Adversity can be a barrier or a steppingstone to growth, said Elder John B. Dickson, vice president of an Everett, Wash., timber industry company before his recent call to the Second Quorum of the Seventy.
"I have learned that the periods between challenges are extremely restful, but there is no growth," he said. "You grow when you are being challenged."Elder Dickson, 49, whose call to the Seventy was announced June 6, has made a practice of overcoming adversity through diligence and hard work, traits that have helped him progress with his family, in his career, and in the Church.
The trim, energetic 5-foot 9-inch General Authority has been called to serve as second counselor in the South America South Area presidency, and will live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, Delores, and their younger children Camille, Emily and John.
The secret of happiness, he said, is balance.
"I feel that if we strive to get anything done in our Church and we fail to keep it all in balance we get into trouble."
In Elder Dickson's vocabulary, there's nothing passive about the word "strive."
"As a family, we believe in very hard work," he said. "Both our mothers and fathers have been hard working, dedicated Latter-day Saints in the Church and in their vocations. They passed to us a great heritage of just good, hard work to be self-sustaining."
One of life's toughest challenges came to Elder Dickson as a young man. He was called at age 19 to serve in the Mexican Mission. His girlfriend since high school, Delores Jones, was willing to wait for him as he prepared to serve.
But before he entered the mission, he suffered problems with his right arm. He was taken to the hospital where the malady was diagnosed as bone cancer. His arm was immediately amputated above the elbow.
"I received a father's blessing that indicated that I would get well, be able to fulfill my mission, have a family and serve the Lord throughout my life if I would be true and faithful and worthy," he said. "I have learned over the years that if I would remain true and faithful and available, the Lord would use me as He needs me."
Rather than looking back on that experience with despair, he now sees it as a turning point in his life. "That has probably been one of the greater blessings of my life," he affirmed. "It has been a teacher. I have learned to be a little more patient with people. I have learned to be a little more patient with myself. It has been a real blessing to learn how to deal with challenges."
Sister Dickson said that people around her husband do not think of him as handicapped. "He doesn't know he has only one arm. He just performs and works as if there is absolutely nothing wrong. When he needed help, our children always considered it a privilege to be his other arm. Now they are very good plumbers and carpenters simply because Dad needed them to help."
Eight months after his cancer operation, he entered the mission field where he served for 29 months.
"I learned to love the people of Mexico," he said.
Shortly after he returned, he and Delores Jones were married in the Oakland Temple. They both attended and graduated from BYU. Afterward, he joined the family timber business, Summit Timber, founded by Sister Dickson's father, Robert E. Jones, a former president of the Seattle Temple.
"We built a home in Arlington, Wash., which was a wonderful place to raise children," Elder Dickson said. "We learned to love to hike and camp and do lots of outside things with the children.
"We loved to take family trips. We'd take short ones or long ones. It didn't matter as long as we could be together. We usually had a little trailer that we could throw our suitcases into so we could have fun as a family in the van.
"We love to be together as a family. We have always enjoyed singing together and playing games in the car.
"We always had our home evenings, and regular family prayer, and we read the scriptures to our children every day. For the last 10 years, Delores has been an early morning seminary teacher. That has been a wonderful thing for us She observed that even though her husband has often been away doing Church work, "I was so busy doing family history work and teaching that I can honestly say I never felt neglected in my life.
"Jack loves life and he can break away from work. He can relax, and that has been a great blessing to our family."
In 1978, he was called to be president of the Mexico City North mission.
Although the children were very excited, it was a difficult adjustment to take their large family into another country. "Some situations came up where we could either laugh or cry," he recalled. "We decided we were going to laugh, and that made all the difference.
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Elder John B. Dickson
- Family: Born in Tacoma, Wash., on July 12, 1943, to John H and Helen Baird Dickson. Married Delores Jones, a daughter of Robert E. and Audrey E. Pratt Jones, in the Oakland Temple on Feb. 19, 1966. Parents of seven daughters and a son: Susanne (Mrs. Dean Tingey) of Bellevue, Wash.; Wendy (Mrs. Brent Davis) of Provo; Jennifer (Mrs. Bryant Marchant) of Provo; Andrea, a student at Utah Valley Community College; Gina, a student at BYU; Camille, 15; Emily, 13; and John, 11. They have two grandchildren.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration from BYU.
- Employment: Vice president and partner of Summit Timber, the largest independent sawmill in Washington; former president of Northwest Independent Forest Manufacturers, a timber company association.
- Church Service: Bishop's counselor, stake president's counselor, regional welfare agent, president of the Mexico City Mexico North Mission, president of the Mount Vernon Washington Stake; served in the Mexican Mission, 1963-66.