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