Christmas

So family it was so good to see you guys on Christmas. I felt time flew by. I couldn't stop thinking about talking to you guys. I feel like we said so much but in that time we just touched the basics of the life out here and how you guys are back home. So first off each and every one of you look soooo soo good. Mom you are so beautiful and I can feel your love all the way over here. Dad you look ripped and I look up to you so much. Kaits and Ky I can honestly say I have the most beautiful and awesome sisters ever. Kobe you da man. I thought I was looking at myself skyping you. You are such a stud and miss you to death. 

Well I hope your christmas was as good as mine. Waking up with no presents (SIDENOTE: He opened all his presents right after he got them in November!) and being able to study and focus on the Savior is the greatest thing ever. I was honestly just looking forward to talking to you guys. And I loved it. 

Well christmas eve was great. I dressed up like santa and we went caroling around to all the members. And it was so fun and spiritual the kids especially loved the santa suit. 

Christmas was amazing. We woke up studied and went to a members house for lunch. She fed us mac pie, rice, turkey legs, and ham!! so amazing!! Then I was able to see my awesome family. After we went to the mission home and watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas and a disney show called El Derado. It was super funny! But was so hard to stay awake. My body was so emotionally tired. I couldn't stop thinking of you guys! 

Well things are great now. Looking forward to another great week of missionary work. 

Love you all 

Have a happy new year! 

Elder Dixon

Second Baptism

Hey family!! My email won't be very long because I will talk to you soon. 

But this week we did get a baptism. I let the comp do the baptizing and I confirmed her. Not gonna lie I was very nervous. But the spirit spoke through me which was amazing during the blessing. Words would just come to my head. Sandra Annette Hope showed up 2 hours early for her baptism and for church and her confirmation on Sunday! It was awesome! 

Dad so good to hear about your promotion that is so awesome! You definitely deserve it. You are the hardest worker I know. 

Here are some awesome pics of the baptism and of the Bados. Hope you like them! 

Love you all. Remember to focus on Christ, and have your scriptures when we skype I want to have a spiritual thought. 

Love you guys 

See you soon!

Elder Dixon

P-Day Service Project and Sister Hope

Hey guys! Sounds like everything is going great back at home!! Well I am pumped to talk to you guys soon! So Pumped!!
 

Well other than that things are great here! This last week we did service for some of my favorite members Sista Hyland and Aunt Addy. They are so funny and they call us homies now. Well we painted their whole house it was a great time. We got in a paint fight at the end. 

Okay cool story. 
Sandra Annett Hope - we call her Ann. She is so nice.. She is about 50 and we have been teaching her ever since we have been here in the Bados. She is so nice and kinda shy. She has come to church just about every week. She believes everything we share with her but she is so scared of Baptism. She always says No when we ask her. So we decided to fast and pray every day for her. So this last week Tuesday, we went to her house.. At the end of a very spiritual lesson, I was prompted to ask her one more time if she wanted to be baptized.
 
She smiled real big and said she really wants too. She says she is more excited for her baptism then Christmas. We will be Baptizing her this Saturday! As I left her house I then had a huge thought in my head about the Temple. I thought of sitting in the celestial room with you and dad. A tear came to my eye as I felt so loved. I honestly believe those prayers from the temple helped Ann say yes to baptism. I am so grateful for that and can't wait for the baptism this Saturday! Ann went to her mothers house and borrowed a white dress so she can be baptized in her moms stuff. It is so awesome. The church is so true!!

I love you all!
Elder Dixon

Jakes current favorite scripture 

Caribbean Man

I am so happy!! I love being out here. 

So to answer some questions you have. 

The investigators are good. We have two really good ones. One is David when we met him he smoked 3 packs a day and marijuana on top of that. But now he is only down to 1 pack a day. We are planning on baptizing him on December 26if he keeps improving. 

The other one that is sweet is Hope. She is an old lady who is way awesome and so nice. The only thing holding her back from a splash is she wants to know everything about the church before she gets baptized. So we are just working with her to gain her testimony. I feel there will be a splash soon though. 

Okay also having no AC is so fine. I am becoming a Caribbean man, plus the winds from the states come down so every day we get a cold nice wind from the north. So awesome. I actually slept with a blanket on me last night.. hah

Also, the new shoes are boss, loving them.

This place is way safer then my last area in Lucia. In Lucia, gangs are all on the outskirts of town. But here there are gangs, but are you kidding me? I am never scared. They should be scared of me because I got the priesthood. We talk to a lot of crazy people. I can tell when they are high on marijuana or if they just have smoked tobacco. I asked a man the other day if we could help him... haha he was smoking weed. so He said yes. So I said let me borrow your weed. He said okay. I grabbed it and threw it a mile. haha. He was like,  "Man, what was that for? I said, "I am saving your life." I gave him a track on word of wisdom.. He laughed, and said, "Thanks, man." 

HMM Christmas is getting close... not sure what time I will skype but I am way excited. I think on the pday before Christmas we spend it at the mission home. Then on Christmas.. I think I am going to go to Dawn's… she is my favorite person ever. I cooked her shrimp the other night. She said we could go over there too.. hmm I will Skype you guys. And then that night we get to watch a movie. I think we are going to watch ELF. That will be fun.

The bikes are good. Fixed my tire and the senior couple got Huef a new bike. We lock them up every where we go. The reason it got stolen is because we had a party at the church for independence and they were in there.. and someone teafed it then. 

I am pumped to open the presents;) 

The mission is going well this week just another typical week.

Love you all,

Elder Dixon

Four Months Down! :)

Thanksgiving was great. I made mashed potatoes. I literally just got some potatoes and mashed them up. That's it. We got a member to bring Mac Pie! We had Coke, Mac Pie, and Potatoes. Also we got an investigator to come and bring some Sparkling Cider so that was fun! We went around the table and said  what we are Thankful for. It was a fun Thanksgiving. Haha, the person in charge of the meat forgot so we didn't have the main course, but it is all good.

The area presidency came in to speak to us at a fireside. So us missionaries from Black Rock hopped on a bus to get there. It was at the other church across the island... Jeff, a member of the church here who works with the missionaries, told us he knew where it was so we followed him after we got off the bus into Bridgetown. it was about 5:30 and the fireside started at 7 so we thought we had plenty of time... we followed jeff as we walked up and down roads. To make a long story short Jeff had know idea where we were going. So we were lost. After walking for about 3 hours the fireside was over and we were in the middle of nowhere. The AP's then came and picked us up after the fireside. We were an hour ride from the church.. They laughed at us so much.. It was such a funny experience. 

Monday was Independence Day! We had a party at the church and did some fun stuff I will show you a video of me dancing!! --  Also on Monday we had interviews with president. I guess my comp is having some issues with me.  I was in shock because I thought me and my comp were great friends and were having a good time together. I guess not. To make things worse his bike got stolen and mine had a flat. so as I carried it home it was a silent walk. I was frustrated and mad. That night was the worst.

Tuesday was zone conference! We Learned a lot! the spirit was so strong!! I have been trying to talk to my comp to make things better but who knows.  I am praying all the time our friendship will come back, and also that I can become more humble to know what he is going through. 

Well other than that, things are great. I love the mission but can't wait to talk to you guys at Christmas.I miss you guys a lot!

Elder Dixon

Our cute family friend Whitney and her husband Bill went on a cruise and Jake got to see them!! They delivered his Christmas package to him for us. So awesome 

They brought Jake and his companion two burger's each from the cruise ship. Jake was so excited! They have hamburger there but he says it just isn't the same as the what we usually eat. They were in heaven. 

Add caption

How he had to get his presents back to his apartment

Christmas came early! :) 

Jake gave away a pair of his shoes to an investigator so he's been wearing just the pair on the left.  He's been saying he's needed new shoes for a while. Mom sent his some for Christmas. Also really excited about that :) 

Inside of his shoe, it happens right? :) 

They did service for Sister Hyland. Jake writes, "She is so cool! We were at her house almost every day last week. We make the Banana leafs ready for the Conkee (Picture below) This is seriously one of y favorite foods. They wrap it up in Banana leaves and steam it for a few hours. It takes like Banana Bread mixed with Pumpkin Cookies. So Good!!" 

Thankful :)

I am so grateful for  being able to email you guys. I am grateful for the parents I have and most importantly your testimonies and that you raised me in this church. I hope you guys have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And know I am very thankful for you all. Just know we will be skyping at Christmas and that will be the best present ever.

Well for this week, it was tough, hot, sweaty, and very spiritual.

We were out one night working hard, and we started talking to this man. The lesson was going well. We were teaching him about the plan of salvation. He then asked a question that has helped changed my life. He asked where is this doctrine found in the scriptures. I then felt a blank space in my head. I knew that Alma 40 talks about the spirit world and resurrection. I knew D&C 76 talks about the kingdoms. But I didn't know where in the Bible all this doctrine was found. I didn't share any doctrine - just bore my testimony and we left. 

I felt discouraged. I couldn't help this man. I knew my work was cut out for me. As you know I am the most determined person. I  don't like to fail or loose ever. I spent all week studying hard in the Bible and Book of Mormon. I can promise you now that If someone asks me that question again I will be able to answer with a  confidence and  power, bearing testimony not only in word but in scripture. 

I am very thankful for that man. I hope I can study harder to know so that I can be a better instrument in the Lord's hand.

As for Thanksgiving, I am pumped. I am going to go try to catch a stray chicken and we will cook it. I also want to try to make a pie. That will be interesting. haha. I hope we meet up with the sista missionaries so they can feed us on Thanksgiving because they actually know how to cook haha. 

Well I love you all and I miss you guys. 

I am very thankful for you guys. Remember to share you testimonies on Thanksgiving to someone new. 

Love you all,

Elder Dixon

Short, Sweet and Stitches

Yo so just imagine a nice cool breeze.. 80 degrees.... a nice cold coke... Laying in a hammock.... and watching the sea roll in and out.. at the hilton resort.. laying next to a big giant pool...then going and playing a little volley ball on the nice cool white sand and a little rugby.  That is how I spent my morning today. Sorry if i just made you super jealous haha. 

Jake and Elder Kuru

But so good to hear from yall this week.  I am so excited to see Whitney I cant wait! The only white people I see are big fat France people. They all smoke and look like the typical tourists. I miss St. Lucia but it is fun here too. So both equally good. I can't remember what it feels like to be cold so be cold for me. 

Elder Kuru

Well this week was fun. So I guess I can't stay away from the doctor I had to get stitches in my finger haha. So I was out helping a lady to service. And I was grabbing some vines in a bush to pull out. And I pulled to fast and it just burned through my hand and through the flesh to the bone. so we got on our bikes and rode real fast the the clinic so i got a few stitches.. but dont worry it is all good :)

JEFF is the man. he is a 40 year old man. And he has a few problems. He is special needs but yet he is still very normal if ya know what i mean.. anyway he knows every member or less active in all of Barbados so he takes us around and helps us teach. He is such a nice man, everybody knows him here. And the mission president even made him a name tag that says Brother Griffeth. He is with us every day and makes me laugh so much.

Jeff :) 

Well other than that the week is still going great. Elder Huefner is a very serious guy so I am trying to lighten him up a little bit and make him laugh.. hmm other than that I love it here.

Love, Elder Dixon 

This little boy Ephriam got a blessing from our favorite Elder

Jake and Elder Huefner

He found a Mountain Dew.. Super important :) 

"We found a store just like Costco! Its the best!!" 

Inside of the busses