Elder McKay Philip Pett: Make Your Own Light

WHATS UP FAM

- We got the zone together for volleyball. Our team was making up names for fake plays and calling em out to make it sound like we knew what we were doing. Super fun. My new theory in life is to just act like you know what you are doing and it's going pretty well so far. Trying my best to implement that into the zone.

- had another sick lesson with Greg in Bro Pederson's home. We planned on watching the Restoration video but his son took the tv to his friends... So we improvised and watched it in the babies room. Bro Pederson gets it set up and it's movie time baby! Lemme paint a picture for ya... Here we are sitting in this tiny room. Bro Pederson (former military, big boy, freakin hilarious) is seated on the floor next to some Elsa and Olaf dolls. MetCalf and I are in lawn chairs. Our boy Greg is in a camping chair... we are surrounded by baby toys and dolls in a tiny pink room... And are watching a video about the restoration of the gospel. Super unconventional but the spirit was there and Greg loved it and it was one of those "yep, I'm really doing this" moments.

- went out to lunch and I heard on the radio "... today's music ain't got the same soul, I like that old time rock and roll" and not sure if it was the Bob Seger that gave me a tear of joy or if it was knowing what that Taco Bell was gonna do to my body that made me shed a tear. Yes.

- during our ZLC call with district leaders and sister training leaders we were talking about the ice cream social we are doing in #HamTown. Brimley asks "what type of ice cream"... I respond "yes." @TeamBetaAlpha's example continues to influence my life.

- biked Satan Summit one last time with Metcalf. ***#MyRearBrakesAreEffectiveAs keeping Jared from cloning jeep keys. (Credit to Elder @TeamBetaAlpha)

- last day with Elder Metcalf we went to see Bishop Hawkes and he took us to the hangar to show us around. There are some sweet planes there. Then he took us to lunch and all I gotta say is Naps burgers + Bishop Hakwes = greatest day of my life. Can't wait to come back and fly with bishop.

- transfers happened on Wednesday. Sad to say bye to Metcalf, but I was pumped for this next chapter with Elder Wells. We get to Helena and Elder Potter was there. Not really sure why he was there but he claims it was to see me so that was nice considering Kalispell is like 4 hours away❤️❤️❤️ <3. It was sad to say bye to Meinhardt and Brimley, can't believe they are done. I've been able to serve around a lot of good elders. Gonna miss all these elders going home these next few months. Meinhardt wants to run #StealthOps with us after the mission and I convinced Brimley to get a Twitter.

- So I find Wells. Total. Freakin. Stud. I love him. Then we find the 2 elders coming in to the zone. Thomas and Tenney. They are also hilarious. That 3 hour drive back to the valley was awesome, I don't even remember what we talked about but we were in tears laughing most the ride. Thomas and Tenney were in the back seat and they reminded me a lot of Elder Mann and Elder Mann.

- Oh ya... So at transfers I completely blanked we had a sister coming into the zone and after a good 30 minutes of bromancing with elders in Helena I remembered this. Went looking around. Couldn't find her. I go and whisper to Potter that I lost a sister and he just starts laughing. I'm thinking "oh crap I lost a sister... Assistants are gonna kill me right here in the stake center parking lot and this is why I can't have nice things". But then I found out she hopped in a truck way earlier and is on her way to the valley and isn't lost and I can still keep my life so that was good. #CrisisAverted #LightTheU #SorryMom

- We get back that night and go out to dinner with the Kannenwishers. She was telling us her speeding stories and my goodness... I thought I had a lead foot. She's 65+ and freakin cruises! Her Cadillac CTS probably does have a little better performance capabilities than the panther but I was still impressed.

- We go and see Greg. He's telling us for the next chess competition he's having his female player just use her female charm to screw up her opponent. He said "I was a young geek like these kids and it rattled me whenever I played a girl and she was staring at me!" So funny. Do what ya gotta do to get the W right??? We got into a super hero discussion also... Greg is DC but I still love him. He's all "I'm a geek, I'll admit it!" Me and Wells - "we are geeks too Greg!" *high fives all around*

- went to the soft ball game. #HamTown was winning big. #Dingers

- ball is still going hard. Metcalf went off like Kobe in his last game before transfers. Wells is a straight up baller. Played at a JuCo down in Wyoming before the mission and after a few months with him maybe I'll figure out how to play basketball lol. He's freakin good. We get done one morning and we get on the topic of ticks. I told em about the tickcident and Bro Poulson told me to sing the "ticks" song by Brad Paisley to my wife one day.

- hit up Naps with Sister Leiter on Saturday night. I love her, she's awesome. Definitely near the top on my Montana grandmas list. As we are sitting there the Meuchal's walk in so we have em come sit with us. Turns out Sister Meuchal was leaving for Murray that next morning to see Sister Matson and is staying at home base this week. Kind of a weird thought that she's eating a naps burger with me one night and Sunday dinner with my family next. They said since our family is helping them out I can bring my family up and stay in their cabin and I'm so down. Super fun dinner. Naps Burgers = Happiness.

- church was freakin hilarious. I love #HamTown, they make us feel like rock stars when we walk in. PEC was fun, we somehow got on the topic of duct taping our kids together when they fight #ThatEscalatedQuickly. This is why we need to have women in our meetings. In EQ we were talking about how to make our wives happy and Brother Pederson says "... Hallmark man, just let em watch their hallmark". You could hear the regret in his voice that he's been in the dog house for that one.

Ya fam, freakin awesome week. I absolutely love Elder Wells. We clicked right out of the gates. We have been laughin a ton, I can't even remember half of the things that have happened but oh man it's been a fun first week. I'll try and share a couple...

- drive from Helena to Missoula Elder Thomas makes a comment about a hot dog... Elder Wells starts signing "hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog!" And I busted up laughing. He has nephews too so he knows all about Mickey Mouse Club House.

- I'm telling him how we named that guys grizzly bear carving Brick in honor of Brick Tamland... Well he also has a littler grizzly bear that needs a name too. Wells says..

"Adams... Grizzly Adams had a beard"

Me - "... Grizzly Adams DID have a beard...

"Adams it is"

He just quoted happy Gilmore with me... We had been together for like only 3 hours... DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS!!!

- while on the topic of Stepbrothers... I got bottom bunk and he has top. Whenever he jumps up there one of us says "I've been meaning to ask you... Do you like guacamole?" Our late night bunk talks are getting up there with the discussions Jared and I would have at night in the bunker.

- straight up told him one day that there are mornings where I wake up and first thing I think is "my lunch hour is going towards taking a nap" and he says BRO I FEEL THAT SAME WAY!!!. We love food. We love basketball. We love naps. We love naps burgers. We love getting work done. We aren't 100% exactly the same... He thinks Disney is overrated, he bleeds blue, and he is ladies man... We are total opposites in those areas, but other than that we are really alike!

We are real with each other, we wanna get work done. Its fun. He's been out 3 months longer than me so we are pretty similar time wise. We are excited for this upcoming transfer and hopefully more.

If you would have told me I'd be having this much fun on my mission I'd look at you the same way I looked at the BYU fan who came up to me in Disneyland and told me Jimmer would have a better career than Michael Jordan.

Best part about it all, is when you are unified the spirit can work more powerfully through your companionship. We have already gotten off to a hot start picking up where Elder Metcalf and I left off. We had a lesson with a less active and when we got there he was feeling pretty down. After we talked about Star Wars and shared a Mormon message with him he was all smiles. I love that, it's so cool helping people be happy. THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!

We had a other lesson with a guy we have been teaching since I got here. It's been baby steps with him but he's making progress. He's a cool guy, pretty big into lifting so he's huge. We have this lesson with him one night and Wells and I were bouncing back and forth in the scriptures lobbing doctrinal alley oops to each other and this Montana manly man with biceps bigger than my thighs starts crying. Completely caught us off guard. He said "I know it's all true". Spirit was so strong in that lesson, I love it! Still has some things to work on but he's making progress.

All about the Holy Ghost. So grateful for that constant companionship and the guidance we receive. Cmon guys, No way I could rattle off scriptures like that on my own, you know that! I'll proudly state I graduated seminary but heck when @teambetaalpha and I weren't going on a crazy style run or constructing a hammock in the back of the dart and were actually in class I was usually drawing up uniform concepts for the Utes or something like that. I didn't know anything about the scriptures! Holy Ghost is the best teacher out there and I'm so grateful all he's taught me. This gospel is sweet.

Lots of miracles. Lots of blessings. Church is true and light the U baby. I'll share one more thing and wrap it up. So we had President come into town for interviews for the zone on Saturday. President and Sister Wadsworth are awesome, I'd do anything for them. President and I had a good talk. We just talked. Had a good chat on the Atonement. Flipped through the scriptures a bit. Talked about the future. How I've changed. Talked about the zone. Our zone is freakin solid and he knows it. Elder Wells and I haven't even done anything so it's not us, we are just super grateful to have an obedient and consecrated zone. We talked about the family too. He told me how lucky I am to have the parents I have. I love President and the way he teaches me it's no coincidence that he reminds me of @pettbryan. Gonna be a good day when my family can meet the Wadsworths. President was right though, I'm very grateful for my family.

While a missionary is being interviewed we all sit out and chat with Sister Wadsworth. It's so much fun, we dish out the sass to each other but she dishes it back so it's all good. She's telling us the light we have as missionary's is about all that's left in a world that's getting darker. Made me think of a scripture in 2 Nephi 7:11 so I shared it with her and the zone

"Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled."

We sometimes wonder where the light is, but need to realize sometimes YOU have to make your own light with your fire. I love that scripture. Make your own light so others and yourself can walk in the light. #LightTheU

Church is true fam. I love it. I love sharing it. I love my family and President is right, I'm very lucky to have the family I have. We have a lot of young men in the ward graduating that are on the fence about serving a mission. The parents talk to us quite a bit about it and you can see they are sad about it. I can't help but see myself 2 years ago. Really wasn't sure what I was gonna do. I had nieces and nephews on the way, the dream job, a high performance automobile that smelt like pure gasoline 60% of the time every time, and the greatest family out there! I'll be real with ya, I didn't want to leave any of that! But I think about what did it for me, what finally clicked, and it was family. The example of my family, the church leaders, coaches, and especially my friends that decided to serve, so many examples. I'm extremely grateful for those examples cause I love it out here and don't wanna be anywhere else... No matter how BA those civil war cereal boxes look or how heated the NBA playoffs sound, a mission is where its at.

So, thanks Fam. Can't say it enough how much I love and appreciate the family I have. Whether that family is friends, church members, coaches, companions, or my family that I love so much. Whatever category it is. Heck, if you take the time to read these incoherent rambling rants then you are grouped in there somewhere. It's all the same, I love ya. Family on 3.

- Elder K

Shout out to Grandpa Pett for getting the National Award of Merit for the Boys and Girls Club. That's awesome grandpa! I doubt you play Xbox so you may have to have someone explain this but you just received a... #AchievementUnlocked

Happy birthday to....

Uncle Mark! Have a happy birthday Uncle Mark!

Lex - have a happy birthday lex!!! thanks for going on ULegacy stealth ops with me since my friends were too busy making out with their girlfriends! Those were freakin fun... Still proud of your conversion to the Utes, not many people can say they have kissed the U at RES so own that. Take the panther on a frosty and Kenney chesney run for me and Look out for those low clearance rock ceilings in Disneyland ;)

My big Bro Brady. Love ya dude. Even though I'm taller than you I still look up to you as much as I did growing up.Thanks for your example and the memories bro. Watching Finding Nemo and playing Kingdom Hearts all night in Australia, camping out for College Gameday, getting up at the crack of dawn so we are the first ones to pick up Madden from Gamestop, stealing the pylon from the '12 holy war. I love ya dude, I love those memories. Really grateful to have you and Britt and Baylee in my life. I still don't regret throwing your game boy in the toilet 16 years ago because there is a 95% chance you were teasing me and deserved it but nonetheless Have a happy birthday big bro.

PICS

* last ZLC with Meinhardt, Brimley, and Metcalf. I Was too lazy to put on my suit so I hardcore high priested it. No regrets. (High Priesting - (v.) act of wearing different colored suit coat with slacks, often done by the high priests in the Mormon church)