letters from Dustin

1/16/13

We have talked a lot about diligence and working hard. I recall constantly the story of Namaan from the Bible, the leper who went to the Prophet Elisha and asked to be cleansed. Elisha sent a messenger to him and instructed him to wash himself 7 times in the river Jordan. Lately I have been struck at the request. Not because of the simplicity of the request, but because of the 7 times....The more that I am engaged in the Service of the Lord, the more I believe that he doesn't want us to walk 1,000 miles and go on some great quest or do some amazing fantastic thing. He wants a steady consistent effort, our best effort, every day. I am really learning a lot about something that I have struggled, but also been searching to develop and that is a positive attitude towards hard work. I have never been a hard worker...I wish I were and I want to be...but I never have been...But I feel that something is clicking and changing and I am learning to enjoy doing hard things. Brigham Young once said (something to the effect) that "We must learn to delight in doing the things that the Lord requires at our hands." I am learning to feel a desire to do hard things. It is something I have been praying for and trying to do for a long time. Now...I just need to keep at it. I believe anyone can do something great once in a lifetime, maybe even twice. But the Lord wants us to do our best, every single day of our lives. I think that is where, when we acknowledge the Atonement, we can step from mediocrity to fulfilling our divine potential.

1/23/13

Last night we returned from having correlation in the Church. As we were leaving the Church I had the impression I should wear my backpack on the outside of my jacket. (I usually put on my backpack and then my jacket so as to protect what is inside from getting wet or rained on) I did so and didn't think anything of it. As we were waiting in the Busto Arsizio station to catch a ride back to Legnano, the announcer came on the intercom and announced that the train would be arriving with a 25 minute delay; this was unpleasant seeing as the train was supposed to arrive at 8:45 putting us back at our house at about 8:55. As we were waiting for this train, a man came up on the train platform and started talking to us; he is from Ghana and has lived in Italy for 22 years. He saw the American flag patch that I have sown on the outside of my backpack and came to talk to us. He lives in our area and said that he has heard of our church. We invited him to learn more and he said yes, so we fixed a time to go on Saturday to meet this man at his house. As we talked a bit more and shared just a few things, he asked if it would be possible to meet even sooner...so we set up another appointment for Thursday morning. He said that he really wants to know what we believe and why there is so much confusion in the world about religion. He gave us his number and we set 2 appointments with this man. This was a meeting that was orchestrated by the Lord. If I hadn't put my backpack on the outside, he would never have seen my American flag and come to engage us in the conversation about Obama. (Which we directed to Mitt Romney and then the Church.... :) .... ) And had that train never been in delay, we would have never seen each other, or had time to talk. As for now I cannot say how it will turn out but I know that if I had not listened to that still small impression to wear my backpack on the outside rather than under my coat....We may never have met at all...

 2/6/13

Cari Miei,

I would like to share with you all the first 4 lines of Romeo and Juliet....

"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean"

I'm getting transferred to VERONA!

Yup! I am getting transferred after only 1 transfer here in Busto, Anziano Benson is staying and going to train and I am going to Verona to be a Zone Leader there with Anziano Droghei. I am SUPER EXCITED; Verona is supposed to be one of the prettiest cities in all of Italy. And The Verona ZL's have a car....so...that will be nice. I can't believe I spent so little time here in Busto Arsizio but, it was good and I'm sad that I will be leaving I was just starting to connect with the Ward and they were getting to like me a lot and I will be sad to leave... I will also be eating a lot of Kebab today seeing that I will be leaving... Little sad about that....oh well. I hear the Ward is SOOOO great in Verona and my companion is being talked up by everyone that I hear from so I am really excited. (Any mail that you have already sent will get forwarded to me by our beloved Anziano Benson.) I will be in Verona for Carnivale and Valentine’s Day...: That should be cool. I can't say how happy I am to be going to Verona.

I hope this letter found you well.

Anziano Memmott

Update

So here it is...February!  Yes, I guess I have missed several months. that is how it goes with the holidays and illness etc. Christmas was good, and seeing and talking to Dustin on skype was The New Year came and Dustin hit his one year mark! That's right... He has less than a year left. He was transferred to Busto and made a district leader and has been doing well; this week he got news that he is being transferred to Verona where he will become a zone leader. I am going through some of his letters and by tomorrow I should be posting a few notes here and there from him that will let se from his eyes how he is doing and allow you to celebrate with him in his successes.