The (not so) Great Falls in the Winter... and loving every minute of it!!!

Monday!

So for some reason as of late my p-days have been super busy!!  Like I don't even know why they get so busy.  I do everything I've always been doing only now it seems like I hardly have anytime.  It's confusing... anyway, so we did our shopping and whatnot and got the things that we needed.  Then we played games!!  Normal p-day type stuff.  After that we had a lesson buuuuuut it got cancelled like 10 minutes before hand.  Oh well such is the life of a missionary and there isn't much we can do about it. We tried contacting some people and we weren't able to talk to many people but no worries!!

Tuesday!

So today we woke up and did our thing, then we went to ZLC (which is that meeting where I can't be there so I just practice my basketball skills).  Might I just say that I've played more basketball on my mission than in my whole life combined, and as a result I've become quite the "baller" as the kids say 😂 anyway, so that was fun.  Then after the meeting we went to Dairy Queen and we talked with a few people there. There was actually this one lady who we went up and talked to and she told us about how she doesn't have anywhere to stay or anything and she was just super stressed and sad.  So we shared some scriptures and our testimony on keeping the commandments and that God blesses us for that.  So I hope that she was able to feel something and that she goes to church like she said she would.  After that we started our exchanges with the zone leaders!  So Elder Porter and I got together and shot over to their area while they were in ours.  It was kind of funny but I forgot my iPad in the other car so I didn't have it with me for like the whole day almost and it was actually kind of nice I'm not going to lie 😅.  It was super neat just being able to teach out of the Book of Mormon exclusively because that's all I had, that and my testimony.  So that's what I relied on!  It was a really good day.  We had a lesson with one of their investigators who Satan is working on pretty hard so we were able to answer a lot of her questions on different things.  We had a few lessons fall through but we made up for it by following the spirit and looking for those people who were sent by God.  Like we were in the area for this lady they had contacted awhile back and so we decided to stop by.  Well she didn't answer but we didn't feel like leaving right then was a great idea, so we went and started knocking on doors until we felt spiritually satisfied.  Well we knocked a few doors with no answer, but then we knock on this one door… I've been able to find out that on my mission is I can talk to random people pretty easily about just about anything, but transitioning to the gospel is a bit tougher. So I'm still learning how to do that.  Anyway, so we knock on his door and he was a bit standoffish at first but I noticed he was playing a video game that I had played a little bit of in the "before time".  Anyway so I pointed it out and started to talk to him about that then he really started talking to us and opening up to us and he started talking about Dragon Ball Z and I was just sitting there like, "come on man you're making this too easy for me 😂".  So we talked about that for a while then after Elder Porter was able to bring up the gospel and talk about missionaries and what we do and so we were able to talk to him a little bit about that and he seemed pretty open to meeting with the missionaries so that was a huge miracle!  It was a really awesome exchange and it was really cool to meet a lot of people from the Overlook area.  I learned a lot and I learned how to better myself as a missionary.  So after a few more people we headed back to the apartment and we got there and talked to their ward mission leader (who is easily one of the coolest guys ever btw) and he gave us some really good advice for after the mission and finding and choosing a career that fits us.  Then he told us a few stories from when he was a police officer.  It was super cool talking to him :) then we went to bed and that was it.

Wednesday!!

Alright so today started out with games and we created a variation of four square.  Instead of four squares we use six.  So we played six square and man can that game get intense!!  It was super fun though!!  After that Elder Porter and I went to their apartment to get ready for district meeting and do our studies.  It was pretty cool because we got ready and all that and spent like an hour just talking about life and missionary work and how we can both improve as missionaries.  He's a way solid missionary.  He's really good at something I struggle with and that's understanding that there are certain times and places to be funny and have fun but also times to work.  So I was able to receive instruction as to how I can do better at that.  But yeah so we talked for a while and I did my studies and I had a really great study session!!  It was super awesome!!!  I was reading in Alma chapter 11 and Zeezrom is trying to get Amulek deny the gospel.  So he tries bribing him with a ton of money.  Like it was a lot of money from what I understood and Zeezrom is like, "hey Amulek, do you see all this silver??  It's a lot right??  Well I'll tell you what, if you deny that there's a God then all this is yours."  Well Amulek is a righteous guy and he sees right through Zeezrom and his cunning.  So this is Amuleks response to Zeezrom and it's found in chapter 11 verse 23:

"O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?"

First thing I like about this is he calls him a child 😂 like he's basically saying this is childish to think that silver and riches is going to get me to deny God.  Then my favorite part of Amuleks response is the fact that he says that the righteous won't yield to temptations like that.  I read that and I was like wow, he threw it all back into Zeezrom’s face and said I don't want your money because I know that there is a God and that because I'm righteous he will bless me.  Then a little bit later on in the chapter he calls out Zeezrom saying that he wasn't even going to give him the money if he had denied the existence of a God.  It's just an awesome chapter.  

After our studies Elder Porter and I got ready to leave for district meeting.  See there was one fatal error in our planning... we thought that the meeting was at 10:30... well we were kind of wrong... 😅 it actually was at 10.  So at about 10:20 we got a call from the sisters asking where the heck we were and it was at that moment we realized that we screwed up 😅 oh well though right?!?  You live and you learn and now I know that district meeting is at 10 not 10:30 😅.  So we had district meeting and that was all good and fun.  Then afterward we went to Arby's for lunch and man I haven't been to that place since I was in Utah!!  Like I think the last time I was there was in high school when we went for lunch 😂 so that was a blast from the past.  After that we switched back and went to the doctors for Elder Blum’s ear because it has been bugging him for the past little bit and he was cleared to go to the doctors to get it checked out.  So we were there for quite a while and then after that we went to pick up his prescription and because of the insurance missionaries have it takes like 10X as long so we were stuck there for a while as well.  Once it was done it was time for dinner.  So we went to dinner and finished out our day!!  It's been a pretty eventful day!!

Thursday!

Today was pretty good.  It was a bit of a slower day but it was really cool because later in the day we had splits and I was able to go and help the guy I went with, with some home-teaching.  So we went to this older ladies house and shared a message with her. She was super nice and loved the company :)  it did my heart good to be able to go and brighten up her day :) After that my split’s companion and I went to try a less active we had talked to awhile back but he didn't answer which was a bummer.  But it was pretty close to 8 which was when we decided we would be back at, so went back and waited for the other two in the parking lot and talked for a while about the area and the ward.  Then we started talking about missions and he served in Saõ Paulo (shout out to you Tav) but I'm pretty sure I spelled it right.  I know that there is one of those squiggly things somewhere in it so I just guessed.  But he told me a few stories which were really cool and I was actually able to tell some of my own!! :D  How nuts is that!?! I can tell mission stories!!  Anyway it was super cool.  I love splits because I'm able to get to know the members of the ward better and so that's pretty nice to be able to form those relationships.

Friday!

Alright so this morning I woke up and it was like 5:50 and I was thinking, "why the crap are you up so early elder!! We still have like a half hour!!!"  Then I got a text from the sisters at about 6:15 asking where we were and I was like why are the sisters asking where we are this early in the morning??  Then it hit me... today is Friday... we have games every Wednesday and Friday morning... CRAP!!!  So I jumped out of bed and threw on all my clothes and was out the door because we were late!!  So that was pretty funny 😂 anyway so we did that and it was pretty fun.  Then we got a call at like 11 from the other zone leaders asking us if we could pick them up at about noon because their car was getting its windshield replaced.  So we were like yeah sure we can do that.  Anyway, so we're getting ready to do that when we get another call at pretty close to noon from them saying that there was a mix-up and their windshield was sent to Billings.  So they were like let's just go to lunch.  So we went and got some pizza and took it back to their place and ate pizza for lunch.  Then we started talking and we started talking about “The Great Falls”.  Like the actual water fall and we were like we are only going to be in Great Falls like one time in our lives so we need to see The Great Falls.  Plus we both didn't have anything planned for the next little bit so we drove out the actual Great Falls!!  And well I didn't realize but waterfalls are only really good during certain seasons... winter is not one of those seasons... so we got there and it was alright but kind of a disappointment... then Elder Potter and I looked at some rocks and decided to climb this rock hill and get a picture of The Great Falls from the top of it and that was pretty cool. 

But what we didn't realize is that the hill we climbed was littered full of these super sharp rocks and super loose dirt so Elder Potter starts heading back down and he just slides for like 10 feet.  I thought he was going to die or something.  It looked like he was going to start falling like in the movie Hot Rod when he falls down the hill for like 10 minutes.  But he didn't thank goodness!! He did rip his pants though... so that was a bummer.  But it's all good because we got some pretty good pictures. 

Anyway so after that we went back down and headed back home and we went to our dinner appointment and had dinner on base.  It was awesome and we had breakfast for dinner!!! 😍🤤 it was soooooo good!!  I love breakfast for dinner.  Then afterward we tried visiting some less active members and former investigators.

Saturday!

Well today was a pretty mello day 😅 not much going on.  What happened was we just did a lot of finding then we had dinner at a member’s house and it was way funny because the kids were like naming off every transformer ever and I was like... woah... it was pretty funny 😂 then afterward we tried contacting some more people but it didn't turn out.  After doing that for a few hours and being told, "I'm not interested" a bunch, we decided to head on home.  So that was a fun time :)

Sunday!

So we started off the day doing the usual stuff and then we got a call from our zone leaders asking if we would be able to go to the hospital in town and give a lady a blessing in there.  So we said we would after we got done with church.  We went to church and we were in charge of teaching the gospel principles class and I think it went pretty well.  At least I hope it was good 😅.  Then we went into our priesthood meeting and talked about the word of wisdom and the plan of salvation.  It was super cool to be able to see the ties between the two from a different perspective.  After that, church ended and we had ward council... fuuuuun stuff 😅 that lasted quite a while but it's all good!!  Sacrifices for the work to progress!!  After we hurried home, changed out of our suits and into some clothes that can be washed easier because that's what we do 😅 and then we ate some lunch really quick and hurried over to the hospital to give the lady a blessing.  We got there and it was super cool to meet her.  We gave her the blessing and we talked a little bit after and we told her that we hope she gets better and she said, "I will now thanks to you."  It was so awesome to see her faith in the blessing from the Lord.  After that we went over to our dinner and she gave us a pizza so we had pizza for dinner.  Then we went out and did some more finding hoping that more people would be around on Sunday.  Some of them were and some weren't, which was alright😅.  After that we went and did our laundry and that's been my week!!  A lot of really cool experiences and blessings that I've been able to see this week and I've been able to meet a lot of super cool people :)

I love it out here a lot and I love my mission and I'm excited to see my growth over the next two years :) I love you all and I'll catch ya next week!! :)


Love,
Elder Zeller
2425 6th Ave. S Great Falls MT 59405

"Stuff" on the Horse Trailer Floor and so Much More

Hey all so I'm going to do something a bit different this week.  Instead of me trying to compose all my thoughts from the whole week I'm going to write a little bit each day about what happened as the week goes and email it on Monday. That way it'll be fresh in my mind!  So we'll see how this goes!

Alright so Monday!  Not too much happened. It’s our preparation day which is super nice!! It is very much needed to just let loose and the extra couple hours in the morning helps add time to be together with other missionaries :) I forgot to put this in the last email but on Sunday night we slept over at the other zone leaders apartment because we just kinda wanted to 😅 anyway so that was a blast! In the morning we helped them with some service that they had.  It was pretty fun.  We unloaded a horse trailer into a storage unit. The only downside to this was that when they first loaded the horse trailer they didn't really shovel it out first because all the "stuff" on the floor (it was poop if you didn't catch my drift) was frozen. But thanks to this warm weather we've been having it softened right up and me being the lucky guy I was got to be the one inside the trailer unloading it... it was fun 😅 but yeah so we did that in the morning then we went and did normal preparation day stuff like shopping and getting ready for the upcoming week.  It was kinda funny but since we had a sleepover I put my mattress in the back of their truck and slept on that in their apartment; well they had somewhere to be pretty quick after p-day so we had to just ditch my mattress at their place for a night.  I wasn’t worried because I knew I’d just snag it sometime.  But all in all good day!

Alright so Tuesday!  Fun stuff!  So we woke up in the morning and we're doing our normal missionary thing when we get a call from the sisters in our district.  We answer the phone and start talking and they're like "hey would you guys be able to come with us to a lesson at 10 this morning?!?"

"... umm you mean in like ten minutes???"
"Yeah! Can you make it?!?"
"..."
"..."
"... yeah sure we can make it." 😅
So that was a pretty impromptu lesson.  Because he's a single guy in the sisters area they can't meet with him unless we come as well but it was super awesome because we were able to teach him about baptism and the covenants made there and we were able to confirm that he's going to get baptized on Saturday!  It's been super cool because even though he isn't our investigator we loved being able to see him commit to be baptized and now to follow through on Saturday is just so awesome! 

After the lesson we went to Zone Leader Conference (ZLC), which is a meeting between the zone leaders and the district leaders... well I'm not either of those but my companion is the district leader sooooo I come along but I'm not welcomed in the club 😢 so basically I just sit around in the church and study or shoot some hoops 😂 well while I'm in the middle of "ballin up" with myself I get a call from the other zone leaders asking if we'll be home anytime soon so that they can drop off my mattress.  I told them that I'm in the middle of ZLC but that the door was unlocked so they could just throw it in that first room.  That was the last I thought of it.  After ZLC we go home for lunch and I walk in and I see my mattress and I'm like, "sweet they actually brought it!"  Then I started paying attention to the apartment and all around the apartment the other Missionaries had placed the valentine cards (you know since it was Valentine's Day) all over our apartment in random places that we would find at random times.  Like I'll give you a few examples… they put some in our hot chocolate powder, they put some in our light fixture, they put some around the shower head they put some in random pockets of my clothes and they put some in the sheets of Elder Blum’s mattress.  And those are just a few!!  They said they had a stack about 5 inches tall of them and we haven't found nearly that much.  Basically it was the funniest thing ever 😂 a perfect way to start off my day :) anyway after that we went out and tried contacting a lot of people and not a lot of people were home because it was Valentine's Day and the people that were home just kind of slammed the door in our face.  No biggy though!  Such is the life of a missionary 😂 it was a good day though :)

Wednesday!! Today was a really awesome and a really spiritually charging day! We had zone conference and so from about 9-3 we had meetings and the whole time I was just getting spiritual promptings and impressions as to how I can become a better missionary and a better person in general and also a lot of new ideas of how to find new investigators.  I always enjoy listening to President and Sister Wadsworth.  They just are able to say things that I know I need to hear and also I'm sure that others need to hear as well!!  And the spirit they bring is just awesome!  I just learned a whole lot, it was really nice.  

After that we were able to go and teach the investigator in Portage again and that was really good we taught him some of the last principles he needs in order to get baptized.  He's so ready to make that commitment.  Apparently he's been working with the missionaries for upwards of 5 years or so and being a part of this step that he's making towards eternal progression is such an honor and I thank the Lord every day for the opportunities and blessings He gives me.  After that lesson we went and picked up our dinner where we had an appointment with because she wasn't feeling too good so we really hope she gets feeling better.  

We had dinner then we decided to listen to what the Wadsworths and Apostles have said and try working with people who are in our age range so we went to mutual and started to get to know a lot of the youth in the ward and that was really awesome. They're having a combined mutual in March so we are encouraging them to invite friends of theirs who might not be members or members who don't necessarily come to church a whole lot.  We hope that they do that so that we can do our thing and try and bring others closer to the gospel :) it's been a really awesome day filled with so much promptings and spiritual impressions I feel like I'm going to explode.  I'm excited to start using what I've learned in my missionary work :)

Thursday!!  Oh man what a day!!  Started off really awesome!!  We had interviews with President and that was awesome.  We were able to talk about things I need to do that would help me be a better missionary and ways that I can grow myself and it was just so awesome!!  I appreciate President and his wife so much!  They receive so much revelation for what their missionaries need I just love being able to spend time with them whenever I can!  So we went from that to lunch which was good.  

We had lunch with our zone leaders at Dairy Queen so that was pretty good. Then after that me and Elder Blum got haircuts because my hair was getting a bit too long!  I just don't like when my hair gets long.  So I was sick and tired of it so I got it cut short so I hope that it'll stay this short for a while but I never know with my hair 😅 

After that we did some planning since it was our planning day and then we went to a lesson with the sisters with their investigator whose getting baptized on Saturday.  They finished up teaching him the last things he needed before he's baptized so now all that needs to happen is an interview (which will happen tomorrow) and then the actual baptism and he's golden!  So that was good then we had splits and there was some communication errors (on our part) where we had told the wrong time so the appointment we set up wasn't able to happen and it was just such a bummer because I was really looking forward to meeting with the people we had set up time with and I just feel really bad about the whole thing.  But we ended up meeting with one of our investigators on the base and that was good.  We were able to talk with her about the Bookof Mormon and the restoration a bit and we hopefully will be able to find a way back onto the base for our next appointment with her! So that was nice!  Lots of cool things happened today!  Lots of miracles.

Friday!!  Today was super awesome!!  We started out the day by playing some games for exercise!  So that was fun and a super great way to start the day!  After that we went over to do a baptismal interview with the sisters investigator and guess what... he passed!!  So all things are a go for tomorrow and I couldn't be happier!!  After all was said and done and we had gone over everything with him we went over to help the other zone leaders with some service that they had lined up.  So we shuttled off that direction and helped them for a while.  It's pretty interesting how many people are moving at this time.  Like honestly, we've helped at least three different people within the past two weeks move.  After that we went over to Salvation Army to see if they could use some volunteer service from their friendly neighborhood missionaries and they said that they would love to!!  So we are going to head back tomorrow and talk with a lady to get that all set up.

After that we went to dinner at like my new favorite restaurant.  It's called the Roadhouse Diner and man alive, they have some good burgers... like the first time I went, I got the PB & J burger... I know it sounds nasty but it was actually pretty good!!  But this go around I wanted to try other things and the Spicy burger caught my eye and man was that thing tasty!  So that was good!!  

Then after that we saw that the other zone does this missionary game night thing where missionaries and youth get together and play games.  So it's like a perfect opportunity for the youth to invite their friends who may or may not be members.  So we wanted to get that started in our zone but we wanted to see what they do for it so we went and did that and it was a lot of fun and I'm way excited to get that started over in our zone!!  But yeah today was super good and I couldn't be more stoked for the baptism tomorrow!!  It will be so awesome and the spirit felt at a baptism is such a special one.

Saturday!!  Man today was so solid!!  We woke up and went to the baptism and it was super awesome to see him get baptized.  The spirit was super strong there.  Then after that we went to a lunch that a family had put together for him after his baptism.  That was pretty cool because we were able to meet some of the members from the Portage ward.  After that Elder Blum asks if we can stop by Walmart and the other Stake Center because he needed to get some things and he left his missionary clip at the Stake Center.  So that's what we did and after we couldn't find his tag we decided to just leave... buuuuut the other zone leaders apartment was right there, so being the 19 year old that I am I decided that we should see if we could get into their apartment somehow, so we try for a bit and we get let in!  So we go into their apartment and prank them a bit nothing too bad just had some fun 😂 then we go on our way and start trying to contact people and go to some lessons we had set up.  We went over to our first "lesson" we more or less were just seeing if she was feeling better so we could teach her.  We go and knock on her door start talking and she says that she just got started eating lunch... which was a little weird... seeing as how it was 3:30.  Oh well we set up a return appointment for Sunday at 4:30 so hopefully that works out.

Then after that we go and contact this less active and man was he an interesting guy 😅 he basically told us that he got baptized because he was told he couldn't do it so he felt challenged.  But he was a way cool guy.  He talked to us about not getting married and not going to college so that was fun 😅 we were there for about an hour and a half to two hours.  Then we went to another lesson we had set up with a new investigator we found trying to contact someone else, but that fell through so we decided to go head home and have dinner... I walk in our apartment and my first thought was, "oh no..." the other zone leaders had put cups full of water all throughout our apartment 😅 it was so funny I was dying laughing 😂 so we cleaned that up, declared prank war with them and set up rules so that things don't get out of hand.  Then we started brainstorming as to how we should get them back... after that we went and contacted some people but no one answered.

Sunday!!  So today we got up did our morning thing then went to church.  It was pretty good!!  The talks in Sacrament meeting were all about missionary work and getting the members involved so that was awesome!!  Then it was kind of funny but I was looking around and our ward mission leader was gone and our assistant ward mission leader was gone as well. So I legit thought that Elder Blum and I were going to have to wing the lesson in gospel principles!!  But it turned out they got a sub so it worked out!!  Then we went to priesthood and had a lesson on the pioneers and their faith and how we are different pioneers now.  It was pretty cool!!  Then after church we had a ton of lessons... which all fell through 😅 like I kind of understand because we set up these lessons like a week ago, but the one we set up yesterday I was like that’s a bummer!!  We literally talked yesterday!!  Oh well we were able to meet some other people and it was super cool.  The Lord works in mysterious ways so maybe we needed to be in the neighborhood for someone.  I'm not sure.  

We had a bit of time before our dinner so we were like, "let's go try and find the Great Falls." So we went looking for them and we found the Rainbow Falls but not the Great Falls.  At first I thought it was the Great Falls and I was severely underwhelmed... 😅 but it was all good!!  Then we took off to our dinner and ate with a family where her brother who got off a mission about 8 months ago was living with them.  So that was super cool to be able to talk to him about his mission!!  Then after that he asked if we wanted to go help him with his horses.  We didn't have anything planned after that so we were like, "sure why not!!"  So that was fun!  Then we went and did our laundry and went to bed.  

This week I've been a witness of right place right time.  We may think that because we have an appointment with someone that we need to be with them, then when the appointment falls through we get bummed out, but someone there needs you.  The Lord put you there at that time for a reason.  We just had to find the reason!! I love you all take care!!

Love,
Elder Zeller
2425 6th Ave. S Great Falls MT 59405

Roman God to My Doppelganger

This picture will make sense as you read further:)

Hey all!!
This week has been pretty good!  There were quite a few interesting experiences throughout the week!!

It all started on Wednesday, we had our district meeting and I forgot my iPad so I had to mooch off my companion The Whole time.  But it wasn't too bad.  For some reason the words “selfless service” stuck out to me during the meeting.  Maybe it was the Holy Ghost telling me that I need to work on it some more.  It has just made me think a lot about that and the blessings that come from selfless service, and not thinking about yourself but always thinking about others.  I don't know, just something that has been on my mind ever since.

Then later that night we contacted some referrals and they are super awesome!!  They are really into their church which is totally fine, but they have been on missions in their church and they have some super cool stories from doing that.  We are going back like this Wednesday so that'll be super fun!!  

The bed that was "tied down"

Then the next day we got a call from the sister missionaries in our district asking if we would be willing and able to help a less active lady move.  So we did and they weren't really prepared to actually get moving.  But we helped them as best we could.  They put things into the bed of the truck and tied it down while we were driving to the storage unit and when we got back it looked super sketchy... like it scared me and I thought it was just going to fly off.  But it didn't so that was good!  

Then later that day we went over to a ladies house in the Overlook Ward.  Her sister died on her birthday so that kinda sucked and we were there to help cheer her up because she absolutely loves the missionaries.  But it was pretty funny while we were there we were talking and she told me that I look like a Roman God... not gonna lie that's a first 😅.  It was super funny and that's just who this lady is.

Alright then on Friday we went out and contacted a bunch of old investigators who dropped us or we dropped them.  Anyway we went to this one guys house and we were talking and everything was completely normal... then like out of left field he starts telling us to never marry a red head and like he goes on for like 30 minutes about why he hates red heads and how he regrets marrying one and so he told us not to marry one and I was just sitting there like, "what the?? How did I get into this situation?? How did this even come up?" It was super bizarre and at the time it was like super awkward but now looking back it was so freaking funny 😂.

Then on Saturday a bunch of missionaries were able to judge this speech and debate thing and it was pretty fun for the first little bit.  But I was watching all these kids go up and do their thing and talk about a lot of stuff.  And to be honest… I had no clue what the heck they were saying 😂.  So I just kinda winged it and judged them on if they could talk fluidly and if they used big words 😅 but these kids are going places!!  They are dang smart!!  It was crazy!  At their age I wasn't doing anything like that at all!!  It was way cool!!  

Sunday was really cool as well!!  We had a lesson on staying happy and optimistic and it definitely was something I needed to hear and I learned a whole lot from it!  It's just so important to have a happy attitude especially as a missionary!!  You never know when the adversary will attack and having that kind of attitude can really help!  

Elder Potter (my doppelganger)

Alright and today I've been realizing just how similar me and one of the zone leaders in the other stake is... it is actually super creepy.  Like me and him did the same stuff, drove the same car and have the same thought process.  And like all day we will talk about something and then the other person will have done that same thing... it’s super weird!!  But it's all good because we are super close and he's like a brother to me!!  Anyway that was my week!  

Loving it out here!! Wish you all the best!!

Love,
Elder Zeller
2425 6th Ave. S Great Falls MT 59405

From a Birthday to a Baptism!!!

Hey all!!  This week has been pretty up and down 😅

The week started off with finding out later Monday night that it was freaking Elder Blums birthday!!!  Like what the heck?!?  So we went out and got him a cake and candles and all that fun stuff and I sang him happy birthday so that was a party.

Then the next day I wake up and I kid you not, felt like the physical manifestation of death itself.  I got so freaking sick it sucked so bad.  And my family knows, but I don't get sick very often.  Hardly ever, but when I do it's crazy!!  So yeah I'm pretty sure I had a fever that was just kicking my butt so I rested for a few days and did that 😅  Then finally on Friday I was feeling better so we went out and did stuff and we also had a zone training where we were given more instruction on the new missionary schedule that they recently announced!!

 It's some pretty cool stuff, like we are given a lot more agency in how we go about our day and we have an extra two hours on preparation day to get things done!  All in all I love the new change and I'm excited to see the new miracles that it'll bring!!  But Man did it felt good being able to get up and start working again!!  I was getting cabin fever like you would not believe!!  I mean I love studying don't get me wrong but when that's all you do for days on end you get kinda antsy to do something else J

Then on Saturday something magical happened!!! 😁  Our investigator, Sylvia, got baptized!!!  I'm soooo excited that she made this step.  I was sitting in the room and the spirit that I felt during the whole thing and especially when she was baptized was surreal to say the least.  I know that she made the right choice in getting baptized.  Like to say I'm happy is an understatement!!  Whenever I think of it or I'm reminded about it I just get super happy and I almost can't handle it 😂

Then later on Saturday we helped a lady in the sisters area move and that was pretty interesting 😅  let's just say that there was a whole lot of stuff to get moved 😂  we helped her out throughout the day and it was kinda funny but later that night when we were finishing up unloading all of her stuff into a storage unit we put the last thing in and Elder Blum is holding it about to put it down when the mother of the lady we were helping throws this black plastic thing into the storage unit to make sure it got in there and wham!!  It hits elder Blum square in the face 😂  So we've been telling people that Elder Blum got hit in the face by an old lady 😂  It was easily one of the funniest things I've ever seen 😂  

Then Sunday rolled around and all the excitement from the day before overflowed into Sunday as well because Sylvia was confirmed a member of the church.  So me and Elder Blum went up to the circle to confirm her and afterwards when she stood up and shook everyone's hand she shook my hand and I said, "congratulations Sylvia" but I kid you not I almost wasn't able to say it because the spirit just hit me so strong and I just knew that the Holy Ghost is now her personal companion to help her in those times of need.

Later Sunday we had dinner with the Simmons and I honestly love that family so freaking much!!  They remind me so much of my family back home it's crazy!!  But I have so much love and respect for Brother Simmons.  The spirit that he was able to bring into the room when we shared our spiritual message was so strong and what I admired the most was that he pointed it out to everyone.  

I've been so happy the last few days it's unreal!! I've seen so many miracles and I thank the Lord each day for them.  My love for this area grows each day as I meet new people and help others come closer to Christ.  My testimony has been strengthened tenfold this week and I'm so thankful for the opportunities given to me by my Heavenly Father.  I love you all!!

Love,
Elder Zeller
2425 6th Ave. S Great Falls MT 59405

Brotherly Bonds and New Beginnings

Hey everyone!!  So this past week was transfer week so I said goodbye to a lot of friends that I've made.  I think a third of the whole mission got transferred so a lot of people left the two zones around here.  I said goodbye to a lot of friends which was pretty unfortunate.  I said goodbye to one of the best companions ever!! 

Elder Bozue taught me so much as a missionary and as a person.  I felt myself grow so much.  He was honestly like a brother to me :) then I said goodbye to Elder Smith

Elder Smith was my old zone leader and easily one of my best friends ever.  I know that we are going to be friends for the rest of days!!  We are super tight.  Elder Smith if you're reading this shout out to you!!  You're the best!! 😂  Those were the people I got pictures with.  I said goodbye to others though as well and all in all I just hope that somewhere down the line I'll get to serve with them again. :) 

I then got my new companion later that day!!  Elder Blum is a super cool guy!!  He's definitely got a deep testimony of the restored gospel and loves being a missionary.  We started meeting families and we went and got things figured out with Sylvia and she's going to get baptized this Saturday!!!  I'm so excited for that!!  This will be my first baptism and I couldn't be more excited for it!!  She has such a deep desire to be baptized and make those covenants with God :)

Then on Sunday we were walking around being missionaries and stuff and we see this husband and wife unloading a moving truck... annnnnnd they were by themselves so we offered our help and they were like, "that would be awesome!"  So we helped them out for a while and talked about what we are and what we do as missionaries and they were just eating it up they were like "man that is so cool!!"  So when we finished up we asked if we could swing by another time and talk to them about what we believe and they were like, "we don't want you to take offense but we aren't looking to be recruited."  So we explained that we have a message for everyone and that it's centered around Christ and they agreed and said that they would hear us out so I'm super excited for that!!  

This week has all in all been a learning curve with new missionaries but it's been super cool to meet new people.  I love you all and I hope all is well with everyone!! :)

Love,

Elder Zeller

2425 6th Ave. S Great Falls MT 59405