Some wedding portraits

Most of the pictures I took turned out blurry and crummy, but here are a couple of the good ones.  Yay Jim & Erin!

Tommy says, "Hey, let me try that..."

 Lilli

Lilli again

 

 Grown-up stuff is sometimes hard.

 It's finally hit Jim :)

Emily's Homecoming

Emily was nominated for homecoming royalty and she asked Josh to be her escort when the King and Queen are announced at the football game. Josh looked very sharp and was the perfect gentleman.

Emily was not chosen queen, but her date for the homecoming dance, Nick Bybee, was chosen first attendant for the men.

Girl Party/Conference

It's the most wonderful time of the year! That's right.....

General Conference!

There will be a girl party during the Priesthood session for all girls and men under the age of 12!
we will paint nails, do a craft, wax eye brows, eat some chocolate,
Watch a chick flick,
etc, etc, etc.

We will start the girl party about 6 pm
Bring your favorite treat.

For Conference
We of course would love you to come watch either or both sessions with us!
Between sessions we will be having a sandwich bar.
So no matter which session you come to
there will be food!

We love you all so much!
Can't wait, Can't wait, Can't wait!

Sarah's September 26th Email

Hey all!

The trees are changing! they are getting prettier every day. Thanks for the update on Katie, I pray for you all the time.

Good luck at Homecoming Emily!

This week was Amazing!!
So a while ago we tracted into this guy named Jacob and we talked with him for a little while. He told us we could come back any time. So we kept on coming back and coming back but he would never answer the door (even though we knew he was inside--I hate that) so we kind of stopped trying. Well anyway, we were just about to start planning on Saturday, and I was calling all of our investigators. I was trying to think about who else to call, and asked Sister Allen who we could try. we both thought for a minute and my mind landed on Jacob.

"How about Jacob?" I said.

"I was just thinking the same thing!" Sister Allen said. It was decided. I called Jacob. Luckily he answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jacob, this is Sister Dixon, My friend and I met you a few weeks ago, we're the missionaries. we were wondering if we could meet with you sometime."

"Oh sure, let me talk to my wife."

*muttering*

"Actually, we aren't interested. Bye" And he hung up without waiting for an answer.

Disappointed, we started our weekly planning session. NO JOKE, Two minutes later, our phone rings and It's Jacob!

"Hello, Sister Dixon, actually, we changed our minds. could you come over and share your message with us tonight?"

"...mimblehak..."

"What"

"Of course!"

"Awesome. Thanks. see you tonight."

I just stared at my companion. That was amazing! Things like that don't happen to real people! I told my companion what happened, and we both got really excited!

So then that night, we go over to his house and have and AMAZING lesson with him and his wife. He agrees to come to church the next day, even though his wife had to work and couldn't make it.

So this Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, because of conference. As he was sitting there, listening to the testimonies, he kept nodding his head. Then, he leaned over to me and asked,

"Can anyone go up there?"

I told him yes, and he jumped up and ran up to the pulpit.

"Um...a few weeks ago, two young ladies knocked on my door and wanted to talk about religion. I don't believe in saying no to God, so I talked to them. Last night they came over again and talked to me and my wife. I felt so filled with the spirit of God, it was like they had reached into my soul and pulled me out of a depression. I think I want to join this church and convert from Catholicism. It feels right. um...I love Christ, just like you all."

And then sat back down.

I was dumbfounded! By the end of church, he had agreed to come to Priesthood session of conference and had been invited to dinner by members of the ward. He told us he wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. We told him he'd have to quit smoking. He considered it for a while, and then nodded. "I can do that."

Thank you all so much for your prayers! I don't doubt for a second that your prayers had a part in this! God loves us so much! I have no doubt in my mind that this is his true church. and I am so blessed to be out here serving him.

I love you guys so much! thank you for all you do for me.
Sister Dixon

Itty Bitty Salt Lake City

There are some pretty neat perks to having access to all floors of the church office building.

This is one of them :D

Sarah's September 19th Email

Hey all!

Okay, fall has started again. I've had to pull out the extra blankets and my coat. It's been a blustery week! It has also been a slow week, We got dropped by a few investigators, which is discouraging. So nothing much to report except that we had another fair this week, so I got to do a little bit of street contacting, which is nearly unheard of in the sticks area of Ashford. We were promoting a Emergency Preparedness fair we are having at the church. I handed this older lady a flyer and said,

"We are having an Emergency Preparedness Fair at our church!"

And she smiled nicely and said, "No thank you dear, I can't get pregnant anymore." and walked away.

Sometimes I think people say things just to get away from missionaries.

We got our transfer Texts and Both Sister Allen and I are staying here for another six weeks, which means we will be here for Halloween! exciting! Sister Allen loves Halloween so we are going to do something special to celebrate it. Not sure what it'll be, but someone suggested that we should dress up as Elders...yuk. Last year I was a nun, so I guess it would be more religious humor, but we will see.....

Today we are going hiking. The leaves haven't changed yet, but we want to find a spot to take pictures when they do. Next week we are planning to go up to the Big E again. I don't know if I told you all about it last year, but it's a giant fair for all of New England, and we are going to try and hand out Book of Mormons. Our goal for this transfer is to hand out a book a day. I don't think it's ever been done, but we are going to do it!

Hope everything is going well, is everyone loving school? I love you all!

Sister Dixon

Mary and the Red Hot Pepper

This video needs no introduction or commentary other than "Way to go, Mary!!"

Update on Katie

We appreciate everyone's faith and prayers in Katie's behalf. We will try to keep you updated as information comes in. Katie has been referred to the doctors at Huntsman Cancer Institute and an oncologist there called her. He suspects a rare form of sarcoma (cancer) but will not know until he can examine and possibly get tissue from Katie. The prognosis depends on what it is, and what tissue is involved.
They suspect the tumor is slow-growing, and Katie has an appointment on 28 Sept.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Sarah's September 12th email

Hey all,

Katie, my prayers are going out to you! I love you so much, I know things are going to be okay. God is going to take care of you.

It is so weird to think that September is halfway through. Time is going by so fast! So fast, in fact, that there is nothing I can think of that has happened this week that is interesting enough to report on. I am so sorry. I thought fall was coming, but it seems as though it's on a standstill. The trees seem to have stopped changing colors. Which is sad. But when they do change, there will be lots of pictures.

My hair has toned down somewhat. It's not such a vivid black anymore. Everyone keeps telling me it looks okay, so I've stopped worrying. Maybe one day I'll send you some pictures.

Or not.

Anyway, I hope this week is better than last week for everyone.

I love you all!

Sister Dixon

Dear Family,

Dad and I want to let you know how grateful we are for a wonderful family. Last night we called all of the siblings and told you about Katie. We really don't know much yet. In fact, I think I may have told you that she was going into surgery Friday. Actually, she is seeing the surgeon on Friday, then we will know more about when the surgery will be etc.

When problems come to families, having a strong family praying for each other is such a blessing. They say there is a power in prayer especially when it is for a loved one. No matter what the trial, it is good to know we have loved ones who care for us!

We hope you all know how important each one of you are to us, even those of you who married into this family we are so grateful you belong to us.

We love you so much,
Mom and Dad

Sarah's September 6th Email

Hey there Family!

This week has been great! We had twelve less actives at church on Sunday! score for the Mormons! We've been working hard and loving it!

Right now it's raining.

So yesterday I went to go get my hair cut. I cut a good bit off. I know I told Mom that I wasn't going to cut it again on my mission, but it was too out of hand. You know how my hair has a mind of it's own. Anyway, it's at my shoulders, nothing too fancy, but while I was on this hair kick, I decided I'd dye it too. Just a nice medium brown color, like I usually do. Well, My companion was kind enough to offer to dye it for me. The plan was this: She was going to dye my hair and take a quick shower to let it set, and then I was going to go wash it out. Well, first of all, she managed to get my hair done in three minutes. She assured me that she was sure she had done a thorough job, so I didn't press the matter. Then I saw the box and saw that it was supposed to set for only ten minutes, as opposed to the 20 minutes that is usual. well, I pointed this out, and she said that she'd be out of the shower in 15, and really, that's how long I should keep it in for maximum result. Not wanting to make a pest of myself, (you all can tell I'm a little ticked, can't you) I agreed and she jumped in the shower. HALF AN HOUR LATER, she gets out of the shower and I rush in, thinking my hair is going to fall out. and...

well...

it didn't fall out...

But my hair is now totally BLACK. That's right. I look Gothic. I'm terrified to send you all pictures, it looks awful. Sister Allen assures me I look great, but all the members we see have that strained smile on their face that tells me otherwise. '

I think it's time for companionship inventory.

With a hammer.

Anyway, not much else to report. I love you all!

from your Gothic in New England,

Sister Dixon

Hmmmm......I wonder if anyone will come to my baby blessing.

I'm being blessed on September 18th at 10:40 a.m. in the white church east of the railroad tracks on 1800 N. I hope everyone will come and I hope I get a lot of handsome uncles and grandpas to stand in the circle with my handsome daddy. There is a shin dig at my pad afterward. If anyone wants to bring something, I love salads and desserts.

-Sarah Rose