If You Hate Someone, Let the Lord Work His Magic

So what happens when you hate someone and the Lord decides to throw you a curve ball by making that someone your new companion??  That's been my week but I'll get to that in a little bit; just trying to keep things interesting for you guys as you read this, haha.  Now you're going to have to read the whole thing just to understand the first part of my weekly.

Anyway, so this week has been crazy!!  At the beginning of the week I got transfer calls and found out I was going to be transferred, so I spent Monday and Tuesday visiting people I wanted to say goodbye to.  I left a lot of family behind in Corvallis, but it's all good because I'm coming back!!  So that'll be good.  But I said goodbye to a lot of people like investigators we have that I've gotten super close to like Mitch, Rich and Maeci, and the Golds.  

It was pretty rough because I've gotten so close to a ton of people!!  They're family in my mind, they really are.  So that was really tough.  I also said goodbye to some of the members I've gotten close to. 

Like the Reynosos and the Jessops (yeah I know which ones? 😂) but it's so cool to have been able to have met these people.  I'm going to miss all of them especially the ones who really made it that much better, like Morgan Reynoso.  She was honestly like a second mom to me.  Joe Jessop changed my mission and my life for good, just because he saw something in me I didn't see myself.  So much change came because of my time in Corvallis.  I feel like I grew stronger and stronger as a missionary and in my faith.  My time in Corvallis has made me into the person I am now.  So yeah saying goodbye was tough.  But like I told everyone I could, it's not like I'm dying!! I'm going to be back and that's a promise!!  

Wednesday we shoved off and I went to my new area.  So we got to Helena and I got to see a lot of missionaries I haven't seen for a while, which was awesome!!  Then we got in the back of the zone leaders truck... 

which was pretty dang small but it's all good we just kind of did our thing and drove down, and talked about the area and all that.  Then we got there and I got to see the man, the myth, the legend Elder Tricky Trae Patterson himself!!  That was a reunion that was long overdue!!  It was so good to see him!!  We talked for a bit then we went down to our area.  Once we got there we didn’t have a phone at first... then our area Book (which we rely on as missionaries) and lds tools (which we rely on as well) wouldn't update and it said we were still in our last areas. Because of this we didn't have any way of contacting people, and we didn't know anyone to contact.  We literally were starting fresh which was a crazy place to be!!  So we did our best and tracked down a phone and a few numbers.  Then on Friday we had interviews with our mission president and that was awesome!!  We talked a bit about stuff.  Then the next day we went to Belgrade for a baptism that Elder Christensen got permission to go to, so we went and said hi to a lot of people there and it was pretty fun!!  

Then on Sunday we went down to Lima which is a tiny town that's close to Rexburg to get to our stake center.  We could have driven to BYUI faster than we could have driven to our stake center, which was crazy.  Then that night we had a convert fireside and it was really awesome and really powerful.  At the fireside all these recent converts got up and bore their testimonies on how they came to know that the church was true and it was so sick!!  I loved it a lot!!  And then we went home after that.

Alright so now you're all probably wondering what about your companion!?! Well I'll tell ya… I found out I was going to be with Elder Christensen and the first thing I thought of was, "this is going to be the trial of my mission." and “I'm going to have a rough time with this”.  So I emailed the Mission President and I told him that I was going to do it and I would be companions with him, but I had to know what he was thinking??  This was literally the only missionary I had a problem with.  He emailed me back and called me out.  He basically told me not to be prideful... so that kind of shook me up a bit because I've never seen myself as a prideful person.  But I thought about it and decided that this missionary is getting a clean slate and as far as I know this is the first time I'm meeting Elder Christensen. So I met up with him and two hours... two hours is all it took.  All the hate from months on months quickly changed into love.  No joke, this companion is awesome.  I've learned so much from just the past few days and I'm so excited to continue learning.  

The moral of the story is, don't judge anyone.  And if you hate someone, let the Lord work His magic and see what He can do.  If He can turn months of hate into love towards someone anything is possible.  I never would have thought I would love this guy.  He can do so much in our lives if we just let it happen!!  Remember that everyone!!

I love ya!!  Have a wonderful and a blessed day!!

P.S. Our apartment is like super tiny and we can barely stand up in some places.  So we got the bright idea to do a handstand and take a picture and then flip it so it looks like we are walking on the ceiling.  So the first one was pretty good.  No complaints.  But we decide to flip me around and he takes off his sweater for the next picture.  Well what happens is I go up and my arm tweeks a bit and then my back goes through the wall and I fall on my head 😂 so yeah, basically I'm an idiot 😅

Love,

Elder Zeller

750 N Montana St

Dillon, MT

Car troubles, evacuations, forest fires, transfers and an eclipse...

Car troubles, evacuations, forest fires, transfers and an eclipse… that about sums up this week.

Right now, in Montana we are right in the path of the solar eclipse!!!  How crazy is that?!?  Apparently this is like a huge deal and I’m pretty stoked that I get to be in Montana at the same time there's a solar eclipse!!!  I'll attach some pictures for everyone to see!!

Anyway, so we started out this week and our cars been giving us some grief, so we determined that the only time we had available to actually take it in was Monday (today) and we would have to drive all the way to Missoula.  So this whole week has been a build up to today.  ***Just as a brief summary as to what's wrong with our car*** The A/C doesn't work which sucks this time of year; the engine gets ridiculously hot which doesn't help the A/C.  It has trouble shifting into higher gears as well.  I'll be driving along, gaining speed when out of nowhere it lurches almost as if I'm driving a stick and didn't get to the clutch fast enough (if that makes any sense) and out speed just starts dropping.  Also just this week, the truck decided that she'll only start when she wants to start.  So we will get into the car go to start it up and it won't want to roll over or do anything... greaaaaat can't tell you how many awkward experiences we've had this week where we visit someone and we go to leave and the car doesn't start... haha good times.  

So at the beginning of this week we got a list from the bishop of the Willow Mountain Ward of people to go visit and see if they want home teachers.  We went to go visit this one lady out in the middle of nowhere and as we go we get to this bridge and I’m not kidding you… this is the sketchiest bridge I've ever been across in my life.  No guard rails and it's literally like a slab of concrete... annnnnd we totally drove over it and took a video J But it was way fun not knowing if the bridge could hold the weight of the truck haha! And it did.

Then we had dinner with the Jacksons and they're hilarious!!  I freaking love going over to their place.  After we were leaving and heading out, there were two cows just roaming out in their driveway and so we took a video of the cows as well.  It was pretty funny.

On Wednesday we had district meeting and I gave a discussion which was pretty good.  It was fun too :)  I talked a lot about finding and all that stuff and decided to do some role plays with different people and I gave them roles to portray as they did it and it was really fun!!!  It gave everyone a new perspective and that's always really good.  Afterward I took a picture with the whole group with my selfie stick that legit holds up my iPad hahahahahaha!!  I know I'm dumb but its fun being a goofball.  Then I'm pretty sure later that day the sisters up in Lolo got evacuated from their place because of the fire that was raging up there.  They wouldn't have to have been evacuated but the fire actually came up over the mountain so like tons of people had to leave and I think something like 70% of the ward up there is gone.  So that's pretty nuts!!  The fire is going absolutely crazy right now!!  

After Wednesday is when the truck started having some real problems.  We went up to go visit someone who’s a ways out there and we got up to where he should be... and it doesn't exist.  At least the address didn't haha so we started driving back down the mountain and the truck dies... while I'm driving it!!  So I realize and I'm like, "poop the car died" so I pull over turned it off and it legit won't start again... so we sat there for a while.  People would drive by and ask if everything's ok and I would tell them it was and that we just had to wait.  So we waited and eventually the car starts up again so we start driving back down the mountain and a little bit down the road it dies again.  At this point we call the zone leaders to come and get us because we can't go anywhere.  So they head out to come get us.  We wait and wait and try the truck here and there but nothing comes of it.  Finally just before the zone leaders got there it starts and we are able to get home.  But all in all we waited a good hour... so that kinda sucked.  Oh well.  

Then just yesterday we were at dinner and we stayed for a bit and then as we go to leave our truck wouldn't even start.  Like honestly, didn't even sound like it was close at all the starting or turning over so we call the driving coordinator in Billings and coordinate a tow to come get us the next day, and we get a ride with a member back to our place.  

This week was also transfer week.  We got the call telling us that Elder Wright is staying and that I'm leaving to Dillon Montana.  And my comp is Elder Jon Christensen.  He was my zone leader when I was in Big Fork and he's extended his mission and so I'm going to be his companion for the last little bit of his mission.  It'll be a good transfer and I'm excited to learn from a missionary who's been around the block a bit.  It'll be good.  I've heard a lot of good things about Dillon so I'm excited.  

So that's my week.  Exciting stuff!!  I'm going to miss Corvallis and all the people I've met here and the bonds I’ve made with the people here.  I'm going to miss them but it's all good because I'm coming back!!  So people of Corvallis never fear I shall return!!

Love y'all!!

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

59828

The work is moving forward

Hey all this week has been super awesome!! I don't have much time to write but I'll do my best!!!

Alright so we started the week with a lesson with Jacey and we talked to her about baptism and she told us she wants to get baptized!!  So that's super awesome!!  And we are super excited for her!!

Then Wednesday we had interviews with the mission president and that was awesome.  We talked about a lot of really great stuff.  Then later that night he was able to interview with some of our investigators and Mitch started the interviewing process and hopes to be able to be baptized by October.  So we are hurrying that along.  Justin had his final interview and we will hopefully be meeting with him tomorrow and we can talk about a date with him.  Then Jen met with him.  Not so much for an interview but just to meet president and talk to him for a bit and everything went super well!!  Then we had a lesson with Mitch right after all of it, and Elder Thomas who is a legend here stepped in for the lesson as a surprise for Mitch.  So that super awesome!!  Then we had a really awesome lesson with Darla this week where she told us she wants to get baptized!!  So that was awesome and we were able to talk with her about baptism and its importance.   It was super great.  We also had a really awesome lesson with the Johnsons and we taught about repentance and baptism and it was way sweet because we asked if baptism is something they have a desire to do and they were all like yeah that's something we eventually want to do.  So that's exciting as well!!

Sundays are always fun with 9 hours of church.  I got pretty tired but it's all good.  We had an awesome lesson with the Golds and talked to them about the commandments and service. 

So it's going super good here in Corvallis and I'm loving it!!  The work is moving forward!!  Love y'all and stay classy!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

59828

"Burning" Testimonies and the Blessings of Burdens

Alright so this week was not too shabby at all. It was pretty dang good!! 

Generational picture: So I'm on the left, Elder
Allen (my trainer) in the middle and Elder Porter (Elder Allen's
trainer aka my Grandad) on the right

So we start off the week with the normal p-day shenanigans whether it was basketball or podball or laundry and all the other stuff we need to do.  We did it all with some time to spare so we goofed off for a while (haha).  Anyway so then later on that night we had a lesson with Mitch and it went super well the spirit was super strong and we could all feel it!!  It was so awesome!!

Then on Tuesday we get a text saying that we are doing exchanges and that we are switching off that morning so I had to scramble and get packed up before they got there.  We met up at the church and went on our merry way.  I got to go with Elder Davis which was super awesome!!  This is like the first time we've been able to be companions since the MTC so it was way cool to work with him!!  He's still as awesome as ever!!  We went around and tried different people and whatnot over there in Hamilton.  It was good.  We got to talk to their ward mission leader and it's super weird, I literally met the guy once but since then me and him just hit it right off so it was super cool to go over there and talk to him a bit more.  After that we went to the apartment to make brownies... yes I made brownies!!!  It was fun and we had some good chats. Then we went to bed and woke up the next morning.

I was under the impression we were going to do some service in the morning so I purposefully didn't shower because the way I see it is that no matter what after service I'm gonna want to shower.  It's just a fact.  So why would I shower twice?? So turns out they had the wrong day where they were going to do the service and it was actually the next day.  I then hopped into the shower and actually got ready haha.  😅  We decided that we were going to go up to Stevensville for the day and do some work up there since that's a part of the area as well.  So before we go we contact this media referral that asked for a bible... so we search hi and low for this bible and can't find anything.  Then we find this bible but its large print... so we're all like, "well its better than nothing!!"  So we take this dude a large print bible and he's all like "oh that actually works a lot better thanks!!" So that was awesome!!  Then we got to Stevensville and did some service. While we were there we went and had a member slim up some pants of mine so they aren't so baggy because nothing bugs me more than baggy pants. 

Then we went out and went to a wedding.  It was pretty cool even though I totally crashed it 😅 but it was sweet.  We got to talk to a lot of people and I got to meet some people from up here so that was cool!!  But like as we are leaving I take a look around and holy poop!!  There is a fire going on just over the mountains and the smoke in the valley is so bad you can barely see a silhouette of the mountains!!  I tried to get a picture but the iPad cameras can only do so much.  Also it turns the sun and moon red.  So basically it's the end of times.  After we left and all that we went and tried a few people.  Then we had dinner at the Gold’s place with the other missionaries.  So we switched back after dinner but man I love the Golds so much!!  They're so awesome to just talk to!!  They each have a genuine love of the gospel and you can tell just by talking to them!!  It's always an awesome time going over to their place!!  Then after that we had a lesson with an investigator we have, Chelsi, she is sooo close!!  She knows it's true she just has to have a few more questions answered that only the Lord can answer.  But we had an awesome lesson with her!!  

The next day we went and did some service for a lady in the ward, Sister Gardner, who needed some help with her weeds.  Anyway so we go out there to help her, and this lady is like 97 or something like that and her husband is like almost 100.  But we are out there with a garden hoe and she's right there with us!!  And we're going and she's going and I kept looking over and being like, "if she can keep going then I could keep going!!"  So literally as long as she worked I kept working!!  Haha!!  She is honestly the coolest lady ever and I love her to pieces!!  After we were done she made us breakfast and boy was it good!!  She made bacon and over easy eggs with pancakes and fresh raspberries 😍 it was soooo good!!  I loved every bit of it!!!  After that we planned for a while and went and saw some people and then had a pretty good visit with Mitch!!  We stopped by subway where he works and talked for a while.

Then on Friday we had our zone conference early in the morning.  So we went and did that and it was actually really awesome.  Most times I'll admit I'm not too enthusiastic about them but I was talking to President Wadsworth and he told me that if I wanted to get the most out of it I could I would need to spiritually prepare myself.  So I thought why not I'll prepare myself for it and holy cow ladies and gentlemen it works!!  Who would've thought!?!  But it was so awesome I felt like I learned a whole ton and the spirit was constantly whispering in my ear of different things I should do and how I can be that much of a better missionary.  It was awesome.  Then afterward we made the long drive back.  And honestly it isn't that far of a drive but a few things were going on that made it feel like an eternity.  First thing is our A/C is out in our car so it got way hot.  Second thing is we were heading home at the hottest time of day in a big metal box and the only thing that cools us down is rolling down the windows and picking up some speed.  Third thing was we got caught in traffic for a good hour and a half and I just sweat like mad.  I'm going to be screwed when I go home next year (haha).  Anyway we finally got home and all in one piece and things were good.

Alright then Saturday we got a call from a member asking if we could help her son move into a place in Hamilton so we went down and helped for a few hours moving some stuff.  So we helped him move it all and honestly it was a piece of cake. After we did that, then he took us out to an early dinner.  So we went to DQ and talked for a while.  After we ate the said DQ we went to a lesson with Scott and talked to him for a while and made sure he was going to come to church.  Then we tried a few more people and we were able to talk to this lady in one of the wards who makes rattlesnake belt buckles and belts.  It was pretty cool.  She told us how she makes them and gave us her whole life's story.  She started showing us these knifes that she sells and when I say knifes they were more like small swords!!  Easily a couple feet long it was so crazy!!  After we talked to her for a good while we headed on home.

Then Sunday rolled around and gee whiz this was an awesome Sunday!! Definitely one for the books!! Now you're probably wondering what made it so good. Well it was fast and testimony meeting.  All the youth had just gotten back from a pioneer trek experience and they were all bearing their testimonies on this.  There was just such an amazing sprit there as all these kids bore their testimonies on that trip and what they learned. But Carter Reynoso bore an awesome testimony that almost brought me to tears!!  It was just so awesome and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing it with you because I loved every bit of it...

Basically what happened is they got to the woman's pull part of the trek and a member of the stake presidency in charge of trek told all the young men to get a rock, that's decently sized. And so they each grabbed a rock and were told to put it in their cart for the woman's pull then they were told to get a rock that was bigger than what they grabbed. So they went and grabbed a rock and rather then put this rock in the cart they were told to hike up a decent sized hill with this rock.  Well when they said to hike this hill Carter just starts going and he's leading the pack.  Well he ends up going the wrong way and takes the steepest part of this mountain.  He said that as he was trudging up this mountain with this rock he had finally had enough and tossed the rock to the side and knelt down and prayed and asked Heavenly Father for strength to make it to the top of this mountain.  Well he finishes and picks up his rock and continues on.  {Keep in mind that this rock is probably about 50 pounds and that was later backed up by a leader who went to trek}.  He keeps going and he's almost there but couldn't go any farther so he does the same thing; he tosses the rock to the side and kneels down and prays and thanks the Lord for the energy that he was given and then asked for a bit more to finish the hike.  Well he ends up making it to the top of this mountain and looks down and sees these specks of the rest of his group.  Anyway they talked about how the rocks symbolized the burdens that we carry with us and the sins that we carry with us.  They had everyone put down the rocks in a pile and "laid their burdens to rest" so to speak.  All in all it was really awesome and Carter ends up getting to the group and putting his rock down in the pile as well.  It was crazy the spirit I felt as he bore his testimony on what had happened.  It honestly changed him.  I don't do the story nearly enough justice and I apologize if I didn’t get all the details right but it was really awesome to say the least.

Anyway so that's what made Sunday so awesome!! Then later that night a few things fell through but we had an awesome lesson with Jacey and she told us that she's ready to be baptized she just has to talk to her mom about doing it before she turns 18 but she said that she either wants to do it in the fall or winter so she's well on her way!!!  Then we had dinner with the Jessops and got to know them a whole lot better and got to talk to them about their conversion and it was awesome!!  And that brings me to today!!  But I'll talk about today next week so stayed tuned!!

Love y'all!! Be good and remember to pray!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

59828

Lessons and Spiritual Crocodiles

Alright so busy busy week right here and not a whole lot of time to type up everything so let’s see how this goes…

Monday we had our normal p-day stuff that we did. We basically played basketball all day haha so that was a blast!  After that we went to the church building for a 24th of July potluck with the two wards.  It was way fun!  We talked to a ton of different people!!  There was a slip n' slide there so the thought did cross my mind to take one for the team and hit it up haha but I decided not to.  To be honest I got talking to people and forgot.  So that was fun then we went home and cleaned like mad because we had inspections the next morning so had to get that taken care of (haha).

Then the next day we went and help sanitize the whole nursery. That was super intense.  We get there to help and the two guys we are helping are decked out in like those full suits that don't let in any germs.  So we helped dunk the toys in chemicals.  We didn't get to put on the suits unfortunately.  I totally would have taken a picture if we did (haha) but that wasn't the case.  So we did that for a good portion of the day.  And man did it get hot in there!!  I was sweating everywhere!!  So we went home and showered and to this day there is a funky smell in that part of the church.  So that was fun.  Then we went to dinner at the Jacksons and they have baby bunnies and we got to hold them!!  That was awesome!!  Then that night we didn't have anyone to come with us to a lesson with Justin so we rescheduled to the next day so that we could bring someone up with us.  

Then the next morning (I'm at Wednesday right now) we had district meeting and it was pretty good!!  Heard some great discussions and learned some stuff.  Afterwards we went to Romeos again... I love that place!!  It's so dang good!!  Then that night we had our rescheduled lesson with Justin and so we started calling people to try and get someone to come with us.  So some of you might be confused as to why we needed a member to come with us.  Well the first presidency gave the missionaries serving around Pinesdale a rule to where if we go up there to teach someone we either do it at a member’s house or we bring another priesthood holder.  So we started calling people and everyone was out of town or busy and they were all super apologetic and told us to ask them again because they would love to.  So we finally had a senior couple in the ward, the Wilhelms, come with us.  It was a pretty good lesson!!  We talked about the commandments.  Good stuff.  

Then now skip to Thursday. So Thursday Morgan Reynoso asked us if we could help them move some furniture of theirs to their new place.  So we went over and helped them do that.  Their oldest (Dawson) shot a few chipmunks while we were waiting so that was fun!!  Got a lot of their stuff moved over and I think they're finally sleeping over there!!  So that's awesome!!  Then later on we had a lesson with Rich and Maeci and we were talking to them for a bit then they had an emergency they had to attend to so we told them we would have to catch them another time.  Then we had a lesson at the end of the day with a crazy guy!!  Haha he was going through the Bible with us and was pointing out the craziest stuff to us and started talking about these people called Nephilims or something like that and how there were some in Nevada and they would go down and eat the Indians.  It was super crazy haha.  

Now skip forward to Saturday.  Not a lot happened during the day.  Talked to a few people set some things up then that night we had a lesson with the Johnsons and I think this was a breakthrough lesson!!  We were teaching and everyone was super interactive with us and they were asking questions!!  Everyone was!  It was so awesome and we asked the, what they were doing the next day (Sunday) and they said they weren't doing much and the dad said that he at least wanted to come to sacrament meeting!!  So we were super excited!!  But unfortunately something must have come up because he wasn't able to be there.  Next week we will see if they're able to make it!!  But all in all it was an awesome lesson!!  

Then skip ahead another day… Sunday.  Started the day with church and we were there until like 4:15 then we went to a lesson with the Golds and we showed them the spiritual crocodiles.  Honestly this is my favorite video ever!!  We talked about it and not pushing the line of where the commandments are and all that God tells us to stay away from.  It was really awesome.  The adversary really is a master at camouflaging sin to look normal.  Love it!!  

Well that's all folks!!  This week was soooo busy Elder Wright even said, "I'm not used to running from lesson to lesson.  It's awesome".  Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT

"Parting Need Not Be Forever"

7/24/2017

One year down, one to go!  So I figured I might as well hit this first but one year ago this week I entered the MTC to start my mission.  Pretty crazy to think that I'm now on the downward slope of it all.  It feels like just yesterday I said my goodbyes to everyone and started my journey here in good ol montucky!!  I remembered a quote this week about goodbyes and everything that comes with goodbyes and it goes like this, 

"Whenever there is a meeting. a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not be forever... whether a parting be forever or merely a short time... that is up to you."

I've thought about this quote and reflected it on the past year and everyone I've met so far that have impacted me.  Whether it was in Cutbank, Browning, Great Falls, Bigfork or here in Corvallis, I've met people who have helped change me into who I am now and the missionary I am now.  Unfortunately as a missionary you eventually have to say goodbye to the people you've met, that's inevitable, but it doesn't have to be a goodbye for good.  Just like my family back home, eventually in about a little less than a year now it'll be time to say goodbye to Montana and see them again.  But the beauty of it all is I'll come back to see all the people I've met.  I'll also get to see some of those missionaries that really were my best friends as I've served (Shoutout to Kade, Elder Smith and Elder Patterson!).  I wouldn't be the person I am today without all the people I've met.  So one year down and I've learned so much, one year to go with even that much more learning!  You never know what's around the bend.  So happy one year to me and all the missionaries that came out with me, it's been a good year let's make the most of this last one and finish out strong!!  Alright now for my week!

So Monday was filled with the normal shenanigans that come with Monday, mainly basketball and podball.  We also had some bowling going on and an obstacle course bounce house that was a ton of fun!  The place we went to did have a pool as well but we thought that we better not haha.  Not that we would have anyway! (That was for president and sister Wadsworth if they're reading this...) haha anywho!  So that was a blast!  The only bummer from that day was that we found out that an Elder from our zone has to go home for surgery on his knee.  So that's a bit of a bummer but I'll be seeing him come back out in no time!!  After we finished our hoodrat activities we went to our dinner and then we had a super awesome lesson with Mitch (one of our investigators) it was super awesome and I love the guy to death!!  He kills me!!  But he's super genuine about learning more about the gospel and eventually getting baptized after he goes through the proper channels.  Then we went home and crashed in bed.

Tuesday! Tuesday we did some service in the morning in Stevensville and can you guess what the service was??  If you guessed bucking hay then you should give yourself a pat on the back and a thumbs up because you guessed it!!  Haha it wasn't too bad because it was only like 36 bales of hay.  So it took about a half hour, 45 minutes to finish that up.  We got a call from the Elders there asking us if we could help and they told us that it won't take too long since it's only like 36 bales of hay and I told them that if 36 turned into 900 I'm gonna kill someone haha but they were right and it was only 36 and the people we did it for were super appreciative.  I don't know their names but I would have included that because apparently my emails are pretty vague so I'm working on that haha (shout-out to Jen Gold for calling me out 😅).  Then after that we went and helped the Reynosos with some of their stuff they've got going on at their new place whether it was painting or if it was sanding some cabinet doors.  But it was super cool because I got there and Kennedy and Dawson were back from Texas!!  That was way exciting!!  They went to Texas to sell dish network and all that and they weren't planning on coming back till like the end of August but decided to come back a bit early!!  So I was pretty pumped about that.  I might not have fully shown how pumped I was because I mean got to keep that dignity and decorum as a missionary haha but I was way excited!!  Then we went to dinner with the Jessops and that was super cool!! I'm pretty close to their oldest son Christian and we were talking for a while then we all started talking and we got a lowdown on Pinesdale and some of the differences between the group and the church.  Pretty interesting stuff!!  It would take me awhile to explain it all and talk about it because there is so much to talk about but it was super interesting!!  

Alright now we're moving on to Wednesday!!  Hopefully you're still reading this by now haha! I decided to write a longer one to make up for my shorter one last week.  But hey if you skipped to the pictures (not that there are a ton, I'm working on that as well)  I don't blame you.  Anyway, so Wednesday was a crazy day.  We start off the day getting up to Stevensville for our district meeting where we were edified. Then we had cake for Sister Pettijohns birthday and signed a flag for Elder Hand before he takes off to Florida.  Then we had lunch at this Italian restaurant there in town.  While we were there, Elder Berrett snagged my iPad and took a selfie so that was pretty funny.  Some super good food there!!  Then the district leaders and zone leaders had a special meeting that me and Elder Hand were excluded from... so we chilled for a bit while they had that.  Then we had a "lesson" with a guy named Scott Clukey... no it's not pronounced like you just pronounced it.  You gotta enunciate the U and then you've got it. It sounds like clue-key.  And there you go.  Now I put lesson in quotation marks because it wasn't really a lesson haha.  We went by this place called bug out.  People from Corvallis area know what I'm talking about but for those who don't it's basically a survival store where you can buy tons of survival gear and custom holsters, the whole nine yards.  Anyway so we normally go and teach him there and it's normally pretty quiet and just the three of us... plus Brother Lee; but this time I felt like I was stepping into the twilight zone.  There were like a million people and different people kept coming in and talking to him.  So basically by the end we talked about Book of Mormon reading and if he did what we asked him to and then told him to come to church on Sunday.  Which he did!!  Heck yeah!!  So that was fun.  We then went and picked up an Elders debit card that he left at the members house on Monday.  Don't know why I told you that but I attached a picture of his card with all the info you need... ok that's a total joke I didn't do that.  Then we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Hamilton known as "the Mexican restaurant" so that was pretty good.  But after going to the red iguana Mexican food just isn't the same everywhere you go.

Then we had a lesson with some recent converts, Fred and Cara Jessop.  There are a lot of Jessops in the ward/area haha.  But we had a lesson with them and it was really awesome!!  I always love going to their home and talking to them because we're all pretty close in age.  Cara is a bit younger than me and Fred is a bit older so we have some good chats and they just have such a desire to do the very best that they can when it comes to the gospel.  They just want to learn so much about it and it's inspiring honestly.  

Then after that we went to Hamilton for a meeting with a member there and he went over the entire history of the church and Mormonism as a whole with a lot of the breakoffs from the church and then specifically the history of polygamy and the group.  It was so cool learning more and more about them and what makes them tick and all that!!  Again I totally would go over it but this email would just get that much longer!  But all in all I learned so much and my testimony of the gospel just got that much stronger!  After the meeting the other Elders took a drive up to Missoula because Elder Hand had his flight the next morning.  Early in the morning.  So that was a bummer.  Said goodbye and told him to keep in touch!  Comes back to the quote!  Every meeting has a parting; but it doesn't have to be forever!!  I'm excited for him to come back out and he'll be here before I know it!!  

Then Thursday was my one year anniversary of serving the Lord as a missionary!!  Good times!!  I celebrated by planning!!  Yaaaaay... (hopefully you read the sarcasm there... laid it pretty thick...) I absolutely hate planning but you gotta do what you gotta do... so I said, "to heck with planning! We're gonna party!!" At least I thought that.  But a voice in my head said, "that's a bad idea..." so I listened to the voice and took one for the team.  And I've got to give an extra special shout-out to my mom and family.  I haven't really said much about this but now I'm going to, every package they send is a work of art I swear!  They go all out in preparing these packages and man are they cool!!  They have stuff hanging when I open the box and it's crazy awesome so yeah basically I have the best family ever.  After I opened the package we went to dinner with a recent convert, Jorilyn Williams.  She's super funny and I love going to dinner with her!  Then we had a lesson with her before we left and went to another lesson with Maeci and Rich Thomas.  Almost didn't have this lesson.  We got a text saying he can't do it tonight.  Then we got another saying wait a minute let's just have the lesson at the church!  So we met them at the church and had a sweet lesson with them!!  Rich is going to be able to be rebaptized as well!!  I was so excited to hear that!!  Then after we finished up there we decided to go visit our good friend Mitch at subway.  It looked pretty slow and so we decided to pop by and see how he's doing and he was doing awesome!!  The guy couldn't stop smiling!!  Then we went home and went to bed.  

Then on Friday we went to a funeral for a lady in our ward who passed away.  I didn't know this lady because she started getting sick before I got there.  But from what I could tell she was loved by everyone she met.  And it gave me a deeper love and appreciation for the plan of salvation and how it's sad to see someone we love pass on but we can have hope in the fact that we will see them again after this life.  It comes back again to the fact that parting doesn't have to last forever.  We'll see them again.  After that we tried visiting some people but weekends are a bit tough because people aren't home.  Not that I blame them.  I'd probably be out doing something as well... but regardless it was a slower day... we had an impromptu dinner with some members who offered to feed us knowing that we didn't have a dinner which was appreciated very much!!  Then we tried more people and found more closed doors... so that basically sums up the rest of the night!! Haha there is joy in the journey and me and Elder Wright would find that joy!!  We have fun with things haha.

Saturday we had service in the morning and this time it wasn't bucking hay!!  We just had to rake up pine needles... there were probably about infinity pine needles I swear (haha) but it was fun!!  Most of the zone showed up to help out and I got to climb on a roof to sweep off some needles up there!!  Always a good time when you can hop up on a roof!!  So we did that for a while and didn't finish.  She fed us lunch and then we had to go to some other service.  So we split up and while some Elders went to one place me, Elder Wright and Bennett went up to Stevensville and went to do service there. It kind of fell through because by the time we got there they had finished up.  So that was a fun little trip!!  I always love road trips!!  We picked up some stuff in town then went back to Hamilton and on the way our truck did some super weird stuff... we were driving and out of nowhere 60 turned into the max our truck could go... that was super weird... we pulled over and turned off the car, said a prayer and started her back up and she worked!!  The power of prayer is real ladies and gentlemen!!  So we got back to town safe and sound!!  

Then we got back to our place showered up after all the service, had a quick comp study and had dinner.  Then we tried visiting the Johnsons.  They're a super awesome family that got referred to us and so we've been teaching them for the past little bit.  We stopped by and introduced the new guy since we missed them the previous week then talked for a bit, set up a better time to stop by, gave them the material we were going to go over in the next lesson and said a prayer with them and then invited them to church.  They weren't able to make it to church but I've got high hopes for them and their family!!  So after that we went to our place and went to bed!!  But before we went to bed Elder Wright taught me how to solve a rubix cube!!  I never thought that it would be possible for me to learn how but now I can and I can solve it in like 2 and a half minutes!!  Miracles do happen!!  

Sunday we had church from 7:45 all the way till 4:30... this honestly makes for a long day and most times we don't have time to eat lunch.  But this time me and Elder Wright were smart and took along some sandwich stuff to have sandwiches before church started so we weren't dying the rest of the day until dinner haha.  So then after church we went to dinner with the Golds and both the Golds and the Reynosos were there and so we had dinner with them and talked for awhile before we had to head to our next appointment.  I freaking love these two families though.  When I'm with them it almost makes me feel like I'm back home for some reason with all the family. :) it's awesome :) I really enjoy our visits!!  Then after that we went to the Jessops for a lesson.  They're a family investigating the church.  The dad came last week while he was on duty because it was a slow day so that was pretty freaking awesome!!  Not gonna lie!! But we had a good lesson this week!!  We got the kids involved and they asked about church next week!!  So hopefully we will see them there!!  

Anyway so this week has been pretty good!! As you can tell haha I wrote a novel about it. But all in all one year down one to go and I'm excited for this next year and everything that's coming my way!  Love you all!!  Take care and remember God loves you!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT 

59828

It's a Short One this Week

7/17/2017

Well the beginning of this week included a lot of saying goodbye for Elder Skouson since he got transferred to Great Falls.  So Monday night and all of Tuesday was him saying goodbye.  Kind of sad but such is the life of a missionary.  

On Wednesday I spent the day in Stevensville with the missionaries there and we had an impromptu district meeting so that was a hoot and a half!!  We had fun with it though.  After that we went and did service for this place and that was pretty fun.  Then I got my new comp Elder Wright and I freaking love this guy!! He's a major stud!!  He reminds me so much of my best friend from home (Todd Gray for those who might know) so we get along great!!  

That Wednesday we had a few things set up that we went to and I introduced him to a lot of members and investigators that he doesn't know.  So that was fun.  We basically did that for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  The weekend was kinda a struggle this week.  We kept trying to find people or service to do but no one was home (haha) just more joys of the weekend as a missionary.  

Sunday was pretty fun because we got to introduce Elder Wright to everyone and that was great!!  Did you know that St. George grew cotton!?!  Neither did me and Elder Wright and we got the ringer for it from a member!!  He wouldn't let us live it down.  So that was pretty funny.  Sorry it's pretty short this week.  Didn't have a lot of time to write it!!  Haha love you guys!!

Love,

Elder Zeller

308 E 1st street unit B

Corvallis, MT