Tuesday, May 31, 2016

"Family on 3" - May 30, 2016



WHATS UP FAM!

 ***Alright gotta start off with what is quite possibly the highlight of my mission when it comes to the non spiritual stuff of these 2 years.***

I'm pretty blonde as most of you know, I do some stupid things. I'm blonde... I accept that. Well we take off for Missoula Tuesday night to stay with the Missoula ZL's. MLC is in Helena that next morning so we stay at their place so we don't have to drive very far the next morning. We get to Missoula and to the ZL's apartment complex and we walk up some stairs and I go to open the door...

*This is my 3rd transfer going to MLC's... We always sleep over at the Missoula's apartment. I have been doing this for quite some time now, I don't need to knock, they know we are coming, I got this... 

Those are my dominant thoughts but in the back of my mind I'm thinking hmmm... Maybe I should knock... but nah I don't need to knock! I got this! 

*opens door 

*hears "Westbrook to Durrant, Durrant for 3... GOT IT!!!!" 

For a good, solid, LONG second I'm staring at the screen thinking "WHY THE FETCH DO THE MISSOULA ZL's HAVE A TV IN THEIR APARTMENT!?!?!?" 

Then it hits me... I look back into the corner of the room and see a stunned college student eating dinner alone at the table just staring at me while I'm standing inside his apartment with my suitcase and pillow in hand while wearing church clothes...

*WRONG APARTMENT! BACK PEDAL PETT! FREAKIN BACK PEDAL!*

I instantly start apologizing, I'm all "shoot sorry bro! Wrong apartment!" 

*at this point Elder Wells is now on the ground 5 feet behind me trying to contain his laughs 

Luckily he was a chill college student and not a disgruntled old man that has a 12 gauge. I tried to clear the air a little and sharing the gospel didn't seem too appropriate so.... 

"What's the score?"
"Thunder are up big." 
"... Oh sweet... Well. Cya later!" 

For those of you that have seen Dumb and Dumber it was a "big gulps huh... Well cya later!" moment 

And that was that. ... Most awkward... Funniest... Greatest... Longest 4 seconds of my mission. just try to picture all of this. I step out and shut the door and Wells and I are practically on the verge of tears we were laughing so hard. 

So ya, I accidentally broke into someone's house and got the score of the Western Conference Finals and didn't get shot at during the process. #AchievementUnlocked. Missoula just gets me out of my comfort zone. They have more people than cows and I'm not used to that. Too many apartments. Too many people. Considering all the things I have heard about Missoula It's probably a miracle I only walked in on an innocent college student watching the NBA...

Yep. Had to share that with ya. I'm blonde. 

Moral of the story... "Beware of pride" when thinking you know what you are doing and the world must be soon coming to an end if Westbrook is passing the ball so we better start repenting. 

Alright here's the other random highlights of the week...

- I was sick Monday and Tuesday so not much happened those days. I don't know what it was but it messed me up haha. At one point I was wondering if @dahlelama and @jonnybgbold wishes came true but I'm good now. 

- got haircuts and the Utes Banner continues to hang proudly. He claims that one has gotten the most attention from customers. Good or bad I don't even care. Haters gUn hate! #UteProud

- we got some propaganda for another church in the mail... I'm ok with that, we all wanna share what we believe.... Then I look at the back and it says "4 MAJOR CULTS" and I see "MORMONS" on there and I yell to Wells... "BRO WE MADE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR!!!!" (We are a little sports deprived if you haven't noticed) So we now have it hanging on our wall like its a March Madness bracket or college football playoff schedule and slap it whenever we leave the apartment/tunnel for motivation purposes. Not sure how eternal families and Christ centered lives and serving your neighbor makes you a cult but hey MORMONS WE MADE IT! #CinderellaStory #WeWantBama 

- Wells doesn't like hurting animals so he swerved to dodge a bird and ended up drilling it instead and I know this sounds awful but it was pretty funny. 

- member told us he spotted a Mountain Lion in his backyard. We bike near his house ALL the time so that's a little sketchy. I have decided if we come across one I'll just look it in the eye and say in a Australian accent "this is our world and you're just living in it" then run past it for a first down on a fake punt. #HackettForHeisman 

- We and the sisters are planning a big ice cream "meet the Mormons" party in #HamTown #TDFW. We meet up to discuss it and Elder Wells and I struggled slightly with staying on task but the sisters kept us in line so it was still somewhat effective... 

*** once again... 
- sisters 
- senior couples
- 50 foot pile of dog crap 
- elders 

 * so Wells and I were trying to figure out a way we could slyly get people's contact info so we can stop by and see them... I thought it was a decent tactic! 

Sister - "that's deceiving, you're taking away their agency." 

Me - "Moroni used Strategem in the Book of Mormon..." 

Other sister - "ya but that was war"

Wells - "THIS IS WAR!!!" 

***keep in mind this is a ice cream party we are planning for***

*goes all quiet 

*we are trying to keep a straight face 

Sister - "yep... These are our zone leaders." 

And that statement is probably the best way to describe Elder Wells and I haha. We get work done... but we are also eternal 5 year olds and we get distracted sometimes and we are kind of losing our minds a little because it's May and we aren't watching play off basketball but missionary work is better so it's ok!!! #Squirrel 

- got a text from Sister Meuchal asking what the wifi password was for home base. I thought that was pretty funny. 

- we go to dinner Saturday night and they fed us probably the most interesting meal of my mission. Doritos, chili, sausage, cheese, and ramen. Freakin awesome!!!! 

- Took us like 8 tries to send a voicemail out to the zone because we were laughing so hard the entire time. I don't even remember what we joke about but it is non stop laughing for us. Love Elder Wells.

- got flashed a gang sign by I swear the only ghetto car in Hamilton then seconds later street contacted into a elderly lady that was super nice but told us we are wrong. That was a rough sequence of events. 

- One morning I'm reading Alma 44 for personal study and verse 6 stood out to me...

Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us

For those of you that don't know, @pettbryan has a pretty short fuse when it comes to us taking away his food and there was one time I distinctly recall him threatening Brady's life if we didn't show him where we hid the Mrs. Fields cookie... So I wrote in the margins so it now reads... 

Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up the Mrs. Fields cookie - @pettbryan

Ya, those were the little highlights of the week. Pretty awesome week. We had our MLC on Wednesday in Helena and I'm really starting to enjoy those. Any opportunity we get to hear from President and Sister Wadsworth is special. I have full faith in them leading this mission and it's fun sitting in on that council. I was able to sit and talk with President during lunch and I really do love and look up to him, we had a good talk. Told him how I sent a picture home and apparently my socks and slacks didn't match so the next week I got a package of socks from my grandma... He laughed and told me I now know how to rig the system whenever I need new clothes. I love President. So grateful for all he and Sister Wadsworth do. 

... He's also a total crack up. Sister Wadsworth is telling us how fast the last 11 months have gone and President chimes in "they feel like 3 years to me!" Sister Wadsworth just death glares him and keeps on going... I think President knew he was in the dog house for that comment so when she gets done with her discussion he jumps up and kisses her in front of all of us and then points out they are the only ones allowed to do that. Wells turns and whispers to me "fetch bro, Pres is makin me trunky!" And I whisper back "Pres has more MLC kisses than I do in my life" #SorryMom.  They're awesome, I love them.

Work is going strong. Still haves a lot of individuals and families that are on the brink of baptism, but we are getting really close. We held a zone fast for everyone's investigators yesterday and we know that will help. It's a ticking time bomb with our teaching pool, just waiting on the right time and more importantly gods time. We also found a cool young family Saturday, we walked out of the apartment that morning with the mindset of finding a family and the Holy Ghost guided us to one. Pretty sweet, we'll see what happens! The mom invited us to come to her sons baseball game so we are going on Tuesday, #Dingers. We are keeping our focus on families and we are already seeing potential with a few we have found through #Tracting🚜💨 and street contacting, it's all about families!

Work is progressing and it's the season of missionary work. "Schools out the nights roll in. Man, just like a long lost friend you haven't seen in a while, and can't help but smile!" ... Summertime by Kenney Chesney isn't on our approved list so someone go jam out for me... But ya! Great time of year for missionary work, just gotta keep on onwarding ever onward! Elder Wells and I see big things on the horizon for #HamTown. Get work done baby! 

We also held our zone training on Friday and once again, this zone is solid. I told them during my discussion that Elder Wells and I really don't know what to do with them in terms of training. Obedient, consecrated, diligent, just an awesome zone. During the training we talked about times we felt the Saviors love, and it got me thinking... 

Shared the time I was having one of my pre-mission "I'm in a glass case of emotions" breakdowns and I was praying for help. Joshua 1:9 came to mind telling me to not be afraid and an overwhelming sense of love came to me. That experience was close to a year ago but one I remember clearly. That made me think of another scripture we shared the night prior to someone. 

Moroni 8:16 - "perfect love casteth out all fear."

After receiving some sad news this morning, I want to tell all of you how much I know that scripture to be true. There's a lot of reasons to be afraid in this life, but with the love of our Savior Jesus Christ, the love from our Father in Heaven, and the love from our family around us, that fear can be gone. I don't know why things like this happen, but I know God loves us. I have felt that love, I have seen and witnessed it, and that's why I testify of it. Families are forever, I know that. Trials like this still hurt, but it is so comforting knowing we will see them again. That love from our Savior and family is so strong and prevalent, there is no room for fear or doubt. I'm so grateful we have been able to help the Matson family these past few weeks. It's a heart breaker for me, I don't like days like this, but it's a reminder of how powerful the message is that we carry. It's all about families. I'm so grateful for my family home and my Montana family. I dream of the day those families combine and it's been special watching that happen with the Matson's and Meuchal's these past few weeks and I know we are all united in this tough trial. My mom emailed me this morning and said something I really loved, "eternal best friends". That's what my mission has been and I'm so grateful for the families and individuals that have changed my life. The Matson family is one of them, which makes today rough, but I'm so grateful for their influence on me. Brother Meuchal pulled me aside yesterday before church and told me that if our family being able to help out theirs was the one reason why I needed to serve a mission, then it was worth it. I'm so grateful that I was placed here so we can help them. This one, simple way we could reach out to a family going through something we went through a few years ago has made these 2 years worth it. 

This is tough, I don't like these days, but it's why we have the gospel, it's why we have a Savior. I don't know everything, I'm not perfect at teaching, heck I can't even get the apartment right for the Missoula zone leaders, but there is one thing I do know and that is we will see our loved ones again. And IF we do the things we need to, we get to live with them forever! You better believe that "If" makes me want to do my best and help others. I want to be with my family forever. And if there is one principle that motivates me to do this work it's eternal families. I know we will be with them again. 

 

Love ya Fam, I love you so much and I'm so grateful for you and that I can be with you forever. Especially grateful for Sister and Brother Matson and their example to me. Family on 3.

- Elder K

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIZ! I love you so much Diz. Thanks for being my friend and for being so freakin cute. It's been crazy to watch you grow this last year and how big you are getting. I still remember how I'd be sitting in my room working on a vid and I could hear someone struggling to get up the stairs and a couple minutes later you'd peek your head into my room and come play with my Swoop hat. I know my friends loved you and you loved them, You were a total player with them so I imagine Kurt is nervous about that but can't believe you are already 2 Diz, Have a happy birthday! 

Pics 

- Stevensville Zone (L to R - elders Tenney, Peterson, Bills, Michelson, Wells, ;) , Thomas, Angle...sisters Parsons, Embry, Felemi, Adamson,) Elder Mikkelson is our visa waiter taking off for the Netherlands today, gonna miss him! 

 Final Four
When you have Hamilton members staying at your home in Murray
A member who knows my love of the Mouse and RES sent me this

Happy Birthday Diz


 

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