Week 7: Christmas is Coming

Hey everyone? How goes it? I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving!! Thanksgiving here was good and not good haha. Well here is the past week!

TUESDAY: we did some service at the senior center and delivered meals to people. We had a lesson with Kalahni and her daughter cambria. They have been put on date for baptism January 1! We had dinner at the Shumways home which Sister Handy knows someone in their huge family!

WEDNESDAY: We had District meeting in Greybull. It was a good meeting about the Book of Mormon. Then we came back and played shuffle board with Bob and Veera. That was fun. That's about all that happened that day.

THURSDAY: Thanksgiving. Holy cow. We had 5 dinner appointments. All we did was eat and eat and eat. It was pretty terrible by the end of the day haha.

FRIDAY and SATURDAY: so we biked and walked around all day. We didn't have a ton of lessons. So we tried showing people the "LIGHTTheWORLD" video. It was cold and windy haha. That's about all.

SUNDAY: had a lot of meetings. I spoke in both the Branch and the Ward about the Christmas initiative Light the World. We had meetings with the Bishop and Branch President.

Well nothing to exciting this week. Lot of walking. Didn't really have any lessons. This Wednesday-Friday I'll be on exchanges in Powell, Wyoming with Elder Tucker one of the Zone Leaders. I hope you all have a great week. Christmas is upon us! Go Light the World!! Adios.

Love,
Elder Lester

Elder Lester
Montana Billings Mission
kolby.lester@myldsmail.net
Address:
917 Amoretti Street
Thermopolis, Wyoming 82443

Picture 1: dinner at the Shumways
Picture 2: some rabbit I found

Week 6: Let it Snow

Hey Everyone!!! How was your guys week? I hope you are all doing good!

So it snowed this week here in Thermopolis!!!!!! It's getting colder and colder haha. I enjoy it though. I don't have much time today so this email will be a little different! 

This past week has been good. I was on exchanges with my District Leader Elder Andrews! He is anawesome district leader! We did service for our neighbor Brad, and he gave us a 105 Howitzer bomb shell! 

So me and Elder Andrews reconfigured our lamp in the apartment! I have a picture, it's pretty awesome! Exchanges lasted till Wednesday. We had District meeting on Wednesday! That went good. 

So on Thursday we got our first snow fall!!! It was awesome. We did a ton of service helping people shovel snow off their driveways and sidewalks! It was fun.

Saturday morning we had interviews with President Wadsworth. The Wadsworth were in

Worland, WY for interviews and stake conference.

So Saturday and Sunday was just a ton of meetings in Worland! It was a fun week. Lots

of snow to be continued haha. We had two lessons this week. One with Bob and Veera at the Pioneer home. We played shuffle board with them which is always fun. Then we taught a lady Kalahni Blair. She is getting married to a returning less active and wants to get baptized. We had dinner at their house and ate Elk and Antelope sloppy joes! They were delicious!!

We have like 5 thanksgiving dinner appointments this week...... so I got to watch what I eat this week so I don't gaina billion pounds haha!!

So I have to give two talks on Sunday about the Christmas initiative from the church "LightTheWorld"! I have the 25 day calendar in the photos below for you guys to look at and start thinking about some ways to serve this Christmas!

Well love you guys have a fantastic week!!!!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Love,
Elder Lester

Elder Lester
Montana Billings Mission
kolby.lester@myldsmail.net
Address:
917 Amoretti Street
Thermopolis, Wyoming 82443

Week 5: Thermopolis

Hello Family and Friends! 

I hope everyone's week went well. Congrats to the USA for making it through another election and choosing a President. Thermopolis has not been shy about showing their excitement that Donald Trump is on his way to the White House haha. I'm serving in a ward and a branch. The ward split right before I showed up into the branch and new ward. It has not been very cold yet. I've been wearing short sleeved shirts haha. Thursday it's supposed to be like 30 degrees though and it's supposed to snow. Well here is my past week.

Tuesday: We went and did some service for Darlene the lady whose husband passed away. We are helping her move into her new house. After that we went and visited an investigator, Jennifer. She is a cool person. We just read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. Then we went and did service at Bishop Maddocks house. We moved his fire wood into his shed. Then we had dinner at his house.

Wednesday: today we went to the old people retirement home and visited two investigators. Bob and Veera. We play shuffle board with them every Wednesday. After we talked about the Book of Mormon. Following Bob and Veera we had 4 or 5 appointments and they all fell through, so that's kinda was terrible.

Thursday: we went and did service for this guy named Sean. We dug a 4 foot hole so he can fix some water line for his house. We taught a guy named Jerry about the Plan of Salvation. Then we visited an investigator that moved to California, but came back to town to visit. Her name is Helene. She is a cool person. We had a few appointments after and the fell through. 

Friday: we had a zone training today in Lovell, WY. It's about 2 hours away from Thermopolis so it was a drive up there. Training lasted most of the day. When we got back we went to visit Bob and Veera. We watched a movie about Thomas S Monson with them. After that lesson, we went to the first counselor in the bishoprics house to have dinner with our next door neighbor Brad who is a less active. After dinner we taught a guy named lane. His sister is a member. Taught him about the Restoration.

Saturday: we helped Darlene all day today moving into her new home. Helped her till about 6. We were supposed to have 4 lessons after that, but they all cancelled.

Sunday: Lots of meetings today. We had a lesson early in the morning that fell through. Then we had ward council. Then we had church with the ward. Right after that we had branch council and then church with the branch. Then we went to the bishops house that night to talk for a bit and that was the day!

Also the church released their Christmas campaign. LIGHT THE WORLD. It was cool to see this, because when I was at the Hill Cumorah this summer the Work Crew and the Young Single Adults from the cast got a sneak peak at the hashtags the church came up with. We got to vote on the 4 hashtags and picked Light the World, so it's cool to see it unfold!! Well that was the past week. I hope all of you have great weeks!! Love and miss all of you. 

Love,

Elder Lester

Elder Lester 

Montana Billings Mission

kolby.lester@myldsmail.net

Address:

917 Amoretti Street

Thermopolis, Wyoming 82443

Elder Lester Temple Photo

Dear Family,

We are sending a photo of us with Elder Lester at the Billings Temple.  We love him and are so grateful to be able to serve with him here in the Montana Billings Mission.  

Warmest regards,

President & Sister Wadsworth 

Week 4: Arrived in Montana

Hello Family and Friends!!!!!!

Hope you all had a great week!!! So real quick I'll tell you about my last week at the MTC. So President Nattress now a member of Seventy spoke to us on Tuesday night!!!! He gave a great talk about missionary work. He also talked about us being Heavenly Fathers children. He said " Don't you ever forget who you are! You are Sons and Daughters of God. Your nature never changes, you have always been and always will be Sons and Daughters of God." I really enjoyed his talk. He had a lot of good things to say about missionary work, and it was nice hearing how much he loves Gilbert Arizona haha. That was about the only big thing at the MTC. We just had more classes. Monday morning all the Sisters in our District left and then all us Elders left on Tuesday!!!

MONTANA

Tuesday: So got up bright and early to get ready for our flight to Billings!! We arrived at the Billings Airport around 12:30 PM and President and Sister Wadsworth were waiting there for us! The Assistants were also there, Elder Wells and Elder Petty. We actually ran into Elder Wells Dad on the train ride to Salt Lake. It was awesome to finally be in Montana! The weather up here is amazing right now. It's been in the 60's and it feels awesome. So we got to the mission home and received a little instruction, then we had lunch. They had huckleberry jam and rolls. That was probably the highlight of my week, eating REAL FOOD for the first time in 3 weeks haha. So we just had more instruction the rest of the night. 

Wednesday: This was a great day! We went to the Billings Montana Temple. If anyone ever gets the chance to go it's an amazing Temple. After we had more instruction at the church. Then the moment everyone was waiting for!!! AREA ASSIGNMENTS!!!!! I have been assigned to serve in the Thermopolis, Wyoming area. It's a tiny town of 3,000 people. More people went to my High School haha. So we went and had dinner at Golden Corral and then I left for Wyoming. A man from a local ward drove us missionaries to Lovell Wyoming, and there I met my companion Elder Bredsguard. He is from Mesa, Arizona! So we got two Arizona boys who have never experienced winter before put together hahaha. I'm just glad I am not the assigned driver. He has been out for about 5 months. He is a great guy, and he also looks like Clarke Kent. If anyone remembers Elder Clarke who served in our ward a while ago he is almost twins in a way. So I got to Thermopolis at about 9:30 PM so I just unpacked for the rest of the day.

Thursday: It was a great day. I saw so many deer it was ridiculous. They just chill wherever, whenever. Today was a lot of training. We had a lesson scheduled, but it fell through. Thermopolis is know for its natural hot springs. It smells pretty bad here some days. Our next door neighbor Brad is a way cool guy. He is less active, but he said he would come to the regional broadcast with us this Sunday. So after lunch we went and talked to this guy Ron who is the Pastor at the Episcable church ( don't know if I spelled that right). One of our investigators is an 11 year old boy (Jack), and wants to get baptized, but his Dad wants him to check out all the churches in the town to make sure our church is the one. So we will be taking him to all the different churches for the next month and a half. Ron is a cool guy and just explained his church so we can help out Jack.

Friday: So today we went and visited an investigator. Her name is Darlene. Her husband Tom who was also an investigator passed away last week. He said two days before he passed he was going to give up coffee so he could be baptized. I'm sad I never got to meet Tom, but Darlene is awesome. Her goal is to get sealed in the Temple! We did a lot of service today as well.

Saturday: today was a day of service! We helped an investigator build his house. It was fun doing a little construction and I might help him do some electrical work, so thank you brother Allen!! We had a lot of appointments, but they all fell through. It was a little discouraging. I have not taught 1 single lesson yet, because they all fall through. 

Sunday: today we had a regional broadcast. Elder Rasband spoke!! He talked a lot about finding the ONE. He also talked about temples. It was a good meeting. We visited a lot of less actives today as well. Great sabbath day. 

Well so far Wyoming is great. I'm a little bummed I have not taught a lesson yet, but it will come. I hope everyone is doing great! I miss all of you so much. I will make sure I send more photos next week of me and Elder Bredsguard and our area. I really hope you all have great weeks. Be safe, be wise, be happy!!!! Love you!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Lester 

Montana Billings Mission

Moroni 10:32

Week 3: I'm Here! - Elder Lester arrives in Montana!

Hey! I arrived safely. Love and miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Lester

Week 2: MTC

Hola!!! 

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a great week! Time flies by here at the MTC. This week was really good, so I'll jump right into it!

Tuesday: So last  tuesday my district went to the temple!! It was awesome to get out of the MTC and go to the house of the Lord! That evening we got to hear from Elder Lynn G Robbins!!! He gave a great talk. He talked about Christ like attributes and how if we can develop those attributes as missionaries, we will be on the right track. He made a great analogy. He said that "the mission field is the Lord's university. There is no harder university in the world, but there is no university more worth it." I really loved that!! It's so cool that we get these devotionals every tuesday. I can't wait for the next devotional.

Wednesday: It was a great day because new missionaries arrived!!! That means that everyone gets BYU creamery ice cream haha. It's awesome though to see new Elders and Sisters be here! In class we learned how to invite people to come to church. I'm learning new things everyday!! We had an awesome spiritual experience with Brother Welburn today. We had to teach him as an investigator, and the trick was we could only ask questions. It was awesome to see how inspired questions from the spirit direct a lesson. We taught Wyatt and one of our other investigators Matthew (who I forgot to tell you about last week). The lessons went good! We taught Wyatt the Restoration and Matthew the Plan of Salvation. They are cool guys! Wyatt had to reschedule our Thursday lesson to Friday because he had class. They are both progressing though.

Thursday: We got to do some service today! We just cleaned one of the buildings, but it was cool to do something different here!! Being in a classroom all day can be rough. We played kickball today with another zone! It was really fun. In class Sister Combs talked about the role of the Holy Ghost in missionary work. Without the spirit you can not teach! We did our PI with sister combs. The investigator she is playing is Jerrica. We taught her a few times already. We talked to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. We taught Matthew again today. He is from California and is one of those surfer dudes, so he says some really funny stuff haha. It's been awesome teaching him and seeing him grow. The investigators we teach are awesome!

Friday: We got out FLIGHT PLANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We leave November 1 at I believe 11 am. I'm so excited! We also got an invitation to be hosts this upcoming wednesday for the new missionaries arriving! That's like the one thing I wanted to do while I was here, so I am pretty pumped! In class we talked about how to get our investigators more engaged in the lesson. So Wyatt had to cancel our appointment, but we have one more lesson with him tomorrow!

Saturday: Today was a good day! We taught Jerrica today! She had concerns about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon because of things her boyfriend told her, but we resolved all of them!! Sister Combs told us after that we did a good job about how we addressed her concerns and problems! Class was good. Just talked about inviting people. Then we practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and I think your catching along now. So Wyatt did not show up to our appointment. This was our last lesson with him, so it was a little sad that he was not there. We did teach Matthew. It was our last lesson with him as well. They are cool guys! I ran into Brother Stevens from Work Crew tonight!!! He got here on wednesday and he is going to the Philippines.

Sunday: It was a great day because it's Sunday!!!!!!! I had a few meetings in the morning, and then we had Sacrament at 11:30. There were some good talks on Faith. I love a quote President Eyering said "If we have Faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing." True words coming from an Apostle! The trio had to teach a lesson in priesthood today. We taught how to Endure to the End. It went good. Enduring to the end can be difficult, but just have Faith! We had choir practice today! The choir director is so funny. After we had our Sunday Evening Devotional. Stephen B Allen, the managing director of the missionary department spoke to us. He is one funny dude. He talked about a ton of different things. He said something I liked "To be the best missionary you have to make an investment, and your investment can't just be time." We have to give ALL our might, mind, and strength to the Lord in order to be the best missionary we can be. Then he talked about the Atonement for a bit. He said that we should want to give our sins to the Lord. He already paid the price. "The Savior has prints in his hands, and in his wrists, and in his feet because he wants you to give him your sins. So have the courage to give them to him." I want you guys to think about that statement over the coming week. For Film time we watched a world wide devotional on teaching by Elder Holland. At the end he talked about faith. He said "Never let your faith be difficult to detect and that Every student deserves the firework of our faith." I love Elder Holland!

Monday: So it was a good day today! We got new investigators and taught both of them. The first is Kai. He is basically a strait up Atheist. These investigators can be real investigators or they are members of the church and act as investigators. We are not told what they are. If Kai is a member he is the greatest actor I have ever seen haha. The other new investigator we have is a girl. Her name is Lin. She is from China. She is awesome. So after we taught Kai, guess who we ran into? It was Wyatt, but this time he was wearing a suit and tie, not jeans and a jacket. Turns out he is like in charge of the whole TRC program here haha. He said he will talk to us later about our visits. Monday was a good day!

The pictures are of the trio, the temple, and me and Brother Stevens. So it was a good week!!! We are going to the Temple again today and have another devotional!! Next time you hear from me I'll probably be in Montana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you all have an amazing week! Thank you for all the letters! Enjoy your week and have a Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Love,

Elder Lester

Moroni 10:32

Week 1: 1st MTC Letter

Hello Everyone! 

How's everybody doing??! This first week at the MTC has been awesome! I am in a trio companionship, Elder Baum (bomb) and Elder Roberts. Elder Roberts is from Central Utah and Elder Baum is from Texas. There are 9 Elders and Sisters in my zone. My two companions and the other 2 Elders (Elder Bly and Elder Dabel) are all going to Billings Montana! The 4 sisters are all going to Dallas Texas! The first few days here went by extremely slow. Wednesday was a bunch of orientation. We met our teachers too. Brother Welburn is one of my teachers! He is an awesome guy. He served his mission in New Jersey. The spirit is so strong here at the MTC. It's been amazing how fast everyone picks up teaching skills and stuff like that. Thursday night I was called to be the District Leader! I was really nervous at first, but now it's awesome being able to serve those in my district. Our district is so awesome! Friday and Saturday was basically all learning. Learning to be a missionary is hard, but it's well worth it. Sunday has been the best day so far. We had a devotional from this Stake President. He talked about personal influence. Being a representative of Jesus Christ influences those around us. So as missionaries we should always act as if the Savior was with us, because everything we do represents him. After the devotional we watched a talk that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC a while back. It's called the Character of Christ. I think it was the best talk I have ever heard. The Savior always thinks of others and not himself. Elder Bednar said, "This mission is not about you. So get over yourself." That really touched me. Serving others and inviting them to come unto Christ is my main goal and I'm so excited to do that. We were able to go on a walk to the Temple on Sunday. It was really nice being able to get out of the MTC. I went into the MTC with some really low expectations about the food, but it's actually not that bad. Exercise time is a blast!! I play basketball or go to the weight room. It's a good stress reliever!

Elder Roberts, Elder Baum and I started teaching our investigators on Monday! We taught this guy Wyatt. He is really awesome! He really opened up to us about what he wants to learn from our lessons. He's really interested in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. The spirit was really present in that lesson. It's so important to teach by the Spirit, because if you don't have it you CAN NOT teach. So it's been really cool to see my friends here at the MTC! I saw Onias like 5 minutes after arriving on Wednesday. I run into Brother Berrong my companion from Work Crew all the time! I also see Brother Bergeson my DL from Work Crew and Brother Brockbank. It's really awesome to see those guys! They make my day every time I run into them. I love being here a the MTC, but I can't wait to get out to Montana! Being a Missionary is so awesome! Thank you for all the prayers and support, I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Lester

Moroni 10:32

Montana Billings Mission

The Send Off!

I'm Here!

I have arrived at the MTC!!! I'm doing great and already love it here! My P-day is on Tuesday, so that's when you will hear from me!! Hope everyone is doing good. I met one of my two companions. Yep I'm in a trio! Talk to you soon. 

Love,

Elder Lester

Elder Lester's Travel Itinerary