Last P-day, we went hiking! We were planning on going to the Pictograph Cave, but then we forgot the government shutdown affected all parks...lame. So we hiked the Rims instead which was fun :) We got a new investigator this week. Too bad we will have to pass him off -__- He is 32, and is just over the age limit for the Singles Ward. But his name is Beau, and he has absolutely no religious background which is sweet! We challenged him to be baptized and he said he would be if he came to know if it was true :) He was actually a referral from Eliza! Super cool. For dinner that Tuesday, we got taken to Buffalo Wild Wings...I tried the Mango Habanero (3rd hottest sauce) and cried haha. But it was good!
Keep Elder Wade in your prayers...He had a super rough week. In the same day, he found out that his investigator died 2 days before her baptismal date, and he also found out that his mom took a fall landing on her head. She didn't know her own name when she woke up :/ But I gave him a blessing, and she will recover fully :) Another Update with Elder Wade, he got emergency transferred back to his previous area. The Elders there were scheduling appointments that they were not attending, setting up dinners that they never went too, and completely destroyed that area. Elder Wade, who those members love, was sent there to revive it. I called him yesterday and he said that their dinner calendar was empty when he got there, and completely full by the end of church Sunday. So cool! I am going to miss him though, we got to be really good friends. BUT....guess who replaced him down here in Billings? ELDER PACKHAM!!!! The one who was good friends with Dom from BYUI and who I came out with! So stoked!
We got in with Josh, the one who dropped us a few weeks ago. He let us come over, we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon, and the Spirit was there. Josh has a lot of anxiety and has trouble focusing. I made him a promise, that if he took that leap of faith by coming to church, that that anxiety would leave the moment he walked through the church doors.
Zone Conference was this past Thursday. A 7 hour conference but I got to see Elder Villejo! I miss that kid! The theme of this conference was becoming master teachers like the Savior. And a HUGE announcement was made. We are the THIRD mission in the World to receive IPad Mini's for missionary work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday night, the ward had a pumpkin carving competition! Mine was probably the worst haha. Me and Beau Tall, one of the members, worked on one. We messed up the eyes, so we made it a cyclopes. We messed up the nose, so it was huge. And we made the mouth a Nike Swoosh haha. We didn't win.
Saturday's baptism was SO COOL! We got to the church at 8AM to start filling the font. Mario's baptism was at 10 and it takes FOREVER to fill that thing. We had a pretty good turnout , I love this ward. I had the privledge of Baptizing Mario, which is the first time I've actually done a baptism on the mission :) There is probably no better feeling. Afterwards, we all went to Denny's to eat! That night, we went to volunteer at the corn maze again. Tim was there, and we got to help out out with the Zombies. We loaded the paintball guns for people haha. Fun stuff!
Sunday was very rewarding. Being fast Sunday, we got to hear lots of testimonies. Jason, an investigator that the Skyview sisters have been teaching, got up and bore his testimony ...so powerful. Here was this kid, wearing all black, gauges in both ears, hat on, headphones in, and red highlights in his hair...standing in front of people he doesn't know, telling us that God has taken care of him. In one Sunday, I got to see Mario confirmed, Kyle Hamburg passing the sacrament, an investigator bearing his testimony, and Josh came to all three hours of church saying he wanted to be baptized. Wow. All people that I have got to work with over the last 6 months.
So we had a sweet week :) Lots of blessings. Happy Birthday Grandpa! You are amazing and I miss you. Congrats Torie on the band festival! Love you all!
Pictures from the Hike, Mario's baptism, my pumpkin, and Mason's pumpkin with a sword in it haha
