Can FaceBook Be More Like Nephi - March 20, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- QOTW from E. Hoschouer - "I have never seen Anchorman but after living with you I feel like I have." #AchievementUnlocked

- Elder Potter is now in the district so of our course our bromance has been rekindled. I have heard from several elders that I just need to be as good as flirting with girls when I go home as I am with elders and I'll be set. #SplashElders

- had missionary Jedi Council (also known as MLC) on Tuesday in Helena. Got up at 3:30 and drove about 3.5 hours there and back so that was fun... MLC was good, President Wadsworth said there is only such thing as dead missionaries not dead areas #ShotsFired

- had dinner at the Potters and the Lynch's came too... you know it's going to be a good night when they say we are having breakfast for dinner and I respond with "I'm a simple man, I like pretty dark haired women and breakfast food" and then we spend the entire dinner quoting Ron Swanson. She also worked for Disney World so we nerded out a bit.

- Elder Hoschouer is going through our speed dial list and asks who "BWW" is... I shed a manly tear thinking about the Mango Habanero.

- during zone training we did a role play where we tried to teach this family while all these distractions were going on... so all the other missionaries were acting as distractions while we taught. Elder Potter yells out a "duh-nuh-nuh duh-nuh-nuh" while Elder Smith acted like he was a March Madness broadcaster and even in the role play I lost all control and couldn't focus. It's a rough time of year for me.

- with that said I have not used Sister Siri to give me score updates so I'm trying hard. #AchievementUnlocked

- when the guy at the gas station told me Wisconsin beat Nova I did a triple fist pump/jump #CalledIt.

- Elder Potter and I both had Duke winning it all so our brackets...#TheyDone. Church is still true though.

- back to missionary stuff #SorryMom, there was a shooting a few blocks from our place so that was fun. #WelcomeToMontana BillingsEdition™

- utilized companionship study to teach Elder Hoschouer the pick and roll. Still trying to convince him the golf course is a wonderful place for some morning study but not sure how far I'll get on that one.

- saw 2 grown men riding a Harley together and that'll probably be me and @teambetalpha in 40 years. #SorryMom

- spoke in church yesterday, Maddie Baird was waving to me and blowing me kisses. Greatest day ever. I didn't want to blow her a kiss back because when I waved to her the old lady sitting on the front row thought I was waving to her and I feared she'd think the same and blow me a kiss back and then things would just get awkward when we go into Relief Society to drop off the meal calendar.

3 spiritual highlights

- ran to Walmart for some bike stuff. A less active lady called out to us and asked which part of Billings we cover. Billings is no Los Angeles by any means but turns out she lives in our area and she wants us to teach her fiancé and she wants to come back to church. We are pumped, his name is Cornelius, he's a stud. If we don't find them, they'll find us.

- had an awesome lesson with the Browns where we talked about 1 Nephi 17 where Nephi builds the boat.. only read the first 13 verses and we had a sweet discussion. Sister Brown pointed out that Nephi barely mentions their struggle in the wilderness, and really only focuses on the positives. She told us she wished Facebook was more like Nephi haha. It was cool, I liked that. We need to focus on all the good.

That was a big difference between Nephi and his older brothers, he had the right perspective and he remained humble and grateful.

- Had a lesson with Wayne. He's been struggling with some stuff and we had a good lesson. Mid way through the lesson the spirit just knocked him on the chest and Wayne's all "I haven't been reading my scriptures... that's why! I NEED TO READ! I'm getting up early tomorrow and I'm going to read!" So he gets goin on this little rant and it was awesome, he's such a good guy. It was sweet seeing the Holy Ghost inspire him.

Seriously fam, If you are struggling with desire... read that book, you will know it's from God.

A lot more I wanna share... this stuff is pretty sweet. I spoke in church on the topic of "what I want to do differently when I go home".

Tough to not go full on #TrunkFest2k17 when you are thinking about that all week, but it definitely got me thinking. It's been a wild ride but wow Heavenly Father has taught me a lot and I'm grateful for that. Especially grateful for the family I have gained out here. Gave that talk on the two year anniversary of the mission call... what.Just. Happened.

Life is good fam, gospel brings joy. Simple as that, all about family.

S/O to my sister Abby for giving me a niece! That was a sweet surprise this morning :) she has 9 months to be tall enough to get kicked off of space mountain with her Uncle K. IM SO PUMPED TO MEET HER AND ELI!!!!

Love ya fam,

- Elder K

*train pic for Z

* big 3 selfie at MLC

* zone pics

 

* AT-AT tree house #FamilyGoals

* this was Tag being a tiger (tag-er) at dinner

* Elder Potter - "don't let go of me Jack!" #Splashtanic

* hope you all had a wonderful Cody Day. Got this from cody in Tennessee.

The Charizard Chalkboard - March 13, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- crazy crazy week. We had transfers and training the new missionaries. 4 sisters came in so it was a small group but still a blast. New missionaries are the best, it's a lot of fun getting to hang out with them their first few days in the field.

- told them during training to follow the Tim McGraw doctrine and they'll be good.

- Elder Hoschouer had this deep idea about an alternate universe where I introduce Optimus Prime into the Jedi Council then I wife Padme.  That's a good way to describe our companionship from the last week.

- went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and (100% not planned I promise, mom) Duke vs NC was on and since Frank Jackson was playing I justified watching that one while we were there. Last March Madness as a missionary coming up... I can do this.

- we sat behind the Baird's at church and their family continues to be #FamilyGoals. However the saddest event in the history of mankind is when Sacrament Meeting ends and people start getting up and Maddie knows it's time to go to nursery and she starts crying... and as she gets carried out she tells to us "bye"... seriously plucks my heart strings more than the end of Toy Story 3. It makes me wonder if I can even be a dad someday it's so sad.

- watching a video in EQ and Jenny Goldsberry popped up on the screen and that caught me off guard a little bit.

- #NerdMomentOfTheWeek™ was at dinner last night. The guy is telling us about his mission and how he came home right when the first Transformers came out. I say "so you served 8 years ago?"... he pauses to count the years and says yes... he's looking a little shocked I knew that, his wife is too, even Elder Hoschouer is... then I tell them I'm a big Transformers nerd. It was a little embarrassing. It just slipped out.

Yeah, it was a wild week and I'm glad to get goin on to the next.

Training the new missionaries was a for sure highlight. When I arrived I was so scared so I'll take any chance to calm their nerves  when the new missionaries come in. It's nerve racking, a lot of unknown and uncertainty, but man it's fun. Never thought I'd be the one saying that.

I was gonna give you an in depth analysis on the sweet experience I had with 2 Nephi chapter 4: 12-35 this week but instead I want to challenge all of you to read it and let the spirit teach ya. One little tip... really put yourself in Nephi's shoes.

The Book of Mormon is sweet fam... I know it's the cliche stuff you hear a lot but if you are a looking for a desire to choose the right, be happy, get through your trials, all that... read that book - Pray - attend church. I see it all the time with people. They stop with those 3 and so does their desire, but just as easy it is to lose that desire you can gain it back. Why??? Because those BIG 3 bring the spirit into your life, and it's the spirit that drives us.

A lot more I wanna share but I think we'll call it good there.

Anyway, Read that chapter, tell me what ya think and I'll tell ya what I think. 2 Nephi 4:12-35

Love ya fam

- Elder K

Pics

- during training we did a role play on finding. Pres acted like a guy at a bus stop... STL's were a door approach... I was playing ball and my name was DeAndre... Hoschouer was playing Pokémon go. To make things more realistic I drew myself a hoop and I also drew a pitiful looking charizard and told the sisters they have 2 minutes to teach Hoschouer until his attention is averted to a wild charizard that appeared...  So after 2 minutes I started running around with the charizard chalk board while they were trying to teach him. gotta get em ready for the real stuff. Pres just sat there and laughed... I honestly wonder what he thinks about us lol.

 

- *post transfer nap on floor of office*

 

- walked into the church one night and they were jousting and playing basketball with hover boards.

 

- Riverview Ward cameo appearance in West Park Ward

Shark Week - March 6, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- had another good night with Tag... we played "Ghost Ninja Fire Pizza Monster"... it was pretty intense. At one point I was the "Ghost Ninja Fire Pizza Monster" and I was hiding behind the door and jumped at Tag with an Elmo doll and his face was priceless.

--- scare a 3 year old. #AchievementUnlocked #ImAMonster #AdventuresWithTag

- had a solid dinner with the Bishop. We discovered the pure excellence of the combination of flaming hot Cheeto puffs and Nutella. Possibly gonna be my new go to college snack.

- Elder Hoschouer explained to me the plot line of Les Mis. I'd still rather take a steel toed boot to the nuggets than watch that movie ever again but it made a lot more sense with no one singing and the characters being referred to as "wolverine" .. " cat woman"..."pirates of the Caribbean mermaid girl"... etc.

- we had a stake missionary night with the youth. It was a blast. All the missionaries in Billings were there and we each manned a 3 minute station on preparing the youth to serve. Super fun being around the youth.

One kid had a shark tie so we went hardcore on talking about shark week and another kid had a beautiful Utes tie so of course that made me shed a manly tear of joy and we nerded out a bit. Overall a very enjoyable experience. Makes me want the dream calling of mission prep even more.

- we had our departing missionaries take off this weekend so we got to enjoy another #TrunkFest2k17. Biggest perk of all being we get to attend the temple with them. Pretty solid group. Then we have transfers and training the new missionaries this week. Craziest week of the transfer is in full swing... so I'm going to be taking a fat nap on Friday when transfers are over.

2 spiritual highlights of the week:

1. We have been working with an older less active gentleman for the last 8 weeks. Very down to earth and humble man. We have challenged him to pray at the end of the lesson for the last few months and each time he says "next time." Well this week "next time" finally happened and he offered a very sincere and simple prayer. Few things beat hearing someone pray for the first time or first time in a while. It was sweet.

2. The station I was at for the youth missionary night was "Taking on the Name of Christ". For an hour I talked to the youth about the significance of our name tag, and since then it's been on my mind a lot. I remember when I first came out and I'd often sit there, see my name tag, and think "wow, I'm really doing this." Over time that has worn off and I have gotten used to it. Since that night however, I have been reminded how fortunate I am to wear Christ's name everyday.

We take on the name of Christ when we are baptized sure... but for these 2 years we really get to put it on.

Like I told the youth that night... you wouldn't let just anyone sign into your

Twitter, Insta, FB... and start posting from your account...yet Christ trusts us to take on his name and act on behalf of him. We will all fall short, but that's why we have the Atonement, so he can help us overcome those obstacles and become closer to being like him.

The Gospel is sweet, all it does is teach us how to be more like the Savior so we can return back to our Heavenly Father and be with our families.

Missions are like a magnified experience of that. They are big shoes to fill wearing that name tag and carrying on Christ's legacy, but I'm grateful for the chance to try.

Love ya fam

- Elder K

Pics

- Dysfunctional Zone Pics

- oh yeah we got up at 4 am Friday to drive to Helena (about 6 hours there and back) to pick up #TrunkFest2k17 and it was a pretty drive.

- temple

- captain ammonica giving Groot the "you had one job" stare.

Ghost Ninja - February 27, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- Last Monday night we drove to Bozeman for zone conference the next day. That place feels like home. We went to the YSA FHE event which was toilet paper dodge ball and it was so good seeing everyone.

--- shed a manly tear when Cache King #💰 👑  said "is that Pistol Pett in the flesh?!?"

- zone conference was sweet. Got to see Elder Bennett which was great, I love that guy. Fun catching up on all the adventures we had in the #BozeForce Zone as well as quoting Halo and Old Greg.

- dropped off a present out at the Broughtons and that family still amazes me, they're awesome. Gospel is sweet.

- Belgrade... Bozeman... that's a special place. I love it there. Felt like I was back with my family.

- Montana weather is the reason why I have trust issues... sunny and

50, then blizzard the next day... then back to sunny... back to snow today...

- can't remember if I mentioned this last week but we were knocking doors and I'm pretty sure there was a dead body in a garbage bag... #SouthSide (check the pics)

 - we updated the GPS and found it necessary to get some new vehicle icons.... we can now pick between R2, Millennium Falcon,  XWing... and Optimus Prime... if you only knew how excited I was for Optimus Prime.

I think for most people the missions help them grow up but I honestly think I'm more of a little kid #SorryMom.

That's all I have for ya this week. Nothing too crazy. We have been giving a lot of blessings for all types of different reasons and I'm really grateful we have that opportunity. We gave one to a recent convert from the sisters ward who is facing a lot of trials yet is so faithful. She's a young mom from Brazil who left her abusive husband for the church. She has one remarkable story, I won't get into all of it but she's been a member for a whole month and she's teaching me what faith and sacrifice really is. She strengthens my testimony as do all those we get to teach. Also got to give a blessing to Tag then play Ghost Ninja with him and that was fun... don't really know how to describe the Ghost Ninja game... lots of running and hiding and screaming like all other games we play... I love Tag haha.

We teach all kinds of people in different situations and in different trials, but the universal theme I notice day in and day out is the Gospel blesses families. Simple as that. Doesn't mean your life will be perfect, but you will be happier. Heavenly Father is so eager to bless our lives.

Yeah that's it for the week. Life is good!

And happy birthday s/o to Lala!!!

Love ya fam,

- Elder K

Pics

- last DM of the transfer so I unleashed all the Disney treats

- #WelcomeToMontana

- south side

- construction worker Tag

- I was tired one morning and put on 2 watches 🐭

- #AutoBotsRollOut

- happy birthday lala!

#Target Acquired - February 20, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- went to Costco... on the tv, Stephen A Smith was arguing with some other dude on ESPN and it made me think of mine and Elder Well's companionship.

- forgot to mention last week Wayne showed up in suit and tie so we sang Sharp Dressed Man for him at church.

- got a card from my mom explaining that next Valentine's Day maybe I'll have a girlfriend but I'm not sure how to break it to her it'll probably be @TeamBetaAlpha like always.

- went to the Pine Wood Derby to watch the Baird's son. He kicked butt. I had to hold the bench back when he came in first on a race.

 

- The kids were telling jokes from the mic at the Pine Wood Derby and I wanted to get up and say the good old "what does the BYU fan do after BYU beats Utah... they turn off the Xbox and go to sleep" joke but for the sake of stake missionary trust I didn't. Plus I'd hate to get sucker punched.

- also had a ribs night with the Baird's and they are #FamilyGoals I'll just leave it at that.

- got a Kylo Ren lightsaber keychain from Kurt so that has been added to the personal study desk shrine. I need  to be careful cause it's starting to look like I worship Groot.

 

- other additions to the Personal Study Desk Shrine™ includes my Bell valentine from Diz and putting a captain America head from a pez dispenser onto Ammon... possibly my best idea ever... yes we had a photo shoot during comp study.

 

- weather is heating up... which is so nice. Missionary work is 100x easier in nice weather. Already been playing pick up games of basketball and backyard football with kids and that's my kind of finding right there.

- someone mentioned the last name "Summers" in Ward council and that instantly sparked me singing "Summertime" by Kenney Chesney under my breath while thinking about the Panther... #Soon #TrunkFest2k17

- lots of exchanges this week. Was only with Elder Hoschouer one day which was a bummer but it was cool being around the other elders. E. McMiller, Ison, Shumway, Berret, Tippets, and my boy from the beginning - Elder Schneider. Had a blast with all of them, fun time.

K cool miracle of the week... so a few weeks ago, Elder Hoschouer and I went to Texas Roadhouse. Our waitress handed us a "play it forward" card.

What you do is look for someone wearing the described article of clothing on the card... before you give it to them, you write something new for them to find. And it goes on and on.  You can type in a code online and see where it goes and all that. Just keep on reading and you'll get it.

So I was wearing a pink tie and that's what the waitress needed to find, she gave me the card and wrote "red hat". When we got this card we joked that we would find someone wearing a red hat that is ready for the gospel... yeah...

So this card has been chilling with Groot and the lightsaber showcase on my desk for a few weeks... but Thursday I felt prompted to stick it in my shirt pocket. I was on exchanges with Elder Berrett that day and we had ZERO lessons set, meaning a day full of finding. Fortunately it was good weather and we hit the streets talking to people. About 2 hours go by and not much success is coming, but we kept on praying God would put us in the path of someone who would be ready for our message.

*man bikes by

*man is wearing red hat!!!!!

* I whisper to Elder Berrett "#TargetAcquired"

 We yell out to him and go over and start talking. This guy is super chill, really open with us. Super funny, just a cool dude. He expresses interest in us coming back... pretty sweet right! Before we leave I hand him the card (wrote Air Jordan's on it) and explain how I felt like I needed that card today. He then told us the red hat he was wearing... he never wears it, but that morning he felt like he needed to. It was starting to click in his mind that we were sent to him, and he told us a bit more about recent events in his life that proved that Heavenly Father directed us towards him.

Stuff like that doesn't happen all the time as a missionary but when it does... it's pretty dang sweet. Who knows if this guy gets baptized... or reads the Book of Mormon... or any of that...  ideally he would, but in that moment we were able to boost his faith and testify to him of eternal families all because of a card we got at Texas Roadhouse, that alone is worth it.

It's a crazy life out here but it's pretty cool. I'm learning everyday... the Gospel is neat. Do your job and Heavenly Father does His, simple as that.

Love ya fam

- Elder K

Pics

*temple

*when you take your Kylo Ren light saber to district meeting but you don't want to get rebuked by the sisters so you just play with it under the desk

* playing "fire monster" with Tag. Who ever is the fire monster hides and then the firefighters go and chase it down then the fire monster chases the fire fighter... I don't know how it works but we have fun.

Yes, Tag is holding a dinosaur light saber.

* Personal Study Desk Shrine™. You can sum up my life in these pictures.

 

* pine wood derby... I shed a manly tear when I saw the guy standing next to me was a Utes fan.

 

*special celebrity guest star Elder Baird came to visit the office today. #GOAT

 

It's Not Always Highlights, But This Week it Was! - February 13, 2017

What's up Fam!!!

- it was a whopping 37 degrees one night so went to get Cold Stone to cool off. Never in my life would I think 37 felt so warm.

- while at Cold Stone, "Humble and Kind" came on the radio and I shed a manly tear.

- Startin to get real salty with all the churches here talkin crap on us but that's ok we can still try and love them. When I want to verbally light them on fire I just remember the Tim McGraw doctrine.

- got to do an exchange with Elder Hendricks, throwin it back to the MTC district days. Had a good time, great Elder to serve with.

- Wayne Sherman's quote of the week - "God is my CEO". I love that man. He and his wife are doing great.

---- k cool miracle this week. Elder Christensen and I were together for a few days, it was awesome... we went and checked out this insane neighborhood with nice houses. Elder Christensen gets a prompting to go talk to this guy outside picking up dog poop... his house was unreal... so we get talkin... he's a Kentucky fan #StillSalty... he asks what church we are with... he says the guy painting his house goes to that same church... I'm all "is his name Wayne???"... the dude tells us that's him... I START FREAKING OUT IM SO EXCITED, so we went in and saw Wayne and got to talk to this guy some more. What are the chances??? Pretty neat miracle, coolest part of it all was Wayne told him where he goes to church, he's on fire. He's sharing it with others too.

- Zone Conference in Wyoming this last week also. That was fun... got to see the missionaries there which is fun. Came back and had our exchange with Elder Christensen and Dougherty.... goooood times. Can't believe it's been 16 months since Elder Christensen and I teamed up in #BGrade.

- had our meeting with President last night and he was confessing some of his mission stories while we were eating cookies and milk... Sister Wadsworth just sat there shaking her head. Before we left we were told "what is said in this office stays in this office".  I love those two.

- just now realized next month is March Madness and we are going to fill out brackets with President... that's going to be gold.

Ultimate highlight of the week... probably highlight of the two years, was getting to see the fruits of our work from the Fall of 2015. Corey was someone Elder Christensen and I saw a lot of potential in, and every Friday we stopped by at 1 to chill with he and Briar and talk about all kinds of guy stuff... one of my last days there he told us he wants to be baptized and sealed to his family... we were shocked but at the same time, we knew all along he was gonna take that step, we just needed to be his friends. Corey was baptized shortly after I left Belgrade and this last weekend we got to attend the temple with he, MiKayla, and their little boy Briar for their endowment and sealing.

There's a lot I don't know about the gospel, a lot I'm still learning, but one thing I can absolutely testify of is the difference in this family from when I first met them in July of 2015, to now. It was NOT easy for them. They had to make changes, they had to commit, they had to show faith... repentance... baptism... ALL THAT, but they did it, are STILL doing it. They are doing what is asked of them. In return Heavenly Father is giving them what is promised. I know it can be hard seeing the big picture with the Gospel sometimes, but if you honestly put that trust in Heavenly Father he will pull through for you. I'm so grateful for their example to me and our eternal friendship, along with getting to share that experience with Elder Christensen. After it was over, the 3 of us stood there in the sealing room talking about cheese burgers and beards... just like old times.

It's not always highlights in a mission or real life, that's something Coach taught me back in #HamTown, but Saturday was one of those highlight days. I look back at my mission and it's pretty miraculous how things just work out or happen. I know Heavenly Father is the one in charge.

One last little miracle... We walk into the temple Saturday and guess who is there in the waiting room... Alex, the girl we taught back in the fall in Bozeman! Despite her family threatening to abandon her she's wanting to be baptized this summer... and she's traveling 2 hours with the rest of the YSA to the temple just so she can sit in the waiting room. How sweet is that! Plus I got to see others from the YSA which was great, I miss them a lot.

Then, that got me thinking... How many of us that can actually do ordinances in one of the 10 temples within a hour drive of us even go to the temple regularly???? Wayne is telling the guy he paints houses for where he goes to church, he's already passed me up on the missionary work I did before my mission!

These investigators, converts, returning less actives, they teach me.

I love it. It's a neat experience seeing how much they are willing to give up for the gospel that I was fortunate enough to have and be raised in by a supportive family. I really love my family here, It also took all self control to not start screaming when I saw the Bozeman YSA in the temple.

Still a lot to learn but some stuff you just gotta sit back and soak it in cause those little miracles are everywhere.  Gospel is pretty cool. Sorry this was all over the place haha.

Love ya fam

- Elder K

Pics

- Temple Sealing & Red Robin... Corey challenged me to eat the Ghost Pepper Burger and it was glorious

 

 

 

 

- dysfunctional district pics

- stayed with the Greybull elders and they bought a pack of NBA cards from the grocery store. They had Jakob's rookie card and let me have it! #PoeltlPower

- big sky

- Wayne's new thumb drive he bought on amazon... Wayne = G.O.A.T

- castle house

- sat next to a sun beam in church and we were drawing fire breathing dinosaurs and then this was him at the end of church... #Goals