Week 71 - minus 4 degrees

Week 70 - Elder Collins

Me and Elder Collins at a really weird house

Week 69 - Transfer to St. Maries

This is a picture of me and Elder Frehner. He is from St. George as well. Actually he's really good friends with Austin Rodgers so he kinda knew who we were. He's serving in Lewiston. So I see him at zone trainings and stuff. I guess officially I met him like 6 weeks ago. He's an awesome guy and a great missionary. I look like I've lost a lot of weight in this picture but don't worry I'm healthy.

With Bryan Petersen (Brother of Carrie Petersen in our St. George Ward). 

He used to be the Bishop in Grange Villegas and is now serving on the High Council.

Week 68 - Thanksgiving and a spider

We had Thanksgiving at these houses 

This is a spider that Elder St. John trapped against the wall with a plastic container and he was holding it there and it was jumping around inside and he said "What do I do?" so I grabbed some tape and taped it to the wall. We left it like that for a couple hours. Then we went somewhere and when we came back the spider was gone! So now it is just somewhere in the apartment watching us... 

Week 67 - Truck in a ditch

So much has happened this week! On Tuesday we had lunch with our investigator Nan and a bunch of members that she is friends with. It went really well and now she is on date to be baptized the 28th of Dec. Afterwards though as we were driving around we pulled over to the side of the road and our truck slid into a ditch. So we had to walk in the rain to try and find service so we could call someone. Fortunately as we were walking a member of our ward drove by and picked us up. They drove us to the nearest member who had a truck and we managed to get our vehicle out. I'm super grateful that Heavenly Father sent someone to pick us up though. He definitely answers our prayers when we really need them answered.

 A buggy!

 On Sunday our investigator Arturo was baptized! It was awesome so many people from the ward came and it was a really spiritual service.

This week is going to be fantastic. I'm excited for Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for! I am thankful for my family and how wonderful they are! I'm thankful for the trials I have had that have helped me grow. I'm thankful for this Gospel and the Book of Mormon that teaches us so much. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to teach others about it and about our Savior. And I'm especially grateful for Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. I hope that we can all remember the things we are thankful for and be thankful for everything. 

Week 66 - My finger

This week has gone by really fast. We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I got to stay in Lewiston for a night. That was fun but it was weird to be surrounded by so many people. While there my splint was taken off and my hand is finally free! My finger will heal in a few weeks I think. I can move it a little. It doesn't fully extend or retract but I should get full motion and strength back. It might take a couple months. It might take a year or two for all the nerves to repair though.

We found a couple new investigators, and a former investigator in Kamiah 2nd texted her friend who is a member and said that she wanted to meet with the bishop because she wants to join the church. We will be meeting with her tomorrow and we're excited about it!
Things are going well here and since Christmas is coming up we are going around and telling everybody about the Church's Christmas initiative. It is going to be service based this year. The website will come up Nov. 25th so everybody should check it out. The video is so awesome. But other than that it's just more of the same going on. Teaching, preaching.

Week 65 - A backwoods surprise

We found this at someones house

Debbie the lady who was baptized last week

 This is Jamie. she got baptized on Saturday. We didn't get a picture of her in white though because we were busy trying to get everything set up.

This is me and Michael one of the youth in the ward. 

Me eating a banana

Foggy Kamiah

Week 64 - A baptism!

This week went by really fast. We only spent half of it in our area but our area is doing pretty good. Our investigator, Debbie Bosse got baptized! It was awesome cause I have been teaching her since I got here 4 and a half months ago. And another investigator of ours had her baptismal interview and passed so she will be getting baptized this Saturday most likely. Plus another miracle, an investigator we had been working with for awhile is now going to be able to be baptized! He wasn't able to before because he was living with his grandma and she wasn't sure if he would be staying but now for sure he is. It was a miracle because we had been praying for his situation to be resolved. We also got a couple of referrals this week that have a lot of potential. One of them was from Sister Lott and Sister Hulsey who stopped by a former investigator of theirs who it turns out but happened to be in Grangeville for one day. Coincidence? I think not. But anyway, she is super interested in learning more about the church cause her grandma is an active member. So we have had a lot of fun. And I got asked easily at least a hundred times what happened to my hand. 

 

My finger is doing fine I have an appointment for the surgeon to check how it is healing in one week. How it happened though was I was helping another missionary pack up for transfers, he had a sharp pocket knife that another missionary was using. I happened to move my hand as he did his and the knife cut my middle finger pretty deep. It also got another finger a little but not like my middle one. I almost couldn't believe it had happened. It was so dumb. But now my arm looks like a banana, so that's cool.

Week 63 - Severed tendon

This is my district and this is Elder Goodwin, St. John and me in a trio.

This my finger after they checked it out and then again after surgery. 

Week 62 - Another haircut

We found this auto shop in the middle of nowhere. Like it was super boony there. Plus I got a haircut. We also had a Harvest Festival at the Church on Saturday which was a lot of fun. There was a chili cook-off, a lot of musical performances and a ton of non-members came along with several of our investigators. We had a blast! But that was pretty much our week plus some other stuff. The Church is true everybody! Remember to reach out with love and serve others especially by inviting them to learn more about the restored Gospel!

Week 61 - Where are the stairs?

October 5, 2016  New Missionary Training Meeting

Week 59: Awesome and weird

My week has been awesome and weird!
Everything you would expect from Kamiah!

Here are some pictures of a house we tracted. There was no one there.

Wednesday we drove out into the more boony part of the area. We talked to several people out there but the weirdest part of the day was our dinner. We had dinner with a member but because they lived so far away they told us to just meet them in Stites, a small town about halfway between us and them. So we met them at the grocery store there, and as it turns out we had dinner at the grocery store, and not just like in the back or something, but right in the front, about 10 feet away from the front door. It was funny! I don't know if I have told you about this store in a previous letter or not, but it is not just a regular grocery store. The word that comes to mind when I think of it is definitely ghetto. Half the shelves are empty and there isn't a price tag on anything. But anyway, several people we didn't know were invited to join in our meal. Someone walked in during the middle of the blessing on the food too. It was hilarious!

Here is one of me and our truck

Week 58 - One of the best weeks of my mission

So early this week we were in Lewiston because I had to be in Spokane. We stayed with Elder Morse and that was a lot of fun. We stayed up late talking though and then I had to wake up super early to drive to the new trainers meeting. I think that this week is the most time I have spent driving, non-stop, my whole mission. But we made it there and even though I was tired the meeting was awesome! I learned a lot and I got to meet my son, Elder St. John. He's got a sweet name I think. He is an awesome missionary though and is a hard-worker!

Week 55 - Us on a hike

Wow this week was pretty uneventful.  Nothing really good or really bad happened. We have spent a lot of time driving though and trying to get to know all the members. It has been really hard though because everybody lives so far away! We had interviews this week so we had to head up to Lewiston, and that took forever. It was fun to see President and Sister Dymock though. We finally got in contact with a less active member we have been trying to see forever. We taught him the restoration in his small trailer and it went pretty well. We had a hard time understanding him though cause he talks differently. But other than that it was just an average week. We got to teach a couple of our investigators and so that means this week we probably won't meet with them. I can't really think of anything else that has happened. All is well here though, we've got two weeks left in the transfer, which is crazy, I can't believe how fast it has gone. And hopefully we find some new investigators this week because our teaching pool is a little low right now. I sure love ya and hope you are all having a good time back at home!

Week 54 - The sign was a lie!

Just so you know the sign was a lie. There were no cute chicks :( just the dad. 

This week has been interesting that is for sure! We have spent a lot of time trying to meet more of the members in the two wards we cover and that has led to all sorts of different experiences. Several of the Less-Active members we saw were at Church this Sunday though so it worked out for the best! We didn't get to meet with a lot of our investigators this week, but we're really hoping for this next one! We did have a pretty neat experience though the other day. We were driving past a former investigator named Debra and I felt like we should stop by and see if we could set up a time to meet with her. So we went and knocked on her door but she wasn't there at first. As we were leaving she pulled up in her truck and so we went and talked to her. And it went terribly. She was very much anti and tried to convince us that we were going to hell, that Joseph Smith was a known liar, and that the Trinity was the true nature of God. And while that was going on, both Elder Elwood and I got a little upset of course, but we felt the peace that came from knowing that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. So we tried to resolve her concerns logically but she refused to acknowledge the answers we gave her,even though, if I can say myself, they were pretty well thought out. So after we tried to reason with her and she hardened her heart and refused to listen to us, I told her that if she was willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true that God would answer her and that I knew for myself that it was true. She refused to even consider to ask God about it because "Jesus had already told her everything she needed." So we realized that there was nothing left for us to do and we left. Then right after we had a really great conversation with someone who was sitting outside their house smoking whom we probably wouldn't have met without that first awkward experience. That was probably the most memorable experience we had all week and it certainly has stayed with me, not because it was a bad one but because it helped me realize how much the knowledge of the gospel brings peace and changes us. This truly is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. It contains His teachings and the Priesthood of God. I sure love you all, have a great week!  

Week 53 - A tough week

A few items from the "hump day" package

My week has been a tough one. All of the appointments we set up fell through except for one and that was because we waited 20 minutes for them to get there. Arturo, our investigator who was on date for September, might not be staying in the area much longer so he is no longer meeting with us and fell off date. We pretty much only have 2 investigators now and they only want to meet with us once a week or once every other week. So it has been really interesting trying to find new investigators. We talk to a lot of people who are really into the Book of Revelation and firmly believe that the end of the world is approaching but they don't really have an interest in learning about how to safely make it through those times so yeah. But on the bright side now when people ask me how long I have been on my mission I now say, just over a year, instead of just under.  Also the other day we met a mountain man who told us his name was Bear claw. That was pretty cool. And I don't know if I included this last time but our mission President challenged us to read the entire Book of Mormon within a transfer. That's about 40 days, which is 13 pages every day. It has been a lot of fun and I have felt a difference in my life since I started it at the beginning of this transfer. I have a firm testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and this has really helped to increase it. The more we study it and apply it's teachings the closer we grow to God and become stronger saints. I know that it contains the words of eternal life from our Savior. So I would invite anyone who reads this to join in the challenge and try to read it within 40 days. You will feel the difference immediately. 

Week 52 - Hump week and Elder Elwood

Here's a fun story. So a couple of weeks ago I lost my study journal I have had throughout my mission and I was really sad but I prayed that somehow it would turn up. And two days ago I lost my wallet and since I really need that in order to drive I was freaking out. So I prayed and then thought, it must be in the truck, so I went and looked under my seat and there was, not a skanky old french fry but my study journal! And then I found my wallet a couple of minutes later. So that was a neat tender mercy! 

Hope you all have a good week and remember the Church is true, the Book of Mormon is true and The Atonement is real!