March 3

Hey!!!

 

Sounds like ya'll had an awesome week! Jessica got her mission call and then Krystal got to go to the temple!! It is so cool how much our family is growing and how involved our family is in the hastening of the work. There is nothing as cool as being a missionary right now. It is cool to think that our family really is a missionary family!

 

I had a good week as well. This week we had several lessons that we were able to teach and we got a new investigator, who is very interested in the gospel and has come to church 8 times all ready this year. I really believe that she will be the next baptism that I have. We also had several great things happen with others that we work with. One really cool thing that happened is one of the less actives that we are working with was in the Hartley Park ward in Gresham while I was there!! I know that the Lord sends us where we are needed and I really wonder if this is why I am needed here. While I was in Gresham I had a really good relationship with Sister Burtlow and she came to church for the first time in a while this past week!! I was so happy! Her husband came as well which was really awesome because I have never seen him at church before.

 

This past week I also had a miracle happen for me as well. On Wednesday I woke up and I did not feel well at all. I sat down on the couch after prayers and fell asleep (1hour). The next thing I know Elder Wohlleben is asking me if I am going to get in the shower. So I get up and go in the shower but really didn't feel any better so I tld Elder Wohlleben that I was going to go back to bed but to get me up for companion study. Well he did his personal and language studies (2 hours) and then woke me up for comp study. After about thirty minutes of comp study, I was still not feeling well.  I didn't know if I could do this so, so I took a bunch of vitamins and some medicine and Elder Wohlleben made me some pepermint tea and then i went back to bed. As I got into bed I said a little prayer that went like this; Heavenly Father I have rested my body, I have taken vitamins, I took some medicine but I also have been given a blessing when Elder Russell M Nelson came to the mission that I would have the health needed to do this work. I am going to go to sleep again but when I wake up I need to be healthy. So I fell asleep again (1 1/2 hours). When I woke up I felt better but still not great. I looked at it as a test of my faith and we left to go out and work and almost as soon as we went out to work I felt better. I know that the Lord really hears and listens to our prayers.

 

I love this gospel!! There is nothing in this world that can bring us more peace than the knowledge that we all can make it back to live with God again. I love you all and am thankful for all your prayers for me!!

 

Love Dustin

February 24

Hey!!!

This has been a very interesting week. Coming into a new area is a little bit hard because you don't know anyone and you have no idea what is going on. It is interesting though because it seems that as soon as you make it to church you are able to start putting names with faces and to start connecting the dots. This ward is very excited about missionary work which is awesome. When President Morby was talking about this ward he said that the Bishop here "Gets it." That is so true!!! The ward is great! There are quite a few younger couples that are living in the ward and going to school. Many of them are ward missionaries (there are 16 ward missionaries which is awesome!!). 

Well I don't know if you know this or not but on Friday there were 58 new missions. It is way cool how fast the work is starting to move. They created an Oregon Salem Mission and a Washington Vancouver Mission which will be effecting my mission more than likely. I really hope that I don't have to change missions. If so I would be in a different mission for my last two transfers... I guess that I will just have to wait and see what happens.

There is a lot of teaching going on here. When I felt that a transfer was coming my way back in January the only thing that I asked Heavenly Father for was that I would come to an area that I would be able to do a lot of teaching. So even though I have had a hard time leaving Tualatin I am thankful that I get to come here and spend most of my time teaching. We don't really have any investigators that are progressing right now but they will come. I have no doubt in my mind that with a ward as ready to work as this one that great things will happen. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here and to share the gospel. The happiness and peace that it brings is huge!! I find it so interesting as I talk with others about how God is our loving Father, a very simple basic doctrine to us, they just don't understand how that can be possible. For me i am just glad that I know that God loves me for me. 

Thanks for all that you do on my behalf!! I love you all very much!!!!!

Dustin 

February 17

Hey!!!

 

This has been a very bitter sweet week for me. I have known for about five weeks that I was going to be transferred and it really happened. Tualatin was the hardest area for me to leave. I loved it there. Our Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to visiting and saying good  bye to members that I was really close to. It was really hard. There were so many members that I didn't know how close to them I was until I was leaving. On Sunday we had Stake Conference and President and Sister Morby came and President came up to me before the meeting and told me that I needed to relax and that everything would be fine. After the meeting he came up to me and said that he sensed some anxiety. I will admit that I did want to know where I was going, who I would be with, would I have a car etc. but more than being anxious I was really just sad to be leaving. There were times during the meeting that I actually had tears in my eyes (I did manage to keep it to only one that fell and Elder Byam was very impressed:). But I guess that is how missions go... We come into an area and love the people we serve them and then when we are needed else where we leave. The work in Hedges Creek will continue. Elder Byam is a good missionary and he knows what needs to be done. He just got a new missionary in and that will be really good for that ward.

 

I am now out in the Forest Grove Zone in the Council Creek Ward. This is a very exciting because of all the wards in the mission this one, according to President Morby, has by far the best Ward Mission Process. The Mission Standard is 20 lessons a week but the Bishop here expects us to teach 30. I am all for it. I love to teach and to spend time really crying repentance to all the world. I am with Elder Whollaben (sp?). He is 26 and from Germany. He will be good for me because he is a very rigid person and I think that I might need a little bit more of that in my life. I don't want too much though because I like me the way that I am. The funny thing about being his companion is that when President hinted at me being transferred I figured that I would probably go to an area and send another missionary home and then train in March so I went to my mission year book to see who would be going home. I looked and I guessed that I would be here and with Elder Whollaben. So I would be that in five weeks (because this transfer is one week shorter because of the MTC time being shortened) I will probably train again.

 

That is SOOOO exciting to hear about Krystal. She will do really well. There is something that Sisters are able to do that we as Elders just are not able to do. There are hearts that the are able to touch that we can't. The only problem that we are going to have now is that Krystal is probably going to become a Tennessee fan so football season might get interesting. Friday was a very exciting day not only did Krystal get her call but there were also two 18 year olds in the Hedges Creek Ward (one of them was Brayden Schoonmaker) that got their calls. No matter how you look at it the Lord is hastening his work and!

 

Thanks for all that you do for me! I love you all very much!!!

 

Dustin

February 11

Hey!!! 

Elder Byam and I had another really great week. This week we spent time with a few members that we don't usually spend time with and it is interesting how if you gain the trust of a few members you have the trust of the entire ward. The longer that I am out the more I am convinced that being a missionary isn't rocket science you just have to work hard and when you are asked to do something just follow through with it. The success that we have seen in this ward over the last four months is awesome. When I first got here all this ward expected was that the missionaries would come to dinner and church nothing else. Now the ward expects us to see a bunch of people and to always be busy. I love where this ward is now and I am glad that if I get transferred next week that Elder Byam will be ready to hit the ground running and really get to work. 

Jeff is still doing really well. We are working hard to try and get him as many friends as possible. It is so important that as members we reach out to others because no matter how much the gospel blesses our lives if we don't have a support system it becomes so easy to fall away. Jeff is doing great though. He is always at church early and is great.

We were able to set a tentative date with another family this past week!! That was a great step! She said that she now knows that the Book of Mormon is true. We just need to make sure that we keep them going strong and make sure that we keep her reading and praying. 

Other than that we had a great week. We just keep seeing miracles happen in so many others lives. There is so much to be done here and so many that need that comfort and peace that the gospel brings. I love all that we have and the chance that we have to share it is a huge blessing!!! I am so excited to hear where Krystal is going... No matter where it is I know that it will be where she is most needed.

I love you all and hope that you all have a Happy Valentines Day!!

Love Dustin