This is it! Final testimony of the mission!

Holy cow!!! I feel like it's still a big joke, I won't believe that I'm actually going home till I'm in the airport! Well this week was good, we had a general authority come and speak to us and that was really cool! Sounds like some things will be getting switched up in the mission, but I think it'll be good, It'll help the work for sure! Well I have been so grateful to have been able to serve as a full time missionary the last two years. It has been a roller coaster ride! It has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life so far. But I'm grateful for all the trials I have been faced with, I feel like I've grown and become stronger through them. I know that Christ's atonement is real. I know its the only reason I made it. I know that Christ lives today and he blesses us and wants to see us happy in this life. I'm grateful for the love of Christ in my life. I'm grateful that I have been able to testify of his love to other people and watch the change that takes place in their hearts. There is no greater joy than seeing someone change their hearts to follow our Savior Jesus Christ, not even when the A's make the plaoffs do I feel that happy;) haha I know that the message of the Restoration is true, that Joseph Smith was called by God to bring back the fullness of the gospel to the earth. I know we can know for ourselves if it is true by reading and praying about The Book Of Mormon. I know that the Book Of Mormon is a true book, that testifies of Christ and brings us closer to Him. I have come to the this book and I have been able to see the conversion that has taken place in my own heart. I know with all of my heart that this gospel is true. I love it. I'm grateful for your supoort and love over the last two years. I'm excited to see everyone on saturday!! I hope you have a great rest of your week! I love you all and thank you for your support.

Love, Elder swish daddy 

12 days

Well another week here and gone!! It's freakin me out a little bit!! This week was awesome!! One of my favorite families from Cody came to say goodbye this week, so they took us out to lunch and it was so good to see them, they are awesome!! But the big news isssss we put someone on date for baptism!!! Oh man we were so pumped! The work has been a little slow but we have just been pounding through it and finally we got a reward!!! It felt soooo good!!! And then a less active member of the church took us to go watch the demolition derby!!! That is always a blast, espescially as a missionary when we go to events like that people stare at us and give us the funniest looks. So for all my friends back at home, don't give the missionaries funny looks, they are normal people too!!! hahaha man the emotions are all over the place, being so close to the end, I'm excited to be home but man I love this life. I love being a missionary, it's a blast! ITS NOT OVER YET!!! Still got like 12 days!! This week on Thursday we will be headin up to billings for a big meeting, a general authority is coming to speak to us all, so that will be exciting!! I will get to see some old buddies before I leave next week! Man crazy!! But okay I'll talk to ya for the last time next week!! Have a good one!!

Love, elder Swishdaddy

Holy Smokes!!

Holy Smokes..... only two more Mondays!! Crazy! I'm freaking out a little bit, I had my departing interview with my mission president this week it was really good! He gave me a lot of dating advice, which I definitely need hahaha! But it was really good, it made me realize how close my mission is to my heart. I have grown a lot and have served my hardest so it's sad having it come to an end! But the next chapter in life will be fun as well!! Let's see so last night we went to see a less active lady and she let us in her house and we started talking and her fat dog came up to me. I started petting her and then I realized she was PEEING ON MY FOOT!!!!!! That dang, stupid dog peed on my shoe!! The lady was like "Im so sorry!!! That's embarrassing !!" hahaha I just laughed. It was pretty funny! But as we were leaving I told her she owed me, and she said that she would be at church next Sunday so it was worth it I guess! It smells a lot better than pig pee so I can't be to upset! haha It was a good week here in Thermopolis! We did a lot of service helping people move! So that was pretty fun but we aslo had some sucess in teaching less active members! It was a blast to finally get some really solid lessons in!! I love Thermopolis, it's been a lot of fun so far, difficult work here but fun just trying hard! Well I'm excited to see everybody soon. I hope you all have a great week!! love you!!

Love Elder Swishdaddy

Indian ceremony

Brentwood!!! Well it was a good week here in thermop! we have been working our butts off trying to find people to teach, tracting for 3 hours everyday!!!! And we finally found 2 new people to teach!! It was awesome! Even though thats not a whole lot we were so grateful for them. It boosted out sprits like crazy just to be able to teach someone! Its been crazy hot here this week, I love it!! Its adjusting me back to California wheather!! It'll be nice to get my tan back.... I was looking at myself the other day and I look like I'm from Montana with this white skin... it's pathetic!!! hahaha oh man! So I started this sweet diet (Elder Swisher's famous words) so I eat two hard boiled eggs for breakfast and the at lunch I eat 10 crackers with peanut butter on them! and then limit myself to one helping at dinner!!! We will see if that helps me get in beach shape?;) hahaha Oh! So this week we had a picture contest in our zone, we had to take pictures demonstrating the principles in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first one with me and the bags, we titled "Keep enduring Elder Rentfro..... wait Elder Swisher don't pack too early!!!" hahah and then the toilet one "Just as we have faith that this toilet will flush, we have faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!" hahah classic! I thought they were clever! Then we got to go watch an Indian celebration! Years ago they sold the springs to the white man for $5 a month. So now they celebrate every year with a performance. It was cool to watch, they have a cool culture and it's fun to watch them dance and chant! haha We don't have that in Brentwood! Well I think that's all I got for this week! Hopefully you guys have a great week!! I'll talk to ya next week!!

Love, elder Swishdaddy

Less than 5 weeks to go!

Well it was a crazy week!! It started out playing 4 hours of basketball on Monday, then Tuesday I drove to Billings. I stayed the night in Billings with Elder McGrath my old comp, we haven't seen each other in awhile so we stayed up till like 3am talking. Man I missed him! He's a good dude! So we had to get up at 5:30 so he could organize the transfers and get the new missionaries settled in. I worked the whole day with a companionship in Billings till about 4pm and the I met my new missionary at the mission home and me and him drove down to Wyoming!! We got to Thermopolis at about 10 pm that night after making a bunch of stops taking care of other missionary's luggage. So now I'm in good ol Thermopolis!!! I love it here, I forgot how awesome it was!!!! On friday night our ward had a party and they blocked off the street and had a DJ out there and they were just all swing dancing and line dancing! hahaha We got some food and talked to all my old buddies here, but then when my favorite country songs came on we had to go.... haha It was getting me excited to listen to music again!!! haha But the work is slow right now here in Thermopolis  so we are starting from scratch so it'll be fun to try and find people who are really wanting to learn and change their lives!! It'll stretch us but I know we can get something happining here!! Well I think thats all the exciting news I got for ya! Hope everybody has a great week and I'll talk to ya next week!! Love you!!!

Love, Elder swish daddy

Back to THERMOPOLIS!!!

Brentwood!!!! Well for my last 6 weeks I will be getting transferred back to THERMOPOLIS!!!!!!!! hahaha Oh man I'm so excited to go back! It'll be a fun way to end my mission!! I'll be training a brand new missionary so we will be getting doubled into the area! The past missionaries there I guess kinda slacked off so we will be building it up from scratch! haha It'll be a good way to see what I can do before I finish this thing up! Well this week was way good, we had a lot of good lessons and we found like the perfect investigator!!! We were out looking for this part member family and I knocked on the door and asked for the family's name and this young mother said that they lived there before she did, so we were bummed but then asked her if she wanted to watch a sweet video about Christ and she said she would really enjoy it. So we showed her the video and during the video she started to cry and really feel the spirit. It was sweet, we testifed of the video and of Christ, and asked if we could come back and share more with her and she said "I know that God sent you to me today to help get my life back in order." Inside I was like YESSSSS HECK YESSS!!! hahah So yeah she is super sweet and the elders here will have a lot of fun teaching her! That was such a cool miracle though! I seriously love being a missionary. It's the best. Well I hope everyone has a great week!! I love you and miss you guys!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy 

Fast break candy bars! Yum!

Well I'm starting to really freak out..... I start my last transfer next week... it's weird. haha Well this week was bomb.com!!!! We taught a lot of good lessons and the biggest miracle was that we found a family of 3 who wants to learn more about the gospel!!! Prayers are answered!!! I love it!! They are way sweet, we found them tracting, after a lonnng day of tracting. We were just finishing up the night; when we tract a lot and its getting close to the end we get a little crazy in head. So I knock on the door and I say "We are going around your neighborhood trying to share this 2 minute video about Christ, and nobody has let us share with them... will you be the first?!?!?!" hahah the lady just laughed and said "sure" so she watched it and it really touched her, she was holding back tears and said they need Christ in their lives more right now. It was really cool. I already love this little family of three!! I can't wait to keep working with them!!! So I have been working out for 2 weeks strong now, but I think I'm counter acting it cuz I realized that everyday last week we stopped by this same gas station and I got a Fastbreak candy bar.... literally everynight of the week hahaha classic!! Those bad boys will never get old!! Well I hope everyone has a great week!! I'll update you next week where I will be living for my last transfer!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

4th of July!!!!

BRENTWOOD!!!!!! Well this week has been pretty dang good!! A lot of people were out of town for the weekend so the work was a little bit slower, but we still did some good work! We had some really good lessons with investigators who were srtuggling a little bit, and helped them reslove some concerns!! So they are moving forward now towards their baptisms! My old companion Elder Curtis is an asistant to the president and he goes home next Saturday so he came down and did exchanges with me.... man I love that guy haha! we just talked about all the fun times in Great Falls haha Its been a good exchange I'll be sad to see him go home but I guess I go home 6 weeks after him and I'll see him in Utah haha! The 4th was good though we got together with two other missionaries and made a bunch of pancakes and bacon, and then watched a sweet parade, during the afternoon we prosylyted and tried talking to all the drunk people, it was great!!! They make it so entertaining to be a missionary! hahaha But then that night we went to dinner with those other elders and the two assistants at a members home and we played a sweet football game (I'm still sore) but our team won and thats all that matters haha! We ate some good BBQ and watched fireworks, so it was a very fun day!! Weird to think it was my last holiday wearing my missionary tag! Well I hope everybody has a great week and pray for the A's to make a push for the post season for me when I get home..... seriously I am praying for that;) hahaha

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Baptism!

Well exactly 2 months from today and I will be home..... kinda getting real now!! Too crazy!! Well this weekend was awesome!! We baptized two brothers!! It was so cool, they were so ready and are very happy to be members of this church now!! Their dad and Grandpa baptized them and then on sunday me and Elder Wells confirmed them! It was pretty dang sweet!!! That's what makes all the hard times as a missionary worth it. The spirit you feel at the baptism of somebody you have been teaching the gospel too..... nothing beats it!! Well this week was pretty good, I just have to keep my mind on the work, if I let myself start to think about home it makes it hard to work hahaha So this week we tracted for 2 hours everyday and on Saturday we tracted for 4 hours...... we found some new people to teach which was really fun but man my feet were so sore after this week, getting in bed last night felt so good to know that today we can just take it easy! hahaha at least until 6pm then we will be tracting again! haha but the work is going so great here! The Gillette area has been good so far, I went out to Wright, Wyoming yesterday to interview a family of 5 that is being baptized on the 4th of July!!! they were so cool they are from Arkansas and had some thick accents!! It was awesome!! Made me want to marry a girl from the south..... hahaha Elders Wells and I have been having a lot of fun together, we get along way to good!! It makes those days with a a lot of tracting easier cuz we are just laughing and talking sports! haha We are hoping we stay the next transfer together to finish me off!! haha Well I hope everybody has a sweet 4th of july week!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Devil's Tower and Tractor Pull!

HELLO!!! Well crazy week, so Monday was cool we had a good preperation day! We played some ultimate frisbee and got eaten alive by mosquitos but it was a lot of fun!! Then Monday night we had an investigator take us to Devils Tower! It was really cool and really pretty!! (picture added below). But then came Tuedsay... We get a call from Elder McGrath my old companion and he said " Elder Bench you have an hour to pack and be at the church your getting mid transferred!" hahaha crazy!! So he was running around trying to pack all of his stuff up and get ready to go up to Montana!! So I spent the day with Elder Burnham, which was fun, me and him were in the same MTC district and haven't really gotten to serve around each other out in the field so it was cool to be with him! Then that night I got my new companion his name is Elder Wells from American Fork Utah! This is his second transfer so I will be finishing his training! we haven't been together for a week yet and we are already tight. He's a cool dude! Well the work is progressing like crazy here, we were able to find 5 new investigators and have 2 baptisms coming this Saturday!! It's going to be a fun week planning those and finishing up the last lessons they need!! They are awesome kids and are so excited to be baptized!! We were able to put another person on date for baptism as well this week!! So the work is great! We are definitely being blessed now!!:) oh yeah and we went to this sweet Tractor Pull!! A member told me about it so I had to go watch.... it was awesome!! I love Wyoming! haha the people are great here in Gillette, it reminds me a lot of Brentwood, except not as cool;) Well I want to say happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! and especially to my dad!! I love you dad!! My dad has been my best friend ever since I can remember, I love hearing stories about when I was a baby and he would leave for work and I would hold my breath till I passed out! hahaha My dad is a super hero to me and I just hope and pray that I can become half the man that he is. He has taught me everything about being a man, about being a great husband and a great father. He is my example with everything I do, I may not try to walk behind him and step in the place he did and try to walk to same exact way he does anymore like I used to when I was a kid, but everyday I definitely try to act like he would act. Thank you for the love and support through out my whole life pops!!! Can't wait to go to an A's game with you in 9 weeks. your my best friend. Pictures below include my goodbye photo with my mission president and his wife before they leave.

Love Elder Swishdaddy

11 hours of driving!!!

Brentwood!!! Well I'm here in Gillette Wyoming!! It's been crazy!! So it all started Wednesday morning. I drove from Great Falls to Helena one and a half hours. I was in Helena Montana at 11 am and I drove a truck to Billings for 4 hours, then once in Billings hopped in the transfer van to head down to Sheridan Wyoming, another 3 hour drive. Then from Sheridan I got in another truck and followed the van through a crazy crazy lightning and thunder storm to Gillette... another hour and half drive!!!! hahaha A total of 11 hours! It was a crazy long day of driving!! We call our mission the driving mission! It is so big. I was so sick of being in a car for that long!! But it was really cool to see all the new parts of the mission!! Sheridan was way cool I would love to serve there, it was really pretty!! Gillette has it own beauty.... hahaha lots of nothing!! haha very flat!! It is in the far north east corner of Wyoming. It is a mining town so many people are employed by the mines. But it has been a sweet place so far, the work exploded this week! There were some good people the missionaries were teaching and we were able to put them on a solid date for baptisim!! so we have 3 people to get baptized this transfer! It'll be a lot of fun tracting here in Gillette. Our area has a ton of appartment buildings and those are my favorite to tract!!! My companion was in another mission until six weeks ago when the mission boundaries changed which landed him in our mission. He is from Oakley Idaho. He is a rodeo cowboy. We will have lots to talk about. He goes home the same day I do. So I'm excited! It should be a good transfer! It'll be different, all the members and the missionaries are used to their old mission rules so sometimes I feel like the bad guy enforcing the new rules for them! But it has to be done I guess! It is such a small world. I was shopping in Walmart for groceries when I arrived in Gillette. I ran into a missionary that served with my sister Brook in Baltimore. I also found out that my great uncle is currently working in Gillette. And I am sure some of you remember Elder Stang. He served in Brentwood/Oakley for over a year. I am serving in his ward now. Crazy! I think he is feeding us this week. Well I'm doing good and I'm happy! I hope everybody has a good week and stays safe!! See everyone in 11 weeks!!! 

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Saying Goodbye!

Well Great Falls, its been a good 9 months!! Transfer calls are in and I'm off to Gillette Wyoming!!! It will be a new adventure, its the new mission boundries so it has only been a part of our mission for 6 weeks! BUT I'm headin back to the promised land WYOMING!!!! haha I love it there so I'm so stoked to go back!! It'll be fun! Well we had a good week, we were able to find 3 new investigators to start teaching which is always a good thing!! We went on a hike last week on pday. It was beautiful but we ran smack into three rattlesnakes!! I almost peed my pants a couple of times! oh man the weather has been awesome!! everybody is complaining cuz apparently 90 degrees is hot..... thats a normal summer I thought?!?! either way I'm loving it!! Man it's pretty tough knowing I'm leaving Great Falls though.... I started saying my goodbyes yesterday and its TOUGH!!!! The past 9 months I've really grown a lot here. And I've been able to make relationships that will last an eternity!! I love Great Falls with all my heart!! I've spent half of my mission here and this is truly where the Lord has shaped me into the man he needs me to be. I'm very grateful for the lessons I've learned here and the people who have treated me with so much love. The members here in Great Falls really know how to love missionaries and I owe them soooo much!! well I hope everybody has a great week, I'll email you from Wyoming next week!!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy 

Do not eat Asian food in Montana!

Hello!! Well another great week in good ole Great Falls Montana!! We had a pretty good week! We taught a good amount of lessons and saw a lot of people! We ended up having a Memorial day BBQ which was a lot of fun! It was just me and Elder Barney and two other missionaries here in Great Falls but it was sweet we were at a members house and we just relaxed and had fun! It was a good day!! So then a member took us out to dinner.... it was a janky asian food place.... and it DESTROYED ME!!!! I had food poisoning ALL NIGHT!!! I lost like 8 pounds from throwing up!! haha It was a loooong night!! Never again will I eat asian food in Montana....never!! haha But on the bright side I lost 8 pounds!!! haha That's always good news!! I just gotta keep it off now so my dad doesn't weigh less than me when I get home!! haha Well transfers are next week! I'll find out whats happening on sunday, so I will definitely report back on Monday on whats happening!! This is short today because we are going hiking. Looking forward to seeing the pretty views. Well I hope everybody has a good week!! Have fun at high school graduation Britton!!! 

Love Elder Swishdaddy

God Bless America!

Well another crazy week! We kept busy this week and were able to teach
a good amount of lessons! And they were all quality lessons which made
it really good! We did a lot of walking this week, thank goodness!!
Felt good to get out and get some sun! Haha but I feel like cuz I'm
walking I can eat more candy..... Haha so this week our mission
president came to Great Falls and I had my final interview with him,
he will be leaving early July to return home and we will be getting a
new president. It's weird, he's been such a huge part of my life the
last 21 months! He's helped me a lot and reminds me a lot of my
dad! Haha and then this week we helped a new member who is in a wheel
chair mow his lawn!! But we did it in our white shirts and ties and
our slacks Haha people were staring at us so funny! But hey they at
least know we are willing to give service it was pretty cool! Haha
well I love this weekend cuz we get to remember all the men and woman
who have died for this beautiful country. I love America and I am so
grateful for the many freedoms we have and the men and woman who
fight for us. God Bless America!!!
well I think that's all I have I hope everybody has a safe weekend!
Love and miss you guys!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Brentwood Cherries and Jack in the Box tacos!!

Well just another week in good ole Great Falls!! Members are starting to ask, "Elder Swisher how long have you been here?" haha a DECADE!!!! hahah It's been great though, I love it here! We had a good week, we were constantly busy either teaching or knocking on doors!! So exciting news of the week, we were able to find a new family to teach out in Choteau!!! So I guess that was the highlight of the week!! They will be fun to teach! Oh! Another highlight of the week, my parents sent up some Brentwood cherries...... it has been way to long since I've eaten a good cherry! haha When the package came and I saw what it was I thought I was gonna cry.... haha man I love Brentwood cherries!! Saturday we got a call from our mission president saying that there is going to be a Mid Transfer within our zone so we had to drive an Elder to Cut Bank and bring another Elder down to Fairfield, so that was a fun roadtrip in the rain! It rained for three days straight and all the farmers were so happy, I guess the ground was so dry they were all getting worried that thier crops weren't gonna make it, but the rain came just in time! Now it's California's turn for some more rain!!! Another great part of my week. A member was driving to a city that had a Jack in the Box. I begged him to bring me back some tacos. Oh how I miss Jack in the Box tacos!!! And guess what they even bought a special bag to keep them warm for us!! Cherries and Jack in the Box all in one week!!! Hope everybody has a great week!! Love and miss everyone!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Happy Mother's Day Skype!!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!! Well our week went okay, the work was pretty slow this week but that's okay cuz we were pretty excited about our baptism on Friday and our Mothers Day Skype!! The baptism was awesome. The sister wanted to move her baptism up but there was no one available to preside at it. The president looked up in the handbook and I was able to preside at the baptism. It was a really great experience! It was sooo good to skype home yesterday and see my family! I love them like crazy!! So through out the week we shared a Mother's Day message with people and asked them what they love and have learned from their moms. It got me thinking, something I love about my mom is her unconditional love!! I swear I always felt loved by my mom, even on the days I was sitting watching the A's game and she says "Brad, do you have any homework tonight?" Me "Uhhhh Nope don't think so" mom "then why do you have 20 missing assgniments in math?" hahaha oh man I can't even count how many times we had this conversation, but even through it all I really did feel my moms love. She is the reason I graduated from high school, she's the reason I got my eagle scout, she's the reason I'm on a mission today. With out my mom I would be lost in this crazy world. I'm very gratefull for her love and support through out my whole life. She's awesome, I love you mom!! Happy Mother's Day!!! Well I hope all the moms out there got taken care of yesterday!! Oh wait I totally forgot to say a Happy Mother's Day to my sister on skype last night.... I'm still not used to her being a mom!! hahah Happy Mother's Day Brianna!! Well hopefully this week our work picks up and we invite MANY people to come closer to Christ!! Being a missionary is the best! I love it so much, there's no greater joy!!! Have a good week everybody!!! love you and miss you!!! #LetsGoOakland

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Pitbull, bird poop, and Prune-Lax.....

Hello!! Well we had a sweet week! Let's see where to begin..... let's start with the Tracting story, so me and Elder Barney go out tracting early on in the week, we come up to this house with this big grey pitbull going crazy in the yard! We look at each other like "yeah this one can wait" so we start to just walk by minding our own buisness, when this freakin crazed dog put his front paws up ontop of the fence!!! ME and Elder Barney looked at each other like "heck no this is not happening!!!" then the dog jumps off his hind legs and pulls himself over the dang fence!!!! We froze.... it was like slow motion I can picture it in my head! So when the dog jumps my companions yells "OH CRAP!!!!" and then we hear the owner scream "NOOO!!! NOOO!!! STOP!!!!!!!" my heart was beating so fast!!! I literally thought I was going to die haha!! So the dog ran up to me and was growling and smelling my leg and I had this terrified look on my face and me and Elder Barney were just staring at each other not moving a muscle! It was intense so he stopped with me and starting smelling Elder Barney and then the owner came out and grabbed him...... I know lame ending, nobody got bit or anything but STILL it was crazy! hahaha It didn't help that at the begining of the week, we decided we are going on another diet (I know this is like the 40th time I've said that) but we decided to "clean" out our systems sooooo we took some "Prune-Lax" hahahaha! Sooo when that dog jumped the fence I was more scared that the the prune lax would kick in;) hahaha but it didn't, until that night! hahaha I woke up to Elder Barney at 3:00 AM running to the bathroom hahahahaha I was laughing in my bed so hard hahaha but then it attacked me, it was a miserable 2 and half days of prune lax, if ya know what I mean;) hahaha I also got pooped on by a bird. It was one exciting funny week! But other than that it was a good week!! We had a lot of fun and taught some good lessons!! One of our investigators wanted to move her baptism up to this Friday!!! WHOOOOO HOO!!! So we are having a baptism this Friday! We are so pumped for it!! It's gonna be a good day:) Well I won't talk to you guys till after Mother's Day so Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!!! You guys rock!!! Happy Mother's Day mom! I love you and I cant wait to skype you on sunday!!!:):) Have a good week!!:)

Love Elder Swishdaddy

Mission boundaries change!

Well call me a resident of Great falls..... I'M STAYING!!! haha here's to another 6 weeks!! So at the end of this transfer I will have been here for almost 9 months!! That's not counting the four months I spent here at the beginning of my mission. I'm happy to stay though, we have some great work going and it's just a great place to be! Elder Barney will be staying with me, and our third companion is leaving us. So it'll just be the two of us! I have had a lot of third companions in this area so I'm happy to be just back down to two! makes things a lot easier!  So last preperation day me and elder barney were playing basketball and we were trying to figure out something to do, so we came up with this soccer game and we were just kicking the ball as hard as we could at eachother for like 45 minutes, it was fun. But then we woke up on Tuesday and we were so sore. It's pathetic how out of shape I am. hahaha but anyways this week we found 2 more new investigators!!! Its been going great here! Its been a ton of fun finding these people who need the gospel in their lives! We still have several on date for baptism this month. So as of today our mission boundries changed!! we lost the Glendive Stake (eastern part of montana) and then we lost the Riverton Stake ( down in Wyoming) but we are gaining the Gilete Wyoming Stake! Its pretty crazy, the missionaries who were in those areas are now no longer in our mission but moved missions with the changes! I thought it would be kinda fun to be one of those missionaries but I'm glad im staying here in my home Great Falls, so I started my mission here, I might as well finish here.... haha I can do 4 more months here, why the heck not!! well life is good, I think thats all I got for ya this week! have a good week!! love you!!

Elder Swishdaddy

Water falls and bomb nachos!

Hello Brentwood!! Its been a great week!! On Tuesday we drove to Helena and dropped off Elder McGrath and picked up Elder Barney! Elder Barney is so sick! He likes to fish and hunt and he loves baseball, so we are basically the same person! haha We get along really well! We did some really good work this week, we were able to find 6 new investigators!! And we were able to put 3 of our investigators on date for baptism!!! it'll be fun to help them prepare and get ready for that great day of baptism!!! So yeah Great Falls is doing good!! I know I've been here for decades now, but I want to stay one more transfer here to try to finish helping some of these people get baptized!! I've been working with some of them for a loooong time!! But we will find out transfer news next week! So last night for dinner we had some bomb nachos!!!! The ward feeds us so good, its great! haha Elder Barney was told he was gonna gain weight here in the Two Rivers ward! haha fat and happy is the only way to be a missionary! haha Everybody is breakin out their boats and gettin ready for the heat of fishing around here! Its sweet, these guys are serious about their fishing I love it! The weather has been pretty good! We got some rain at the begning of the week but has been nice and sunny ever since! I'm pumped for this Friday, one of my old companions who finished their mission and is home is coming back to visit the mission and he is stopping by Great Falls on Friday and is gonna take us to lunch! It'll be good to see him and catch up with him! Should be fun! Last week on Pday we went to see the actual Great Falls! I have lived here a year of my mission and I finally went to see the falls. We saw the Missouri River and also the shortest river in the country is here. It was really beautiful. We also got to meet Hank Smith. He is a popular speaker in the church. He was really good. I added pictures so you could see. Well I think thats all I got for you guys! Hope all is well and that everybody has a safe week!! love you!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy 

Crazy week!!!

Crazy Crazy week!!! Never a dull momet here! its great!!! We had a very good week with tracting and finding new people to teach!! Its been a lot of fun to have sucsess and add to our teaching pool!! This week we added 4 new investigators. It makes being a missionary even more fun! Now to get them to baptism. Well we got some news this last week, my comp Elder McGrath is being mid transferred to be the Assistant in the office!! He's excited to go and help out in Billings! I'm excited for him he's gonna do a great job! Its weird though, me and him have been companions for a long time now, 3 transfers so it'll be weird not having him around! haha But my new companion is Elder Barney! I don't know to much about him yet, I get to go and pick him up tomorrow in Helena! Its gonna be fun though. I'm excited to switch some things up a bit! transfers aren't for another two weeks, so I wonder if this means that I'll stay in Great Falls another transfer... hmmm! well I got sick this week as well, that is never fun while on a mission. My best friend has been DayQuil. I carry it around with me all day.... not sure if that is okay to do but it helps me keep knocking doors!! So I'll stick with it! haha this week the sun is supposed to be out shining bright! So my goal is to try an get that tan back before I get home... don't want to get back to California with my Montana whiteness...... well I hope everybody has a great week I'll talk to ya next week love you!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

Spam and Eggs!

BRENTWOOD!!!! 

Well it was a great week!!! We had a sweet Easter! Well usually members feed us like every night, and the area I'm in is really good about feeding the missionaries but for some reason they didn't sign up on Easter..... so for my easter meal I had some nice Spam and eggs!!!! Honestly I love spam and eggs so I wasn't too sad!! We had another good week though, we were able to find some more people to teach!! We are currently teaching 15 people!! always a good week when we find people to share this great message with! It's weird though, I hit my 19 month mark!!! Crazinessssss!!!!! It's going by so fast! Let's, see so we got to take our suit coats off this week which is the best!! But as soon as we took them off the next day it snowed.... but because I'm a hard head and hate wearing my suit coat we stuck it out and wore short sleeves in the snow!! It was only like 19 degrees though so it wasn't in the negatives!! but yeah, no way in heck the weather will make me put that coat back on until my plane ride home;) haha I hope everybody's easter was good though, I love Easter! It's such a great day we get to have to really focus on the Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us, mainly the resurection! what a beatiful gift!!:) And conference weekend is the best! I loved Elder Holland's talk. He is such great speaker. Well I hope everybody is safe and doing well I love and miss everybody!!! Opening night tonight, eat a hot dog for me pops!! LETS GO OAKLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

The END of suit coat season!

Well another week here and gone!! We had a really good week this week!! We were able to find 7 new people to teach this week!! We are always out trying to talk to people and knocking on doors to find people who want to hear our message and we were definitely blessed this week with some sucsess it was really cool to be a part of!! We also drove to Helena again for our leadership training meeting and our zone conference. It is such a beautiful drive. I posted a picture of the drive. So we only have 7 more days till we can take off our suit coats!!!! haha for the winter months we have to wear our suit coats all the time, but when it gets nice outside we get to take them off, so next week marks the end of 'suit coat season' THANK HEAVENS!!!!!! hahah I'm ready for my short sleaves baby! It will be a great day! Well life is still good, I got two easter baskets FULL of candy.... I'm convinced my dad is sending me candy so I come home fat. thanks pops.... I'm excited for easter though its a great holiday to really think and take to time to appreciate even more what our Savior has done for us!!!:) I still can't believe that in a couple of days I hit my 19 month mark.... CRAZY!!!! Its weird to think that in 5 months I'll be back home and not a full time missionary. I feel like I've been doing this for so long that I don't know anything else!! haha guess I'll figure it out when I come home! Well I hope everybody is doing well and are happy!! Hope its a great week!!!

Love, Elder Swishdaddy

OF COURSE I WANT TO FEED THE CALVES!!!

BRENTWOOD!!!! Well it was a good week here in Montana!! The weather has been so nice!!! Well this week we put another family on date for BAPTISM!!!!! It was so fun teaching them, they had some really good questions and they are just sincerely interested in doing whats best for their family!!! It was awesome, such a good lesson! And then later in the week we were able to teach another lesson to an older lady and she accepted baptism as well!!! So that was cool too!!! She is a stud!! The work is moving here in the Two Rivers ward I love it!! Well every saturday we get to go out to a place called Cascade its a small little town that we cover, we actually cover a bunch of small little town out there, Cascade, Ulm, Craig, Wold Creek!! haha But they are all so tiny!! But any way we were out in Cascade working and then had dinner in Ulm, after the dinner the family had these big bottles full of milk and asked " does any one want to feed the calves?" what kind of question is that...... OF COURSE I WANT TO FEED THE CALVES!!! haha gosh dang it! so we got to go out and feed the calves with these sweet bottles! It was a lot of fun!! I love Cows, but I still like my pigs better;) hahaha but yeah life is good! The diet is coming along... slowly but surely!! I don't cry as much when I look in the mirrior;) hahaha Well I think thats all I got for you guys!! have a great week I love and miss you guys!!!!

Love Elder Swishdaddy