Emily and Katie Updates!

Guess who's home?

That's right.....EMILY!

So good to have her home again!

*******

 

As you know Katie has been having blood transfusions on a regular basis. Her doctor has ordered testing on her bone marrow to see just what is happening and what can be done to help her. She may need a bone marrow transplant. Siblings usually are the best match for something like that.

She is also scheduled to have a full body scan right after Christmas to see what is going on with her tumors since she hasn't been having chemo.

We are having a Temple Day, Saturday morning at the Bountiful Temple at 9am. Anyone who would like to join us we will meet in the chapel before 9am so we can all go to the same session.

We are asking the LORD for a miracle in Katie's behalf. Please keep her in your prayers. We appreciate all the prayers you have given for her so far. 

We know Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers. 

Elder Adam's December 15th email

Hey everyone! How are you all?

This week's been pretty interesting! For starters, I had a temporary companion change with an Elder named Elder Portocarrero. He's a pretty cool guy and a hard worker and I enjoyed working with him. His methods of teaching are extremely different from Elder Uribe's though. Elder Uribe is the kind of person who will usually go to references or people we're currently teaching and he'll make sure they get taught. Elder Portocarrero is the kind of guy who, if we find ourselves in the wrong place, will stop and talk to someone on the street and give a lesson if he can. Being with a different elder made me wonder what kind of missionary I'll be once I hit my missionary prime.

This week, we also had a little Christmas program where I got to play my violin! We had lots of fun with it. There were some funny christmas sketches and songs. Someone came up to me after the program and told me that I play violin like the gods. (Heh, heh, not even close) :P But it was pretty fun! Turns out that the ward I attend is putting on their own Christmas program this week as well, so I get to play the violin for an extra week!

I also had a spiritual and scary experience this week. As me and my companion were walking to church, I was walking a little bit ahead of him. I was about to cross an intersection at a red light, but I thought I heard him say "Wait up". I never heard him talk in English like that, but I stopped and waited anyway. A moment later, two motorcycles had both ran red lights and smashed right into each other. I was pretty convinced that it was the spirit telling me to wait up, because if I had crossed without waiting, I would've been hit by motorcycles on both sides. (The drivers of those motorcycles will be fine, by the way.)

Anyways, that's my week. How is everyone doing over there? Is Katie doing well? Is everyone getting ready for Christmas? I got to wrap this up fast. We got a late start on the Internet, so our time was cut in half. Oh, but I also get to Skype you guys on Christmas!

I love you all!

-Elder Dixon

P.S. Tell Emily hi when she gets home!

Elder Dixon's December 8th Email

Dear Family!

It's Christmas time!!!!! How are things up there? Is the tree up? Have you got any snow yet? Are things cold yet? That's exciting that Dad got a new car! It's nice and shiny too! What's going to happen to his old red one? 

I got your Christmas package, Mom! I haven't opened it yet, but I might give in before Christmas comes around. My companion knows that I've asked you to send me another oil vial for him and he's been begging me to open it. :P I've been getting some emails, but I haven't gotten any letters yet.

So I haven't changed companions yet and I'm with the same guy, but both he and I have this crazy hunch that next change, I'll be transferred into the deep jungle. Guess we'll see in 5 weeks!

So this week, all the missionaries in my zone got together to begin a practice for a Christmas program we'll be putting on, and one of the ward members who sells musical instruments offered to lend us what we know how to play. So guess who gets to play the violin? When I began playing it, I realized just how much I really missed it. I can still play it too, thank goodness! It's been a while, but holding a violin was like reuniting with an old friend!

Along with a little string trio and a violin solo I get to play, I also get to pantomime as a thief trying to steal presents from a house and I get to sing in a choir! Singing with 20 Latino Missionaries who've never sung in a choir before was a little rough, but it was a neat experience.

Jim, I love your emails! They make me crack up every time! Geoffery must be quite the fun little handful sometimes! Shame about your mustache, though. I'll bet Mom's happy that it's gone. :P

Emily comes home in 9 days? But it seems like she just barely left! I'll bet she's excited for that. I wonder what the little kids in China think of her leaving?

I had a neat experience this week too. Earlier, we had two less active members that were planning on separating from each other. My companion and I decided to give them a visit and invite them to church. This week, they came and after the block, told us that they were beginning to have second thoughts about separating because of our visit. When we had left after our visit, they had decided to open up their old Book of Mormon again and see what they had forgotten about. I think it's really neat how the Book of Mormon has that kind of influence to bring the Spirit and give people second thoughts as to a bad choice.

Anyways, I love you all! I hope you're doing well! I'll hear from you next week!

Love,

Elder Dixon

P.S. My favorite scripture is 1st Nephi 3:7. Yeah, it's kinda primary-ish, but I like it because of the perfect example of faith Nephi gives us, and that he knows a loving Heavenly Father wouldn't give us a task to fail. He knows we can do what he asks.

 

 ( Just a side note to Adam's comment about Jim's facial hair....I think Jim looks handsome no matter what he has on his face. He is an exceptionally handsome man!)

Decorating Ginerbread Boys!

Dear Family, 

Dad and I would like to visit each of your homes this month and bring some gingerbread cookies and snowmen cookie to decorate. It has been a fun activity in the past and we would love to do it again. 

It's getting more difficult for family to get together sometimes and during the holidays I'm sure it is even more crazy, so Dad and I were hoping to make it a little easier and come to you.

We will provide the cookies, frosting, and candy. If you get on the internet and see something different than just the basics to decorate with feel free to pick up anything extra you would like to decorate your AWESOME gingerperson.

We will post these works of art on the blog so everyone can see the creations of others. 

Katie and Robert have asked for Monday the 15th of December. Most other days are open. Just respond in the comment section when works for you and we can set a date.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. Dad and I love you all so much.

 

 

Elder Adam's December 1st email

Hello, all my family and friends!

Man, time flew by this week! It was super fast! I think it's because I'm beginning to get a hang of all this missionary stuff. Being a missionary is beginning to be awesome! The language is continuing to solidify itself in my brain and I've been able to communicate easier with my investigators. The gift of tongues is so real, guys!

This week, we had 2 conferences! One of them was a stake conference for the area I'm at. It was a little tough to understand everything the speakers were saying, but I managed to get some bits and pieces. The president of the temple in Lima was there too, and thankfully, he was an English guy, so he and I had a conversation about our missions. 

The topic of the stake conference was solely on missionary work. The stake is trying really hard to get young men out into the field. I've met a couple of guys who had recieved their mission calls and were going to jump out into their mission in a few weeks. The amount of faith those guys have is amazing, especially since money for a mission is rather scarce here in Iquitos. They're pretty much the coolest guys in the Amazon.

The other conference we had was a multi-zone conference. The mission president and his wife spake on how we can get new investigators and references easily, and at the end of it, we had a testimony meeting. I gave my testimony on the gift of tongues. For lunch on that day, we had some pizza, which was a pleasant surprise! They gave us some picante spices to sprinkle on it, making the pizza super hot and REALLY good.

That's one of the funny things here. Everything is either not spicy at all or burn-your-mouth-off hot...and I love it. Those picante peppers they have here are man-food! Unfortunately, there are only a few people here that like spicy food, so those peppers are tough to come by.

How is everyone over there doing? It looks like Thanksgiving was a blast! Here, for Thanksgiving, we didn't really do anything different. I did reflect on everything I was grateful for, said a prayer of gratitude, and celebrate with a little chocolate frog I had bought last Pday, but other than that, it was pretty much a normal day. 

How is Katie doing? Is Emily having fun in China? Is everyone getting into the Christmas mood? Here in Iquitos, people put up their lights and trees in the end of October/beginning of November (like they should in America! :P)

I just want to express my thanks for all the support you guys give me! I know that the Lord is with me as I serve and I can feel your prayers bless my life! I love you all!

With many thanks,

-Elder Dixon

P.S. To answer your question, Mom, there are small buildings from place to place that have about 3-8 computers with internet service. We pay the guy at the counter and have about 80 minutes of internet time.