Sister Dixon: Dressed in White Twice :)

Kamusta everyone!

What an awesome week this was!

Monday, after p-day, we attempted to have FHE with a family, but it fell through, as well as our backup. We decided to talk to the Rosales family to see if we could figure out where some unidentified living quarters of less actives lived. while we were there, a family came over and Sister McIver knew the husband! He went to BYU Hawaii with her and married an American. She was there as well. They have two cute little girls and need to live in the Philippines for two years so he can get his green card. They've only been here 3 months...I could sense it was hard for the wife. She was happy and upbeat, but I could tell she missed home. It would be hard to do that with a young family and not know any of the language. It kind of put things into perspective for me, so that was good.

Tuesday we had district meeting and then visited Mary Jane Limb. She is a less active member and likes to talk a lot. :) We taught her how the gospel blesses families. We also taught Sister Musni about the Atonement. She's a less active as well, so hopefully she'll come to church. She has the cutest daughter and I want so much for them to go to the temple! Later we taught Marjolet and Doug in preparation for their wedding on Saturday and her baptism. she was so happy and we were beyond excited. We asked her how we could help her prepare and get ready, and she said she didn't know how to do makeup. I told her I'd be happy to help her out. Service as a missionary comes in many different ways, but I never thought helping someone prepare for a wedding would be one of them! I was so excited!

Wednesday was kind of rough. We got punted most of the day, but were able to get a few lessons in with Sister Ortiz, the Neri family, and Narcisso family. Sister Ortiz is less active and doesn't really have a testimony--she's been offended in the past. We left her with the introduction to the Book of Mormon. hopefully we can help her out. When we went to the Neri family, their daughter, Charity, came home from school crying because someone had stolen her new pair of shoes. My heart just ached for her! They already have practically nothing and I just wanted to give her a big hug and give her all my shoes. In the Narcisso family, they are all active except for the dad--he isn't baptized. We started lesson one with him and will continue to teach him. :)

Thursday we taught a woman named Lucia (less active) about prayer. Her son was so cute. He came in and was like, "Spiderman ako!! (I am Spiderman!) He started climbing all over the chair and then onto the wall. haha He was cute. But it was awesome because Lucia came to church on Sunday!

Friday we taught in an area where it's gated. We love the guy in charge of opening the gate, Almar, because he always has a new friend with him each day to introduce to us. :) Almar's not a member, but he's always like, "these are my friends Dixon and McIver." haha it's awesome because we've been able to get a few new investigators through him! One in particular is Ronald. He read the entire lesson one pamphlet we gave him (we were shocked--it's not often they do what they say they'll do) and wants us to teach him more! We also taught a girl named Jessica. Her daughter is sponsored to go to school by the baptist church, so they won't let her go to the LDS church, even though she's been baptized. It's tough for them, because school is expensive, and they don't have much money, so it's a tough situation. We talked with her and told her to pray for strength to know what to do, and that Heavenly Father will bless her as she endures. Her sister-in-law, Lyn was over as well and had a 2 month old baby. Oh my goodness, she was adorable!! I think the hardest rule for me in the missionary handbook is not to hold babies. I wanted to just snuggle with her--she was so cute. :) That night we had dinner with the Ledesma family (they feed us every Friday--they are so nice). They could be considered millionaires in the Philippines, but they are so very generous. They have helped Marjolet prepare a lot of her wedding by helping her find a dress and other little things. they are truly a Christ-like family and help our ward out a lot.

Saturday: Wedding and baptism day for Marjolet!! It was such a wonderful day. We started out with helping the YW with their one day mission, and had a few other appointments. But then we got to help Marjolet get ready for her wedding! There were so many tender mercies along the way. She didn't have any makeup, but luckily I had some eye shadow and some waterproof mascara so it wouldn't smear after she entered the water. She decided she wanted her hair up but she didn't have any hair elastics or bobby pins. Luckily I put two hair bands in my hair for the day (normally it's just one). I used the extra one plus a bobby pin I had in my hair and two that sister mcIver had to do a twisted updo. It was simple, but we made do with what we had and she looked gorgeous! We also made a bouquet for her with flowers from the church (i don't actually know if we were allowed to do that. haha) and wrapped it in a ribbon we found on the floor in the chapel while we were cleaning beforehand. It was perfect! We found a pin to made it all stay in place and gave it to her when we went over to help. There were just so many things that just fell into place. :) She looked absolutely gorgeous and she was so happy! We went to the chapel together and as they were sitting, waiting, I just pictured them a year from now in the temple, and how much greater their joy and happiness would be. The wedding was wonderful and I got to sit with Kirk (their almost 4 year old son) to keep him occupied. I also got to play the piano for the wedding and the baptism, which was neat. After the wedding, Marjolet Concejeros (and now Chua!) was baptized. :) She was all smiles and afterward gave a very sweet testimony. I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear the entire time. I'm just beginning to understand the statement in D&C 18 about how great shall be your joy if you bring souls unto Christ. It is literally the greatest feeling ever. Marjolet had such a happy spirit, and her light was just glowing. I'm so happy for her and I can't for her and Doug, with their kids Lars and Kirk to be sealed in the temple someday. To be dressed in white twice. :)

Sunday Marjolet was confirmed and when we asked her how she felt she said that she felt like Christ had actually been the one to bless her and she felt so happy. :) Ah! I love it. I really can't describe the happiness I felt for her. :)

In all honesty, this week had it's ups and downs, but the ups outweigh the downs and I've learned a lot from the downs. The joy of someone coming unto Christ can't be described and I feel so blessed to be able to do this for a year and a half--to help others come unto Christ and experience the peace and guidance and happiness this Gospel brings. I love it. I know it's true.

Have a great week everyone! Thanks again, as always, for the prayers and support. I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Dixon

PS The cure for not wanting to feel sweaty, or somewhat preventing an oily face is baby powder. :)

Everyone here thinks I wear contacts--as in my eyes are fake. They don't believe my eyes are this blue and I tell them I love brown eyes, so I'll switch with them any day. :)

Mango floats are the best:

mix crushed graham crackers and mango tang for the base

put chopped mangoes next

top with a can of sweetened condensed milk with cream of the same amount and freeze overnight. so delicious!!

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A HUGE spider that was in Sister McIver's bathroom that traveled to the room next door. I know it doesn't look big, but it was the biggest spider I've ever seen and the biggest one sister McIver has seen in a house. Ick! It was so creepy, especially when it would move it's fast legs.

Sister McIver was the brave one and shot it down with Permetherin. :)

Huge pig in someone's yard

The picture of the fruit: Left-Durinan (and far right on the plate), on top-mango, red thing-Rambutan (eat around the seed), below: lanzones. You peel it like an orange. They are all so sweet and delicious!

Durian! King of the Fruits. I really have never tasted anything like it...it was custardy and tasted bitter yet sweet....don't know how I feel about it. ;)