- 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
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