Transfer 13, Week 6: Serving With All of Your Heart, Might, Mind and Strength

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we all doing today? How's the weather where your at? From what I hear, there's a lot of snow in many parts of western U.S.. But not up here. We have very minial amounts of snow. Only instead a crap ton of rain, cloud cover, and mud. Haha. Little said, its been a dirty week for us. 

        On the other hand though, we've been hit hard this week with a constant stream of service. We're talking like at least 3 hours everyday this week, Including Monday. It was really hectic. I can't believe it sometimes how fast it went and how hard we worked. I am very tired at this point. Phew!

        Let me go into a little more detail for you on how it went. So, starting on Monday, we went to the Stake center for Preparation day right, and when we got there, we were asked to help set up some Christmas trees for the Big community Concert later in the week. We probanly set up around 30-50 christmas trees. Haha. It was a great way to spend the preparation day. 

        Tuesday was the beginning of the Christmas store for the Klothes Kloset where we do service on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a long day of helping people out with their purchases and other fun stuff. We also were able to borrow a Christmas tree for the apartment, so now we're all festive.

        Wesdnesday, we helped the Whitefish Elders move into their new apartment. Then we headed out to Eureka for District Council. It was fun. While we were up there, being that close to the Border of U.S.A and Canada, we just had to go and see it. Don't worry we didn't cross the border, but we got some sweet pictures by it. Haha.

        Thursday we also had another day of service with the Klothes Kloset. While we were there, we also were called by some lady who asked for some help from us splitting some wood. So we made an appointment the following early afternoon to come out and check it out. 

        Friday, we went up to that lady's place, which is up in the Canyon, and met with her. We brought the Whitefish Elders and split a little bit of her wood. The problem though was that there were almost 12 chords of Woods to be cut and split. Sadly we couldn't do too much, so we set out to make a plan to bring a whole lot more people tomorrow. 

        Saturday, we finally were able to have a short lesson with Al, but most of our day was spent either helping with a move for a family from here to Kalispell. Then we spent about 2 hours in the Canyon with 18 members to work on the wood some more. I'm very happy that we were able to cut and split up to 5 chords of the 12. I think she will have enough to get through the winter. I hope at least. We set a return appointment too, so we're excited about that. 

        Sunday was great as well. We had a bunch of families, as well as spent some with the McBrides again. They are awesome, and their little boy Malcolm is thinking about being baptized in January, so that's super sweet as well. 

        The Christmas Devotional was pretty great. I hope all of you were able to watch and enjoy that as well. It's always brightens the season when we remeber who the season is all about. 

        Well, I think that wraps up what I have for today. I hope all of your weeks were fantastic as well. Stay warm, and Have a great one. 

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures.....Prepare for overload....

A member sent pictures from the wood stacking service project that the Elders were involved in.

Transfer 13, Week 5: Happy Thanksgiving

Hey Everyone, 

            How are we all doing this week? Too stuffed from Turkey Day? Or are you still looking forward to finishing off the leftovers? Haha! Thanksgiving is Great. 

            Well, I hate to say it, but this week was definetly not as fun as I would have liked it to be. :( Dont get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, and it was a lot of fun. But the aftermath wasn't so great. But, I'll get to that later, for now the beginning of the week. 

            Now as I get started, I have to say that we are helping put up some christmas trees at the stake center soon, so this may be pretty brief. But without further ado... The beginning of the week we were on Exchanges with the Whitefish Elders. Elder Lunt came to Columbia Falls with me. It was a ton of fun to spend time with and work with him once more. Super cool. Nothing super out of the ordinary happened though. 

            Thanksgiving was sweet, but all around that either Elder Suckow was sick, I was sick, or both of us were sick. It made it quite challenging to do any work this week, but what can you do? That's all in the past now though, so we're all good. 

            Overall the week has been weird, but I'm pretty excited for this upcoming week and the beginning of the Christmas season. Stay safe and happy out there, and have a great one...

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures... 

I have some from exchanges, but I don't have time to add them. I'll do that next week.

Transfer 13, Week 4: A Real Chinese Experience

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we all doing today? Is everyone excited for Thanksgiving? Or is Christmas all that's on your mind at this point? Haha I jest. I hope your week flew by as fast as mine.

          This week feels like it only lasted for the space of a day. It simply flew by, and I'm very grateful that it did too. 

          So, to start off the week, we had exchanges with the zone leaders. It was my lot to stay in Columbia Falls this time with Elder Helms. I love this missionary, and it was an absolute joy to sprend the beginning of the week with him. Fun fact, we came out together. The exchange wasn't anything special other than that. It was fun

          Starting on Wednesday night and going through all day Thursday, we had the amazing oppurtunity to  have a zone conference at Helena with about 120 other missionaries. This usually is not the case, but it was not the usual case either.  For this zone conference, we were having what is called a "mission tour". For this mission tour,  We had Elder Wong of the seventy. Not to be confused with Elder Gong of the Quorum of the 12. During this conference we learned a lot about missionary work and working with the members. It was pretty sweet, and I feel like I learned a lot from it too. 

          The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. It went pretty similar of a pattern to the rest of the time. One cool thing we saw was that at church we ran into Jerry again. It was cool to see him at church once more, and we were able to set up for another lesson this coming week, so I'm pretty excited about that too.

           So, This week in the Book of Mormon, I was reading about Alma and Amulek, and all that they went through. The thing that stuck out to me the most honestly was that no matter what they went through, they stayed true to their testimony and their God. Now, none of us will probably have to go through what they went through, but it is still all that important to strengthen and increase our testimonies. Because by doing so, we can build our relationship with God and Christ. In this way we also make it easier for God to help us in any trial we are going through as well. 

          So, overall it has been a good week. I'm pretty excited for what is coming. I hope that you all have a great week as well. Talk to you all next week. 

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Photos:

Zone Conference in Helena with Elder Wong and 120 missionaries.

To celebrate my 18 month mark, we took one of my pairs of pants that was about to die, and  burnt them. 

Transfer 13, Week 3: HI HO! HI HO! To Stack the Wood We Go

Hey Everyone, 

         How are we doing today? Is the sun out, or super cloudy? Haha. I hope it isn't getting too cold yet for all of you. It was a little chilly here for a bit, but it's warming back up, and now we're looking like it's going to be in the 40 through Thanksgiving. Yea!

         Let's see for this week, we did pretty much the same thing as last week. I know that sounds pretty trunky of me, but I'm not yet. It was only a uneventful week. So to make this week's letter a little longer at least, I'm going to add an insight from my studies. 

         But before I do that, I have to mention that we have zone conference on this upcoming Thursday, so I'm pretty excited about that. 

         Now, on to the meat of the sandwhich.This week in preparation for zone conference on Nov 21st, we had 2 preparation requests, both are very good. The first one was to read all of the talks by President Nelson in this last General Conference. This has been an amazing experience as I've studied through the talks. I've learned so much from this experience, and it has been super helpful to me as a missionary. The other one was a little bit different. We were asked by President Larsen to go through our music and do a self inventory of it. Removing what would be classified as unapproved. I did this pretty easily. As we went through it, I decided to go by my first reaction, relying on the spirit to guide me on the inclusion or excluision of a certain album or artist. As I did so I enjoyed the feelings that came from this activity. There is true joy that comes from consecrating our lives to the Lord. No matter where we are in Life, the feelings of little adjustments can be so amazing in our lives. 

        Well, I think that wraps up this week for us. Hopefully the week has been great, and the upcomming one can be so as well. Stay happy and safe!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Photo:

Transfer 13, Week 2: Just Another Week

Hey Everyone, 

         How are we doing today? I hear it's a little cooler in other parts of the state, or country, is that so? It's been a good week for us, but nothing really different from the normal. So, I'll just put out that warning right now, this week's may be a bit shorter than normal. 

         Like I said there isn't too much different than weeks previous. We were able help do a crap ton of service this week. Whether it was splitting wood, helping at the thrift store, or even putting a tarp on the top of an RV so it doesn't take any weather damage. It was a fast and filled week. So all in all, It was good.
        This week in the Book of Mormon I was reading about the people of Limhi, and how they escaped from Bondage. As they were trying to figure out how to free themselves, A man named Gideon came forth and presented his idea to help them escape. He spoke on how he was wanting to help and in the process be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. It is a good story of how we can be helpful to those we serve around. 

         Well, sorry again for the shorter email. Hopefully next week I'll have more to talk about. Have a great week everyone!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures ... sorry for the quality ...

I had to test a train track at the thrift store.

District lunch last Wednesday.

Transfer 13, Week 1: This is Halloween

Hey Everyone, 

        How's the week been for all of you? Did you enjoy the holiday, or are you not that kind of person? It's all good. I enjoyed it that's for sure. Halloween is the BEST holiday ever. Even if you stuck in your apartment as a missionary. Haha

        So, this week has been pretty good for us, and very hectic I'll say. With not only Halloween, but transfers as well, it made for quite the different set of circumstances. So, I'll stop wasting your time and jump right into the highlights. 

        So, I guess the first highlight would be transfer news. Well...........................................................................................................................................................................................Elder Suckow and I are both staying in Columbia Falls. That wasn't expected, but we'll take it. Haha. 

        Next, Halloween. Halloween even as a missionary is so much fun. We had a Trunk or Treat, and a Halloween party at the Whitefish Elder's place. It was pretty low key, but a ton of fun. We watched the movie "Coco" the approved halloween movie for this year. I enjoyed it, and I hope that others did too. 

        Well, with Transfers coming on Friday this week because of Halloween, We had to drop off Elder Palmer with the Zone leaders, so he can transfer down to Butte. So, we got the Joy of Watching over Elder Wright for the day while we waited for Elder Lunt, his new companion, and my old trainee to arrive in Kalispell. That was a lot of fun. 

        On Sunday, during Ward Council, we were given a few possibilities of service projects for a couple nonmember families over the next few weeks. And they think that it may turn into something teachable for us, so we're super excited about that. I can't wait to see what we can do there.
         [Spiritual Thought:]  This week, I was [reading] right around good old King Benjamin. I love this great prophet. He is such a inspirational man who has helped me become better. What is one of his most famous sayings, Think upon the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God. How true that is. When you are following Christ, your state is happier than others. 

        All in all, it has been a pretty good week. We're hopeful for the future and excited for everything to start going back to better than normal starting this week. So stay tuned, and stay happy!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures...

With the extra miles at the end of the month, we decided to go check out a little town up by the border called Polebridge.

Air Hockey with the Guymon Family.
(photo from a member)

Air Hockey with the Guymon Family.
(photo from a member)

Transfer 12, Week 6: A Normal But Busy Week

Hey Everyone, 

        How's the weather where you are? Currently, it's lightly snowing outside and a wonderfully chilly 25 degrees. Not the weather I would personally like for October, but it is what it is. Either way, How are you all doing today? Halloween is on Thursday. Is anyone else excited for that?

        This week honestly has been uneventful for us, but at the same time seemly busier than the last few we have had. And I don't know how it happened, but it happened. It's so cool. It was a pretty ordinary week compared to the rest of the transfer. So, I think that this email will be a bit shorter today. 

        Thinking on my week, we've been searching to try to contact a few of our potentials over the week, but sadly with little to no success. It's been a little rough for finding, but staying busy wasn't hard. 

        Another Highlight of the week would be that Elder Suckow has finally figured out what is bothering his stomach. Aparently he is Lactose intolerant. Ooof. Bad luck right?

        We went to the Senior Night football game for Columbia Falls on Friday. I feel really bad for them. they lost 14-21, but they also took a few bad injuries during it. The game lasted forever, and pretty much all 2nd quarter - 3rd quarter it rained hard, and we almost got drenched, but thanks to a nice member, we avoided it. Woof. 

        I can't think of anything else to say this week. I hope everyone has a great week, and a Happy Halloween!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

At the Senior Night football game. (photo from a member)

Elder Sherwood, Elder Suckow and one of the young men in the ward.
(photo from a member)

Transfer 12, Week 5: Back to Kalispell

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we doing this week? It's starting to get slightly warmer once again for us here in Montana, so I'm really happy about that. I'm hoping for another short winter this year. That would be nice haha. Well, I won't hold the suspense any longer...

         So, this week has been pretty good for us in Columbia Falls. For the second week straight, we had exchanges. This time with the zone leaders in Kalispell. Elder Helms and Elder Suckow stayed in Columbia Falls. While Elder Giles and myself went to Kalispell for a couple days. It was a blast. We expereienced a service problem, where we had no service for a while, but that doesn't stop us. haha. We were able to a little bit of everything and saw a couple miracles from it. One of which was while we were tracting. We went down this street, and was talking to a few people. We were able to find 2 new potentials on this street that I heard later turned into 1 new person. That was super sweet. I loved it. 

          After exchanges, the week was pretty service heavy. We split wood for a few people at different times, and we did more at the thrift shop in town. All in all it was pretty busy actually, but nothing really stands out in my mind about the week. 

          We had a lesson with the McBrides this week, a part member Family we are working with. And they were able to make it to church this week. Super Exciting times. I hope they can continue to keep comming. I know it will bless them a lot. 

         So, this week I have been working on understanding the complexities of Issiah. He is hard to understand. But as we follow what he says closely,  we can see that the prophet is continually talking about the Savior in every chapter. That 's really cool to see too. How have you been able to see the Savior in the pages of the Book of Mormon that you've read?

          Well, I think that just about wraps it up for me this week. A shorter one I know, but that's ok. I love you all and will talk to y'all next week. Have a great one!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

These are pictures from last week's hike.

Transfer 12, Week 4: Miracles Abound

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we doing today? It's really starting to warm up out here in Columbia Falls again, which is really nice. I'm not ready for winter weather, and I don't think anyone else is either. But that aside, we did see a few miracles this week that I want to expound upon.

         On Monday we spent the day at the Bigfork area and went on a hike to the top of this short peak. It was cold, and there was snow up the trail, making it a little slippery. But we went up anyway and had a ball. I got some good pictures too. 

         So, the beginning of the week, we went on exchanges with the Whitefish elders. I went to Whitefish with Elder Wright, and Elder Palmer went to Columbia Falls with Elder Suckow. It was a lot of fun. Elder Wright and I did a fair bit of service and worked on what we could down there. 

          Later, on Wednesday, we had a dinner lesson with the Shaffers and a referal that they had for us. His name was Jerry. He is super knowledgeable about the scriptures and has a belief in God. We had a great discussion with him about the Restoration and what we can do to know for ourselves. He said that he would like to learn more, but didn't know his work schedule yet, so we got his number, and are working on setrting up a return appointment. Yay!

           Similarily to that, on Thursday we were getting our haircuts, because that was the only day we had available this week.  Anyway, as we were going, the stylist that was cutting our hair asked us a bunch of questions,  but we again weren't exactly able to set up a return appointment, so we'll have to go back again. Haha.

            We had zone conference all day Friday, and didn't get back untill around 11pm from Missoula. It was awesome. Zone conference was very inspiring and helpful for me. I'm super excited for the rest of the transfer because of it. 

              I'm pretty happy with this week. It went a lot better than I would have expected. I'm grateful for the miracles that we have seen, and pray for many more as we do our best ot serve the Lord. Talk to ya next week.

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

pictures...

I don't have them yet from any of the activities. I''l send them next week.

P.S. This week in the Book of Mormon, I have been reading primarily about the words of Jacob, the brother of Nephi. It is really cool to see that Jacob expounds on Nephi's Teachings alot more than Nephi does. Just like how President Nelson expounds on the teachings of President Monson and other past prophets. It is awesome. 

Transfer 12, Week 3: Conference Weekend

Hey Everyone, 
               How's it going? Other than the possibly still Snow Bound friends of Fairfield Montana, is everyone still enjoying the warmer weather?  Or is it starting to get  chilly for you as well? It's definetly back to jacket weather for those who don't already wear one, in my opinion at least. 
                 So... this week has been different for many reasons, let alone General Conference and all the changes there as well. Oh Boy, one can only get excited for the upcoming months. Actually now that I think about it, General Conference was one of the only big differences in the week than previous ones this transfer. 
                  We do a fair bit of service here in Columbia Falls for a Thrift Shop called "Klothes Kloset". It is a lot of fun. During this week, I saw a little cute hoodie that would fit my little brother Max perfectly. But by the time I was going to pick it up, it was no longer there. :(. Welp, you win some some and lose others sorry Max! But I did find a great buy of a lightweight Seattle Jacket that fits me perfectly. So yeah! During this time at the Thrift shop each week, we talk to several nonmembers and have even invited them to the ward family history event this upcoming Saturday, so I hope they can make it. 
                   We had a lesson with a man named Al this week. He is super knowledgeable about the scriptures, and even believes in living prophets, and pretty much everything we do. I can see him being a member someday soon, We just need to figure out what he needs most at this point. 
                  Let's see, we've spent a fair amount of time this week trying to contact recent move ins for the ward. To be honest, I have no idea why we've been asked to do this. It isn't the purpose of missionaries, but the Elders Quorum and Relief Society, but they want us to do it... Not sure why.
                 We had a District Coucil with the Zone this week in Kalispell. I thought it was awesome, and allowed me to refocus. We discussed how to grow our faith, and have the faith to move the work foreward in our individual areas. It was inspiring and helpful as I have needed direction on where to go in my efforts here. 
                  Not only that, but General Conference was huge in that help as well for me. I particularily liked Elder Holland's, Utchdorf's, Johnson's, Anderson's, and Bednar's talks. They each individually helped me boost my confidence in myself and the Columbia Falls Area. I love General Conference for the opportunity to hear the prophet and the apostles speak to us. They are inspired men and allow us to find something within ourselves to change and build upon. Something that I felt was important that I want to share with you all comes from Elder Anderson's talk. In his talk he was speaking on being positive and how Satan can work at us. In specific something that I learned from his talk was that Satan will use negative thoughts and feelings, towards ourselves and others, to attack and distract us. The scriptures say that "what entices to do good is of God". That being said when we are doing our best to stay positive, Satan's influence on us diminishes, and the spirit of God will more easily and powerfully work within us for our benefit and the benefit of others. 
             Other parts of General Conference were great as well. I'm excited for April already based off what President Nelson said. I know that he is being directed by God to lead the Church. He is our prophet, and when we put whatever amount of faith we have in Christ and his ability to lead his Church, we will know and become willing to follow the prophet's divine direction. 
              Well, I think that just about wraps up my week this time. Zone Conference is this upcoming Friday, so I'm pretty pumped about that. I can't wait for the wonderful oppurtunity to come and continue to lean from God's Servants. I urge all of you to review what you have learned from Conference, and make plans to implement something that the Spirit has instructed you to do. I know that it will be a blessing to you. I hope you all have a nice warmer week and I'll talk to you next time. 

Love, 
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

Companionship selfie at the Klothes Kloset.

Selfie stick selfie #1.

Selfie Stick selfie #2.

Elder Suckow taking a break.

Transfer 12, Week 2: Incoming Storms

Hey Everyone, 
             How are we doing this week? Is it still pretty warm wherever you are? Because it sure isn't right now in Columbia Falls. But I'll explain that a little later. Last week's email was rather short, so I'm going to try to give this one a better length. 
              So let's see, where to start? To be honest as I look through my journal for the week nothing really noteable stands out to me to retell this week. But I'm going to try to make it work anyway. I guess a good place to start would be... Throughout the week, we were kind of stuck to take it slower as Elder Suckow hasn't been feeling well. This week there were multple instances where we were stuck inside as He needed to take a nap so that he was feeling well enough to go to dinner. 
             Also, with the huge storm coming in. So early on in the week, we get advised about a huge Winter Storm warning for the weekend. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't really prefer to see snow before Halloween at the earliest. This storm though was and is supposed to be very snowy and cold for September. I'm really hoping it won't stay at this point. It stayed pretty nice out till about Friday. The winds started to really pick up hard core, clouds came over the Rocky Mountains from the East, and it only got darker and gloomier from there. Sunday the snow started to fall, and as far as I can tell, it's still coming down. But not sticking yet. Thank goodness. I don't want to have to crack out all the winter gear yet. 
          Oh, another thing I just remembered. So, Friday night we go to the home game right? Well It's Homecoming for Columbia Falls and they're playing Browning Montana. The game starts out really well. Columbia Falls takes an early lead in the game. By the end of the half the score is 26 to 8. The fans at this point are super excited. We think that this game is well played and we can keep it up. Well, 3rd quarter happens, Browning doesn't answer. 4th quarter Browning puts up a whopping 24 unanswered points to win the game in the final seconds 32-26. No one was expecting this to happen. Not only was it a fun night in the community, but very different than anyone would have expected. 
           To be honest nothing else really comes to mind for how the week went. All of our lessons canceled, we had a parade on Wednesday which was fun, but it wasn't very big. At the very least, this email is longer than last week's. And I should have a few more pictures. 
             Well, I guess I'll just bare my testimony real quick and wrap this up. Don't forget about General Conference this upcoming weekend. You never know how the spirit will touch your heart through something the prophet says. This is so true. The Work of God is real, and He is moving at a pace to wonder at. Stay happy out there, and don't freeze. Haha. 

Love, 
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

At the Homecoming Football Game

Sunset before the storm.

A member sent this picture to my mom.

Hey Guys, 

         How are you all doing today? We're getting hit by a huge storm right now, and it's pretty rough. Honestly, I hope we don't get left with too much snow , because it will make it a lot more challenge for both me and my companion. But none of that now. On to the important part of the email. 

           This week in the Book of Mormon, I have been reading in 1 Nephi, around the time where Nephi's trying to learn what his dad has seen. What stuck out to me this week was how the Savior is doing His best to not inhibit our ability to choose. He always allows us to chose our own path, even if it hurts Him. I love how willing He is to work through that. And how patient and how much Faith He has in us to make the right choice. 

              Well, I hope all of you have a great one. I love you. Keep up with the reading. You're doing great. 

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Transfer 12, Week 1: Hello Small Towns

Hey Everyone, 
        How are we all doing this week? It is really chilly and windy right now. Brr. Winter might be starting earlier than I would like. :( But either way, it has been a pretty crazy week for me. Let me start to tell you all about it. 
          So.... the big news of the week is transfers. Once again I have been transfered away. This time not too far though. I am currently in Columbia Falls with an elder named Elder Suckow. He is different. Kalispell First ward is being replaced by sisters as well. Just like Missoula First ward. Man, this made me sad to leave. But at least I'm not too far away.  Because of this the beginning of the week kind of sucked as we packed and re deep cleaned the apartment in preparation for transfers. Boy it was tough. 
         This new area is full of a lot of small towns. And we cover a part of Glacier National park. It is cool, but definetly going to be a bit different to work in these towns again. It's going to take a little bit of getting used to once more. 
          Other than that, there isn't much to talk about. We are focusing on learning the area, and starting up the work. I hope that you all have a great and warmer week. Have a great one.

Love, 
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

Fountain of Everlasting Water

Elder Suckow and I

Service at the Klothes Kloset.

Transfer 11, Week 6: The Mission Technology Change

Hey Everyone, 
       How's the week been? Mine's been absolutely hectic and worrisome. But even then, personally I do not have the energy to write a lot this week, so this one may be a tad short. 
          For the most part of the week, we've been working with Elder Giles in his area as he hasn't been able to all that much with his companion situation. That, or working on aquiring me a new phone. My old one broke like 3 months ago, so I have a Tablet. But recently the church came out with some news that they are removing ALL mission issued telephones by the end of the month(except for a few loaners). So, I've been given a little grace period to pick up a new device by November. But that doesn't stop the worry period that I'm going through. 
             To be honest that just about covers the whole week. There has not been anything exciting happening this past week, other than excitement for transfers in a few days. I'll let you all know next week.  But untill then, I love ya, 

Love, 
Elder Sherwood

From a text on Tuesday night:
Just wanted to send transfer news ... I'm transferring across the zone to Columbia Falls.
My new address is:
3660 Hwy 206
Columbia Falls, MT 59912

Transfer 11, Week 5: It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Hey Everyone, 
         How's the weather treating everyone?  I'll say the weather this weekend has been quite out of the ordinary for us. It started raining Sunday night, and is still going right now. To make matters even better, the forecast predicts that it won't stop until Wednesday. That's a lot of rain. 
           The week has been decent. It would have been a pretty ordinary week, if it wasn't for Elder Giles companionship hopping all week. It made it interesting trying work out his schedule with ours. Many days we were running 2 areas instead of 1. It was both a blessing and a curse for us. 
             As I look back at the week, there wasn't much that stands out about how the week went except for Elder Giles. It was a standard week. We had a lot of finding time, a small bit of service. There were a few exciting parts about the week though, so I'll explain those.
               We finally were able to meet up swith a couple of our investigators. Becca, and Sugar, and Debbie. We had a lesson with Becca and Sugar and got them. It was great to finally meet them after a month of unsuccessful attempts of contact.  Becca even came to church this week, so that was a mini miracle for us as well. 
                 The other cool thing was that we had a ward BBQ on Wednesday. Not only was it really fun, but there were some nonmembers there as well, and we were able to meet them and start planting those seeds there as well. 
              I know this email is short, so I'll end off with a little thought I guess.  As I was doing my personal study week, I was working in Helaman, around the Story of Samuel the Lamanite, who prophecies of the Savior's birth to the Nephites. I came across something that I really liked a lot. Of the 3 chapters where he is speaking, Samuel only spends a very small amount of time describing unto the Nephites that they need to repent. Instead of focusing on the bad, he spends his time proclaiming the good news that Christ will shortly come. This was cool to me because Our modern day prophet follows a similar pattern. When we focus on the good, and not as much on the bad, our willingness to follow Christ will definetly increase, and our ability to follow him should as well. What a little blessing that is. 
               Well, I think that is it for the week. Stay dry, and happy. See you all Next time. 

Love, 
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

Selfie with the Tacoma

Some sweet old cars we saw at Becca's place.