This week has really been a trial of faith and marks the
fifth time we have had someone so close to being baptized only to have
something come and have them back out. That
being said, we no longer have any baptismal dates set. We started this latest
transfer with five baptismal dates set and now we have zero.
I’ve been really down on myself lately, because it feels
like all of that work was for nothing. I
know that the effort didn’t go to waste, but right now it didn’t really amount
to anything. I guess this is where faith
comes in. I need to have faith that
someday those people will eventually get baptized. Faith is an all-encompassing eternal principle
that shapes who we are and who we become. In the end, we will be judged by who
we have become through enduring trials and how we react to those trials.
Every day has its own trials. Before and during my mission I have lost
loved ones, both family and friends. Now, as a missionary, sometimes it is hard
to keep the faith when you get knocked down - when those we work with and learn
to love decide to walk way. When you get
knocked down you have to get up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward,
even if it means crawling.
I have adopted a new saying that goes as follows: "There never has been a beautiful garden
without a gardener.” Now, whether
you see this meaning a literal garden or look at it as your life - there’s a
gardener - our Heavenly Father. He gives
us trials, because he wants us to be the best we can possible be. He wants us to become like his son, Jesus
Christ. I wish I could say it would be all sunshine and rainbows, but it is
going to rain sometimes and you have to learn to dance in the rain 😊.
This week started off with a good PDay of bowling and
emailing home.
Tuesday: We had Zone
Conference. It was a neat experience, as
always, to hear from the Brownings! We
also got smart phones, which is a blessing and a curse. That being said, it was a good day, tiring but
good. Seven hours sitting on hard chairs
in a gym can take its toll on a person, that's for sure.
Wednesday: We spent all afternoon contacting potential
investigators and referrals, which entailed a bunch of driving. All of that driving combined with no luck
made for a long day!
Thursday was a super duper long day. We went out with Bro. Collingwood all day. We contacted a bunch of less-active members until
we headed off to sells for Book of Mormon class. During class we taught Z__,
who was scheduled to be baptized in a little over a week. He ultimately ended up not be able to get
baptized any time soon. It was a
wonderful day until I heard this news. Let’s just day that was a long sad quiet
ride home.
Friday was our planning day. We did our weekly planned and
ate at the Sunny Daze café for lunch. Someone picked up our tab and thank
goodness because that was an expensive peach milkshake, lol. It is my new favorite dessert though! After lunch we continued our planning.
Saturday was Elder Witzel’s birthday! We started the day by helping someone move
then we ate lunch at this awesome mom and pop Mexican shop. I think it is safe to say me and chimichongas
still don't get along, lol. Tasty, but man a couple hours later I was not a
happy camper. We made some visits and then went on splits.
 |
| Elder's Witzel, Banks and Mitchell |
Sunday Elder Mitchell and I stayed in town while Elders
Witzel and Banks went to Sells. We had meetings starting at 7:00 am and we got
home just before 4 o’clock. We had a correlation meeting Sunday evening - with a
dinner appointment thrown in there somewhere. I had a really cool
experience this Sunday. We had a mission
wide fast for various reasons and it has really helped lately. Not only that,
but I got to bare my testimony for the first time in the Midvale Ward, after serving
there for 7 months!
Anyways, this email was a tad different than others. Instead of an emphasis on each day, it was a
little more spiritually focused because of some trials. I’ve learned a ton this
week and maybe you got something out of it too. ¿Quien sabe?
I hope you had a good week this week. I would love to hear
from y'all.
Love,
Elder Connor William Dickinson
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