Keeper of the Plains

Sweet, Sister Calder, the Mission Office Secretary texted me this wonderful picture of our Missionary, Elder Taylor Dickson today. They are in Wichita at the Keeper of the Plains. Its a Native American Landmark.

I looked it up here to find out more:
http://www.wichita.gov/…/Ar…/Pages/Keeper-of-the-Plains.aspx

They are on their way to spend the day at the Oklahoma City Temple.  She says he is a tremendous help to her. Sounds like my Son. Love it!!

Keeper of the Plains, Wichita Kansas

A Native American Landmark
On the phone dealing with car business!

Busy, Busy at Mission HQ

Hey everyone,

Things are going pretty good here at Mission HQ. We are starting to roll out the iPad's for the missionaries. This past week we had Elder Clark come and speak to our mission. He spoke to us for 5+ hours. He is such a fireball. He was walking around the room talking with us. Missionaries and iPads. Sounds like a crazy idea huh. But when we really looked at the broad scope of why the brethren are allowing this it really made sense. So instead of us missionaries being isolated, you will get, Sent from my iPad. These next few weeks are going to be crazy!! Tuesday I been given the privilege to attend the O.K.C temple so we will be doing that. Wednesday is Missionary Leadership Council. That is most of the day and after that I get to drive out west to take the missionaries back to their apartments. My companion and I will be staying the night in Garden City. We have a project to deliver 5 foot by 12 foot white boards to all the leadership in the mission. These whiteboards are a huge tool to keep track of missionary related statistics. We have already seen success with them in our pilot zone. So Thursday we will be on the road for many hours covering the western part of the mission. Next week we will be traveling Central and Eastern parts of Kansas doing Zone Conferences, inspecting 60 cars then back on the road installing white boards to the surrounding areas.

Oh, something really cool. My companions family are converts of 18 years. There is a lady in Garden City that served a mission in Maine (Elder Hisler's home town). So some missionaries said his name to the lady (inspired question) and she said that she baptized a family in Maine by that name. So long story short we will be visiting the lady that taught Elder Hisler's family on Saturday. So cool!!

Love, Elder Dickson

Got to love Dillons prices.

Freeze'm up. Spade-L-Ranch seasoning, MMM!!

Stash of iPads!!!

A Visit From Elder Holland & A Round of Golf

Hola mi familia and friends!!! Hope things are going great at home!! So much is going on at home!!! I can’t believe what is changing at home! My brother is engaged, the other brother is driving (probably my car also :=) ), my dad is growing strong and is a movie star, my mom is working like crazy and growing the Relief Society program! Can’t believe it!!

Things are going pretty good here! We are starting to work less in the office now. We are starting to get caught up on all the projects we have been given. So that is awesome! Last week was crazy in so many ways!!!!!!!! We had Elder Holland, Elder Christensen, and Elder Deshler come to our mission and speak to us on Saturday. Before I get into the good stuff…. I was in charge of getting the charter buses reserved to pick up ¾ of the missionaries. That was a nightmare!! Talk about fighting Satan to get 140 missionaries to listen to an Apostle!! As always if we put our trust in the Lord all things will work out. After all, I did sign myself up to work for the Lord full time!

So on Saturday morning we all arrived at the church building and took a mission picture. We then went into the chapel and awaited for Elder Holland. He arrived and we all stood and sung the Hymn “We are all enlisted.” Talk about a powerhouse!!!!!!!! Just imagine: 230 missionaries in a chapel, doors all shut, on the stand is Elder Holland, Elder Christensen, and Elder Deshler. All missionaries are singing with the spirit flowing out of our mouths. I thought to myself that we sounded so incredible!! As I looked around the spirit was filling me. My eyes started to water up and then the thought came to my mind: “I use to be in the depths of misery, now I have been saved and I am now standing in a chapel filled with missionaries and an Apostle.” I will never forget that moment!! After the singing Elder Christensen and Elder Deshler spoke. Honestly, I don’t remember what they said in their talks. I fell asleep!! After having the buses arrive at the church ON TIME my stress melted away! So the next thing I remember hearing was “Amen” then the spirit woke me up!  Elder Holland, he wanted to shake our hands. So we were only allowed to say our name and where we were from. So row by row we lined up to meet him. I started to get a bit nervous! As I was up in the line I was checking my tie, checking my suit coat, making sure enough white was showing out of my cuffs. I was a bit nervous! So after he got up and said that we had a great group of missionaries!! He interviewed each of us this way!! After a bit of speaking he started getting heated!! He would go up to a few missionaries and would tap them on the cheek. And one sister, he grabbed her and shook her. It was funny!! I learned a lot from him!! Yes, I am purposely leaving a cliff hanger….

P-day!!!! After being in the office for 3 transfers I finally took a p-day!! I called up a few missionaries and went golfing!! Man it was so great to chill back and play a round of some good ole’ fashion Happy Gilmore golf!! “Why won’t you go home!?!?” We had such a great time playing golf. I received some natural Vitamin D! And I don’t want to know what I shot!! Ugh… Love you all!!!

Kansas Wichita Mission

May 2nd, 2015

I am on the back row on the left side.

Getting a P-Day and some Vitamin D

The mama goose kept poking the young ones to hurry up!!

Working Hard & Elder Holland

Hey everybody!

Crazy days here at the office! Last week we did a 2 day trip through central Kansas. We just received a 2015 Chevy Equinox that was to be delivered out to Garden City. After we were done with Garden City we took Garden Cities Jeep Compass and delivered it to Topeka. They were so excited to get a new car. So the vehicle we took from Topeka replaced a vehicle that had high miles in Junction City. As we arrived to Junction City the Elders called and said that they just hit a stop sign. UGH!!! So they slid into the stop sign and took a chunk out of the front bumper. It was to be delivered to its finally resting grounds in Arkansas but now it sits in our parking lot awaiting for an estimate. One of my jobs is to oversee incidents. In the past 3 weeks I have had 4 cars in the shop and 3 awaiting estimates and approval for body damage. I love what I am doing here in the office!!

One of my largest tasks that I am working on is getting transportation for the mission. On May 2nd Elder Holland is coming to speak with the missionaries and then to the Area Leadership. So I am in charge of getting all 180+ missionaries to Wichita. I had a plan to get 6 vans out all over Kansas. But after 50+ hours day and night of working on travel and sleeping arrangements we felt it was not the right way to go and we decided another way. After meeting with President Bell we went to a members to have dinner. When we were coming home I asked another missionary to drive us home. (My Companion is not driving right now.) I was so tired!! He drove us home and I could barely make it in the door. I crashed hard!! I learned something awesome during this project. I worked day and night working on this project. I was never tired or weary. I know that the Lord was there to give me extra strength to endure.

As many might not know my current calling is to manage 85 vehicles. That includes repairs, incidents, sales, safety, mileage allotment, vehicle transfers, etc. I know that the Lord is in charge of this work. It is difficult at times knowing what the Lord wants done. He does not always tell us what needs to be done. If he were to do that we would not learn and grow. Being in the office is not easy as many might think. We have missionaries’ day in and day out investigate us on what we do. They think we get to play on the internet and just mess around and do whatever we want. It is one of the most underappreciated callings. At times it really gets to me. They don’t understand how much an office Elder does for a mission. During this “mini” trial I have been taught that it does not matter what other missionaries (people) think. It is only what God thinks of you!

I know that if we truly lose ourselves in the Lords work many miracles will come upon us. I have truly lost myself in the Lords work being in the office. My depression has not came up as much as it has in the past. I have had a health issue since I was a kid, I did not know what it was! But now I understand that I have had great amounts of anxiety tearing me down.

Fun things to know about our Mission: Last year Elder Bednar came and spoke to the mission and a Stake. This year Elder Holland is coming to speak to the mission and Area Leadership. Then on Sunday he will be speaking to the same Stake Elder Bednar spoke to last year!

Love Elder Dickson

Eating a 1 lb. Prime Rib on one of the trips with the cars.

Tornado, A Night of Excitement!!

Hey Family and Friends,

We did not get a p-day Monday so President let us have a partial p-day yesterday. It was not a p-day at all. So our fun adventure Wednesday night. We were at a store last night and all of a sudden the tornado sirens went off. They told us to go into lock down or leave. So we started heading towards the shelter and the spirit told me to leave and get to the office to alert the leaders. So as we were driving to the office we turned on the radio and listened to the weather alert. It was in our vicinity, my companion and I were a little startled. It was more of an adrenaline rush more than anything. So we arrived at the office and started checking the weather. It was moving past our area (Derby). So until 11:30 last night we were at the office checking the weather for the A.P.’s, letting them know what areas were needing to take shelter. It was quite a night!

Sorry I have not been writing a blog letter! Ever since this new transfer arrived I have been so busy. This transfer I was appointed the Assistant Vehicle Coordinator. So the Vehicle Coordinator is new to this and I have medium experience. We were both thrown into it at the beginning of the month which is when miles and fuel receipts start coming in from our fleet of 86 vehicles. There are 1,000’s of receipts that have to be signed off and all odometers need to be entered into the computers. It is really fun to be able to be in this position for the mission for the time being.

The down side to being in the office is we don’t get to work in our area as much. We do get to teach a bit and have those awesome miracles but not as much. But here in the office we get to help with so many things that allow missionaries to have those miracles happen for them and their investigators. Being in the office is one of those things in the mission where you don’t get to see the fruit of your labors. But on the other side we will be able to!

Some of my current projects that I have been working on for the mission. On May 27th we will be having iPad orientation. My responsibility for this event is to get 3 charter busses and have them go around Kansas picking up missionaries. It is a big responsibility and task to plan out. After that we will be going to the Temple on June 2nd in Oklahoma City. We will be getting a charter bus for that as well. I don’t know how Salt Lake is going to handle the iPads when they get here, but we know it is going to be a big task handing our 220 iPads out and collecting money for them. Such a crazy event. I am so glad to be able to be a part of that history for the Kansas Wichita Mission!!

Well time is flying by. I have a new companion named Elder Hisler from Maine. I like having the chance to serve with him. He has already worked here in the office previously for 6 months. President felt that he needed to be here in the office at this time. We have had a big turn over on senior staff so we are needed to help them as well. This month I will be out for 15 months. Time is coming up! I can’t wait to get back into school! Hint… follow up Dad!? I hope that you are all doing great and are having great experiences within your lives!!

Love,
Elder Dickson

An Awesome Week

Hey family and friends,

Things have been going great the past week. I can officially say now that we are getting iPads in May! I am so excited for this big event in mission history. Bad news though for the mission. We are getting TIWI put in all of our cars. So TIWI, it is a module that is installed into the car and will monitor how fast, seatbelt usage, boundaries, and how aggressive you are while driving. So if a missionary is disobeying these “settings” it will alert the Mission President and the Vehicle Coordinator. So that is another big thing for the mission.

Last week we had MLC’s (Mission Leadership Council) while we were doing our trainings I got a phone call from Utah. This mans brother was working in Kansas City in a mine and had a big accident. He had a ¼ inch fitting blow off a 5,000 psi fitting and hit his arm. It tore the skin under his arm open and hydraulic fluid entered into him. So he was life flighted to the hospital near the office, St Francis hospital. So the man wanted us to go be there when the helicopter landed and give him a blessing. So we got there right before he was going into surgery. We were up in the pre-op room and gave him a blessing. (The missionaries are treated like gold at the hospital) So I gave him the blessing and when I got done I looked around and there were a ton of staff workers waiting for me to get done. It was so cool. They were all thanking me.

Last week we were out visiting people on the roster. In the meantime we found a New Investigator that moved here from Africa. His name is Raule. He was so interested in hearing about the Gospel. We gave him a Book of Mormon and explained to him and taught. As we were walking down the stairs he said “is this mine?” We said yes. He was so surprised. We have an appointment with him this week.

Love you all!!

Elder Dickson

A Big Snow Storm & We Weren't In It

Things have been great lately. Elder de Jong stayed at my apartment at transfers and he told me that his car was having problems. He has a 2011 Fusion. So we had to drive out to Garden City to pick up an extra car they had. So Elder Oakey and I took Elder de Jong the 2014 Corolla (back up camera, automatic climate, touch screen in the dash) So we were in the car for 13 hours that day! It was so much fun and a very long day. We covered half of Kansas! I will send screen shots of my GPS.

We did get a lot of snow Saturday. We left early that morning and drove out west. It was snowing but not enough to accumulate on the roads. So we kept getting texts from our zone leaders that they parked the cars. It was snowing so hard that they told us to park the cars but we weren’t where it was snowing. President even said that the missionaries were told to go do service that day. That was cool! As we got back into Wichita around 9pm we saw the evidence. There was tons of snow! We traveled half the state and did not see anything like it here in Wichita. Hopefully we will get more here soon!! We went out looking for people on our roster to see if they still lived at their houses. (We live near Wichita State University) Most have left by now.

I am so glad that Grandpa is doing good!! I wish that I could go see him. But I knew if I would see him I would break down and cry! Aunt Dell sent me this: I just wanted to let you know that I truly believe with all of my heart that your Grandpa Taylor is still alive today because of your faithful service. Missionaries truly bless others with their service and their families with their service. I started to tear up when I read what she said! I want to be able to see Grandpa when I get home!! I want him to be at the Airport when I come home.

Guess what? We are finally getting iPads! Wahoooo! In May we will be getting them! So excited to finally get them. So this week is going to be busy. Wednesday we have MLC’s. Which stands for Missionary Leadership Council. The Zone leaders and the Sister training leaders all come to the office and have trainings from 9-4pm. The ZL sent in supply orders for me to pull out for them so I have 9 zones that I have to fulfill orders for. And then fix a laptop that is not working right. Oh and some zone leaders want me to make cards that have the time and address for each of their churches so they can hand them out to people. So I have a lot of work ahead of me. So the one zone wants me to do that for them. I am going to try and make those cards for the whole mission!!! Do you know how much that could help people come to church? One missionary said that you are going to be so blessed for helping us do this! It reminded me of what my setting apart blessing said about the 100’s and even 1,000’s!! They are awesome!!

Things are going great on the mission. We had staff meeting this morning. President came up with some ideas for us to do and I told him “it’s all done” he was shocked. He kept naming things for us to do and I already did it. The whole office staff was happy and impressed.

It is the true Gospel. No matter what people say, all of our history is correct and accounts for its self.

Have a Wonderful week!!
Love, Elder Dickson

Working In the Mission Office

Hey Family and Friends,

Sorry I have not emailed since I have been transferred into the office. Things are going great here in the office world! I also cover a YSA Branch which is awesome and weird. LOL!!! We won’t get much time out of the office this transfer since it is a very busy time for Missionaries. We are having Zone Conference this week so we will be all over the mission doing car inspections, setting up equipment and making sure things run smooth for the 9-5 Conference. 

This transfer I have been doing tons in the office. Since we are most likely not getting iPads I made up a DVD full of 25 Mormon Message for all the 238 missionaries in Kansas!! I have had 3 DVD drives burning for the past few days. I have also been updating Photobucket. We are asking all the missionaries to send in pictures that they want to be posted. We are using this as a virtual “scrapbooking” device. 

Here is the link: http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/KansasWichitaMission/library/Kansas%20Wichita%20Mission/KWM%20Photobucket

We are also supplying all the new incoming missionaries with the whole bed set. So I was the one that went out and bought all of that stuff. We went to Sams Club and bought 50 pillows. People thought we were crazy.

Last week we had the privilege to attend the Kansas City Temple! It was so great being able to attend the Temple. We all had such a great experience there! 

So the other night after eating dinner we decided to get the truck washed. As we were there a man came up to us and started asking us what we did. So we told him what we did. We started teaching him and he wants to change. He has some serious issues that he wants to stop doing! It was so incredible!! Even though we are in the office we are still blessed to help those in need. 

Love you all!!

Elder Taylor Paul Dickson

Kansas City Missouri Temple

I am in a New area & we are Blessed

Hey everyone,

I am in a new area now. I am serving in the Mission office and a YSA branch. I am loving it. We have not had much time to go out and do much actual proselyting since I have left Wellington. I am in a trio companionship so one of the Elders is the Car coordinator for the mission. The other day we went and picked up two 2015 Chevy Cruzes. I drove off the lot with 8 miles on it. So nice! The YSA branch is the greatest! There are so many YSA’s that are so strong in the faith.

The other night we went to a fireside at the Stake center. The members name is Larry Chesley he was in the Vietnam war. He was shot down and jumped out of the plane and became a P.O.W. for 7 years!! He was tortured and beaten. He said that he kept his faith up and continued to pray. As he was going through all this crap. As he was in there his wife divorced him. As he eventually was released, he came home to just his parents. He later married and had a child. As he and his wife were driving to the Church building to bless his child he was hit by a train. The accident killed his wife and child. As I sat and listened to this man I thought “my problems are NOTHING compared to this man!” I encourage you all to learn of this man. Here is his book: Seven years in Hanoi;: A POW tells his story.

Love,
Elder Dickson

Elder Dickson said to mail any packages or letters to the Mission Home, that is where he will be to get it. He is living in the same apartment that he was before when he lived in Wichita.  

His HUMP DAY is coming up soon on January 22nd! Write or email, the address is to the sig

The Spirit & Gospel Changes Our Lives & Transfer Time

Well another week bites the dust... I mean snow. It has been snowing here really hard the past few days. It also has been really cold! In the negatives!! (wind chill) We didn't have our baptism this past Saturday. The mother cancelled all appointments because she has been so busy with work. We were so devastated!! But she will be baptized this month sometime.

I said goodbye to the Starks family last night. It was so sad to leave them at this time! We have grown so much together. I got a picture with them before I left their house. The whole family has changed so much since they have came back to church and from being baptized. The spirit does so many wonderful things to a person. And even more important to families!! As we drove home I was thinking of how wonderful it has been to be able to help out others and the impact the Gospel has on them. It will change their lives forever!!
Love you all!! Elder Dickson

Elder Dickson is getting transferred on Wednesday. He is so excited, he will be in a three-some companionship. They will be serving in a Young Single Adult Ward called Rock Road. So back up north to his second area, the Derby Zone, just south of Wichita.