Osburn Landing

So here we are, in Big Fork, Montana, a little community just south of Kalispell and on the shores of Flat Head Lake. Found this sign which we took as a sign that this is were we are supposed to be right now. We were requested to come up here by Sis DeAnne Taylor, expressed our desire to do so to Pesident Mecham, who by the way is being replaced tomorrow by the new mission president, went to the Billings temple to get spiritual confirmation about and was sent here that afternoon. We are guests in the Taylor home until we get our visas-prayers of thanksgiving will never cease for this tender mercy. 

We have met with the stake president, President Clark, and he seems excited to use us for as long as we are here. We also met with the Big Fork missionaries today an have outlined o program of utilization with them. Have a meeting scheduled with the zone leaders tomorrow, July 1. There is a "half mission conference on Friday at Helena ( a 4 hour drive south) where we will meet the new mission president and provide a ride down and back for a few Elders or Sisters. We are thrilled to get involved in the work and will certainly report on our efforts as they occur. 

Still waiting on the medical clearance to come through. Heard from NZ via email yesterday and they want more information to be provided by a Pulmonologyst. We are getting that set up as quickly as we can and hopefully will get that done this week or next. The 4th of July holiday may slow that down a bit. 

We are hanging in there pretty good. We have experienced some highs and lows which go with the missionary experience!  A real blessing for right now is that Alecia has finally passed her stone and we are missing winter in NZ by being in this special part of the world. 

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true, the church is true, and more later. 

Pixs of our digs in Forsyth

Forsyth Montana pictures

Howdy Hotel in Forsyth

One of the places to eat out in Forsyth

Looking down Main Street in Forsyth

More main street

Local IGA grocery store in Forsyth

Picture catch up

Elder and Sister Osburn checking into the MTC

On The Road Again

One thing I want to get straight is that I'm a very intelligent man that can't spell worth a darn. Ok, another one thing I want to point out; since this blog is also going to be our missionary journal, I may include "unfiltered" feelings and emotions, spell chek didn't catch imotions but Alecia did!! See.?

We left the MTC at 3:30 last Friday afternoon(19 Jun), did a few house keeping things and then hit I-80 via Provo Canyon. Yes, we know I-15 and then across would have been quicker, but Sis Osburn didn't think she could emotionally handle going by Mountain Green And Layton. Made it all the way to Evanston and decided to stay the night there since we were exhausted and Alecia was suffering from stones pretty badly. After sleeping in 'till 9:00, it felt sooooo good, it was our day off,we got on our way.. The trip through Wyomong was spectacular, we turned north at Rocksprings and took farm roads all the way up to Billings. Once, outside of Worland, we took a wrong turn and didn't become aware of it till we found ourselves in, wait for it, Ten Sleep, wy. Alecia noticed the blue dot on google map wasn't tracking where we wanted it too. That's ok though since we found out that is Nancy's stomping grounds and we can now visualize her there when she visits.

About 10 hours of traveling brought us into Billings. We decided to stay the night there , got a hotel room in the Cown Plaza, one of the only rooms available in town becaus of a convention. Went to church at the stake center and met Elder and Sis  Hite, the office couple. I ended up giving a blessing to Elder Kay who is the replacement for Elder Hite. He was in the hospital becaus of throwing 4 blood clots into his lungs. So we stayed another night in Billings before going on to Forsyth.

Forsyth, oh my gosh, talk about being out in the sticks of Wyoming. We ARE there. Can't begin to relate how rural it is. We did meet a great family who literally took the blanket off their bed to give to  us for our apartment. Which brings me to another Oh My Gosh. The tiny studio apartment. This place was built as a barricks for WWII. Is tiny and where a closet was at one time they have put a small sink, smaller stove and range, and a frig. The members had fixed it up best they could and someone did put in a window mount air conditioner. If I can ever figure the picture thing out I will post some. Worth a thousand words. Had to go up the hi way 40 miles to Mile City to hit a WallMart to outfit it a little bit. $300 worth Ouch!! No decorating here. Just soap,towels, etc..

That's all for now.

THE MTC

This is going to be another post without pictures since I haven't been able to figure out how to do that yet. But that said, what an incredible week of our lives. The MTC experience has so many dimensions to it.  One level is the stong spirituality of the environment. There were over 1600 missionaries going through training while we were there. Observing these young men and women was a singular pleasure to us. They were so full of happiness, humble confidence, and enthusiasm that it couldn't help from picking up your own mood. They are so dedicated to doing their part in bringing others to Christ that it makes you feel like the entire earth is soon to be lifted to a new level of goodness by their efforts.

Then ther were the Sr. Missionaries. These couples who were all in various degrees of "not so good" health, had left the comfort of their homes, had left their kids and grandkids. We all will be missing birthdays, baby births, weddings, and all manner of special affairs. Many had to close down their homes, some sold their homes, and extended themselves financially; get way out of their comfort zone. And for what?  For their love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Their desire to serve His children. We were awed by their dedication and sacrifice.

The training was done by the most dedicated, talented, and loving staff we've ever encountered. The manual, Preach My Gospel, is the most inspired book,save the scriptures, on the face of the planet!

For us, it was really tough. Sis Osburn was not only having to deal with her polymyalgia but also has had a very painful kidney stone. However, she championed on and endured it all and touched the hearts of all of us. Her most "unfavorite" thing was role playing. She had trouble staying in character beca use she felt like she wasn't being----truthful. But when she did get into it, she had tears and all. Cute.

We are now on our way to the Billings mission. We have been told we will be seving in a small town east of Billings by the name of Forsyth. The Branch ther has about 165 on the roles and an attendance of 30-35 each week. We are looking forward to seving in any way we are directed. Our digs there is a little sudio apartment. We have been told that rentals are hard to come by since the oil field workers keep everything rented out. Not as bad as another couple we talked to who will be staying in a small single wide at their mission.

Well that's all for now. We are pleasantly exhausted and turning in for the night in Evanston, Wy. More to follow.

In the beginning

Tomorrow is the big day for us as we check into the MTC in Provo, Utah. We have had a great week of "goodbyes", "see you in 18", family reunions, receiving of good news, and receiving of other news. Most of you know that our departure to New Zealand has been delayed due to Visa holds. While this is being resolved we will be serving in Billings, Montana. We are really looking forward to that whether it be 2 weeks or 6 weeks or more. For right now we will just keep on keeping on.