Elder U, Sept 12, 2011

This week was good! We serve in a place called Darby too and the members we live with there are fantastic, their name is McCreedy and they have a cute little Pomeranian puppy named Griz. The McCreedy's let us use the whole upstairs of a really nice house, and it's fantastic! The elders here used to spend 1 day a week in Darby and every other sunday, but we have a lot of work there so we are spending every weekend down there. We still spend every other sunday in corvallis. Any size scripture case is fine as long as it can withstand a bear mauling, so I'm not gonna be choosy. And the Quad I've got is hanging in there, but by the skin of its teeth. We use bikes provided by the members, the one i'm riding belongs to the ward mission leader who grew up in Pinesdale ( the polygamist colony) and is a really nice guy. The hills here are nuts! we are in a valley so everything is at odd angles and some of these go up to bloody 85 degrees! And you could totally send me that hat. I don't know if I could wear it but who knows. Elder Owens wore a ski mask and a beany last winter, but he is from arizona so he isn't used to below 0 weather. Daniel best not be working at Rocky Mountain. So my official guess is The Academy. Thats awesome about the website! Just don't pull a Martha Stuart! And Jacob needs a bionic nose, then all his problems will be solved. And we will have to see about the killing with kindness, I might just settle for the killing. Sincerely, Elder Farva ( I got the name wrong on the letter) P.S. Allan wrote me! It was awesome, make Daniel punch that guy.

Elder U, Sept 5, 2011

Elder Owens is the man. He is more like a trainer than Nuttall was, he actually tries to teach me stuff! we have been working together well, and we're having fun. The place we are staying at kinda sucks, its the back room of a member who says that he was forced to have the missionaries live there. He took the lights out of our fridge and is a nazi about how long we can turn the lights on. He keeps telling us he is poor and on wellfare and can't go work, but then he says he is always to busy to clean his house or mow his lawn. He relied on his wife completely for cooking and cleaning and anything else he didn't want to do, but his wife died 2 years ago. The area is awesome but we bike everywhere, we have a truck but the elder before was going home so he went over on miles. and we are in a car share with the area next to us, so in 5 days we biked 40 miles. I am gonna have thunder thighs when i'm done here. I am sending a letter home with my address on it so you can use that, but I forgot it and I don't have it on me. send it quick as you can! my Scrips are getting beat up pretty bad out here. Daniel needs to get fighting again! at the rate i'm going i'll be able to kick through his chest in 2 years. Its awesome that Jacobs getting into it! I wish I had started that early, if he keeps at it he can be a pro in no time. And its awesome that he is in percussion, have you bought him a drum set yet? I got a package from the Davis's! They are the bomb, they sent some cookies and a tie and some pics of danny without his braces. So he punched the ocean, and that's how he broke his collarbone? Thats one of the manliest things i've ever heard! next he'll be growing a mountain man beard and hunting wolves. The selection of beards here is disappointing, I have yet to see an impressive beard in Montana. There is an Elder here who I can talk metal with! Elder Lee is in to the same bands that I am and he is in the district that we are in a car share with. There is a bunch of polygamists down here, they are a branch of of us from the 70's and the believe in the book of Mormon and the D&C but they think they are living the higher law, and that they have priesthood authority and we don't. It's weird and we can only go up to they're colony with the ward mission leader who grew up there. So this will be interesting. LOVES, Elder Moroni

Elder A, August 28, 2011

I've been transferred to Corvallis! Its the complete other side of the state, there are mountains here! my new companion is elder Owens and he is the bomb. He is a cowboy from Arizona and he is a funny guy. we were on the road for a total of 12 hours yesterday getting around to where im at. You could just send the package to the mission office and they'll get it to me, I dont know my address yet, I havent even had the chance to see where i'm living yet. I see now what you ment about phil, its cool that daniel isn't gone just yet. I don't have much time right now, i'll try to get a letter to you soon. LOVE, Elder Uppercut

Elder Andrew - Aug 22, 2011

My comps getting better, He just needs to chill out about a lot of stuff (see Daniels email for details) he is like Bogey, ask Ronan what that means. I didn't get to label the stuff in the package, I didn't have time, but the 8 track player is for Ronan, the Silmirillion is for the Heims but tell them I want it back when I come home, and the record was for Daniel. Daniel can take the record player with him when he moves out as long as he promises to take good care of it and not scratch my vinyls, ESPECIALLY THE STAR WARS ONE! I have been out of money since I got out, so I have been budgeting just fine. It was the air plane that cleaned me out, that and I bought a nice knife on my first P-day. The allowance they give us is good enough even though everything here costs twice what it costs everywhere else because of the oil fields, but some extra money would be nice. It's crazy that he is moving out! Is he doing school yet or does he have to wait till the spring semester? He should go with Phil, that guy needs keeping an eye on. And Gabe is already leaving? For Logan!? What is he studying for? Jessie is in college, that's so weird. I'm not gonna think too much on that one. I'm freaking out a little bit about transfers. I kinda want to stay because the people here are awesome, but I kinda want to leave so I can see new people and get a comp that will let me learn what I'm supposed to. I just don't know! I'll go wherever I'm needed. Hugs & Headlocks, Elder Duke Tungsten (that's my leather jacket name) P.S. that's awesome about Sis. Crawford, I miss the ward so much! The ward mission leader is brother Carpenter and the second counselor to the Bishop is Thompson, so I wanna hug Carpenter and punch Thompson!

Elder Andrew- August 15, 2011

Nope, still no moose. They don't hang out in the Badlands, we just have Indians. I haven't run into any Redskins yet, but there are 14 reservations in my mission and the worst one is in our zone, so its only a matter of time. Thats cool about girls camp. Who got stuck being Dobby? Or did you just have a straw dummy that you could set fire too? We went through the ward list and found 60 names we didn't know, so we are going to go through it with the bishop and see who we can track down. It's like trying to fill a sieve, there is a huge oil boom going on here so people are in and out all the time. There are no places to live, tons of trailer parks that get filled the second they are emptied, people always getting evicted when landlords find someone willing to pay more for less. So our investigators are either always working, always tired, or move away. We do have some success though, we are working with this awesome couple that work on the railroad, and they are coming along really well. And we have a baptismal date set up with a 12 year old kid who has been taking the lessons for months with his younger brother and dad who aren't members. And we got to go to some Rodeos! We street contacted at a county fair and saw a rodeo with some members, and we talked to tons of people. Then we saw another one with a family that lives 40 miles from Sidney (we cover 4 or 5 small towns that are 30 to 40 miles from Sidney in every direction) and saw a Ranch Rodeo which is more roping and less riding. I didn't film most of it, but i did catch a bunch of ladies putting shirts on calf's. And a guy lost his thumb! It must have caught on the rope or something, they stopped the show and had everyone look for it, they were asking the audience for some ice and a ziplock bag. It was brutal. Spencer should definitely record Daniels talk! Did Spencer finish editing mine? And you need to send me those pictures! Allan and Spencer wanted me to have some kinda keep sake, so you should take something off of the scrap booking page with all of us all tiny and do something awesome with it and send it to me. I am sending the package today hopefully, I couldn't find a box the right size so I had to improvise. there is something for Ronan and Daniel and the Heims. They will be labeled with sticky notes. And the Memory card will be in there somewhere too. I'm thinking something along the lines of tempered steel for the scripture case, and 2 more pairs of garments would be nice. LOVES AND LEG LOCKS, Elder Kampf P.S. Tell Arianne Mix that she can take out Carter if she has too, I taught her how. P.P.S. There is an Elder in my zone who does Jiu Jitsu! I may have found a worthy opponent!

Elder Uppencamp- August 8, 2011

I miss Simon tons, leave the pictures of him on the memory card if you can. I miss you guys too, but I keep running into Shih Tzu puppies and they remind me of Simon. There are tons of dogs out here, practically everyone owns a dog. But I still haven't seen a moose yet. As for my plaque, I think I'll go with Alma 26: 35-36. And yes, I need a scripture case as durable as they come! Get Daniel back to the gym! That will keep him busy for a while, and have him fight Nathan. I promised Nathan I would fight him, but I never got the chance, so Daniel will have to beat him up till I get back. I can't lift like I used to, but we have a pull-up bar in our apartment so I have been able to do that. And I've been doing sit-ups and knuckle pushups, so I'll come home RIPPED. Glad to here Danny's getting better! Tell uncle Glen that he's next on my list of people to fight when I come home! And have fun at girls camp, have Rachel teach them how to punch properly. Arianne's wedding is Saturday!?!?! That's crazy! make a cardboard cut out of me so I can go to the reception, and tell Carter he's the man. LOVES AND PUNCHES, Elder Uppenham. (the memory card will explain the name, more or less.)

Elder A- July 31, 2011

I got the goodies on saturday, thanks for sending out the elephant shirt! I spent my birthday street contacting for 3 hours in an average of 95 degrees with 80% humidity, but it was still a lot of fun. We had dinner at the Bishops house and they made me a cake and sang, it was awesome. But for some reason Bishops wife decided to make everything green, green bread for the pigs in a blanket we had, green coolaid, pickles, green cake, green cups, and a green bowl full of cheetos. Elder Nuttall had to get a bunch of pictures and he kept calling it my greenie dinner. We are eating fine, we actually have tons of food, and they members here feed us well. I think they may feed us a little to well, I don't want to gain any weight. Actually so far I've lost 10 pounds, but I think that it was all muscle weight. And we are cooking up a turkey either today or tomorrow! The awesome catholic family that lives above us had some trouble with their freezer and the gave us tons of free food! It's crazy that Daniel is Practically home, I'm not gonna send him another email cause I don't know if he will get it, so tell him that he is awesome and that I love him. And that sucks about Danny, how bad is it? We haven't seen any animals at all actually, just a couple cows here and there but this isn't cattle country, and the odd squirrel. This isn't the exciting and beautiful side of Montana, this is the boring and plain side. nothing but fields are far as you can see. But we have had some crazy weather, some intense storms just missed us. we had some warm rain and angry skies, but 40 miles away they had tennis ball sized hail and a tornado. LOVE YA, Elder Upurkamp P.S. I need a nice scripture case!