Week 29 in Xizhi: this will be the last full week of my mission! I fly home next Wednesday.

With Landon Lawrence, my First Companion at the MTC

With the departing missionaries next week, including the mission president and his wife

Last full week. People ask me how I feel about going home, but I honestly still can't comprehend the reality of it all. I think I'll have to be off the mission for a few weeks before the weight of it all actually hits me. I admit I have been missing Taiwan for a little bit now. It's worst when I think of those I've come to love here and that I won't be seeing them again for I don't know how long. I've honestly got a lot more close friends in Taiwan than I do in the States. I should just be grateful we live in a time when I can still keep in touch with them :)

As I reflect on these two years I'm lost in a mixture of memories and emotions: the joys, the pains, the lessons learned, the experiences had, the people I've loved, the places I've been, the fears I've faced, the sicknesses I've endured, the adventures I've enjoyed, the friends I've made, the person I've become, the tears I've shed, on and on and on. Amidst it all, the overarching feeling is that of gratitude. I'm grateful for it all. The good and the bad. The best of times and the worst. All of it has made me who I am today, and, more importantly, it's brought me to Him.

"And now it came to pass that all this was done in [Taiwan,] yea, by the waters of [Taiwan,] in the forest that was near the waters of [Taiwan;] yea the place of [Taiwan,] the waters of [Taiwan,] the forest of [Taiwan,] how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."
Mosiah 18:30

With Elder Raymond and Lawrence

Other news:
Our investigator in the nursing home read the Book of Mormon AGAIN. That's right. AGAIN. I may also have accidently stood President up for my departing missionary interview. I've never felt so bad, but he was very forgiving. He's been the perfect mission president for me. I love and respect the man a great deal. I loved our lesson with a mom and her two young boys last week. The boys were going crazy (like all kids do and I once did)  and the mom had no hope of focusing, so I played with the kids while my companions taught her. The lesson was powerful and the Spirit was most definitely present. My favorite part was her response after we invited her to baptism. "Can I?" Things are good.

All is well!

Love,
Elder Dickson