August 12, 2013
Hello friends and family,
What an insane week it has been!
After we said goodbye to everyone Monday and Tuesday, we left the house about 7 AM to head for Missoula. In Missoula, Montana I got in a transfer van that took me the 3 hours to Helena, MT. There in Helena I was notified that I had been preassigned to drive one of the mission's Ford Fusions to Billings.
So I am driving along and made it about 20 miles outside of Helena, traveling down the freeway about 70 mph when I see this brown blurr to my left. I brake and slowed down but there was nothing else I could do... I slammed into that poor coyote at about 60 mph! And I was following the transfer van so I could not stop and just kept driving for another 2 hours or so until we got to Boseman, MT. There I was able to look and see the damage... Let's just say the front end of that Fusion was pretty tore up ;/.
So did I break the rules of no hunting? ;) Haha!
I continued driving from Boseman to Billings and made it to the Mission Home about 5 PM. There I met my new companion who is straight from the MTC. His name is Elder Linton and he is awesome! He just barely turned 18 years old right before graduating high school. He is so pumped to be out here and is such a funny guy! He is half Tongan which I have fun with because he eats like one and totally knows it! Haha! He dishes it right back with the fact that I'm balding. He said when he first met me he thought I was at least 23 haha!
Elder Linton and I got acquainted as I continued driving in a 2013 Toyota Corolla down to Lovell, Wyoming. We got there about 8 that night and I was so wiped out from driving all that way, we just spent the night with some missionaries there and then finished the drive to our area the next morning which was about another 3 hours. So now we are in Riverton!
Riverton is a town of about 10,000 people. There are 3 wards here and now with us here each ward has its own missionaries. In our ward there is over 500 people on the role and about 130 active members that attend. Many of the inactives are Native Americans as our area borders the Shashoni Indian Reservation. Much of our area is run down and what we would call 'ghetto'. We have to be careful in many of the areas we go to contact people. We live about 6 miles out of town, in the country which is about a mile from a prison :) Some sketchy things have happened the last few days but I know as we serve the Lord in doing His work then we will have His protection!
Our area has not been cared for much and the records have not been kept. So Elder Linton and I are here to clean that all up, find investigators, gain the trust of the members and just work hard doing whatever is asked of us. We are off to a rough and slow start because of the way things were when we arrived but with some time and help from the Lord, this area will be booming.
Some asked what the weather is like here... Well it gets into the 90's but usually rains in the late afternoon and really cools down at night, so the weather isn't bad but what kills me is the BUGS! This is bug central and I am getting eaten alive! This town does not have street sweepers, it has big vans that drive around spraying the streets for bugs but out where we live we don't get that luxury ha ha, so we just get eaten!
It is all a part of the adventure!
I love it here and am excited to be here and serve in new capacities. To answer the question... I am over 6 companionships and it has already been extremely challenging dealing with a few things but I truly am thankful for the trust the Lord has in me and I seek to do His will in all things, including in leading my district.
All is well and I am loving it all!
I know this church is the true kingdom of God on earth, I know He lives! I know that salvation only comes through the saving ordinances and covenants we make with God. I know as we all strive to be covenant keepers and stay true to what we promised at baptism and in the temple then we will be greatly blessed because God is always going to hold up His end of the deal. It is my hope and prayer we can all serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength and hold up our end of the deal by being covenant keepers, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment