Some Lakeside Faces to Names... Finally! (Sent May 31, 2013)

Hey all! Here are pictures of people I worked with in Lakeside. Now the stories I wrote about can go with faces!! :)

Dustin Savage and I.

Dodie Baldauf and I.

Me and the German couple, Stefan and Ute Malz.

Me with the huge Michael Family.

Me with the Michael's who we lived with in Lakeside.

Sherry Williams and I.

As Easy As Riding A Bike

May 27, 2013

"Dear Friends and Family,

      Well this week has been a crazy one. This week my companion, Elder Jones has been sick so due that we didn't work as much as I hoped but we did finally make it out to meet some people. 

 

Gracie Wridge is a golden investigator, she is going to get baptized in the next few weeks or in July and we have some other people who are really promising we are trying to meet this week. 

 

The ward is super nice and accommodating. About 250+ active. 

 

Elder Jones, my companion, does not know how to ride a bike! So we will be working on that. He will be a pro by the time he leaves this area! 

 

Things are going good except health issues so pray for us there. 

 

Thanks! 

 

Love you!

-Elder Organ"

Awesome P-Day in The Bitterroot Valley (Sent May 31, 2013)

Here are some pictures from our P-Day in the Bitterroot Valley. It was all people from my District here in Corvallis. We did a hike outside of Hamilton, MT and there were some great views of Gods country!

 

Elder Cornwall and I.

 

 Here are some pictures of an AWEESOME sunset from our home!

A Few Pictures From Elder Organ (Sent May 31, 2013)

Elder Brown and I on our last night in Lakeside in front of the Beer Patrol ambulance haha!

Beautiful rainbow!

Hey so these are some pics of my bloodshot eye after getting hit in the face at a move.

Ouch!

More of My Transfer Rundown and Polygamists!

May 20, 2013

"Dear Friends and Family,

     Well on Wednesday May 15th I got on a transfer van headed from my previous area to Helena which was a 3+ hour drive. We arrived there and I got in with a Senior Couple Elder and got a ride back down to Missoula. From there I went with 2 Elders to Hamilton, MT (6 miles from my area) where I stayed with them until Thursday evening when my new missionary arrived. We picked him up in Stevensville which is 19 miles North of my new area which is Corvallis.

     

My new missionary is named Elder Jones and he is from Las Vegas, Nevada. He is 19 and he is a pretty shy, reserved guy who lacks some confidence but he is humble, willing and excited to be here. I am honored to be his trainer and will certainly do my best in helping him. We will learn and grow together, I'm sure. 

    

Our area here is Corvallis and Pinesdale. Corvallis is a small town of about 1,000 people and reminds me a lot of Thatcher/Safford area in AZ. It is a farming community in the Bitter Root Valley that is surrounded by mountains. It has a river flowing right through the valley and is really just absolutely beautiful. 

 

Corvallis Ward is about 250-300 active members. The missionaries in the past were on a car share with the Hamilton missionaries and would switch back and forth every couple days but over the weekend we received our own truck! Yay! But we also have a pair of bikes we will be utilizing. 

    

So now about Pinesdale...

 

Pinesdale is a community of Polygamists who in their mind are still fully a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They believe all the same doctrine we do but believe their forefathers were asked by the Prophet John Taylor to live the laws of Consecration and Polygamy until the Second Coming. They are a part of the main Polygamy group in Utah. I have never heard about these people until my arrival here a few days ago and am still learning a lot about it but anyways we do cover that area. We are only allowed to go there with the Bishop or Ward Mission Leader and only by invitation to go teach there. Pretty crazy stuff. 

    

Well this new week ahead should be an exciting one. It is hard enough to get doubled in but the area book was not updated regularly which is frustrating. But it is what it is and we will piece everything together as time goes on. 

 

Just must go forward in faith and trust in God. 

 Thank you all of you for the letters and support! 

 

Love you all!

Love, Elder Organ"

Elder Organ's 1st Transfer

May 16, 2013   

"Well we are all just jumping on real quick to say we got to our new area safe and sound. 

Tuesday afternoon/night we said goodbye to everyone which was really hard to do for some. Then drove North an hour to Columbia Falls and got there about 10:30 PM, got to bed about midnight, and up at 6 AM Wednesday morning. 

On the road by 7 and drove all the way to Helena where I transferred my luggage into another trailer and rode with Elder Pippo (Senior Couple Missionary) all the way back to Missoula (which is crazy because Missoula is only about 90 minutes from where I was in Lakeside but because of how it worked out I had to drive to Helena and back to Missoula which is about 7 hours worth of travel! haha) 

Once we got into Missoula, I then traveled to Hamilton, Montana with 2 missionaries. We drove from there to Corvallis to drop off all my things and then back into Hamilton and visited people. We ended up doing a lot of service. I got to bed about 10:30 and I was so exhausted from all the travel and hard work. 

    So now it is Thursday morning and raining buckets here in Hamilton. I await the arrival of my new missionary who is traveling all the way from Billings out to here today. He will arrive some time tonight. 

 

All i know is that his name is Elder Jones, so I am excited to meet him, get to know him and serve with him. 

 

I am still in shock that I'm the Senior Companion and Trainer...... 

 

Haha!

 

Now my new address in Corvallis is.... 

Elder Aaron Organ

1032 Willow Creek Dr.

PO Box 186 

Corvallis, MT 59828

 

Write me!

Love you all!"

That Time I Went To The Hospital

May 13, 2013

"Hello my dear friends and family,

 

     This week has been a crazy and intense week for me! 

 

Last Sunday, May 5th I think it was, I was sitting eating with the Singles Branch for Break the Fast when an intense pain struck the base of my skull and the right side of my face then went numb for about 5 minutes. I thought, "Well that was weird!" and explained what had happened to my companion. We went about our night but I didn't feel good at all and went to bed early. 

 

Monday I had a headache with waves of pain. Tuesday it continued the same and I felt miserable. Wednesday morning we got an unexpected call and went to a last minute meeting with our Mission President. In my interview with President Mecham, Wednesday morning, I looked trashed and felt like trash. So he asked what was going on and I explained what had happened. He had me call the Mission Nurse right away and she started me on Ibuprofen and Tylenol which helped a little. 

 

Thursday we spent all day in Polson on mission business and spent the night there, woke up at 5am Friday morning and drove from Polson up to Kalispell for Zone Leader Training and I was still having headaches and pains. So then after the training, I called the Mission Nurse talked it over and got approval to go see a doctor in Kalispell. The doctor in the Urgent Care heard my story and what had happened and sent me to the hospital for a CT scan of my brain. 

 

So that was an adventure, my 1st time ever in a hospital because of my own health! I got a CT scan which was interesting then drove back to the Urgent Care to await the results

 

..............................suspense............................

 

Haha everything came back normal. So that was a big blessing but why such pain in my head and the numbness of face? After talking about many things the doctor said it was probably just Elder Organ's 1st bad migraine and that my body was in a bad cycle that needed to be broken. Well how do you break the cycle? You get shot up with a bunch of drugs and steroids! Haha so after I went through several injections.....I got drowsy and was gone. 

 

I really don't remember much but I know I got home to Lakeside Friday night about 8pm and didn't wake up till Saturday at 9am. And the cycle was broken and I felt loads better then I had for days! 

 

I am still not 100% back to normal :/ So prayers would be greatly appreciated! 

 

It was an interesting and crazy week that all blurred together!

       

Then this morning we got TRANSFER CALLS at 6:50 AM. Elder Brown and I are both being transferred out of Lakeside, kind of a shock to me! I am being "doubled in" to a new area in a small town called Corvallis (still on the far West side of the state) and I will be training a brand new missionary from the MTC. 

 

Only 2 elders and 11 sisters came into the mission this transfer so I am humbled to know I am being trusted as a trainer of 1 of those 2 elders. It is truly humbling and will be a great responsibility but I am so excited for the new opportunity! It will be a fun, new adventure! 

 

So don't send any more mail to Lakeside :)

     

Until next week....when I email from a new place.....

 

Be safe and thank you to all of you and your love and support!

                                            

-Elder Aaron Organ"

Beautiful Lakeside and Some Other Things

My Life! Love it!!

White Bible, Planner, Pen, Watch, Knife, Wallet, Nametag.... All goes on every morning!

Me and Chevy trucks, we get along!

Montana countryside and the lake!

The lake, so dang beautiful!

Me and the lake

Flathead Lake! Picture taken from Main St. in Lakeside

Elder Organ: "They can't catch me!" Elder Brown: "I feel Like I'm being watched!"

 

Me in front of Flathead Lake

A Week of Miracles

May 6, 2013

"This week was another great week as a missionary. 

It has been a week of miracles. 

We did exchanges with Thompson Falls Elders and it was such a joy to work with Elder Packham (who I was in the MTC with). We taught the word of wisdom together to one of our investigators, Sherry, who committed to live the word of wisdom and later in the week when Elder Brown was back, we studied the Stop Smoking Program and explained it to Sherry. I pray for her and hope she can stick to her commitment to stop smoking. It was really cool to see how even though Elder Packham and I had never taught together before, that the lesson really flowed and the Spirit was in control as we bore witness to Sherry. Little miracle there.

     

Another miracle- We went to see Dodie (an elderly woman) who is one of our investigators and we knocked on her door at just the right time. A time when she needed us. She had just received news that her daughter who she has not seen in over 6 years, passed away. We were able to comfort her through the sharing of scriptures and testifying of the plan of salvation. She then asked if we could read the Book of Mormon together. It was perfect timing.

      

Third miracle of the week- We went to visit a less active who has been struggling physically from an accident with heavy equipment at work over a year ago. When we first arrived in Lakeside and met Dustin, he told us he didn't want anything to do with us if we were there to preach to him or invite him back. He was challenging if there even was a God. We prayerfully considered what he said and decided to continue to visit him and serve him as he would allow. Well that is what we have done for the last couple months and have established a relationship with him and he trusts us. Last week he asked a lot of questions and we had a great gospel discussion and then when we went to see him this week...he asked us to give him a blessing. We did so and it was such a powerful, spiritual experience for all 3 of us! He is slowly making progress and I am excited to visit him again and see what becomes of it!

  

 It is so great to be apart of this work! I love it! Thank you all for your love and support!

 

-Elder Organ"