Having one of the 15 men on the earth that has Apostolic keys look me in the eyes and talk directly to me for about 10 minutes is one of the greatest experiences that I have ever had.

APRIL 23, 2013

Hey Family!

How are things?  So the most amazing thing just happened today.  Elder Bednar came to our MTC and talked to us!  I knew last week I just forgot to tell you.  But it was ridiculous!  He said it was like one of the smallest groups of missionaries that he has ever talked to.  He opened it up for questions and I asked him if a person’s relationship with Christ got so close and if I had enough faith, would I be able to know that He is real and be able to see Him like the brother of Jared.  Having one of the 15 men on the earth that has Apostolic keys look me in the eyes and talk directly to me for about 10 minutes is one of the greatest experiences that I have ever had.  He told me absolutely.  But the more I press on it the more likely it is to not happen and to just be patient and live righteously.  Amazing huh? Then after it was over I got to shake his hand.  What’s up??!!!  Ya it was great.  So anyways I have been totally healthy this week and just livin it up here in the ccm.  I love feeling the spirit everyday here.  So on Saturday we got to go proselytizing.  Every English speaking elder was supposed to go out with a Latino elder but the ratio was off so I had to go with an elder who just came from Provo.  We had a teacher come with us but it was still super frustrating cuz I thought I knew a lot more Spanish than I understood. But hey I probably needed to be humbled a bit.  The place that we were tracting in was crazy.  You wouldn’t believe how poor it is here, and we were in the nice part of the city.  People live in these little so called houses that were smaller than most of the rooms in our houses. It was very sad and humbling but they were still super nice and happy and loving people.  Don’t let money dictate how happy you are.  We live like kings in America. I love you so much! Well familia the church is so true.  And I know that the Book of Mormon can answer any problems or questions you have.  I also know especially today that the leaders of our church, the Prophet and his Apostles are inspired and they speak the words of God.  Jesus loves you so much.  He wants us to be soooo happy! And the only way we can be happy is through obedience.  I love you all so much!  Elder Dixson

 

Elder Zach Dixson at the Peru CCM!!!!

Elders in Zach's district at the Peru CCM (Peru MTC)

Elder and Sister Missionaries from the Peru MTC

Elder Dixson with Elder Norton, one of Zach's buddies from home.

Peru MTC Food

Inside the Peru MTC

Lima Peru Temple

Those Latinos were in my room the 1st 2 weeks. Greatest guys ever. I learned so much Spanish from them!

Life’s just great here and I’m livin’ the dream!

April 16, 2013

Hi!!!!!

Everything is well in Peru! Not that I’m really in Peru. I’m just in this box here where everyone has diareeaaahh (i know thats not spelled right) and everyone is just high on the gospel.  Itsss fantastic!!!! No but really I love it here.  Not as much as I want to go out in the field though. Haha I feel like my Spanish is getting really good! I can say almost whatever I want by using the words and grammar that I know but when I hear a Latino or someone fluent talk I don’t even catch half of it haha. Oh well. Life’s just great here and I’m livin’ the dream! Write me! Email or dear elder what eevvvvss ii lloovvee yyoouu aallll!!

eellddeerr ddiixxssoonn

 

“I couldn’t hold back tears because I had just seen the Lord save a young missionary through me and my priesthood.”

Hola Guys!

Oh man I love you and miss you all so much!  I am very happy to say that I’m done being sick!  I guess your body just adjusts to the food or something, cuz I just ate nothing but beef jerky and trail mix for 3 days straight and now I’m ok back to eating a ton like usual haha.  Ya so conference was amazzzzzzing!!!!!  I hope you all, family and friends, can catch that missionary wave that Elder Nelson was talking about and half the other General Authorities were too. Each day I feel like is getting better than the one before.  I’m learning a ton but Spanish is super frustrating!

Ok so I have a story that is 100% true and is probably the most spiritual experience of my life.  If you are feeling like you maybe need a little more faith in your life (we all do), or maybe you don’t even believe in this church, I hope this can touch your heart and help you feel the Holy Ghost.  I know you will feel the spirit while reading this and I invite you to pray to God and ask him about that feeling.  So also I want you to know that this is why I am sharing this experience with you, not so I can look good or righteous or anything, but so you can have a better testimony of this true gospel.  So here it goes.... me and my comp were going to go do some planning inside the class room when another Elder said, hey it’s nice outside you should go plan out there.  So we did and the President and his wife were out there looking as stressed as could be.  President Cardon was yelling into his phone in Spanish and the only word I could pick out was ambulancia! Apparently my comp is an EMT, some doctor or something, so he told them and she led us into a room where a latino was lying down with 2 teachers and he was having trouble breathing.  So my comp was working with him and all of a sudden his breathing was getting less and less.  I saw his eyes roll back in his head and he totally stopped breathing.  I started to cry because I thought I had just witnessed someone die right in front of me. Then I hear "Elder Dixson he needs a blessing now!" so I run over there and anoint him with the oil say the blessing.  I promise you as soon as I said "amen" he GASPED in air and woke up and started coughing and breathing again.  I couldn’t hold back tears because I had just seen the Lord save a young missionary through me and my priesthood. The ambulance came and he was ok.  I have never known that the church is more [true] than I do now because of this experience.  I know that the priesthood that Joseph Smith got from God is true and it works.  He passed it down to worthy men until my father got it.  He passed it to me and it blesses people.  It saves lives.  Again it wasn’t me that helped that Elder, it was God through my priesthood.  Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ.  God loves his children and His restored gospel is true.  I bear my testimony of that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.  I didn’t think I’d have crazy stuff like that happen to me yet, but I’m so grateful for it.  Anyways, I love you all so much and I love hearing from you.  Email me!!!!!!  Elder Dixson

Second Letter From Elder Dixson - April 2, 2013 "Latinos are the most loving people in the world."

Hola guys!!!! Oh man I have been looking forward to hearing from you all week! Yes my p days are martes or Tuesday and I’m pumped to go to the temple today! The mtc is nothing like I thought it would be for sure. The first few days were loooonnnngggg and Blake was right though they were boring. I was still having a blast though because the brotherhood is ridiculously strong here. It’s crazy how many awesome dudes I mean elders are here. Pretty much it’s just the guys from the plane from LA airport that are the new Norte Americanos here. We can’t call ourselves just Americanos here because most of the Latinos here are from south or central America and they will get offended haha. I cannot even tell you how amazing the Latinos are. They come for dos semanas (2 weeks) and then to their mission. It’s probably half and half for Latinos and North Americans here. Latinos are the most loving people in the world. They just love you so much! The elders and the teachers. I can’t even begin to tell you how Christlike they are. I pretty much have to speak Spanish and think in Spanish all day here because nobody speaks English hahahah. Not even the teachers. They speak real slow so that we can hopefully get the important parts of what they are saying but they barely speak íngles so it’s tough but I feel like I’m learning fast. Anyways there are 6 elders per dorm - 4 English speaking and 2 Latinos. 1 of the Latinos in our dorm speaks a little English so he helps us a lot. I love that guy, Elder Supelano. There is not much space in the rooms but it’s enough. I think there are 6 or 8 American sisters here, not many and I don’t have any in my district. Oh by the way, the day after we got here so Thursday night the mission president called me in and asked if I would be district leader. It’s not much fun but haha my distict is so cool. Chevere haha is what the Latinos say. Elder Hamblin is in my district and he is great. Elder Norton is my zone leader and we have a lot of fun together. So the food.......... wow. I loved it at first. Every lunch and dinner consisted of a soup, usually with noodles or beef of some kind in it, a dish with meat and rice, and then a random side of some Peruvian thing. It’s super authentic here. And then like flan or helado. But then I got sick...... real sick. hahaha if you want details ask my mom I’ll tell her. It’s ok because pretty much all the North American Elders here got sick but I got it way bad! Two elders in my district gave me a blessing though and the next morning I felt a lot better. The power of the priesthood man, it’s crazy. Everything is great though! I’m lovin it! Oh and the president told us all that the rule changed universally and friends and everyone can email! So ya put it on this blog and email me! 

Love yalll!!!!!

Flying to the Peru MTC

On Wednesday Zach flew to the Peru MTC.  Dave and I cried like big babies:)  We are so happy and excited for him at the same time.  We got a letter from him the next morning.  He is doing great and is happy to be there!  We love him and miss him so much!

March 28, 2013-First Email

Hola Familia!

They are giving us 5 minutes here during registration to write our families real quick.  I took some pics of my companion and dorm mates and the CCM so hopefully I will be able to figure out how to get them to you!  My companion is Elder H.  I can tell that he will obey all the rules and keep me doing the same.  He is a great guy.  Many of the elders here are Latinos but right now it’s mostly gringo missionaries.  It was crazy how many missionaries were on the same flight to Peru from LA and then there were a ton of elders who had to go to Provo because of their visa but then flew here yesterday.  It’s weird all of these guys are so nice and there are a ton of good missionaries.  I haven’t met a questionable one yet!  It’s crazy here because most of the supervisors and assistants telling us what to do right now barely speak any English!  At breakfast this morning there was cheerios and toast.  They had papaya juice that was really good but all of their drinks were warm :{ haha the milk the water too.  I’ll get used to it! Well I love you guys a bunch and I miss you!

Elder Dixson