- hiked Palisade Falls last Monday
after emailing. Incredible! Hike to the falls was like a 10 minute walk... But
getting to the TOP of the falls was the real fun stuff... Have
already been told I'm not allowed to do that again by my mom...
- made brownies for Larry for his
birthday. Larry is a 75 year old investigator that we have been meeting with
for a while, awesome man and reminds me a lot of my grandpas (probably why I
like him so much). He's lived alone for 35 years and we invited ourselves over
to celebrate his birthday with him... And made him "celestial
brownies", layer of cookie dough, then Oreos, then brownie. Coined the
name celestial due to its heavenly taste and eating one will speed up the Plan
of Salvation process for ya....
- helped unload two GIANT TRUCK
LOADS of potatoes to people, #WelcomeToMontana. Kurt/potato boy would've been
so proud, even if they weren't Idaho potatoes. Wonderful opportunity to serve,
talk the gospel with people, and get absolutely filthy!! 20,000 + potatoes!!!
That's almost enough to feed everyone hopping off the BYU band wagon!!!
- rock up at the Pommervilles for
dinner. He answers the door and had no clue he was feeding us (girls were all
at the women's session). Fired up some microwaveable burritos and we told
mission stories (pretty weird I have "mission stories".) it was
pretty awesome, Bro Pommerville is a good dude. He taught his kid that shooting
others in the head with a nerf gun is bad by shooting him in the head so he
knew how it felt... #DadGoals. Reminds me a lot of Jared, his wife looks like
Karly too...
- had dinner with the Evans
family, they actually lived in Murray a few years ago! They have a little girl
who just turned 2 named Marlee. Elder C talked guns and hunting with the
husband while I read from the Mickey Mouse club house book and did the hot dog
dance with Marlee, #NoRegrets. She's freakin awesome, just like Ezra, except
instead of "desth" it's "da". Her and Z would be best buds.
Marlee is also becoming a big sibling in a couple months.
This week was awesome, once again
it went crazy fast. Wish I could tell you EVERYTHING that happened but it's
probably not possible, instead I'll just focus on Saturday - 9/26/2015 will
forever be one of the greatest days of my life.
"The following takes
place between 6:23 am and 11:50 pm. Events occur in real time."
(Does anyone actually get my
movie/tv references??? No one out here does)
Alright we woke up, went and
balled at the church. Found a SWEEEEET ball at the thrift store on Friday for
only a $1, nicer indoor ball than the one I had home, so we broke that in. Got
back and showered and ready for the day only to get a call that more potatoes
needed to be unloaded.... So essentially showering was pointless... So we
unloaded those and went to our lesson with a less active family. Went REALLY
well. They have a daughter who is 8 (her b day is March 22 so we are
pretty tight) so we are really praying and working to get them back to church.
Just an awesome family, taught a solid Plan of Salvation lesson, talked some
football, then took off.
Saw Nora was home so we stopped by
to see her and Oscar. Ended up teaching the entire restoration lesson
aaaaaaaaaaaannnnndddddddd....... HE COMMITTED TO BAPTISM!!!!
#AchievementUnlocked
#GreatDayToBeAMissionary #LightTheU
- Words can't express how pumped
we are for October 31st (date we set)! Best part is how excited they
are. Oscar and Nora both came to church yesterday and it was awesome, Belgrade
1st Ward is unbelievable. Sacrament meeting was based entirely on law of
chastity but they still enjoyed church so I figured that's a really good sign.
#ChurchIsTrue
Ran back to the apartment to grab our suit coats then took off for dinner with the Pommervilles... Already talked about how that went. It was awesome, he's freakin hilarious. Also have a ton of ice cream left over from the shaved ice place so that's always nice. Went to check in on our WML Bro Rogers but he was hunting so instead we played a friendly game of pig with his kid and nephews. Shared a scripture with them and told them to start being a missionary now, not in 6 years. Weird being in those shoes as a missionary, but I love it. Teaching the youth is the best.
Last stop was at the bishop's house. Originally
it was going to be just a quick stop to tell him we got a family on date but
things escalated quickly and next thing you know we are downing milk shakes and
playing with fart putty. It was awesome, love the bishop and his family. It was
the bishop laughing at his 5 year old who was laughing at the fart putty that was
the best. Milk shakes weren't bad either. Was even able to tie it into the
gospel, they had this other black smudge stuff that I compared to
Helaman 5:12. Would you rather have a rock solid foundation in Christ or a
black smudge lifestyle with Satan???? Credit to Mike and Hillary V. for that
one, we practiced those comparisons ALL the time in mission prep.
Lots of stuff in between but that was
the day, rock solid day as a missionary! We headed to the church to report and
sync iPads and as we pull in to the parking lot... Off in the distance... I see
a red block U on a tv. Must have been the university's commercial. TV was far
away enough I couldn't see the score but oh man I had a good feeling. Checked
wifi, saw the emails from Brady and not gonna lie I shed a manly tear of Ute
pride. Nice work Utes, show the nation what we are all about!!!
I was always worried that serving
a mission would make you lose interest in those things you love... Like Utah
Football, music, or playing xbox, or basketball, or making videos, or my
job, or my family. Not exactly true. I have learned to give those things up,
but I still love them as much as I did before, it's just that I love this
gospel A LOT MORE.
Kind of like to think of it as
attribute ratings on nba 2k my player mode (nerd alert, I know).
I used to think that my love for Utah football would go from a rating of 98 to a 62.... Or my love for that mouse would go from a 97 to a 65... My love for my family would from a 99 to 78... And so on the ratings would drop.
This isn't how it works.
I still love Twitter as much as I did 3 months go. I still love takin down tangos on the Xbox or listening to actual music while shooting hoops at night. Still love singing Utah Man, still love the caramel apples I'd get after getting off Splash Mountain, still love my family. Those "attribute ratings" never changed, but my love for this gospel did.
Love for the Book of Mormon 59
-> 571
Love for the atonement... 61 ->
549 Love for the Plan of Salvation - 67 -> 648
Love for Joseph Smith - 59 -> 608
Love for the priesthood - 55 -> 781
Love for attending church - 14 -> 786(not gonna lie this was my "Shaq's free throw" ability of the gospel before coming out)
Love for my family... 99 - 1000
Anyone familiar with nba 2k knows
it max's out at 99... But when it comes to the gospel you can go as high as you
want.
I still love the Utes as much as I
did before I left, WE JUST TOOK DOWN THE DUCKS IN PHIL KNIGHTS BACKYARD!!! But
that's not what made Saturday one of the best days of my life.... It certainly
helped, not gonna lie, but if Utah had lost it still would have been an amazing
day.
It was the hours of lifting
potatoes for people I have never met. Teaching a couple deacons not just how to
ball up, but how to be start being a missionary now. It was sharing missionary
story's with Bro Pommerville and imagining the stories we will all have when we
too return with honor, #ABRO. Teaching the Plan of Salvation and the whole time
picturing this dad baptizing his daughter. It was hearing Oscar say that he
wanted to be baptized, that made Saturday great.
This gospel is absolutely 100%
true, amazes me how simple yet powerful it is. I still love those things that I
left back home, but oh man I have learned to love this gospel. My testimony
goes through complete nuclear warfare out here. You should hear some of the
crap Satan is planting in people's hearts, that black smudge, but it's those
days like Saturday that remind just how powerful and true this gospel is.
Alright spiritual thought for the
week:
3 Nephi 4:
8 And it came to pass that the
armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi,
had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God,
that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.
9 And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies.
10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them.
How often do we drop to our knees
and seek the Lords help when we see the battle coming? Do we fear God more, or
our enemies? Fear is more than being afraid, it's love, honor, commitment. Whom
do we love more, God or our enemies? Put the Lord first, show your love for
him, and in the strength of the Lord you will be protected.
So grateful to be out here serving
the Lord. I know I say "I" a lot in these emails, but none of this
would be possible without Christ. No way I'd be able to do this without the
atonement. Some of the best scriptures we find are in the hymn book. One Sunday
a while back I was having a rough day, decided to flip through my hymn book the
relief society gave me. Sisters of the ward went through and signed their names
on their favorite hymns. Stopped at one hymn that had one or 2 names signed, hymn
98 - "I need thee every hour". LOVE that hymn, except It's not hours
out here, not even minutes, it's seconds. Every second I need Christ. So
grateful for the knowledge that I have of Him, the example he is to all of us.
This is has been the hardest 3 months of my life, and these will be the hardest
2 years, but I already know that they will be the best 2 years. So grateful for
the challenges I face, the way the Lord tests me.
Mathew 26:
39
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt.
We
all fall on our face... Missionaries especially. Sometimes we stumble over our
own feet, sometimes someone pushes us, and sometimes Heavenly Father sticks out
a foot to trip us. But every time we fall on our face, it's an opportunity to
turn to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He's there for us, every second
he's there and I know I need Him every second. If we never fell on our face ,
we'd never learn to get back up, never learn how much God loves us.
Church is true, I'm pretty stoked
for conference.... 3 NEW GENERAL AUTHORITIES! Remember watching the spring
session a few months back thinking the next time I watch conference it'll be in
Montana.... That came fast! I miss home, but no place I'd rather be than
Belgrade, Montana, there's work to do. Thanks for all the love and support,
means a lot!
- Elder K
