December 7, 2015: Movin' to Missoula!

11/30-12/6
Pretty exciting this week! Lots of stuff happening.... My new address is
1250 Aabear Ln. #2
Missoula, MT 59802
To find out why the new address I guess you'll just have to read! ;)
Hahahahahhahahaha

It's winter in Montana
And the gentle breezes blow.
Seventy miles and hour,
At thirty-five below.

Oh how I Love Montana
When the snow's up to you butt.
You take a breath of winter air
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes the weather here is wonderful,
I guess I'll hang around.
I could never leave Montana
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

11/30
Nice and cold preparation day!
Lots of things to do, not a lot of motivation to do many of them! I
had probably 15 or so emails to write.... I think I wrote two.
Definitely not waiting till Monday's to write my weekly email. My
Mondays seem to be a lot smoother when I don't have to spend half the
day trying to think back on the week. I feel so bad for the other
missionaries that don't have the same opportunities I do with an iPad,
and I can definitely see how it is a blessing not only in my teaching,
but in my life in general as a missionary!
We went to wash the car, but it was so flippin cold outside that be
the time I had made my way around the truck with sprayer hose thing,
the water was frozen into ice on the truck. And to only add to our
misery, the sprayer was broken and was leaking water all over whoever
was spraying! I ended up soaked and frozen from head to toe, so much
so that I had to completely change all my clothes, and was almost
going to take a hot bath just to warm myself up! It is definitely not
good for humans to be living out here in this weather.... But then
again, when it's almost 130 degrees outside that's probably not
good.... Haha
The hose before we started:

After that preparation day was kind of boring; we cleaned our apartments, 

(first Ennis, Three Forks later that night) went shopping, and played a 

little ball with the zone. We drove our district leader around because his 

car was being fixed, so we had some issues with timing and space, but 

overall I think it all worked out. We got to go to one of the bishoprics 

house, and now that it is the end of November we FINALLY get to start 

sharing Christmas videos and messages! SUPER excited! If any of you haven't 

seen the new video this year, I would definitely recommend it!
https://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=mpad-christmas-2015-100&player=bc&full=no
We almost had a lesson in the primary presidents home with some really 

less active members, but they got head lice, and decided having people that 

travel all over town and talk to as many people as humanly possible with 

lice would probably not be the best idea. We agreed, but kind of sadly as 

we didn't have much to do at that point as a back up! Luckily for us, 

Ben Martin called and asked for our help in moving things from his home office 

to his new town office. After hearing I was good with computers, he handed us 

a box full of wires and computer parts and said- "Have fun!" Wow..... Okay. 

So while we spent almost an hour untangling, organizing, and putting together 

his computer, Ben organized and put together phones, desks, and other things 

within the office, with a little help from the muscular Elder Potter. He seemed 

super grateful to have us over to help, and I can tell why- it probably would 

have taken him almost a week to do all that on his own!
We are super excited for him and the things that we might be able to accomplish 

in bringing him closer to Christ!
12/1
First day of December....
MAN, where did OCTOBER go?! It seemed like Halloween was just like yesterday!!! 

Time seems to keep slipping by; at this rate I'm going to be home in what will 

feel like a week!
Not too much seemed to go on today, just a bunch of small things that all just 

kinda added up to make the day pretty good!
We got to go help out at the food bank for a few hours, and we got thanked by 

about 13-14 older people that really seemed to enjoy the service we were giving. 

That always feels good to be able to see the fruits of your efforts, helping 

people become more in the situation that Christ wants them to be in- loved, 

cared for, and watched. 
After that we got to go out to Clarckston, which I don't know if I mentioned, 

but it is the middle of nowhere! haha The houses are so spread out, the people 

are CRAZY and everyone seems to watch us like they want to kill us! It is 

always a bit terrifying going out there, we are always worried that something 

might happen while we are occupied proselyting! 
Anyway, we got to go out to Clarckston and tract, teach a bunch of lessons, 

and we got to have dinner! Dinner out there is always good! The members always 

seem to use some sort of game, and it usually looks like maybe they pulled it 

out of their truck the day of! haha Fun stuff!
During dinner, the members gave us a referral to visit someone down the street. 

We accepted, and had a couple choice experiences on the way. First, we got 

attacked by a guard goat. As we walked towards the house, the fattest goat I 

have ever seen in my life waddled towards us, and then it took off running! 

The fastest goat I've ever seen as well! This thing ran 100 yards in probably 

like 11 seconds! This thing... after it got to us it jumped towards Elder Potter, 

and he ran off. Thinking he was dumb for running from a goat, I started to 

walk towards the door. Then, I think the thing noticed  me. He ran towards me, 

jumping up on his hind legs and making noises at me.
I see where his fear came from! 
Both of us being terrified, me showing it less than Elder Potter (of course) we 

ran down the probably 300 meter driveway being chased by this goat the whole way. 

The goat chased us down the driveway, and then continued to chase us down the 

street. After a good 100 more meters or so, the goat stopped chasing us, looked 

the other way down the street, then ran back to the house. Either his goat senses 

started tingling, or another intruder entered into his radar. Man, Montana is weird. 
After that, the next house we walked into was COVERED in beer cans. If I had to 

take a guess, I would say there was probably 2000 beer cans scattered through 

their yard. "PERFECT TEACHING MOMENT!" I screamed when Elder Potter suggested we 

keep walking. So after a little convincing, we made a trek among the cans to find 

a path to the door. We knocked the door, and when the guy opened that door, we heard 

the most disgusting crunching noise I've ever experienced in my life. Three of the 

largest dogs I've ever seen (besides the lion dog, of course) in my life ran out 

the door, and apparently blew this guys knee out. Oh man... we felt so bad! He 

waddled inside, and his wife came to the door. Turns out she is a member, and hasn't 

been to church in almost 3 years! Haha we laughed for a bit about all the beer cans 

in the yard, even though neither me nor my companion dared to ask where they came from. 
That was pretty much all noteworthy that happened thought....... BORING 
12/2-12/4
Really nothing happened these days. We had appointments cancel on us out the wazoo, 

and lots of things happen that are making me want to leave the area. 

Foreshadowing?! haha yup. 
Christmas parades on Thursday and Friday, and we got to meet a lot of people. 

Walked around and got to get a few presents for home, so lots of fun things goin on!
12/5
Surprise surprise! Apparently I did something this week to finish my
work in Three Forks! Got a call from president Wadsworth at 8:30, and
let me tell you- there is not many things scarier than getting a phone
call from the Mission President during studies. Me and Elder Potter
FLIPPED OUT. Haha we weren't exactly sure what was happening, but we
definitely were not expecting what he said.
"Elders, there has been a boulder thrown into water and now we are
dealing with the ripples. We have an Elder over in Missoula who needs
a new companion, and after much prayer, fasting, and council, the lord
has let me know that it is time for you Elder Wallgren to head out!" O.o
Okay?! Hahah mid-transfers I guess! Flip......
So now I'm in Missoula, and I have a new companion! Elder Mika
(pronounced meek-a) is pretty great. We came out here at the same
time, and it's pretty cool to have someone as a companion that knows
what it feels like to only be out 3 months, and to have little
experience, yet a lot of knowledge! He seems be just like me from what
I've gathered. His favorite subject in school was Calculus. Heck yeah.
He has taken two college Chemistry classes. Heck yeah. This guy... Is
basically me but a better athlete, and he has been less active for
most of his life haha. I mean.... He even played all the same video
games I did for Pete's sake! Haha I am really looking forward to the
rest of this transfer with him, and I hope we can really help each
other grow and become better missionaries!


Upon inquiry, I found out that this transfer had to happen because of
some pretty complicated stuff! First off, he has had now 4 companions
in this one transfer... And this Wednesday will be 3 weeks. Man, he
has just had some bad luck! His first companion was on the end of his
extension, so he went home a week into the transfer. His second
companion was a zoneleader, while he waited for a new companion. His
next companion was actually pretty cool. Came from Gilbert, AZ, and
was just brand new out of the MTC. Elder Mika was really looking
forward to training him. HOWEVER- in an exchange shortly after his new
companion, Elder Mika was with the Elder that ran away that one
preparation day a few weeks ago. (The short-tempered guy) During the
exchange, something happened that made this Elder mad, and so he began
to just WAIL on Elder Mika. Elder Mika........ I guess came away from
the encounter with severe cuts all over his hands and arms, and a
pretty serious concussion.
So..... After a day in the hospital, it was decided that training was
probably not going to be the best for him. So in all reality, his old
companion and me just traded places. Elder Potter is now training his
old companion, and I am now here to help take care of Elder Mika.
Sister Wadsworth called me and talked with me and said something about
my first aid training and how she wanted someone super responsible
with him to help him stay safe... I dunno exactly what is going on,
all I know is that now, because of his concussion, Elder Mika has been
told to sleep almost 18 hours a day. President Wadsworth still expects
me to follow the schedule.... So I have A LOT of study time a head of
me for the next 2-4 weeks! I love it! Haha
So the whole call freaked me out, not to mention he left me hanging
Only letting me know that the transfer was going to happen today! So I
packed in like 15 minutes. Traveled for a few hours into Missoula, and
then really we just kinda hung out. Lots of study. Lots of boredom!
Lol
12/6
Fast sunday. It was pretty much that. Church was great, and the ward I'm

now in is pretty great. 
Lots of rest for Elder Mika, and lots of study time for me. We had a lesson 

with a pretty nerdy family, but not in the same sense as me. Really nerdy 

about sports, oddly. None of them play, but all of them know stats. Then we 

had a lesson with a less active family. Still trying really hard to figure 

stuff out here in the area!
I get to drive, as my companion is not really capable. Kinda weird driving 

after three months of not. I'm a little worried about the ice, but my 

companion has a ton of experience driving on ice so he's been helping me!
Sorry for the lame days. We spend a lot of time in the apartment, and so not 

too much to talk about!

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

2 Nephi 2:11
11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If
not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be
brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery,
neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound
in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as
dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption,
happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility