Dustin's January 24th Letter

2011 Jan 24
Dear Mom,
That is crazy that Will is going to be in the MTC in 6 weeks and that I’ve already finished 1/4 of my mission. It is all going by too fast! Before I know it I will wake up from the dream of the mission and have to make real life decisions for myself again :/ My mission has been great so far and I know that I will continue to learn and grow everyday (Spiritually and physically and mentally) and if I keep having experiences like these for 18 more months I will grow more than I thought was possible.
William, you are going to love your mission so much! You will watch yourself learn and grow as if you were outside of your own body looking down from somewhere else, that is why I call the mission a dream cause when I think about the fact that I am a full-time servant of the Lord, with a plaque, in Perù, I still can`t really grab a hold of it. My only advice for you is to be completely obedient! to your God, Mission Pres. Leaders in the wards and zones, and your parents. If you do that you will have the best mission ever. Don`t question why or what for to anything. There is a reason if we don`t understand them. Love you bro and it makes me so happy to know that you are going on a mission.
My week. After I wrote last week, I packed my bags and went to Lima for a training. I was in Lima for 4 days and we had trainings from the Pres. and the assistants. The day I arrived a pair of missionaries were supposed to come pick me up but there was some confusion, so I slept with the assistants the first night and met up with the other missionaries the next day at the training meeting. We got trained on something called the 8 Simplified lessons and the one more of our president. The First Presidency released a new curriculum for missionaries so that we can be better teachers of the Gospel. It is for the new generation of missionaries. First the discussions then PMG and now we have the 8 simplified lessons. We still use PMG but the 8 lessons take parts of PMG so that the missionaries not only got the knowledge of all the thing that we need to teach but how to teach it in a more effective way. I think of it as what happened with Moses and the 15 commandments but now is 10 and with the law of consecration that we couldn`t complete, they had to make it a little more simple so that we could complete it more fully. They are a wonderful tool that will bring success to missionary work around the world. The 9th lesson our pres. took from PMG just as the other 8 but it is unique to our mission where as the others are now worldwide. I got back and we went to work and we had a baptism on Saturday and 8 people in sacrament meeting. It was great! and my comp. and I taught the lesson in Gospel principles cause there still isn`t a teacher, It was a great lesson with the spirit super strong. Also, this week is transfers and.... my companion is going to my old area in Lima and I will..... stay here in the Jungle! with a new companion from Guatemala, Elder Cualla, or something like that. so that was my week.
I have a perfect picture for my plaque and I like the scripture from Moses cause it is short and simple but is packed with doctrine. I will try and send a pic ASAP. I received a Liahona of the general conference the other day so that was super nice and I got the Dear Elders from Cory and Cameron of Christmas and also one from Aunt Lyn and their family!!! Tell them thanks and that I can`t guarantee a return letter but I will do my best to send something :) I also got a Christmas card for Jer and Jill and their family, It was great to see their whole family together and hear from them. Thanks a ton!! So that is my life for now. I am doing great but still have room to improve. I love you mom and all of the family and wards and friends from back home that love and support me, but I still love you most mom :) Thanks for everything and know that I am always praying for you.
Love,
Elder Divis