Monday, September 28, 2015

Taters - September 28, 2015

Wassuppp!!! 

- hiked Palisade Falls last Monday after emailing. Incredible! Hike to the falls was like a 10 minute walk... But getting to the TOP of the falls was the real fun stuff... Have already been told I'm not allowed to do that again by my mom... 

- made brownies for Larry for his birthday. Larry is a 75 year old investigator that we have been meeting with for a while, awesome man and reminds me a lot of my grandpas (probably why I like him so much). He's lived alone for 35 years and we invited ourselves over to celebrate his birthday with him... And made him "celestial brownies", layer of cookie dough, then Oreos, then brownie. Coined the name celestial due to its heavenly taste and eating one will speed up the Plan of Salvation process for ya.... 

- helped unload two GIANT TRUCK LOADS of potatoes to people, #WelcomeToMontana. Kurt/potato boy would've been so proud, even if they weren't Idaho potatoes. Wonderful opportunity to serve, talk the gospel with people, and get absolutely filthy!! 20,000 + potatoes!!! That's almost enough to feed everyone hopping off the BYU band wagon!!! 

- rock up at the Pommervilles for dinner. He answers the door and had no clue he was feeding us (girls were all at the women's session). Fired up some microwaveable burritos and we told mission stories (pretty weird I have "mission stories".) it was pretty awesome, Bro Pommerville is a good dude. He taught his kid that shooting others in the head with a nerf gun is bad by shooting him in the head so he knew how it felt... #DadGoals. Reminds me a lot of Jared, his wife looks like Karly too...

- had dinner with the Evans family, they actually lived in Murray a few years ago! They have a little girl who just turned 2 named Marlee. Elder C talked guns and hunting with the husband while I read from the Mickey Mouse club house book and did the hot dog dance with Marlee, #NoRegrets. She's freakin awesome, just like Ezra, except instead of "desth" it's "da". Her and Z would be best buds. Marlee is also becoming a big sibling in a couple months.

This week was awesome, once again it went crazy fast. Wish I could tell you EVERYTHING that happened but it's probably not possible, instead I'll just focus on Saturday - 9/26/2015 will forever be one of the greatest days of my life. 

"The following takes place between 6:23 am and 11:50 pm. Events occur in real time." 
(Does anyone actually get my movie/tv references??? No one out here does) 

Alright we woke up, went and balled at the church. Found a SWEEEEET ball at the thrift store on Friday for only a $1, nicer indoor ball than the one I had home, so we broke that in. Got back and showered and ready for the day only to get a call that more potatoes needed to be unloaded.... So essentially showering was pointless... So we unloaded those and went to our lesson with a less active family. Went REALLY well. They have a daughter who is 8 (her b day is March 22 so we are pretty tight) so we are really praying and working to get them back to church. Just an awesome family, taught a solid Plan of Salvation lesson, talked some football, then took off. 

Saw Nora was home so we stopped by to see her and Oscar. Ended up teaching the entire restoration lesson aaaaaaaaaaaannnnndddddddd....... HE COMMITTED TO BAPTISM!!!! 

#AchievementUnlocked #GreatDayToBeAMissionary #LightTheU 

- Words can't express how pumped we are for October 31st (date we set)! Best part is how excited they are. Oscar and Nora both came to church yesterday and it was awesome, Belgrade 1st Ward is unbelievable. Sacrament meeting was based entirely on law of chastity but they still enjoyed church so I figured that's a really good sign. #ChurchIsTrue

Ran back to the apartment to grab our suit coats then took off for dinner with the Pommervilles... Already talked about how that went. It was awesome, he's freakin hilarious. Also have a ton of ice cream left over from the shaved ice place so that's always nice. Went to check in on our WML Bro Rogers but he was hunting so instead we played a friendly game of pig with his kid and nephews. Shared a scripture with them and told them to start being a missionary now, not in 6 years. Weird being in those shoes as a missionary, but I love it. Teaching the youth is the best. 

Last stop was at the bishop's house. Originally it was going to be just a quick stop to tell him we got a family on date but things escalated quickly and next thing you know we are downing milk shakes and playing with fart putty. It was awesome, love the bishop and his family. It was the bishop laughing at his 5 year old who was laughing at the fart putty that was the best. Milk shakes weren't bad either. Was even able to tie it into the gospel, they had this other black smudge stuff that I compared to Helaman 5:12. Would you rather have a rock solid foundation in Christ or a black smudge lifestyle with Satan???? Credit to Mike and Hillary V. for that one, we practiced those comparisons ALL the time in mission prep. 

Lots of stuff in between but that was the day, rock solid day as a missionary! We headed to the church to report and sync iPads and as we pull in to the parking lot... Off in the distance... I see a red block U on a tv. Must have been the university's commercial. TV was far away enough I couldn't see the score but oh man I had a good feeling. Checked wifi, saw the emails from Brady and not gonna lie I shed a manly tear of Ute pride. Nice work Utes, show the nation what we are all about!!! 

I was always worried that serving a mission would make you lose interest in those things you love... Like Utah Football,  music, or playing xbox, or basketball, or making videos, or my job, or my family. Not exactly true. I have learned to give those things up, but I still love them as much as I did before, it's just that I love this gospel A LOT MORE. 

Kind of like to think of it as attribute ratings on nba 2k my player mode (nerd alert, I know). 

I used to think that my love for Utah football would go from a rating of 98 to a 62.... Or my love for that mouse would go from a 97 to a 65... My love for my family would from a 99 to 78... And so on the ratings would drop. 

This isn't how it works. 

I still love Twitter as much as I did 3 months go. I still love takin down tangos on the Xbox or listening to actual music while shooting hoops at night. Still love singing Utah Man, still love the caramel apples I'd get after getting off Splash Mountain, still love my family. Those "attribute ratings" never changed, but my love for this gospel did. 

Love for the Book of Mormon 59 -> 571
Love for the atonement... 61 -> 549 
Love for the Plan of Salvation - 67 -> 648
Love for Joseph Smith - 59 -> 608
Love for the priesthood - 55 -> 781
Love for attending church - 14 -> 786(not gonna lie this was my "Shaq's free throw" ability of the gospel before coming out) 
Love for my family... 99 - 1000

Anyone familiar with nba 2k knows it max's out at 99... But when it comes to the gospel you can go as high as you want. 

I still love the Utes as much as I did before I left, WE JUST TOOK DOWN THE DUCKS IN PHIL KNIGHTS BACKYARD!!! But that's not what made Saturday one of the best days of my life.... It certainly helped, not gonna lie, but if Utah had lost it still would have been an amazing day. 

It was the hours of lifting potatoes for people I have never met. Teaching a couple deacons not just how to ball up, but how to be start being a missionary now. It was sharing missionary story's with Bro Pommerville and imagining the stories we will all have when we too return with honor, #ABRO. Teaching the Plan of Salvation and the whole time picturing this dad baptizing his daughter. It was hearing Oscar say that he wanted to be baptized, that made Saturday great. 

This gospel is absolutely 100% true, amazes me how simple yet powerful it is. I still love those things that I left back home, but oh man I have learned to love this gospel. My testimony goes through complete nuclear warfare out here. You should hear some of the crap Satan is planting in people's hearts, that black smudge, but it's those days like Saturday that remind just how powerful and true this gospel is.  

Alright spiritual thought for the week: 

3 Nephi 4: 

8 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

9 And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies.
10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them.

How often do we drop to our knees and seek the Lords help when we see the battle coming? Do we fear God more, or our enemies? Fear is more than being afraid, it's love, honor, commitment. Whom do we love more, God or our enemies? Put the Lord first, show your love for him, and in the strength of the Lord you will be protected. 

So grateful to be out here serving the Lord. I know I say "I" a lot in these emails, but none of this would be possible without Christ. No way I'd be able to do this without the atonement. Some of the best scriptures we find are in the hymn book. One Sunday a while back I was having a rough day, decided to flip through my hymn book the relief society gave me. Sisters of the ward went through and signed their names on their favorite hymns. Stopped at one hymn that had one or 2 names signed, hymn 98 - "I need thee every hour". LOVE that hymn, except It's not hours out here, not even minutes, it's seconds. Every second I need Christ. So grateful for the knowledge that I have of Him, the example he is to all of us. This is has been the hardest 3 months of my life, and these will be the hardest 2 years, but I already know that they will be the best 2 years. So grateful for the challenges I face, the way the Lord tests me. 

Mathew 26:
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

We all fall on our face... Missionaries especially. Sometimes we stumble over our own feet, sometimes someone pushes us, and sometimes Heavenly Father sticks out a foot to trip us. But every time we fall on our face, it's an opportunity to turn to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He's there for us, every second he's there and I know I need Him every second. If we never fell on our face , we'd never learn to get back up, never learn how much God loves us. 

Church is true, I'm pretty stoked for conference.... 3 NEW GENERAL AUTHORITIES! Remember watching the spring session a few months back thinking the next time I watch conference it'll be in Montana.... That came fast! I miss home, but no place I'd rather be than Belgrade, Montana, there's work to do. Thanks for all the love and support, means a lot! 

- Elder K 
 
 





 

Monday, September 21, 2015

Liam Neeson = Moroni, September 21, 2015

Weekly highlights....

 - had the annual Belgrade Fall Festival. Felt like I was in Pawnee Indiana except there was no lil Sebastian and Jerry didn't get lost in the corn maze. Stopped by at the homecoming game the night before. It was awesome. Felt cool seeing how everyone knew everyone.... Then I started to realize I'm kind of getting like that too! Love Belgrade, love the people here. 


- We already have snow here. S/O to UA cold gear. 

- Wheat, Montana (yes there is a town called wheat) .... Home of the greatest freaking caramel cinnamon rolls ever made. Helped Bishop move a hot tub (check pics, that's Bro Booyah in the neon) and bishop works there and is gonna hook us up. 

- Tracted into a couple who were Sparty fans. Originally didn't want to talk to us but after a quick congratulations on the W against Oregon and talking about the Utes beating Harbaugh they opened up a little more. Gave them a family proclamation and we will check in on them another time. It isn't mentioned much in ch. 9 of PMG but college football is probably my favorite tracting tactic. 

- either the food in Montana is the greatest in the world or I have truly acquired the gift of tongues cause anything I eat tastes amazing. 

- bucked hay, felt like a true American, then hopped in the back of a guys truck to check out a herd of deer that were near us. Lil Montana safari, check out the pics, they were beautiful. iPad + binoculars actually works. Awesome time of year, so much wildlife. Saw a buck in the middle of the road as we were driving home last night. 

- made the 2 hour trek to Helena for a zone conference. Pull up in the church parking lot and no one is there, ZL read the calendar wrong. Splash elders got to ride back with each other so all was well. 

- had dinner at a house  where a giant family party was going on. Taught the 20+ primary kids a lesson on the Book of Mormon. It was awesome, few of them raised their hands to tell me how much they like me so that's an #AchievementUnlocked. They were awesome, Sunbeams to Deacons and they all participated, they were also pointing out what they named their shoes, glad to see I still got that legacy goin. Helaman 12's were the best. Wish our investigators would be involved as them haha. Doin my best to teach like how @pettbryan teaches his primary class, except I wasn't checking Twitter the whole lesson... Probably should actually strive to teach like my mom... 

- last - good work Utes. Best part about being 3-0 is being able to go 4-0. Hoping the #FatGuyTouchdown by Stevie T made it on top 10, haha wish I could see that. New field design looks sweet, was hoping to get some Ute proud designs on there but the fact there aren't mountains is a major plus. Next step - getting a banner on the psych building, I'm telling ya it'd look sweet. Tell Hill he has 21 months to have the SEZ finished. Good work Utes. 

Overall.... Another dang good week in the field. Have been reading more from Alma this week. Pretty sure the infamous "I will find you... And I will kill you" line from Taken was inspired by Moroni. Alma 54: 5-14 is his negotiation offer to Ammoron for the Nephites who had been taken captive. Go read that entire chapter, but here's the last few verses to give you an idea of what I mean... NOTE: *Moroni just got done making his requests, will give up one Lamanite for every Nephite family returned. YouTube the scene from Taken and you'll get what I mean haha.  

 12 And behold, if ye do not this, I will come against you with my armies (... I will look for you); yea, even I will arm my women and my children, and I will come against you, and I will follow you even into your own land (... I will find you), which is the land of our first inheritance; yea, and it shall be blood for blood, yea, life for life; and I will give you battle even until you are destroyed from off the face of the earth (... And I will kill you).
13 Behold, I am in my anger, and also my people; ye have sought to murder us, and we have only sought to defend ourselves. But behold, if ye seek to destroy us more we will seek to destroy you; yea, and we will seek our land, the land of our first inheritance.
14 Now I close my epistle. I am Moroni; I am a leader of the people of the Nephites.


15 And thus Ammoron respondeth back via cell phone in a heavy Armenian accent ... "Good luck" 


Alright verse 15 isn't legit but you gotta admit that sounds like Taken. Moral of the story is Moroni is one bad donkey. Fully propose the church casts Liam Neeson as Moroni for a Book of Mormon movie. Love that scripture, and not just because it applies to Taken. War chapters in Alma are awesome, but they represent so much more than bloody battles. The Book of Mormon no doubt applies to our days now more than ever. 


Don't be afraid to fight for what we believe in, especially in today's world. Doesn't mean we should necessarily take up swords with those that disagree with us (Twitter does that enough already. #TwitterDreamTeam #SearsParkingLot), but that we should stand strong for what we believe. The standard of truth has been erected, traitors and tyrants now fight "us" in vain. World is getting uglier and uglier, which makes our role as Latter Day Saints much more critical. Never back down for what we believe. 

2 Nephi 7:6 I gave my back to the smiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth.

9 For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up.

Christ didn't back down despite the shame and spitting, he did the exact opposite. As he was suffering the most awful trial, he stood strong, and his response...

 "who will stand with me?"

He was talking about us, are you willing to stand with him? And those that are against him.... "Come at me", come at "us". And we will smite them with the strength of our mouths. When those who defy you try to bring you down, what better way to respond than with "come near me". Satans got a whole bag of deceitful tricks set on tearing us down. He attacks you personally, attacks your self esteem, your family.  He attacks our families especially because he knows what potential the family has. Don't let him get to you. We have all power over him through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We don't get off easy being Latter Day Saints, if anything we are tested harder, for the Lord God will help us. It's nasty out there. The Lord must have real faith in us to have us here in today's time, let's not disappoint. There is work to do and that work is hastening, D&C 123: 12 "For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." They know not where to find it....

Well let's help em find it. Get off your butts and go find those who are missing out on the blessings this gospel brings. 

Mosiah 28: 3  - Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.

We met with a lady on Monday that we #tracted into a couple weeks ago, said we could stop by again so we did. Super sweet single mom , baptized as a teen, but hasn't been back to church for a long time. Taught the Plan of Salvation, we get to the end and she breaks down into tears. Told us some truly awful things that happened to her, that she lost faith and has been praying to find it again. Next thing you know 2 teenage boys are knocking on her apartment door. Gave her a priesthood blessing before we took off and I dumped nearly half the oil on her head (better than not enough right???) We Tracted into her, yes. But it was the Lord who guided us there, not luck or coincidence we found her. Belgrade is no metropolis but there are still a lot of people here for something like that to just "happen". It was a true missionary experience. I am so extremely blessed and grateful to be apart of this work. Once again, the priesthood is real, and I am grateful to have it, however I do need to practice my technique when it comes to the oil. 

People are being prepared all around us, whether they know it or not, Heavenly Father is preparing people for you. But he's also preparing us for them. Any trial, any heart ache, any pain, is preparing us so we can help them. Still don't know why we lost uncle Dave, but that experience we had as a family strengthened my understanding of the Plan of Salvation beyond belief. He's always with us, I especially know and feel that out here. Don't doubt that Heavenly Father doesn't love you, he knows what we need and when we need it. Just have faith in him and his plan.

Don't ever be ashamed, don't back down. People like Nora (single mom lady) are being prepared for all of us, live worthily and righteously so we can be prepared for them. Set your face like a flint, don't be ashamed, for the Lord will help you. Let HIM guide you. This is our battle now, We are all as the Army of Helaman and We are the Lords missionaries, to bring the world his truth. 

Love this work, absolutely love it!!!! Ate dinner at a truck stop (pretty dang good, #WelcomeToMontana) and this random mom comes running up to us, she was radiating happiness.... Reminded me of someone back home... Bet you can guess who ...  She has a son coming home in 12 weeks and was so incredibly happy, pictured my own mom being that happy. Makes this work well worth it when I think how happy they are... still cracks me up and/or plucks my heart strings thinking I get @pettbryan into tears. 

Love ya guys, church is true, #BeatNikeU 

- Elder K 

Monday, September 14, 2015

"It's a Great Day to Be a Missionary" - September 14, 2015




First off. @dahlelama is just jealous that I'm writing love notes to Jonny and not him. #TwitterDreamTeam

 - Spent a night on the outer parts of our area #tracting

... WAY out by the Bridger Mountains. You could barely see the world famous Belgrade water tower we were so far out there. Great odins raven though... UNBELIEVABLE. The houses were unreal. Deer everywhere, open fields, sunset was unbelievable, actually the way the mountains looked it kind of felt like I was on campus looking out towards the Oquirrhs  and Great Salt Lake (check pics), just minus the whole civilization part.  Very lucky to be serving here.  
 
 

  - Dad sent me a cool ESPN article on Mangum and I loved it. Remember watching him in the elite 11 competition a while back. Kids a stud, about time that institution starts representing our church in a way that doesn't involve a Best Buy or Rancheritos #StayClassY. Pretty cool having ESPN hype up this work so many of us are doing. And I guess you could say that's a cute first two wins you got... #8Clap

- Spent like 3 hours at a members house digging out trees, pretty fun stuff . Helped their kitten catch field mice which was an adventure. One bit me, nobody makes me bleed my own blood. Not gonna lie I found great joy in seeing Sprinkles beat the crap out of that field mouse. 

#WelcomeToMontana 

- as for the Utes. Sometimes the ugly wins are the hardest ones to win, think of how many games we had in 08 that were ugly. Hopefully Wilson gets back soon, in the meantime I have faith in KT. Games we prepared with him all week were much better than the games he was thrown into mid game. Covey sounds like a stud, wouldn't mind getting him up here in the MBM, heck I'll even train him. Keep up the good work, I have plenty of ideas so I need plenty of highlights... Seriously... Lots of ideas. 

Another week done. Love waking up and seeing the caption for our 6:23 alarm... 
 

"It's a great day to be a missionary"

Thanks for the idea @utahfootball. Loving the days out here. The time truly flies when you start to enjoy the work more and work harder. Kind of think of it as one of those moving walkways at an airport; you can stand on it and still move and eventually get to your destination, or you can actually put in effort and walk with it and move a lot faster.

Some days are still easier than others. One morning was a little challenging. Prayed that I would read something from personal study that would help me out. One of the most powerful personal study's I have had. I read Alma 36-39, where Alma is giving advice to Helaman. As I read I pictured @pettbryan sitting there with me, giving me the same advice Alma gave his son. 

36:3 And now, O my son Helaman/@MPett3, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

- and for the next few chapters Alma is dropping bombs of knowledge and love, much like what my dad would have done with me. 

37:37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God (for it truly is a great day to be a missionary) and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

And one more of many favorite pieces of advice, one that really got to me... 

37:47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word My son, farewell.

".... Hope that you spend your days, and they all add up. And when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup. Oh I wish that I could witness all your joy and all your pain, but until my moment comes I'll say - I did it all.   I owned every second that this world can give, I saw so many places the things that I did, yeah with every broken bone... I swear I lived." 

- Apparently Z yells "TAYS SONG" when he hears it, probably cause of our Disneyland video, but I love that song and now I try to live it. Want to be able to say that I did it all, that I lived these 2 years. And as it says right there in the book of Alma... "Look to God and live" 

That's what I needed to hear. Look to God and live, nothing else matters out here. He answers our prayers, He really does. May not be at the time we want it to be or the answer we want, but He loves us. He lets us go through challenges because that's where we learn the most, where our faith is tested the hardest. I challenge all of you to look to God and live. This world is pretty dang nasty, and I don't know about you guys but I need all the help I can get. Pray to the Lord, and he will answer your prayers much like what He did with me and Alma 36. Can't wait to read that to my own son one day. 

The work is really starting to pick up here. Elder C and I are on to something, seems like we either got a DL, ZL, or AP calling us every night telling us about the good things they are hearing about Belgrade 1. Staying humble is key, this is HIS work, not our work. Like it shows throughout the Book of Mormon, you either be humble, or get humbled (someone remind the locker room crowd surfing clown that) . Belgrade is ready to blow up, very grateful to not only serve here but to be a trainer, little stressful training in only my second transfer, but I feel very blessed for the faith President Wadsworth and the Lord have in me. 

Love ya guys! 

#BeatFresno 

- Elder K
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Ennis & Priesthood Blessings - September 7, 2015

WASSUPPPP SACK LAKE CITY!!!! 

- Tracted into this weird cellar looking house thing... Looking around and I see a bunch of deer skulls and antlers around me... Typical Montana right? Look around a bit more and notice there were more deer heads everywhere but they were in all different stages of decomposition.... Some looked like they had just been killed and decapitated that day, some barely had eyeballs. It was weird, Started having flashbacks of Criminal Minds episodes and got outta there.

- Tracted into Wendal. Wendal believes Aliens are our gods and that Christ was the first ever genetically modified hybrid. Welcome to Ennis, Montana. 

- The drive to Ennis was gorgeous! Love it there, super small town! Madison River... we are so tubing that in the future. Saw a bald eagle perched on a rock in the middle of the river. #welcome to Montana, LOVE THIS PLACE, Virginia City = life goals. 

The splash elders road trip to Ennis was a major success. We could both feel that there was a specific reason we needed to be there. I figured it was just me wanting to go on a splash elder road trip, but I could feel there was a bigger reason than that. Our first night there we get a call from the branch president saying we need to get to the ER as soon as possible. One of the ladies from the branch was having kidney failure and needed a blessing before they potentially move her to Billings. 

Splash elders were on the move. 

Have you ever experienced a "spiritual adrenaline rush" before??? Cause that's what it was! Hop in the truck and take off for the hospital. I'm flipping through the white bible figuring out how to anoint the sick and afflicted while Potter is weaving in and out of lanes. We had both given blessings of comfort before but never one of these. Pull up, say a quick prayer, and run in. I anointed, and elder Potter gave the blessing. Very powerful experience. We walk out and were speechless, still am speechless about how to describe what it was like. 

I am so very grateful for the priesthood that I hold. The responsibility that I have to be worthy of it so I can use it when necessary to help others. So grateful to have a father and brothers who hold this priesthood and the examples they were to me growing up. So grateful, but especially excited, to someday use the priesthood to bless my own wife and kids.  We were in Ennis that night for a reason, more than just a splash elder road trip... 

Well we get back from Ennis and I get my companion! Elder Christensen from Tuscon, Arizona! He is a baller, likes to golf, and is a UofA fan... Good guy, great at connecting with people. Looking forward to the adventures we will have and the things he and I will teach other. Being a trainer is  hard work, but very grateful for this opportunity. Belgrade is about to go up in flames, and I'm not talking wild fires... Baptism by fire. 

.... Yikes I'm really starting to lose my humor out here 

Thursday night... It was hard for me, not gonna lie. We sync iPads that night and I saw no score emails from Brady. I could've checked Facebook to find out, but I didn't. I was struggling, have been struggling. I miss the Utes, but it's my family that I was missing. Utah football honestly just brought us together, and I was missing it. Score didn't matter at that point, because I knew I was gonna be on my knees praying for help and I had to prove to Heavenly Father that I am doing all I can. 

#SelfControl  

Next morning I get the emails and recap, great job Utes! JT's pick 6 will play a pivotal role in #UReturn. I get chills just thinking about it. Tough to imagine I actually missed it, still feels like July and fall camp never started in my mind. 

Power of prayer is real peeps. I struggled a bit this week, and prayer pulled me back up. Between "Stick to the Task" getting stuck in my head on a day I felt alone or remembering a video sent a while back of Z singing a child's prayer, my prayers were answered. 

Utes beating Harbaugh was a nice pick me up, but doesn't even come close to the comfort I feel when I turn to Heavenly Father to pick me up. This is the most wonderful time of year. I miss watching game day, miss singing Utah Man, miss tweeting out those UVids, honestly just miss talking football with my bros and recording melt downs of my dad... but the way I see it is I'll have plenty to catch up on in 2 years... Plenty of material for #UReturn... Plus, if I serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength... Maybe I will find a nice daughter of God who will watch gameday with me on Saturday mornings... #WifeThatGirl 

Seconds keep on ticking by, the United Together Eternal Soldiers upheld their legacy, time for me to do the same - Uniting Together Eternal Families

Love ya, 

- Elder K 




Wednesday, September 2, 2015

My Testimony is like a Basketball - August 31, 2015


HEY HEY EVERYONE!!! Weekly highlights -


- elk burgers... Holy greatness. Normal burgers will never be the same. 


- USED THE GRILLED CHEESE MAKER! I even cleaned it this time!!!  #SorryMom


- Splash Elder Potter's companion left for home... Meaning he is with us until transfers on Wednesday.... AHHHH YAAAA!!!! Tripanionship! We get work done! We construct an nba all star weekend skills challenge course with chairs/tables/ and chalk boards at the church for morning exercise. 

- Hokilia ice... Something like that, it's a shaved ice place that some members run. SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! Definitely stopping there on our Montana trips in the future. 

- was so tired during personal study one morning I started scrolling on my hard copy of Preach my Gospel as if it were my iPad... #IPadProbs 


- had our final district meeting before the transfer. It was awesome. Potter led a discussion on working with ward members then I come in and lead a role play off of what he taught. Splash Elders had a lil Stockton to Malone going on. 


--- Got to chill with the rest of the BROzeman zone after, haha I love these guys. Got to meet up with Elder Rose and Okerlund!!! We are pretty tight ever since our ice cream night from a while back,, those guys are studs! Okerlund is in the Orange tie and Rose is wearing the green tie, McMahon jumped in to the pic at the last second too, love these guys! 


- Dinner at a members house...  they were coug fans... felt good talking football even if it was about Taysom and the team down south. Biggest highlight was meeting Seth.... Seth just turned 2 and during all of dinner he and I were talking to each other. Felt like I was sitting with Z, tough imagining that's how big Z is!  Seth also LOVES Thomas the train, I showed him pictures of Z and his trains.  They would be very good friends, Seth and I are tight! Left with a "go huskers" as I walked out the door. 

 - ULEGACY HIT 15K!!!!! Heck yes, that's awesome! Thanks for all the shout outs everyone. @utecentral your tweet was awesome, got me laughing pretty good, haha thank you, #MOARmissions. You guys just wait to see the next one... I have BIG PLANS for #UReturn. Saw a pic of Z and Chase Hansen and that field house is lookin good (lights on it??)!! The hill is gonna be rockin Thursday night! 

Well another awesome week. This work is hard, But it is so worth it! Oh man I love it out here!!! It's amazing how much my testimony has grown, kind of like to think of it as a basketball....

A basketball that isn't fully pumped is still a basketball. Even if it's a little flat, you can still shoot it or pass it, maybe dribble it, but it's not being used to its full potential. 

My testimony before I came out was like that deflated basketball. I had one, but it was never fully pumped up. I never made a true effort to pump it up, at times I was even making decisions that were deflating it. I could still shoot with it, still pass it, dribbling was harder than it should have been, but I still could do those things. I just never did what I needed to, to pump up that ball, and use it for its full potential. 

Despite never doing the things necessary to pump it up, I still had that basketball. Sometimes it got pretty flat, yet Heavenly Father never took that basketball from me, even when I wasn't taking care of it the way I should've. 

Then I left for a mission. And that basketball got pumped up pretty dang fast. 

You don't realize how sucky it is playing with a deflated basketball until you play with one that you just pumped up. My testimony has expanded so much out here. Blows my mind how awesome this gospel is, how simple it is, how powerful it is. My basketball has been pumped up, it's fully inflated because I'm truly experiencing the miracles this gospel brings. Now that I got the ball, it's game time.

Heavenly Father has had faith in me, even when I didn't have faith in him. He had faith that someday I would pump up that basketball, so he let me keep it. He gave me a talent and job that 2 years ago I couldn't even dream of. Gave me a family that continues to grow and become happier, gave me all of this and had faith that I would still give it all up for 2 years. He has continually showed faith in me. 

Now it's my turn to return the favor. To show my faith in Him. I can't even comprehend how truly blessed I am. I want to give him everything, because he has given me everything. Like I said, it's game time. Time to play my hardest game of basketball I have ever played, cause now I have that pumped up ball... Just can't play full court #WhiteBibleProbs 😑

So... Ya transfer calls... I will be staying here in Belgrade (thank goodness, LOVE BELGRADE) and I have been asked to be a trainer. Training lasts 12 weeks... I have been out 6... Now I am a "murry sprtna" so my math isn't that great, but pretty sure that means I'll be training myself AND a newcomer to the field. Nervous??? Heck ya... I'm training and I have been out 1 transfer! But once again the Lord is showing his faith in me, time to get to work, do some training the Elder Pett way... having some fun and working hard. 

It's all clicked for me out here. Everything makes sense. I know what I need to do. I'm loving it. I love how many people I meet everyday. Do I still miss my family??? Oh absolutely, but there's no place I'd rather be. Rumor has it @pettbryan is an emotional train wreck, he told me "I tear up with pride when I think about you or watch your videos". Coming from the man that only tears up when re- watching Stockton's game winner in the WCF... That makes me feel pretty good!!! 

You don't have to be a splash elder to be running a fast break to the Celestial Kingdom with a fully inflated ball. Heavenly Father has given all of us that ball, we just gotta inflate it, show our faith in him. And it's through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can do this... I don't know what else to tell you guys, just read your scriptures, pray, go to church, all that stuff, and you will be happy. I promise, it's that simple.

Do you really think I'd be missing the biggest opener in the history of Rice Eccles Stadium if this gospel wasn't true????

I wish I could play that card while tracting but people here don't realize how much I love the Utes, or especially love my family, but there is no place I'd rather be than where I am now. I got the rest of my life to make memories with my family and make videos, but I only have 22 more months to wear this name tag. Like I said, it's hard, but I love it. Hearing it gets @pettbryan emotional plucks my heart strings, but makes me pretty dang happy that I'm up there with "JOHN STOCKTON SENDS THE UTAH JAZZ TO THE NBA FINALS!!!" 

Big week coming up. For all of us! Elder Potter and I are taking a road trip Tuesday to some small town a couple hours away where we will spend a few days. SPLASH ELDERS GONNA GET WORK DONE, SENDING IN THE DELTA TASK FORCE OF THE MISSION!!! Then Thursday, we become trainers! I'm nervous to train, but pretty stoked! I have strangely been remembering a lot of German these past few weeks so makes me wonder if I'm gonna get a German comp some day... 

Big night Thursday. I could easily head over to the bdubs and watch, but not the first impression I want to give my trainee haha. Utes will do fine, Harbaugh honeymoon is coming to an end! Enjoy it Ute Nation, I'll be there in spirit! #MakeEmQuit 

And last. Shout out to @TeamBetaAlpha who enters the MTC This week. You're gonna rock it man, can't wait for all the movie man dates we are gonna have when we get back. It'll be fun explaining to our wives that we are going on dates with each other and that they aren't invited. You've been an awesome friend for all our crazy style runs and stealth ops, those WILL continue in 2 years. Good luck Zach, been an honor being your director of field ops. 

#AutoBotsRollOut #Chilis2For20 

Love ya guys! 
 
 

- Elder K