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)