of radio/t.v. stuff in high school, and knows his sports extremely well (to rival I would say even Devin, and that is saying something!). He also enjoys things I enjoy: missionary work (of course), Star Wars, Superheroes, reading, movies, video games, sleeping, teaching, gospel doctrine (and not-doctrine lol) eating, football, basketball, etc. We of course don't let these things distract us, but we have had some pretty in depth conversations about all those subjects, lol!
We found out Monday were I was going, and spent the whole day in Conyers having a last hurrah; then on Tuesday we had a zone training (which is like a zone district meeting) in Conyers again! Then I went to spend the night with Elder Everett at their apartment while Elder Boman and Elder Indriamiarina started their companionship that night! Didn't have too much time to day goodbyes (most of the people I wanted pics with I had got last transfer lol), so I called a few people, and did see the Sherwoods and the Hawkins and Sister Cox. I'll miss them, but I have been having a blast here! There are a lot of cool Elders in this zone! Elder Andreason (my MTC comp), Elder Chugg and his greenie, Elder Everett and his greenie, Elder Peterson, Elder Jarman, and myself and Elder Rogers, of course. It's gonna be big!
So Wednesday I got here and got acquainted with Elder Roge Poge (a name he has been known by since he was born in Stockbridge), bought food, ate dinner with some members, and biked around to get a feel for the area. Thursday, went to lunch with some of the other elders in our district (good to see Elder Everett again... it had been almost a day since I saw him last, lol), then went to work! Spent most of the weekend working on the map and getting he area book organized to go "bounty-hunting" for formers and less-actives and potentials. Sunday was good; talked to a recent convert whose boyfriend is interested in taking the discussions, and talked to some families with 9-year-olds then need help with baptism, so we're all for that! Had a Korean Social at the Bro. Lakip (the ward mission leader) that night which was fun; they have a lot of fun youth, and I have enjoyed fellowshipping with the members; I'm way excited for the big plans we have, we're gonna do work!
So how are y'all doing? How is school/work/play? Let me know!
Bummer about BYU; I actually heard about it from a member on Sunday who keeps Elder Rogers informed; disappointed, but I still love 'em!
Thanks all so far; been having a blast, and hoping with a perfect brightness of hope and steadfastness in Christ that we will find success when we concerate our efforts to finding the elect. Love ya! Take luck!
Love,
Elder Casey Guy Dickson
P.S. I'll get some pics of Elder Rogers and I, just haven't thought about it lol!

Casey loved conference ... and is getting transferred!!!

Hey, guys!

First off, General Conference was awesome! Uctdorf and Holland dominated! I love conference so much! It got me so psyched! We watched it at the church building, and the Sherwoods made chili dogs for Sat., and fried chicken for Sun.! It was awesome... except now I only have one conference left on my mission... Oh well. And the whole 18 year old elders and 19 year old sisters... that's insane! Sounds like Devin and Shelby have less time than they thought to prep for a mish now lol!  

Author came to conference, and liked it pretty well; I don't know how much he was able to take in (it's a lot of info for a newcomer), and the other elders had a gator come named Doc (that's right, Doc... I love it!). What were y'alls favorite talks? Or else, what did you learn?
Second off, I'm getting transferred! To John's Creek, with an Elder Rogers, on a bike. Elder 'I' is staying in Jackson Inner with Elder Boman (from Jackson Outer) and Elder Everett is white-wash training in PeachTree Corners, while Jackson Outer is getting white-washed by sisters... What a big change up! (White-washed means both elders are being transferred out of an area). Elder 'I' served in John's Creek, so he has been telling me all about it; sounds like fun! I will miss some things about Jackson, but to tell you the truth, I'm sorta sick of Jackson and the lack of progress, so hopefully this will be a change for the better. Elder Bowers is heading to Dahlonega, so I'm telling him all about it lol what a cowinkadink.
Dad, visiting your mission area sounds way awesome! It's cool that people remembered you, I don't know if anywhere aside from Kennesaw would remember me, but who knows?
Up in Conyers today, playing ball, and e-mailing, since the libraries are closed for Columbus Day. It's always fun to hang with the guys.
Go Cougars! That's my boys! Elder Dickson, 1; Elder Boman, 0 lol! What's their record?
Too bad about Nebraska... good thing I'm still not really getting into it lol. I still can't really wrap my mind around being from Nebraskaaaa now; I've never been there lol!

This week has been slow... been tracting like crazy and trying to see people who pretty much disappeared on us... not much else to report.
How is everyone? Tell me what's going on in the life and times of the Nebraskaaaaa Dicksons! Love you all! 

 

Church is true, Book is blue, and God is a Mormon! 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

To the best family ever!

Hey, Everybody!

Glad Devin got his package, what day did it come? Ahh, Avengers; it's the one movie that's driving me nuts lol but it'll be there when I get home. Of course Devin's favorite restaurant (Denny's) is way out of town lol; can't believe you're 18; how does it feel? It sucks that Papa Murphy's over hired, that's kinda what happened to me with Buy Low; oh well, I'm sure another opportunity will come around.

Go Cougars! Elder Boman in Jackson Outer is a BIG USU fan, so we got a rivalry thing going on here, so BYU better step up and win, or I don't know if I can face him lol.

Yay! I'm so excited y'all got asked to fellowship a family, do work, Dickson clan! The awesomeness of helping people come to Christ is the best thing ever! There is something special about seeing less-actives come back that is different from gators coming to church; it just melts my heart when a less-active we have been working with comes back for good, and the "rescue" of members is as much missionary work as is teaching non-members. Remember, love them, and the rest will follow.

Nothing too new here, except we got transfers next week...
We did some service with a former gators; cleaned out all the tree remains from when we helped him cut them down; he's nice, but still isn't interested. We'll see...

Getting pumped for conference! Trying to get people to come see; problem is, this huge festival Jackson has once a year is on conference Saturday, apparently they would rather go to that than to hear a prophet of God speak; oh well, Author will be there, and that's what matters.

Had an interesting meeting Sunday; we met with Covington ward, where they announced that they were dividing up some of Covington and giving it to the Jackson Branch. We were ecstatic; some from Covington were not, but it's the Lord's will that matters. Had a tasty linger longer afterwards, which is always good lol! I'm not sure how they will divide up the area; maybe into a North and South Jackson, or an East and West, and give us a car! Too bad neither Elder I or I can drive (Elder I has a licence, but Georgia doesn't recognize it, and the packet for a new one I called the DMV about still hasn't come, so idk); that's why I think one of us (most likely me) is getting transferred in a week; but we'll see.

We are in Conyers right now; we got a ride up here so we could hang out with the elders up here and play ball and e-mail and whatnot (and so I could by a bike tire; I have been out of commission for like a week and nowhere in town do they sell bike tires lol); been fun so far.

Anyway, sorry my letters have been progressively shorter; there isn't much happening in Jackson, and all the oddities of mission life seem like nothing to me now; for example, we met a guy who told us he was abducted by aliens and had the scars to prove it, and I didn't bat an eye lol; or the guy back in Conyers who told us he was Michael the Archangel: yawn lol. The things that don't get old are the opportunities to see the gospel change lives, and that is worth all the crazy people and all the rejection in the world. I know my Savior lives, and this is God's work and glory, and it will roll forward like a stone cut without hands to every nation, crushing any feeble offense Satan tries to send up against it. I love this church, and I know it is the truth, the way, and the life Christ wants us to be apart of. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I can never deny that; not now, not after fighting for it for the past year and seeking comfort and truth from it's pages. I know this church has the proper priesthood authority and modern-day prophets, and that what we will here from them in a week is the will of the Lord for us in these last days. I say this in the name of the Master, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers, and for keeping me updated with the family stuff and football stuff, I love hearing about it! Keep up the good work, and thanks for being the best family ever!

Take Luck!

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson