27 Feb 2017

Hey Everybody!

This has been a really good week, for starts Elder Holmes and I get along great so that makes everything like 10 times easier!

We did some service early this week. Really all we did was move a couch into a trailer but it helped us meet a guy named Terry. He's not a member and he has been reading the Book of Mormon to see how it lines up with the Bible. After we helped him with the couches we talked to him for a while and we went back later this week to help him build one of those snap together sheds in the middle of a blizzard. That was fun.  Terry is a super nice guy. He made us some lunch and we are hoping to have some more formal lessons with him. Since he is already reading the Book of Mormon, we just pointed out Moroni's promise and invited him to pray as he read.

We also had Zone conference this week. That was sweet! The focus was around spiritual promptings. The bulk of it was, if it feels like a prompting it probably is, so go with it even if it doesn’t make sense. A lot of times we wonder is that the Spirit or just me, and if it invites to do good then don’t worry about it just go and do good. As we show faith in following through in what we think might be a spiritual prompting it shows Heavenly Father our faith and that we aren't going to ignore his Spirit when it comes to us. So he will give it more abundantly as we follow through in heeding those promptings.

The funnest part about this week was probably when Saturday at 2 we got a call from Bishop Hawker asking if we could speak in fourth ward tomorrow.... So we gladly accepted.  I was actually really happy because I love speaking in new wards. It gives people a chance to get to know us. So we spoke on coming unto Christ and what really stuck out to me was just repenting daily and using the atonement. In Moroni 7:34 Christ says to repent and come unto Him, then to be baptized and continue in faith. But what stuck out was to repent and come unto Him. He didn’t say repent then come unto me. We can’t truly come unto Christ unless we repent and we can’t truly repent unless we come unto Christ. The two are inseparable. A lot of times we feel we shouldn’t come to Christ until we feel we have resolved everything around our issue and we feel clean enough to come to Him. But that isn't how it works. We don’t wash the close before we put them in the washing machine, because we don’t want the washing machine to deal with those dirty clothes. Anyways that was the gist of my talk.

It was a really good week and I hope you guys had a good week too!

20 Feb 2017

So this week has been pretty awesome! It was a little sad to leave Montpelier, but Blackfoot is awesome, and Elder Holmes is an awesome comp to work with.

We've seen a lot of things go well just in the last couple of days. Our first day together we had a lesson and with very little time to prepare the Spirit helped us a lot with teaching that lesson. We have a few people who will hopefully start investigating and things are just going really well here. I don’t have too much to say today but I love all you guys

13 Feb 2017

Things are going well, out here in Idaho, The big news this week is that transfers are upon us. Im shipping out to Black foot west and will be joining Elder Holmes. Im pretty excited for the move! I'll miss Montpelier but it’s nice to get a fresh start!

Monday- Welp for p-day we skinned an Elk and had a district Family home evening. We had a lot of plans for the evening but they all cancelled.

Tuesday and Wednesday- We went down to Cokeville, we are still trying to figure out everything the other Elders had going on, we visited a few people that I remembered, one was a less active family more so the father, and they have been very inviting and friendly. They have been making changes and are contemplating a move. The we saw a couple that is wanting to be baptized, they have a bit that they need to do before getting baptized, one of the big ones is getting married, but they really want the gospel and want to make these changes so it’s awesome to see that desire they have.

Thursday and Friday- Kind of a slow couple of days but also way to warm, everything started melting it rained and now there’s flooding all across the valley and really all across Idaho. It’s really bad in the bear lake area, like there are so many people sandbagging and just trying to keep things dry, some people are worried about the reservoir filling up to much but I guess just pray for the best.

Saturday- we got the word that I’m going to Blackfoot so today was mostly good byes same with Sunday but on Sunday we also spoke out in Dingle. I spoke about being spiritually awake. one of my favorite words in scriptural use is awake. There’s a difference between not sleeping and actually being awake. But to be spiritually awake means we are actively seeking the council of the Holy Ghost, we aren't just reading the scriptures but likening them unto ourselves, we seek opportunities to be like the savior and to serve and love others. It’s definitely hard at times to stay awake, especially when you’re first waking up but as we make these things a common practice and attitude, it becomes easier to be awake and attentive to the spirit, and to continually have the love of the Lord in our hearts.

It was a pretty good week, and I hope you are all having a good week also!

Love you guys

6 Feb 2017

This has been like the best week of my mission so far for one reason. Wednesday morning we were sitting in Cokeville and we got a call from the Idaho Falls mission office. They informed me that the Kisley family (who the father of was the first person i helped get baptized) Just got sealed this week! Its been really slow in montpelier lately and just hasnt felt like much has happened. But hearing this new has gotten me really excited again. I still remember at his baptism his kids sang "families can be together forever" and the spirit was so strong and now that song is even more promising for this family.

Monday- We did a sledding activity for p-day that was pretty fun. Then we had a really good lesson with a less active family. The Vorous family is really awesome they have two of the craziest kids I’ve seen. The first day we met them got a little intense. The kids were playing and the little brother grabbed his sister’s collar and started running circles around her. Then his finger got stuck and the collar tightened up and she started choking. It was a mess but this visit was a lot tamer.

Tuesday- Was our first day down in Cokeville and it was a hectic day. We were supposed to have interviews with president and a lesson in Montpelier so after we went down for a bit we came back. But the lesson fell through and President got sick. So the trip was a waste. But on the way back down we visited one of the people that remembered out in Geneva and then we met with a couple investigators the other elders were teaching. Then we ended up going back to Montpelier to help some people move some things. Then we went back down to Cokeville.

Wednesday- A good day out in Cokeville we went around and got to know some of the ward that was most of Wednesday

Thursday- twas a good day, much good was brought about, but not much beyond the usual

Friday- We had zone training, and it was really awesome. There was a big focus around the parable of the talents. Where the three servants get talents and the one with one goes and hides it. The focus was around accountability. Although the servant never received a commandment to go and multiply the money, he was a hired servant he expressed himself that he knew the desires of his lord and still he hid the talent. The Lord will not command us in all things, but expects us to go about and do good. Then the afternoon went by pretty quick and in the evening we did some volley ball with a few less actives.

Saturday- We had interviews today it was super good to talk with president, then we really had a hard time finding anybody today. But at the end of the night we caught the Ruud and shared a message and they insisted that elder Stingham got his nose waxed so we all got our noses waxed.

Sunday- we went out to Pegram for fast and testimony meeting and I really enjoyed the branch. We don’t get out there much its 20 mins from Cokeville or Montpelier and its population is about 30 with 24 active members. But they had a great spirit in the branch and I enjoyed it more than some of the other wards. At time the gospel doctrine classes in other wards get distracted with things that aren’t really doctrine or just things that don’t matter. But Pegram kept it on point. Nothing else really happened today, ya know super bowl and all so we wandered around most of the day.

Oh we also skinned a calf this week. So there’s this thing where if you have a calf die and a different cow has two calves. You skin the dead one and put the hide on one of the twins so the cow with no calf will accept the new calf. One cow can’t support two calves so in the long run a saves the other calf.