Serving and Teaching in Pula

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 

Loving Life in Pula

One of the choice experiences in our recent vacation trip to Utah was meeting Brother and Sister Pettersson, who served as missionaries with Ryan in Pula before recently returning home.  What a delight to discuss the work in Croatia and get a better sense of the experience Ryan is having there.  The Petterssons are wonderful people who did much good in their service to the great people in Croatia. 

Ryan continues to have great experiences in Pula.  He recently got a new companion, Elder Brown, who arrived in Croatia about four months ago.  Ryan is serving as first counselor in the Rijeka branch presidency and leader of the Pula group, which is technically a part of the Rijeka branch, although Rijeka is located about 100 km away.  Ryan is to focus on leading the group in Pula and training the one priesthood holder in Pula to be a leader in the Church.  What an awesome opportunity and challenge!

Ryan and his companion also continue to do a lot of contacting work and teaching a few investigators … planting seeds that will undoubtedly mature and grow as the work in Croatia moves forward.

Here are a few excerpts from Ryan’s recent emails:

July 13

Elder Anderson and I have seen some pretty hilarious stuff this week.  There are some great moments on the mission, haha.  I’m kind of debating weather or not to share the following story, but I think I’m going to go for it.  Feel free to edit it before you send it to the whole world, haha.  Just try not to throw up when you read this one.  So, in Pula there is this one guy who walks around town who, mentally, is not all there.  But, he’s a nice guy and doesn’t cause any trouble.  But he just walks around town and greets people very loudly.  Sometimes he’ll just walk into the library we are in right now and yell, “Zdravo!” which just means hello.  So, we call him Zdravo, because we don’t know his name.  He’s a funny guy and everyone knows who he is.  The Mesa equivalent would probably be that guy they call Dizzy on Main Street.  As a side note, he’s a big guy, probably like 350 pounds.  The other day, Elder Anderson and I were on our way to our apartment for dinner and we saw Zdravo strolling across the street from our apartment about 30 to 50 feet ahead of us.  I pointed to him and was like, “Hey, that’s Zdravo.”  About 10 seconds later, Zdravo began to do the unexpected - he started pulling down his pants!  We were shocked to say the least, and before we knew it, his navy blue shorts were hanging at his knees as he was going #2 in the street!  It was very brief - just like ten seconds, and he pulled up his pants without a single wipe, and went on his way.  There were about 5 spectators, and the funny thing was that it didn’t seem to faze anybody too bad, haha.  Except one guy kind of shook his head and laughed. Haha, I’ll e-mail the picture of the evidence left behind.  You’ll see that its not so normal looking.  He must have been hurting pretty bad before he let it go!  Hahaha, I’m sorry that’s so gross.  I don’t think I could have NOT shared that though.  Haha.  Laterrrrrr!

Steve Redd was in Pula this week.  I got a call from him on Saturday morning.  He was like “This is your cousin Steve in Pula, Croatia”.  I was so surprised.  He’s studying in Austria and him and some friends came down for a trip.  We tried to arrange to meet up, but it couldn’t happen.  He had to leave pretty soon.  But we were so close to each other.  He said he was going to the Colluseum probably during the time we were at church.  Our church is like 100 yards away from the Colluseum.  It was nice to here the voice of a blood relative.  He’s the man.

Welp, I love the mission.  I wonder if I will be able to duplicate the happiness when I get home.  Probably not!  I’m loving it.  Welp, I got to go.  Hope you are all doing well.  Peace out!

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

July 20

Welp, once again, this week flew by, and I’m a little frustrated with how fast time is going by.  There’s just not enough time!  Things are going well here, though.  Pula never ceases to be great.

So, the Petterssons are gone, aka 2 less people at church, aka it feels like half the congregation is missing.  Not only that, it puts a lot more of the responsibilities on the missionaries.  On Sunday, I conducted, passed the Sacrament, directed the music (accompanied by a CD), gave a talk, taught Sunday school, and translated.  Haha, ironically, it was one of my favorite Sundays of my whole mission.  For the first time on my mission, I didn’t write out every word of my talk in Croatian.  I just made an outline with scriptures, main points, quotes, experiences, and testimony and went up and talked.  My Croatian wasn’t perfect and the talk wasn’t flawless, but I could just tell the Spirit had a lot more room to do its job - to direct and teach.  It was a good experience for me.

After that I taught a Sunday School lesson about missionary work.  I love to teach members, especially new ones, the simple truths of the gospel.  I was thinking of the good old “Did you know?” books the other day.  The ones that were each about a different Bible story.  I remember each start out with “Did you know?” followed by some simple, true statement about the Bible story.  It would say something like, “Did you know that Jonah was swallowed by a whale?” or “Did you know an angel protected David from lions?”  I love having the chance to do that with Miro when talking about missionary work.  I can say, “Miro, did you know the gospel is going to fill the whole earth?  Did you know that someday everyone will hear the gospel in his own language, just like you did?  Did you know that there are people in Pula prepared to hear the gospel, just like you?”  I love to talk about and teach these simple truths. 

In other news, it has taken me a year, but I am officially sporting a part in my hair.  I just figured it was about time.  I like it.

I forgot to tell you, but we found 45 potato bugs in one night in our apartment a couple weeks ago.  That is pretty unprecedented.  Usually we find one or two here and there, but that was a special day I guess.  We told our land lady person and she called the bug man.  Haha, nasty, huh.  I promise the apartment is not nearly as nasty as you are thinking it is right now.

Well, I love you guys.  Hope you are doing well.  Much love from the Croatian coast.  Take care!

S ljubavlju,

Elder Dixon

 

July 27

The big news of the week was that I have been called to be 1st counselor in the RIJEKA branch presidency.  Miro has been called to be the 2nd counselor.  I’m staying in Pula though.  Pula is a part of the Rijeka Branch technically, so that's why it works out.  Miro and I will lead the branch here together.  They pretty much gave me 2 main responsibilities: 1. Carry out responsibilities of President slash Elder Manley when he is not present in Pula.  (The Manleys are in Rijeka now) 2. Help train Miro to be a leader in the church.  I feel like I don't have much more experience leading in the church than Miro, but I've been lucky to grow up in the good old Lyn Rae among some great leaders.  Hopefully I can just follow the example of all the greats back at home and Miro and I can work together to help the people in Pula.

Welp, I love you guys.  Take care.  We'll see you later.

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

August 3

Welp, July 30 officially marks the one year mark for being on a mission.  The only word that I feel can accurately describe how I really feel about that is "laterrrrrrr!".  Not really, nevertheless  i CANNOT believe that it has been one year.  That is out of control.  There is absolutely no time. 

I wanted to be funny and give you a full physical status update � as far as how tall I am, how much I weigh and stuff, but we don�t really have the resources.  I�m pretty much the same though, so it doesn�t really matter.  Still about 6 feet tall, probably a tiny bit heavier.  My Walt Disney pencil stache is growing in thicker and thicker everyday it seems, but still only minor signs of growth on the side of my face.  Acne is still a part of my life.  I currently am sporting an underground zit near my chin that is about the same size as and feels about as good as a badly sprained ankle.  Anyway, I�m just picturing somebody who is not a member of our family reading this and feel an urgency to stop writing about this right now. 

It's been a great week here.  We have been doing a lot of tracting and contacting.  We keep finding a lot of people and sifting through them, because they fall out of interest.  We've met some really great people.  We are just working and hoping for the prepared to grasp on.  Our "bird investigator" is still meeting with us.  I love that guy.  I feel really good about him as far as eventually accepting the gospel, too.  He hasn't been to church yet, and we're working to help him get to that point.  He keeps reading the Book of Mormon.  Pray for him!  A weird observation is that he actually looks a lot like our brother Eric, Eric Dixon, that is.  Picture Eric wearing his glasses, with even darker hair, Italian-tan skin, and a 3 day beard - that is approximately our investigator.  He is great. 

Miro and I had our first Branch Presidency meeting.  It was great.  I�m liking being able to work with Miro in this way.  We just talked about a few small things like who's going to talk in church and stuff, and then we talked about the welfare of the members in Pula.  He asked what our role was in our new callings.  I thought about it, and I didn�t have the perfect answer, but the scripture in Mosiah 18 from when Alma is describing to the people the requirements for baptism came to my mind.  We read verses 8 and 9 about being willing to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need to comfort and stand as witnesses of God at all times.  As we read about selfless service, I felt like he and I understood our roles as leaders in the church a little bit better.  Leadership in the church requires us to take the role of a servant. 

Welp, I better go.  You are the best.  We'll see ya later!  Peace out.

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

August 10

Welp, transfers have gone down once again, and once again the transfer has flone by way too fast.  I was fully expecting to stay with Elder Anderson another transfer, but he's going to Zagreb, while I stay in Pula with another companion coming down from a city called Varadin, named Elder Brown.  He's been out four months, and he's from somewhere in Utah.  The morning of transfer calls, Elder Anderson and I were doing a companionship pondering session on who we thought would go where.  Somewhere in our conversation, I said, "I'd like to work with Elder Brown."  And then... I got the call that night.  Elder Brown is quiet, humble guy.  I love people like him, and I can't wait to work with him in Pula.  I came to here at four months in the country, so we will be able to relate.  This is my third companion in Pula. 

Our mission is so incredibly young right now.  At the end of this transfer, my group will be the 2nd oldest group of missionaries in the mission.  After that next one, we will be the oldest for 8 months before we go home.  To add fuel to that fire, 8 new elders are coming in next transfer (that's a lot.  my group of 3 is normal size).  There will be either 6 or 7 cities open at that time, so pretty much every city will train plus more.  I told Elder Anderson he would probably be training at four months in the country.  That's kind of nerve racking for anyone to hear, so he said something like, "No, you and Elder Babcock and somebody else are going to train."  I said, "You're probably right, and so will you, and so will 4 other people."  Haha, it's crazy.  New missionaries are going to be training new missionaries.  We are very young, it's kind of cool and very intense. 

I love what the mission has done for me.  It's done so much for me personally.  My testimony has been so fortified.  I know this is our Father's work.  I've learned quite a bit about life.  I'm hoping it can do something more for my friends here in Pula.  In the meantime, I do feel very blessed to have this experience. 

Well, I better go.  Hope you all have a good day.  Peace out.

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

August 17

Welp, it seems like I was only with Elder Anderson for a couple weeks, but it was a whole transfer, I guess.  That's nuts.   Now, I am with Elder Brown.  He is from Wellsville, Utah, near Logan.  He lived in Brigham for a long time as well.  He's sweet.  He, like me, came down to Pula with four months in the country under his belt, so I have empathy for the brother.  Things are going well.  The language just gets better and better.  I can say I love this language.  It's great.

With transfers and stuff, it was hard to get a lot done this week, but we are looking forward to hitting it hard this week.  As far as investigators and members and stuff, it's all pretty much the same.  Miro never disappoints and is so strong.  I love hearing what he has to say about the gospel.  He just gets it. 

We had a couple cool experiences with tourists lately.  Some people from Holland -- I think it was Holland -- stopped us and asked in English "Are you enjoying your stay?"   Haha, we said yes and asked if they were members of the LDS church.  They said no, but they had friends that were.  We got talking, and after some time the topic of discussion was family history work.  The husband asked if the Salt Lake Temple was a place where they stored family records.  We explained that the church has some of the biggest family history centers in the world, but they are separate from the temples.  But then we went on to explain the purpose of temples, that we believe family relationships can last now and after this life, and that temples are where that can be made possible.  We explained that baptism is an ordance, and similarly, theres an ordinance done in the temple that makes it possible to be sealed with our families.  We gave them some information about how to find some family-history information and hooked them up with a pamphlet.  It was really cool.  Families... that's really what it's all about. 

We also had a really good discussion with a lady whose a Croat but lives in Atlanta.  Shes going back in a couple weeks.  She expressed that she had regrets in the past about mistakes she had made, but was living a better life now.  I shared with her what I felt about the power of repentance and how to repent.  I mentioned how great it was that we can be simply and completely clean.  I love that we can repent and be forgiven and feel the effects, for reals.  We got her information and will be in contact with her. 

Welp, I better go.  You guys are the bomb.  Take care.  TTYL.

Love,

Elder Dixon

 

August 24

It's been a pretty great week here in Pula.  Time flying continues to be an issue, but things are going well, heh.

Yesterday was a great Sunday.  Two members of the Church came from Zagreb, because they were visiting Pula for the weekend.  One was baptized 17 years ago when he was 15 years old and the other was baptized 15 years ago around the same age.  It was so cool to have them with us.  I was giving the Sunday school lesson on obedience.  It was so great to have their contributions to the lesson.  They have so much experience that we lack here in Pula.  It's so great to see teaching going on Croat-to-Croat.  They invited us to there weekend-home for lunch, and we talked about the church and missionary work and other random topics.  Faithful members in Croatia are real-deal pioneers.  It was so cool to see people with the same testimony, knowledge, and sense of unity that is found with every faithful member of the church. 

Also, yesterday, I conducted my first interview as a leader in the church!  I'll tell you what, that experience really motivated me to live close to the Holy Ghost.  That meeting wouldn't have worked out if it were any other way.  But, the Lord helped us out, and I think we both left the room edified.  Also, I'm so impressed with the members here and how faithful they are with such limited support.  I've grown to love the people here.  If I get transfered any time soon, I will probably punch a whole in a wall... JK, but really, I can't leave Pula.  I love it.

Things are going well with my companion.  I see a lot of me in him.  We are similar people, and I came to Pula at four months in Croatia just like him.  I know where the brother is at, so it's nice to work with him in that sense.

We found a couple cool investigators whose lives can be very blessed and serious questions answered from accepting the gospel and hear the message of the Plan of Salvation.  I'll keep you updated on future progress...

Welp, our members are doing good, but still keep them in your prayers!  The church needs to grow and these members need to endure and progress to the end.  Theirs a lot of opposition in these parts against those two goals, so please know your prayers are appreciated and felt in Pula!

Welp, I better peace out.  I love you all.  Take care!!

Love,

Elder Dixon

Catching Up

Please accept my apology for not posting to this blog for three months.  Ryan continues to have great experiences in the work of the Lord in Pula, Croatia.  He and his companion, Elder Anderson, from Cardston, Alberta, Canada, are the only missionaries in Pula, since the missionary couple, the Petterssons, returned home to Utah. Elder Dixon and Elder Anderson, who just recently arrived from the MTC, lead the little group of seven members of the Church in Pula as they continue in their efforts to build a branch of the Church in that city.

Ryan is really enjoying his work.  In his words, "I am happier than I have ever been on the mission aka in my whole life."   He certainly looks happy in following photo of Ryan and fellow missionaries looking out the window in an old building.  We received the photo yesterday from Sister Hill, the mission president's wife. 

Here are a few excerpts from recent emails we received from Elder Dixon:

May 18th

Welp, we just got back from a P-day adventure.  We went to a really old castle called Dvigrad, hiked through this beautiful canyon in search of some caves that we didn't find, and went to a town called Motovun that's on top of a hill where there's a really pretty view of villages and viniards.  I had a 'Croatia' moment while we were in the car.  We drove past rolling hills with scattered groups of trees and small villages in between while everything was in bloom.  All of that was under a blue sky, and it was beautiful.  I thought about how rare a chance it was to be where serving and having the calling I have.  I'm in a beautiful place and serve among some wonderful people.  I wish you all could see beautiful Croatia and meet the members and missionaries here.  It all combines to make a pretty quality experience!

Were teaching some new people.  We are teaching another drunk-type guy.  We will see if he is as humble and awesome as Mario, and will give all of it up!  We also have an English student that is going to come with us to District Conference on Sunday.  We have never taught him personal lessons, but he has been to almost every spiritual thought since I have been here.  We just announced to everyone at our spiritual thought that an apostle was going to be coming, and he said he wanted to come!  He's a big stud, and would make an awesome member. Keep him in your prayers.  We would love for him to take the lessons from us and be baptized.


May 25th

This weekend was District Conference.  It was so awesome.  It was also tiring.  We woke up at 3:30 in the morning on Saturday to get to a meeting in Zagreb on time.  We had meetings and contacting throughout that day.  Then, in the evening, we took a bus to Karlovac, a city about 45 mins out of the 'Greb, to sleep there over night.  We woke up at 4:30 the next day to get to a bus to Zagreb.  That evening, after all was said and done,  The Pettersons drove us to Rijeka, where Elder Nelson had to go to the doctor the next day (today) for his eye.  At 10ish we got on a 2 hour bus to Pula.  It's p-day, so we got home, and we both crashed and took naps, and now we're back on track. 

It was all worth it though.  Those were some of the coolest meetings ever. Saturday morning was a meeting with Elder Christofferson and just the missionaries.  That was so sweet.  President and Sister Hill talked to us, along with Elder Wondra from the area 70, as well as Elder Christofferson's wife.  Then Elder Christofferson addressed us.  He just opened it up to questions.  He is truely a remarkably good man.  I was amazed by how calm and good he was.  We each got to shake his hand.  It was pretty amazing to look into an Apostle's eyes.  He just has a goodness and a purity about him that you would expect from an Apostle.  In every way he fits the mold you of an apostle.  In response to all of the questions he recieved, he simply would turn to the scriptures and teach the pure doctrine.  There was no opinion mixed in with it.  It was simple the doctrine, nothing more, nothing less, and the Spirit was strong.  I've grown to really love him.  He is the man.

So, I went to the restroom during lunch, and immediately following me was Elder Christofferson...  I decided to use the stall instead of the urinal in order to avoid any apostalic awkwardness, but when I got out he was combing his hair in the mirror.  So I went to wash my hands, and we were standing next to one another, just he and I, and he said, "Did you survive the meal?"  I kind of laughed and said, "Yes, I did. Thanks for all you've said.  It's been a good weekend."  He said, "Your welcome.  Yes it has."  We said bye or something, and he left.  Haha, I never thought I would have personal one-on-one contact with an apostle in a bathroom in Zagreb, Croatia!


June 1st

Elder Nelson and I have been really blessed to make contact with a lot of people.  We've been getting a lot of numbers from people and have had several chances to teach.  We're struggling to find people who really want to read the Book of Mormon or progress in any way, though.  Peoples' non/committal tendencies can be pretty frustrating, but I know there are some exceptions out there ready to hear the gospel.  I've felt lately a greater need to prepare myself to be able to teach the people who are prepared when we come in contact.  I need to be the missionary the Lord can depend on to teach his receptive children.  The more ready I am, the more willing the Lord is going to be to bless us with prepared souls to teach and baptize. 

Yesterday, Elder Nelson and I were walking down a sidewalk by the harbor contacting.  We noticed a couple kids across the street pointing to us and talking to their parents.  Elder Nelson was like, "Dude, those are Mormons".   Haha, sure enough, about 6 people crossed the street, and when they were about 20 feet in front of us, the dad said in English, "We are members from Italy!"  We got talking to them, and they live in Milan and were in Pula on vacation.  I asked them if they knew Elder Toronto.  They didn't, but they knew the story of their ancestor that converted.  They were checking out the Croatian on our name tags and Book of Mormons and thought it was so cool.  When they were leaving, they all wanted to shake our hands and stuff.  I got that missionary-hero feeling when I shook the kids' hands, haha.  That was pretty sweet.  It's not every day you run into an LDS family on the streets of Pula!  It was tight. 


June 8th

Every companionship is training in our zone, save the zone leaders only.  So, I guess this makes me the first trainer in Pula, training the first greenie to ever come to Pula.  Btw, his name is Elder Anderson from Calgary, Canada.  Pretty cool, eh??  Pray for the brother.  And more for me…

I’m pretty nervous x 10097342439074397607.  My language skills are weaker than I would like, and I still have the junior companion slash greenie feel going on.  I’m going to have to step it up, be a little better, rely on the Lord a little more, etc.  I really want him to see some real success and have a blast.  I didn’t find or teach very many people during my first four months, and I don’t want that to be the case for him.  I really want to help him hit the ground running.  It’s pretty out of control, because the Petterssons are going to be leaving in a month, and after they leave, there isn’t supposed to be a senior couple coming here from what I know.  Therefore, it will just be Elder Anderson, myself, and 7 members in Pula.


June 15th

I'm very impressed with Elder Anderson. He knows so much more Croatian than I did coming out of the MTC.  In fact, he puts my greenie speaking skills to complete shame.  He's going to own the Croatian language.  He looks a lot like Brian Garner, Ed's friend, especially when he's smiling.  He's from Cardsten, Canada.  He is a stud.  It's been pretty sweet so far.  He's already taught his first lesson, blessed the sacrament, given a talk, prayed at meetings, and contacted people on the street.  We are planning to get up early from here on out to study the language, so that we can hit the ground running.  I have a feeling this is going to be a sweet transfer. 

I was pretty nervous coming into this transfer, but it's going good.  I've experienced a boost in my ability to understand and speak.  So much that I think that Elder Anderson is under the false misconception that I'm fluent in the language, haha...  Hopefully I can keep him in ignorance...  :)   JK.


June 23rd

The greatest experience happened the other day.  We were on our way home, and at the rate we were going, we were going to get home 5 or 10 minutes early.  So, we decided to take a longer route and talk to a couple more people.  We stopped a young guy -- 20s -- and began talking about the Book of Mormon.  He was a cool guy but didn't seem really interested at first.  I was holding out a copy of the Book of Mormon as we were explaining a little about it.  After a minute or 2 of talking, I felt something fall on the book.  We all heard something so we looked down, and a bird had dropped a gift directly onto the Book of Mormon.  (You can use your imagination and take a guess at what type of gift it may have been... haha.)  That guy -- looked up and said, "That's just your luck."  After that, I said, "I think that means you need to read this book."  We laughed about that, and after a minute or so, we got his number and we gave him a pamphlet.   I guess that gift was a gift from the heavens, because since then, we have met, and he is currently in the process of reading the Book of Mormon.  Haha, the Lord works in mysterious ways... I think if that bird didn't come to lighten up the mood a little, he wouldn't have given us his number.

We had interviews with President today.  He is the best.  I love interviews with him.  He's so directed to understand our needs.  I appreciate the man.  I wish you all could know President Hill.

To answer Mom's question, Pula is its own district.  After the Petterssons leave, it will be just Elder Anderson and me.  I'm kind of excited. It will be pretty cool to just go at Pula, just me and Elder Anderson. 


June 29th

Things are going great with Elder Anderson.  He is the man.  I've never enjoyed missionary work as much as I am right now.  We are so busy!  I have know idea where time is going.  It seems like weekly planning shows up about every 48 hours.  The thought that I have been out almost a year blows my mind slash freaks me out.  It just makes me want to work harder! 

Elder Anderson and I officially walked home our first drunk the other night.  It was funny and sad all in one.  He was eighty-ish.  I felt he was a little old for that stuff. 

We are teaching the guy we contacted when the bird pooped on the Book of Mormon.  He is such a cool guy - one of the coolest people I have met in Croatia.  He just gets it.  He's been a pleasure to teach.  We are only a couple lessons in plus seeing each other on the street, but I feel good about him.  He's reading the Book of Mormon right now like a champ and is committed to pray about it before Wednesday.  Pray that he'll get an answer.  He's the man. 

So, Elder Anderson and I were living off of noodles, gouda cheese, chicken seasoning, milk, and corn flakes last week because we were out of dough for the month.  We were really puzzled as to why we ran out of money so early.  So, we were planning to finish off the last 5 days of the month with the same noodles and cheese with seasoning on top, haha.  In desperation, I looked where I usually keep my food money, and behold - 400 kuna aka about 80 bucks.  We were so happy, man.  We went shopping and now we are eating like kings, because we scraped by for like a week, haha.  Funny huh!


July 6th

Things have been going really well here.  Our investigators are progressing more and more, and we are continuing to find people.  We're very blessed, Elder Anderson and I.  I am happier than I have ever been on the mission aka in my whole life.  There's not enough hours in the day and we're pretty busy, but I love it.  I hope we get busier and busier.  I love this work.  I love the gospel.  Life's great out here. 

The "bird poop investigator" is doing good. ... He's really great.  Such a cool guy with great questions.  He's probably our most progressing investigator.  Keep him in your prayers.  On a side note, he also follows American baseball which is uncommon here.  He likes to update me when the Diamondbacks win.

Beautiful Pula

Ryan continues to serve in Pula, Croatia, a beautiful city on the Adriatic Sea.  We don't have any personal photos to show you, but liked the following coastline scene from a travel website.  We understand that Pula is a favorite tourist spot for visitors from many parts of Europe.

It sounds like the English classes Elders Dixon and Nelson are teaching are enabling them to meet new people and develop strong friendships.  They hope that this will lead to opportunities to teach people the gospel.

A few excerpts from Ryan's last email:

Subject: Ciao Ciao

Dear Family,

Things are going well in Pula.  Last Friday, we had Cowboy Night for our English students.  It was an awesome activity. Probably the most awesome activity I have been involved with on my mission.  Easily the greatest part was the cowboy dance that Elder Nelson taught to them all.  When we decided we were going to do a cowboy night, Elder Nelson decided he would teach everyone a country dance he learned when he was in elementary school.  So, virtually everyone that came (which was about 40 people) learned the "slappin' leather" dance from good old Elder Nelson.  Haha, it was so funny.  Elder Nelson and I got cowboy shirts...  We had a cupcake eating contest, bobbing for apples, hamburgers, and other stuff.  It was sweet.  The coolest part was a time when like five english students ganged up on me and started asking all kinds of questions about the church.  I got to testify a little and tell them more about what it was about, and I invited them to church.  There's some sweet people that we want to start teaching, so we'll so how that goes. 

So we went to some underground caves in Slovenia the other day.  Easily the coolest thing I've ever seen on a p-day.  They were beautiful.  And huge.  As a rule, we weren't aloud to take pictures. I went up to our tour guide and asked if we could take video of the cave with our cameras.  Haha, she then proceeded to give like a two minute speach about how they allow it but don't recommend it, because people might get the idea they can take pictures -- and the flash was damaging to the living species and the nature, etc.  So, I said okay, and since she said it was OKAY to take video, I was going to.  I went to take a video, but it was on the wrong setting, and I took a picture that flashed in the direction of the tour guide from like 5 feet away.  Haha, she was kind of frustrated, and I felt like Hades.  I appologized right after and looked pretty stupid, but the best part is that Elder Nelson happened to get the whole thing on video!  We sit down and watch that and just laugh.  Haha, it was so funny.

So lately, I've been increasingly grateful for the way the Lord builds up good men and women in this life. Looking back, much of the growth in my life has come as a result of being surrounded by good men and the teachings of good men and women who love the Lord and live His gospel. The prophets and Christlike examples from the Book of Mormon and the other standard works have guided me in my decision making throughout my life; and the examples of good men and women that have surrounded me, like Mom and Pops, church leaders, and companions like Elder Nelson, have inspired me to repent, change, improve, and grow. I am growing more and more thankful for the goodness in people as I realize what it has done for me, and consequently, enabled me to be somewhat of an influence for good here right now.  I love you peeps.  Thanks for your goodness!

Welp, I better peace out.  TTYL.  I love you!!

Love,

Elder Dixon

Time is Flying in Croatia

Elder Dixon reported this week that he is amazed at how quickly time is going by in Croatia.

The following photo is a sunrise over Pula, where Ryan is now stationed.

Some excerpts from Ryan's last email:

Subject: I said a boom chick a boom!!!

Fam!

Haha, Elder Nelson randomly started chanting the "I said a boom chick a boom" today and it made me laugh. I forget where he learned it, but it made me think of Shawn McKay at the classic Lyn Rae ward party! Such good times in the Lyn Rae hahaha...

Welp, it seems like this week didn't happen. I can't believe it's monday again and that transfers happen again in 3 weeks. I've almost been in Pula for six weeks. Croatia for 6 months... ish... Laterrrrr! is all I have to say about that! We had Zone Conference this week. It felt so low key for some reason. I think it's because five missionaries left last transfer from Croatia and we haven't got any back yet. We were a small group. It was an amazing conference though. President is called of God. K? K. He's truly directed to direct us. Inspired to inspire us. I love him.

I also really loved the workshop the Assistants to the President gave us. One of the assistants compared missionary work to sports. He said his coach in high school said to practice with your hands, but play with your heart and your mind. He talked about how in Volley ball, you would practice passing, hitting, and returning (and stuff) from every possible position on the court. That way, during a game, those actions were just muscle memory. He could think about and put his heart into the game, because everything else was simply automatic. He didn't have to worry about the mechanics. It's the same thing in missionary work slash life in general, I think. The scriptures teach us to treasure up knowledge. As missionaries, we practice teaching and speaking in our language. That way, our limitations are... limited, and the Spirit has more room to guide, teach, and befriend the taught. It's such a sweet principle that's so applicable to missionary work.

Last night, we taught our most active members slash couple about temple work. That's a sweet branch of missionary work... Preparing members to enter the temple. I love the temple. I would advise anybody preparing to go on a mission to go to the temple every possible day after he/she gets his/her call... I treasure my times in the Mesa, AZ temple. It's helped me to better understand why I'm here and the goal for the investigators we teach. But, we showed them my pedigree chart, and explained that I was sealed to all those people and more. We explained that when they go to Frankfurt, they can do those ordinances for their parents and beyond. They were touched by that. Isn't that so sweet?? They can literally invite their parents to live in the presence of God and with them forever. I also randomly remembered that Brother Boren had ancestors in Slovenia and went there to do family history work. Nataia is a Slovene, so I told her that. It was cool. Haha, small world.

Welp Ive got to go! Thank you for everything. I'm really happy out here. Thanks for the mail. Take care!!

Love

Elder Dixon

On the Internet in Pula

Ryan's face was front and center in an internet article published on the Regional Express website in Croatia. As Ryan reported in his last email, "This guy stopped us while we were passing out English fliers the other day. He was some journalist and he busted out his telescope camera and asked a bunch of questions and told us we'd be on the internet. And we are!"

We can't understand the text of the article because it was all written in Croatian, but I hope it helps the elders get noticed so they can find more people to teach.

We continue to be inspired by Ryan's emails. Here are a few excerpts from his last email:

First of all, we passed out a little shy of 5000 fliers for English class. Guess how many showed up to sign up... Yes, 120 people! Pretty crazy huh? We passed out twice as many fliers in Osijek where there is probably double the people, and got about the same number. So pretty much, Elder Nelson and I just signed up to be full time English teachers! haha. Its sweet, but we were aiming more in the 20-50 range. Haha laterrrrrr, we'll see how that goes!

Our first baptismal candidate is doing good. She is showing she understands what we are teaching and that she has a testimony. She's quit coffey and is committed to pay tithing. She pulled a fast one on us this week, though. She told us her family was muslim. That kind of caused some problems, because I guess if you are teaching a muslim (at least in this mission), President needs to interview them and make sure their family wont physically hurt them for being involved with the church. I guess there were some problems in slovenia once. So, we got her interviewed by way of Elder Pettersson, and I think she'll be fine. We've taught her with her family around anyway and they didn't seem to have any problems. But shes doing good. Pray for her.

Welp, Zone conference is coming up. I can't wait! I could use a solid hand shake from President Hill and some inspiring words from the leaders of the mission. How did I get through life without Zone Conference every six weeks back at home?? Idk man.

I've thought about the atonement alot lately. I love that it's real. We teach people so often that Jesus overcame sin, sorrow, pain, and death so that we could be happy in this life and return to Heavenly Father. I'm so thankful that that's true. I don't think I could ever deny that. I'm so thankful for the evidence of that truth in my life. The Savior really does forgive sin, comfort us through the Holy Ghost, and strengthen us through that same medium. He lives today and leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which provides the way to take full advantage of that infinate atoning sacrifice. I'm thankful for the scriptures and a Prophet that instruct us how to live according to that gospel. I know it's true!

I found out this week that Elder Nelson was part of the green barret's (barays?? idk) in the army. I guess that's one of the most elite groups in the army. Seek and destroy style... He's a stud. I'm lucky to serve with him.

Welp peeps, I should go!! Keep it real! I love you so much. Take care.

Love,

Elder Dixon

The Greatest Week ...

Elder Dixon's emails continue to be very inspiring. They are the highlight of each week. This week was no exception, as Ryan proclaimed, "it has been pretty much the greatest week of my mission." We are so gratified to hear that he is working hard, teaching good people and growing stronger and stronger in the power of God.

The following photo is a Roman arch in Pula. What deep history is there! For us in Arizona, where something that has lasted over 100 years is "old", the historical richness Ryan is experiences must be breathtaking.

An excerpt from his email:

Hey Fam!

How are we?? Btw, sorry I'm late but happy b-day to Rachel and Ty! You guys are tight. In 2011, let's have a sweet group b-day party... K? K. It was nice to hear from my bro's Todd and Spencer in the past weeks. Such studs. Thanks for the e-mails. God speed as Miamaids pres Holly. Scarlet Pimpernel style. haha.

Welp, it has been pretty much the greatest week of my mission. That seems to be happening alot. First off, I'd like to bare a brief witness too that missions are so dang fun. Besides all of the other miraculous, good, testimony fortifying, peaceful, joyful, spiritual, etc. things, missions are such a blast and so tight. So many random, funny things have happened this week. From investigators falling asleep in lessons narcolepcia style (is that the right word?) to drunks dancing while playing a Brother Wach type flute to 70 year old grandmas screaming at us about mafia conspiracy theories, it's all happened in this past week. Though the funness of a mission isn't the most important thing, missions are such a blast.

Along with all that stuff, came alot of success this week, including 2 baptismal dates. Elder Nelson was reviewing our numbers this week before calling them in to the Zone leaders and said, "We've got a lot to be thankful for". That's the troof. The Lord has blessed us with wonderful opportunities, experiences, and blessings with what seems like little effort on our part.

We got another awesome investigator this week. He got an english class flier from us in the past week or two and saw the name of our Church on the bottom. He called our number from the flier and told us he wanted to meet with us. It turns our hes lived all over the world and been a part of all kinds of religions, and since he moved back to Pula he hasnt had anyone to really talk to about God and spiritual things. He really missed that, and was praying for something along those lines and got our flier. We met with him. He speaks really good english and is very intelligent. He LOVES to meet with us. It was crazy how excited he was to talk to somebody about the gospel. His hands were shaking he was so excited. We gave him a Book of Mormon. We talked and he was full of questions. We met another day and he read us all the things he enjoyed out of the Book of Mormon. He read all over. He was like "Alma was a very interesting man" haha. He loves the Book of Mormon. He came to church on sunday. We are going to talk to him more about baptism this week.

So, if I had to sum up our experiences this week, Id have to refer to Doctrine and Covenants 64:34... "Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." The Lord has really blessed Elder Nelson and I this week. It seems like all we did was try. We simply tried to have "the heart and a willing mind" --and I think we even fell short of that-- and the Lord put people in our path and worked on the people of Pula. I love him and am so thankful for his kindness. It's a miracle that we can repent. I can't comprehend the goodness of that gift, nor the debt I owe to the Savior.

Welp, I better roll out. But I love you. Thanks for the love and support. I hope Angie and Heidi are doing good with their respective babes. Keep it real.

With Love

Elder Dixon