Tommy came home on August 28. We are proud of him and grateful for his two years of service to the people of Australia in Adelaide and Darwin. Thanks for sharing his journey with us.
Tag: Mormon Missionaries
August 13 & 20
August 13
“12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation”. Now what is a foundation? A foundation is a stone or solid object set into the ground. It is immovable and will last through any situation or storm if the foundation is strong. Now to tie it back to us. The foundation of Christ is immovable it will be there whether or not we build on it. Our quest is to mount ourselves to the foundation of Christ.
August 6 – 22 days until Tommy is home but who is counting?
July 8
so first question what happened to the truck? i might have been told but don’t remember. some of the tings i appreciated the most were canadian things like all dressed chips! as for this week it ha been great! still the same amount of chaos but i don’t break just bend! 🙂 haha so it has been an awesome week. we have been teaching an aboriginal family and they are progressing really well just need to get married so we have that underway! as for the new mission president, he is very different from the parkers but awesome as well. very buisness style
Love
Elder Dickson
K-Interesting!…. business style? What does that mean in the missionary context? The truck is long gone…gave up the ghost. Dad has been driving Grandpa Dickson’s old van…AKA the “man van”
T-yeah so he runs everything like a buisness, more articulate.
K-Well that will shake some things up. With you at only 7 weeks or so I guess you will just get a taste of the new focus. Is the family you are teaching related to the mob that was baptized and being taught in Malak?
T-yes they are cousins
K-Had you seen the article I sent you? What did you learn at Zone Conference this week? I’m sure the new mission president was a bit nervous and feeling like there was a lot to learn and do.
T-yeah i helped them put it together! we didn’t have a zone conference just a meet and greet
K-That’s awesome. I will have to save it. Does your new mission president have a blog or Facebook page like the Parkers?
B-June 2017 Grandpa Dickson offered us their Ford Freestar van because they wanted something smaller. I think you drove Grandpa from Edmonton to uncle Shane’s in that van. In honour of the original man va we called it man van 2.0. A few days later I took the truck in for some repairs and it would cost way too much to keep it running. So we donated it to the kidney foundation. Feb of 2017 we bought a black minivan at an auction for $750. The Jakevan. I am afraid it is ready to die so I jumped on the opportunity to buy the new car. Will probably try to sell the Jake van. See if we can get something for it. Haven’t even talked with mom about it yet. All dressed chips …. excellent.
You start classes at 8:30 and the Latest you go until is 2:15
The next term you have a full load – 5 classes. English, history, another Kinetics course and Astronomy and Biology.
Those courses should give you a basic first year base so you can go any direction you want
website but not sure which to register for -of course drew did
1) Evening Classes at the Sundance building
2) Friday classes after 10:30 at the University
3) Evening classes at the University.
way, im out of here”
have picked up and been given -no he hasn’t announced anything
July 2
hey mom and dad,
so this has been a full on week. we have been running around getting
everything together for the switch over of mission presidents. so as
well a crazy miracle happened this week. elder dudfield (area 70) was
in darwin on sunday. he came for a family vacation but had heard the
story about a family that had been baptized here. he is going to put
their story on lds.org! so you’ll see about darwin online! as for the
work this week we are teaching a new family. their names are
sylvester, oletta and sylvestina. they are cousins of a family
previously baptized. they are doing awesome! crazy week. stressful
week. right now is probably the most tired and worn out i have ever
been in my life but the lord is defintly blessing me with renewed
strength.
Love
Elder Dickson
Brent- Good to hear you are exhausted! You are supposed to be cause you are doing good stuff. Is Elder Dudfield a General Authority? I just arrived at the hospital and mom and I did the switch so she may not see these right away.
Drew has no work tomorrow because with Canada Day on a Sunday Monday becomes a stat holiday. He is going to see the fireworks tonight.
T-yes he is, we had an hour long interview with him, elyssa and irene.
he loved it.
B-Nice. So do you know the cousins of your investigators? When does your new president arrive? What are your plans for him. The new Calgary president is from New Zealand. I guess the sisters in our ward met them yesterday and the mission presidents wife went on Splits with them. That is a strong start! Cutting edge news boy. 7 minutes ago LeBron James announced he is signing a 4 year deal with the Lakers. We shall see who else goes there. Chris Paul signed an extension with the rockets and Paul George signed an extension with Thunder. I love LeBron but very glad he is in the west away from the Raptors.
T-yeah we know the cousins really well. so he is already in adelaide and
flies up to darwin tomorrow.
B-What will he be doing with you on Darwin?
T-dang lebron
B-Not sure what to do. Really like LeBron but have always hated the Lakers. First world problems
T-who else do you think will go to the lakers?
B-Kwahi Leonard wants to be traded from the spurs. They aren’t getting along. But I wouldn’t trade him in the same conference and have to play him a ton. He is a feee agent in a year and says he wants to go to the Lakers. There isn’t really any big names left.
T-so why would lebron go to the lakers? money?
B-The Cavs aren’t good enough and won’t get better. Some people think he is hoping to attract other players. Others think it is to be close to Hollywood. He is starting to get involved in movies and other such stuff
T-dang crazy #spacejamround2
B-Changes the balance of power a bit. The Raptors will have to deal with Philly and Boston. They need to get tougher. LeBron was in their head and they kept losing to him. So what is the plan when the mission president arrives. Mom is going to be in tough with no Sis. Parker blog to follow.
T-still not sure. gotta take it as it comes
when he gets here.
B-So today Bishop Steed and I had to do tithing on our own. No clerk to help us. But we were big boys and made no mistakes we know of. Taylor went down to Waterton this weekend for a last hurrah! He flies Thursday. Billy went to the temple this week. He was in Raymond today and leaves Thursday too. Bishop Steed said he looked and sounded great!
T-awesome!
B-So tell me something that you love about Darwin, something you will really miss.
T-i love the people, particuarly the members
B-The nice thing with social media is you will be able to keep up those contacts. So did you take a moment and sing O Canada yesterday?
K- Ok my mom nature is now taking over … take care of yourself my tired and stressed boy…. delegate some responsibility, eat well, excercise. You can do this! I hope when the mission president arrives it will be joyful, not stressful. Can you isolate what is causing the stress?
B-Maybe Tommy is a missionary with two months left and wearing down a bit :). Thank goodness for moms who worry more than dads.
T-i gotta go love you heaps!
B-Take a nap today and then get at er!
Love u proud of u
K-Love you heaps… take care of yourself!
June 24
hey mom and dad,
so i guess since ou went on a more spoiritual note i will do the same.
one scripture i have been pondering this week is the book of moses and king bejamins sermon. so as a little bit of a back story to this experience. this week a member family from adelaide was in darwn and i had worked wth them a lot. i had been over to their house for dinner.
the father is less active and from our chat ii found out that the mom is now as well. i shared with them this:
“4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.”
now they looked at me a little weird thinking “what the heck has darwin done to elder dickson”. but i explained it as such. moses has had a pretty rough life. he has been subject to the decree of pharoh to kill the children. he was adopted by pharoah’s daughter. as well moses has grown up in the palaces of egypt (the most powerful and wealthy nation at the time). God shows moses here an all expansing vision similar to that of many prophets. after this account moses says
“Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed”
this brings up an interesting point. moses having seen all that the world has to offer is shown what god has created and see’s that man is nothing. the paradox as we all know is that we are nothing compared to god, his glory, his divinity, but we are everything to him. the advesary will do everything to challenge that. we know that is his purpose is to bring misery to us just like he has.
11 But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.
12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.
i find it interesting that the very first thing that satan does to disuade or to destroy moses is challenges his divine identity. “moses, son of man, worship me”. Within our own lives we will have many times when satan comes knocking challenging our divine identity. that can come at many times, when we are distraught and feel that god has left us, it can also happen when we are doing fantastic and feel as though we don’t need god. the important part is to respond as moses.
13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?
Throughout my time as a missionary that is something that i have come to truly know and cherish. I am a child of god. he loves me and will help me today. He will help you today and everyday because he knows you and the struggles that you face. It is the most important thing for an investigator to know that he/she is a child of god. it is no coincedence that the first principles in both the plan of salvation and the restoration is “God is your loving heavenly father”. I know that to be true. i love what you said dad about the prophet joseph smith. my favorite scripture from that encounter happens in the next section though.
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
I know that the Saviour lives. He walks with us everyday and when we can’t walk any farther he carries us. I know that as we turn to him our trials don’t nessecarily get easier but they become lessons for us. He loves us and wants us to succeed.
Love,
Elder Dickson
Krista -That is a very powerful testimony Tommy. I am so grateful that you have served a mission and are able to help yourself and others with the lessons from the scriptures. I think most people in the world today don’t see themselves as Children of God and that is a critical truth
Brent –
That is one of my favourite scriptures from the book of Moses. I remember my MTC president teaching it to us. The three big concepts:
- I Am God
- You are my son
- I have a work for you to do
It is a prototype of all our relationships with God. It stuck with me from when I was 19. It becomes more profound the more I think about it.
T-
kinda figured that is better than a weekly update
K-
Absolutely! It is great t see your maturity and growth…. don’t think though that you are getting away with not telling me a couple of details of your life😁
B-
So funny Benny party story. They said no presents but Candy would be welcome. His friends went to town. This was a better haul than Halloween. Jake benefited with some shared Skittles.
Sad rugby moment. Wallabies lost to Ireland in game 3 of their test series by 1 point. I’m sure Chambers will have something to say about that tomorrow. Stupid Chambers with his Irish heritage!:)
K-
Yep…definitely a mom fail on that one, I should have said a chocolate bar…. instead giant Costco bags of gummies….he’s going to have lots of cavities with his sketchy brushing habits
T-
haha thats hilarious!
B-
Benny was worried I would steal candy. I promised I would only take it right in front of his face.
President Miles and his wife spoke in Stake Conference today. They are released on Saturday. Bore powerful testimonies. Made me think of Parkers. It would be a powerful experience to be a mission president.
K-
Did the family respond to the lesson? Do they have family in Darwin?
T-
oh is he our mission president?-
they responded well and promised they would go to church when the get back to adelaide
B-
The Calgary mission president. Released Saturday. Heard the new one is from New Zealand. Don’t know the name.
The new mission president of Vietnam is Ross Chile’s and we hung out together at UofA before I went to Sweden. Kinda cool
T-
oh wow thats cool!
K-When do you meet your new mission president?
B- His mission was New Orleans Vietnam speaking. I remember him taking us for Vietnamese food and everyone in the restaurant having to meet the blond kid that spoke Vietnamese.
T-
so he gets to the mission on the 30th has a 4 hour interview with the parkers and then the parkers leave. president marquis gets to darwin on the 4th
K-
Wow that is a tight turnover…they will probably be a little Jet lagged. Hopefully you will get your Canada Day package and you can just celebrate a week late
T-
hopefully 😛
B-
I love that. 4 hour interview and then good luck for the next three years. You will have to show the new president the ropes in Darwin.
K-
One last bit of Canadian pride! You don’t have any Canadian missionaries left in Darwin so you will have to represent
T-
yeah so i get to take him around and show him darwin
K-
That will be a great opportunity for you. You are the king of Darwin!
B-
Hope he takes notes. Right now probably no one in the mission knows Darwin better than you.
T-
woohoo!-
so apparently president parker has already told him about me
K-
Don’t break any traffic rules! How long are they In Darwin?
B-
I assume he bragged appropriately about you. I am Dad biased!
T-
two days
haha, its just having been here for almost a year, i know my way around
K-
It’s a big position of trust to be a zone leader over 3000 km from your mission president. He believes in you.
Nope…way more than that
T-
thats a good thing 🙂
K-
Of course it is but you have had to work with a new to zone leader, greenie, new senior couple and new mission president…that takes skills
B-
Mad Skillz friend!
So I am multitasking. While emailing you At the hospital i have also been texting people to speak in church. Just nailed down a couple of youth. I am soooo popular in the ward.
T-
haha im sure people love to hear from you
i gotta go love you heaps
B-
Since April 2016 – everyone’s favourite.
Have an amazing week. Enjoy that new president
K-
Love you heaps…I think I am going to say that forever….thanks Australia!
June 17
hey mom and dad,
how are you? so nothing too crazy this week. we found a couple new investigators and are still moving the work forward. nothing too crazy. i’m super excited for taylor and billy! thats so good that he will be able to keep serving! i dont have his email from home. as well everybody is getting married before i get home haha
Love Elder Dickson
Krista –
So lots of talk at the dinner tonight about your flights and when you get home. I think people just think about missionaries when they are sending another one off. Is your greenie still doing well. Has he adjusted to the heat or has it cooled down a bit?
T-
yeah he is awesome! –
do you already have my flights?
K-
Yes, I though get you might have heard. We got an email on Tuesday. You fly out at 6 am on August 28th from Adelaide. First to Sydney… then LA then home. The layovers are not too bad a couple of hours or 3 hours or so. Because of the time change even with tons of time in the air you actually arrive in Calgary the same day at 5:00 pm. I think you r something like 19 hours on the plane plus layovers. you are going to be one tired boy!
T-
dang, i haven’t heard anything yet
K-
So I assume you will fly to Adelaide from Darwin sometime before the 28th. You will probably hear those details when your new mission president comes up to Darwin. Tell me about your new investigators
T-
so we are teaching two aborignal brothers from tiwi and one guy from liberia
K-
Where is Tiwi? Are all your investigators young? How are your other baptisms from Darwin doing. John and Peter and Jun?
T-
so tiwi is an island north of darwin, and yeah they are doing good
Brent-
Got your flights and it kind of freaked me out. Got a little excited. Taylor did awesome. 404 people in Sacrament meeting today
K-
I didn’t even know there were islands there. Are they mainly aboriginal? I loved some of the pictures you shared last week. Especially the one of you and Serina with her art. That will be very special
T-
holy, must have been his good looks
B-
Posted the picture of you with the joey and got lots of response.
T-
she said she wants to do one more for me
B-
We are now sharing Ron Swanson advice from Parks and Rec. a high level of dude conversation.
T-
haha always listen to ron
K-
That is very kind of her. She is really talented. Does she do it as a business?
T-
no she just does it for fun, since i am the longest serving missionary in nightcliff she sees me as her son so she wanted to paint for me
K-
It has been a cool thing that you have been able to develop relationships with the members in Darwin. One of the advantages of serving in a small branch. Have you seen the Farrer’s while they have been there?
Taylor – How are things going so far! I just had my talk and we are hanging out around my house. What is new with you?
From Taylor.
T-
man was your talk good? –
yeah i have seen them but only for a short time
K-
What is the plan for PDay this week?
Taylor-
Well my opening line was “my family has problems “
T-
haha sounds about right and probably clean our flat
K-
The other day Drew was going to have some friends over so he totally cleaned the house… it was because the girls were coming over too. He said he wouldn’t have cleaned for just the guys. I totally want the girls to come over all of the time. My house would look GREAT
T-
i otta go love you heaps
B-
Have a sweet week. Love you
K-
Love you heaps… we are so proud of you. Work hard and care for that greenie!
June 12 Pictures
June 11
hey mom and dad,
so it has been an emotional week. this week the parkers as you know were in darwin. we got our “final counsel” from them and it was amazing. as well we saw them off at the airport and i totally broke down. told myself not to cry but didn’t go so well :p. any ways things have been going really well here. nothing to crazy happened this week, except i got our new companion! his name is elder nelson (not related t the prophet) he is from texas and is a gun! super awesome! so other than that nothing too crazy. heaps of blessings and miracles as always but normal week.
Love
Elder Dickson
Krista-
What does it mean he is a gun? I’m getting emotional thinking about the Parkers too😢 Is Elder Nelson a brand new missionary?
Make sure you write down their counsel so you don’t forget. Did you get a picture with them?
Brent
Nothing wrong with feeling emotional about the Parkers. Working hard in a righteous cause brings you together.
T-
gun means he is sooo ready to work hard. we got a zone picture together
K-
Awesome… tell me a little more about him. You are back to two Americans…. building those North American bonds!
B-
Drew played well in the selects game. A UofC coach came up to him and asked if he would be interested in playing for the Dinos next year. Drew was thrilled.
T-
thats awesome for drew!
i didn’t even know they had a team
K-
He’s our second rugby star… not sure Benny is going to follow in both of your footsteps though. When I suggested bringing out Spike Ball for him and his friends for his birthday he said…. well mom these people are not exactly athletic, they are geeks like me! Not sure I classified Spike Ball as athletic.🙄
B-
I gotta go. I’m off to get a computer tablet for Jake. Surprise. He broke his. So glad you are doing great. Take care of that Texan. I’ll leave you to Mom.
K-How many missionaries do you have in the zone now? – What is up for this week? Any investigators?
T-
nah nothing too crazy this week. just finding, finding and finding
K-
Have you seen the Farrer’s yet? Jake is now expressing his displeasure that there is no Domino’s pizza at the hospital. Me too!!
T-
yeah we have just for a short time though
K-
Did you get your package?
T-
no not yet
K-
Oh well… you will have to pretend that Canada Day is not July 1st….. what were some of the pieces of advice the Parkers gave you?
T-
they talked about regular FHE, temple attendance, ongoing conversion, don’t delay marriage –
i gotta go love you!
K-
Love you heaps…. this is the best part of my day today!
May 28
hey mom and dad so i sent that letter of reccomendation that sister lea wrote for me. super awesome! any ways this has been a great week. had a fantastic interview with president where he told me that i will be here till i finish. as well we are looking into going out bush and teaching out there so it should be pretty interesting. nothing too crazy happened this week. just zone conference and elder pickett and i running a lot of errands for president.
Love,
Elder Dickson
Krista –
The letter is awesome. What a great recommendation for you. Are you ok with finishing off strong in Darwin? Where are you going out bush?
T-
oh i love darwin! no where else is better! we are going to a place called maningrida. as well we are going to be having an area 70 visiting that is in charge of pblic affairs and i am supposed to take him around
K-
Oh that will be cool to tour a 70 around. You will have to have your best public affairs face on. Do you have investigators in Maningrida? How far is it away? Is that the place where the whole mob is being taught?
T-
no soo we don’t have any investigators there but we hae a member family that wants to introduce us to people to baptize. it is 6 hours from darwin
K-
Wow… will you go in one day? Is it just your companionship ? Who are the me,bets?
Brent –
Hey Tommy. Took a quick selfie when th the Grampster. Lots of advisors are asking about you. I told them you were freezing in 22C
T-
not sure of the plan, probably a two day trip
K-
Darwin is full of adventures! Is that the last time you will see the Parkers? Are the Leas gone yet?
B-
I was telling some LDS advisors about you drawing the plan of Salvation in the dirt for the Aboriginal people. They were impressed.
T-
so the lea’s leave on thursday and the parkers last visit will be on 2 weeks –
haha the dirt drawings are a little bit unique
K-
Wow… big changes! I assume you will get some new missionaries next week too.
B-
This is Drew’s big leadership Farewell. I have had you or him involved for 5 years now!
T-
yeah should be getting heaps
K-
I guess you will get to see the Farrers then. They are coming back to Darwin to visit
T-
dang a little break for a while-
yeah i will!
K-
Jacob is now calling out every treat he could possibly have in the hopes that I will cave. There isn’t much to do here so he eats non stop…. he is going to gain 30 pounds! Me too probably with all of the ice cream I am eating.
B-
They are now introducing all the dignitaries at opening ceremonies. Love those speeches. I’m sure it brings back fond memories for you.
K-
Well here is a Grandpa Steed moment. After having the worst winter in a while…we have now had a May that is just like summer. This probably doesn’t bode well for the actual summer and you may just come home to crazy cold…. Darwin boy!
T-
haha i hope it is still warm in august
K-
Star preparing yourself….that would be a dream! What was the message at zone Conference this time? What did you teach about?
T-
so we talked about member work and potential follow up
K-
Awesome… hey don’t forget to get a memory stick and ask Sister Lea for pictures. Tell me a little about the Clydes . Have you had anything to do with them yet?
T-
i am getting the photos today. and elder clyde is a choir director and sister cyde is a stay at home mom
K-Choir director and mom…. people after my own heart ❤
B-
Choir director! Mom is in heaven. Sing Elder
T-
haha seriousy
K-
Did he work in a school or university?
T-
well he is a full time engineer but also a choir director
K-
Oh well, not everyone is perfect –
Well we are getting close to Taylor leaving. Chris and Cameron had their farewells today and the next two are Taylor and Dani…. super cool!
T-exciting!!!
K-
I have to start thinking of a good missionary gift for him and Dallin. Any suggestions?
T-
Ties
K-
Ok but looking for something a little more personal…. How many ties do you think you have now ?
B-
They just scrolled the past conferences on the screen. My favourites were Centennial 2009 and a little conference you may remember. A New Hope 2016
T-
not sure i think like 30.
whats the theme for this year?
K-
That is crazy…. you better get an office job for a while when you get home!
T-
hahai will probably give a lot away before coming home
K-
Take a picture of all of them before you do…. how goes the Elder MacDonald karate training ?
T-
pretty good im still out of shape but not overweight 🙂
K-
I can imagine with the Darwin heat and the bikes that is a ready made fitness program
T-
haha i weigh less than i did befor eth mission
B-
The theme is Agents of Change. Spies and superheroes
Sports update.
Stanley Cup final Las Vegas vs. Washington Capitals. Starts tomorrow
NBA
East final game 7 Celtics vs Cavs tonight
West final game 7 Houston vs. Golden State game 7 tomorrow
You looked really good in the FaceTime call…
K-
All of Canada was sad about the Winnipeg Jets getting knocked out. Something is just wrong about hockey in June. Although last weekend Newfoundland got hit with a HUGE snowstorm…guess I’m glad to be in Calgary after all
T-
who does las vegas have?
B-
Goalie Marc Andre Fleury from the penguins. He has been unreal. But they have been good all year, not just hot in the playoffs
T-
gotta go love ya
B-
Work heaps hard. Probably not how to use that word 🙂