Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Big Money - August 29, 2016


WHATS UP FAM!!!

- so we play football/basketball in the mornings with B1 and B2 elders. It's a lot of fun. I was running for the end zone and as I dove over the imaginary pylon Elder McElvany tackled me midair and I flew into the end zone #StartPlayingUtahMan. Felt like Jereme Brooks in 08 vs Colorado state. (I'm a nurd. Wow.)

- later that Monday as we are playing basketball at the stake center I got the grand idea to jump up on the stage like I normally do.  Completely forgot my left leg was still dead so my shin took out the edge of the stage. That was a lil embarrassing. #WhiteBoysCantJump

- move in day was this week. "By the beard of Zeus"... If you know what I mean. College... I miss it, not gonna lie. Got a pic with Champ Bobcat mascot). He doesn't have laser vision like Swoop but he's still alright.

- Saw Bukie! The girl from Nigeria! We saw her again and she wants the lessons. She's cool.

- we were helping some students move in one morning and it didn't go as long as we anticipated so we went to district meetings about an hour early... Elder Bennet made the grand discovery that if you detach the mic in the primary room it looks like a game show mic so... Things escalated quickly and I drew a wheel on the board and next thing I knew I was Bob Barker and Elder Bennet was spinning for BIG MONEY.

Then Elder McElvany took the mic and ran the game show and this went on for a while till the sisters walked in on us and gave the "what the fetch is wrong with you elders - this is why we can't have nice things" look to us.

- Elder McElvany is my Cody out here. Short, fast, buff, and freakin hilarious. I give him nick names depending on the event. When he dances in the pocket and scrambles for a touchdown in football = McElManziel, basketball = McBuckets, anytime I quote Ron Burgundy and he responds with "I love lamp" = McBrick Tamland. Our Ron Burgundy - Brick Tamland quoting unity is on point.

- biking one night and not much going on on campus, pretty dry. Elder Hunter said we should pray and I'm glad he did. Felt prompted to bike somewhere and we saw this guy wearing a SWEET Captain America shield backpack so our inner nerds exploded everywhere and we biked over. He and his 3 friends were from Turkey and just got here. They were awesome. We had a lot of fun talking with them. They even took a Book of Mormon and want to meet more with us. 2 of the girls saw us the next day at Catapalooza and were pumped to talk with us. It's an awesome group.

- The Zone is actually doing pretty well. Each companionship should have a baptism this transfer which is pretty awesome! They still make fun of me for being afraid of raptors but haters gonna hate.

- There was a big graphic map of the US in one of the MSU buildings and they are letting students color in parts of the US so I colored Utah red and drew a drum and feather on. #SorryJonny

- CATAPALOOZA was this week. Big opening event at MSU for clubs and stuff. Had pretty good success walking around and contacting. Talked to more people in about 5 minutes than I did all freshman year combined so #AchievementUnlocked. There were a few Jack wagons who wanted to throw down doctrinally but overall it was good.

- there was a CPR booth set up so I gave it a shot. I started singing "staying alive" and then pretty much quoted the entire Office - cpr scene in honor of Elder Christensen. The college girl working the booth was busting up laughing, the 2 EMT guys... not so much, so props to the girl for getting the reference. And no I did not cut the face off like what Dwight did. (YouTube the Office - CPR)

- softball team was practicing and a girl knocked one out and I yelled "DINGERS"... Also in honor of Elder Christensen.

- Dexter gave us a ride to the baptism in Townsend (about a hour out).

We show up and I ask how his dad is doing (his dad and I are on equal tiers of college football obsession) ... Dexter said he had a migraine and was asleep. I explained to Dexter that those are the pre season college football migraines and Dexter responds with the #ShotsFired of the week by saying "his body is preparing itself for all the heart break it'll face when the Cougars suck this year".

- after Jon's baptism we are chilling at Mariah's place. We were talking about languages and when I told em I know a little German #CelestialLanguage #TeamUchtdorf Mariah yelled at her grandma to come over who is from Germany to talk to me. I completely froze up and lost all knowledge of the language so that was rough. Afterwards Cache leans over and asks if I'll choke that bad talking to girls off my mission. #ShotsFired. Hopefully not cause we are still wanting to do Montana double dates.

This week rocked. Really don't even know what to say. Jon's baptism was awesome. A true blessing being able to see his testimony grow this last month. Mariah sang "Come Thou Fount" at his baptismal service and that was amazing. Told her she needs to do a hymn mix tape for the missionaries and she's down! A few of the YSA came too so that was fun, I'm just loving everyone out here. It's a family.  I joked I wanted to baptize John Stockton when I found out I was coming here, instead I met an even cooler Jon and now we are brothers.

Also got to head out and see the Robisons last night. That was a great reunion. Brought back a lot of memories of last fall. Before we left I asked Brian if he wanted us to give the kids a blessing before they start school this week. That was another neat experience, I've really gotten close with that family the last year.

My testimony is founded on family. I know this gospel blesses families, I know that's what Heavenly Father wants us to have. My family probably isn't the most conventional Mormon family out there (#DirtyDisney) but we grew up with a home that was looking towards God. We had a worthy priesthood holder as our dad/@pettbryan and the most Christlike person I have ever met as my mom. There's a direct correlation there with how happy we were.

It's tough, cause you don't see your family out here. You kind of forget what that all feels like back home. I can sometimes feel that foundation going out from under me, I forget why I do this. Then you teach, you get close to families, both investigators and members, and you see that joy. And it reminds you of what you had. It reminds me why I have a testimony in the first place. It's all about family. If I don't ever understand more than that, that's all that I should need to know. The Book of Mormon, the priesthood, a Christ centered home, it's gonna lead to eternal happiness. How can that not be of God?

This is the real deal. This gospel is changing a lot of lives including mine. I love it. I still don't know everything, but what I do know is this gospel is the best shot we have at joy. As much as a I miss my family I'm grateful I can share that joy out here. Especially grateful for the family I have gained out here.

I love ya fam. I'll be listening for a "yell that rings through the mountains near and far" come Thursday night. Make 'em quit U-Boyz, uphold the legacy. We need one more good season for UReturn ;)

- Elder K

PICS

- MSU
- price is right


 

- we steer away from politics but on a scale of 1 to Elder Christensen this dude was a yes.
 
They also used Ron Swanson for their political campaign. Taught him the plan of salvation after this picture too, it was sweet

- Jon and Mariah!!!


- Dream Team. I love the YSA. Dexter - me - will - Jon - Cache. Hunter
- Mariah's bro - Mariah - Rachael - Tracy

- train pic for z
 
- a panda and a girl holding hands #WelcomeToMSU

Monday, August 22, 2016

#SquadGoals - August 22, 2016



What's up fam!!!!

 - YSA FHE we had a Bon-fire. Cache found a giant spider and put it on a plate and gave it to Rachael and it was possibly the most #Savage/#WellPlayed move I have ever seen between EQ vs RS.

- MLC was on Tuesday. Splash Elders sat by each other of course.  Sister Wadsworth was having a discussion on "loving the missionaries"and she said "you can't just say - I love you - to them and not mean it". So I turn to Potter and say "Brick, do you really love the lamp or are you just saying that cause you saw it?".

- MLC gets done. Elder Wells and I are bromancing a bit and talking about the meeting and he said "there was a good 30 minutes there you were staring into space and I'm pretty sure you were thinking about Utah football".

- We were stopped at a light and this bunny was dodging traffic in the intersection like John White IV in his prime. We have 4 elders in the truck screaming for this bunny to make it out alive. I thought for sure it was #ItDone but it survived.

- We have started up Thursday night ward ball. Had about 6 investigators show up. Big hit! I played like crap until Cache and I started running a pick and roll that would have given Stockton and Malone tears of happiness.

- went down to #BGrade for dinner with THE Bishop Carlson and family.

Super fun night reminiscing of the good times last fall #DontEatPoop.

Bishop still wants to see the dirty Disney, I forgot I told him about that. #SorryMom.

- Bought Elder Hunter Applebee's for hitting his year mark this week. 2 tender mercies, 1. USA vs Spain basketball was on (mom, I swear I had no idea.) and 2. One of our investigators was there so we got to see her and I'm not trying to be mean but she wasn't hungover and that's a big plus.

- Elder D. Todd Christopherson rolled into town on Friday. He was one funny dude, reminds me of Grandpa Phil. Shared some cool insight and certainly boosted my testimony. He mentioned how earlier that day the Brethren threw a cake and ice cream birthday party for President Monson... #SquadGoals

- when I shook hands with Elder Christopherson I mouthed #AchievementUnlocked to Elder Potter.

- The super solid family we found and helped move a month ago...Remember them??? Well we are helping the grandma move too and she is so sweet. She has a lot of reasons to be discouraged right now but EVERYTHING good in her life she points out how it is because of God, I loved that, I wanna be more like that. Old people for the win!!!  #TDFW! She kept on telling us how we are angels in her life and that was neat. I'm telling ya, that whole family will join the church one day. Shout out to UHaul trucks.

- church was great. Some of EQ was spent signing up for fantasy football leagues. Since LDS.org/fantasyfootball is unfortunately blocked on our iPad we can't play but I'm an honorary team consultant for some of the guys so that's fun. 100% biased towards #UtesInTheNFL but that's ok.

- When not talking about fantasy football the rest of EQ was spent talking about marriage and the struggles of dating so that was exciting and made me not want to ever go home. #SorrySisterDS #SorryMom

- Elder McElvany called and when he asked what I was doing I told him I was dropping depth charges (which I was) and his response was "it's a Monday". I could have cried I was so happy he got the reference. If you got it too then major bonus points.

My favorite part of the week... We got a call from Mark Bell from down in the 801 and he had someone that needed a blessing for us to go and visit. Since this person isn't YSA I wanted the elder that would cover that area to go with me, so Elder McElvany and I went on a split for the night. Loaded up on some gas station slushies and we made the hour drive to Big Sky (BEAUTIFUL DRIVE AND TOWN, miniature park city) and we visited this family. Another one of those experiences that words just don't do it any justice. We talked a lot about families, ETERNAL families, the Atonement, and the priesthood. I was fortunate to give the blessing and one of the more powerful moments of the mission.

Elder McElvany and I stopped at the river and skipped some rocks on the way back. We had a good talk about how special that experience was. We got to play a part in giving that family hope. We got to help them.

Driving through the mountains. Putting down a huckleberry slushy.
Jammin to James the Mormon with my boy McElvany. All to tell a family it's gonna be ok, that God loves them and has a plan. It's hard out here, but those nights make it worth it. Like my grandma Joann (what she has us call her) taught me this week, you look for any good and give the credit to God, no matter how bad the rest is. It's tough, missions grind you out, but I'm grateful for any opportunity I have to help brighten someone's day.

Love ya fam.

- Elder K

Happy birthday this week to the best mom ever. Thanks for putting up with @pettbryan and I and all our #SorryMom's. You really are the best. Thanks for being the best Christlike example in my life, love ya mom.

*Pics*

* this ones for Z!
 
* #WelcomeToMontana

 
* the #GOAT of all bunnies

 
* 5:30 ball Montana style

 
* me and my boy McElvany



* stopped by the first apartment when we went to the Carlsons for dinner in #BGrade




* we watched some Olympic highlights in Sunday school

Monday, August 15, 2016

Crossbows & Football - August 15, 2016

WHATS UP FAM!!!

- Saw an Ohio license plate and shed a manly tear thinking of @TeamBetaAlpha 

- We had a cop follow behind us for like 10 minutes and I didn't get pulled over. #AchievementUnlocked

- Talking about pride and forgiveness with this girl in a lesson. Straight up whipped out the Yoda "fear leads to hate, hate leads to..." Quote. She had no clue I was quoting the #GOAT of the Jedi council so she probably thought I sounded super profound but the member present gave me the head nod and wink so at least he got it. 

- transfers were on Tuesday. Let's just say that Elder Potter and I were the cause of all problems in the world that day. #SplashUnity 

- girl in the YSA is going back down to the Salty City to go to school on the Hill and I may have shed a manly tear when she said she's signed up for the MUSS. Missionary or not... It's that special time of year. 

- Elder Hunter came in Tuesday, he's a stud. We are gonna get work done on campus. Been super fun. 

- went 3/3 on lessons dropping us one night. #AchievementUnlocked  

- Met this old guy that works at Walmart that wants to put elk sheds on the front of the floor cleaning machines and then run over the management staff and kill them. #ThatEscalatedQuickly 

- Elder Earl and I had a Nerf war and then had a sweet 2 on 2 football game with some kids at a dinner one night. There is a freakin nerf cross bow. I nearly cried when I saw that. 

- Long story short we ended up in a trio the last few days with Elder Merrell. He is new to Belgrade as of Wednesday so we have spent most the time there showing him the ropes. Got to go to sacrament meeting there and Kayla Turner spoke (recently returned from her mission). It was awesome. Always feels good being back in #BGrade. 

- C-Rich comes walking around the corner during Sunday school and says "chivalry is still alive" then his 10 year olds come walking around and the boys have girls on each side with their arms linked.
--- C-Rich = #FutureRMGoals 

- capped of the night at the Turners. I don't know if there is a closer home to my actual home on a Sunday night than the Turners. Freakin love them. Few of the YSA was chilling there too and we did a Mexican Horse Race... Those Mexican horse races never get old.  #Arted4TheWin

Yeah. Freakin stressful week not gonna lie but if I don't like thinking about it then I doubt any of you want to hear it so we'll leave it there but the church is still true and how the freak I'm a ZL1 I don't really know and gosh just one of those "we have no food, we have no jobs, OUR PET'S HEADS ARE FALLING OFF" weeks of missionary work for the zone. 

We did have a another sweet lesson with Jon. Also got to hike Palisade Falls with he and the YSA last week. Mariah (his girlfriend) came too and she's awesome so I pretty much third wheeled hardcore but I'm really good at that due to pre-mission life so it was fun. Jon set his baptismal date for August 27 and I'm really pumped for that. 

Being in Belgrade was another big highlight. In a way it feels like I'm a new missionary all again, man it makes me miss Elder Christensen though! You don't fully realize how much you love a place till you leave it. So many memories there. 

Kayla did a awesome job on her homecoming talk. She said something I really liked. "The gospel is about progression, if you stay the same it isn't working." It also got me to @pettbryan (v.  act of being emotional) a little bit as she talked about the families she taught and had a impact on her life. As she is talking about this,  Corey, Mikayla, and Briar are sitting in front of me. The Broughton's are one of those families I'll tell stories about. Hit me right there how special some of these experiences are despite having the weeks where crap hits the fan and you don't know what to do with your hands. 

Church is true fam. This is tough work but wow, you look at a family like Corey and Mikayla last August compared to this August and it is evidence of what this gospel does to families. Last August we'd be happy to give a simple message. Fast forward a year and I'm teaching them about being sealed in the temple in December. Cool right??? Church is true. I gotta say, I don't know if there is anything cooler than having your recent convert pass the sacrament to you and then later that night having a contest to see who can eat the most tacos at Sunday dinner. It's a family up here, family on 3. 

Yeah, this is hard, not gonna lie. Freakin missions. Always stay humble and kind though right??? That song came out while I have been out but this is Montana... We hear it everywhere, plus you ain't going 2 years without ever hearing the song that defines how to be a missionary. Taking that song to heart right now. 

S/O to Z for turning 3 this week. Love ya buddy. And s/o to Elder Christensen for hitting the big ONE this week. #DontEatPoop

Love ya fam, 

- Elder K

Pics 

- Palisade Falls with Jon and Mariah. #3rdWheel4Dayz

 
- Eder Earl and I. He's a boss. Love that guy. 

 
- Elder Baird (vehicle coordinator)  firing shots. Sister - 50 ft pile of dog crap - elders. #ItsScience

 

- happy birthday/mission birthday's to my boys. 
 

 
 
Elder Pett and Elder Hunter rushing to their next appointment
 
Elder Pett and Elder Hunter on transfer day.  (Thanks John Johnson for the photo!)
 



Monday, August 8, 2016

MoTab > FGL - August 8, 2016


WHATS UP FAM!!!

- President Wadsworth came in to interview the 4 missionaries leaving #Trunkfest2k16. We were talking about salad afterwards and it was brought up that in this zone we don't eat the food our food eats, pres thought that was hilarious. #ZoneOfSwanson

- We were stopped at a light and jeep full of girls stop next to us jamming hard to Florida Georgia Line so I rolled down the window and blasted "How Firm a Foundation". #MoTabForTheWin #TDFW

- We made "Title of Liberties" in district meeting. Main theme for mine being "Legacy" of course. Curious if BYU Video will copy me on that too???... I mean, nothing shows tradition, spirit and honor like copying your rivals highlight video from the year prior. 🐸☕️ #ULegacy

- got a cool prompting to try a house with a Oregon State flag. After a little dose of talking Pac 12 football and venting how much we hate the Oregon Ducks we got a new investigator out of it! #BackThePac #HackettsStillRunning

- Right after, we got another prompting to walk on this river trail. I couldn't tell if it was me wanting to explore or the Spirit directing us to someone (probably yes) but we rolled with it. About 10 minutes in and we started playing catch with 2 wide receivers for the Bobcats.

Pretty cool guys. I threw a spiral to one right in stride and for any of you that have seen me throw a football you know that's nothing short of a miracle. #ChurchIsTrue.

- while on the walk back I noticed a familiar face having a BBQ in his back yard! My old landlord from Belgrade! So we went and talked with him and his family. He has a daughter YSA age which is sweet, really good people. #LactationStation #NeverForget. Promptings are sweet.

- met this awesome girl on campus from Jamaica!!! Her name is Bukky (pronounced bookie) she was so freakin funny and has some interest in the church. Sick accent too. We got talkin about football and she claims that football here isn't real "football" like what they have in Jamaica. I tried to have a rebuttal but once she brought up that in soccer you actually use your feet I lost that argument real quick. Well played Bukky.

- said goodbye to Elder Crane on Friday. Also got to see Elder Metcalf too as the van came through with the other departing missionaries. The trunkines was radiating so freakin bad from that van. But yeah, Elder Crane was awesome.

Grateful for that transfer I got with him.

- Elder O'Connell and McElvany too had companions go home so the 3 of us entered a trio till our companions come in Wednesday. Oh yeah, Elder Coby Hunter is coming in btdubs. But yeah, trio has been fun, Elder McElvany has been out 10.5 and Elder O'Connell has been out 2 so no more #TrunkvilleUSA. We have been spending a lot of time in Belgrade too so that's been awesome! Trips down memory lane for sure.

- went out to the Watts for dinner. Their dog is a big ol golden retriever and the Watts claimed she still thinks she's a puppy. Didn't really know what that meant so I was playing with her then next thing I know she just jumps up onto me. So funny!!! I couldn't do a thing about it. It was awesome.

- went to the Turners. Their daughter just got back from her mission that week. Turners rock. Family #Goals right there.

- Stopped by to see C-Rich and Leah. That was awesome. Felt like old times when I'd walk in there as a new missionary and Cameron would dish out the missionary advice. He's played a big role in the missionary I am.  He's the closest I have to a Brady/Kasey/Kurt out here.

- church on Sunday... I was back in Belgrade 1st, wow that felt good.  Can't believe that's been a year, seriously. Felt like I was at home.

Cameron handed me his study journal to use while I'm in Bozeman and looking through that thing it's practically PMG 2.0 C-Rich special edition.

- went to the most fire primary class ever... 9 year olds feat. Boo-Ya

(Kenny) and C-Rich (Cameron) as teachers. It was so much fun. The 3 of us kind of dove head first into the depths of deep doctrine right there in the middle of class but it still went good and I think only two 9 year olds had their minds explode.

- Bishop Carlson noticed one of my suit legs became un-hemmed so he offered to get it fixed. I went 6 months without anyone noticing #AchievementUnlocked. Bishop Carlson = Real MVP.

- made it to the YSA in time for Sunday school. Jon was there. Jon loved it. Jon is freakin solid. They said that for FHE we are hiking Palisade Falls and I was contemplating if we can justify doing that...then Jon leans over and tells us he "needs" us there so we are good.

Jon isn't even an official member and he knows how it works with us missionaries.

- Tracy and Rachael claimed they are concerned that Cache and I have a bromance. #HatersGonnaHate

Pretty awesome week, fam. Had some neat spiritual experiences. First off is Jon, I don't even know where to start with Jon. He is so willing and grateful and ready to be baptized and make those covenants with God. It's just so cool and I feel so lucky I can play a part in his conversion. We are bro's too. Bro's in talking sports. Bro's in b-dubs. Bro's in ping pong. Bro's in the gospel. I love the guy. I wish I could explain what those lessons are like but I can't. Partly because those are some of the more spiritual moments of my mission and also because words really don't do it justice.

Along with Jon was really just being in Belgrade. Being around the families that were there for me when I started the mission. Robisons were out of town but I did get to have dinner and spend time with the Barbers and Broughton's. Man, Corey is on fire!!! He and Mikayla are doing great and Briar is huge! He's already 1! We went and read scriptures with them last night and it's amazing seeing what the gospel does to families.

And last one I'll share. I thought I'd go knock a door that I knocked a year ago while on an exchange with another elder that was only out a few weeks with me. The house that later led to Elder Potter and I becoming the "splash elders". For those of you that don't remember, we met this guy and his friend and talked for an hour+ with them about the gospel and even got one of them to pray for the first time. Well one year later I thought I'd try em again. Troy was outside and we had a good little talk. Said he's not ready to be fully religious but mentioned that that prayer he said with us a year ago changed his life. It helped him. Gave him strength. Gave him faith that God really loves him.

I don't know if Troy will ever be baptized or accept the gospel, but he felt God's love after that prayer. That's a win right there. Potter and I knew that was a special experience, we still talk about it, but little did we know that Troy still thinks about it.

Those moments with Jon or the Barbers or Troy, or even the little moments like talking to two wide receivers about Jesus, they make it worth it. 13 months today I have been doing this missionary work and it's still pretty rough at times, but seeing that spark of hope or how the gospel changes lives, it makes it worth it.

Had a chance to have some one on time with Sister Wadsworth while those interviews were going on and she said how nice of a feeling it is taking off the name tag each night knowing you laid it all out there that day. Myself and President may not fully agree on her stance on eating more salad than double bacon cheeseburgers... But I do agree with her on that one. Feels good knowing you give it your all out here. This work is special, it's teaching me how much God loves ALL of us.

Church is true fam

Love ya

- Elder K

PICS

*Titles of Liberty. S/O to Elder McMahon for the sweet idea. Mine was probably the most worldly Title of Liberty made. Coach Whitt quotes.Disney quotes. Tim McGraw. UA.... Etc.. #FamilyOn3

 
 
*#BaptizeKeith
 
* $6 goes a long way in a missionary's food budget or else I would have bought this. I have always wanted a baby groot.

 
* Elder Crane and Elder Metcalf
 

* the dog. So funny. Seriously just jumped on to me and wouldn't let me leave.



 
*Briar, he's HUGE now.

 
* dinner with Gina and Kenny.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Golfing with Bambi - August 1, 2016

What's up Fam!!!

- golf was awesome. Stovall was telling us how much the police department hates Pokemon and Washburn Happy Gilmore'd a drive 250 yds down the fairway. First time I have ever seen that work and first time I have played golf without hearing a swear word... #AchievementUnlocked

- had a MLC in Helena. We rode in the transfer van with some other ZL's ands STL's. The elders were knocked out cold asleep while the sisters are in the back discussing the needs of the mission. 

---- Sisters - 50 ft pile of dog crap - elders.

- MLC was straight up fire. During the meeting someone brought up zone unity and Elder Wells and I turned simultaneously to each other and winked from across the room. #ZoneOfEnoch #NeverForget.  Great seeing he, Metcalf, and Splash.

- Keith Urban is coming to MSU on Thursday and I plan on converting him because 

A. Worth of a soul is great.
&
B. I could really use some normal people music and maybe if he's a member it'll be approved.

- Speaking of music... the USB we listen to stopped working one day... And apparently it just changes back to radio when it does this. So one day I was all "wow! This sounds like a legit country song!" Then after about 10 seconds of innocent, glorious, worldly sin I realized it's not the Mormon kidz bop (EFY music) they make us listen to and that it was the radio. My bad. We turned it off quick.

- We drove to Billings one day. We talked with the office staff and President and Sister Wadsworth and that was awesome. We made it a good hour without any #PersecUTEtion then Elder Baird saw his opportunity and took it...

*departing missionaries have to watch these "my plan" videos about what to do with your life when you are home #TrunkvilleUSA. Elder Crane keeps his volume up loud so I get the divine opportunity of hearing all of this while I still have a year to go. Honestly, a majority of it is brainwashing the missionary into getting married as fast as they can. Seriously, it's straight up brain washing. It's a good thing I made my Ron Swanson marriage intervention video to watch when I get home or else I'd stand no chance like the rest of these missionaries.

Anyway. Elder Baird and Crane are talking about the dating videos. I have been out a year, I have no business talking about going home... So I'm standing there being the third wheel I was born to be, and Elder Baird says "I hope Elder Pett is paying attention when you watch these videos... He's a Utah fan so he'll really struggle dating"

#SubTweet #ShotsFired #PersecUTEtion

I turn to him and...honestly didn't even have a come back. #TruthHurts. Just told him "well played" and gave him a high 5 and he started laughing. I did however leave a note in his office before I left. I asked sister Baird for a pen and sticky note... She asked "what color?". President Wadsworth was standing right there and he jumps in... "red, he needs a red one."   #PresKnows

- Pres and I spent some time sharing different techniques for making ramen. Also explained to he and Sister Wadsworth what all the Pokemon craze is.  I tried to get it approved but they told me nice try and denied my request, Sorry team.
 
- out #Tracting🚜💨💨 one night and this guy opens the door and welcomes us in. He and his wife were leaving on a service mission for their church in Nepal and were having a farewell party and let us join in! We turned down the beer offers but I was down to have a burger. Super cool people, just a summer night of burgers and jamming out to classic rock and talking football. We are gonna help one of em buck some hay this week.

- at one point they took a friendly little jab about Mormons. I forgot what, I think it was about the alcohol. We could tell they were just having fun but it goes all quiet as they await a response from us... I just say "shots fired." And they all bust up laughing... They were drunk so they laughed a lot harder than was probably necessary but I'm glad they thought it was funny. It was such a fun night, awesome people.

- went to Wendy's and the same old lady from last year that hands out mints was there! Same one that was there when I had my emotional breakdown last July because of the frosties #NeverForget. She remembered me too!!! She's awesome.

- met two girls on campus one day. We find out they work for the parks department. I ask girl 1 if she's the Ron Swanson... She says "nah, more of a Leslie Knope". Girl 2 - "I like chain saws and killing things so I'm the Ron Swanson". *gives a well deserved high five*

- met a freshman football player on campus and he's interested. Took a Book of Mormon. He's a big poly from SoCal playing o-line. This is my "in" for going to Bobcat games now... Right?

- church was awesome. Someone taught a lesson based off of Voldemort putting his soul in horcrux's and how it affected him. Kinda like us putting our souls in things of the world... FREAKIN MIND GRENADE RIGHT!!! #MindBlown #WelcomeToTheYSA

- Cache makes fun of me in Spanish and I know enough German to throw it back at him. #HailHydra

- met a dude playing Pokemon who claimed he was a philosopher and also believes that Avatar is real. I'm down.

- went to Logan's house, he just got back from serving in Tennessee with Jessop and Lightfoot... Wow... That house was unreal. It was just he and his brothers home so we talked with them. Played ball in their indoor court. The brother bounced the  ball on the opposite wall and it went in first try. I went nuts I was so amazed. #AreYouKiddingMeMarv #PANDEMONIUMinRiceEcclesStadium. Ya... Then they shot their guns outside. Felt like I was living a "dude perfect" video. 
  
- we held a zone training on Friday. We have a few companionships struggling to get along so Crane and I's goal was to help them understand it's ok to not be the exact same as your companion. Ex: Crane has taught me  everything I could know about World of Warcraft. I have taught him college football. It works. So we did a "how well do you know your companion" activity and I think it was a hit. Helped them see how much they can learn about their companion. Hoping we can make it to the end of this transfer without any companionship inventory homicides.

- We also acted out HOW NOT to get along with your companion and it was pretty fun.

--- this all felt like something Michael Scott would do not gonna lie. #Goals.

- I did a discussion based on characteristics of Christ. Talked about who we aspired to be like growing up... Who we acted like. Got a list going on the board. Everything from Odell Beckham Jr. to Ash Ketchum to Beyoncé was up there. We talked about how we acted like them... Cause we watched and studied them. Gave the example of Brady picking up his golf ball like tiger woods... Or how my nerf wars and #StealthOps were/are based off of Jack Bauer. Tied this all back to if we want to be like Christ we need to study what he did and who he was. Probably the most worldly discussion in the history of zone trainings but it made sense in my mind. 

BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT of the week... Our lesson with John. John is one of our investigators getting baptized in August. Solid guy... So solid. Outside of the Robison's I don't know if I have ever met someone so prepared for the gospel. We taught the Plan of Salvation one night and that was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had on my mission. Cache came with us and he even said he hasn't felt the spirit like that since his mission in Argentina. John was talking about his future family and how he wants this for them... Like I said, so solid. That's just the surface of what happened, but it was a lesson I'll be talking about for a long time. John and his testimony has strengthened mine big time. We have a tight bond with him.

That's it for this week! Elder Crane bounces back home saturday and I'm gonna miss the guy! Our interests are pretty different but it made the last 6 weeks super fun. Like I said, he's taught me everything I could know about World of Warcraft and I now appreciate LEROOOOOOOOY JENKINS even more.

As you can imagine with an elder who is in his last transfer... It's been #TrunkFest2k16 but we worked our butts off and I'm proud of him, he's earned that plane ticket home. Half our zone goes home in the next 3 months so our zone is honestly  #TrunkvilleUSA but for the most part every one has stayed working hard.
Don't know if it's tougher to believe I still have a year left or I have been doing this for a year. Sat on the couch one night this week sipping down a punch bag and it made me think of those nights sitting on the panther drinking a punch bag thinking "what the freak am I about to get myself into?"... Over a year later and here we are haha. #MOARpunchbags
I'm loving this, I'm feeling God's love on a whole new level.

Love ya fam. Church is true.

- K
PICS

* golfing

 
*Bambi
 
* that Wendy's cup tho! #Doctrine
 
* mandatory huckleberry ice cream sandwich selfie

*train pics for Z

 
*putting pass along cards on Cache's truck cause he needs the gospel too. Cache is awesome. We dish it to each other. 

 
*some of the "aspire" list 

* zone pics. #ElderHeisman 

 

* "dude perfect" house. Yes that's a cross bow. QotN - "hunter why do you have a headlamp?" Hunter - "IT FEELS COOL ALRIGHT!" 





 
* another Filmore 

* #WelcomeToMontana 

* Voldemort and the gospel 

* S/O to Diz and potato boy. #UteNation m|_|m