I miss my missionary very much! This was close to the last picture I got to have with him.

This picture was taken just across from the MTC before he went in on January 4th. Miss and love him so much.

This week was mostly personal stuff that he wrote home. addressing individuals and getting me excited to skype with him on Mother's Day.

He is working hard each day and it shows. Here is a bit of an update on his work.
He writes:
This week we did a lot of finding work. Yesterday we finished our 3rd or 4th day with 5-7 hours of finding work. So needless to say, I am very tired right now. After hours of walking up and down streets, apartments, and riding the bikes back and forth across town...well let's just say I fell asleep very fast last night. Ha-ha.
 
We have a really good member referral we are working with right now. They live in Acqui Terme, it's just outside Alessandria, and the members we are working with are just an awesome family. They have a
pizza place and the referral works there and is their cook. It’s small so they know each other really well and are good friends and are together a lot. So it is perfect. We went and had lunch at their house and we plan to go twice a week and have lunch and a lesson and she said that she would be baptized. Actually ha-ha, when we asked she smiled and said "Is this a question?" and we are told she has read
about 1/2 the Book of Mormon already! This is fantastic. We are still working with the man from Ecuador and we will meet with him tomorrow. He was out of town for a couple days so we couldn’t meet, but from the talk on the phone he said he too was reading the Book of Mormon.

Please keep praying for his referrals and for the safety of Dustin and his companion.
I know the prayers are felt and heard.

week in review

This is a picture I got from Dustin's mission president this week along with a letter telling us he is doing well. This Picture is Dustin with his companion Anziano Blaga and Brother and Sister Wolfgramm.

This is Dustin's week in Review as he called it:

Hello everyone!
 
Nic says hi, and he loves you.
I hope that you are all doing well.
Here is a report on the week.
 
Wednesday

 It rained nearly all day and I got a lot done with some studies and letters and stuff such as that. Also in English class we have 2 guys who are slightly interested and we taught them a part of the plan of salvation and we will teach the final part tonight. And we might go get pizza with them after (they like us and offered to buy).
 
Thursday

We were in Milano all day! I love going to Milano, Milano Centrale (The train station) is so amazing. It’s huge and all stone and really cool. We went and had a great zone conference. I saw Anziano Treadyway, he has lost 25 pounds. He is in a hilly area and they walk a lot. Ha-ha I’m praying that my last area is in Siena because I hear that it is really hilly and there is only 1 member IN Siena itself so you don’t eat at member’s hardly ever! That way I can come home skinny ha-ha. So...praying for that. We had a good training .

Friday
 
We ran into a man in the park that is a gypsy, he has been traveling with his backpack and another bag from country to country to town to town for 4 years and something. He is about to return home to
somewhere in Europe that I can’t remember, but he spoke English. He was very much a Hippie type....He has some strange ideas about God and religion. It was very different to talk to someone about Doctrines of men and Doctrines of Christ instead of Corrupt Doctrines of Christ and the Restored Truth....I’m used to Catholics....not existentialist’s. Ha-ha but it was good. He actually HAD a Book of Mormon that some missionaries in France gave him. So we encouraged him again to read it and taught him a few things.
 
Saturday
 
We also met a man from Ecuador and he has become a progressing investigator...yes you heard right! We have an actual investigator. Well, that is we met with him once, he came to church and then we
have another appointment with him tonight. So we will try and set a Baptismal Date with him and the experiences we have had with him have been SOOO strong with the spirit. Church was fantastic all the members were really friendly with him and he really liked it and the lesson was amazing. You could have cut the spirit with a knife.
 
Sunday was a slower day full of member lessons and visiting some less actives.
 
Monday was a long day because it was the day before the transfer ended so it was cleaning day. We cleaned for 3 hours and the whole day is ours to get organized and clean and organize the house. We were outside the apartment for 1 hour that day. But I did make some FANTASTIC PASTA. I will take this time to brag and say that I made on this Monday the 3rd best pasta I have eaten since coming to Italy. So that was a good day. I got to study a lot after we cleaned and we watched Legacy. (Church Movie)
 
Tuesday
We did 8 hours of finding work....8 hours of finding work....we had lunch with a member and a 8 o clock lesson with some snacks...we knocked SOOO many doors...yeah ha-ha but it was good. We have an appointment with a lady Friday... and some other possibles...we will see.
 
Well that was pretty much my week.
 
Things are going well and I am growing a lot. I really can’t wait to finish this Journal and send it home with my planners. Then you all can read through them and see better how each day went.
 
Here I am folks! I finished my first transfer in the mission! And it was a 7 week one at that! Normally they are 6! So one more with Anziano Blaga and then I graduate from Greenie to Junior Companion!
Love you all so much! I hope that everyone is doing well, I got 3 letters yesterday and they were fantastic. Good to hear from you all. I will try and get some more handwritten letters home! Love you all
and I want you to know that I’m doing very good. I’m growing a lot.

Love you all
 
.Ci Sentiamo
 
Anziano Memmott
 

Happy Easter

Cari Miei!
 
Ciao Ciao Tutti!
 
Nic says, Ciao.
 
Well, it’s been a fun week. My pizza intake has spiked during this last week. Ha-ha last Wednesday night, Anziano Blaga and I got some pizzas and then Friday (April 6th, Jesus Real Birthday) we bought another one and we made a pact that every year on April 6th we would eat a pizza to celebrate. So for the rest of my life I know what I will be doing on April 6th.
Oh and also we are working on finding a member who loves us enough to let us use their comp with web cam to Skype for mother’s day! I will keep you all updated!
So this Sunday it was Easter! Pasqua! And we went over to the Famiglia Sicali for lunch. The wife is from Germany and so we had some Potatoes and gravy with some meat and we ate a lot of it. Also we had some Colomba. It means Dove in Italian but we didn’t really eat a dove, it’s just a cake type thing shaped like a dove. They eat it at Easter. It was pretty good. Also we ate lots of chocolate and other goodies.
Then Monday (Pasquetta, The day after Easter where everyone gets together and eats) we went to the house of Roberto Sinigaliese and we had Pizza's Forno e Legno. That means in one of those old brick ovens with wood and fire and they are Italian Pizzas and he runs a pizza place so they were really good. And we ate (as the people who came from the ward, about 40 of us) 100 pizzas. So yeah...It was awesome. And his house is out in the country side. It is a little outside of Asti, which is a province of Alessandria. And so it is just surrounded by rolling hills and vegetation. It was incredible and we played some games. And we talked and laughed with the ward. And that really took all day. So we did not work...it was basically a vacation day. Ha-ha the only reason that we justified ourselves in going was that there were some non members there we talked to and the less active that we are working with. So we got them involved and it was really good.
Anyways, it’s been an okay week. Once again we have found a couple potential investigators but, we still don’t have anyone making progress. We have a few rays of light shinning in though. A family
that we visit often and are good friends with us want to have a family home evening and bring their niece who they think will accept and who is willing to meet with us. So that could be something. And we also have another possible good referral coming out of the woodworks. Other than that, we just continue to work and try and find someone and try and seek referrals from members, there actually could be some success from our English class that we teach at the church every Wednesday night. But that is a slim slim chance. So...we will see.
 
Things here in Italy are good. I think that things are finally setting in motion. Anziano Blaga always says that the Lord is the Paymaster and he will bless us for our work eventually. So maybe things are rolling. That’s what these last 2 or 3 days have felt like. Things are looking up and we finally are seeing some people who are genuinely interested.
 
It’s a hard work and I've changed a lot. That is something I was thinking about this last week. How much I have changed. The MTC seems like it was 1000 years ago and life before I left on the mission, I look back on who I was and think about "Normal Life" and I don't even recognize that the person and life I remember was mine. It seems like I have the memories of a stranger. It’s a weird thing to look back and see a stranger with your memories....or that is what it feels like. That’s how much the mission changes you.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Mother’s day and seeing how much
you have all changed!
Miss you and hope that you all are reading and praying. Good to hear that things are looking up. Remember the words of the Prophet from the last conference. Slow down a little and do the things that matter. Spend more time as a family.
 
Really quick, we were teaching a family about reading together and family home evening and I want you to know that I bore testimony of how important this is. We were never perfect, but the times that we DID have scripture study and FHE, I remember almost all of them. And they are special memories. So spend time with one another, its precious time that you can’t replace for anything.
 
Love you all so much and can’t wait to hear more from you.
 
Love,
Anziano Memmott

A week of firsts

Family,
 
I hope everyone is doing well and everyone is happy! It's Easter time here in Italy and it is a HUGE deal here. All the stores are selling these HUUUGGE chocolate eggs and Candy's and they have all the families over for dinner and they go to mass...I assume...not sure on that one...and yeah. But the bigger day is the day after Easter Sunday. I can't for the life of me recall what it is called but
that is when they EAT! They feast and celebrate and take the day off from work.
 
 Well, I had a lot of firsts this week. It was a week of new things for me.
First Orzo (Google it, it's kosher to partake of.)
First Schnitzel...from a German lady in our ward. It was very good.
First Bike repair, in fact it made us miss an appointment. we had to walk the bikes back across town and get the tools from our apartment and then fix it. It was a mess.
First Muslim that agreed to meet with us! Not sure how this will go. He doesn't believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God so...we will start from the start. Our appointment is tomorrow.
First recipe received from a member! We went to have correlation at the house of Famiglia Zito and she made the best pasta I have eaten since I got here. I asked for the recipe.
First "foolishness of youth" disaster! I just threw all my laundry in at the same time because i didn't have time to do it all before we left out for the night last P day and my towels turned all my whites a darker brown color. tried to bleach them but nothing.

First TIE BOUGHT IN ITALY! We were at a market in the streets they have here every 2 or three days and i found and bought a snazzy tie for 5 euro. very Italian very fun.
First General Conference in Italy! I hope you guys watched at home! It was very spectacular. We (Anz. B and I) went in the Archivist office and watched it in English just the two of us while the rest watched in Italian.
First week with me in the lead! This week is my first Senior week. we are halfway through the transfer and Im in charge of everything this week. So im learning how to drive the bikes in Italy...scary...hehe usually i just follow Anziano Blaga...learning some new traffic signs.
haha pray for my safety.
First Old man to try and convince US there is NO God...I felt really bad for him.
First Scambio with Anziano Boscia ( he is from Cicly (Native Italian) and spoke like 20 words of English. haha, but it was great, I learned alot and he fixed several errors I have been making in my speech.)

 Anyways, the week was good.
 
OH! good news! That Mothers day call is coming up! and!! drumroll please!!...........
we can SKYPE! we will go to a members and use their comp! So brace yourselves, brush yourselves and get ready to make eye contact! haha So everyone will need to gather if they want to see their missionary! Not sure when mothersday is.

Miss you all so much,
 Anziano Memmott
 
P.S. Im incredibly happy and loving my mission. This is truly the best work even when we are getting slammed in the face. haha LOVE YOU ALL!!
 
 

week 4 in Italy

Ciao tutti!
 
I hope that everyone is doing well and that everyone is in good spirits!! This week has been a good one! I got over that sickness after a brutal afternoon. I’m feeling much better and things are looking up.
 This week we have had a pretty crazy schedule. On Friday we went and visited less actives and recent converts and the Bishop in Asti. Another city that we go to once a week. It is where the rest of the
ward lives. well...some of them. And so that day was filled up with appointments and then lots of waiting. Because we don’t want to do any finding work in Asti because we can't really visit Asti more than once
a week. So unless there is someone who is really really really ELECT, we don’t look for new investigators in Asti.
 
Then Sunday we went and ate at the house of the ward mission leader. He is like 21 and his mom made us the best food I have eaten since I got here to Italy. She made us pasta (of course) and we had meat and
meat and more meat and it was all SOO good. So we will for sure be setting up another appointment to go back there.
 
Then on Monday we had a Scambio. That is an exchange or splits...I don’t even know in English....anyways I went to Vercelli with Anziano Reynoso (from California) and we did some awesome work we taught 2
awesome lessons and we found this young 14 year old boy who is really excited about the BoM and the Restoration. I’m sad that I won’t be able to teach him and baptize him because he belongs to the Anziani in
Vercelli...but it was amazing anyways! And I learned a very very important lesson while on the Scambio. Anziano Reynoso was stopping EVERYONE to talk to them. And it was different because I was no longer
with my trainer. I was just another missionary and the expectation felt like I should be just as capable as Anziano Reynoso to do anything that we needed to. And as it turns out I was, I didn’t have a trainer anymore...for a day...and I had to pull 50% of everything...it occurred to me that it shouldn’t be any different with Anziano Blaga...So yesterday was probably the best day of my mission so far.
We went to a park and started talking to people and with the confidence I found and the new fresh courage and vigor. We taught 3 lessons in the course of an hour and a half and got 4 numbers and addresses that we are going to go for a second appointment. And Several times yesterday after we finished talking to someone I realized that I was talking in Italian to that person and I wasn't scared or worried about if what I was saying was right or what to say. I was just talking and they talked and I understood at times 100% of what people
where saying and I was fluently speaking in Italian (Very basic and beginner Italian of course, not Shakespeare or anything, but Italian none the less) It was so cool.
 
Things are going so well right now. Anziano Blaga and I are working hard and he is a great trainer. He is a bit different because he is Romanian and at times there are moments when we don’t understand each other and it takes us like 5 minutes to understand where the other person is coming from or what they are trying to say but then we get it figured out and things are bene... Cultural differences are hard at times but he is a great trainer. He works efficiently and doesn't do things that are unneccessary....yikes didn’t spell that right...anyways he reminds me of dad in that way. He makes things as simple as can be while still getting the job done. No extra fluff and no extra nonsense. I have learned a lot of clever tricks and ideas from him.
 
I can't believe that it’s almost April this last month has just FLOWN past! It seems like yesterday that I got here. And at the same time it seems like the MTC is a world and half away. Hopefully that means I’m
growing. And I think and hope that I am. I try very hard every day to become the person that this mission SHOULD make me.
 
Tomorrow we have a training in Milano with all the new missionaries from my group. So I get to see everyone that was in my MTC group and see how they are doing and I’m so excited for that. It will be
interesting to see how each of us has grown and how we are doing. I really miss those guys. You really do make friends for life out here.
And I’m finally starting to feel like a veteran missionary. Even though I’m only halfway through my first transfer. Haha But the training program has the new missionary start to take the responsibility of new
things every week. SO I’m now leading daily and weekly planning and making phone calls and setting up appointments and I teach 50% of everything we teach. And I can finally talk to the members and chat
with them. And I can FINALLY Remember names. It was hard at first to remember names because you have to remember a name you have never heard before. For example if I told you to remember the name john, you could probably do it. But if I told you to remember the name Haquiff... (Really a name of a potential Simp we had) then it’s a bit harder. (Lots of Albainians in Alessandria) or for example Martonello, or Mateo Chitelili or something like that. It’s like trying to remember a made up work...but I’m finally getting used to it and I know now a lot of the members.
 

The biggest problem I’m finding in missionary work is not that people don’t want to believe in God, or that they don’t think God can help make their lives happier. They just don’t care, its apathy. They believe in
God and Jesus Christ, but they are too lazy to do anything. They honestly believe that the gospel can bring them happiness but they always say that they are fine with the way things are. Nobody cares, nobody wants something more, something that will last. So one thing I have started saying in contacting work when we talk about the Gospel is that it can bring happiness that can last. Happiness that doesn’t come and go like the things of the world. Drinking, smoking, sex, money, partying, all these things bring such a small flick of thrill
to someone’s life. Not happiness, a thrill, a rush, a delusion of happiness. They leave us just as fast as they came. And they leave us wanting more and the more we do them the more we want and the more we
cant satisfy. But the Gospel...oh the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that will never leave us if we choose to hold on. It will never cease to be a source of unending happiness. The happiness we find in the Gospel lasts for Eternity, the Happiness that we find in true happiness that fills us up and lifts us up to a higher plane of living. I want the people to see that.  
Anyways, I love them and am so happy to be here serving them. I know that there is SOMEONE In Alessandria that the Lord wants us to find and teach and baptize!!!
 
Love you all and miss you all SOOOO much.
 
LOVE,
 Anziano Memmott

Week 3 in Italy

I just love getting his letters and find that every Tuesday night is like Christmas Eve for me as I anxiously await his Wednesday letter. This week was more of a personal letter to individuals. However there are definitely parts I want to share.

"Last night I had for the first time since I’ve gotten here (Yes it took 3 weeks) Gelato! It is SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! Also we have eaten at members houses like 6 times this week. They cook really good but once in a while I wish I ate something other than bread, pasta, and pizza. hehe. We ate at a phillipianian's...yeah....family and they gave us food that was close to American and it was very very good. A little taste of home...almost.
We are finding people and hopefully making progress. Hard to tell right now. We have...had...have...had not sure haha ...we have/had 2 investigators with baptismal dates (Timothy & James) but we haven’t been able to contact either of them in like 4 days....so yeah. But Timothy seems frickin golden every time we meet with him. He said he wants to be baptized that he hasn’t yet at all and wants it and he wants to read...but we haven’t heard from him in several days and we worry... but we are pilling up referrals to go visit and hopefully the members will start getting more involved.
 We had a Zone Training here in Alessandria on Monday and it was great.
The Mission president came and the APs and we learned a lot and got a lot done."

I can tell that he thinks in Italian so much that he has a hard thinking of how to say things in English the proper way. I think this is awesome because it shows he is getting immersed in the work.

Also he gave some great advice to anyone who has even thought about sending him a package.

"Okay so a quick thing with sending me Packages!
They are having a debt crisis here in Italy as you all may know. And I have been told by the office that one of the ways they are fixing this is by charging higher fees on the customs. So the example they gave is this. 2 actually.
 
1. An elder's dear mother bought him a coat and gloves and some shoes (Notice all things that can be bought here. probably better looking and cheaper too!) and the total was about 300 Dollars. To ship the package was 60 dollars...okay, yikes, but that’s only to ship it....The customs charge for the office was 200 Euros...Euros not dollars I will let you do the conversion. As you can see...WAAAAY better to send money. Oh, and they didn’t pay it either. They called the mom and asked if she
wanted to and she said no and they destroyed the stuff....so Only only only only only send packages on occasions and only only only only only only send stuff that I can't buy here in Italy. Otherwise just put some money on my card. and I can buy it and we save 100s of dollars.
2. This illustrates the customs charge hike. Our name tags. We can order extras and stuff like that for when they break and we lose them and what not. So they cost 3 dollars...the customs charge used to be about 1.5 for each one. ..Yikes already. Now the customs charge is 6 dollars for one nametag that costs 3 dollars.....yeah...Italy is doing everything they can to pay their debt....and we have to suffer...so please keep these things in mind when sending packages
 
Also! Anziano Blaga told me that the best way to get a package here safely is to put a picture of Mary on it and write Madonna Vi Benedica (Mother Mary Bless you) hopes it works."

So with that being said, If anyone thinks of sending something for birthdays or holidays please contact me and maybe we can combine packages etc. or donate to his fund in some other way.  

He did declare his love for everyone and I know he appreciates any support given to him. Please continue your prayers on his behalf.

Getting settled

Famiglia!                                                                                                            3/14/2012
 
Another week in Italy! My first week was almost like my first week in the MTC, everything was coming so fast I didn't know what was happening and I was just trying to make it to bed each night and try and comprehend what was going on and what to do and all this information that was being thrust at me. BUT now things are slowing down, in terms of new information and new things that I have to adjust to, and I am able to get a grip on this new life. I was able to establish a grocery list and do some shopping. I was able to organize my materials and get settled into the apartment and get the swing of life in that way. Also I am getting used to the slightly different schedule here and all the study schedules and the train rides and all the things we do in every day missionary life. SO, all in all everything is much better than last week and still just as fun. I have yet to forget that I am in Italy and I am always looking around. I think sometimes it marks me as a foreigner the way I am always wide eyed and looking at all the buildings and streets and everything that is so new. It's strange here in a few ways. The things I miss most second to family and other loved ones are:
1. Dryers, we hang dry everything; yes I use a clothesline and a...drying...table...things. They don't have dryers here because they have no way to vent them in these old buildings...so yeah I miss that.
2. Carpet, I miss carpet every time I roll of bed in the morning to say my morning prayer...it’s a cold floor.
3. Knowing what food is. Let me explain. We don't eat anything close to the same meats or cheeses or bread that they eat here in Italy... so I have no idea what kind of meat I am buying for sandwiches and
other stuff... and they have as many cheese here as we have chapels in Utah. I go to the store and I am lost for what to buy to make a simple sandwich...I will learn though. I know last week I told you I eat
nothing but bread...which is still mostly true...although now I have stuff to put on that bread. But still bread for almost every meal. BUT, I am loving it more and more every time I eat it. It is all really good
bread. Nic brings it to us so it might not be like this in future cities but for now he brings us really good bread...when I say bread I don't mean loafs of bread...I mean REAL bread. So I have really good
sandwiches. And I have been taught a few things about cooking pasta and such...hopefully I will learn more and bring that knowledge home with me. Ha-ha
 
Anyways, things with Anziano Blaga are going better and better. We kind of turned a corner this week, because I am new and don’t know what is going on or how to react to anything the first week was strained but once I got a grip and relaxed I opened up a bit and we laughed and joked more openly and now we are becoming friends. He is also a really good teacher...well in that he really forces me to grow which is a good thing. He doesn't coddle me in any way. It's the old “sink or swim” which is good because I’m...floating at this point ha-ha. But I am learning a lot.
 For example:
 We were doing some casa yesterday and a very nice older lady opened her door and I said that we are from the church of Jesus Christ and we bring a message of Jesus Christ, Do you believe in Jesus Christ." And she responded and I looked at Anziano Blaga because while I understood what she said I was thrown off because I didn't know what to say next. But he just looked at me with a face that said... "Say
something, what are you waiting for?"  And so I just said what came to my mind and before I knew it was having a conversation about religion with a living breathing Italianite. (That’s what Anziano Blaga calls them sometimes) Anyways it was really a cool moment for me to have a conversation where was just talking and I didn't have to think about what I was saying and what she was saying.
 Also when I think back to conversations that we have had with people I don’t remember that they were talking in Italian. I only remember what they said in English and it seems like we have the conversation
in English.
 
We are doing a lot of finding work and trying hard to get new investigators. We met a Nigerian man named Timothy and we taught him the first lesson. Funny enough the first time I taught the first lesson in Italy...It was in English...ha-haa but it was really amazing and really really powerful, when I recited the first vision (which I had to translate from Italian BACK to English in my head while I did it) the spirit was So powerful, maybe one of the most spiritually strong presences I have ever felt. But it was amazing and we are finding a few more people and the work is progressing slowly but surely I hope.
 Anyways time is running short so ill give you best news I think I have for you...well for me too.
 Anziano Blaga has let me in on the secret that you can send mail directly to me in Alessandria. All we have to do is make sure that we don't have letters sent 2 weeks before the transfer ends...which is in another like 3 months. (Well its 2 transfers but I will be with my trainer for 2 at minimum in Alessandria.) So!! You can write me and send stuff straight here!
 
Here it is.
 
Anziano Dustin Memmott
Via Piacenza 66
Alessandria, 15121 (AL)
Italia
 
There you go! Feel free to write me to that address and I will get it much much much much faster! Ha-ha I will let you know when to stop sending to that address
 
Oh and send me a little photo album of me and the family and just a lot of random pictures of my life. The members always want to see and Anziano Blaga has a little album. The dimensions of a picture...and he carries it to all the members houses when we have lunch... they love it. So fill it with pictures of me and the family and when I was a kid and all that stuff and send it in the next package. Oh and send all
packages to the office. That is probably better and safer with the packages...
 
 Love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week and everything. I will try and write a few personal letters next week.
 Love you all so much and hope that all goes well at home. I am praying for you every night!
 
Vi Volgio Benissimo!|
 Love,
Anziano Memmott

He seems better this week and more upbeat. He is getting settled and learning the ways of missionary life. What a blessing he is to us. Thank you all for the continued prayers and support.