Riverton and Miles City

Elder Fry and I, just before leaving Riverton Wyoming

Again, very scattered thoughts about the areas of my mission. To those who live there or have served there, this may be of interest. To others...who knows. I served in Riverton and Miles City between August and October of 2009.
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Ah, Riverton. I loved my time there. I can think of little that I did not enjoy about Riverton.
It is closer to my home in Orem, Utah, than it is to the mission home in Billings, Montana. That was a strange feeling; If I just had a horrible day and decided to forgo all and abandon my cause, I could stick out my thumb on the highway and be home in no time. Of course, I was nowhere close to wanting to do that.
Elder Fry was my companion, and we got along so well. He was one of the few companions I had who wanted to run in the mornings with me.
We had a baptism of a young girl, and we helped to prepare several others on their way to accepting the gospel. We really taught well together, and got along great.
I think what I remember most about Riverton was living in the basement of Sister Larsen's home. Sister Larsen is well known throughout the mission as one of the chiefest mission mommas. She really loves the Elders, and all of us who have lived there love her. I remember her making cookies and cakes and breakfast and everything else for us, on a whim. And recently she published a cookbook of all the recipes given to her from missionaries who had stayed in her home. Sister Larsen and I definitely forged a bond.
Ironically, I was transferred after only four weeks. There were some unexpected changes in other areas of the mission which necessitated some movement. The mission president called me one night and asked if I could be ready to leave the next day.

That was a huge deal for me. It's hard to explain how it feels to leave an area so unexpectedly, and after having invested so much energy and focus and emotion into the work. There were people I just didn't expect to have to leave so soon.

But the call came nonetheless, and I was off to Miles City, Montana.

My companion Elder Anderson, waiting on a train.

Miles City is in central-eastern Montana, and is at least fifty miles from any other big city. It is one of the busiest towns for train traffic in the nation. I remember the train horns going off constantly while I was there, and practically always waiting at a railroad crossing for the train to pass.

Baptism of Heidi Corona

But I also remember Heidi Corona, a young girl who was 11 at the time, and extremely intelligent for her age. Her mother was less active then, and her father wasn't so sure what he thought of church, but little Heidi was just on fire to learn more. We taught her the discussions, and she received rides to church and tons of fellowship and love from the members of the Miles City Ward.
I was thrilled to see her recently in Billings, about a year and a half after her baptism, with the ward to attend the temple here.
Miles City was definitely the hardest time of my whole mission. I was still reeling from the unexpected transfer there, and the city itself is so far away from the others, I just felt so isolated and cut off. I remember just hiding away in our closet sometimes just to think about life and to have some time to think and focus.
One of my favorite stories from my whole mission was an "accident" that happened while we were contacting some people. The street system in Miles city is very confusing. There's a normal, north/south grid system which is easy enough, but then there are some other grids that branch off at 45 degree angles. Weird. See the map here. Elder Anderson and I were trying to locate a member to ask them a few questions about people to see in the area. We laughed when, after walking a good distance, we realized that we had gone to the complete wrong side of town; we were on North Lake St. instead of South Lake St. But there was a number that matched up, and we thought, "What the heck, why not try." We ran into a less active member with a girlfriend who was not a member of the church. Her name is Amy Rickett, and shortly after I left Miles City, she was baptized. Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. Even when we're totally off, He turns things around for the better. That was definitely one of the coolest memories I have had of my mission.

Groundbreaking of the Broadus, Montana chapel.

Broadus, Montana, is one of the smallest towns in the state, and I love it. There is a branch of the church there, with some of the most amazing people I have met. I remember driving down, or getting rides, 80 miles south of Miles City to the little town. I had the privilege to see the groundbreaking for a new branch building there. 
It all began with one family. Then two, then three...and the branch kept growing. It is incredible to think that in such a small town, literally in the middle of nowhere, the gospel of Jesus Christ is flourishing. And it's all from missionary work.
The branch started meeting in a home owned by the church. The missionaries would sleep in the basement when we would visit on the weekends to work. It was cramped; we held sacrament meeting in the living room.
I'm sure the new building has been a great help to the members there, and create a community-wide interest in the church and in the gospel of Jesus Christ that was not there before.

When I think about what I learned in Miles City, I just think about the Savior. I came to know Him so much more, as I felt I had nowhere else to turn. It was overall a very difficult time for me.
I came to know for certain that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us, and that He is aware of the things that we go through. I know that He is real, and that He lives today.