Kalispell

Quick update on life:

Wow, it's been awhile since I blogged last. Life has been pretty crazy since I arrived home from my mission in March.

My older brother Jesse got married the weekend I got home.

My twin brother Chris and I at the reception

"Michael! You're home. We've missed you. Wow, gone for two years. Ok, now pull up your sleeves, because we have a wedding to put on."

That's what it felt like, but I don't know how else I could have felt. We did, in fact, have a wedding to put on.

It was like a dream, coming home.

I remember just feeling so numb for about three days, and then during a wedding luncheon at the BYU Skyroom, just escaping to the stairwell and collapsing in a heap and crying because it finally hit me that I was not a missionary anymore.

I've had many similar experiences since. 

It's true what they say: "It's harder to come home from a mission than it is to leave." 

"Oh, shut up, how could it be any harder than this?" I would think, as I began my two years.

But it is true.

I found a job quickly after arriving home, making automatic pool covers. It's a company called Coverstar, and we manufacture and sell to distributors around the world. I work full time, and I enjoy it. In the afternoons, I often coach gymnastics at All American. I'm just subbing right now, and coaching private lessons. Life is really just work right now.

I need to date more. Let me know if you have any referrals.

This fall, I will be attending BYU. I don't know what I want to study yet. Generals, for now.

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I'm trying a new program called prezi. I'm not sure how I'm going to like it, so I'm presenting this blog in a traditional way, and with a prezi. Take your pick.

Kalispell on Prezi

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Kalispell

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The call to serve in Kalispell came as I sat in the upstairs bedroom at the Price's home in Townsend, MT. It was expected that I would leave, as I had served in Townsend for over seven months. However, I never would have dared to hope to serve in Kalispell in the summer. Few missionaries get the privilege of serving the most beautiful valley in the world, especially in the summer when Glacier National Park is open. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited.

I said my goodbyes to the people who had become my family for my long stay in Townsend. It was hard to leave, but I was ready.

I headed to the parking lot of Walmart in Helena to catch the missionary transfer van up to Kalispell. 

I had heard that my new companion would be Elder Miner, a greenie. But despite having only been out for one transfer, he had a hardworking reputation that was restated to me many times before I actually met him.

And everyone was right. Elder Miner is a right-down-to business Elder.

We had work to do.

My first day there, we received a call from Kenny Johnston. He said that he had prayed a lot, thought a lot, and decided that he wanted to take the missionary lessons and be baptized. I didn't know who Kenny was, but I was sure excited to get to know him. Those who know Kenny know that he loves the gospel, loves the Savior, and loves to share what he knows with everyone. It was a joy to watch as his own testimony of truth grew, and then how his desire to share it with others grew too. Since his baptism a little over a year ago, he has actively participated in the conversion process of his friends and family members. We still keep in touch almost every day.

Kenny was not the only one I met right off the bat. 

Julie Robinson had been working with Elders for about a year when I arrived. Julie is no ordinary gal. She may be from California, but you'd never guess it. She wore an old Carhartt jacket and worked like a mule. She dug the foundation for her house by hand. If there was ever a true Montana mountain woman, Julie would be it.

We would help her on her sheep farm every week, hauling hay and scooping poop. We also helped lay a concrete path through her hillside garden behind her house. It was so beautiful to see in the summer, and the path made it a whole lot more accessible. Every time we would come over, we'd have lunch together. We had some very amazing and spiritual experiences together. Her baptism was incredible.

I love Julie, and I miss her a lot.

Amber Nestell is a remarkable young woman. One day, Elder Miner and I received a call from the mission office informing us that someone had requested a Book of Mormon online. We were to deliver it and offer to teach about it. When we arrived at the house, out came Amber; I still remember the way I felt. There was something different about her. She was (is) intelligent, and sincere. During one of our first lessons, we promised Amber that as she continued to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, that she would see changes come into her life that would lead her to a desire to be baptized. Shortly thereafter, she was. I miss Amber too. Kalispell is just too far away.

When Elder Miner left, I had the opportunity to train. I like to get pictures of greenies when they get off the bus, and so I had to embarrass my new son, Elder Henriksen on his first day in the field. I remember fondly when he made fun of my hometown of Orem, Utah, and then, shortly thereafter, how we learned that his family had moved there. It was a blast training Elder Henriksen. We had some great successes, including three baptisms together, and several others prepared who he was able to help out after I left.

I had the privilege of going to Glacier National Park many times during my stay in Kalispell. There is no way to explain how beautiful it is. I am in love with Montana, and my heart is in the mountains of Glacier National Park. There is a feeling there that you can't feel in many other places. My testimony that God is real and that He loves His children was strengthened just by being in that place.

I love Kalispell. I love the people of Kalispell; The members, investigators, and companions I met really blessed my life. I can't wait to get to go back up there.