22 Weeks in Buenos Aires!

 Hermana Olmeda and I at our pension.

Ether 12:27

And if men

Come

unto Me

I will Show unto them their 

Weakness.

I Give unto men weakness that they may be 

Humble;

And my grace is Sufficient for All men

that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me,

and have Faith in me,

THEN will I make Weak things

Become STRONG unto them.

 

 

My mission consists of a vision. The vision?

 It starts with me. The goal? To strengthen my strengths. To eliminate my weaknesses. The only way? My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The first goal of the mission: To become completely converted to the Lord. To learn and embrace the doctrines in such a way that I become a strong person. That I build up myself as an individual. As a daughter of a loving and all powerful God. To be able to ask myself every night: Am I progressing in the way Thou wouldst have me progress? 

Second: My companion. What am I doing to strengthen them? They are my responsibility from the Lord. 

 

 

Third: My Area. Caballito currently. What am I doing to help those that are not members? Secondly, those that are? 

 

Views of my area from my pension:

 

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to President about the vision he has for my mission. These are the things he shared with me. It wasn't a long conversation: perhaps five minutes. But it truly touched me. I could feel the love that the Savior has for me. The scripture, Ether 12:27, instantly got to me. It's the scripture my dad shared with me right before I came out on the mission. It's a scripture I'm currently living. I haven't reached the end of the verse yet; I seem to be hanging around being humbled;) And I have certainly been humbled recently and in the mission. I've experienced a little bit of it all. Homesickness, illness, stress, exhaustion, loneliness, and sadness. Happiness, joy, peace, comfort, great love, and an undeniable sense and knowing that Christ Knows me. That He has never been far. 

 

Pictures I drew for Cami and Martina from  my last area:

 

 

But let's talk a little bit about the past week shall we? Before I continue to ramble on;)

20th of Jan: We started out with a District Meeting:) We talked about quite a few things. Through it all I felt that it all came down to the struggle we all have between the natural man, and our personal spirit. The only way to overcome this natural man, or this tendency to take the easy way out? Sacrifice. When we are willing to sacrifice ourselves to the Lord, everything changes. I learned that I just have to give it all to Him, all to Christ. All of me, to Him. Because only with Him am I able. Only with Him am I strong. After the meeting, which was quite spiritual, we headed over to the Bishop's house to have lunch with his wife and children. Then back to the doctor! Yay...

Upon arriving we visited Hermana Bernuda, an old investigator. She has a lot of interest in the church and in getting baptized, but has a lot of health problems and isn't able to come to church on her own. We were able to talk with her and brighten up her day a little bit with a scripture and prayer. I felt blessed to be able to invite the spirit with my companion.

21st of Jan: I had a lot of time to study in the morning, as my companion wasn't feeling well. We seem to take turns getting sick! However, after rest and a Tylenol she seemed to be just fine. In the afternoon we stopped by to visit Silvanna, an old investigator who neither myself or Hermana Olmedo had met before. We had found her old record and called her. Amazingly enough, she had answered and we had set up a time to meet with her! She lived in New York before and speaks English perfectly, although we had the lesson in Spanish for the sake of my companion, and Brenda who was accompanying us. Silvanna has an incredible testimony regarding the Restoration and the experience of Joseph Smith. However, she's been exposed to anti Mormon information and wants to learn more about what we actually do and don't believe before moving towards baptism and joining the church. She told us that she had been baptized before but that she was willing to be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if she felt that it was the right thing to do. All in all we had a very good talk with her and scheduled a time to meet with her again:) After a successful but LONG lesson with Silvanna we headed to Cristian who had a referral for us. We stopped by to see if we could contact them, a less active mother and her two daughters, but they weren't home. We did however get free ice cream, always a plus;) 

 

 

Change in hair style thanks to Karen friend of Ausi!

 

Karen and I

 

Hna. Olmeda, myself, Ausi, Karen

 

 

22nd of Jan: We were up bright and early to go to San Fernando where President had a meeting set up for all that would be going home in February. It was incredibly spiritual. Dan Clark, a motivational speaker, talked to us via Skype from Salt Lake City. As he spoke the spirit was strong and present. I felt blessed to be able to be present and hear the things he had to say. He spoke of giving one's all to the mission, and the power of covenants. Very inspirational. 

23rd of Jan: We finally got a hold of Cristian's referral! The two daughters were with their grandma, so we didn't get the chance to talk with them, but we did get to meet and talk with their mother, a less active. Her name is Lucilla, and as we talked with her and got to know her better it was very clear that she was humble and ready and willing to come back to church. She said her daughters had lots of questions and had instantly become interested when Cristian had mentioned that we believe in marriage for time and all eternity. How cute;) It felt good to help her, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting her daughters today at the end of Pday. 

Yesterday, the 25th, we had to run to make it to Sacrament meeting on time! With all the buses we have to take we keep on arriving late and missing the sacrament... a no go. However, we literally sprinted as soon as we got off the bus to ensure that we wouldn't miss it this time! It was a good Sunday, highlighted by the short phone call with President. 

I feel extremely blessed for my companion and for the time I have right now to grow closer to my Savior. I know that this church is true. I know that every day I am becoming more and more converted to Him and His teachings, and That is what truly matters. This isn't just for the mission. This time will change the rest of my life. Of this I have no doubt. 

 

 

I know that God gives us weaknesses. That He handpicks them. That He knows just what I, Mallory Lynn Dickson needs, to be humbled. To be more reliant on my Savior. To be more the person I can become.

I love you all and am praying for you:)

Hermana Dickson