My last couple of days at the MTC were filled with many pictures and goodbyes. It was hard to leave the friends I made in my district and zone, but it was definitely time to go nonetheless. Travel to the airport was a bit crazy, but without any major hitches. I traveled with two Elders also waiting for visas to Baguio, and our flight was short but fine. After we had landed in Phoenix and met my new Mission President, we walked outside and I noticed a strange brown...wall...on the horizon. Looking more closely, I realized it was moving towards me. Having seen the movie Interstellar, and not particularly wanting to die, I decided to ask one of the Zone Leaders we were with what it was. "Oh, that. It's just a giant dust storm. It happens when huge monsoons hit the valley..." ...... 8O .....
Anyways, there was another flight of new missionaries coming in to Phoenix after us, so President Robinson left us with the Zone Leaders and sent us straight to work. I immediately helped teach a lesson over Skype, followed by some good old door to door tracting. By this time rain and winds were blasting down from the monsoon, drenching us and uprooting trees, cacti and umbrellas. We then learned that the other plane of missionaries was grounded in Vegas due to the monsoon, so we went and taught another lesson, were fed some crepes and did some more tracting. Finally, tired and rather damp, we made it back to the mission home and called it a night. So much for gradual entry into the mission field. :P
The next day started with some pictures and trainings, followed by the trainer/trainee assignments. I was paired with one Elder Spencer Smart from Pocatello, Idaho. Elder Smart is an awesome missionary, very enthusiastic and friendly. He's been in Arizona for about a year, though he's still slightly younger than me. (I guess I'm more ancient for a missionary than I thought) As I was grilling him for information about our area, he just kept laughing, saying that we have by far the strangest area in Arizona as a whole, not just our mission. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, especially since there are multiple Native American reservation in our mission. Finally, we drove to the Cave Creek area, and as we were driving along I started to realize what Elder Smart was talking about. Suddenly every ninth car we passed was a Porsche, every 20th car we passed was a Ferrari and every 50th car was a Lamborghini. 8O. We took a brief drive through what Elder Smart called an "impoverished neighborhood" consisting of several dozen multi-million dollar mansions. 8O. Finally we got to our apartment, which we have to ourselves, and it was actually normal. (Phew).
And thus I realized that God had decided to place me in the absolute antithesis of the Philippines. Cave Creek is packed with extremely affluent white people living in gated or guarded communities, most of whom don't think much of the LDS missionaries. The Philippines is mostly packed with relatively poor brown people whose homes are humble and like Amercans in general. I guess I'm living proof that God has a sense of humor. :P
My days since then have been filled with plenty of tracting, interesting conversations, searching for people who aren't home and meeting some of the most unique people I could ever dream up. Last night I actually had a recap with Elder Smart to make sure I hadn't forgotten any of these people...so here we go. During the last week, I have met/talked to:
1) A legitimate professional DJ (one of our ward mission leaders) who uses the name "Whip-Dog" in his line of work.
2) A former MLB player (also a ward mission leader)
3) An Arabian Stallion breeder by the name of "Old McDonald" (Still not sure if his first name is actually Old or not...)
4) Stephanie Meyer (Yup, that Stephanie Meyer) and her family
Well, now that I've talked about basically everything that has nothing to do missionary work, I suppose I should probably get to that. Elder Smart and I have a small pool of people we are teaching / working with right now. A couple groups are families with children and teenagers who have not been baptized yet. Others include a retired businessman going through heart failure, a woman who writes a horse perodical, and a half Filipino woman (YES!) who I have yet to meet. So thankfully, we do actually have people to teach. Unfortunately, many of the people who live in Cave Creek are gone to their "summer homes" in the cooler parts of the country right now. And those people who are still here aren't exactly the most humble group on the face of planet Earth. So the missionary work is slow and sometimes frustrating, but not impossible. I trust that so long as Elder Smart and I work diligently and obediently, miracles will yet be worked and great good will come of our efforts. Already I have had the opportunity to testify to members and non-members of what I know to be true, and have felt the Spirit confirm my words. In spite of the challenges that do exist here in Cave Creek, so long as I can testify, invite and help others to learn of their Savior, I will have done what I set out to do.
So, that about sums it up. I have high hopes for the future of our three little wards here in Cave Creek, and plenty of work to do in the meantime.Thank you for taking the time to read through this small novel. I wish each of you a wonderful week! Thank you for your friendship, and I'll look forward to writing again next week. :)
Love, Elder Dickison
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