Dustin's February 27 Letter with Photos

2012 February 27

Dear Mom,

My week was great. Every day this week I woke up at 5:15AM! I am a little tired right now but there was a lot to do. Monday we always get up early to take the laundry to the sister that washes our clothes and we talk with the family, sometimes we wash their dog that Elder Harris (my last District Leader) left at their house, or we play foosball, sew socks or play UNO (like today). They are really great people and for an hour they make us feel like we`re in the family :) Tuesdays we played soccer in the morning with the whole zone, which as you know, I love! Wednesday we went and picked up the cleaned clothes, Thursday we played soccer, Friday we had zone conference with the Pres., Saturday they wanted to play soccer again, and yesterday I had to go the zone leaders ward early to do a baptismal interview. It was a long busy week, and not only in the mornings but all day long. Good thing I like to work a bunch right? This week should be a little bit less crazy and I hope to accomplish lots. I hear Sweet Will has 6 baptismal dates, Congratulations! Sound like the work is going well :) I hope that at the end of this week or the next I can say the same about my area. We still have the same 3 dates (Rafael family) but they will now be baptized March 31<sup>st</sup>, so that their oldest son can be there too and maybe even get baptized with them. He is now in California in a type of exchange program but will get back March 17. This week we were given the referral of a 12 year old young man and he is now preparing to be baptized March 10th and his uncle will baptize him. We are also working with another young single adult named Jorge Callupe that is praying about the Book of Mormon and feels good. He still isn`t sure cause he always feels good when he prays so he says it could be just cause he is praying that he feels that way and not necessarily because the book is true. We hope to help him understand more about the Holy Ghost so that he will have a strong and firm testimony of the Book of Mormon. When he receives this testimony from the Holy Ghost he will get baptized also. We found 3 new families this week and we will do our best to bring them unto Christ in these following weeks. So that is how my week as been :)

Thanks a ton for the pictures! I love them. James Micheal is a big boy now. He could pass for 12 years old here in Peru! Have fun in the seminary class and remind the kids that the things they have learned, are learning and will learn, will help them stay true to the faith in the future. Thanks for the update on the package, and don`t forget to send a lot of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. I love you tons!!!!

Elder Dustin Divis

 Me eating home made pizza (3 months ago)

Sunset in Lima, Peru

Dustin's February 20 Letter

2012 February 20

Dear Mom,

My week went well. We resolved a couple challenges that we had here and I think we will be able to improve more. The Rafael family is still doing great, only Mario couldn`t make it this week to church... I feel that my English until this point has been terrible; I hope my email is understandable. I am glad to hear that the family is doing well. It always fills me with peace to know that all is well. Sorry that I don`t have much to say but surely in the coming weeks you`ll receive a lot more information. Thanks for the pictures! If you have any question about the Peruvian culture, feel free to ask.

My testimony of charity has grown greatly this last week. I am grateful for all that I have learned on the mission and will learn. I love you a bunch.

Love,

Elder Dustin Divis

Dustin's February 13 Letter

2012 February 13

Hi Mom,

My week went well. The Rafael Family is just as amazing as ever and yesterday we taught another super awesome family. I could tell you a million and a half more stories but I don`t know if there`s time. I`ll be sure to remember them all and tell you later. I hope life is all good. I love you Mom!

Elder Dustin Divis

Dustin's February 6 Letter

2012 February 6

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the e-mail! Sure sounds like you had a ton of fun in Disney World. My week went quite well. The Rafael Arce family accepted a baptismal date for the March 3rd!!!! They are an amazing family. They were Catholic and never accepted any ¨preacher¨ or missionary sort in their house before, in fact they would tell them to leave :/ They let us in because the first thing we asked was if the whole family was home to talk with everyone. You know, cause that`s kinda God`s plan. The mom was home alone but told us to come back that very night to teach the whole family. The dad also only accepted because we talked about the family as a fundamental part of the Lord`s plan and why we are here in this world. I think last week or the week before I told you a little about this family. Anyways, the second time we invited them to baptism the dad accepted without a doubt! the son too, but the mom was a little bit iffy and not sure. I kept my mouth shut and waited a few seconds after she told us she wasn`t sure, then something miraculous happened. The father began to explain to his wife the importance of baptism and why it was necessary to be baptized again but this time doing it how Jesus Christ did. The spirit was strong. Needless to say the mom was more than willing after hearing the confirming testimony of her husband. The whole family made it to stake conference yesterday and tomorrow we will visit them with a member family and a young man who just happens to be great friends with the son of the family. They also have another older son. He is 20 years old and is in California in an exchange program for 3 months. He will get back here to Lima, Peru March 15. His family, just after accepting baptism said, well we have to tell our oldest son to look for the church there in California while we get a head start by getting baptized here. I love this family!!! My hope is that the dad can baptize his oldest son weeks after his own baptism. I could write a million things more about the Rafael family but I think this is enough for this week. The dad`s name is Edgar (55years), the mom, Maria (45), the eldest son, Edgar (20), and the youngest Mario (15). Another family also attended church this week with us. I don`t know if I told you but we moved, and in the new house where we now live is owned by a very nice catholic family, who we are now teaching and the whole family came to church with us. Tomorrow we will watch the movie, Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. Hope to have more good news next week on these two families and many more that I know the Lord will put in our path. Stake Conference was amazing! I learned a ton from Elder Christopher Waddell of the Seventy. I would like to share more on what I learned but my e-mail is already quite long. It`s enough to say, he hit the head of the nail in what he needed to say for this stake. I love you and every time I see a family that is so happy and content I give thanks for the awesome family that I have. Including close, distant, and even great friends that have come to be like family. Then again, we are all members of the Family of God.

Love,

Elder Dustin Divis