Elder Dixon continues to have great experiences in Pula, Croatia, as he and Elder Brown lead the little flock of seven members of the Church. What an adventure it must be, out on the frontiers of the Church!
We don’t have photos of Elder Brown yet, but you can see from this photo of Elders Anderson and Dixon, that they know how to have a good time!
Here are some excerpts from the last two emails we received …
September 1
I’ve been teaching sunday school a lot. I love it. Last Sunday we talked about faith. I love that principle of the gospel. You can gain greater understanding of it until the day you die, and it makes for a solid Sunday School discussion. I realized towards the end of that lesson what a reverence I have for the Prophet Joseph Smith. We don't worship him. He's not God or a Savior. But he sacrificed so much to enable us to have Heavenly Father's gospel of happiness and salvation. Joseph Smith taught a principle about faith I have never really though of before. When someone asks what the results of faith are, I would answer "miracles, answers to prayers, hope, good actions, etc." Those things are still true, but a quote from him shed some light on other things that faith enables. I read this quote from him in the Gospel Principles book:
"When faith comes it brings apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. All these appear when faith appears on the earth, and disappear when it disappears from the earth; for these are the effects of faith. And he who possesses it will, through it, obtain all necessary knowledge and wisdom, until he shall know God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has sent whom to know is eternal life. Amen"
After I read that at church I thought about Joseph's simple faith brought about the fullness of the gospel -- complete with apostles, prophets, etc. I proceeded to share my testimony of the reality of his call as a prophet, and I felt a deeper reverence and appreciation for him than I have felt maybe in my whole life.
So, every Friday, we do service at a Down Syndrome center. We never work with the kids, but do odd jobs around the facility. The past three weeks there have been great. We have had to clear out this space completely overgrown with weeds. Lots of these weeds were taller than me and had trunks pretty much -- the redwoods of weeds with serious root systems. The area was probably 10 feet by 40 feet, and they just sicked us on it to clear it out. I miss that kind of work so bad. It felt so good to do that type of physical work in jeans and a t-shirt... It reminded me of work before I came out. It's the best time in the world to think. Toward the end of our third day I got thinking about repentance. Elder Brown and I had worked really hard on that for our last three visits and we finally got to the back of the area we had to clear out. There was a huge pile of debris we had cut down or uprooted and thrown out. But I was so unsatisfied at the end! We had torn down all the big stuff and pulled up what we could, but the ground was just covered with weeds and infested with roots. We had a couple really old rakes, a dull pick, and a couple shovels. I remember almost completely exausting myself to pull out some roots only to find out there were others growing right next to it and others spread all throughout the 400 square foot area. There was no way we could clear it out or clean it on our own. I thought about our mistakes or sins, big and small, are like weeds, big and small. Inevitably, they come up, because we are human. We all make mistakes. Alone, we can do a lot. We can break bad habits, through a lot of garbage out of our lives, uproot a lot of things that choke us. But, we can't completely remove all of the guilt, break away from the effects of sin, eliminate the distancing from God, or feel the needed forgiveness -- at least on our own. We have to come to Christ in faith by living his gospel. Then Christ, the master gardener, can supply us with the proper tools and actually cleanse us. Our weeds can be removed and roots taken up, and be given a fresh plot of soil. Im so thankful for repentance and the sacrament that gives us an opportunity for a weekly maintenance.
Welp, I love you. Take care. Peace out!
Love,
Elder Dixon
September 7
Welp, it's been a good week in Pula. Yesterday was Fast Sunday, of course, which I enjoy in Croatia. It's always kindof intense presiding over a testimony meeting when you don't know what is going to be preached over the pulpit, but in Pula, it's not too much of a concern. A german couple came to church yesterday. They were just on vacation. It was great to have them come and share their testimonies. It was really good for the German couple who are here for six months. We had Sister Sundermann translate from German to Croatian, and so, for the first time in forever, Brother Sundermann could understand what was being said in Sacrament Meeting. Haha, poor brother, he never understands anything, but he still comes faithfully. Haha. She also bore her testimony in German without translation, since half of the congregation spoke German anyway! It was a good meeting.
By the way, I am now a master chef... Since Elder Brown and I got together, we have made some of the greatest meals... This last week, we made sweet and sour meat balls (not as good as Moms, but delicious nonetheless), enchiladas, and broccoli soup. Probably the 3 best meals of my mish. Thanks to the Slovenia/Croatia cookbook, Elder Brown and I are eating like kings. Actually, the credit goes to Elder Anderson's mom for the S and S meatball recipe. We eat those every Thursday... We also made Banana Bread from a recipe we got from Sister Pettersson. We took a loaf to Miro and Nataia, and they loved it. Cooking is great. I can't say I'm a good cook, but I can follow a recipe like a champ.
We taught an 82 year old the other day. We tracted into her, and taught her the first lesson about the restoration of the gospel. We have a return appointment on Tuesday. We were talking about prophets, and, in looking back on that lesson, I realized I said something so funny. I said something to the effect, "We have a living prophet named Thomas Monson, and he's about your age". At the time it didn't seem so weird, but, looking back it makes me laugh. My companion says that maybe it made her feel good. I hope so. Haha, we'll so how it goes with her. She was so nice.
Welp, I love the mission. I'm learning a lot. I'm working hard. I love you guys. Take care. Keep it real!
Love,
Elder Dixon
