This morning we received word that we are covering both areas now- so both wards- because the elders are being transferred out. President advised us that we shouldn't worry about the outlying areas (Big Hole and Lima) as much as the two wards here in Dillon. I am a bit overwhelmed because we all of a sudden have a lot more to cover and correlate and people to meet, but I am praying hard that we can balance it all out. So this week I hit my 9 month mark. I'm surprised I survived this long! Haha. Just kidding. It's awesome here. I'm so lucky. So last preparation day, we went to Lewis and Clark caverns in Whitehall with some companionships in our district before transfers. It was so cool. They were massive and had big rock structures. There was even a smooth rock slide inside. Some elders that came are tall and had a hard time bending and crawling. Haha. We also got to go to the Billings temple with our ward mission leader and his wife. It was great to go and feel refreshed and ready to serve. Sometimes you just need to go to get spiritual fed and replenished. The inspiration and revelation I receive in the temple keeps me going. And it was cool because I saw some members from my last area there and the temple president came and talked to us. We felt famous at the temple because lots of strangers came up and talked to us. :) Only when you're a missionary. On the way back though, we got caught in the worst hail storm (in Billings) I've ever been in. I thought the hail was going to break our windshield. It was seriously gum ball sized hail. No joke, I thought there was going to be a tornado and that we were going to die that day because the sky looked horrifying. (I have had an awful fear of tornados ever since I was a kid.) The clouds were black and so low. There was lighting and massive hail that came out of no where. All the traffic on the freeway stopped and cars were pulling over and trying to fit underneath the bridge. But we were fine. I said a prayer and the hail stopped not too long after. Now that I think about it, this whole story is kindof like life. We can be on a spiritual high and be doing good at one moment, but Satan can strike the next moment. But the real test is what we do during those dark times. Do we lose hope or do remember the Lord and turn to him? He answered my prayer and gave me comfort and I know he can for you too! We officially put a 92 year old man on date for baptism. He is awesome and now it's just a matter of how. We had branch conference in Jackson on Sunday and they are so sweet. I love our branch. They're so welcoming and they're real people. So down to earth. We biked a lot this week because we are trying to save our miles and we even biked some in the rain. But my testimony of biking has grown so much. We have had more new and progressing investigators and other lessons this week than in almost any other week I have been here in Dillon. That's because our "line is in the water" more and we can interact with the people easier. It's just easier to stop while on a bike than parking your car, getting out, and walking over. Yes, we look awful probably with sweat, helmet/ wind blown hair, and clipped skirts but I'm hoping the spirit masks that. :P This week has been great. I know that the progress of the work is definitely related to the amount of effort and energy you put into it. God lives.
Transfer news: I'm STAYING in Dillon! By the end of this transfer (ending around the he end of June), I will have been here for 7 1/2 months. I might as well just start building a house here so I could just live here permanently because that's what it feels like now. Haha. I hope the members don't get sick of me. Hahah. Sister Shupe is staying too but now she's out of training- so we have an extra hour to our day to proselyte now, which will be weird. Oh! And I'm hitting my halfway mark of my mission. Weird. Times does fly out here! We put a cadet at the academy on date but now it's just a matter of getting his parents on board. He says he thinks will be good for his life and it feels right here. :) He's a funny kid. A Young Mens leader helps us teach him during church and he's hilarious. Just the at he words things. It's a fun group. We also might have to rebaptize a 92 year old man because we cannot find his baptismal records anywhere. We've been looking for months. He was baptized after the Korean War which makes it a but difficult too. It snowed really bad this week. And it's MAY. Montana's weather is so weird. It melted pretty fast but it's still cold and rainy. We also made a spontaneous trip to Polaris because we have a referral from church headquarters for a guy out there. But he wasn't home- which was a bummer because it takes a lot of miles to go there. So now we have to go there more to find him. We also got to sing to residents of a nursing home with one of the residents who's a member and we helped with a postal food drive at the food bank. Some cadets came and helped too. We had a sweet fireside by a member of the stake presidency and his wife. She told of her conversion story and he talked about parenting. I want expecting those topics, but it was good anyway. He also read a part of his sons letter who is serving in the Arizona, Tucson mission. Elder Holland surprise visited and told the missionaries that we agreed to live our lives like that of an apostle. Wow. That's an eye opener. I never thought of it that way. But I understand that we really do need the spirit to guide us in very aspect of this work because nothing can happen without it. So we have to live in a way where it can always be with us. That is one of my main goal on my mission. To be one with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I want to become super sensitive to its promptings and be a channel through which it can touch other people. And be able to carry that out through the rest of my life.
Howdy, y'all! So this week was busy. Cinco de Mayo came and went. Of course it's not a big holiday here but Sister Shupe and I used it as an excuse to go to the Mexican bus to eat because it's the best. It's super authentic because the owners are from Mexico and hardly speak English and only live here when it's warmer. They go back down to Mexico in the winters. It's to.die.for. We also had Mother's Day, so we got to skype home. It was good and church was fun. The little primary kids sang a song and it made me tear up and I'm not even a mother yet!! And the youth gave flowers to the mothers. We also were able to teach the cadet and commit him to baptism during his lesson at church. We had the BEST member present and he basically taught the whole thing. He loves missionary work (and has been on a mission) and remembers the lessons exactly. Members are essential. Members are what help them stay in the church. President Hinckley said recent converts need 3 things: 1.A friend in the Church to whom he can constantly turn, who will walk beside him, who will answer his questions, who will understand his problems. 2. An assignment 3. nourishment by the good word of God We also had an interesting experience this week. So we had had an active member ask us twice to make a pie for him for service. So we did both times but this time, he asked for a strawberry rhubarb pie for him and his neighbors/ coworkers who are not members. So we did it and delivered the pies to them while they were working in the saddle shop they own. So they let us have some pie (which was so dang good. I've never had that kind before!) with them and then the member asked if we could share a message right there and then. We talked about God's purpose, Christ's purpose, and our purpose and committed them all to bear their testimonies to someone this week. It was awesome and we felt the spirit, even in a saddle shop. Haha. Montana, I'm telling ya. Some other fun things that happened: we found out that a recent convert we teach has pet sugar gliders and I got to see them. They're so cute but REALLY loud. And we got to tract in the woods (next to Beaverhead National Forrest) in Polaris and we saw signs that said "watch for bears" and "moose crossing" . Polaris is like its own world. It reminds me of pictures of New Zealand or something. It's a hidden little utopia and when I have enough money, I will own a house over there. This week has been great. Our zone is continuing our "12 Days of Finding" challenge and we are seeing miracles, big and small, everywhere! God is good.
This week has been a bit rainy and snowy (and yes, even in April). It tends to be like that whenever we travel. We drove out to Wisdom, where we tracted out a big chunk of the town within a half hour because it's so teeny. It's in the Big Hole. It's a little over an hour away from Dillon. We want to stay the night out in the Big Hole this week so we can tract out Wisdom, Jackson, and Polaris. Maybe even Argenta. The towns are super small. We also had exchanges in Helena and both Sister Shupe and I went and did work up there. We tracted and contacted for-ev-er , it felt like. Possibly because I had a massive headache the whole time. For some reason, I have gotten a headache every day this week and sometimes I wake up with it. It's no fun and makes the work hard. We had a chilli cookoff for the youth to fund raise for their camps this summer. There was an auction and it was hilarious. Family members were bidding against eachother and one guy wanted a cheese cake so bad that he was trying to push another guys hand down when they were bidding. We got some recent converts and nonmembers to that, which was good. We also had a youth family history workshop with some members who are stellar at family history. It was part of their missionary madness challenge for the month and the Young Men in our ward beat the other groups with over 200 points. They were determined. So they get a pizza party! We taught a cadet from the MYCA (Montana Youth Challenge Academy) at church. He wants to get baptized and some LDS cadets helped teach the lesson, which was neat. We also had a cool experience this week where we went out with one of our new ward missionaries and it was great. She is so motherly and friendly and we could tell that the people that we contacted took to her well. And we went to a less active's house that hasn't been contacted in a while (because she has a sketchy living situation) and taught the Restoration and it went super well. She really appreciated it and connected to the ward missionary that came. :) WARD MISSIONARIES ARE THE BEST. And we have "The 12 Days of Finding" going on in our zone right now and we are reading the Finding People to Teach section in Peach my Gospel and doing and applying all of the activities in there for the next 12 days. So our Zone Leaders call us every day to report to the zone what finding miracles have happened each day in our zone. So it's been pretty cool! Anyhow- that's it for me. Hope everyone is just peachy!
