Glacier National Park

This week was busy. And I get to email you today since yesterday was Presidents Day! 

I lost my USB with ALL of my pictures on them, so besides the iPad pics you'll have to wait for the others, until I find my usb..hopefully soon. 

We had MLT (Mission Leadership Training -- our zone and the Missoula zone) and MLC (Mission Leadership Council) this week so we did lots of driving and sat in lots of meetings. They were both great. We talked aobut work and just doing it. I loved Sister Mecham's discussion on how work is an eternal principle, the atonement was work and that is eternal. the work will never really end. She also talked about 7 B's that can be related to everyone BE converted, a self starter, united, obedient, a producer, and joyful. It was hard to focus on all of what was talked about because we were given the assignment to prepare something for the other half of this training for our zone only a couple days in advanced. But with prayer and inspiration we were able to come up with some good ideas.

One idea was having the members in our zone read their patriarchal blessings. When we did that there was a distinct different Spirit in the room as to when they first entered the room. It reminded me of the reality and power of patriarchal blessings. We then talked about eternal perspectives and the promises we have been given and the little things we do now, are super important because "decisions determine destiny" It was a powerful discussion. 

I was pretty tired from driving and the meeting the day before so i was really tired at MLC, but it was good. It will be weird when President Mecham leaves.(not that i am worried about getting another mission president)  He has done so much for this mission he is making sure things continue to move upwards. 

Glacier National Park, SO beautiful! 

Elder Burnham and myself  

 the water is so clear and blue! 

i love the rockies!

We drove through Missoula and had dinner and such. We had some time so I wanted to visit the Yorgason family. too bad they werent there!! what a bummer, just the two younger boys it was good to see them though. maybe next time. 

It was also interesting this past week, we were at the hospital giving this lady a blessing and we run into Tammy from Missoula! turns out she is having a rough time and wants to meet with us again. We met with her a couple days later and put her on date AGAIN, but unfortunately she isnt in our ward. We will have to hand her over to the missionaries in 3rd ward. hopefully she can progress even more this time! 

We did some service at a Lutheran Church, they did a thing to raise money so they had a lunch, we helped clean up afterwards and it was good to talk to them and see what the inside of other churches felt like. It felt kinda like NPA so that was kinda weird haha but they were super nice people and were thankful for our help. 

lots of our 7 and 8 pm appointments have seemed to cancel so that was really fun! finding in the dark is always good haha hopefully we can get some solid appointments in the evening for this upcoming week. we are also going to be doing a lot of finding this week. so that should be good. 

hope yall had a great valentines day and hope you have a great week! 

Love Elder David Witt  

Welcome to the fold Quindee

This week was a crazy week but it was a good week!

it rained quite a bit, rare for February in Montana.  

Transfers went well we drove to Helena and back and to Missoula and back all in one week so it has been a lot of driving. and We have to do the same thing again this coming week haha it should be good. 

Quindee's baptism went really well. Not sure why she didnt have the YSA speak but she had Elder Buntrock and I speak. He spoke on Baptism and I spoke on the Holy Ghost. It was pretty intense with her family there, we wanted to impress them and testify so they could feel the power of the Holy Ghost. Both of us were super nervous, but it turned out great. We went to dinner with her family afterwards so it was good to talk to them. Her mom still wasnt super happy about her getting baptized, but hey she showed up so it was a step in the right direction! Quindee is super solid though and is going to go far. plus her family owns the Flathead lake lodge, and some other stuff up here so that is pretty awesome.  

We had a stake Priesthood meeting that we were invited to attend last night. IT was great. They talked about using lds.org more and as priesthood holders whether Aaronic or Melchizedek we have the responsibility to lift and inspire those around us. President Clark the stake president, is super awesome and super funny. He was telling us about him taking care of ducklings and how they almost drowned so his mom put them in the oven to warm them up then they got better He talked about  how he needed to pay more attention to them and take care of them better, just like we need to do with those around us. He told it better than I did..but hopefully you get the jist of it. Also brother Wehrli our WML spoke and he was super diligent in writing in his journal..which i am going to do more of. significant or insignificant I feel like I am learning more and doing more now than I have before on my mission so I should start writing it all down. 

We have some good goals and things that we are going to do as a companionship and for our zone so it should be sweet! It was crazy how fast the last 7 weeks went by! It's a good time. 

я вас люблю!
с любовью ,

Cтарейшина Witt

Lets slam some kontik

This week was way good! 

We did a lot of finding this week and we drove to Eureka to pick up a missionary who ended his mission then drove to Missoula and back to Kalispell, so it was a lot of driving, however we stopped at cafe rio in Missoula and it was SO GOOD! i ate chips and salsa there so i could take my burrito home to eat it the next day and savor it haha and a member paid for us so we got hooked up!

Transfer info came, I am staying in Kalispell and Elder Buntorck is getting transferred, it was sad since we thought we were staying together another transfer. He is going to Missoula and Elder Burnham the Zl in Missoula is coming up here. 

We were a little late going to a YSA activity and some people who were there were telling us to hurry then when we walked in they all started cheering for us haha the YSA loves us. It is so fun serving with them. Speaking of YSA Quindee is getting baptized tomrrow night! she was going to do it in flathead lake but it would be too cold, plus a font is available..so we are doing it at the churhc tomorrow! super exciting! 

Speaking about being excited and baptisms Sherry got baptized! it was SO cool! there were tons of people from the lakeside branch who showed up and her non member daughter and her inactive son were there, they both felt the Spirit. they are in our ward so hopefully we can start working with them!! anyway Sherry's baptsim was so awesome. a member gave a really great talk on baptism then Elder Buntrock gave one on the Holy Ghost, and we watched the restoration it was super Spiritual! and Sherry was so happy! Then the confirmation was super awesome as well! It was a great weekend! 

This week should be great too! 

oh yeah i just remembered my worm came out this week haha so hopefully my stomach feels better now haha 

oh yeah since elder buntorck is going home, we slammed some kontik! it was good! not as good as i remembered but regardless still delicious.

love you all and hope you have a good week! 

Love Elder David Witt 

Exciting Baptisms coming soon

the weeks are flying by and they have all been so good. 

We taught Quindee again this week and when we finished the lesson we said, well Quindee that is all of the lessons haha and she asked, Do I have to pick a date right now? haha so she did and she is getting baptized next week! Super exciting! She is way solid.

We went on exchanges this week, I stayed in our area and Elder Buntrock went to first ward area. All of the appointments we had fell through or they didnt answer their doors haha so I did quite a bit of finding with the missionary I was with. It is crazy how much finding we do in second ward area, but we have so much more work going on in Lakeside branch and YSA, hey it's all the same work though. Like we are teaching a bunch of YSA people, no one super solid (except Quindee of course) but it is still exciting, lots of teaching appointments.

Sherry is one of our investigators in Lakeside who is super prepared. She was going to get baptized years ago but couldn't overcome some things and this time around she is ready to give those up and be baptized. We taught her a couple times this week and she is doing well! the members in Lakeside are super missionary minded and awesome fellow-shippers. We are going to finish up the lessons today and then have her baptismal interview on Thursday then her baptism on Saturday. it is pretty exciting!! she is awesome!

So we taught Vlad this week on skype. He speaks English very well, so it was mostly in English but some things were said in Russian so it was fun to practice. I have forgotten so much it is kinda frustrating, but that's alright I'll just study it in college. Back to Vlad though I am not quite sure where to go with him because the city he lives in is about a day and a half journey to the nearest church... maybe he will move or something so he can be closer to a church ha

We had sushi for lunch the other day and I am not a huge sushi fan but it was really good this time, we also had euros..the pita tacos with lamb meet..just tryin new foods and liking them ha its been good. 

We have also been making family mission plans with the members we eat dinner with just goals they have to help the work progress, whether it be with non members, less active or active members. we help them set "SMART" goals and then taker a picture of it so we can follow up. It seems to be working pretty well and tons more members are doing work, its cool.

We also had interviews with President this week, he is going around the mission and doing interviews. He is so awesome and so inspiring and such a great example. You can truly tell that he loves the Lord and the missionaries and this work. He is awesome.

Transfers are coming up but I think we both might be staying, but then again you never know. I guess we will find out next week.

Love you and hope you have a good week!

Love Elder David Witt 

they have an outdoor hockey rink in town, it was pretty cool.

Epic P-Day

hey what's up? We had a ton of stuff going on this week, not all of it was awesome haha 

Highlights 

snowshoeing was super fun!

Quindee was askin questions about church and stuff so it was good, she is doing super well, hopefully she will still get baptized ion the next couple weeks. 

we had a dodge ball tournament with the YSA, it was so fun!

my team won..it was good ha there were tons of non members there and a few of our investigators so it was sweet to see them there! 

MLC was this week and the power that was in that room was incredible. It helped my testimony with the reality of this work. it was a neat experience, talking about policies we will adopt and such. Mostly it was on planning, things we should all already be doing. 

and other things that happened 

we went on exchanges with some missionaries whop haven't been out very long. they havent been very responsible, so we helped them with a few things. it was good. I remember blaming my trainer for doing stupid things but it wast worth it, so much more effective for both the missionary and the area and the people in the area if you just get to work. 

lots of our appointments or people that we found last week fell through ha so we did lots of finding this week. It was good to have such a good start of the week on Sunday cause I think we are being tested to prove our diligence and obedience. I dont have any doubts that it will pay off.  

There is this guy named Vlad who added one of the sisters in Helena on Facebook and she said I dont know any Russian but I know someone who does. So I added him on Facebook a while ago and he said he didnt want to meet because he was already skyping other missionaries. but he just messaged me on facebook and said he would like to skype, because he lives like 3 hours away from the church building in Russia, so we are going to skype him this week so we will see how it goes haha

hope you all have a good week! love ya!

Love Elder David Witt 

the field is white and ready to harvest....will you help or watch?

Some of the people we put on date dropped us, that's alright because we found a couple new people. we were tracting and were sharing the because of him video, one dude joseph let us in, so we taught him the Restoration. he really liked it and seems pretty solid. had other plans so he didnt come to church but hopefully he can come next week. 

Quindee our YSA investigator is doing awesome, we are actually going snowshoeing with her and her boyfriend today haha I am super stoked. 

basically this week was super solid but yesterday was the best day. We go to K2 (Kalispell second ward) then YSA we also cover Lakside branch but we go to the other two since lakeside is during K2 anyway we went to K2 and sacramemnt meeting was super good. it was all about missionary work. Elder Buntrock and I bore our testimonies and our WML spoke. I talked about no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, I know this is the Lord's work, he is in charge and nothing will stop His work from progressing. ya'll already know I've seen it first hand where persecutions have raged, mobs combined, armies assembled, calumny defaming, but the truth of God is going forth boldly, nobly, and independent. Nothing can or will stop this work from progressing. Also shared my testimony about the field being white already to harvest and we can help harvest or watch. either way it is going to be done, but if we help we and our families will be blessed. Someone else speaking talked about two sister missionaries who were just put together, they were thousands of miles away from home yet they both backed each other up and were in sync and were able to testify of the truthfulness of the gospel. What a well oiled machine this work is, because it is so true, we have traveled far from our own homes to share a message to someone with someone both of whom we have never met before, yet we are able to help this person feel the Spirit.  

Then we went to YSA and sacrament was equally awesome. The first lady spoke about failures, Lincoln, Ford, Eddison,Abinadi, and said we never know what kind of seeds we plant or how even though we might not think we are succeeding we just need to keep going and trying and do our best and it will pay off.  Then someone from the High Council spoke, he spoke about his mission and how they had been tracting all day, and they almost left but decided to finish the street so they did and when they knocked on the door the guy was like wow you got here fast come in. turns out he thought they were the cops, but then the real cops showed up and investigated the burglary. The cops left but the missionaries were still there and talked to this dude. they came back and taught them and baptized them. This high counselor later finds our that this couple they baptized had kids who all went on missions, served in the stake presidency, got their parents baptized and all of these people have joined the church, and he didnt find this out until 20 years later.

It is awesome that our little part that we do can be magnified and affect thousands of people. We just need to not be afraid to do our part. 

Then afterward we talked about the oath and covenant of the Priesthood and the reality and power it is. I am so grateful for the Priesthood power and that those who hold the priesthood are literally one in a million. and it is our duty to exercise that priesthood. We only have to do a few things at our end and Heavenly Father promises us so much and ultimately everything He has. Everything.   

started off yesterday with listening to Praise to the Man(go listen to it) and ended it with reading the Book of Mormon with one of our investigators. I am so grateful to know that Joseph Smith resorted Jesus Christ's church back on the earth and that the power and authority to act in God's name (the priesthood) has been restored. This is definitely the Lord's work, nothing will stop it. He is in charge. He loves us and wants us to be happy, He wants all of God's children to be happy, to receive eternal life. The Book of Mormon testifies of the truthfulness of that through the plan of happiness. and I know the Book of Mormon is true, that is really is scripture and when we abide by it's precepts we can know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I love you and hope your new year has been great thus far. 

Love,

Elder David Witt  

Let it SNOW

Day 1

We were driving to an appointment with Travis, he lives at home and is working we live downstairs he lives upstairs with his mom and dad h e is like an older brother, anyway, we were riding with him and we were going the roads were icy and like 400 m in front of us we saw a car pull out on a side road onto the highway and get plowed by someone on the freeway. travis is an EMT so we pulled over he checked them out, we directed traffic and thankfully everyone was okay, then we kept going we were super late to our appointment got a little lost but it was cool because we felt like we should help this person shovel their driveway, turns out it was an old lady who was using a broken shovel, Travis drove his truck in the driveway making little ruts and then elder Buntrock and I shoveled a bunch out too, it was a huge driveway and would have taken her FOREVER. so it was cool to do service, she was super thankful, then we finally made it to our investigators house, Harley, he is in YSA and is coming to church, not on date yet but probably soon. 

Then later that day we went with another member to see someone who said we coulkd come back, turns out she wasnt there but her brother was. her brother let us in and he said we could teach him. We taught him and he loved the idea of families and the restored gospel and knowing for ourselves. He committed  to be baptized at the end of the month. super Solid dude. 

Day 2

New Years Eve, it was fun we hung out with a family who has a bunch of little kids, so it was like hanging out with all the nieces and nephews haha it was alright. we played this game called curses, super fun and funny. we should get it and play it sometime. 

day 3 

it's a new year, no one wanted to talk to us hahaha but we got an online referral from someone requesting a Bible, so we gave it to him New years eve and he said we could meet the next day. (which would be day 3) We met and taught him. he was super excited to have a change in his life and to have a better relationship with Heavenly father and Jesus Christ. He was also pumped about YSA. He also committed to be baptized at the end of the month. 

day 4 and 5 

lots of finding, not too much success. We did find at least one person every time who said we could come back though. We also had zone interviews with someone from the mission presidency, so that was good. President and Sister Holmes are super nice.   

day 6 

had a wonderful fast sunday going to K2 then YSA, we gave Zirene and Zamuel the Holy Ghost, super cool super powerful. so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the blessing He is. We then taught someone who is in Lakeside branch (we cover 3 units) had dinner (after having break the fast with YSA) and taught the restoration to someone who had been wanting to be baptized but couldn't quit smoking. she is ready to be baptized at the end of the month and really wants to quit smoking. 

day 7 

we are still alive. we got snowed in. we literally had to dig our car out and make divots so we could get traction to get out of the driveway. We finally got out and were driving to go to the library and we got stuck twice, took us forever to dig ourselves out again. it doesn't help my traction on my shoes is awful so it makes it even harder to push haha  it is comin down here. like 2 feet of snow it is great. 

 buried in the snow 

diggin us out 

making a snow angel 

my companion

love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love Elder David Witt