September 17

Hey!!!

 

We had another interesting week.  It is crazy to think that it has all ready been a year. On the bright side we have been able to gain some more of the members trust. This ward has had really bad missionaries for almost a year now and so it has been really easy to get them to trust us because they see us out riding our bike and making visits. We are out working and improving.

 

Interesting facts... Elder Grimes family used to have a cabin right next to the ranch and now they go camping right behind the ranch. Also Grandpa Mickelson was who sealed his parents.

 

Funny story... Elder Grimes had a count down calendar that he had made on a piece of paper and he was scribbling through everyday. He took out his lighter and decided that he was going to burn all the days that had all ready passed. Well the paper burned much faster than he had thought that it would so he tried to blow out the flames which just made it bigger. So he throws it into the garbage, right after he did it he realised that it was very stupid so he reached into the can and pulled it out and ran to the kitchen sink leaving behind a bunch of charred paper pieces. 

 

I think that my major accomplishment this week was that I finally got our apartment cleanish. It was so gross when I first got there. The first thing that I had to do was clean the sink so that I could have a starting point. To finish it all off today the carpets are getting cleaned which will be great so that I will no longer have sticky carpet:)

 

Thanks for all that you do for me! I love you all so much and am grateful that I have the chance to serve the Lord. I pray that I will be able to see success and have good thing happen in this area.

 

Love you all so much.

 

Dustin

Letters

We got some great postcards from Dustin this week.  They are of his trip to Mt. Hood.  They are the old fashioned ones that look like they used to be the advertising to get people to come visit.  They are really cool.  It looks like a beautiful area.  We look forward to visiting there after he returns!


We also got a letter from Dustin's mission President.  There are 16 stakes in the Portland Oregon mission.  There are over 200 missionaries serving in that mission.

Notes of encouragement can be sent to:

Elder Dustin Hatch
Oregon Portland Mission
1400 NW Compton Drive, Suite 250
Beaverton, OR  97006

P-day pictures September 10, 2012

September 11

Yesterday there was a member that rented a 15 passenger van and took our district, the ZL's and the AP's on a big tour of the mission. We went up to Mt. Hood first. That was cool. It is the tallest mountain in Oregon (I think). There is an old ski lodge up there. Tell you what though I was struggling to breathe. From 200ft up past the tree line is a huge change in oxygen content. That was really fun to see though. After that we went to the Columbia River Gorge. That was really pretty. It reminded me of Alaska. Lots of water and green trees. We then went to a fish hatchery. They have a pond that has white sturgeon in it. The biggest is Herman and he is over 10 ft and 450 lbs. Crazy big fish!! We also got to see Multnomah falls. Super pretty!! It was a really fun trip but a lot of time in a van.

 

I am starting to get to know some of the members as well. People in Tualitan are super nice. Missionaries refer to this area as the Idaho/Utah of Oregon. Elder Grimes has only been yelled at once in this area which is crazy. In Portland it is a several times a day occurrence. I really do think that I am going to like it here though. It reminds me a lot of home. People that are more well off but that are super loving and giving and would do anything for others. It will be interesting seeing how different the work here is. I feel like I finally figure out how to become successful as a missionary and then I get moved to an area with complete different challenges. I feel like part of that is so that I don't become dependant on my own knowledge but that I really have to rely on the spirit.

 

Thanks for all that you do for me. I really love all of you very much and am grateful for the chance that I have to serve the Lord and to help others come unto Christ. The Gospel is true and I know that there is nothing that can bring us more joy than living by Gospel Principles.

 

I love you all very much!!

September 3

Hello Family!

 

Another transfer has come and gone. I seems crazy how fast the time flies. I got transfered to Hedges Creek in Tualatin. Super fancy place. I really like it so far. i have not met anyone really yet because all we did yesterday was transfers and dinner at Carl's Jr because we didn't have a dinner. Crazy thing though... This is Elder Mecham's second area and my new companion served with Elder Mecham in Oregon City four months ago. Also super crazy Elder Grimes lives out Sunnyside and graduated from Hillcrest a year before Krystal. I think that this is going to be a bit of a testing ground for me. I think that I am really going to have to draw my line in the sand and not move from it. He goes home in October and is really ready to be done.

 

Funny story (also shows how much of a cluts I am)... Saturday we decided to take 30 minute lunches so that we could go out for ice cream as a district at 8:30 that night. So we all met in Dayton and went to the new ice cream place by the park. So after I get my ice cream i go over to the park and start to play on the merry go round with some other missionaries.  So i get it going really fast and then go to grab it and jump on... didn't work so well. I ended up doing something to my hip and now I have a limp and have to ice my hip and Sister Morby called the doctor and gave me some PT things to do. The worst part of the whole thing is now I am in a bike area.

 

Sunday I was also given a bike by Brother Walker. It is super old but I didn't have to buy one. I think that I might have to end up buying Elder Grimes bike when he goes home but we will see how this one works for now.

 

Love you all and know that the gospel is true.

 

Dustin