Riverton, WY

Well, this has been quite a week. So I am still figuring things out here in Riverton but I think I got the jist of it now and I will eventually know everything the next week or two. So there are 3 Wards here in Riverton. Aspen Park, Sunset Park, and Mountain View. So one set of Sisters cover Sunset Park, another set of Sisters cover Mountain View and the YSA Branch, and I cover Aspen Park Ward. Elder Linton and I also cover Shoshoni which is a population of 300 and has a little Branch there. So Wednesday I left Helena and traveled to Bozeman, had a quick stop, then to Billings for a half hour stop. Then traveled to Lovell, Wyoming and spent the night there. So about 6-7 hours drive. Then on Thursday I drove the truck down with two Elders and two Sisters. That was fun, so we drove to Thermopolis, where our Zone Leaders serve and we had about 3/4 the zone there and had a testimony meeting. After that I drove the truck again with the same people to Riverton. So all in all about a 4 hour drive. So we have a Toyota Corolla that I am driving around which is pretty sweet.

So I guess I am loving it here. It is pretty flat here with mountains pretty far away. Different not having mountains being right there. So I am enjoying Riverton. Elder Linton is Awesome. We are getting along great! So he has been out two transfers, all in Riverton. His last two companions only served in Riverton for one transfer and left to be Zone Leaders, so he keeps telling me I'm going to be a Zone Leader next transfer, which I kinda don't want to be, since that is a lot of responsibility, but we'll see.

So we have two people on date with very few investigators. We also have a ton of less actives. So I have been told about 80 show up to church on average and we have around 500 less actives. So a lot of reactivation work to be done. However we had about 130 show up yesterday and there was no special event at church so that is good. The members here are nice as well.

So I found out that right before Elder Linton showed up the previous Elders weren't the best and ruined the area and members trust, so the past three months Elder Linton and his two previous companions have been building it back up. So we have a lot of work ahead of us.

So I arrived here Thursday then Friday evening we went up to Shoshoni, Elder Linton second time up there and we spent the night at the Branch President's house. So we went to see our branch mission leader and he wasn't home so walking back we saw some high schoolers playing basketball, so we asked to join in and we played them, which of course Elder Linton and I showed them whats up. ;) After playing awhile they asked us questions and they never even heard of Mormons before, probably because they grew up in a small town of Shoshoni their whole life. That was cool. Then Saturday we spent the morning going through the area book for Shoshoni and updating. Then we met several members and a part member family which was a great visit and good potential. That is about it. Elder Linton tracted the whole place in 2 hours the last time he came up. So we go there about once a month.

Things are going well. Hope you have a great week! Oh, we have like the only Walmart in Wyoming for our mission. :)

Elder Ashcroft