Hi! Welcome!

You know us as Roger and Deanne (or Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, friend, neighbor, teaching companion, etc.) but we are now Elder and Sister Dixon (Hermana Dixon in Spanish) and for 18 months we'll be serving in the New Jersey Morristown Mission.  (October 2011 to April 2013).

Today we just announced how to find our Mission blog to you, our family and friends.  With the help of our daughter Debi, we have already posted quite a few early entries about receiving our "Call", our preparations, time in the MTC, traveling to New Jersey and getting settled.  In typical blog fashion, everything is in reverse order.  So if you want to read about our mission in proper sequence, you will need to go to the Blog Archive on the right side of this page and click on the earliest posts first.  I expect to add a few photos or comments to some of the entries we have made, since this will be our journal of our memorable experiences.

Thank you for your interest and love.  You are welcome to become a "follower" of this Blog so that you will receive automatic email notifications when we add a new post.  Or you can just occasionally check back if you wish.  We won't be keeping track, but we do hope you will add a comment from time to time.  Thanks for that!

We are grateful for the blessings we are receiving daily and feel this will be a wonderful experience for us.  We hope that the young single adults we serve, who speak Spanish, will also feel that our efforts have blessed their lives.

From Jersey with Love,
Elder and Sister Dixon

On Forgiveness

Dan and Holly gave us a wonderful audio book entitled “The Peacegiver” by  James L. Ferrell.  We wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to people who feel lingering pain caused by the actions of others.

It contains several very inspiring messages. One of them addressed the issue of forgiveness, something we all must deal with from time to time.  One particularly inspiring aspect of the book is the call for Christians to seriously consider what the atonement means. The relationship to forgiveness described in the book is that since Christ has already paid the price for the sins and misdeeds of everyone, what right does anyone have to be bitter or hold grudges against someone who has offended us, whether intentionally or unintentionally?  That is a powerful question and coupled with the hurt that often follows we need to give careful consideration to willingly forgiving others.  The book gives a powerful and in-depth analysis of the story of David and Abigail in the Old Testament; we plan to use it when we reach that segment in our Institute classes.

The atonement would have already paid for that offense provided that the offender had adequately repented.  But the later is only between Christ and the offender.  The Savior has put Himself between the offender and ourselves.  Our focus should be on our relationship with the Savior.  Christ has commanded us to forgive everyone who may offend us.  

It seems clear that more forgiveness would make the world a far better place. 

Gordon B. Hinckley has said: “I wish today to speak of forgiveness. I think it may be the greatest virtue on earth, and certainly the most needed. There is so much of meanness and abuse, of intolerance and hatred. There is so great a need for repentance and forgiveness. It is the great principle emphasized in all of scripture, both ancient and modern.”  General Conference Address, 2005.

Note:  It does seem to me that this does not mean that we would not participate, as a witness, for example, in the prosecution of a criminal act.  To my way of thinking, we could forgive the person in our hearts and still comply with our legal duty as citizens to assist in enforcing the law.   (Roger)

My sister Thea photographed this perfect rose from her garden.  A rose is often a symbol of love and forgiveness.