This week we have been really busy! We taught about 22 lessons this week, most of which were to non members, less actives, and recent converts. We had 6 less active people at church on Sunday! It just made my day! It's so great to see these people progress; nothing makes you happier as a missionary! 

On Monday after preparation day was over, we had dinner with the L---. We had just barely received a new rule that we aren't allowed to do service for active people (which stinks! They need it just as much as anyone else). Well, when we arrived she told us that she needed help to clean out her pantry because she broke her ribs and she couldn't lift anything up or down. We had agreed to help her the week before because her ribs have been giving her a lot of pain and her husband is disabled and can't help. 

So since dinner wasn't ready and we felt like we couldn't take back our offer because we had already agreed to help, we speed-cleaned her pantry before dinner.

I seriously feel like we are blessed to accomplish things more quickly as missionaries so that we can spend minimal time serving, but still get everything done that people need of us. I never remember being able to work this fast at home. Maybe I just wasn't as motivated...

After our appointment there we went to see R---. She is doing so well and wants to be baptized as soon as she can recover enough to make it out of bed! She had Word of Wisdom problems, but her stomach surgery made it so she can't have those things anymore, so there's nothing holding her back anymore! We are excited for her!

On Tuesday we had a morning full of meetings. We have been encouraged to attend all presidency meetings if possible at least once to talk to the about the North American Initiative. So the Primary let us come to their presidency meeting which was really great of them. One thing I love about a mission is it really lets you see how the church operates and gives you an idea of how to be effective and what is good and what is not. It's really quite the educational process.

We also had a meeting with the zone leaders to talk about everything that's going on in our area so they can better help us and so they know what's going on throughout the zone. We were worried the whole morning that perhaps we had done something wrong and they had called a FaceTime conference to correct us.

We visited the P--- family and we were pretty concerned for our life. It took us 5 minutes to get to the door because they had this ferocious-looking dog and even after it had smelled our hands kept growling and barking in a very intimidating way. So we took it slow so we didn't freak her out and were able to make it inside without getting eaten. Needless to say that when we left she growled and barked at us all the way back to the car. But it ended up not being worth risking a hand to the dog because the husband wasn't interested at all in what we had to say even though he politely sat in on the lesson (he's not a member) and she was in tears during the lesson, but when we invited her to return to activity she told us she would come when she had a reason and that she didn't have a reason. Then she proceeded to tell us all of the reasons she had been offended, which I am sure didn't help her husband feel any warmer towards us. On the bright side we are welcome back. We will probably visit them again when we are in the area since they live quite far out of town.

We had to hurry to our dinner with the W--- afterwards. It was cute because their little girl tried to read a scripture reference in the pamphlet. It was 2 Nephi 2:22-25 and she said it like : second Nephi two DOTS twenty two dash twenty five. It was so cute!

After dinner we went on splits with J---, one of our ward missionaries, and L--- who is a college student visiting her mom for a few months. This was my first time going on official splits. We have had members come along with us before, but we have never had so many lessons at once in my other areas that we could split up. 

I felt bad for the elders because the people they were going to go with bailed on them, so they both had to go with Brother M---. We always tease them that it's just because people like the sisters better. 

I went with Sister Morey and we headed right to the M--- house. We had planned to have FHE with them on Monday night, but they forgot. So we scheduled to come over on Tuesday, so sister Morey and I went to that. We had planned to do an FHE to get her non-member husband comfortable with us and to help him feel good about us coming over. It was a huge success. Sister Morey knew Sister M--- mother and they were good friends, so they bonded from the start. We played Candyland with them and this other game where you stick a card to your forehead and try to guess what you are. 

Then we wanted to have a lesson with them that was about a principle of the gospel that wouldn't freak out the husband, so we had a lesson on obeying your parents, tied in with repentance and the Atonement. Needless to say the parents liked the lesson and the kids were more enthusiastic about being obedient. 

So they told us we were welcome back which was definitely a success and it was great to watch their walls come down as they relaxed and realized that we weren't so bad. I hope great things can happen with that family if we foster an environment where the Spirit can be present and where they can learn about the gospel in a non-confrontational way.

We saw the W--- but the wife wasn't home so we couldn't stay, not to mention the husband and his friend wouldn't turn on any lights and wouldn't turn the Tv down or off, so it was impossible to share a message. Not to mention, P---, their little boy, was going to the bathroom in the middle of he living room on a little port-a-potty. Not the best environment. 

Then she introduced me to D--- who we are hoping will become someone we can start working with so that he can become active again.

Then we visited the W--- and had a great scripture study with them. We talked about how The Lord is our greatest champion and how sometimes the results of our faith are not instantly manifest. However, even if they don't see the results of their faith immediately it doesn't mean that they don't have faith. We talked about having faith even if we can't tell how much faith we have.

Sister Beckstrand also had a successful night. They saw many people and L--- had a good time. Apparently she taught really well. I hope she decides to go on a mission; she would make a great missionary.

So sister Beckstrand and I went home tired but very happy with the night's work.

The next day was beautiful, so we decided to bike! Sister Beckstrand's tire was a little flat and kept getting progressively more flat as we rode, but we don't have a bike pump and she can't ride my bike because it is too big for her. 

To make matters better, as we got to S--- house for our first appointment it had begun to rain steadily. We hoped it would cease by the time we finished our lesson with S---, but that wasn't the case.

S--- is so amazing. She came to church last Sunday and she told us when we came over for her lesson that it was the first time she had been to Relief Society in 3 years! Now, as of yesterday, she had been to all 3 hours of church twice! It is so great to see!! It seriously is the best to see her want to change her life and then work to make it happen.

Sometimes I forget how young we must appear to people. Whenever I am in lessons I feel so old, almost the same age as the people we visit. I guess there is a difference between physical maturity and spiritual maturity (not saying I am close to spiritually mature, I have a LONG way to go). It's just that someone commented on it yesterday and I guess it had never really occurred to me that we must appear quite young to those we work with. It's a wonder they take our challenges and trust our suggestions. It must be a gift of the Spirit to missionaries. The church must be true if people our age can preach the Gospel and help people 3-4 times our age. 

As we left S--- it was raining lightly so we tried to ride quickly to R--- house, but as soon as we set off the rain intensified and the temperature dropped. By the time we had even made it a mile we were quite wet and we gave up trying to duck our heads to keep dry. We were glad to duck under the cover of the doorway when we arrived. We tried to straighten ourselves without much success before we went in.

R--- never opens the door because she can't make it out of bed yet, so we knock and just walk in. She was having a really rough day. She was throwing up as we came in and told us she had been throwing up all morning. She kept alternating between putting on her air mask and heaving into a trash can. It was so sad and there wasn't anything we could do to help. She wasn't sick, it was just complications from the surgery. Luckily her son showed up to see her and give her her meds and was able to call her doctor. Sister Beckstrand is a sympathetic sick person so she couldn't stay in the room. She kept asking me to play her piano, so I did while Sister Beckstrand tried to share a comforting message. We weren't able to stay long though because there wasn't anything we could do.

Luckily there was a break in the rain as we set off again.

We decided to head over to the W--- to see if they had a bike pump we could borrow. By the time we made it to the W--- it was raining again. After thoroughly searching their garage and their house we had no luck and were completely without transportation and it kept raining harder and harder. We decided to visit J--- in an attempt to wait out the storm and still have lessons. 

J--- is disabled and really can't go anywhere, so she was thrilled to see someone had stopped by to see her. She is alone a lot, so I can understand why she kept talking, and talking, and talking. We didn't get much of a lesson in because by the time we could get a word in edgewise it was time for us to leave for dinner. 

Contrary to our hopes, the rain had not died down while we were at J--- house. If anything, it had gotten much, much worse. We quickly realized that we couldn't ride home in it with Sister Beckstrand's flat tire to get the car so we could get to dinner. We saw the elders drive by but here is a new rule that we can't ride with elders and vice versa. We called them anyway because we were stranded under a garage awning, but of course they couldn't get us. They had the assistant with them and they told us yesterday that their consciences were screaming at them about leaving two sisters in the rain. 

Luckily, after a lot of calls our dinner appointment finally answered her phone and was able to pick us up in her truck. Thank goodness everyone in Montana has a truck! So she was able to take our bikes and us to dinner. We were so grateful!

After dinner we had a great lesson. We had planned to see A--- and J---, (the worker there) to teach a lesson. When we arrived there was also another worker that was about J--- age named R---. A---, the cute old lady that she is, practically commanded them to sit for the lesson! So they both joined in and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. J--- was full of questions and we were able to answer a lot of them, but some of the we had to take home for further study and answered a few days later.

R--- was attentively listening the whole time. She said she didn't have any questions and believed what we said. She also asked if she could take the pamphlet and a Book of Mormon! It was the greatest!! We invited her to church on Sunday and she agreed.

However, she wasn't there at church on Sunday and we found out from A--- that she had forgotten and had come in to the rest home later, practically in tears! She was so sad she missed it! So A--- invited her to come next week and I really hope she shows up.

It was such a fabulous day despite all of the difficulties. And A---, who was mourning the fact that she "wasn't useful to anyone" is now being an instrument in the hands of the Lord for a greater purpose. It's so amazing to see how the Lord is blessing three people's lives at the same time in different ways. He is the best!

On Thursday we had Zone Conference and it was really interesting and different. Instead of listening to the assistants and President Mecham talk, we did a bunch of role plays and discussions in break out groups. It was really interactive and I learned so much!

Then we had the strangest meeting where they trained everyone on how to be a trainer and told us that we were getting a bunch of new missionaries in to the mission this next transfer. I'm rather surprised that we can take more missionaries. I thought we were close to our cap. I'm secretly hoping that they're going to split the mission. I think that would be so cool! But I guess I'll have to wait a week to see what happens. I kind of hope I won't be training. I like having a companion who knows what they're doing. Oh well, I can't be selfish though. ;)

That night the Roberts fed us the best dinner! I thought they were going to have to roll us out of the house. In true Montana style we had amazing steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob, ice cream, salad, and bread. It was so filling! And it was the best dinner I've had in a long time!

That night sister Beckstrand and I went on splits again because she had to go to this Family History convention at the college to help out and I needed to be in the Addiction Recovery class to support some of the people that have been wanting to go but felt to intimidated. So I went with J--- and Sister Beckstrand went with S---. It ended up working out well, even though I liked the ARP class in Bozeman better. We weren't allowed to talk in this one, I guess they figure we're not addicted to anything.

C--- is still changing and she came to church again! The transformation is indescribable! She looks like a completely different person than she did the first time I met her. She is literally glowing! She has put so much effort into this transformation and  am so proud of her! She is working so hard to quit smoking and it is still a challenge but she is more determined and more successful than anyone I've ever seen before! Please pray for her!!!!

We helped the G--- pack some of their house this week. We are sad they are leaving and hope hey are happy in 1st ward. I really hope that they keep track of the two girls, they are so precious and so ready for the gospel! They just need their dad's permission to get baptized. If you could pray for them, S--- and M---, that would be great. They really need it.

We taught a lesson to A---, the German foreign exchange student that is staying at the Bywater's house. I tried to talk more slowly so she could pick up on the words, but Sister Beckstrand talked normal speed, so I don't know if she got it. She was excited though and asked if she could keep the pamphlet! Then she came to church on Sunday. I hope we will be able to plant the seeds so she will meet with missionaries when she returns to Germany in 2 weeks.

P--- is doing great! She is really working through some trials of faith right now with her desire to pay tithing and become temple worthy. It is such a huge test of her faith though because she isn't sure if she will be able to make ends meet if she pays tithing. We are hoping that she follows through with her commitment to pay it for the next two months to prove the Lord. I guess we will see!

The W--- want to begin working to go to the temple. I am so proud of them! They've been keeping their Word of Wisdom commitments and it's very possible that they could be ready in the near future.

D--- is still progressing. Slowly. Very, very slowly.

And the best news for last!! Pete, the man I was helping work with in Bozeman got baptized on Friday!!!! I was so excited! He wanted to Skype me and was crying he was so happy! I am so happy I got to be a part of his baptism, even if I missed some of his lessons. I can't wait to see him again someday. He has truly changed his life! It's amazing!!

Well, it's going to kick me off, so that's all I have time to share. I love you all! Don't forget to write and send pictures!

Love you!

Sister Draney