Transfer 6, Week 3: Only in Montana

Hey everyone,
     How are we all doing this week? It has been a pretty crazy week for me, but who wants to hold off for long, let's jump right in...
     So, because interviews were on Monday last week, this week was a day shorter. For preparation day, we took a tour of the area. We first went down to Virginia City. A small Gold Mining western town that is now a tourist trap. Except, everything is closed down for the winter.😢. Sad day. Afterwards we went up to Ruby dam, and had a fun, cold time throwing rocks, and walking on the frozen lake. 
     Our proselitying efforts were really hurting this week. We didn't really see anything come from all that we did, which is a little upsetting, but sometimes that's all we can do. 
     Kris is still doing pretty good. We were only able to have 1 lesson this week, because he wasn't feeling well. That lesson was a dinner lesson, which was pretty sweet. 
     We found a lost tablet this week, and also found it's owner. Elder Evelety left his nice blue tablet behind on the day of interviews. So, we're going to return it to him today. 
     On Saturday, I ended up putting myself through a lot of pain. Elder Barlow wanted to go bike riding, so we spent a little time making sure they are in tip top shape, then went out. We didn't really have a well planned route, so it felt like we were riding around for no reason other than exercise. I am still sore from it. I haven't done that since that one bike ride with Elder Ritchie. 
     Afterwards, Elder Barlow wanted to go look at knives right after we got gas for the truck. I said ok, and ended up coming out of the store with a small souvenir. Only in Montana would you find a machine gun keychain. Haha. I guess now I can make a joke to other missionaries about carrying a gun on the mission.
     On Sunday, we had to give talks in Church again. I was so scared. But luckily Elder Barlow took a lot of time, so I was just the time filler. Haha. 
     Overall, this week had many ups and downs. It was good, but I really hope that next week is better. 
     I love you all, and hope that all goes well next week for you all too.

Love,
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

My new angel statue

My new gun key chain

Ruby Lake

Ruby Lake Dam

Ruby Lake Dam

Fun on the frozen lake

More fun on the frozen lake.

Sunset

Elder Barlow selfie

Rubix cubes are so much fun to play with after 9 pm.

The lost tablet

Transfer 6, Week 2: Who Needs TIWI?

Hey everyone,
     How are we all today. I know it's kind if weird for emails not to come on Monday, but that's what happened this week. I'll explain later. Anyway, this week was pretty exciting and full...
     To answer any questions about Elder Barlow and the area. We cover two wards. But they are so geographically bigger, that we need two apartments. Elder Barlow is from Riverton Utah. He has been out for about 4 months, and is a super great missionary. We have found that we have a lot on common. Also to answer the question of where we are. No we are not in Sheridan Wyoming. Sheridan Montana is a small small town south of Butte and Whitehall. 
     So, for the majority of this week, we spent our time trying to accomplish the stake goal of 20 lessons a week. That or contacting referrals received from members. It ended up being a very quick week. 
     After going through all of our plans on Tuesday, we headed to "The Wagon Wheel" a restaurant in Twin Bridges. There we had dinner with a less active member. Elder Barlow and I both got 1 lb burgers. They were really good, but that was probably way too much food for me. While we were there, he asked us a couple questions regarding temple sealings, so we got to do some extra research for him.
     We also got to help a very less active with her struggles. She texted us a while ago, and asked to meet with us. Elder Barlow and I both thought she was a nonmember. But when we started talking, we learned otherwise. That was a very special experience.
     On Wednesday night, the zone leaders called, and asked us to set up a goal for baptisms this transfer. So we immediately set to work and met with our bishops on Thursday and got those goals set. We don't have anyone close right now, so our goal is pretty low. But we are planning on planting the seeds necessary to have a baptism in the future.
     Kris is doing pretty well. We had two lessons with him. He has a lot of questions, and wants to go at his own pace. We feel like we took a step forward then a step sideways with him. We'll have to keep working, but I think we have a pretty good idea where to go.
     So, one of a missionaries biggest pains is what is called tiwi. It's a little box on the windshield that has the voice of a girl, and nags you when you are driving poorly. Well, ours kept falling off the windshield, so we unplugged it till we could get a good way to hold her on. (With approval of course) It was awesome. 
     On Saturday, we did our best to do a task that bishop gave us to do. He wants to get us a new apartment. It is a lot smaller, and would cost a lot less. The only problem is that it would fit in our current bedroom. It is absolutely tiny. 
     Sunday was pretty good as always. Nothing super exciting happened there. We tried our best to finish off our lesson count for the week. But we were not able to. Oh well. 
     Lastly, we has interviews on Monday, so preparation day was moved to Today this week. They were great. But we ended up spending the whole day basically in Butte. 
     I think that's all I had on my list to talk about today. I love you guys and I hope to hear from you all again soon. Have a great week.


Love,
Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

A selfie with the Gold Plates. We found them!

The Whitehall painted wall.

A frozen river.

Transfer 6, Week 1: Welcome to Whitehall

Hey Everyone,
     This week has been quite fast paced. It really seems to be in kind of a blurry, so I'll just jump right in. 
     With Transfers this week, and the need to pack, we said goodbye to a lot of people in the Fairfield area. In between everything, we got to see John again. He is pretty good. Happy to see us again, and I hope all is well there. 
     Transfers got delayed a day. (Executive decision by President Larsen), so we didn't head out until Thursday. One cool thing that happened was that the Fairfield building switched up their keys, so I was allowed to keep our old key to the building as a souvenir. It was pretty sweet. 
     Thursday morning, we packed everything up and headed out toward Great Falls to start the journey. We got lost along the way, and took quite the detour in Helena. But we got there ok. We met up with Elder Barlow, and the Butte Zone leaders. After heading back towards Butte, we stayed in town for the transfer Dinner and our truck to be done at the repair shop. It was a pretty good day. 
     WhiteHall is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. We cover about 2-3 times the land, and about 2/3 the people compared to Fairfield. I guess I need to spend time in small towns. 
We spent a lot of time getting to know the area of Whitehall on Friday and Saturday before packing up and heading to our other apartment in Twin Bridges. 
     Sunday we spent the day in Sheridan and went to a ward FHE night. It has been a blurr of a week. I feel like I am brand new to everything again, because I don't know what there is to do yet out here. 
     We are currently working with 1 person. His name is Kris. It has been fun getting to know him and his background. And I think we have another new investigator lesson on Tuesday. Way fun.
     To answer any questions you may have about the 2 addresses. Yes, we have 2 apartments. I've never lived either over a cafe, or in a pink house before. So we have 2 addresses. We spend Monday-Wednesday at Twin Bridges and Thursday-Saturday in Whitehall. Sunday's flip back and forth. As far as any mail goes, send everything to the Whitehall address, and we'll pick it up from there. 
     Well, I think that just about wraps things up for the week. I love it out here, and I hope things continue to move smoothly along.

Love,
Elder Sherwood 

Picture:

Leaving Fairfield

Transfer 5, Week 6: A New Year, A New Start

Hey Everyone,
      Are we all glad to go back to work? Wahoo! Guess what? The work doesn't stop for the holidays here. That's true in multiple ways. 1. It's a Farming Community and 2. It's Missionary work. Haha!  Anyway, it was pretty good week, so...
        New Year's was a Blast. Like Haloween, we weren't allowed to go to any parties. We had to be back home or in a member's home by 6 pm. So that kind of deflated New Year's, We had Fun anyway.
        After New Year's, we were finishing off the sparkling cider and Elder Lunt, who seems to be full of magic tricks, showed me how to cleanly break the bottom off a glass bottle with only his hands. It was way cool. I hope the slow motion video is able to send. 
       I forgot to mention this last week. A few days after Christmas, we were invited(Challenged) to an FHE nerf gun battle this next week, hopefully before transfers. Yes, we are allowed to have nerf guns again. I am excited. The family I think will be equiping us with weapons, but I don't know yet whether or not we'll use their's or get our own weapons.
       The rest of the week was kind of blurred. Mostly because I have had a severe headache and dizzy symptoms. I doubt I'm sick, but it sucked none the less, because of how hard it could be to stand up without feeling like I'm on boat. 
        Update, We got our own guns. I remember seeing the ones we would have borrowed, and we decided if we had our own, that it would be more fun. More people. Elder Lunt has a pump action rifle, and I have a self loading, battery rapid fire gun. Elder Lunt wanted to pull his gun apart after 9pm every night and work on making it a lot stronger. He is quite the engineer. But, we needed a small screwdriver, I mean tiny. So we searched the Fairfield Ward building for one, finding none, but found a key that gave us access to every room and cabinet in the building. Still no screwdriver.
     How did everyone like the new two hour church block? I thought it is pretty cool. There was a lot of confusion on how it is supposed to run, but it went Ok. We went to a Baptism afterwards for an 8 year old in the ward, so for this week at least, Church was still 3 hours long. Haha. John didn't come, but we found out that a part member family we used to go teach has been coming to church again. That is good news. We'll have to see if they want us over to have the disscussions again. So excited!!!
       We got a new development with John this week. Bishop Giles has been doing a great job leading the fellowshipping for John. We had decided to get an update from him regularly, and see how John is doing. Well, John was riding with another member one day, and made a comment about missing US. So I guess that is our answer on visiting John. It will be good to be back to normal with him. Hopefully we hear news from president soon about the Baptism.
      Lastly, The news I'm sure many are anxious to hear. Transfers. What is the news there? Well, Drum roll please ..............................................................................................................  ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Elder Lunt is Staying, and I am headed to the Butte zone. I will be serving in Sheridan and Whitehall. Only 7 hours from home, instead of my current 10. JK. My Companion's name is Elder Barlow, and Elder Sorensen is replacing me. So, super excited there. 

My addresses are:
mailing: PO Box 866 WhiteHall MT, 59759
physical: 108 N Main St #2 Twin Bridges MT, 59749

So please send any post that won't arrive by tomorrow that way. Thanks. It feels so weird to be writing this. I didn't think I would ever leave.
        Well, I think that's all for today folks. I hope life back home is all well, and that you stay happy. Keep it up.

Love,
Elder Sherwood

Photo from Sister Rushton - last dinner appointment with Elder Lunt.

Transfer 5, Week 5: Happy New Year

Hey Everyone, 
       How are you all doing? Are you getting through the Holidays ok? Christmas was great here.  A lot of exciting things have happened this week, so we won't delay any longer...
       On Christmas Eve, we went to Great Falls for an oil change. Then we got to spend the evening at the Rammells Place watching 17 Miracles, and helping Br. Rammell with a Facebook auction he was holding.
       Christmas day was fantastic. After opening presents, we were thrilled to talk to our parents that morning. It was great, and felt so good to see them again. We had the chance to have a late lunch with President Swensen, (the stake president) and Luigi, (the Choteau Ward mission leader). Afterwards, we had dinner with the Pearsons, and watched the Movie, "The Polar Express" the approved movie for Christmas.
       We spent like all day in Great Falls the day after Christmas as well. We had District Council, chaperoning the zone leaders, which ended up taking us till around 5pm. It was really fun though.
        On Thursday, Elder Lunt tore a phone book in half. It was quite impressive. The only thing that makes it not so impressive, was the fact that he had to take a cerated knife to cut it a little bit before he was able to rip it in half. 
        Saturday, we got to and see some really old Mustangs while trying to visit a few people. It was pretty sweet.
        Sunday was pretty sketchy. We had good meetings and all, but in the meantime, the weather quickly worsened. It went from windy, to snowing to Whiteout Blizzard. We had to abandon all previous plans to spend the day in Sunriver, to get back home, before the storm got any worse. It was quite a bad storm. Ugh.
       One thing that sometimes sucks about being a missionary is the limited miles we are allowed to go a month in our vehicles. Because if this limitation, yep you guessed it, we did just about everything this week on foot. Yeah!!
       The good thing this Blizzard provided, was the snow, but not the cold. We finally have our White Christmas out here. Yeah! But it also has gotten below zero. Brrr. 
       Well, quick spiritual thought for the week. Christmas is over, but that doesn't mean that we should stop being good disciples of Christ. We can still do our best to improve, and build up the kingdom of Christ. Especially during this week. With the New Year we can renew our determination to follow Christ, and we can be examples of him in our daily lives.
       Well, it was good to see and hear from everyone this week. And I hope that all is well. I can't wait for this next year.

Love,
Elder Sherwood

I thought my mom would kill me if I didn't take Christmas pictures, so I made sure I got some.

Pictures....

The district, Elder Petersen leaves tomorrow for Billings

The torn phone book

Christmas breakfast

Stocking surprise

Opening Christmas presents

Transfer 5, Week 4: Merry Mission Christmas

Hey Everyone, 
        I know it's not Christmas yet. But who cares? This week has been full of many crazy things, some good, and others not so much. but one thing I will say is that this week flew by. 
       I'm going to switch things up today, and start with the lower end of the spectrum, so we can end on a high note.:) The saddest thing that happened this week was involving our investigator John. No, we haven't got anything back yet so we're still delayed, but there is a mini story about him. 
      We were going to our normal lesson time with John. When he answers the door, we talk, but he very abruptly tells us that he never wants to talk to us again, because he feels people are being a little too nosey with his past. So all of a sudden, our "On Date" investigator has turned into currently a big pile of nothing. We're planning on giving John a little time to calm down, and then get a little clarification from him on the situation. 
      But on happier news, Christmas has been going for like a whole month for us. So in one of our wards, they have erected a gifft box for the missionaries(us). And they filled it many times over with food and snacks. We have much to eat now. Yay! 
      This week, besides receiving Christmas gifts from home, I also got a great gift from the Mission home. It was my Tiwi card. For those of you who don't know, in mission vehicles there are these little boxes glued to windshield called Tiwis. They are expensive driving monitoring systems that track where the car is and the current speed of the car. They also give gentle reminders to drive safely when not obeying certain traffic laws, or reckless driving. Anyway. You have to have a little tiwi log in card to drive in the mission, so that tiwi will work. I was not allowed to have my card because of stupid stuff I did back home before the mission, but I received my card this Friday, and I have permission to drive again. Yay!!
        Next Zone Conference.  Zone Conference was great. We got up at 4 am, to shower and go pick up the zone leaders by 6 am, so we could get to Helena by 7:30/8 am for a musical practice session. Elder Allen was playing his cello for zone conference. But we had to drive them because they're truck is still out of commission. The meetings were great. We recieved a lot of new instruction of how we are going to focus on our key indicators, rules, and making sure our faith is strong. We also had a great time doing Christmas skits. The mission gave each of us a couple presents. It was a lot of fun. Then we went to dinner with the assistants/our zone leaders and the Helena zone leaders. We went to Applebees. It was a lot of fun. Elder Petersen in the end, unbeknown to the rest of us, paid for the whole meal. So the other 7 of us took care of the tip and put in whatever cash we had. It was pretty fun. But we didn't get home till around 11pm. Yay, what a long day.

         We got to go the baptism for the Sisters this week. I had to get some paperwork done. It was a great service.
        Not really anything exciting happened the rest of the week. so that is all for there.
        Well, it is Week 4 of "Light the World". This week is focused on "Light your Faith" I would encourage all to watch the week 4 video, and think about what they can do to light their faith in our Savior this week.
       I can't wait to see all who will be on the Christmas Call tomorrow. I hope you all have a great Christmas, and I'll talk to you all next week.


Love,
Elder Sherwood

Now, No pictures today :(

Our Christmas call with Elder Sherwood