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| Cathedral of St. Helena |
"Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He
does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not.
Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego knew they could always rely on
Him because they knew His plan, and they knew that He does not change.
They knew, as we know, that mortality is not an accident of nature. It
is a brief segment of the great plan of our loving Father in Heaven to
make it possible for us, His sons and daughters, to achieve the same
blessings He enjoys, if we are willing.
They knew, as we know, that in our premortal life, we were
instructed by Him as to the purpose of mortality: “We will make an
earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see
if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command
them.”
So there we have it--it’s a test. The world is a testing place
for mortal men and women. When we understand that it’s all a test,
administered by our Heavenly Father, who wants us to trust in Him and
to allow Him to help us, we can then see everything more clearly."
(Elder Dennis E. Simmons, But If Not, April 2004 General Conference)
President Wadsworth recommended that we all as missionaries read that
talk (and the same recommendation goes to everyone). It is all about
the statement "But if not..." In Daniel 3. Reading over the talk, I
began to think that I was kind of better than that, that I had the
better faith in knowing that Heavenly Father will provide... But then
reading it over again all I could think was "But if not.... If I
didn't get any miracles would I still have the full fledged faith that
Heavenly Father would provide for me?" And I realized that is what
true faith is. Faith is more than just hoping for things.... More than
just wishing that things will happen, more than what I originally
thought. TRUE faith in Christ is knowing that whatever happens is what
God knows is best to happen, as long as you are doing your best to be
righteous. It reminds me of a musical..... (Thanks to my family back
at home I suspect)
"Lord who made the Lion and the Lamb,
you decreed I should be what I am.
Would it spoil some vast, eternal plan,
if I were a wealthy man?"
You know, the lord gives us the situations we have because we need
them. The challenges and trials we face come to us because THEY WILL
HELP US! It's that simple. Does that make them suck any less? Of
course not! But, with that enlightened perspective, we can see: even
if we don't get what we want, or if we get something that we didn't
want, the Lord ALWAYS knows best! He will lead you in the direction
you need to go!!
My New address:1027 5th Avenue WestKalispell, MT 51909
6/27
Had a super cool last preparation day in Helena! We went and saw the
Cathedral of St. Helena, which is just a SUPER big church in Helena
with super cool stain glass and super cool structures. It was cool to
see the insides of the Catholic Church again- it had been quite a
while since I had really looked. It was weird how many questions I was
able to answer about stuff inside, even surprised myself about some of
the things I knew! Haha (I think I can really thank Miguel for
that.... Don't know if you read my emails anymore but thanks man!
Learned a lot from you.... Apparently! ;P)
I took a thousand pictures and I'll attach a bunch at the bottom.
Really, SUPER cool building!
After that we went to the church to play some good ol' podball. Had a
fun game with EVERYONE actually here this time! Played for a good 2
hours or so! I heard that there is rarely any games like that played
in Kalispell, so I guess this was my last good one for a while!
Found out that both the elders that came in last transfer (Elder
McMiller and I) are leaving! Haha Either we did something right, or
something VERY wrong. I guess we'll never know!
After that we packed.... Elder Merrell (even though he is not getting
transferred) is moving to the new place on Wednesday, so we both had
to pack like CRAZY!
6/28
We basically spent most of the day packing and cleaning. We went to
dinner, then went to the Oldryods to pick up a kickstand they had for
me, then stopped by bishops to help him with some stuff. But then we
really just packed and go ready to go.
6/29
Being in Helena, we were the first ones to the church- at 9:45.
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| My new area |
Everyone else started showing up around 10:30.... Except for of course
Kalispell. We waited a good 2 hours for them to show up... Just
sitting and waiting to leave. Most the other zones had arrived by the
time they got here, and then we tossed our stuff in the truck and
started driving. Elder Bishop and I had the truck to ourselves, and so
we had plenty of time to get to know each other. It was super nice! By
the end of the ride I felt like I had known him for a long time! Plus,
I had also heard a lot of stories about him from Elder Hansen, so it
all sounded super good! I think it'll be a great transfer!
On our way to Kalispell, we had to pass through my old area (Clinton
and Drummond) and so as we passed through Drummond I started talking
about Parkers with Elder Bishop. Naturally, we had to stop so he could
eat. Naturally. While we were there we ran into the Wises, and I got
to catch up with them for a while! It was super cool! Plus, both Elder
Bishop and I were super poor and we actually said a small prayer that
the lord would help us. Members... TO THE RESCUE!
ELDER MERRELL:
I STILL HAVE THE FAITH FOR FOOD!!!!!!!
Hahaha it was super cool!
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| desert at parkers.. fancy |
But anyways, we got to Kalispell around 5:30 and we had dinner with
some members. After that we tried to meet with the Zone Leaders, but
we got a call from a member that she needed help and wanted us to come
over. So we looked up where she lived and we headed over there to move
couches, dressers, desks, and so forth. Great way to start off,
right?! Service is me FAVORITE!!!
6/30
We spent most of the day planning and trying to get our bearings for
the area. We went and got a bunch of maps and drew out our area, and
then we tried to map out a bunch of people so we could go on visits!
We went to Wally-world and went shopping to be able to survive until
Monday on things beside trail mix and wheat-thins. We also bought a
fan... Because the room we sleep in is super HOT. I keep forgetting
that NO ONE in Montana be lives in Air Conditioning. Open the windows
and turn on the fans! (Hey it works, makes it pretty cool inside, so
why the heck pay for a machine?!)
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| missionary tan |
The members we are staying with (the Hemsleys) are super chill!
Everyone around us says that they are the coolest members ever, so I'm
super excited!!!
We had a dinner with the stake president at night as a whole bro zone
(all the missionaries in the Kalispell zone are Elders) which was
super cool! He is a super stud! Talked a lot about the members. It's
sounds like there is some legit members in Kalispell!!!
7/1
We had a sweet zone training in the morning all about working with the
members, about finding, and then about what we learned with president
Clark. We did a zone blitz in it, where we all went out into the city
and we just found as many people as we could. Split up into different
companionships so things would be different. I went with one of the
Elders from Eureka, and we just went out and knocked doors! We found
some cool service opportunities, and we also found a few new
potentials!! It was SICK!
The zone leaders talked with us also about biking, and how important
it is, so that's what we did the rest of the day! Went around and made
visits to members and investigators on our bikes, getting around as
much as we could! We met some super cool people! I am LOVING Kalispell
so far!
7/2
We went MAD on bikes! About 33 miles total biked!! It was super dumb,
but also super cool! We got to see a lot of the country side, plus we
got the sheriff called on us, so that was cool! Haha we stopped by
this one guys house and he wasn't there but a Filipino woman came to
the door, and after we thanked her for her time she stopped us and
looked at our bikes down the road-
"oh you biked here?! No no! That is not okay! You are tired. You eat
our food! Come, come inside and eat! We have all traditional food from
the Philippines! You eat... You like! We good Christians!"
Confused but a little happy we went in and we ate! Haha it was super
good food, and I guess they were having a family party or something
because there was a TON of people there for us to talk to. It was
great! Until the husband came in..... White and definitely Montanian.
He called the sheriff and gave us the phone. I talked to the sheriff
for a while about what we do as missionaries, gave him president
wadsworth's phone number, our ID numbers, and then gave the phone back
to the guy. The guy looked grimly at us that spat a hasty "good, now
get outta here!" As we marched back. Fun story... Reminded me
of the time we got in trouble for chasing deer in Ennis! Haha good
time with Elder Potter!
Surprises me that it wasn't my first time dealing with the sheriff on
my mission.... Huh
ANYWAY! We went to dinner with this HUGE family in 3rd ward, and
afterwards they told us to "work" for the dinner. So we went out and
fed, washed, and milked the goats. Man.... Goats are stubborn. It's
almost like Christ new what he was talking about with the sheep and
goats......
7/3
Church was NUTS!
First off, we try to attend as much of both wards as we can, so we
have almost 10 hours of church on Sunday. Then, to boot, we didn't
know ANYONE, so we just kinda wandered around super lost!
Also, with it being a holiday weekend, there were a ton of visitors to
1st ward at 11, and we filled up not only the chapel, but the ENTIRE
GYM. Not even kidding, we ran out of chairs to use and so there were
people standing in the back and sitting on the stage. President Clark
joked that it was bigger than stake conference! It took a good 45
minutes for the priesthood to pass the sacrament, not including 6
prayers being said instead of just 2! It was AWESOME!!!!!! The spirit
was super strong and man you could feel the covenants being renewed!!!
There were a ton of Canadians visiting... Apparently, and so is was
cool to see all the different people there all coming together for the
same purpose!
Even with all those people we still had an empty gospel principles
class..... Oh well!
We went home after that completely exhausted, and so we took a good 90
minute nap, and then pigged out on dinner, then we headed out to work!
We got to visit with an older widow, and talk with here about all the
things that are holding her form coming back to church. She is a super
nice lady........ But we found that she gets offended and everything
under the sun, so it is going to be some work to get her to come back
to church!
After that we visited with a recent convert family. They seem super
cool, super converted to the gospel! Haha we walked back home after
that and both just passed out because of how tired we were haha
Lots of cool picture this week!!!
Elder Braden R Wallgren
Montana Billings Mission
2015-2017
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Moroni 7:40-41
40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning
hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have
hope?
41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that
ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of
his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of
your faith in him according to the promise.
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