9/12 email

hey mom,

sounds like you guys are doing just fine at the lake without me. Leah is such a silly little girl. i often wish that i had her here with me so i could get my Leah dose. i am sure that you will do fine at the workout, i know that you are one thta pushes yourself to the max so that should be no problem for you. more than likely i will not see anything that low, unless i serve in big bear during the winter. they have snow there. the hard part would be not going skiing... i was able to buy 2 pairs of shoes, and when we finally find a store that is open i am going to buy a water bottle, and maybe some shirts. turns out white shirts do not react well to blood on them. so i have ruined 75% of the ones i came out with... sorry, guess i am just a bleeder. sounds like Leah must be one of your kids. totally full of imagination. i hope the rest of the week goes well for you guys. do not forget to talk to the people around you about the gospel ;) members is where the real missionary work happens. and it makes me sad to think that my own family might not be doing any missionary work. i know when i look back i wish that i had done more. today we are emailing from the victorville library because we where trying to find a target down here but they where all closed! now we are going to have to play what we do for the rest of the day off the hip. other than that nothing exiting this week. hopefully i have something fun to tell you about next week.

love you

Elder Dickso

9/8 email

i got an email from a girl that has been reading my blog. she said that she is coming out into my mission soon. she reported to the MTC on the 7th. she thanked me for being upbeat, and said that i helped to calm her nerves. guess great things come from small and simple means.

i love you mom. sorry i dont email as much as you wish i did.

hey mom,

so i was not able to email on monday because of a temple trip that we did today. today i am going to buy shoes. in the Book of Mormon i am going through for my second time and i am in Alma 20. for service, we help out every week at an art studio on wednesday, and we sort clothes for foster children on fridays. church starts at 10 but we are there at 8:30 for ward council.

8/29 email

this week was fun. really hot but thats ok. this week i had a couple of crazy things happened! first off, on Wednesday i found a sun spider in my pants. normally not a scary thing, but unfortunately i was wearing them at the time... an experience that i am not fond of. but i am happy to report that i am not dead. on the other hand i have officially worn holes into both my pairs of shoes. so that is fun. other than that i am doing well. this week was a good week for dinners. we ate every day, and even had 2 lunches! 

this week has been a good one!

I love you all

Elder Dickson

Isaac's district

In six months, Isaac has managed to wear holes in both pairs of his shoes!

8/22 email

hey mom, i love you! :)

btw i did not die in the fire.

this week was CRAZY! on Monday the other missionaries in our ward went down the hill to rancho, then a fire started and the pass through the mountains was closed! there where intense forest fires on three sides. we where the only missionaries in Barstow for 5 days! we now have elder Brough in barstow with us. he is elder Daltons new companion. other than that on sunday i had a splitting headache, when we got home form church i took 2 ib profen and conked out. after waking up we rushed to dinner where i asked for 2 more. after that i finally was able to think clearly again. 

this week has been good, we have done lots of work for the ward and done lots of service this week.

i love you all,

Please stay safe

with love

Elder Dickson

Elder Brandon Cooke-

Hello everyone everything going great out here in Barstow. Nobody worry the fire is no where close to us and there is too much desert and too little vegetation for it to spread to Barstow. Elder Dickson and I are still living it up in Barstow doing a lot of missionary work and teaching a lot of people. Elder Dalton and Elder Brough are our ward mates and they are super cool. I will need to send a picture of all of us together soon. Anyways have a wonderful week everyone.

--

I was emailed this photo of some art Isaac made while doing service at the art program for homeless people he helps out at each week.

www.dignitystation.org

6 months on a mission!

email subject line:  another one!?!?!

so the big news of today is that transfers are over. against all odds Elder Cooke and i are still together! that is 3 transfers now! that is a rather rare thing to happen. not only that but we are staying together in Barstow. 

i am happy that i get to continue to be with Elder Cooke, we have a lot of fun together! plus we like the same things :) so that works out pretty well. 

i recently have been contemplating a lot on why we leave this earth. in our ward we have had at least 2 people pass away a week this whole month. it has been rather somber lately at sacrament meeting but people are still trucking on. i have found comfort in the fact that heavenly father has a plan for us, and that he truly knows how long we need to be here and what is best for us.

this week was interesting in the fact that we where able to find people who wanted to learn about the gospel in such wonderful ways. we found through those we where already teaching, and through familys that have not been to church in a very long time. how cool to be able to help others come unto Christ! 

i have made it through the hottest season, in the hottest area of the mission. something that not many missionaries can say here in the mission. the hottest day was around 120. nothing like the summers at home.

BIG NEWS! it will only be 98 this friday, we are super pumped for the cold!

well i love you all!

Please have a wonderful week!

love, 

Elder Dickson

Hello everyone everything going great in Barstow, We got transfer info and Elder Dickson and I are staying together in Barstow for our third transfer together and this will be my sixth transfer in Barstow. I have already been in Barstow for over seven months and I look forward to being in it for one and a half more. Other than that not much else going on, just finding and teaching and baptizing. We are teaching a member of a family who does not belong to the church and he has been around the church his whole life and he definitely wants to get baptized, but he does not know how long it is going to take. We are also teaching many others who are doing a lot better these past couple of weeks than before. Anyways have a wonderful week!

-- 

Elder Brandon Cooke

"Elder Dickson and Elder Cooke have been volunteering at our community art studio every week.  We appreciate their dedication and kindness.  Here is a photo of Elder Dickson."

Thank you so much!

Beth Simpson

DignityStation.org

8/8 email

this week has been a little slow. we did find 3 new investigators this week. out of them all my favorite to teach is paul. he is a super cool samoan, and everything we ask him to do he always says. i cant say no. he is super cool, and very loving! in addition, this week is transfer week. we will find out who is staying and who is leaving at some point this week. than it is up to us to pack up and bug out this next monday. all in all i am super exited to see how things will play out. in all honesty i would love to stay in this area for longer i am getting to know everyone in the ward, and i am actually starting to love being here in this heat. when it is 110 plus i am now comfortable walking around for hours. maybe that means i am broken, but i like to think that it means i have evolved. sounds way cooler to me. and anything that is cooler than 100 sounds pretty good right now.

i love you all greatly!

Isaac

Isaac's district

Elder Brandon Cooke

Hello everyone everything is going pretty well out here in Barstow. Just been rather warm lately, but luckily not as warm as usual. We have been working a lot finding a lot of people and teaching many as well. Also had a lot of chances for all sorts of service. Other than that not much else is going on. Have a wonderful week.

8/1 email

we taught a good amount of lessons this week, we didn't reach our goals... but we did exceed a indicator we never thought we would. this saturday (2 days ago) we where on our way to a lesson and the Elders Quorum president got there first. he texted us to let us know he was there. than about 3 minutes later he texted and said "he is dead. just talked to his neighbor, he drowned in his pool yesterday." so we drove to his house and talked to everyone. they confirmed what we had been told. on Friday our investigator (and one that wanted to be baptized at that) drowned in his pool, in barstow. the driest place in california... there is a river here, but it is 20' below the surface. and he drowned. that is one thing that i never expected to have happen on a mission... but there is a first for everything... 

the weather has been an average of 112 this week. our thermometer even said 121 at one point! i know i am really broken when i am feeling a cold breeze and it is 100... but i guess that is a blessing that maybe i haven't realized yet...

i love you so much!