Joseph Michael Dixon

Joe moved into our ward about 18 months ago. He sat in the bench in front of us (Mom, Grandma W. and I). We always sit in the 4th row from the front. He had three children with him, a girl and two boys. As a single woman I have radar for single men and as soon as I see one my radar sends an alarm in my head. All my senses go on alert mode. Fortunately, he was sitting in front of me and so I could watch him all through sacrament meeting. He was friendly and introduced himself to us and seemed so happy to be there.

Over time, I got to know him better just by watching him. He treated his children with so much love but he was still firm with them. He would bear his testimony every Fast Sunday and he would get emotional every time. He was so humble and hungry for the gospel. Mom would occasionally look at me with a twinkle in her eye and ask me what I thought about "that Joe Dixon". I would play innocent and act like I wasn't totally infatuated with him (which I absolutely was). I would dream about what life would be like with him and those 3 children. Hey, that is a normal thing. It's what any single woman would do when she sees a single man just like seeing what your name would sound like with his last name attached to it. (Mattie Rae Dixon . . . Mattie Dixon . . . Hmm . . .)

This guy was on fire with the gospel. I learned through is testimony bearing that he moved from Las Vegas to Mapleton the instant his wife let him have custody of the kids. He just packed up their things and high-tailed it out of there. He didn't want to raise his kids there. I once asked him why he chose to move to Mapleton (I was hoping his answer would be because he felt drawn here for some reason and hoping that reason would be me even though he didn't realize it yet) and he said he had a friend who lived here. He started coming to church and really changed his life around. He worked closely with the bishop and started living the Word of Wisdom. I admired him for his commitment and all the habits he had to break in order to live the gospel. That couldn't have been easy.

His daughter was 9 and she got baptized and when his boys turned 8, they got baptized too. Over time I could see the difference the gospel was making in his life and in the life of his children. The ward embraced that little family and it has really strengthened them and the whole ward. Joe was converted to the gospel when he was 26 but years later he stopped going. He loved the gospel but never really had the support he needed to stay active.

I kept my distance. From past experience I had learned not to get my hopes up. I still let my daydreams get carried away, but I have liked a lot of guys and none of them have liked me back. I wasn't in a rush to experience that again so I kept my cool as best I could. I had resigned to the "fact" that I would be single for the rest of my life. I had spent years on my knees in hopes that the Lord would send someone into my life to fill the empty hole there. I knew there were plenty of faithful women in the gospel who never got married and I had finally come to terms that I would be one of them. I spent years living life to the fullest possible with traveling and experiences that would help me to grow so I could be a tool in the Lord's hands in some master plan he had for me. The hope I had that Joe would someday love me was barely a spark and not in the slightest a realistic possibility.

In the following posts, I will share with you our story as our relationship began and as it blossomed.