Tuesday, October 27, 2015

October 27, 2015: Late update


He DID write! Mom was just impatient since it didn't arrive until after 5pm.  :-)

Went and taught a lesson to brother B, which is always
interesting, as he seems to be the guy that talks just to hear
himself. Because his wife is not a member, we got to talk with her for
a while, and it gave us an excuse to watch a little baseball! We
taught a good lesson, but that's pretty much all we did today!
10/20/2015
Went an taught Sis McG, which was very...... Interesting. She
knows she has a testimony, and that she has faith, but for some reason
she has no desire to go to church or to renew her covenants. We tried
to have her read about Christ's grace, but it seems like she is stuck
in the ways of not going anywhere!
We went back to the lady's house with the purple walls that we helped
take out, she needed a little more help with her roof. We got up there
started working, took a few pictures, and then almost as soon as we
got off the roof caved in... O.o We're both good... I think.
After that pretty much all we did was tract for a while.. Not too much happened.
10/21/2015
We went around and helped some people in Three Forks, helped an older
lady move a few couches and a few shelves. That took a few hours, and we
eventually said we had to go cause we had an appointment. We got to
teach A, and set his baptismal date for Dec. 12! We're super
excited for him, and the choices he's making!
We had dinner with the family that had the lion dog, but sadly he ran
away... :/ still crazy hectic at their home though! We got to teach
them about the Book of Mormon, and we think we helped them grow!
10/22/2015
Pretty boring day actually... We went to Helena for MLT (actually
happened this time lol) and spent most of the day there. All the
assistants to the president talked about obedience to mission rules,
and President Wadsworth talked about law of chastity. Exciting... Yet
very boring. We started to drive back but then found that someone hit
our car.... Shoot! Not that big of a dent, but is an issue in the eyes
of the mission home!

After that we got back to Three Forks and had a lesson out in Clarkston, drove an hour out there, then we had another lesson in Three Forks, so we drove and hour back. Too much driving! It was like 8 when that lesson was over, so we went to the volleyball   game where we found out that our girls rock! Won every game this year, most everyone  says they're a shoo-in for state! Awesome! 
10/23/2015
We drove back to Ennis, where we got to volunteer at the Hunters Feed Festival! So    many people coming through before hunting season starts! We collected ballots for     voting, so everyone that was there talked to us at least once! It was great! We talked to about 150 people, and that's just a guess!! Awesome opportunity!
Developed a new lesson on the Book of Mormon... Cuz our old one sucks donkey. Then we taught it to some members, and they seems to really enjoy it!! Not much else happened.
10/24/2015
Volunteered at the library, got to shelve books, clean windows, and even repair some  computers! Woo! Spend a few hours there, then we spent most of the day visiting member and less actives. Overall.... Fun, yet pretty uneventful day!
10/25/2015
Our day was full of meetings, more than I ever thought was possible! I got called as  one of the branch organists, which feels weird. Oh well... I guess I'll do my best! 
Visited some more members, and nothing super special happened!
Sorry for the short, precise email.   Not much happened this week and I procrastinated till the last minute to write this so I'm in a hurry! 
Love you all! Send me any questions that you have, I'll answer them the best I can! Elder Braden R Wallgren Montana Billings Mission 2015-2017 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Enos 1:12 12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith. Only through our desires and faith will we be blessed!

Monday, October 26, 2015

October 26, 2015: Pictures

*Mom's Note: I think he's getting even. With his sister's wedding on the 17th, we've been playing catch up all week. No updates this week, but several pictures. (I'll include a couple of pics from wedding, too...just for the curious and time line for Elder Wallgren when he returns.)
Meanwhile...in Bozeman.
Just me in a roof...that is just about to cave in.
Apparently, when you get bored on Sunday, you chase your companion with the car!



Woke up one morning and saw this. We got a little worried.

Walked outside to wash the car this morning, then saw this: 



*******
A few wedding pics:
Alexis

Mr. and Mrs. Belmonte

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Wedding Dinner. Notice the trees in the lights on the wall!

Princess Alexis.
(Bye, bye Tomboy!)

Cake with lights!

October 19, 2015: The Lion, the Witch, and the Anti-Mormons (catch up)

So the title is very appropriate, and we will find out why later!

No questions this week for me to answer- gee thanks!
Lol I Kidd, I know that with the wedding going on, and with all sort
of family in town, emailing isn't something that is super urgent.
Don't worry too much about it!

No snow yet, as many people I'm sure are wondering. The members in our
ward do tell me that is is weird that we haven't seen any snow yet,
and that we will definitely see snow before the end of the transfer.

A lot happened this week, so here we go!

10/12/2015
Had our district leader come by, and we got to walk around and do some
stuff with him. Fun preparation day, got to hang out with the zone and
play some kickball, dodgeball, and then some bball. The day ended with
a baptismal interview for Kelly which apparently lasted like 4x longer
than an interview is supposed to.... Whatever I guess. We had to take
elder Demile back to Belgrade after the interview, and because it ran
late, we didn't end up getting home until like 9:50. Wow. It felt
definitely different not being within the Lord's standardized schedule!
We have...so many....

10/13/2015
We headed over to Ennis, not really knowing what to expect. We tracked
for a while, and we met some people. Nothing really went anywhere, but
we felt good about some of the people we talked to....
On our way we got a call and found out that someone we had tracted
into came to church! No one asked them to, but we left a pamphlet at
her house, and she ended finding out where the church met. She went to
a testimony meeting, and she LOVED it. She said she wanted to feel
loved again, and wanted to know what the people there knew! We went to
teach her, and she had a Book of Mormon, true to the faith, and a
restoration pamphlet. All of them were either read or in the process
of being read, and before we even started the lesson she told us that
she wanted to be baptized. O.o We didn't quite know what to do! We
were so excited, confounded, and dumbstruck that neither of us taught
very well in the lesson! We are so excited for M and the things
she is ready for, and her baptism in November!

10/14/2015
We did lots of service, going around in Ennis to find people to teach
and serve. We happily got to help at the food bank, as well as helping
the police department! Besides, that, not too much happened.



10/15/2015
Weekly planning.... Yay.
We planned, planned and then planned some more. After travel back to
Three Forks, we sat at the church for like 3 hours planning for the
upcoming week. However boring it is, we know the weekly planning is a
great and necessary thing.
After that we went and helped at the food bank in Three Forks, then we
went to the gift store to help there. Service day, it seems. I bought
a new suit, and a new photo album, for $1!
We went out and visited a member family with two sets of twins, an
autistic son, a Down syndrome daughter, and another set of twins on
the way.... O.o They also have a dog that I swear is a LION. He
probably weighs more than I do, and is probably bigger than me also!
He has his hair cut to look like a mane, and he scared the crude outta
me when I first saw him. If I see him again, I will attempt to get a
picture. All the pics I got were only partial, I was never far enough
away to get a full picture!!

Kelly's baptism!
We were so excited for him and the decision he made! His whole family showed up (not one is LDS!), as well as his wife's full LDS family. We felt a great spirit there, and we could tell that he loved being there also!
He is an amazing man who we can tell is going to be a GIANT in the gospel!
The witch came at Kelly's house after the baptism. We were walking toward the house, and they are working on haunted house for Halloween, so we tried to prepare ourselves. We didn't enough. Sister H (his wife) jumped out from he bushes with a witch's costume on, probably the only actual witch's costume I've seen in a long time, and scared the snot out of both of us.... I'm glad we have to stay inside for Halloween.
10/16/2015
Friday we basically knocked doors ALL DAY. Fun, depressing, exiting, boring, discouraging, inspiring day, like any day full of tracting is. Went to the Hs for dinner.... Probably remind me the most of our family. They own their own piano repair company, their sons are OBSESSED with Roblox, their older son plays nothing but portal, tower defense, as well as making his own game. Don't mimic out family in numbers, but definitely in personality!
We went tracting around their house, and we ran into this guy who invited us in, and began to just talk with us....... I'm surprised it took us almost 15 minutes to notice the picture in his walk of Joseph Smith.... Covered in swear words, what I hope was fake blood, and worn so much that I looks like darts had been thrown at it for years..... Flip. He saw us looking at it.... And then said "Yeah, I'm surprised y'all didn't see it before. Get the h#^^ outta my home and say hello to the devil for me." ... That happened. Wow. Okay. Apparently his great, great, grandfather was one of the people in the mob that killed Joseph Smith. Oh flip. We got outta there faster than you can probably imagine!


10/17/2015
Saturday was a fun day! We went out to Clarkston, which is a huge town with little people. The town has about the same population and Nephi, but is about the size Provo, only a little bigger. We wandered around there, trying to find something to do, and we did!
We drove by this poorer family in the ward (not going to include their name for privacy) whose house burnt down about 18 months ago. After about a year, Authorities got involved and without revealing too much, they basically needed to build a new house or they weren't allowed to live there anymore. They own like 40 acres... So they sold some land and began to build, about 3 months ago.
We went out to help them build! We did so much.... We spent almost 9 hours there helping! We moved insulation, he gave me a nail gun and I began to put on some floor boards..... And it was high enough that he wouldn't let me do unless I was harnessed in! O.o The nail gun was definitely a new experience, and definitely something that I found out I'm not good at! Then we did the same to the roof, threw some sheets of wood on the bottom of the roof. We then moved the insulation again, this time laying it on the roof. Again... We needed to be harnessed into the roof, scarier this time though, because if we fell we just went off the roof. Then we layer the top boards and finished the bottom layer of the roof. I only cut myself once, which for those of you who know my track record, that's actually not bad!
This is it two days later... And it's really not as bad as it looks!

10/18/2015
Sunday we went to church. Got a new Elder's Quorum Presidency, as our previous one was almost completely inactive. I in fact had not seen anyone in the presidency at church except the 1st councilor in my whole transfer! So I feel like maybe having this new presidency will help the ward a lot! After that, we just kinda tracted, taught a few members about the Book of Mormon and stuff. Not much success, but I did meet some one who just got out of basic training for the Marine corps, who actually knew David Roberts! Wasn't interested in the gospel AT ALL, but he seemed to love talking about hunting and the army!


10/19/2015
Today was lots of fun, again went to Bozeman to play around with everyone in the zone. I'm slowly getting better at ball sports, I actually made 15/20 free throws! My companion, being the basketball "star" that he is, has decided that he cannot have a companion that was bad at the sport as I was. He has been coaching me, and actually helping me get better at the game!
We went to Walmart, and I bought some watches.... And a few ties. I'm spending too much money.....
We went to Burger King for lunch, and a random person (we think is a member) came up, told us to put our wallets away and obligated us to let him pay for us! Wow... I've only ever heard of that happening to people! Really cool!
Now we are on our way to Ennis, and we have planned tonight to make some visits to less actives and some investigators with one of the older members of the ward. Wish us luck and I can't wait to hear from all of you soon!

Elder Braden R Wallgren Montana Billings Mission 2015-2017 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints D&C 100:5-6 5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; 6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.

Monday, October 12, 2015

October 12, 2015: General Conference & Transfers



I had a few people ask me, so here's me notes on my favorite talks
from General conference!

Uchdorf:
* sometimes the the truth may seem to simple and plain for us to
appreciate its full value
* when we chase after shadows we are pursuing matter that have little
to no value
* we, as church members, should ask the same questions that
investigators ask as they come to the church
* the fruits of the gospel of Jesus Christ can turn a life from
ordinary and dreary into extraordinary and exasperated
* are we making our discipleship TOO complicated?
* we need to make and effort to dedicate our time to the simple things
that ACTUALLY MATTER
* living the gospel doesn't need to be complicated
* hear-listen-love-follow-walk-desire to learn-hear (cycle of discipleship)
* we need to start where we are- use your weakness to help you learn
* we don't need to be more of anything to start becoming the man God
wants us to be
* god sees us as we can be and as we will be, not how we think we currently are
* if we look at ourselves only through our mortal eyes, we can only
see what we can do better- God sees us as we truly are, and as we can
be
* because of the grace of Christ, we all can be in the tellestial
kingdom. But we need to stove for more
* exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey
Ballard: * the old ship Zion is outfitted with eternal truths that will help us hold on and pass safely through mortality * Prophets and Apostles - The lord has ALWAYS done his work through the apostles and prophets - Without prophets and apostles we would have any witness of Christ - In order to fully understand the atonement, we MUST follow our leaders - Even as called prophets of God, church leaders still make mistakes - Focusing on how the lord inspires his leaders despite their humanity Is holding on! * Plan of Salvation - Provides us with a unique eternal perspective - Our charge is to creat bodies for god's children so that they can learn - Prophets are duty-bond to watch, warn, and seek - The proclamation- the family and honesty within it will help us feel more comfortable in God's presence * Sabah day - Setting aside the sabbath as the lords day will help us hold on - The message of the savior should permeate through fast and testimony - The sabbath should be a delight - Sunday should be filled wi love for Christ at home and at church - Spiritual uplifting can happen every Sunday, no matter what * .use these things to stay on the old ship Zion, from here to the kingdom of heaven * no one can get to the destination by swimming on their own, everyone needs the ship * the church powered by the priesthood is used to propel us through the rough waters of mortal life Maynes (presidency of the 70): * centering our lives on Christ and his teachings will center and balance our lives * we must be in the EXACT center of the wheel * our core must be Christ and his gospel * the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field- we must sell all we have to be able to buy the field and find the treasure * Alma 22:15- he earlier was willing to give half his kingdom for his life... But now would be willing to give it all for the joy of the gospel * despite all of Nephi and his people's hardships, their Christ-centered life helped them live "in the manner of happiness" Lawrence (of the 70): * we are all here to eternally progress and become like our father, but we can only do it through Christ * If we are humble and teachable, the lord will lead us along the way * we must be willing to act on the things that we are told from the lord * the Holy Ghost really gives customized council- the things he tells us are the things we NEED to do! * the Holy Ghost doesn't tell us everything we need all at once, but in little pieces only in the things we can handle * we need to take the promptings of the spirit more more serious and to heart * the atonement isn't only for those who have sinned. All those who want to grow closer to Christ need to use the atonement * to the lord, our direction is ever more important than our speed Viñas (of the 70): * our joy in his life cannot be full, but through Christ our joy can be full * only if we endure our afflictions well will we be exalted on high * a punishment was fixed, and a Judgment was set. Now we have to work for the kingdom * .repentance is a process, and not something that happens at a moment in time * with the influence of the Holy Ghost in us, we will not offend nor be offended Cook: * If there be no righteousness, there be no happiness * as missionaries, we must be temple worthy in good times, and in bad times * we must be determined to stay temple worthy no matter what befalls us * to have happiness in this life and the life to come, we must follow the things Jesus taught us * self-control is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets * if we resist temptation once, is becomes easier to do again * all of us, missionaries or not, need to act as if we are always disciples of Jesus Christ * the Sabath symbolizes the end of the creator's work. We need to worship him for what he has done * truly keeping the Sabath day holy is a refuge from the worldly shafts and whirlwinds * the spirit will help us AVOID temptations, as well as SUPPORT us through times of trials * life is not easy, nor was it meant to be * we may hit the bottom and even be tipped on our sides, but living a worthy life will help us keep everything together until the tide comes back in Hales: * if I make this choice, what is the worse thing that could happen? * just like the prophets of old, let God tell us whether we need to fight, flee, or go with the flow of our current life situations * If you love him, he will always lead and guid you * In knowledge, there is power * As we date, learn everything about each other. Make sure your opinions about the lord and his teaching ps are similar * Hold a personal council- what can I do in my life to better the life of another? * Go forward,Minot backward * As we follow him, he will push us forward toward ur end goal
Holland: * Jesus came into the world to bear the sins of world (hold them, carry them, born with, deliver us from) * The savior only provides help and hope that we can be better than we currently are * Just as Jesus came to love us, and he always will, the love mothers feel is the closest that we might ever be able to feel * What mothers do is an essential piece of Christ's love for us * If a child breaks their mother's heart, she still welcomes them with loving arms. The same as with Christ * One of the best examples of the pure love of Christ is found within our mothers Foster (of the 70): * Do we realize that children are the largest group of investigators worldwide? We need to being their path to full conversion to a running start in their early years * Hearing words may not always be learning words- you are a broken record! Dad, what's a record * The power of the Holy Ghost will carry truth unto the children * We need to help people not only hear, but to understand * Jesus will say- I've been where you are, here's what you'll encounter. when you do, I want you to come talk to me Montoya (of the 70) * How to bear our burdens 1. We MUST help each other. 2. Smile- we will feel better and we can help others feel better 3. Express feelings of compassion to others 4. The atonement- meditate once a week on the blessings of the atonement Stanfill (of the 70): * If we do nothing about our weaknesses, doubt, pride, and and eventual apostasy will begin to break us * Peter didn't question the lord's ability to help him, he just cried out for help * Our choice to heed those who mock the choice impede our ability to grow closer to the lord * We must trust in the lord to be able to find our path in life * We cannot rely on borrowed light * The adversary will try to convince us that we have never felt the influence of the spirit * Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith * There is no darkness so dense nor difficult that it cannot be overcome by light Martino (of the 70): * God only answers our prayers if we prey with a sincere heart and real intent * Do I let my experiences help my faith grow like Nephi, or do they make me more cynical like Laman and Lemuel? * We will all face trials and have questions, but we need to make sure we hold fast to the iron rod * Am I as close to living like Christ as I can be, and as I have been * Not only is faith without works dead, but work without faith is dead Oaks: * In the savior's atonement, he suffered all pains, torments, humiliations, griefs, and temptations of all kind. EVERY ONE * Since the savior has experienced everything, he can help any would progress through any and every thing * His atonement empowers him so succor and support us throughout our whole lives * We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us * Not only can Christ help us, he can help us help others * MANY are the afflictions of the righteous, but the lord will deliver them of them ALL * God and Christ answer all prayers that are faithfully given to them * When Christ find ps us wounded by the wayside, we will reach out to us and give us meal and sustenance for us to receive him fully ********************************************
Transfer calls were this week! 
I'm gonna be mean and make you read it to find out!

I'm fine, just some minor scrapes left. My leg actually feels better than it has for a while. Prolly a combination of blessings from the lord and the fact that I am actually taking my pills most morning now. XD
No, that lady still leaves us alone, but she spends most of her time in her backyard gardening. Only reason she came up that day was to tell us where to find the moose.
And thus- because of the events that occurred afterwards, we did not even see the moose really, just something that looked like one, but didn't really get to see it that close!
That family we visited is always super busy, mom dealing with the issues that present themselves, and dad is a truck driver, so it's hard to schedule something cause mom doesn't want to have a lesson unless dad is there, and whenever dad is there they're dealing with the family... So we're praying for something!
We try to work with the youth, but there is 2 active young men and a single active young woman, so working with the youth in Ennis is hard. As it comes to Three Forks, we are trying to take a "Peter and Sean" approach- taking the youth out with us as much as possible! We have a few really cool priests that love coming with us, and we love to have them!
Yes Elder Pino did [pull me aside and talk to me personally], no I don't have pictures. 

I'm super happy, it's rained at least once a week for the whole time I've been up here, and for one week a while ago it was raining basically all week!! Definitely different than what I come from, but (at least at the moment) it's something I could get used to!

I have a piece of advice for a few things for ya, so listen up! ;)
1. for study each day, we think about what might be able to help us in the coming week/day. Whether that be studying for a specific person or for something that can uplift us, as we pray for guidance we always seem to have something to study. So my advice to you is this: find something that you might be having a hard time with during the week, and ask God to help you find things to study about it. I hope that'll help!
2. If that doesn't help, turn to PMG ch.2. The whole chapter is about studying effectively and teaching. If I'm ever at a day without something to study I just turn to there, pick something, and work with it!
3. If all else fails.... PONDERIZE. Lol, try to PONDERIZE each week anyway, as well as your studies. Something that our zone leaders said was that if you've picked a scripture for the week, put it somewhere (I have it as the background of my iPad) and as you think about it throughout the week, study scriptures that are similar in theme or message during the week! 
4. For hastening the work- in the stake here, the stake prescient has issued a challenge to the stake- President Rupture's House of Hastening:

And the whole stake loves it! My favorite one that I invite you guys as a family to do, is set a date 4x a year to have a non-member family come over to be taught by the missionaries. SET A DATE. Even if that date isn't the day you can have the lesson on, set a "deadline" per say by which you will have a family to teach. We have invited every member in our ward to do it, so I've heard every excuse... And I know no matter what excuse you can think of, If you PRAY about both the date and the family (or person) as a family, I know that that tremendous amount of faith in the Lord will bless you. But, just like the brother of Jared, you can't expect to have someone thrown in your face. You have to try to solve the issue on your own, then the Lord will bless you. The Lord has/will prepare someone in your life to receive the gospel. As it says in Alma 13:24, someone is ready. They may not know it. You'll probably not know it at first, but someone is/will be ready. No matter how busy you think you are, no matter how little nonmember friends you think you have, if you pray earnestly as a family and with real intent, not just cuz I told you to, the Lord will bless you. Invite them over for dinner, over for an FHE one Monday (or Sunday, cuz I know sometimes that works better), have a game night one day. Invite the Mills too! But most importantly, tell the missionaries about your efforts. They will support you. There is a statistic that I read from President Hinckley- 1/4 doors that missionaries knock on end in baptism. 1/3 found through members and taught through their home end in baptism. Share that. Get everyone excited about missionary work!!!
5. Last piece, and I this one is easy. As the second councilor in the bishopric, you have power and authority to help direct the ward. As such, you actually do have some stewardship (not a lot, most of it falls under the bishop, but even the prophet relies on his councilors all the time!). With this, the Lord will give you revelation, but not always as you are ready for it. I invite you to begin to think about people throughout the day, active, inactive, nonmember, whatever, that would benefit specifically from the missionaries visiting them. Then, as you get some point free during the day, call or text the missionaries. Tell them the people they should visit, and if possible give them a why. I know at times it will seem inconvenient, but as you do it, not only will you be blessed, not only will the missionaries be blessed, but the ward that I know you love so much!
I know that is a lot to do, but I also know that these things have been able to bless me as a missionary, and I've seen it bless members. If you work hard at these, "hastening the work" not longer becomes some abstract thing ("I don't know what it means, I don't know what to do, but I know that I need to hasten the work!" -Elder Pino") but it becomes a very, very real, and very accomplishable thing!


Now that my "little" rant is over, I'll actually answer your questions!!!!
Yes, voice male and eclipse are fine, as long as it's hymns, or arrangements of hymns. 
It sounds like both you and mom are saving my emails for me, so man don't worry about making me another email, just make sure those emails don't go anywhere!!!!!
I'm doing my best to write, but I seem to always be short on time, so expect type-os and grammatical mistakes, as I am typing this VERY quickly!

Last full week before transfers!!! D:
10/5/2015
Preparation day, fun stuff! We got to go play golf today, and I remembered that I really am not good at sports... Even golf. It's cool thought, I had fun, lost prolly a dozen balls among the foliage and the water. As the person I am, I was slightly sad after we go done, but anytime I'm done with being bad at something I get upset. I get to blame my parents for that, right? Haha no, but I do know that that is something I need to work on, making sure that I know that I can't be good at everything, but I finally think I starting to realize that the Lord will help me with all I need! 

After that we went to Bozeman to play around with our zone, and to go shopping at the one Walmart in the zone.... Not as many as we had thought!! We got to play some kickball, and then we did a tie trade cause there was an elder who was on his last transfer in his mission! I got a few ties, and actually walked out with more ties than I walked in with! Fun stuff I guess!
After we were done in Bozeman (I bought a new watch, $8 at Walmart. But unfortunately, it is now broken. Going to Walmart today to see if anything can get fixed!) we went to Ennis, and really all we had time for was dinner and one visit. So that's what we did. We went with the old branch mission leader to go visit someone in the branch. We did that, then we went home and planned!
10/6/2015
Lots of fun on Tuesday! We got to do service, basically all day. Best kind of service though, DEMOLITION. We went to a part member family, who needed some help in taking down a wall. 

That building (inside and out), is no longer there.
We spent basically all day there, and the. We tried to tract a bit, with no success :(
10/7/2015
District meeting! It was a great meeting, lots of focus on planning and training. We took a picture at the end-

And then there's my companion, fruity as ever. Everyone tryin to be serious, and then does that. 
After the meeting we got to go teach A, an 8-year old dude who wants to learn the gospel! Fun, fun stuff goin on! 
10/8/2015
More service!!! We got to do our weekly "shift" at the food bank, and again we got to go hang out at the bomb shelter. It's always great to be able to go and spend a few terrifying moments in the zombie cave, as my companion has most recently called it. Oh man, this mission thing is gettin fun. 
We got to teach both D and K, and they are both SUPER excited for their baptisms coming up. K's is coming up this Thursday, and D is coming up on Halloween. We can't wait to see them move forward!
10/9/2015
More service!!! We got to go help a member paint her house and finish some repairs so they could sell the home, I think she sent you pictures. I dunno. Didn't do much else, we got to teach A again. Besides that it was a pretty boring day, Tracting and attempting to find an whatnot. Dad's birthday, I was a little sad, but attempted to keep busy so I couldn't think about it. 

10/10/2015
Fun weekend day, even more service!
There was a less active in our ward who needed some help moving, so we were able to help him move stuff around and getting things from his storage unit to his new home. We actually spent most of the day with him, everything but planning at night and studies in the morning. We got to "accidentally" watch a little bit of college football, and even though I am very lost when compared to my companion, I enjoyed the little bit I got. Another boring day besides that though...
10/11/2015
Church, as normal. Nothing too exciting, except fer transfer calls! Lol nothing exciting tho, both Elder Potter and I are staying in Three Forks/Ennis, so I get to finish my training with Potter! Super excited and I can't wait to get another 6 weeks in! Besides that, nothing super exciting happened, just a few lessons with members, and I started to make some things for the family. I don't know how long it's gonna take to make them, so I might make them Christmas presents.... I dunno. 

And then it's today! :D

My PONDERIZE scripture last week was Abraham 3:24-25, my one for this week is Mosiah 3:19 
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Definitely invite all of you to pick a scripture to read this week!!



Elder Braden R Wallgren
Montana Billings Mission
2015-2017
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Monday, October 5, 2015

October 2, 2015: "Golfing" For Investigators

This is fall, in case those of you in AZ have forgotten.

Ha! I'm so funny

This weeks email is gonna be short... I don't have a ton of time today sorry!!!

Lol some things happened this week, some more thingy than others...
Some more stuffy and than thingy, but nevertheless they happened!

I'm just gonna copy my journal that I'm keeping in my notes (laziness
for the win!)

9/28/2015
Preparation day today! We had a pretty relaxed day, I watched videos
and wrote emails for most of our preparation time! Like I said, pretty
relaxed! We went over to Sister b's house in Virginia city and
got to help her clean out her garage a little bit, specifically by
moving a really old, dusty, mildewy, all around gross couch. There was
a dead bird on one of the couch cushions, and yeah.... Elder Potter
actually threw up a bit. Fun experience! Sister b said we get
to come back next week hopefully to help her finish tearing down her
shed and to build it back up to become a great man cave for her
husband! I can't wait to see some great results from the work that we
get to do!
After the service there, we went to EO's house for dinner. We got there and she made us change and wash her car before we could eat! Laughing, we washed her car and then we got to have some great steaks that she gave us. She seems to be a real nice lady with a real sensitivity to the spirit, just only if she could recognize it for what it is! I hope the lord will help us in helping her! As we left, she gave us two more big steaks, some pork chops, some chili, crackers, cheese, spaghetti, sauce and $50! We tried to deny it all but she wouldn't let us leave without it! Really cool lady that we can't wait to see again!

After that we went and saw TM, a recently baptized 11
year old. He is slightly autistic, and to be honest, I probably taught
him better than I have taught any adult! Something with how I teach
seems to work better with the learning disabled and the younger
kids... Makes me wonder what I should do as a profession..... Either
way we were able to teach him the plan of salvation and draw him a
great picture to help him understand the great things that God has in
store for us! I know that even though his physical mind might be
different, his spirit needs all the same kind of nourishment that we
all do! Remember, the worth of souls is GREAT in the sight of God!
9/29/2015
Today was a bit boring, didn't get to do too much. We tried to set up
meetings with the names that Brother B gave us, but none of them
seemed to be solid! The work seemed to be goin slow, but I know that
if we go forth with faith we will be able to conquer all!!!!
We went to SS's house for dinner, and I'm not going to lie,
her daughters were pretty people. We taught what I thought was a good
lesson, but Elder Potter didn't think it went as well, Se la vi I
guess!
We spent a lot of time attempting to get more referrals from ward
council, and I know that Elder Potter is definitely helping me learn
better on how to work with the people here, and how to meet the Lord's
standards! Even if the days may seem slow I realized today that
transfers end in just over 2 weeks! What?! It is not seemed like 5
weeks, even if the days seem to last FOREVER!!!!!!
Zone Meeting: Last week
9/30/2015
District meeting today, and a great one at that! We had to travel all
the way from Ennis to Bozeman, and that trip is always something
different! Lots of cool mountain scenery, and lots of cool places that
I would someday like to visit. District meeting was great, and even
though I was nervous not only because I play the piano for the
district and zone, but because I had to lead one of the role plays
that we were doing! I learned a lot on working with the spirit through
the Book of Mormon, and how to help people make and keep commitments.
Our district leader Elder Demile gave us a great discussion on how we
can better fulfil our purpose of being out here, and how every day we
need to try to do something better, wether it be obedience or
listening to the people we teach. Definitely an impactful meeting!
Afterwords my companion and I, as well as the Belgrade 1 Elders went
to Olive Garden and pigged out on breadsticks, soup, and pasta! Great,
great companionship unity not only in my companionship but in our
district was built through something as simple as a lunch together!
After lunch we drove to Three Forks, and after being there for about
20 minutes a member called us, and asked us for a blessing because her
husband wasn't home and her son isn't old enough to have the
Melchizedek priesthood yet. Oh heck yeah! So we went over to her
house, happily, and asked if I could do the blessing! I'm going to be
honest, until this point I guess I was always trying too hard to
discern needs, and not letting the Lord work through me. But today, I
basically zoned out when I began teaching, and I learned real fast
that all I was at that point was a vessel for the Lord to use to bless
this sister! I basically stopped thinking about anything, and then
words just came flowing out of my mouth, and... I actually didn't even
hear my own voice there for a little bit! Oh man! I don't remember a
thing said, but I know that the sister felt the spirit as well as we
did if not better!
After that not much happened, but we were able to go to Brother
R's and begin to create a list of all the less actives in the
ward. We got about half done and had about 107 names! Wow! Lots of
work to be done!
10/1/2015
Cool day today! Got to do another movie marathon training session with
Elder Potter, and even if it seemed like we were slacking we seemed to
get a lot done, and I seemed to learn a lot! My companion is teaching
me a lot and helping me progress as a missionary more than he even
knows!
Weekly planning went well, especially as we prayed for inspiration
each and every step of the way! We seemed to be able to fill the week
a little faster and with less doubt as we worked to know the things
the Lord would have us do.
We got to go help at the food bank today, and got to go down to the
nuclear basement shelter thing again. Yeah, it's still just as
frightening! We got to do some great work over there, and we got to
definitely show some people that we are only there to serve them!
With conference coming up this weekend, we have been thinking about
making some flyers to send around to hopefully invite some people to
see the words of the prophets!
With wind chill, it's about 10 degrees colder!

...and brings fog.

We got to teach the Hs today, and not only that but we got to
have dinner with them and meet their daughter! She's a really cool
person, and I mean I know that her dad deciding to be baptized has
definitely touched her heart! We invited him to ask a question before
conference and listen for his answer... And we hope that the Lord will
provide as he acts in faith!
Sister H gave us some haircuts. My first one on my mission! She
is great, and I actual,y really like the way she cut it... Just enough
to style it, but not so much that it's crazy nuts in the mornings!
Fall is really starting up in here!

10/2/2015
Fun day today! We got to have another fun movie day with our training
videos, and another day full of learning! We studied ways to find
today in PMG and decided that we would try a few new things- random
service, missionary firesides, and talking to EVERYONE that we may
meet! I have faith that as we try to do more than just tracting, the
Lord will bless us in our efforts!

We got to go do some service today, raked a lot of leaves in a few
yards today. We filled 15 bags full of leaves! It's been so long since
I've gotten to play with leaves that I even forgot how annoying they
are to take care of! Oh well, we got to do some service for a few
older folks today, and it all ended well for us! We felt great and we
knew we were doing a good work!
When we finished serving, we went to go tracting and find some more
people to teach. We knocked. Doors today without any luck, but we did
place a lot of cards and let everyone know we're only here to help! We
also got to go inside a non-member's garage and see "Jim's house of
horns" aka the coolest thing ever:
Over 16,000 horns collected over about 60 years. Lots of memories with all these I'm  sure!! Cool, cool, cool place this Three Forks place is!
"House of Horns"

We then went to the dinner with the Hs, and we attempted to teach them about member   missionary work, but idk how successful it is. Either way, I'm happy that they were at least a little willing to help the work progress!
On our way home, Elder Potter and I began to talk about fun things we did back home,  and I quickly found out that he was one of those immature jokesters who seemed to find fun in the dumbest, most redundant things ever. Oh boy, how was I going to deal with that?! I prayed at that moment for some help. I needed it. I wanted to love my        companion. I asked the Lord for help. At the exact moment I said amen, Elder Potter   asked me this- "Why do you think the Lord made me your trainer?" I knew that that was the answer- the Lord blessed me! 
Besides that today was pretty chill and not a ton happened! 
10/3/2015
General conference today- always fun times! Learned a lot, and I've made some goals to help me be a better missionary. I hope that by keeping these goals (thinking about   everyone, and EXACT obedience) I can better progress the work and do he things I need to do to get done what the Lord needs me to do! Then, and only then, is the Lord going to work along side me, multiplying my efforts and pushing me along in the things that need to be done! 
Having increasing amounts of trouble with my companion as he seems to not realize that his version of "having fun" while on your mission is either talking about breaking   rules, or breaking rules. We always complain about having nothing to do and I think it may be due to our lack of obedience and lack of consecration to the Lord. I have set aside, paid for, and been set aside for these two years as a complete, devout servant to the Lord, and I need to treat my time here as such. Anything that I may be doing   now that is going to keep me from doing anything that the Lord may need me to do! I   hope that, by the grace of Christ and by and through his pushing arm with me will work to help me bring many souls unto him in my area! 


Elder Braden R Wallgren
Montana Billings Mission
2015-2017
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints