September 15th

Hey!

 

It has been another fast week. We just keep running and running and we keep seeing good things happen. We plan out our day and it seems like we always end up planning more than we are actually able to get done. Partly due to the fact that our area is so big that it take 20-30 minutes to get anywhere.

 

We have been struggling to meet with our investigators lately. They are caught in the good and better while missing out on the BEST. It is hard but we just keep working at it and keep pressing forward. We have apointments with several of them this week and we are praying that they don't cancel again this week.

 

We had out Mission Leadership Council this past week and it was really good. President Samuelian had Wyn Dunford from LDS Bussiness College and Bro Allen from the Gallup Corp there and they spent a few hours talking about our strengths and how to apply them in our lives. President Samuelian is very devoted to us missionaries and the success of our lives. He has worked it out with LDS Business College that anyone from the OSM gets a 50% scholarship. 

 

Other than that there wasn't too much interesting that happened this week. I have been working on my Personal Progress, a challenge that the Young Women give to every missionary that serves in the ward,  and I am on track to have that finished before I leave. When I finish I get a medalion on a key chain. I think that it is a cool idea to get the young women involved and motivated to get their personal progress done. This ward has a great youth program, there are about 80 youth which is great to see. I am convinced that if you want a great ward you need to have a great youth program. Something else that is cool is they Young Men all challenged the Elder Quorum to a Duty to God challenge. So the Elders are racing the young men to see who can get it done first.

 

It is exciting to see the gospel roll forward and to see all that the Lord is doing. There are miracles out there to be had and there is nothing to stop us from seeing them other than out lack of faith and trust. Ether 12:12

 

I love you all and wish you the very best week.

 

Dustin

 

September 9

Hey!!

This has been another great week! It went by SO fast. The first week of a transfer always seems to be the fastest but I really don't think that it is going to slow down. Big events always seem to make time go faster and there are several "big" events over the next month. Elder Lee and I had a great week. Both with Elder Irvine and with Elder Lee it has been weird being their companions because we have served around each other for so long that it feels like we are just on exchanges. It is great though. 

Things in my world have been a little more quite, Elder Irvine and I never stopped talking so it has felt very quiet over the past week. Not that Elder Lee and I don't get along it is just a different companionship and we don't talk like a bunch of teen-aged girls. We spent a lot of the week going around and trying to see different people and searching for new people to teach, everything in life as a missionary depends on having people to teach. 

We do have one investigator with a baptism date, Kristyn. She started to meet with missionaries over two years ago but her parents won't let her be baptized until she is 18, which happens in November. I hate to see parents be so unsupportive of their children. It is so sad to know that they really want to be a part of the church but mom and dad say no. She has even been paying her tithing over the past two years even though she isn't a member. I am just really excited for her that she can be baptized soon. 

So I had Sister Hawker help me order a suit. It ended up only costing $150. The really funny part is that I went to pay for it and what do you know my debit card had expired so I had her log into paypal and just take it out of my checking account. They said that it should be delivered before the end of the month and if there are any problems with the fit Sister Hawker said that she can adjust it. It is so nice having the Hawkers live next door, they really take good care of us. Today we went with disk golfing with Brother Hawker. It was a great course out in the middle of nowhere (between Banks and Vernonia if you want to look it up on google maps, Stub Stewart State Park). I will miss places like that when I get home, it is cool to be able to drive for less than 15 minutes and be at a state park. I am going to sell my bike to the Hawkers. 

I am really excited to be able to go to the temple. I haven't been able to go since July and I am excited to see the changes. I get to go on the 25th with my district and then I get to go again on Oct 8th for the departing trip. It kind of freaked me out when they told me that this week, time has just gone by so fast. I am just glad that there are good things happening here and that I get to have such a great finish. 

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

Dustin

September 1

Hey!

 

This has been a great week! I got Elder Irvine shipped off down to Albany to be a ZL down there for 6 weeks. I am super happy that I was able to stay here, I really didn't want to have a six week area. I really wanted to stay here and get the work built up. My new companion is Elder Lee. We served in the McMinnville District together for 6 months and we work together quite a bit while we were there. He is a great missionary and I am glad that he is my companion. He and I are a good fit and we work well together. I really never would have thought that he would ever be my companion, I have learned to never to to guess or predict what is going to happen. Elder Walker is training which is way exciting! That makes two mission sons and three mission grandsons.

 

Last night at Kindel's was great. When we set it up she said that her husband was going to be gone hunting but when we got there her entire family was there (husband and two kids) and then a few minutes later her father came over. The dinner wasn't quite ready when we got there so we visited with them for a while while it finished cooking and then she asked me to say grace. We then went out on her back porch and had dinner, she has an awesome view of the valley. Our dinner conversation was great. We were able to talk about what a mission is and what we do as missionaries. Her father had the most questions. It was funny at one point Kindel told her dad that he needed to ask her a question so that I could eat before I wasted away. After dinner she took us and showed us her goats and chickens. Then she showed us around her house, she has a sweet office that dad would love. Just before we left I asked if we could share a scripture and Kindel called her kids in. I decided to share Ether 12:27 and talk about grace. It was cool because they had heard about the Book of Mormon but didn't really know what it was so I was able to share a little about it. She then handed us a dozen eggs and some brownies and as we were on the way out she remembered that she wanted to hear my companion play the piano but it was getting kind of late so he said maybe next time. She was excited about that and said if you don't hear from me in the next few weeks to just send her a text and invite ourselves back up. They are a super awesome family and they would be awesome members of the church. Perhaps she will have a few questions and she will contact you or maybe even she will contact me. We will try to make it back up there before I leave. I was so happy that I didn't get transferred, I totally set that appointment in faith that I wouldn't get transferred because it was the earliest time that she could do it.

 

This past week after I was able to get in contact with Kindel I remembered that after I got my call mom told me that she had a friend that lived in Banks which is near Portland and that maybe I would get transferred to Banks and be able to teach her. Then I got transferred her and got an appointment with her, I didn't get transferred and I extended. If all of that hadn't happened I wouldn't have been able to meet her. Maybe this is the reason that I needed to extend was so that she could have the gospel. She said that she occasionally goes running with Nina Shurts who is the Young Woman's President. She already has fellowship:)

 

Things here are going really well, we just keep having miracles happen and I don't see them ending anytime soon. It is so much fun to be a part of this great work. I am so glad that I have had this great opportunity to be here and to serve. 

Thanks for all that you do for me! Love you all

 

Dustin

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