Dustin's March 28th Letter

 Dustin in the Jungle

 Baptism in December

Dustin's first district in Pucallpa

2011 March 28

Dear Mom,

My week went really well. I am pretty sure I found someone that was a captain in the war in heaven. He is pretty much as Golden as an investigator gets, the only problem is that he didn`t come to church this week, which is weird cause he always comes. But he will be a great powerful member of the church. This week’s sacrament meeting was humbling and amazing. We had 7 investigators in the church, 6 recent converts, and 2 inactive families (9 people). 22 people! that`s about 20% of the people that attended yesterday. It was humbling cause the progress that I have seen in this ward is incredible and the fact the Lord used me to bring to pass this work is something that strengthened my testimony even more art how great and marvelous this work is. I feel like I am nothing but the Lord managed to get the work done using me as an instrument in His hands. We just need to keep ourselves worthy and do the thing we know we should and the work and glory of God will come to pass. I love being a missionary and I love my family and friends and i am grateful for all those who were, are, and will be missionaries, missionary moms, or of support in this great work! Now to answer questions, it would be better to send Will`s letters by E-mail cause it takes more time in dearelder and sometimes only parts come at a time. I will send you the information for my plague by e-mail (hopefully today :/ last week I tried but the computer kicked me off before it got done loading the pictures) To ask questions :) if you haven’t sent the package yet, I thought of a few things I need: A fitted twin size sheet, BBQ sauce (sweet baby rays of course), Peanut butter (the real kind) and ... nada màs.

Love you!

Elder Divis

P.S. Sorry my letter is kinda short but like I told Mariah, Life`s short! haha ha, Love you all :)

(Dustin finally sent some pictures.  I will leave them on this post for a while and then transfer then back to the dates taken.)

Dustin's March 21st Letter

2011 March 21

Dear Mom,

My week was fantastic!

It is pretty exciting to hear of the birth of my fourth niece and that I am an uncle... again!!! I can`t wait to meet her in 16 months. I love the pictures and she is so dang cute (hard not to be when you`re a Divis, haha ha) Jordan and Mariah will make wonderful parents, I am sure of it! I am also very pleased to hear that the family is all doing ok and that the family is continually growing (spiritually and physical)

My week went well, sorry that I don`t really tell you much about what I do as a missionary but I don`t know where to start or end. This letter would go on forever. We found a family this week that is actually married!!! (that’s rare) and another family that want to get married(also rare) and two future priesthood holder (our mission president is focusing on that because we have enough members here to have almost 3 stakes but we only have 1 because there aren`t enough priesthood holders) and they both have a baptismal date, Woo hoo!!

The rainy season is coming to an end but that doesn`t mean it stops raining, just not as often. But the river is going down, slowly but surely. I think I can say that I am accustomed to the jungle. Even the people that have lived here for 70 years say that I know the jungle pretty well. I am still learning more and more Spanish every day and improving, about as fast as the river is descending :).

I grateful to have the best family ever and I love all of you. Keep up the good work and the time will fly by as it has been (too fast!) Take care and continue in the work of the Lord.

Love,

Elder Divis

Dustin's March 14th Letter

2011 March 14
Dear Mom,
Thanks for all the emails!!! I love hearing about how everything is going and how well my family continues to live the Gospel faithfully. My week was really good. Elder Uceda came to Pucallpa and we had a zone conference with him. He is a member of the first quorum of the seventies. It was awesome and I learned a ton, also the mission Pres. was here, Pres. Blunck, he is an excellent mission president and teaches me a ton. And I continue learning everyday and my new companion is great and I am learning a ton. We didn`t have any baptisms this week but we are working hard to help as many people as we can. It is so great to know that Will is in the mission!!! He will learn and change so much. It will be great to see his progress. Thank for my lucky number and I have some good news! I can send pictures by email now!!! Only three a week, so I will try and send some good ones today. It`s cool that you guys met Tori in the subway before Will left, I heard that she is in my old young single adult ward in Spokane, Havana Ward. So that`s cool. Oh yeah, the Havana ward sent me a letter and wants my picture (who doesn`t, haha ha) and ,my favorite scripture so they make a plaque for me. I will send you the address of the people that are asking so that you can send them the information faster and cheaper. I know the letter is a little shorter but it`ll have to do. I really do appreciate every word of every letter that I get. I apologize if someone has written me and I haven`t written them back yet. I have 4 letters written and ready to send, I just have to find a post office. Thank you mom for the love you have for me and the whole family and all those that are around you. You`re the Greatest!!!

Love,

Elder Divis

Pictures Posted

I added some pictures to the Feb 28th post from the mission president's wife's blog.  Dustin is the one that is slow to get to the floor in the pushup picture.

Dustin's March 7th Letter

2011 March 7
Dear Mom,
Thanks for the quotes, they are inspiring words that I will apply in life as a missionary, they’re great.
I am doing as good as ever. Tomorrow we have transfers! And guess what... I am staying here in Pucallpa!!! woo hoo. And I am also getting another new companion, his name is Elder Jaicot (not sure of the spelling yet) my first Peruvian companion in the mission field. He is from a city called Ica here in Peru. Saturday I baptized Kevin Anthony Muñoz Moreno and he was confirmed by my companion Elder Cuellar yesterday. He is 17 years old and he will make a great missionary in 2 years. I am super excited to be here in Peru and here in Pucallpa at least until my birthday. This ward is progressing and I have to help them more. They now have home and visiting teaching, ward mission leader, ward mission plan, an Elder`s quorum Pres. and secretary to the bishopric. They didn`t have any of these thing before. We just lack a little more organization and this ward will be the best in the stake.
As for what I want for my birthday ... :) Nothing big, I ran out of peanut butter, and candy from home is always a blessing. I really like Jr. mints and York peppermint patties and... well you know what I like. But other than treats for the satisfaction of my tongue and belly I don`t need anything else. I did want to ask if there is money on my debit card because I would like to get a few things from here in Pucallpa. I love being a missionary and am grateful for all the blessing that have been rained down on me. I am also grateful for a family that lives the Gospel which brings us all closer to Jesus Christ and like Dad said, the salvation is personal but the exaltation is a group effort, so true. Love you all and I know that God lives and loves each one of us. Take care and remember who you are (a child of God)
Love,
Elder Divis

Dustin's February 28th Letter

2011, Feb 28
Dear mom,
I`m glad to hear that you enjoyed your week with the kidos :) I know how you love to take care of your grandchildren and your good at it. I can`t believe that Will is already about to leave! ¡Loco!
My week went by even faster than normal. The time really does fly by. The work has been moving forward steadily and I am learning a ton, I am convinced that I will never stop learning here on the mission, and if I do it is because I am not working hard enough. These last two week we`ve worked through different challenges with the weather, the river, the schools, the highways. Mostly it is because it has been raining a ton. More than it has in 18 years. The river that passes by Pucallpa is growing more than it has in years past and they say it will keep growing through March and April and at this rate it will grow more than it has in 40 years. Also because of the rain parts of the highways have been wiped out by mud slides and sink holes, the good thing is that all of this isn`t happening in Pucallpa but it effects the jobs here and how people and products get in and out of the city. It’s cool to see the river and it makes me realize that I am really in the rain forest and or jungle. Some houses we can’t get to because the only way to travel there is in a canoe. Other houses have these ``bridges`` that are what you`d call `jimmy rigged` and there are more animals that come with the rain. I`ve seen a boa, an iguana, other huge lizards and they say there are other animals too but I haven`t seen them. But because the river is growing so much about a third of my area is in the river! Haha ha, our area is affected more because it is the only area that has the river run right by it. The others just have a ton of rain and mud. And with all of this stuff happening the work still goes on, we just have more service opportunities :) I love it here in the jungle!!! Now, for the family that was preparing for marriage, they didn`t get married this week :( because it is taking forever to get all his papers from the government). But there is hope because we have another wedding planned for March and they are preparing for that date. They are the best, we just have to keep up their ``animos`` it mean their desire and excitement and all that kind of stuff. We have a baptism scheduled for this Saturday. He is 17 years old and has already read to Alma 22 in a week and is reading from the beginning again to understand more. He is super smart (which hard to find in the jungle) and he is always in my English class, he wants to work in tourism. We have about 5 other investigators that I am 99 % sure will get baptized in the next month, and I know we will find more. Also, this week we had a zone conference with the mission president on Wednesday. I learned how I can improve as a servant of God and it is helping me a ton in my progress. After the conference President Blunck came to an appointment with my companion Elder Cuellar and I. I wasn`t nervous at all and we taught a really good lesson. After the lesson President told us that he really liked our lesson and how we worked together and used the scriptures and examples and didn`t teach too long, he said he didn`t have anything to say bad about our lesson. I know I still have a ton of things to work on but it was really cool to have the President tell us we are doing well. Hope that is enough info because I don`t know what more to say :)
I am not homesick at all or ``trunky`` I love being on the mission and the love and support I have from all my family and friends is one of the biggest things that gives me my drive, second only the Spirit of the Lord. I am grateful for all that you do for me especially your prayers. Love you Mom and am glad for all the things you have taught me and teach me and am sure that you will teach in weeks months and years to come. Also, I found a line in PMG that is awesome in my studies this morning. It says, “the application is the bridge between comprehending the doctrine and the obedience to it” something like that, I am not sure if my translation is perfect but it is so true. If we don`t apply what we learn then we are disobedient.
Take care and keep up the good work!
Love,
Elder Divis

Dustin's February 21st Letter

2011 Feb 21

Mom,
Thanks for the spiritual thought. I appreciated the quote from Elder Wirthlin and how mine could be compared to one of that great leader and servant of God. Personally, I think that Elder Wirthlin said it with a little bit more elegance and power though :) My week has gone great.
I am sure it was a great experience for all to see William go through the temple. I am sure he loved it more than anything or anyone. Also, I am sure you are pretty busy with Gavin and James Micheal but I bet that you are enjoying it as always :) and I am sure Trissa is having fun in Mexico. I`ll go with her when I get back ( you know, now that I speak Spanish and all I could be of help :) Yes I get dearelders but not every week. Because I am in the jungle I get them about once a month.
Love you mom and wish you the best in all your endeavors.
Love,
Elder Divis

I have included Laura's letter for you to enjoy.

Laura Brink,
I am doing well, actually I am doing perfectly! I love the mission and having the opportunity and responsibility to serve others everyday and most of to serve the Lord in all that I do. It is a wonderful spirit to have with me always and I always pray that this same spirit of God can be spread to all those around me and rained down upon my family where ever they might be. I think it is good that you are back in Utah cause your closer to Craig`s family and even though its further away from Mom and Dad I`m pretty sure it’s just as easy if not easier for them to visit you :) you know with how they love flying. Thanks for your offer to stay with you while I study or for whatever other reason I might live in Utah. I think, based your willingness, you haven’t talked with Audra about this, because I am sure she would advise you otherwise Haha ha. But I`m really not that bad ;) That is great to hear that you get to be there and a part of when Will goes to the MTC and enters into the biggest decision he has made in his life. Be sure to write him and keep him in your prayers, he`ll need them and appreciate them. The idea of a scrap book sound awesome, but I`ll have to be sure to send you some pictures of my mission too so they can be included. I think the calling you have could be one of the most important that there is. Being a teacher is truly a sacred calling and responsibility, especially with that age group. You know how it is in that stage of life, just starting ``high school``, it is the frontlines of the war between Satan and Jesus. Encourage your students to continue faithful and to bring the less actives back to the truth and their friends who aren`t member to the ranks of the Lord. I know you are great teacher cause you`ve taught me so much. You might ask how, and I tell you that the example that you set teaches those around you with more power than you could imagine. Share experiences with them and stories of your life and you will impact their lives. And you are absolutely right that when we teach by the spirit it is always good. You`re the best. Love you and the great example you have set for me and all that you teach me. You are a perfect example of ``enduring to the end`` say hi to Craig and Kendra. Love you all.
Your brother,
Elder Divis