Here is a picture of a shirt that Reed sent home for us! Hyrum is displaying it!
The
temple was wonderful last Wednesday and in many ways an answer to
prayer. In short, my testimony of the temple was greatly fortified this
week. God answers prayers according to His timing, and His timing was
this past week. I'm very grateful for this blessing.
We
were also able to give another blessing this week. One of the sisters
in our zone has been a little homesick and requested a blessing of
comfort. I was once again grateful to be worthy to serve as the Lord
would have me do.
Thank you for the dear elder
Vladi...er...Josh. I was so very glad to hear from you and to hear that
you are doing so incredibly well. Please send me your email address so I
can email you directly in response to your questions. Thank you! I wish
you all the best!
My Chinese is still coming
along well. I feel that my purpose here at the MTC is much more to help
and serve those around me than to learn the language, and so, God has
blessed me to be able to learn the language very quickly. I'm grateful
for this blessing and for this opportunity to serve.
Throughout
my stay at the MTC I have really come to realize that everyone is in
need of and deserving of love and help. Despite the messages they may
send, they are going through something. They need a friend. They need a
smile. Reach out. It's what the Savior would do. I promise, as you do
this, your own concerns will be forgotten.
At
the invitation of a friend of mine, I had the opportunity to listen to a
talk written by President Benson (I think...) and read by President
Hinckley entitled "Beware of Pride." Basically, everything bad that has
ever happened in the world has been tied to pride; it is, in essence,
the opposite of the "Character of Christ" described by Elder Bednar.
There are many ways to dispel pride, but one of the best is to lose
yourself in the service of others--to do as the Savior would, to do the
will of the Father.
This is a rather
special/unique time in my life for reflection. As I look back, I am
increasingly grateful each passing day for the blessings and direction I
have received. I'm grateful for all who have helped me, the trials I
have faced, and the experiences I have had that have shaped me into the
person I am today. I'm grateful for the family I was born into. I'm
grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and the glorious opportunity I
have to share it with the world. I'm grateful for all of you and your
continued love and support. There is so much to be grateful for. Without
God, I am nothing.
We're excited to meet the new missionaries in our zone tonight.
We've planned an orientation and tour for them. We've already started
praying for and love them. It's an exciting time. We were trying to
figure out what we might do to make it fun for them. Ideas included
spinning a tissue box with an arrow on one end to see who's turn it was
to speak, meet outside on the lawn, etc. We came to the conclusion that
these things only sounded fun to us because we've been at the mtc for
six weeks and that they would probably think we were crazy or something.
So...we'll just smile and answer their questions--try to make them feel
comfortable and loved.
TRC was astounding! We
taught one member about church attendance this week. He had the most
amazing testimony of going to church every week as there was a time of
depression in his life when he had stopped attending for a time. We were
really able to help him come unto Christ, and he was able to help us
too. All were edified. We also did a Skype TRC this week with a member
in Los Angeles. Due to tech. issues we only had about 10 minutes, but it
was a good experience. It's possible we could end up teaching someone
from Taiwan or other parts of the world.
We
also hosted senior missionaries this week. It was a treat to meet with
and serve them. We may have even been tipped with banana bread at one
point...
We said goodbye to three districts
this week. It was hard to part, but I know we will meet again whether in
this life or the next, so we survived...barely.
departing districts
We're implementing temple reverence after 10:15 P.M.
in the residence halls. When the new elders come in, we will have
missionaries on three different floors instead of a single hallway. For
the sake of the new missionaries and the new zone leaders being able to
maintain their sanity, we felt this was the way to go.
I ran into Elder Grant Waddell this week! It was a joyful meeting indeed. It's a little odd to think that he came in this past Wednesday
and will be shipping out before I do, but it truly is wonderful to have
another friend from home here at the MTC. I told him I'd be happy to
help if he had any questions/concerns (I've got a little experience with
regards to life at the MTC at this point...). ;)
I'm
working to fear God more than man in word and in deed. It's coming
along well. There's really no need for fear when we trust God. I've
noticed that people don't come to me to share a joke or just to hang out
all to often, but when someone is in need, they trust me enough to come
to me, talk with me, work with me. This is much more important to me.
I'm grateful to be able to serve the Lord in this capacity.
We
also got our new tags this week in all Mandarin. They're pretty cool,
but we aren't allowed to wear them around campus as we would be
unidentifiable by the vast majority.
New tag
I started
my own "bye-bye shu (book)" this week, but I called mine an "until we
meet book(only in Chinese)." When members of the zone leave, we all sign
each others' books, write a message to them, and leave our emails. I
really enjoy signing others' books and being able to tell them how much I
appreciate their efforts while also leaving bits of advice offered to
me over time by those who know best :) I chose to call mine an "until we
meet book" because, whether we meet again in this life, we know that we
will live again with one another in the next life. This great truth
brings joy and comfort to all who accept it. I'm grateful for this
knowledge in my life.
I got a second sticker in
addition to the one that says "smile." This one bears the message "you
are loved" three times. It's a good reminder in times of discouragement
that, well, there's no need for discouragement. God will always love me.
He will always love you. He wants what's best for me much as He wants
what's best for you. Trust Him. I know I can trust Him. I'm on His
errand; He is with me always. I also like that the message is repeated
three times to remind me that He loves everyone and that I should too.
God loves every single person on this planet. It's true. He loves you.
Knowing this makes it much easier to see and treat others as the Savior
would.
New sticker
The devotional last night was provided by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell. He spoke on the difference between being on a mission and serving a mission. It's all about service. This isn't something He said, but rather something that the Spirit taught me:
Allow Him (God) to take you where you want to go. Seek His will.
He
loves us perfectly. His plan for us is always better than our plan for
us. I know that as I lose myself in His service I will find the greatest
joy possible in this life.
It is the same for you.
I didn't get to say everything amazing that happened this week, but I trust I covered what was of greatest importance.
All is well.
Love,
Elder Dickson
No comments:
Post a Comment