The field is ripe

What a great week we have had. We met with 3 different investigators, a couple of member families who are really struggling, met with the zone at the stake president's home for transfer introductions and instruction and toured an aviation museum and 18 hole private( as in one man private) golf course. Oh yes the course has a full scale replica of the Stonehenge in Bath, England.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Eureka Montana where we toured the museum met with two investigators and had a special lunch with Blake and Linda Beecher. He is an on fire ward mission leader and is the one who had the contact with the billionaire who owns it all. 

  Golf course

Stonehenge 

 

F-4U Corsair. This plane was the last prop plane used in actual air to air combat. I've forgotten the countries but it was two South American countries and the fight was between this plane and two P-51's. This guy won aby shooting both of them down. 

T-34, the very first airplane I flew but with much better Navy paint job than this Airforce paint job!!!

P-40 the type used by the Flying Tigers, an American squadron flying in China during WWII. This one was dug out of a farmers field where he had buried it so airplane aficionados would stop bothering him. True story. 

Now check out these pictures of Osburn Idaho we found on our way to Spokane for a temple trip. 

Not a very big town, but hey, do you have a town named after you?

 

Alecia has asked me to share some stories and to be real about how it really is out here. When most of us talk about our mission experience we usually just mention the highlights of which there have already been so many. But it is hard too as only those who have been out here know. The following poem given us by one of the Elders says it pretty well.

Highs and Lows

A mission is a strange experience. It is a trial and a test

A mission throws at you the worst, yet teaches you the best

Since I've been out, I've never been so happy. I've never been so depressed.

I've never felt so forsaken. I've never felt so blessed

.ive never felt so confused. My mind has never felt so clear.

I've never felt Heavenly Father so distant. I've never felt him so near. 

I've never felt so discouraged. I've never been so ful of hope. 

I think I can go on forever. I think I've come to the end of my rope. 

I've never had it so easy. I've never had it so tough. 

Things have never gone so smoothly. Things have never been so rough. 

I've never travelled through so many valleys. I've never ascended so many peaks. 

I've never met so many neat people. I've never met so many freaks. 

I've never had so many ups. I've never had so many downs. 

I've never worn so many smiles. I've never worn so many frowns. 

I've never been so lonely. I've never had so many friends. 

Man, I hope it's over soon. Gosh, I hope it never ends. 

Jack L. Brinkerhoff Lovell N.Y.

We Got People

The mantra and mission goal is, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." The mission is about people, all kinds of people, and all people. We have "got" some people and I want to bring into the blog to remember them. 

First the missionaries we have gotten to know and love.

These incredible Elders and Sisters are some of the most dedicated, focused, hard working people I know. They are obedient to all the mission rules and live their lives by the spirit and with the presence of the Holy Ghost with them at all times. We have gotton to know them on a personal level as well as a professional level and really can't go on enough about their work ethics, character, love of the Savior, and love of the work. I know there are thousands just like them serving throughout the world and because of that know without a doubt that we are going to win this battle for the souls of man that began eons ago in the pre-existance. Father will redeem his children!!!! It is such a privledge to be a part of it. This is so much bigger than anything we have ever been a part of. We are part of the biggest thing on the planet. The two Elders behind the green sign on the right are Elders Eddington and Witt. They are beyond a doubt two of the most incredible men I have ever known. I know i use that word a lot nowdays, but it is true. These two men could go to the Quorum of 70 today and be totally profecient and in like company. All of these missionaries have different strengths and endearing qualities. We love them all and are not looking forward to losing some of them this weekend due to transfers. I guess we will just have to learn to love some new ones, which won't be hard at all I'm sure.

The goodby candy board was made by the most creative and wonderful companion anyone could ever have--Alecia.she truly makes everything so fun and special.

Now for some stories of people we have met with. The first is a man who is a Vietnam vet who has earned two bronze stars,( just under the medal of honor and very rare), has PTSD so bad that he has to see a psychiatrist once per week, has legs still full of shrapnel which keeps working its way out, and has been baptised in Flathead Lake. We spent about an hour and a half with him and he really opened up to me about his trauma from balttles he has been in. He is such a broken man but has a love of God, and relys on constant prayer throughout his days and nights. We could feel God's love for him so strongly. We don't know what he has the capacity to takeon in the church or out. But we do know the Savior wanted us to visit with him. In fact fun story about the Holy Ghost helping us get to him. We were using our google map GPS to find him and the indicator said we had about a mile further to go for his address. I felt impressed to pull over off the highway right by a mailbox on the side of the road and to the side of a gravel road leading into the woods. I asked Alecia to read the number on the box to get a fix as to where we were. As she did so, it was exactly where we were looking for. We met with him for over an hour, had a prayer together, and were assured by the Spirit that that was where we were to be. I know it sounds like a little thing, but you had to be there to get the incredible implication of it all. It brings to mind the scripture that by small things He will bring about great things. It is so fulfilling to know that we are in His service.

Another quick story is about a man we met and talked about the gospel with as we were having lunch in Big Fork. After a passing nod and howdy type of greeting we asked him to join us for lunch. It turned out he is a lifelong and devout member of the Church of Christ from Tennessee. We were able to dispel some anti propaganda he had held true forever. A real feeling of love and comradeship prevailed and we exchanged emails and mutual expressions of love. We love this work!! 

I can't go on and on about every experience we are having without boring you to death, but safice it to say that we feel we are about the Lord's work and feel Him at our side supporting, encouraging, and lifting us up. Sometimes it feels really hard, is exhausting at times, but always worth it..

It is true. Every part of it. We love and miss you all.

Zone "P" day trip and picnic at Glacier National Park

Medical week

I

THE HOME OF TWO CELESTIAL WOMEN--Ashley and Brook Taylor

As I mentioned in a previous post, NZ wanted a Pulmonologist to review my chest x-rays and CT scan. So last week was taken up with doing just that. It took awhile to set things up but we were blessed with an appointment on Friday with a really great Doc. He assured us that everything was benign and nothing to worry about but should have another look in 6 months, ( doctor speak to cover his 6 legally). He did write up a pretty good report for NZ so now it is totally up to The Lord as to weather we are approved or not--well it has always been up to him, huh?  Any way, your prayers would be greatly appreciated, we are so anxious to get on with it.

We continue to carve out a place for our labors here. It is so rewarding to work with the missionaries here. Last week we took the two Sisters who are workin in Polson, on the south shore of Flathead Lake. They are both great missionaries and work very hard in their callings. It was our blessing to get to know them and offer up our support to them. Just one set of missionaries from this zone to take out but transfers are on the 22nd so we may get to start all over again. 

We are scheduled to go with the missionaries Wed night on a teaching appointment and are stoked about that. Also we have been given the name of an inactive Vietnam vet with PTSD and agent Orange disability and are going to visit with him and his family this week. Hope we can be of service there. 

I was just asked by Ashley Taylor, the daughter of Richard and Deanne who are putting us up, here in Kalispell, what I liked best about the mission so far. She has seved a mission at Temple Square and is wheelchair bound but an exhaulted spirit for sure. A GOOD QUESTION! My answer was how personal and powerful my relationship with our Saviour has become. Those who have been out here know that feeling and how incredibly fulfilling it is.

As we get to know these missionaries, our ferverent prayer for them is that the level of spiritual committment, love, desire to be like the Saviour, obedience, and shedding of the Natural man they have achieved on their mission becomes their new base line--never to be desended below ever again. And if they do, to regain it as soon as possible. For the longer they stay from it the more risk they have of becoming lost in the misty paths after partaking of the most desirable fruit. 

Work in the Big Fork Ward

We have had a great week of service in this part of our mission as we have been "learning"how to be MLS missionaries. There is a definite learning curve involved here and probably different for different situations and areas. We have found that we basically define the parameters of our own labors. We have spent some time meeting with the leaders, like President Clark, and the Bishop of the ward. We also met with the missionaries serving in the Big Fork district; Elders Swanson and Brewster. These two men are good missionaries and it has been a pleasure working with them. We have also worked on setting up a working relationship with the Zone Leaders; Elders Witt and Eddington. They are two of the most mature, dedicated, spiritually attuned men we have ever met. They are truly men of God and are in His service. We can't say enough about them. 

We visited 4 different families whom the Bisop assigned to us and we're touched by them as well as touching their spirits. Well all except one family who had divorced, sold their home, and moved to parts unknown. One family was especially tender for us as he is suffering from the latter stages of Parkinson's Disease. It was especially tender for Alecia because of having the memories of her father very fresh. A report has been made on these families to the Bishop and we will report to the stake president also.  It felt so good to be about the Lord's work. 

Perhaps the highlight of our week was attending the half mission conference in Helena for the northern half of the Montana Mission. We drove 5 of the 10 missionaries to Helena and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with them on the way down. We plan on meeting with all pairs and working with them all The conference was one of the singular fantastic moments of our lives. It started out with all the missionaries standing in a large circle around the perimeter of the chapel and the mission president, President Wadswerth, and his wife personally shaking the hands of each missionary. You could have heard a pin drop as silent reverence was displayed throughout the entire process. As the meeting proceeded, we were so greatly impressed by the strength, power, and spirit of those ambassadors of Jesus Christ. As the mantel and keys of authority were taken on by this new president, his dedicated support of the entire mission Elders and Sisters was incredibly shown. 

Then we broke for lunch. OH MY!!! Again we all stood in a large circle, this time inside the multi-purpose room and sang-or they sang, we couldn't, "The Army of Helaman". Never has a song touched our souls as much as this did ours. Truly the statement that there are more with us than with the enemy is so true. This work will go forward til it fills the earth. We will win. 

One other quick story. As we were having lunch in Big Fork, Alecia recognized a man sitting at a close by table and said that he really looked familiar. After he and his son were done eating, he came over and introduced himself and his son. Hello,he said. I am Bronco Mendenhal, the head football coach at BYU. COOL OR WHAT?? I noticed your badges and wanted to say hello. My Father served as a mission president in New Zealand!  

We haven't had a day yet that someone hasn't told us that they have had some relative serving in New Zealand. We take that as hope that we are still going to go there. 

Singing The Army Of Helaman

Us with President and Sister Wadswerth 

First Week mission Report

I hope you feel really sorry for us "having" to live in such a horrible place while serving here in Kalispell!!

We can not even begin to express our love and gratitude and total appreciation to the entire Taylor family for putting us up while we await our Visa to NZ. Not only are the accommodations

 Wonderful but the spiritually of this family is beyond words. We pray they will be rewarded 100 fold for their love, giving, and sacrifice for us. 

I will write more Sat (July 4th ) about the work we have done so far but I wanted this post to be all about the Taylor's. Thanks again to Richard, DeAnne, Ashley, and Brook. When we grow up we want to be just like you. If we make it, we want our mansion on high to be right next door to you. But know this---We will love you eternally.

Pixs of our Kalispell "Mission Flat"

The back of the Taylor Home

Front of the Taylor Home

From the side yard towards Lake Blain

Our bedroom at the Taylor Home