Rimini!

Cari Tutti!

Well this has been quite the week! So first off, Last pday Sorella

Taylor and I went to Rimini to help out two sisters. And long story

short-- I am now officially in Rimini with Sorella Rosano. We did a

space transfer, so her companion is now in Bologna with Sorella

Taylor. Crazy stuff. I wasn't really expecting that to happen, but

when I look back I can see how Heavenly Father has been preparing me.

Rimini is a beautiful little city by the ocean. The ward is amazing

here and we've seen some great miracles. We also ride bikes!! Yay!!

Finalmente!! Haha I'm excited to serve here for another three weeks.

So about a few people and happenings here in Rimini:

We're teaching these two kids named Heili and Dilan. They are from

Ecuador (woot!) and just so adorable. Heili is thirteen and Dilan is

9. We have had really good lessons with them. Sorella Rosano is such

an incredible missionary. Mamma Mia. Sometimes I just stare at her in

awe as she speaks because she says amazing things, and when she speaks

she is full of the spirit. Pretty much everyone who listens is just

fixed on her while she speaks. Anyway she has a really good way to get

others to open up and share their concerns. Heili is so cute

and has opened up to us so much. At first when we asked her what her

expectations were from us she said she wanted some new friends. We

also talked about other things and then the next time when we asked

her again what she expected from us, after having thought about the

things we talked about with her, she said she wants to change and

become a better person. Incredible. That really is what the gospel is

about. Changing and improving everyday.

There is a woman who they set a baptism date with before I came named

Giulia, but I still haven't been able to see her. We've had lessons

set up with her but she has been incredibly busy with work. She's so

cute though, when we've been able to talk to her on the phone she says

she wants to meet with us so badly so she can be ready for her baptism!

Hopefully I'll get to meet her soon.

Yesterday we taught a less-active named Angela who hasn't had the

missionaries over for 20 years. But Sorella Rosano and another sister

taught her one time and she really felt the spirit so she is open to

having the missionaries come back. So we saw her again this week and

had an incredible lesson with her. We mainly talked about God's love.

We were actually planning on doing the restoration, but then she asked

questions and made comments and stuff, and we mainly just talked about

that. Which was super good. On Sunday actually we were talking about

missionary work for part of Relief Society and something that I love

that was mentioned was how when we help others focus on improving

their relationship with God, they change and start to do the right

things without having to focus on the things they aren't doing that's

right. Angela really opened up and talked about a concern she has so

we were also able to address that.

Something that I really like that Sorella Rosano has been doing is

really searching for how she can serve the members. She looks

for even the tiniest things she can do to brighten their day or make

them feel loved. For example, this last Sunday she had two letters she

had written to give to some women in the ward. And we also gave some

cookies to a few other people. We were also able to help a lady clean

her house before a bunch of teenagers from around Italy came to stay

with her for an EFY type of thing they did here last weekend. I've

loved it! In Italy there aren't really a ton of service projects we

can do around the ward, but we have been able to find little things to

serve the members.

Even though is was sad to leave Bologna and I miss the people there,

it has been good to have a change. I like getting to serve in a

different city, teaching new people, and learning the ways of

missionary work here.

A small thought that I want to leave you with: La fede porta la conoscenza--

Faith brings knowledge. If we want to gain more spiritual knowledge,

just have faith and really believe in it (the scriptures, a doctrine,

etc.)  and you will come to a greater knowledge of it. Why? Because

then we live it and we can see how it applies to our lives.

Well, I hope everyone has a great summer week!

Ciao from Rimini!

Con amore,

Sorella Dixon

*****Sorella Dixon didn't send photos this weeks, so I decided to look on her mission's blog and found these recent photos of her. As an STL, she has had the opportunity to travel the mission to teach and serve. I am sure she has loved meeting and working with so many missionaries.*****

Practicing for musical number in Vicenza

Sister Training Leaders

Padova Area of the Venezia Zone at the Vicenza Church - May 19, 2016

Lunch in Pordenone

Special musical number in Pordenone

Lo spirito ci guida

Fratello De Mola made us learn the Italian national anthem before correlation.

Cari tutti,

This week has kind of been a whirlwind of crazy things. It didn't go

exactly how we expected it to, but I know that we were guided by the

spirit.

We were able to do a couple of scambi that were very inspired. I know

that Heavenly Father uses us as tools so that we can bless the lives

of others. Sometimes I don't know what I'm supposed to do or say, but

I know that Heavenly Father gives us the strength and puts the right

words in our mouths.

That actually happened this week with Sorina, too. We were going to

Simona's on Sunday and when we got there she said she wasn't able to

see us at the moment. She is so sweet and loves to see us, but she

couldn't that day. She also told us they would be leaving at the end

of this month, so that's a little sad. I've only been there about

three or four times and she already says she loves us like her own

daughters. She is adorable. Anyway during the time we were talking

with her I felt like we should passby Sorina since she lives close. I

was a little worried she might be having some difficulties with

something. Sorella Taylor saw her the day before for a Scambio and

said it didn't go as smoothly as it could've. So we passed by and

ended up talking with her for awhile. She had actually been reading

the Book of Mormon, but had a bunch of questions and a lot of doubts

about it. So we were able to clear a few things up and bear strong

testimony about prayer and how she will be able to know if it's true

if she prays sincerely, with faith and real intent. I hope things go

better and she is more open to it. At some times I didn't know exactly

what to say, but I know we were guided.

I actually don't have a ton of time today, but I know that gospel of

Jesus Christ is the way we truly can find pure joy in this life. It's

how we can overcome anything and eventually return to our Heavenly

Father. I know that we are so blessed to have the gift of the Holy

Ghost and he will guide, comfort, bless, inspire, and protect us

everyday. I know that Heavenly Father's plan for us is PERFECT and we

just need to trust in him. Everything will work out.

Well have a great week! Love you all so much! :D

Vi voglio un Sacco di bene!

Sorella Dixon

Mom's note:

The lack of time in letter writing for Sorella Dixon is because she needed to catch a train to help some sisters, who are struggling, in a different city.  She and her companion will be with them for 4-5 days to help them. Please send extra prayers her way. 

Here are her words:

"This week was good. It was kind of stressful because we have had to deal with a problem between two Sorelle. So between lots of phone calls with the Sorella who is mainly struggling, President and Sister Dibb, and figuring stuff out, I am now in Rimini for 4-5 days. I'll be with one of the sisters while Sorella Taylor is with the other. Crazy stuff. It was actually decided this morning. President Dibb still needs to really figure out what will happen so I'm with her until he does. Hopefully I'll be able to help out in some way."

"See that mountain in the very back? The one more on the left?
That's San Morino. The little country inside Italy.

Surprise!! Going to Rimini

Scambio with Sorella Teague.

Yummy piadine.

Zone training last Friday.

***It's a wonderful blessing, words can't really describe to receive a letter like this. Even though it may be standard, it brings many emotions to my mind, heart (and eyes).

"Dear Brother and Sister Dixon,

For the past eighteen months, your daughter, Sister Savanna Dixon, has been faithfully serving in the Italy Milan Mission, teaching the gospel to the Italian people. The time is approaching for her to return home and begin a new phase of her life.

Sister Dixon entered Italy on 04 Mar 2015, and served in the cities Navigli, Genova, and Bologna.

Sister Dixon has represented the Church and the Lord well. I understand the importance of her personal progress and pray for her success as she returns home. Please help her to keep the wonderful patterns that she has developed as a missionary, so that they may become habits for her life.
         
We express our deepest gratitude for the missionary labors of Sister Dixon here in Italy.  We would like to thank you for your great contribution in rearing and training your daughter to serve the Lord, and for your sacrifice, love and support to her during her mission.

Sincerely,


Bruce L. Dibb
President"

Come What May and Love It!!

Ciao tutti!

Come state? We're all doing great here in Bologna! It's so crazy that

it has only been a week since I said goodbye to Sorella Marostica and

welcomed in Sorella Taylor! It feels like 3 weeks has gone by with all

that has happened! We've seen so many people with introducing her to

everyone, and have seen so many miracles! Sorella Taylor a great

missionary :) we're going to have a great transfer together! She is in

her ninth transfer and is from Hyrum, Utah. We are actually super

similar. We have the same interests. So many actually, it's kind of

scary haha ;) we're practically the same person.

"Come what may and love it" is so perfect for this week since we've

had some pretty crazy experiences this week! But you just have to love

it :) here are a few fun/crazy experiences from this week since I

can't tell you everything!

So on Monday we saw Cristina and Maria. We actually saw them a time

last week and had a great lesson on prophets. So we were expecting to

go back and continue with that. But nope! We go in and we

actually had seen Maria leaving with her son for a few minutes down

the stairs. She explained that there was something that

happened and Cristina was upset. So we go upstairs and Cristina

wasn't really happy. She was cooking. Finally we get her to

sit down and talk to us and she tells us about some problems that have

been happening around the house. Some major family problems. It was a

pretty tough situation. Eventually she said she wants to talk about

something else to distract herself so we sing a hymn and say a prayer

and start to go into a scripture but then other people come in and

talk and it's just a little chaos. It didn't help that there was a ton

of family members in the other room there to visit. They were actually

there for the communion of the father in law. So they were all in one

room singing and praying, and we were in the kitchen trying

to help Cristina and Maria. Oh, quite the situation. We had no idea

this would be going down. And then one of the old ladies came in and

got upset with Maria and Cristina for not being in there with them and

saying that what we were doing wasn't religious or right. Most of it

was in Romanian, but you got the gist. So then they were upset about

all that. At this point I didn't know what to do. Sorella Taylor gets

out a scripture about faith and then all of the sudden, to top it all

off, a rainbow bird comes flying into the room from outside and lands

on my head!! Yes, it was flapping it's wings and trying to land on my

head! Haha it completely surprised me and I didn't know what it was.

People were freaking out and the kids were kind of screaming. Then it

flew into the other room and they shut the door. I was laughing so

hard I started crying, but they thought I was crying because it scared

me! Hahaha but then by the end of the whole situation, with the

problems from the beginning and the words from the lady, Maria and

Cristina started crying for real. We said a closing prayer and

left. Oh mamma Mia. That was the craziest lesson of my life. But

really though, Cristina and Maria are having a hard time, so prayers

for them would be good.

Another experience we had was yesterday. So last week we got quite a

few referrals from the church so we called them and actually set up an

appointment with a lady named Ginetta. She said the sister

missionaries had been there before but never came back after one time.

So yesterday we went over and after a little bit she shows up at home

from doing yoga. We go in the home and there are two birds (in the

cage this time ;) and then we turn the corner and this guy just kind

of pops out and starts talking to us in his kind of broken, but pretty

good English. That actually wasn't that weird, a lot of people talk to

us in English once they find out we're American. But the only way I

can describe him (and not in a bad way in the slightest) is he's like

a real life Tarzan! He had long brown dreadlocks and was just kind of

everywhere and then with him talking in his English he learned in

school. But he was super nice and interested in what we had to say. So

apparently they met the missionaries when they did a mostra in Centro

a year ago and were interested in practicing English. But I guess it

just never worked out with the missionaries in the past. But then as

we were talking with them in English they asked us about our church

and we were actually able to have a really good restoration lesson

with them! And their friend, who made sure he told us he was Muslim

several times, was actually a part of the conversation and talked a

lot about how important Christ is. They took the Book of Mormon and

said they would all read it together. So that was neat! Ginetta is

really nice and understood really well everything we were teaching.

About a month ago, or maybe more, we met a man named Ovidio. We found

him because the citofino was Stirbu. Anyway we haven't been able to

see him or his family since then until last week. Then we passed by

and talked to his wife for a little bit and she said to passby Sunday.

So we did and at first we were talking to Ovidio and his brother

outside and a little to his wife, but then she told us to come inside

and we got to really got to talk to her and get to know her. She is

amazing. She said she has actually been wanting to come to our church

since we first invited them but everyone else in her family has wanted

to do other stuff Sunday morning. With Romanians the husband is very

in charge. The wife doesn't quite have the say and is expected to be

home and cook and clean for the family. But she wants to follow Christ

and is really interested in having us come over to teach her and her

kids. So that was a neat miracle!

Lately I've been studying about trials because lately almost EVERYONE

we have been teaching has been going through a really hard trial. A quote I found in a talk is:

    "Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow

is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often

difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences

that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our

compassion for others.

   Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our

suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that

we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others."

I know that trials are an important part of life. Without them we

wouldn't be able to learn and grow how we need to. Sometimes they feel

like they will never end and that we won't be able to get through

them, but one thing I've learned as a missionary is that God will

ALWAYS give you the strength to get through them. One day at a time.

Or even one lesson to the next. He helps us get up, keep going, and do

what we need to to fulfill our calling. They truly are the things that

refine us and shape us.

Well I hope you all have a great week! This month as a mission we're

focusing on finding a lot of new people to teach, and we have already

seen great miracles! I know it will be a great month!

Vi voglio un sacco di bene! Baci!

Sorella Dixon

Saying goodbye to Sorella Marostica

The last training with Elder and Sister Dibb. They return to Bountiful
at the end of June.

Sorella Dixon is always good for shots of yummy foods!

Sorealla Taylor--her new companion from Hyrum,Utah.

Sister Training Leaders

"This is Kebab!"

Dio guida questo lavoro (God is Guiding This Work)

Cara Famiglia e Cari amici,

Well, we got transfer calls this week.... And... I'm staying in

BOLOGNA!! Haha yep I'll be finishing in this wonderful city of

miracles. 5 transfers. Crazy. How do I feel about that? I am soooo

happy. This transfer I tried to figure out how I would feel if I left

or if I stayed, and every time I thought about leaving my heart just

ached. I love these people so much. The members, investigators, and

people on the street. I love this beautiful city so much. It has

become my home. I know it almost like the back of my hand ormai! Doing

five transfers in a city is still pretty crazy, but I know I'm here

for a reason and I still have work to do!!

I can't believe this transfer of five weeks is now over. They just

flew! But at the same time, we did soooooo sooo much. Working with

Sorella Marostica was amazing. I'm so grateful for the unity and

friendship we developed. We got along super well and learned so much

from each other. I know she will do great work as she starts off on a

new adventure. We've talked a lot about missions and life and

something that we've talked about a lot is giving our whole heart to

God and becoming a new creature. It's amazing how much the mission

really does change you. It's the hardest thing I've been through, but

the most refining. I have already felt the change in my heart and am

so grateful for the Atonement. I'm excited to keep giving my whole

heart during this next transfer.

This last week we've had some powerful lessons and great miracles. Two

weeks ago a lady just randomly showed up in church named Wealth. She's

African and has been in Italy for a year. We found out she was a

member and hasn't been to church because when she tried to look it up

online she couldn't find it near by, but it turned out to be just a

few streets from her house! She figured that out when she saw the

anziani on the street one day. So we wanted to meet with her to help

her get back to church and prepare her because she wants to go to the

temple again. So we had an appointment set up and she told us she was

going to be really late. We were already in her area, so we decided to

do some casa. We did a POPP (it's just where we read a scripture  and

talk about a principle with each other) and said a prayer. That really

helped us get the spirit and focus on the work more. We did casa and

no one was interested. Pretty typical. But then finally someone

answered the door and let us in! She was a lady from Nigeria named

Blessing :) We shared a message about Christ and she said we could

come back! We've been back to give her a Book of Mormon but weren't

able to stay much longer. But then it turns out that the Anziani had

talked to her and her husband a few weeks ago on the bus and got their

number. So this week they got in contact with them and they said that

missionaries had been by and brought them a Book of Mormon! And then

she asked some great questions! This little family really must need to

meet the missionaries!! I'm so excited!

Then we had a great lesson with Wealth and her roommate ended up being

a lady who answered the door when we were doing casa (we didn't know

Wealth lived there...) and said she wasn't interested. Haha but then

we got to talk to her and she asked some questions. Then Wealth said

she was asking her a bunch of stuff later!

On Sunday last week we taught an amazing family that we found recently

and this week we went back. It was so cute because that morning it was

raining pretty hard and Simona (the mom) said as she saw the rain she

was thought about us and was worried we might not come. That was a

neat miracle because people tend to forget we are even coming.... She

said that after we left the last time we had left a pamphlet and she

didn't realize it until later. When she saw it she  felt so happy

and looked through it at the pictures. She can't read but she could

feel something just from the images. We had an incredible lesson with

her. She opened up with us and shared with us her concerns and

worries in life and we were able to bear strong testimony of the Book

of Mormon and how much peace it can bring into her life. She has

daughters that will be able to read to her. And they really wanted to

read as a family.

This week we have actually seen sooo many people so Sorella Marostica

can say goodbye. So there will be lots of pictures ;) And so many of

the lessons have been so powerful. The spirit has been so strong and

the people have been able to recognize that!

Solo voglio dire che questa missione è meravigliosa, incredibile,

bellissima. Imparo qualcosa ogni giorno. Lavoro missionario è

bellissimo. So che Dio guida questo lavoro e se siamo pronti possiamo

essere fortunati di fare parte in questo lavoro. Miracoli succedono.

Dio rispondono alle preghiere. E i cuori sono guariti.

Vi voglio un mondo di bene!

Sorella Dixon

:D

(Translation: Only I want to say that this mission is wonderful , incredible,

gorgeous. I learn something every day . Missionary work is

beautiful . I know that God is guiding this work and if we are ready we can

be lucky to take part in this work . Miracles happen .

God's answer to prayer . And hearts are healed .

I love you so much!

Sister Dixon

: D)

Here's lots of photos from Sorella Savannie. She didn't have time for captions, but from the looks of them so knows and loves many people in the great land of Italy!!

Companion packing to go home!

Italian shoes for the Elders! (the golden tan ones)

                                                                             Haircut!!

I think she looks Italian in this photo!! :)