Not "Trunkie!"

Today we are in the process of winding down our tasks and planning our return home.   It has been sweet and sad to be with each of the classes for the last time.  They have been very kind in their remarks about how much they have enjoyed the classes and how much they will miss us.  One class threw us a surprise fiesta with Roger's favorite: pupusas and a dish I am growing to like: tres leche.  

We are so proud of the kids who are faithful attenders.  They show so much strength of character, testimony and dedication to the Lord. We went to the Manhattan Temple with one student earlier this month.  He was thrilled with it all.  We are excited for him as he begins his mission in Brazil.  I (Hermana Dixon) have tried to make a contribution to the YSA by encouraging them to begin doing genealogy and preserving the family histories they have, with one goal of taking an ancestor to the temple.  One girl who has been in the church just 15 months, took some family records and using Ancestry.com was able to take her ancestoral line back to the 1600's!   She is on fire!  A young sister on Tuesday and proudly showed me the Family History notebook she has assembled with photos of her ancestors and copies of important documents.  Last Sunday I helped a sweet convert from the Dominican Republic start her genealogy.  As she put the names of ancestors in the chart on her computer she said "I'm soooo excited!!  I can just feel the Holy Spirit wash over me!  I can't wait to go home and have my family (not members) give me more information to put in here."  Another sister from Brazil came back from a trip there with a pile of more than 100 aging documents that she rescued from a relative's shed.  The delicate pages contained valuable genealogy and love letters over 100 years old.  I helped her make copies of them so that she could do research without damaging the originals.  She said that (in her opinion) people in her country would not think to preserve those things.  Quite a few YSA  have started but I wish I could stay here to help them continue.  Many are away from families and I think this effort would help them feel bonded across the miles and the years.

Several YSA have promised to come see us in Utah...they all seem to think that Utah is a magical place.  

We have a lot to do and we're down to 6 days, many of which include meetings and goodbye dinners.  Roger says, "we are not trunkie, we just want to go home."  (If trunkie means sitting on one's suitcases doing nothing.)  This has been a tremendous experience, although it has also been difficult.  (Last night for example out trip to Institute took nearly three hours (one way) because of a traffic jam just before the Holland Tunnel going into NYC.  Give us Highland traffic!!!  When we got there 1.25 hours late the Institute room was dark and the Bishop said they had all gone home.  We opened the door and the kids yelled "Surprise!"  They enjoyed that!  They had made a goodbye poster for us with personal notes.   We'll bring it home.  

But back to the important things:  Our testimonies have grown so much.  Our understanding of the amazing plan of salvation has expanded as we have studied the Old and New Testaments and seen the amazing correlation among all the scriptures.  We know more than ever that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contains the fullness of the Gospel and is the only true and living church on earth.  We are grateful for the love and generosity that Heavenly Father shows to all of us and the great atonement by our Savior Jesus Christ.  We have grown as a couple and our love for the people we have met here is a precious and cherished gift. 

We will finish April 3rd and take 10 days to see relatives and Church historical sites on our drive home...with a visit to Cooperstown slipped in...don't ask me why!  We pray for God's blessings on all the missionaries and our friends and family here and there.  

See you soon!  Love, Elder and Sister (Hermana) Dixon

FLAT STANLEY GOES ON A MISSION

Our Granddaughter, Cassy,

addresses an envelope at school,

folds up "Flat Stanley" and sends him to us!

We decided to "take him on a mission".

If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, ask a 1st grader.  I haven't read the book but this is what I understand:  Stanley was a normal little boy who went to school and had a bulletin board fall on him making him flat.  Now he can be folded up and mailed by the student in an envelope anywhere.  The recipient of the envelope is to take photos of Flat Stanley having adventures in the new environment and mail them back to the sender along with Stanley and treats for the class.  The goal is for the child to learn how to address an envelope and to learn about different places on a map.

With the assistance of Photoshop, here is some of what Flat Stanley experienced on a mission in New Jersey:

A view of Philadelphia, PA

Members of our Institutes in Union City, New Brunswick and Eatontown, plus some adult ward members go on a bus trip for an amazing experience at the Washington DC Temple.

The Sacred Grove in Palmyra.  We have just heard an inspiring talk by the local Mission President.

The damage caused by Super Hurricane Sandy is tragic.

NYC skyline from Ellis Island

The Aquarium in Camden, NJ, provided some pretty awesome photos.

Stanley meets one of our awesome training missionaries, Elder Wells.  Stanley is proudly wearing a mission badge too.

The first day in Jersey, Stanley went to Transfer Conference where the missionaries meet their new companions for the next 6 weeks or so.  In this conference we said goodbye to 5 missionaries who have finished their missions and greeted 24 new missionaries.  The conference is full of energy: missionaries are leaving with a mix of sorrow and joy, new missionaries are wondering "What am I doing here?"  or "I can't wait to get started!"  Trainers (experienced missionaries) are thinking "I hope I can help this new one feel the spirit, enjoy the service and make the most of his or her mission. "

Stanley hangs out with Elders Stanley, Smith and departing Archibald.

Even our Mission Mom, Sister Jeppson, knows all about Flat Stanley and joins the fun.

Fourteen-year-old Jonathan just magically appears at the end of our Institute lessons in Union City and offers to help take our things to the car.  I have a box of supplies:  paper plates, napkins, utensils, a pitcher of lemon flavored water, table cloth and treats for the night.

Some of our New Brunswick.  Guillermo on the right is a new convert.  Libi in the center is a convert and a returned missionary who served in Arizona.  Magali on the left comes from a Mormon family.

  

Stanley wants to learn how to do his Family History.  We have  YSA who come early to church so that they can  discover their ancestors through familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, and other Internet programs available at the Family History Centers.

Stanley meets Brother Corbin (in the center) who is the head of the Church's Public Relations Department
 in NYC and to the UN.  

Elder Dixon poses with a photo of Stanley before entering to do service in the Manhattan Temple

Brother Corbin, is an amazing servant of the Lord with great experiences to share.
He is also Stake President in the Cherry Hills, NJ Stake near Philadelphia.

Lincoln Center, across the street from the Temple

The famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC.  Sister Dixon celebrates her birthday with a gift certificate from
the CES program.  She shares the goodies with the group because she's a missionary.

Spraying a missionary's bed for possible bedbugs.  

Missionaries called to teach in Spanish.  (New one on the right).

Missionaries teaching in English.  New one on the left.)

Photoshop brings Stanley to the Statue of Liberty

The Rockefeller tower rises into the clouds.  Guess that's why it's called a  Sky Scraper?

Our missionaries in the Elizabeth area like to drop in for the lessons and maybe for the food.  The students here for the photo are Belyruth and Cinthia in the back and Nefi and Cesar in the front.  The girls plan to go on missions this year.

Through Cassy's Flat Stanley project we were able to pull together some of our favorite memories of the mission.  Thanks Cassy!  Your candy is on it's way!

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Our lessons this week

I want to share some sweet thoughts with you.  I hope you will enjoy reading this.

We are teaching Institute classes to Young Single Adults using the New Testament this semester.  Since we are going straight through the NT books, our lesson this last week was from the Gospel of John and was about the Crucifixion of Jesus even though it's not Easter time.  The lesson was a sad story of unfathomable suffering.  The agony that Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane, the lashings, torture, humiliation, and his death on the cross fulfilled prophecy and finished his purpose on earth.  

I found it very interesting to see the transition that Christ's followers went through.  Before his death they believed that He was the Son of God and saw him do many miracles but they also believed that he came to free them from the Romans who ruled Israel at that time.  They thought he would become the new King of Israel.  When he died they grieved and were confused.  They dispersed and Peter, the chief apostle, even denied him three times.  

After the resurrection and Christ's appearance to them they finally got it!  See the end of John and the other 3 Gospels, and Acts 1-5.   the story becomes so powerful and joyful by comparison to the events of the crucifixion.  After three days Jesus showed himself alive to his followers starting with Mary and other women.  He then showed himself  to the apostles and eventually to 500+ people.  He spent 40 days with them, organizing His Church and teaching them the fullness of the Gospel and Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation for all of us.  When the apostles and disciples finally understood the purpose of Christ's life and death and the plan that enables all people to live again after death-- their sorrow and confusion turned to joy.  They at last could testify about the reality of the resurrection because they saw the risen Christ with their own eyes -- they taught and testified to others with boldness and clarity.  It is beautiful to read.   

After Elder Dixon (Roger) helped the lesson come alive for the students with an excellent PowerPoint description and a thoughtful discussion of the events, we were blessed to hear a number of the students express their love for Jesus and their gratitude for His atonement.  (I love it when someone translates for me so that I can understand the nuances.)   

There are so many questions that arise during a person's life:  How did Christ's death satisfy the laws of justice and mercy?    IS there really life after death?   Does God know and love me?   Does what I do here really matter?   I remembering learning when I was 12 or so that no unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of God.  That seemed logical:  If Heaven allowed sinful people to live there, it wouldn't be Heaven.  That motivated me and I've remembered it all these years!  

We invite you to go to <www.mormon.org> and search for the answers to all the tough questions you've ever asked.  The website has answers, beautiful videos, and testimonies.  I think you will feel the spirit of the Lord when you begin to explore it's features.   I believe you will enjoy it and be glad you checked it out.

Love, Elder and Sister Dixon
(The pictures we used are from the website mentioned above, <www.mormon.org>

From Acts 1-5 --  I especially like the following scriptures:

Acts 1:3 -- Jesus showed himself after his crucifixion to the apostles for 40 days teaching them about the Kingdom of God.  Can you imagine sitting in that group?  They must have clung on every word.  

Acts 2:4-6 -- On the day of Pentecost the disciples received the Holy Spirit and were able to teach people from every nation in their own language.  People in the city were amazed and marveled.  

Acts 2:24 --Peter taught with power about the miracles Jesus did, and after he was slain by wicked hands, it was Jesus "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it (held down by death)."  (God raised Jesus--He did not raise himself.)

Acts 2:36-38 -- Peter was so fearful of the authorities before Christ's death that he actually denied knowing Jesus three times!  After the resurrection he became bold and powerful:  "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.  Now when they (the people) heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter ...what shall we do?"   "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."  (That is the great gift that is given by God through someone who has the authority when one goes through the steps of repentance and baptism.)  Three thousand souls were baptized that day and five thousand the next day or two.  

Acts 3 & 4 -- The lame man was healed and the news of it was spread like Twitter feed.  The Rulers in Jerusalem were worried about the miracle and grieved that the apostles were preaching about the resurrection from the dead through Jesus.  They commanded the apostles to not talk about it to the people.    Peter said to them, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."  Also, the followers of God had all things in common and no one lacked.  (As Christians, we could try to be more like the followers of God in this day.  The scriptures are FULL of admonitions to us to care for the poor, the widows, the fatherless, etc.)

Acts 5 -- People are being healed, miracles of all kinds were happening and there were thousands of converts.  The rulers were indignant at all the success of the apostles and worried that this movement would grow.  The Church of Jesus Christ was becoming a threat to the religious and civil leaders.   They put them in prison but at night an angel of the Lord opened the doors, releasing the apostles and told them to go to the temple and teach.   The apostles were again brought before the rulers who were debating what to do with them.  Finally a wise man said "Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; be careful therefore, lest ye be found even to fight against God."   Ironically--"And to him they agreed:...they beat the apostles and commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go."  (That's agreement??  What did the apostles do?)  The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.  "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."