To All the World

See "Internet Proselyting", and Elder Austin Goff's "Online Missionary Work"

I am very excited about this, and I hope you will post your comments and feelings as well.
In July 1974, President Spencer W. Kimball made this prophetic statement regarding the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ through technology:

“The Lord will lay in our hand inventions which we can scarcely conceive whereby we will be able to bring the gospel to the peoples of the world. I have faith that the Lord will open doors when we have done everything in our power. I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse.We shall use the inventions the Lord has given us to awaken interest and acquaint people of the world with the truths, to ease their prejudices and give them a general knowledge. We shall need to answer specific questions, and perhaps that can be done by two-way radio and TV perfected to a point beyond our present imagination. It is conceivable that such a program greatly perfected could be multiplied ten thousand times in ten thousand tongues and dialects in ten thousand places far and near. Tens of thousands of young missionaries endowed with the power from on high will follow up the proselyting” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 587-88).

In 1994, President Howard W. Hunter added this prophetic statement: “I feel our most enthusiastic projections capture only a tiny glimpse of how these [technological] tools can help us and of the eternal consequences of these efforts.”

(Taken from LDSMag)

In October of 2010, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began a pilot program for internet proselyting. This blog, and my facebook profile have resulted, as well as hundreds of other missionaries' blogs and pages.

My Mission

When I received my call to serve in the Montana Billings Mission, I said, "Oh. Montana." Now, after having served for two years in this incredible country, after having sacrificed all that I have to help others come unto Christ in this most beautiful place, I say in my heart, "Oh, Montana..."
Serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has changed my life.
I was called to the Montana Billings Mission on December 12th, 2008. I began my mission March 11th, 2009. I am about to conclude my mission on March 17th, 2011.
I started in Livingston, Montana, and from there I went to Riverton, Wyoming. Next came Miles City Montana, and then Townsend, Montana. I was transferred north to Kalispell, Montana, and last of all, down to Billings, Montana.
In the next few articles, I will be talking about my experiences in each of these areas. I want to do this justice, but I recognize that blogging just never could do a mission experience justice. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the pictures and experiences to follow. See the "My Montana Mission" tab at the top of this blog where everything will be compiled together.

Art's Conversion

This is the account of the conversion of the father of the Heffelfinger family, Art, by Brother Rob Oliver. Brother Oliver is a member of the Townsend ward who was critically involved with the Heffelfingers during their conversion to the gospel.
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Art Heffelfinger was baptized in the early 1960's but knew little about the Church. His reason for joining was that the woman to which he was then married was a member and he felt that joining the Church would bring harmony to the marriage. However, the marriage ended soon after that and so did his interest in the Church. Over the next 40 plus years, his contact with the Church was sparse, but he did have some contact through Priesthood Leaders and neighbors. However, in recent years he and his wife and daughters had begun an affiliation with another church which was very liberal and expected little from them.

In the spring of 2009 our Relief Society Presidency made a visit to the Heffelfinger home. (See Preparing the Heffelfingers.) It was the first contact that had been made with the family since they moved into the Townsend Ward. The Presidency met with Sister Heffelfinger and their youngest daughter Leah, and although the meeting was brief, there were good feelings and a report was made to that effect at the next Ward Council meeting. As the Ward Mission Leader at the time I listened carefully and then asked the full-time Sister Missionaries to make a visit to the Heffelfinger home, which they did. Their meeting was also warm, and they talked again with Sister Heffelfinger and Leah. However, owing to a busy schedule, summer vacation, and such, there was no follow-up meeting.

Julie's Conversion

This is the firsthand account of the conversion process of Julie to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's difficult to describe the experience of working with Julie. It is a memory that I treasure. I feel like we were led to meet each other for a very important purpose, at a critical time.

Kalispell, MT. L/R Elder Lanham, Bonnie, Julie,  Elder Henriksen, Bishop Klingensmith

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I grew up in what would now be called a dysfunctional family. When my mother took legal action to separate from my abusive father, we (mother, brother and I) were suddenly treated as outcasts by the people in our church at the time. This attitude soon carried over to school as well. Thus I learned early on, that religions preaching the doctrine of tolerance etc. did not necessarily have members willing to practice that doctrine. As a result, my childhood was not a happy one. As a young adult, I had concluded that religion is like a pair of shoes--that you have to find one that fits if you are going to keep walking in them. And so I began a journey of looking for a church that fit--i.e. one whose doctrine was not only aligned with what my heart told me was "the way things should be" but was also one whose members were more inclined to practice what was preached in their daily lives.

Turnin' the Other Cheek

Now, in this post, I'll try to be humorous but hopefully not degrading or offensive. I hope that you can feel some of what I felt in this situation.
A few weeks ago, Elder Sargent and I went over to a lady who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but who is not active in her faith. Her name is Sister Bird. She's been making good progress in coming back. But when we walked in, we were met by her father and step mother, who introduced themselves by sort of snorting, looking away, and saying, "We used to have the missionaries over, but my wife scared them all away."

The step mom looked up and gave us the stinkeye.
It was one of those times on a mission you never forget.

Kenny's Conversion

This is the firsthand account of the conversion of Kenny, a young man who I met and worked with in Kalispell, Montana. He hopes to serve a mission someday soon! See http://johnstonkenny.blogspot.com/.

L/R Elder Lanham, Elder Miner, Richard, Kenny, and Wendy Johnston

"Last February, I was texting my friend Kyla Allred to see how things are going and what she's up to today. She was saying, "I'm at church right now. Oh boy you are missing out big time Kenny." Then she said, "You should come next Sunday?" She was just being sarcastic but what she was not expecting was a text saying, "Sure. Why not, it might be fun."

So all that week I was getting texts and calls from Kyla saying you should wear this, this and this and be at the church at this time and do not be late. So Sunday comes along and I get ready to go to church. I actually get their 5 minutes early. I walk in and I do not know what to do. I can not find Kyla. She was a little late to Sacrament meeting so I sit in the very back so no one would see me. Then Kyla walks in and sees me and we go sit right up front where I did not want to sit. But oh well.

What About the Bigger Ones?

"Is it possible to reclaim a life that through reckless abandon has become so strewn with garbage that it appears that the person is unforgivable? Or what about the one who is making an honest effort but has fallen back into sin so many times that he feels that there is no possible way to break the seemingly endless pattern? Or what about the person who has changed his life but just can’t forgive himself?"

I've wondered about these questions before. I've talked to many individuals who have wondered as well. "Is there really, honestly hope for me?"

We may be able to accept that Christ performed miracles of physical healing when He was on the earth. We may be able to accept that He can forgive honest mistakes and flaws in people. Maybe we can hope that He would be able to overlook our smaller faults.

But what about the bigger ones?

None are Forbidden

Often, when we mess up, we feel inadequate. We may feel that Heavenly Father no longer wants to talk with us, because we don't feel worthy. In this negative frame of mind, it can become easy to spiral downward, and do worse and worse.
But our Heavenly Father just wants us to change. He won't condemn the sincere efforts of His children to become better.
Jesus Christ suffered immensely for us. He suffered so that we can have mercy when we repent and have faith in Him. He didn't go through all that so that He could then abandon us when we sin.
His hand is always outstretched.
It makes no difference where we have been. We can choose today to change our direction. And, in time, we will find that we have entered into His rest.

I know that this is true, because I have made many mistakes.