In a Storm we can Still see the Light

So this has been my first full week in Corvallis and man what a week!! 

We had our first preparation day as a zone and that was super fun!!  Then the next day we started it off with some service for a lady whose literally almost 100 so we helped her out with some weeding.  Later that night we had a lesson with an investigator from Pinesdale and it was pretty interesting because the member we were going to have the lesson with wasn't able to come so we were scrambling trying to find another member... or Elder.  Elder Skouson was stressing out and I was like “Elder calm down this is happening for a reason. This guy we are teaching needs to be at someone's house specifically”. So we finally find a member who will let us into their home for the lesson and it was the most perfect family for him.  By the end of the lesson he committed to going through and interview for baptism with President Wadsworth!!  So everything just worked out perfect!!  

But then we get a call from a member whose son is doing his eagle and needs help because they aren't sure how many people are going to be able to come.  So we went and helped him on Wednesday and there was a mix up with communication and we weren't able to start until about noon when we were planning on starting at about 9.  So we started and we just went and we went until about 4 or 5.  But we got it all done!!  So that was awesome.  What we did was fix up a fence in a national forest and it was awesome!!  Elder Skouson did get straight fried though!!  Like right on the back of his neck was so super red!!  It was pretty funny!! 

Then the next day we had district meeting and we had a discussion and I think it went pretty good!!  Everyone was pretty out of it though.  Especially Elder Skouson and myself; it had to be because of the sun.  So we finish up district meeting and then Elder Skouson needed to take a breather and catch up and I wasn't against it so we did that.  Then we went out and tried to meet with some people.  After that we let the Wadsworth's into the church so that president could interview our investigator Justin!!  So we talked with Sister Wadsworth for a bit then decided to go try some more people and we ran into and investigator family that we are working with in the parking lot so we talked to them for a while.  They asked if we could help with a blessing for the member in their family so we did that and by that time President was walking out so we talked to him and Justin is good to meet with the general authority now!!  So that was awesome!!!

The next day we had interviews with our Mission President and that was awesome!!  We had a good little chat about things!! :)  After that we did service for an awesome member in the ward!!  We helped her with some furniture.  We were able to have a light saber battle as well... all the good stuff.

Then on Saturday we met this really awesome less active member and we went and talked to him and he straight up told us that his life is a mess and he needs our help to get back on track.  It was way cool!!  Then on Sunday we had like 7 hours of church which was good.  We had a priesthood meeting where one of our Bishops gave us a referral of a family that wants to take the discussions so the meeting got done earlier than we expected and we were like... what do we do now??  And we were like let's go see where these guys live at least.  So we drive by and they're all outside!!  So we park the car and go and introduce ourselves and they were all like let's have a lesson right now!!  So we were like ok!!  We taught this really awesome lesson about the plan of salvation, tears were shed and it was great!!  They were super engaged and by the end of the lesson they wanted a return appointment we didn't even have to bring it up.  They were asking a lot of questions and all the questions were in one lesson that we teach so it was really awesome!!  The Lord blesses!!  

It's awesome out here in Corvallis!!  Sure I miss Bigfork, but after talking with my Mission President and getting into the work, I am loving Corvallis!!  It's so cool here!!  I guess I just needed to jump right in and realize that the Lord has a work for me to do!!  Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

59828

#transferweek #corvallis #uniquearea #sadgoodbyes #pinesdale #goats

#transferweek #corvallis #uniquearea #sadgoodbyes #pinesdale #goats

How do you say goodbye to people who mean so much to you???  Honestly the answer is you can't.  All you can say is see you later.  That's what it was like in Bigfork.

Monday was spent packing up all my belongings then Tuesday was spent saying goodbye to all of my newfound family.  I've gotten so close to all of the people there.  They honestly have become family to me and I have so many good memories from my time there.  I hope that eventually I'll get to serve around there again.  Bigfork has been such a testimony builder for me and the effects missionary work has on everyone you meet.  Special shout-out to Brooke, Hayden and Harli!!  You guys changed me and my mission for the better and I consider myself lucky to have gotten to know you guys!!  

The next day was transfer day and so me and Elder Patterson drove down to Helena and had a total blast road-tripping it!!  It was so fun!!  I freaking love that guy!!  He's like one of my top best friends I swear!!  Anyway so we get to Helena and then we go from Helena to Stevensville then from there to Hamilton.  It was really sweet seeing a lot of missionaries I haven't seen in a long while!!  Like I got to see Elder Allen again!!  I haven't seen him since I finished my second transfer!!  So that was really awesome.  I also got to see the sisters that came out with me.  It was awesome!!

The rest of this week was filled of new faces and contacting lots of people.  This area seems like such a unique area.  There is legit a polygamist colony up here and we teach some of them and it's super cool!!  I mean where else will I serve where I get this kind of opportunity??  It's really cool.  I've met a lot of really awesome people as well.  On Friday night we went to a barbecue for a member’s son that lives up in Pinesdale (that's where all the polygamists live) it was really awesome because we got to meet a lot of the people up there!!  I played this fun game where you knock over wood blocks.  Totally spaced taking pictures so that's my bad... but it was so fun!!  I also found out that I'm straight trash at badminton haha.  It was fun though because I got super hyped playing it and really loosened up playing with them.  It was really fun.  Earlier that day we were actually contacting someone and we pull up and walk up to the door and there are a couple of goats just chillin.  Well Elder Skouson apparently is terrified of goats so when they didn't answer the door naturally I walked in front passed the goats and trapped him in the yard with them and videotaped him.  Might just be the funniest thing ever.  Anyway so that was our week.

This Sunday was quite the day. It was a day full of church... like from 8-4 all church... I was starting to get a headache and my stomach was just being super weird... like it wasn't because I was hungry.  Anyway so that was fun!!  I have no clue what preparation days will be like here but we will figure it out!!  Love y'all!!

Elder Zeller

308 N 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

59828

From a New Baby Brother to the Sadness of a Transfer

Hey everyone!!  Ok this week has definitely had its ups and downs.  Mostly ups with like one down 😅

This week we've been helping Brooke out with these farm days that she does.  I did the same thing last Thursday.  But this week most of the week was helping at the farm because she had a lot of schools coming so that was awesome!  I really love that family a whole lot.  

On Thursday night some other missionaries came and stayed the night so we went and set up some hammocks and camped out so that we would be there in the morning when the kids got there!!  It was so much fun!!

 Sorry I'm terrible at taking selfies 😅 so that was a lot of fun.  While we were there she was telling us about this duck that had killed a ton of chickens and asked if we wanted a duck so we jokingly said yeah we'll eat it.  And one thing led to another and we killed a duck and ate it 😂  After that she asked us if we would kill a chicken that was giving her grief so this time I was the one who killed it (sorry mom) and Harli (her daughter) brought out all these surgical tools because she wanted to help us 😂 it was so awesome!!  

Also huge shout-out to my new little bro!! Ty Zeller making an appearance finally!!  Wish I could have met you on Mother's Day but I'll talk to you at Christmas!!

Well I also got transfer news and apparently the Lord needs me over in Corvallis. I'm really sad and bummed out I'm leaving such a great area.  All the members here are top notch and I'm going to be really sad to say goodbye to everyone here.  I've made some bonds here that are awesome and I'm really sad to have to leave them all.  But I'm for sure coming back at some point!!!  I've loved it here way too much!! 

 

Our District

Unfortunately that's about all the time I have!! I'll talk to you guys next week!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

P.O 1883 Bigfork, Montana

Mission Tour and the best Prank Ever!!!

5/22

Alright so this is how this week went down, it started off pretty busy and then declined from there.

So we start off on Tuesday driving down to Helena for a mission tour with a member of the seventy.  We left Kalispell at some time that I can't remember but I know that we got into Helena at around 9 so I think we left at about 5:30.  It was a bit of a drive.  It's all good though, I just napped the whole car ride basically.  The mission tour was really awesome!  I learned a lot and it helped really clarify some things I didn't even know needed to be clarified!!  It was really cool!!  We did that basically all day Wednesday then we had a later lunch and I got to see a lot of missionaries I have been able to serve with and so that was really awesome!!  It was good to see them and see how their mission was treating them. 

After that we left Helena a bit late so we got into Kalispell at around 9:30 or so and decided to stay the night with our district leader and his companion… this obviously means that some shenanigans went on 😅  We tried finding those charcoal masks that rip off your face basically and we were going to do that but we got the wrong thing or something but we did get a picture of that.

Then the next day we had service in the morning so we went back to Bigfork and helped out a lady in our ward with this farm day thing.  Basically she has elementary school kids take a field trip to her place and they see the animals and have fun.   

So we helped her with that and we have more lined up this week!!  It was a ton of fun!!  I really enjoyed it.  Then the next day we got pranked hardcore... 😂  We went to our dinner appointment with the Livingstons and I really like them.  We get along with them really well.  Anyway so we pull up and see one of them lying down in the driveway on his stomach and I'm like "what the??"  And then we get closer and his two brothers (one older, one younger) come running on the roof to right above him and start freaking out and I look at his arm and from my perspective it looks like it's covered in blood and dirt.  So I'm thinking he just fell off the roof... great... so like as soon as Elder Anderson puts it in part I'm out of the truck and I'm feeling my pockets for oil to give a blessing because that's honestly the first thing I thought!!  I was like we need to give him a blessing.  So I get up closer and the two brothers come out from behind the house after they climbed off the roof and I'm talking to the one on the ground and I'm like "are you ok? Did you just fall off the roof?"  And when the other two get around to us they hold it together for a few seconds then they start dying laughing and I'm like "why the crap are you laughing!?!  Your brother just fell off a roof!!"  Then I look at his arm closer and I realize that it's ketchup on his arm and that they totally roasted us 😂  It was the best prank I've had on my mission so far!!  They got us soooooo good!!  

Then at dinner they were talking about this Joseph smith statue they have in their basement that this old guy who used to live with them got... creepiest thing ever.  So naturally I took a picture. 😅  Afterward they asked if we wanted to play rugby and we were like yeah sure!  That sounds like fun!!  Honestly I totally forgot the no contact sports rule and I think the Lord wanted to remind me a little and so we were playing and I had the ball (I'm in my church clothes by the way) and I'm running and the oldest out of the Livingstons goes to tackle me and I keep running.   Anyway my foot slips out from under me and goes one way while my knee goes another and so my knee pops and hits the ground and I thought "this is it... I broke my leg and now I have to go home..."  then I realized it wasn't broken and that I just hyper-extended it really bad!! 

The next day we did some service for a guy who lives up a mountain road not too far. But we wanted to see how far the road went!!   So we started up this trail and it was pretty clear!!  No snow or anything like all the way up almost.  Then we turn a corner and see all these people surrounding a truck that's stuck in the snow, trying to get it out.  So we put our truck in park and went to help them out.   Turns out it was a group of Mennonites on an afternoon drive.  So eventually we got them unstuck.  But it was a miracle they didn’t fall over the edge!!  It was way too close.  We thought it was probably best that we didn't even try making it up the rest of the way 😅  But we found a really awesome place with a really great view of the Flathead Valley.  

Sunday was really awesome as well because our recent convert Walter was given the priesthood!!  He's such a great guy and has so much desire to serve the church at 100%!!   He's the coolest guy and I really enjoy talking to him!!  But it was really awesome to see him get the priesthood!!

Well that's been my week!!  There have been a lot of things going on, but despite everything I know that God is good and looks after all of us!! Love y'all!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

Eureka... it's Mother's Day!!!

5/15

So this week has been absolute insanity!!!

On Monday we started up exchanges so I went over to Kalispell for a little bit and I met some really awesome members up there!! I was there till about Wednesday and on Wednesday we had our district meeting which was really good.  Elder Anderson gave a discussion on diligence and it was pretty good. 

After that we went home and did our own thing. Then the next day we came back to Kalispell after dinner to spend the night and go to interviews with President!!  So we did that and got to catch up with President.  I really love that guy. Then after that got done me and Elder Anderson had a bit of extra miles so they asked if we could go up to Eureka and help out the missionary work there. So that was way cool!! I got to hang out with a missionary that opened his call the same night as me and we ended up going to the same place!!  He's way funny... too bad he went to west lake... anyway me and him walked around the downtown part of Eureka and talked to a lot of people!!  There are some cool people up there and man is it beautiful there too!!  It was really awesome!!  So we spent like the rest of the day up there and left the next morning.

Then when we got back we helped Nate with some more of his house and stained a ton of wood!! Some of it kept splashing on me so now I have spots like a leopard or something. So that was a ton of fun!!

The next day was Sunday... something happened on Sunday... I can't really remember what... oh yeah!!  I got to talk to my family for Mother's Day!?!  How awesome is that!?!  It was awesome to be able to talk to them and catch up and see how they're doing!!  I think they're doing good... they didn't tell me otherwise!!  So yeah we talked for a while and it was awesome!!  I didn't think I would actually get to celebrate Mother's Day... you know because I'm a guy but I actually did!!  So that was really awesome!!  I love this area and the Elders I serve around!!  They are super stellar people!!  

Anyway, sorry for the shorter email!!  I've got a lot of stuff to do today!!  Love ya!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

P.O 1883 Bigfork, Montana