Stake Conference

Things went really well this week for tracting. As a mission our weekly goal is to approach 100 people and to invite 50 people to do something. And it's pretty tough to achieve that goal, but this has been the best week. We approached 92 people and of those 92 people we approached we talked to 34 of them. Yesterday we were tracting Rock Creek and met a family that were open and that was my first actual walk in lesson since I've been here. It went really well and I think we're going to go back and talk to them more. We also ran into a guy who keeps 4 hives of bees, he said one were Austrian bees and I can't remember what the other bees were. But the Tom was really nice, in fact he let us try the honey from the comb and it was the best honey I've ever had. He was really nice and he said that Elders used to visit him (I think they were our missionaries, might have been Jehovah Witness), and he invited us back. He was a really nice guy. He also gave us a free jar of honey. :) On Wednesday we were out tracting and it started raining, so we stayed at a members house till the rain stopped, and I was wearing a silk tie, so now it was a little wrinkled, I'm pretty bummed about that, at least it still looks nice. I've found that it is really hard to find new investigators. But things have been going great.

I had Bear meat for the first time, it was pretty good. I also had goat milk for the first time, and it tastes just like the milk you get at the store, I couldn't tell the difference. I love the members here, they feed us very well. :)

On Saturday I had to wake up at 4 and left at 5:30 to leave to Helena to be there for a missionary conference with our Apostle, Elder Neal Anderson and some members of the seventy. Elder Gonzales, I believe is the Second President of the Seventy, and Elder Case(?) of the area seventy. I hope I didn't get the names messed up, feel free to correct me. ;) The meeting was great! The all spoke about missionary work and how important it is. What stuck out to me is that we must remember that an Apostle and President Monson are still regular men. Elder Anderson was saying how President Mecham's son used to mow their lawn, but he now mows it himself. Even an Apostle still mows his own lawn. He also spoke that on his mission he said he was an ordinary missionary and that he was never called to be District leader, Zone leader, or an assistant to his mission president on his mission. Anyway, the meeting was amazing, and we closed by singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives", which is my favorite Hymn, and I really felt the spirit when we sung that song. It just sounded amazing and beautiful. After the meeting we had another meeting with just the missionaries and I wasn't the only one touched by that Hymn. Everyone was bearing a testimony from that Hymn and what it meant to us. I find myself singing that Hymn a lot in my head and reading the Hymn before personal study.

Then on Sunday we had Stake Conference and Elder Gonzales spoke. He spoke about missionary work, families, and the Temple. He gave a really good talk. Stake Conference however, was short and was only an hour and a half long. So this has been a really Great week. Even though this was the greatest week on my mission so far, it also been the toughest just because I got a big wave of homesickness. But for the most part I've gotten over it now. I try not to think about home too much and get lost in the work. I just like keeping myself busy and losing myself in the work and not be idle so I won't have much time to dwell about what's happening back home. I am really enjoying myself here in Montana and the scenery is beautiful. I encourage all of you to try and share the gospel with others or just setting a good examples to others. To find ways to serve others. I find myself being happy as I find ways to serve and out sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior. "How sweet the joy this sentence gives I know that my Redeemer lives."