February 1, 2016: I'm cold and I'm wet and I'm catching the flu

"He said, “I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he,
the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.”
He said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
He said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
“And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.”
Jesus Christ is the Way. He is Light and Life, Bread and
Water, the Beginning and the End, the Resurrection and the Life, the
Savior of the world, the Truth, and the Way.
There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is the
Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is
foolishness.
He offers a well of living water. Either we drink and never
thirst more, or we don’t and foolishly remain thirsty still.
He is the Bread of Life. Either we eat and hunger no more, or
we don’t and foolishly remain weak and hungry still.
He is the Light of the World. Either we follow Him and see
clearly, or we don’t and foolishly remain blind and in darkness still.
He is the Resurrection and the Life. He said, “The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Either we learn
of Him and have life more abundantly, or we don’t and foolishly remain
dead still.
He is the Savior of the world. Either we accept the blessings
of His Atonement and are made clean and pure, worthy to have His
Spirit, or we don’t and foolishly remain alone and filthy still.
He is the Way."
(Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, October 2008 General Comference)

I love that no matter what aspect of the Savior's life we look at, he
is always, ALWAYS a necessity. Following him is the only way to live
life, and ignore him is nothing but foolishness. By following his
ways, we can be better people, even if we are not believers on his
name. His guidance and council are the way, the truth, and the life
that should guide our lives. By following him and his example, we can
not only live a happy life here on earth, but also in he eternities to
come!

1/25
Boring preparation day today- they were fixing lights in the gym at
the stake center so we couldn't do anything in there.... So we just
went to the family history center and spent almost 2 hours emailing
home. I'm not sure how good that was, but it seems like Elder Mika
needed it! Ya know, and I was pretty nice to be able to actually get
some coherent emails sent home!
After that we went and had a lesson with Brother G- he is doing
absolutely fantastic! He has quit smoking altogether, he is getting
his legal issues figured out, and now his doctors have cleared him to
get into a font for baptism! We are super excited! We are worried
about one thing- we are pretty sure that Brother G has been
smoking for so long that now the fresh air is making him loopy......
We aren't quite sure what to do about that!
1/26
Had kind of an odd day, went up to Seeley Lake, and spent the whole
day up there. We ran around and visited a lot of people while in town,
and tried our best to help others out. We had a really cool lesson with
a less active, part member family in an active members home in Condon,
about 35 miles north of Seeley Lake. The active members are pretty
amazing, and we had an absolute amazing lesson in that home. We had
Brother Hill with us (the branch mission leader) who is an absolute
GENIUS. He did research work (with his three PhDs) at the University
of Montana for 40 years, researching ribosomes and what they do. I
found out that he (and his team) are the reason that we know what we
know about ribosomes, and that we can learn about them in school! And
then to add onto that, this active member Sister also has her PhD, but
it is in natural science and therapy. Basically, she could hold your
hand for like 20 seconds and tell you if your kidneys are failing. So
we had the two opposite ends of the scientific spectrum, but both with
really strong testimonies of the gospel. With the two of them in the
house, Elder Mika and I really only spoke for about 10 minutes of the
almost 2 hour discussion lesson thing. I love members. If any of you
have the chance to have the missionaries in your home for a lesson
with someone that is not a member of our faith...PLEASE DO.
The only other thing we did really was give some service and a short
lesson to a less active family in the ward that currently has a
daughter out on a mission- IN MY HOME MISSION! Haha she is serving in
show-low (sholo? Showlo? I dunno how to spell it...) right now, and
she is actually about to be done with her mission coming up in July.
Anyway, we were able to help them put a ton of wood in their truck,
and I found out that the workings of truck-straps is apparently not
common knowledge. I guess all those trips to Utah and throwin' all the
luggage on the top really gave me some life knowledge I didn't know I
had!! Haha Thanks, Dad! I also learned that I really REALLY do not like
large amounts of blood. The brother that we were giving service to
apparently just shot an elk that was messing with his dogs.... And he
had the thing hanging in his shop to finish draining of blood and to
completely thaw. Yeah... Not only was there blood everywhere, but I
think I stepped into the thing's stomach on the floor of the shop.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I think I died. Puked, and then died.
1/27
We had breakfast with the Hills this morning, and man let me tell you
that Brother Hill makes the best waffles you've ever had in your life.
I don't know what it was about them, but they were DA BOMB. Plus, they
had some homemade huckleberry syrup... And my mouth is still watering
just thinking about it. Holy shoot I'm starting to really love those
darn things. And from what everyone tells me you can really only get them
in Montana! Hahahahahahaahahahahahaha I love it.
We headed back to Missoula for our district meeting early, and driving
early in the morning through snow and darkness is still not fun.
District meeting was good, learned lots, as usual. We had a few
lessons, another with Brother G, one with Sister N (the cat
lady.... She asked us to sing I Am a Child of God, and it was weird)
and then we had a lesson at the end of the day that really didn't go
like we would have liked it to. This investigator in about 21, so we
had the sister missionaries from the YSA come over so we could refer
him to them. The lesson started out really well- greetings, stories,
small talk, etc.- but for some reason as soon as the lesson started
his attitude changed. Each time the sisters would bear their testimony
he would do his best to convince them that they were wrong. I don't
know what was happening, but when Elder Mika or I would talk he
accepted it well.... I felt so bad for the sisters, but I guess that
everyone learns differently and in their own way!
1/28
Weekly planning............ Please no. Get it done, get it over with,
and move on I guess!
After planning we had a lesson with the Ls- the family that lives
next door to the church. Good lesson, but with their weird situation
the growth we see in them is small. Sure, but small. As long as we
help others grow closer to Christ its okay, right?
We gave a bunch of service today- computers, computers, computers. I'm
starting to realize two things: 1) the older generations of the world
today really do have a hard time grasping all that comes with modern
technology, and I'm probably going to have the same issues when I get
old. 2) I think the lord is trying to tell me I have to work in IT
when I get older. It really seems appealing to me, so I definitely am
not going to push it off. Maybe I'll try it out in school when I get
home, who knows?
1/29
I'm cold and I'm wet and I'm catching the flu...... Dang Suessical
coming back to bite me in the butt! Haha I actually do think I may be
beginning to get sick, and I don't think my activities are helping. We
did some service for our neighbors- we went around the whole duplex
 thing and knocked all the ice off the roof and the cars.
Well.... When we started to knock off the ice I came to the quick
realization that standing right where the ice would be falling as it
fell off was probably not the best idea in the world, but I came to
that realization a little late. Well a warm shower and a hot beverage
later I started to feel a little bit better. I AM NOT ENJOYING THE
COLD TOO MUCH.
Went on an exchange with Elder Crane- one of the zone leaders here in
Missoula. He is one of the oldest missionaries in the zone- 27 years
old. He is one of the coolest missionaries I know, and he is a great
teacher to both investigators and me! I was able to learn a lot of
cool, cool things. Taught about 4 lessons, ate mountain goat, and then
the largest assortment of mushrooms I've ever seen in my life!
1/30
It snowed... And snowed... And snowed. I think overnight we probably
got a good 6 inches or so, and then the morning we got another 3-4 or
so. There is a ton of snow on the ground, and it is making both
driving and walking super sketchy! We were wandering around trying to
find people to help, and we saw a car explode in the church parking
lot. Weird stuff happens in Clinton....
After we talked with Bishop and figuring out that whole car situation,
we headed out of town on our way to Seeley Lake. Had some pretty cool
lessons there, including one inside of an apparently world-famous
quilt shop. I didn't even know quilt shops existed.... But shoot this
place was huge!
1/31
We went to church in Seeley Lake this week- we got to speak in
sacrament meeting! Even though I teach everyday, speaking in front of
a congregation is still nerve-wracking for me! And then to add onto
that, I was voluntold to play a special musical number. And during
that I found that my dad's worst fear in playing is true- I got halfway
through the number and my music was suddenly not in front of me... But
all over the floor! Hooray!!!!! I felt so bad..... I did so bad....
Yuck it feels weird.
After church we went and taught a few investigators, and we out the
rest of the D/W family on baptismal date!!!! Can't wait
for it to come up in a few weeks!


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

D&C 82:10
10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not
what I say, ye have no promise.

January 23, 2016: Ave Maria- Linda Lacey & Elder Wallgren

Brother and Sister Lacey called on Monday from MT to make sure Mom got this video on YouTube. Elder Wallgren saw the beautiful baby grand and sat down to play. After recognizing the song, Sister Lacey got out her violin and played with him. This recording is after they played through it once only. Mom cried happy tears to hear this. Elder Wallgren is looking more and more like his dad every day. We know he is so happy to share his talents and happy that he can continue to grow musically on his mission, as well! Man, we miss this kid!

January 25, 2016: World Wide Missionary Broadcast/Ave Maria

"Sometimes we feel discouraged because we are not “more” of
something--more spiritual, respected, intelligent, healthy, rich,
friendly, or capable. Naturally, there is nothing wrong with wanting
to improve. God created us to grow and progress. But remember, our
weaknesses can help us to be humble and turn us to Christ, who will
“make weak things become strong.” Satan, on the other hand, uses our
weaknesses to the point that we are discouraged from even trying.
I learned in my life that we don’t need to be “more” of anything to
start to become the person God intended us to become.
God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work
with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and
trust in the Lord.
Gideon saw himself as a poor farmer, the least of his father’s house.
But God saw him as a mighty man of valor.
When Samuel chose Saul to be king, Saul tried to talk him out of it.
Saul was from one of the smallest tribes of the house of Israel. How
could he be king? But God saw him as “a choice young man.”
Even the great prophet Moses felt so overwhelmed and discouraged at
one point that he wanted to give up and die. But God did not give up
on Moses.
My dear brothers and sisters, if we look at ourselves only through our
mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly
Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become. He sees us
as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with everlasting
potential and with a divine destiny."
(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, It Works Wonderully!, Ensign Nov. 2015, p. 22-23)

Start where you are. We don't have to become some impossible Saint for
the Atonement to start working for us. As we work to become better
from where we are right here and right now the Lord with strengthen
us- and then we will become so much more than we ever imagined we
could be!

1/18
More service on a preparation day! I love doing it, but my companions
seem to always be against it. There is nothing in the handbook against
it, and I feel like it is a sacrifice for a greater cause... Or
something like that haha. We moved a ton of wood for an investigator,
big logs and small chips. Good workout, as well as a good way to help
her realize that we are good people!
Ronan!!!!!! Went on an exchange to Ronan again, which is awesome! That
place reminds me a lot of Ennis- more people than Drummond and
Seeley Lake, but more spread out. I love it!
1/19
Ronan Exchange- not as eventful as last time.... No broken down cars
or moving semis or anything like that. I just learned the importance
of planning haha. We ended up visiting a lot of active members and
asking for referrals, which is always! Keep giving those to the
missionaries- it means a lot!
1/20
World wide missionary broadcast: "Teach Repentance, Baptize converts"-
that was pretty cool. Got to hear from a few apostles and members of
the missionary board. Learned about how to work with less active
members and recent converts, and about how the best way to teach is by
inviting the spirit into the room, but it is the choice of the
investigators or members being taught to accept that spirit and let it
envelope them! Besides that the day was pretty uneventful, Elder Mika
is on a prayer high, praying at every and any opportunity possible.
It's good, just a lot different than what I am used to haha. We taught
a lesson to an active-ish family in the ward, and it was interesting
to see someone who had a testimony of the church, but for some reason
had no motivation to act on it. Everyone has different weaknesses than
each other, so it was really cool to help them grow closer to Christ,
or at least we hope.
 Link to boradcast videos:
https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast?lang=eng

1/21
Weekly planning! I hate it. Didn't take near as long as last well but
it still takes what feels like years to finish! I know it is super
important..... But there has to be some way to make it interesting! We
had a pretty cool plan of salvation lesson with S H, connecting
every point with a string of scriptures that we studied and brought to
the lesson. Good lesson!
1/22
Meeting with Bishop- out of the frying pan and into the fire. We went
over to meet and talk with him about less actives in the ward, and he
gave us a few names to visit. One of which was the Js. Sister J
is a very nice lady. She is working hard to get back to the temple and
start doing family history. Brother J, however, is not quite as
nice..... He is the author of a few pieces of literature that are
particularly against the church. He has a very strong "testimony"
against the church, and yet for some reason he hasn't left the church
yet. I don't know... 
1/23
We went to Drummond to teach the few people we have there, which isn't
many. We did a lot of finding, and a lot of looking for less actives
and such things. At lunch, I was invited to sit down and play a
musical number for the family, so I played a few things I had
memorized. I guess the sister plays the violin very well, and she
recognized the Prelude in C that I played, so she grabbed her violin
and began to play Avè Maria with it! It felt fantastic to be able to
play with someone again!

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While visiting a less active member, we started a conversation about
his dogs. They were big hound dogs- and I mean BIG. We talked with him
about it for a while. And it turns out he hunts lions with them.
LIONS. I don't.... I can't.... What?! Montana.... I don't understand
you.
1/24
Church- full of last minute preparation! So it turns out that the
Drummond branch likes to have a musical number every Sunday. They have
plenty of musical talent in the branch, so that is understandable!
However, I guess we decided to come on the one Sunday when they didn't
have anyone scheduled..... So the sister I played the number with on
her violin volunteered us (voluntold?) to play in church. So I show up
to church, and to my surprise I am on the program.... Huh?! Well...
Good opportunity I suppose! And then after sacrament meeting, we got
assigned to teach a Gospel Principles class... For the first time in
almost 8 years in that branch. Fun? I guess.... We ran into a guy
while tracting at the motel who was a less active member, who
supposedly had been hitchhiking for almost 7 years! He had a
disagreement in his family so he just left! We talked with him about
eternal families, and he seemed to like that... But he was only a year
older than me! He likes the life he lives, but I can't even imagine
it!
After that we had a few interesting lessons- lessons that definitely
did not go the way we wanted them to.
First, we went and taught D W about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Good lesson! However, and don't ask me how it got to it, we ended up
talking about his belief in God, and it turns out he has a partial
belief in the Greek gods. Wait..... What?! Yep. He fully believed for
most of his life that Zeus was the ultimate ruler of the universe.
Some thing about Hollywood played a roll in that, but man almighty
what?!
And then, back in Clinton, we had a lesson with a 21 year old marine
reserve. We walked into his house and he was playing Korn on his
computer... And then Avenged Sevenfold, and then Metallica, and then
Slipknot, and it just kept going! It was super weird to hear the music
I used to listen to. I can definitely see why it is not recommended
for scripture study now haha. I think the Lord was trying to tell me
something there.....

That's all for the week... Sorry it's super jumbled haha

I found this gem..... If you don't get it you don't belong to my family haha

I was looking through my family tree and I found this stud in late
300B.C.- I can see the resemblance, can you?

When the snow gets so thick the road is gone... As well as anything
100ft away from you

January 18, 2016: The Unknowing Patriarch and Universal Ice Rink

"Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal
conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to
become. As we do so, we should remember that our family
relationships--even more than our Church callings--are the setting in
which the most important part of that development can occur. The
conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father
or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not
enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our
mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it."
(Dallin H. Oaks, The Challenge to Become, Ensign Nov. 2000, 32-34)

Remember that being sealed members of a family means that we are going
to be together forever. FOREVER. If there is any time in which we
should learn to become unified members of his gospel it is right here,
in the setting of our own home. I definitely recommend that you all
read this talk of his, it is absolutely amazing!

1/11
Pretty normal preparation day- sore from zone games, shopping, the
whole nine yards. I got my haircut at the beauty school- and I don't
know what I was expecting, but it did not turn out like I wanted it
to. The instructor I guess has cut many missionaries hair before, so
she sent me off with a newer student who had one instruction- cut him
down to a 4 and come to me after, and I'll tell you where to go from
there. I didn't really know what that meant..... All I know is that
when I got done and looked in the mirror, I wasn't the happiest. Now
just let me say- if I was home, I would have loved it. Short, tight,
and perfect for swimming. But on my mission..... Not so much! Haha
well I guess I'll just have to give it a week or so and I'll be happy.
Se la vi.
Besides that preparation day was pretty dull. Taught another lesson to
Brother St, which with his pot and Tobacco is always
interesting!
1/12
The weather here is odd- one night it will be snowing like crazy, then
it will melt, but still be under 20 degrees, I don't understand. All
it means for us is ice and weird amounts of slush on the ground.
Few good lessons, a bash or two (maybe... Neither of us were sure. He
just kept asking us "and what does that mean to you?!" And then smiling
really big and dorky like.....) but not too much exciting- and then we
went to Brother G's. Lessons with him are always pretty sweet, but
this one was intense.
So we started the lesson like we usually do- greetings, small talk,
prayer, etc. We planned on teaching lesson about patriarchal
blessings, and how the priesthood works through the patriarch. Brother
G stopped us midway through the lesson and began to relay the
"vision" he had as he slept the night before. In said vision, he saw
Elder Mika, speaking before thousands in his "own church" (we think he
meant as Bishop... But we don't know), as well as his future eternal
companion. We don't know how he could tell, but he said that this
virtuous young lady could be found in Montana at some point during
Elder Mika's mission, whether in the past or the future- no one knows.
As well as that, he saw me, working hard to support missionaries-
financially, emotionally, and physically. He said I would bring
happiness to many around the world as I help bring God's word to them.
Now as me and Elder Mika were laughing, along with Brother G, at
these predictions he was making, a realization slowly came to us-
these predictions seemed familiar. An odd amount of familiar. And I
don't know who it hit first, my companion or me, but we realized then,
and very quickly, that the words that Brother G had said matched
up very closely with statements in our patriarchal blessings.... o.o
Apparently Elder Mika's blessings says some things about him becoming
a great communicator in his future.... Speaking before thousands?!
(The wife thing has no connection, but it was funny)
And my blessing says some things about how I will support many youth
in their valiant efforts to obey God's
commandments.................... Supporting missionaries?! Holy
goodness we were pretty freaked out, I'm not going to lie!
1/13
We had another lesson with Sister N (the cat lady) which went
pretty good. I don't know why we keep going... That cat stalks me
every time we go inside, and it freaks me out! We had dinner with a
pretty active family, the musical family of the ward, apparently.
Reminded me a bit of home, but they all were obsessed with snow
sports. Elder Mika really enjoyed that, and they went off for about 30
minutes talking about skiing and snowboarding, and for the entirety of
the whole conversation I was lost..... Dang AZ boy.
As we were driving to their home we found a friend on the road. I
attached picture... I think you should love it!

I had only ever heard of frozen rain before... And that it sucked. I
learned for myself that freezing rain does, in fact, suck. For those
of you who may not know (I dunno... Ethan maybe?) freezing rain is
when it rains, but it is so cold that all the rain that hits the
ground turns to ice very quickly-VERY quickly. And then it rains on
top of that ice- to make another layer of ice. So basically, when the
storm is over, there is layers upon layers of ice all over the roads,
the sidewalks, the roofs, the cars, and EVERYTHING that was holding
still during the storm. Ice...... Everywhere. I thought I hated
walking and driving in the snow, but I found out that it is actually
not even that bad! We got stuck once, and all the dang ice wasn't
helping at all!
1/14
Weekly planning- yeah. We took too long this week. We started at 10
and went until almost 3... With only an hour break for lunch. On the
upside... We have 25 lessons scheduled for next week! We had 4 lessons
scheduled, and three of them cancelled. Every one tells me this is
normal for missionaries.... But man it still stinks!
Because of the freezing rain, the whole ground everywhere was like an
ice rink. Driving, walking, or biking. It's all just a big ice rink!
We had to go up this huge hill to get to dinner, and we didn't dare
drive. We tried to walk normal... But that didn't work. We tried to
support each other.... But that didn't work. We eventually had to have
the members come pick us up in their truck. They chained their truck
up, which I had never seen before, and they came down and picked us
up, then worked back up to their home.
1/15
We had a zone training- talked a lot about concentration, a bunch
about driving conditions (apparently instead of trying to avoid
animals on the freeway you just drive through them... Huh. Not the
best for your car, but it makes us 90% more likely to be okay after
the accident!) and we talked about using our iPads as tools for the
work instead of weapons of distraction!
We got to go to Seeley Lake- always a really cool place to be, but
everything is so spread out that teaching and finding are super hard!
We taught a few very VERY short and condensed versions of the
restoration, and we got some pretty cool return appointments.
We had a lesson with our one investigator (or family of I suppose) in
Seeley in the branch president's home. We studied Lehi's vision, and I
feel like we definitely were able to teach very well. The branch
president lives on the edge of the world though, and it takes almost
45 minutes to get to his house from the Main Street in town!
1/16
A full day in Seeley- SNOW SCULPTURES!!!! Haha the annual Seeley Snos
festival was apparently this weekend, and so we spent a lot of time
walking up and down "main" street checking out the attractions and
talking to people. They had some pretty sweet snow sculptures- bears,
elk, deer, people, cars, etc. I would have taken pictures but my iPad
couldn't get in the right light so all my pictures just looked like
big bright white masses on the screen. Ah well, it was a great sight
to see! Then we had a lesson with a less active member in the branch,
who apparently has a daughter serving a mission in my AZ home mission!
I guess she has served right in Avondale since she got out! Haha small
world I guess!
We had a lesson with the D family (our few investigators in
Seeley) again, but this time it was a little more awkward. We had to
teach the law of Chastity to three younger girls- 12, 12, and 15. The
worst part was is that one of the 12 year olds was visiting! Not even
a member of the family! Ack it was weird... But in the end we were
able to teach it to their definite understanding............ We hope.
After the lesson it started to snow. And Snow. And snow. We had some
extra time so we went to the church and tried to shovel, but by the
time we were "done" there was almost more snow on the sidewalks than
when we began! Haha we decided we needed to get going home before the
storm got any worse, so we slowly, SLOWLY drove home.
1/17
Good Sunday. Some pretty cool lessons and some pretty sweet stories.
We had to try to prove to a group of 12-14 year olds that God existed,
which was a lot harder than I thought. I hope I wasn't as void of
logic and reason when I was that age as I saw that day. Then again....
I probably was haha.
We had a lesson with an investigator right after church, but we ended
up having to leave soon after- she didn't believe that we had prophets
now and that because we believed that we were going to hell. Yeah...
Montana is interesting, to say the least!
Taught a few good doorstep lessons after that, but not much more
that's too interesting to say.

Pictures this week-
Don't you just love the Mountain view? Excuse the rib cage in the foreground.

Lovely view..... Then you look down..... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA hahah
what actually happened is I needed to stop and urinate, but we were in
the middle of a forest. So I went to pee, and as I rounded the tree,
to my surprise I found this lovely thing lying on the side of the
road...... Only in Montana. I thought is was a bear at first.... But
then we noticed the hooves. Super disappointed that the antlers are
gone though... my companion and I want something to send home, without
the effort of going shed hunting!

Lovely view of Seeley Lake after a few hour "light" snow storm....
Relatively speaking still a great view!

When we shoveled at the church. The good three inches that was there
when we started, and it was higher than that after we were "done"