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There's a big cow outside of Seeley.... We had to get a picture even
though it was pouring haha,
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2/8
Sick day today... I think I got something last week and it really
feels bad to walk around and do stuff. I'm doing it because I know
it's going to help, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it
haha. Just some stomach aches and other whatnot things, but it seems
to be getting worse and worse. Hopefully it gets better as the week
goes- not puking a lot.... But it is happening....
The zone ditched us... We went to the stake center to play games, but
when we got there the only other missionaries there were the sisters
from Missoula 1st ward. So we hung out with them there for a little
bit, and after a while no one showed up and it turns out I guess
that it was decided earlier that day that the zone would be at
the institute building for the day...... And apparently it didn't
occur to anyone to let Clinton or M1 know. Haha it was all good in the
end, got to have some fun playing foosball and round-robin ping-pong.
Been so long since I've really played ping-Pong, and shoot I am a lot
worse than I remember!
We had some good lessons, and a few weird lessons. We went out to
Beavertail, and mistook one lesson for one time with A and D
E with another for Cl and D... So we accidentally
switched them. We went to A and D's first, but they weren't
home. So we went up to Clifford and D's, but they weren't home.
Shoot. Well then we called the Bts (a family in the Drummond
branch. The dividing line for Drummond and Clinton is like right
through the middle of Beavertail... It's weird) and they were home so
we went over to their house and spent about an hour talking about
track and field, as well as relating it to the gospel. I don't know
exactly how it worked out but somehow it did haha.
And after that we went back to A and D to try to catch them
at home, and let me tell you for the first time in the almost 3 months
that I've been here we actually caught them at home! Holy shoot it was
a miracle! We taught an awesome restoration lesson (even though I felt
like I was being stabbed in the side the whole time) and by the end of
the lesson we had set a date for the two of them to be baptized!!!!
The work is progressing, and we are super excited to see everyone's
growth.
2/9
We had a spontaneous day, mostly due to the fact that the only thing
we had planned for the day was one lesson at 5p.m. So most of the day
was pretty on the fly and improvised as to what we actually did haha.
The days are starting to warm up a bit- drove around with the windows
down most of the day. I think it might of even hit like 40 degrees or
something!!! I'm sweating bullets out here!! Haha but all the snow is
melting; It makes it a little better because now the roads are
fantastically dry, and it's not near as muddy to drive around and find
people. The only downside I can think of is that when it gets cold
tonight, all the melted snow is going to freeze and there are going to
be puddles of ice everywhere. All we can do it hope that it stays warm
and drive carefully tomorrow!
After our morning routine we spent about and hour or two cleaning up
our area book. After we were done... We had 30 uncontacted referrals,
and over 21 new referrals contacted. Our key indicators are going to
be a little boosted this week haha. We didn't receive 30 new
referrals, we just fixed everyone in the area book that was a referral
in reality to make them recorded as a referral. Cleaning and
organizing, boosting and supporting haha. It was good though- now we
have a clean and organized area book, and now we know who we need to
contact to have all the work done that we need!!
We had a few good lessons and visits today- we helped Brother G
write a letter to the Pomona Judicial System for proof of dismissal,
visited Sister B (a less active member) and talked about her son
who is a world-record holding hunter, and had a really cool dinner
with the Ls (also a less active family). We had deer meat for
dinner, and I think there were all sorts of different pieces of the
deer in there haha. I tried a little bit of what I think was tongue,
some of what might have been liver, a little of what I'm pretty sure
was heart, and then the rest of what I had was just loin. All good
stuff, but if they had told me I was eating tongue before I took a
bite I probably would have puked my own tongue out haha. I guess here
in Montana it's nothing- I guess it is tradition here that when you
kill something on a hunt you pull its heart out and take a bite out of
it...... Raw......... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
no thank you!!!! Maybe Grandpa Roth would understand why, but no...
No.... NO. I don't understand people out here, and I don't know if I
ever will!
2/10
We went running for our workout this morning...., no thank you. I
realized really how out of shape I am getting. I am really starting to
wish that I ran that last year of track last year..... I'm feeling the
effects now!
Good district meeting. Played a few songs out of the children's song
book that I have never heard of, and we were each able to connect our
iPads to a tv and share our area book with everyone. Got some great
advice from other missionaries in the district about how we can help
our investigators, and I hope I was able to give some good advice to
my fellow missionaries.
After that they day was pretty full of some good lessons. We were able
to teach a new investigator we got a few days ago, S, about the
restoration. We taught a few less actives, and helped them learn to
love the Book of Mormon. We seem to be reading the book with a lot of
people as of late.... Maybe it's just some phase that I have hit, but
I think it's successful so whatever I guess! We have really seen that
the book is helping them really begin to understand what having a
testimony is all about. We read the book, we ponder it in our hearts,
then we pray about it. If we pray with a heart that really wants to
know and with a mindset of acting upon any answer we get, God will
answer that prayer. Every. Time. All we have to do is ask. (That is a
good saying.... It's almost like a prophet said that somewhere....)
great lessons learned!
At the end of the day we had a cool lesson with a younger, recent
convert recently married couple in the ward- the Ls. We went over
with the mindset of teaching about the Word of Wisdom and reading from
D&C 89, but the once we got into their home the circumstances kept not
allowing us to begin teaching! Haha so we spent probably a good hour
and a half just talking with them. Their daughter was asleep, and so
we were able to just talk about what is going on in their lives for
quite a while. When we were about 35 minutes into the conversation I
started to tell myself that we needed to get a lesson in, we need to
stop just talking and work into the lesson! But as I thought that and
I tried to change it, another thought popped into my head... But this
one didn't sound like it came from me- "Don't. They need the help. You
can only hear what they need. It's okay" hmmm..... I wonder where that
came from...
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| The weather average this week- gettin hot! Starting to sweat lakes! |
Good weekly planning today. All the snow is melting, and it was a
scorching 52 degrees out today, so we decided to take one of the
tables outside and have weekly planning outside! I'm not going to lie,
but with all the trees and fresh air that were around us I felt like I
was camping again with the scout troop! I felt like it was time to
find a bunch of pine cones and either light them in fire or start
throwing them at each other. Good, good memories! Being away from the
city is really starting to grow on me, like I really thought it never
would.
Taught some good lessons- finished teaching the plan of salvation to
S and her other non-member friend (S knows enough now that she is
starting to testify of truth to her friend more than the members we
have with us are... Can we count her as a member present even if she
isn't a member? Haha) and had a ton of fun with that. I have made this
whole diagram to teach the plan using construction paper and packing
tape, I think I'll attach a picture of it down below. I'm kinda proud
of it- it helps in teaching and it makes me feel good that at least a
little bit of my mom is coming out in me!
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The plan of salvation diagram that I made- kinda proud of myself...
I'm not going to lie!
|
We also taught a good lesson to some Less-ish active members; talked
about how coming to church AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE is good for us, and is
definitely a commandment from God. I'm learning a lot as I teach,
which from what I hear is a good sign that the spirit is at least
somewhat present with us. I have been told by a few people that one of
my biggest goals for my mission should be to learn how to recognize
and understand the spirit. Something I am definitely looking forward
to by the end of my mission, but something that I am going to try to
work on every day.
2/12
Good day today- lots of finding, and a few good lessons taught. We
taught a lessons to a very less active member in the ward- he is
driving truck 9 months out of the year and is away from home, so when
he is home he is set that church is not in the top list of priorities
to do with his family in the small amount of time he has. We tried to
talk with him about it, but it didn't go as well as we would have
hoped. Oh well.. Se la vi, right? After that we just spent most of the
time trying to find more people to teach, as well as find a ride for
our investigators to church. It seems like all the investigators that
we have in Clinton can't drive, and I think there is some logic behind
that. They can't drive, so they are at home more often. Because they
are at home more often we are more likely to run into them while
tracting. Therefore, it makes sense that as we get more investigators,
more of them are likely to not be able to drive! Haha but it all
reality it can actually be a blessing- as we work with the members to
get rides for the people, we grow in trust with the members. As we
grow in trust of the members, they are more likely to give us solid
referrals of people they know and of souls that we can save!
2/13
Baptism day!!!!!!
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The baptism this week- it's a bad picture I know but it is the best
one I could find so far... If I find another I'll send it out!
(Starting from the left- me, Niki, Kylee, and Elder Mika. Niki is 13
and Kylee is 16)
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Super awesome day! Kylee and Niki Whitman (Daniels/Snider family in
Seeley Lake) got baptized today!!! The service was absolutely awesome,
and very different from what I had really seen before. Brother Hill
conducted the service, as well as gave an awesome on the fly Holy
Ghost talk. He knows the scriptures so well and really helps everyone
understand what they are telling us to do. As well with that, Tracey
Daniels (Kylee and Niki's mom) gave a fantastic talk on Baptism. It is
the first one I have ever heard of from a non-member, but she did
fantastic! She talked about how the covenants we make at baptism are
like a "Kit" for life. They help us move forward. The covenants we
make are:
Keep the commandments
Always Remember him
Take his name upon us
Kit-Kat.... It took me a while to figure out haha. But she made these
awesome little card with kit-Kats attached to them,mane I'm not going
to lie, I honestly thought it might have been my mother standing up
there haha. I was kind of nervous to baptize Niki, mostly because the
only form of baptisms I had done before was for the dead, so I was
worried that I might go into the font and include the "Baptize you for
and in behalf of..." And totally just feel completely embarrassed
haha. But, I didn't, and I only have to do it once, so I did something
right! It was kinda funny though, because I had told her before to
make sure she bends her knees, but I didn't show her what I meant....
So when she went under the water she tucked her knees and went into a
ball! Haha it made me laugh, but I still am super happy for both of
those girls!!
The day slowed down after that- we helped the Bishop find his dog,
drove around visiting less actives, and then pretty much called it a
day.
2/14
Drove down to Seeley Lake in the morning to be able to be in sacrament
meeting for the girl's confirmation. Meetings in Seeley are always
super weird, because there is almost no one there so sacrament takes
no time, and then the speakers have ample time to try to instruct us
haha. The two speakers were a couple- the local seminary teacher and
then her husband who has been slowed mentally due to a car accident.
The sister spoke.... And spoke.... And spoke... About Esther and her
story and what we can learn from it- I think she tried to prepare a
seminary lesson to just give in church... And it took that long haha.
It was really good though, and I definitely got some good insights
from what she said. Her husband is an awesome man- he spoke about the
beatitudes from the savior, and he really spoke about how by doing
those things we can become just like the savior. Even though it is
hard, we can be just like children and follow Christ without question.
He made a joke about him being more like a child than anyone... It was
kind of awkward, but apparently he does it all the time. Funny guy
haha.
We spent the rest of the day visiting people in the area. We taught
the Daniels/Snider/Whitman family how to have FHE, and then we met a
new less active sister for us who, after some clarification, knew
exactly where both of us lived! Weird life, and a small world!
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| Elder Hanson on the left. (Pic from member in MT) |
I am staying here in Clinton, Drummond, and Seeley Lake- my new
companion is going to be Elder Hanson. He has been out for just over a
year, and apparently he has the "#1 voice in Texas" I don't know what
that means.... But it is what my zone leaders said. Elder Mika is
going to Stevensvile. Gonna miss that Elder, but I know he's going to
do great things!
Elder Braden R Wallgren
Montana Billings Mission
2015-2017
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
John 15:10-15
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in
you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things
that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
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