Happy Thanksgiving! Here in Mesa, Arizona on Thanksgiving Day, we are really thankful for Ryan and the work he is doing in Croatia. Sorry about the delay in posting his emails.
This week, we received three photos of Ryan from Sister Manley, who serves with her husband in Osijek. She sent and email to Claudia asking for her pie recipes. Apparently Ryan had mentioned that his mother makes great pies.
So, today you will receive three weeks' worth of updates, each with a photo courtesy of Sister Manley.
The following photo of Ryan and his companion, Elder Giberson, was taken in the cemetery at Vukovar, a city that was almost destroyed during the war. The photo was taken after the holiday called "Day of the Dead." It sounds much like our Memorial Day.
Excerpts from Ryan's letter for November 10th:
Hey family! What is up... I hope all is well. The weather sounds quality, and Thanksgiving is coming up.
Angie's letter was pure inspiration to me, btw. Your friends, who have been coming to church, sound like amazing people. Jtlyk, it is definately possible for h-core catholics to enter into the waters of baptism... That happens alot in Croatia. That's so sweet that they just started goingto church on their own. Im sure your testimonies on your blog before and just your example played a real role in their desire to learn more. Example combined with testimony is unmatchable in missionary work, I think. It doesn't matter who you are, how smart you are, how young or old you are. We are who we are for a reason, and if we will just live the gospel, and open our mouths and share whats precious to us with love with others, miracles will occur. I loved your testimony from your blogger. I printed a permanent copy of that beast.
So, we made a nice little phone call to President Hill this week... Maja has set a baptismal date for December 13th, 2008!!! How sweet is that eh?? Man, she's so amazing. And so amazingly prepared. She has read the entire Book of Mormon (minus some war chapters) and the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, and has restarted the Book of Mormon, and is in Alma as of last friday. She loves the Book of Mormon! We watched the Restoration with her the other day, and shared our testimonies, and talked about the importance of always strengthening your testimony. It really is so important to strengthen and fortify our testimonies every day through study, pondering, and prayer. She is preparing for that day... Pray for her to become fully converted and to gain a personal relationship with the Savior. She is so sweet.
Saturday, we went to visit an inactive member, named Zvjezdana (Zvyezdahnah). We went to just meet with her, get to know her, share a lesson, and help her to start coming back to church again. We went over there, and it turns out that part of the reason she hasn't been to church in a while is because her brother was very sick with cancer in the hospital. So after talking for a while we said we would come by the next day to bring the Sacrament. We called on Sunday, and she told us her brother died but said to come over anyway. We did, and we brought the sacrament. It was so sad man. She was so devastated. SHe wasnt able to say goodbye and she had a way hard time dealing with that. We gave her the sacrament and a blessing. She felt better after that and was alot more peaceful by the end of our meeting. She is goig to try to start coming to church again. She still is having a hard time though. Pray for her! She slash that family need all the help they can get.
We are planning to meet with Darko and Silvija tomorrow. Hes the hunter, ya know? We are excited about that. They are such cool people.
Ive been thinking about the importance of being sincere reciently. Sincere in our prayers, sincere in our testimony, and in our desires to do good... Ive found that when we have sincere love people, its not hard to share a sincere testimony, or offer a sincere prayer in their behalf, or to serve them. I want to strive to have more sincere love and charity for the people. Love cancels out fear, and leads to miracles.
Welp, i love you all. You... complete me. Heh. But really thanks for everything - for being the perfect family for me. I pray for you every day. The Savior loves each of us, and is aware of us. Im sure of that! Take care!!!
Love Elder Dixon
This week, we received three photos of Ryan from Sister Manley, who serves with her husband in Osijek. She sent and email to Claudia asking for her pie recipes. Apparently Ryan had mentioned that his mother makes great pies.
So, today you will receive three weeks' worth of updates, each with a photo courtesy of Sister Manley.
The following photo of Ryan and his companion, Elder Giberson, was taken in the cemetery at Vukovar, a city that was almost destroyed during the war. The photo was taken after the holiday called "Day of the Dead." It sounds much like our Memorial Day.
Excerpts from Ryan's letter for November 10th:
Hey family! What is up... I hope all is well. The weather sounds quality, and Thanksgiving is coming up.
Angie's letter was pure inspiration to me, btw. Your friends, who have been coming to church, sound like amazing people. Jtlyk, it is definately possible for h-core catholics to enter into the waters of baptism... That happens alot in Croatia. That's so sweet that they just started goingto church on their own. Im sure your testimonies on your blog before and just your example played a real role in their desire to learn more. Example combined with testimony is unmatchable in missionary work, I think. It doesn't matter who you are, how smart you are, how young or old you are. We are who we are for a reason, and if we will just live the gospel, and open our mouths and share whats precious to us with love with others, miracles will occur. I loved your testimony from your blogger. I printed a permanent copy of that beast.
So, we made a nice little phone call to President Hill this week... Maja has set a baptismal date for December 13th, 2008!!! How sweet is that eh?? Man, she's so amazing. And so amazingly prepared. She has read the entire Book of Mormon (minus some war chapters) and the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, and has restarted the Book of Mormon, and is in Alma as of last friday. She loves the Book of Mormon! We watched the Restoration with her the other day, and shared our testimonies, and talked about the importance of always strengthening your testimony. It really is so important to strengthen and fortify our testimonies every day through study, pondering, and prayer. She is preparing for that day... Pray for her to become fully converted and to gain a personal relationship with the Savior. She is so sweet.
Saturday, we went to visit an inactive member, named Zvjezdana (Zvyezdahnah). We went to just meet with her, get to know her, share a lesson, and help her to start coming back to church again. We went over there, and it turns out that part of the reason she hasn't been to church in a while is because her brother was very sick with cancer in the hospital. So after talking for a while we said we would come by the next day to bring the Sacrament. We called on Sunday, and she told us her brother died but said to come over anyway. We did, and we brought the sacrament. It was so sad man. She was so devastated. SHe wasnt able to say goodbye and she had a way hard time dealing with that. We gave her the sacrament and a blessing. She felt better after that and was alot more peaceful by the end of our meeting. She is goig to try to start coming to church again. She still is having a hard time though. Pray for her! She slash that family need all the help they can get.
We are planning to meet with Darko and Silvija tomorrow. Hes the hunter, ya know? We are excited about that. They are such cool people.
Ive been thinking about the importance of being sincere reciently. Sincere in our prayers, sincere in our testimony, and in our desires to do good... Ive found that when we have sincere love people, its not hard to share a sincere testimony, or offer a sincere prayer in their behalf, or to serve them. I want to strive to have more sincere love and charity for the people. Love cancels out fear, and leads to miracles.
Welp, i love you all. You... complete me. Heh. But really thanks for everything - for being the perfect family for me. I pray for you every day. The Savior loves each of us, and is aware of us. Im sure of that! Take care!!!
Love Elder Dixon
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