At Dallin H. Oaks conference with Hermanas Tate, Rivera, and Paredes

April 27, 2015

Hey fam!!!

So this week was awesome!  First off, I loved being able to hear from Dallin H. Oaks and his sweet wife!  Dallin H. Oaks shared something really cool about being an instrument in God´s hands.  If we want to be an instrument in God´s hands, we need to be like a ballpoint pen.  We need to be ready to be used 24/7 (even during P-Days).  We need to make sure our ink is good to go (aka we need to be healthy and make sure we´re eating and exercising well).  We need to be willing to write the writer´s message, not our own message (aka we need to share God´s message, not our own words).  It was an awesome analogy, and one thing I know for sure is that it is a huge blessing to have a restored church with a prophet and his apostles.  They really are men called of God.  And as for Sister Oaks, she reminded me of something really special.  She mentioned people around all the world are praying for us as missionaries.  Whenever we have a hard time, we need to remember there are millions of prayers coming our way!!!

I´m really beginning to love Artigas, and sweet Hermana Ramirez is the perfect companion for me right now.  She´s helping me so much with my Spanish, and we always have so much fun talking together as we walk along in the streets of Artigas!  This past week, we had a great experience working with the Dos Santos family!!!  They are a family in our ward and are so faithful!  Hermano Dos Santos is from Brazil and Hermana Dos Santos was born in Uruguay!  They have three daughters, and one of their daughters recently returned from her mission in Brazil, and they´ve got a daughter serving in Brazil right now! 

But anyway, the other day, Hermana Ramirez and I found an awesome family, the Berneda family!  They´ve been members for quite some time, but haven´t been to church for a while.  We had a lesson with them on Saturday, and we wanted to go with some members who could really help strengthen them!  We called various people, but no one was really answering.  So finally, it came to our minds that we should call the Dos Santos family!  We called them and they said they´d be willing to go out with us!  Woo hoo!

So anyway, when we arrived to visit the Berneda family, the stars aligned.  It turns out the Dos Santos family has always seen Hermano Berneda in the supermarket, they just had no idea he was a member!  And Hermana Berneda is also from Brazil, so she and Hermano Dos Santos loved talking in a Portuguese/Spanish mixture!  They got along so well!!!  Afterwards, Hermana Ramirez and I shared some scriptures about the importance of the sacrament (if you ever want to learn more about the sacrament, you should totally read in 3 Nephi 18)!  Hermana and Hermano Dos Santos shared powerful testimonies about the sacrament and the importance of enduring to the end, even though there are always obstacles and opposition.  Hermana Ramirez and I both had tears in our eyes because we were just so happy God put the Dos Santos family and the Berneda family together!  And yesterday, the Berneda family came to partake of the sacrament!

I know God is aware of each one of His children and always puts others in our path to help us out.  I know when we take the sacrament, we can literally have a fresh page!!!  I always make so many mistakes during the week, but I know through Jesus Christ´s sacrifice, it doesn´t matter what we did wrong the past week.  All that matters is that we try to be just a bit better the next week!  I know when we feel like we can´t go on much longer, the sacrament can recharge our spiritual batteries!!!

Well, that´s all for now, and just remember I love you all SO MUCH!!!  Thanks for being the best fam ever!

Hermana Dixon