Winter Weather in June and A Major WIPEOUT!

June 10, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

 

     This week was another great, fun and adventurous week as a missionary for the Lord, Jesus Christ. We were able to meet with a family that the parents were baptized in March or April before we got here and talk to them about their 3 daughters being baptized, they will all be baptized June 22nd so that is exciting. They are such a great family and from Pinesdale so pretty knowledgeable children and so ready for their baptism. We plan to continue to meet with them though and teach the lessons. Good practice for us and new member lessons for them.

     

Wednesday we woke up at 4 am and it was 33 degrees and yes it is JUNE! Haha but we woke up that early to get ready and drive to Hamilton where we were picked up and 6 of us crammed into the Chevy Colorado, drove the hour to Missoula where we met all the other missionaries in our zone and we all loaded up into 2 vans and drove the 3 hours to Helena where we had a zone conference. Zone conferences are always so great, get to meet so many missionaries, be reunited with friends and hear true inspiration from President and Sister Mecham! It was so good to hear from them and practice different things to improve ourselves as missionaries.

     

Then the rest of the week we contacted a ton of Less Actives and had some good lessons/conversations with many of them, we will see what we can do there. 

But Friday we spent 3 hours in Urgent Care...why you may ask!? Well as some of you know, my companion is brand new to learning to ride a bike. Well he has been doing really well and improving a ton! But then Friday we were headed down the dirt road from our house and he lost control on one of the hills and wiped out hard core! 

AHHHH! so we went to Urgent Care where he got rock removed from his right hand, left elbow and his cuts cleaned up that were elsewhere. It broke his glasses and moved some teeth around so we also saw a dentist and will see the eye doctor today. But no worries, all is well and he is healing up fine, no real serious damage and no broken bones. Honestly could have been so much worse and we are both thankful it was only what it was. He has had a great attitude about it and I told him it happens to everyone when they first learn to ride. Made me think of all the wipeouts I had on bike as a kid...haha! He even picked pink bandages at the doctors!

      Yesterday on Sunday Bishop called us out of our class to talk with him and another young man. The young man's name is Taylor and he has been dating a young woman in the ward, he was raised in Pinesdale but wants to find out for himself where the Priesthood is and if Thomas S Monson is the prophet today, so we began teaching him yesterday. It is great to have a new investigator and I feel he is sincere in finding out for himself and not for his girlfriend.

     

We look forward to Gracie getting back into town this week so we can keep meeting with her and discussing her baptism. She wants to wait until the end of July when her in-laws will be here visiting. We also look forward to Mission Tour this coming Friday when Elder Arnold of the Seventy and his wife will come to train us. That will be a spectacular meeting and will take place in Missoula only an hour away. Yay but not so much travel!

    

So that was our week, hopefully it was detailed enough and answered some of the questions I get from many of you! 

Thank you all for the letters, emails, love and support! Means the world to me and is such a boost! You are all so great, keep the faith!

   

Until next time,

Elder Organ 

Missoula Zone Picture (Sent June 10th, 2013)

Missoula Zone

Front:  West, Schneider, Thawley (ZL), J. White, Stinson, Stephens, Fuifatu, Romrell, Holbrook, Cowan (VW), S. Mecham

 

2nd:  Pres. McMullin, Wyatt (VW), Cheney, M. Walch, Organ, S. Ross, McKeachnie, Brechter, Hatch (ZL), Cornwall (VW), Pres Mecham

 

3rd:  Johnson, E. Jackson, J. Jackson (VW), Jones, Ruchti

Strep Throat and A Connection

June 3, 2013

Hello Everyone,

     Well this week was a rough one. On Tuesday afternoon I went to the doctors and found out I had a bad case of strep throat, which is the 1st time I ever remember having strep and it was miserable haha! So then my companion (who was also pretty sick, just not with strep) and I were quarantined to our room for 48 hours! Then we were told to take it easy and ease ourself back into the work. Well for those of you who really know me...its hard not to go just 100% so its been a challenge. But I am 100% better now and my companion is well on his way to getting to be 100% and then we can work hard! 

     

This week we did meet Keith and Julie Jessop who are parents of Amber who was baptized here back in March but is living in North Dakota now. Keith was raised in Pinesdale and Julie is not too familiar with Mormonism and both want to learn more. Keith has some questions about where the Priesthood really is... Is it in Pinesdale or the "mainstream" church? That is just one example of his multiple questions he will need to pray and answer for himself but we got him to commit to come to church and begin his part on this journey to finding the truth. They are both leaving for North Dakota for a few weeks so we hope to pick up when they return.

    

But it was so crazy cool how fast Keith and I connected! You walk into his beautiful home and there is 25+ mounts of mule deer, whitetail, bear, ram, coyote, etc. and so immediately we connected as we started talking about hunting adventures. The more we talked the more connected we got as he talked about horses, ranching, farming and I could relate to most of what he was saying due to how I was raised. And then he blew my mind because to top it all off he brings up flying and says he just got his Private Pilots license a year ago! So then I jumped all over talking to him about flying! Hahaha I had such a good time while my companion was a little bored. Haha!

 

     It was so cool how much we could relate on and really I am a firm believer God called me to Montana to connect and relate with people such as Keith. I know God puts people into our lives for a reason! I know this church is true and it is more than a blessing and honor to be a representative of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Love you all so much and thank God daily for the support you give me! 

-Elder Organ

Faith Precedes the Miracle (Sent June 3, 2013)

Hey! So our mission does this "Faith Precedes the Miracle" article thing every week and I submitted one a few weeks back and it got in :) Whahoo! Here it is

 

FAITH PRECEDES THE MIRACLE

 

Elder Aaron Organ 5.4.13 - The Power of a Friendship

When Elder Brown and I first arrived in Lakeside back in February we met Dustin, who is a less active. When we first met him, 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, to simply be his friend. Well that is what we have done for the last couple months and have established a relationship with him and a trust. 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. Truly a miracle from where he had been to where he has come. We gave him a blessing and it was such a powerful, spiritual experience for all three of us! He is slowly making progress and we are excited to continue to visit him. Just goes to show the power of a friendship. Be Christ-like to all and miracles will follow!