Christmas Day Dec. 25, 2011

Christmas Day was the best....We got to talk to Elder Branham and he sounded awesome.  He said that he has had a good and fun Christmas, They went to church at 9am then a spend the afternoon with a family in Deer Lodge, later they had to drive to Anaconda to stay with some other missionaries.  He said that he was getting over his homesickness and adjusting.  The weather is up and down but not consistent.  We talked about other miscellanous things...Everyone got to talk to him, Grandma was sooo happy that she got to hear his voice.  We are so proud of our Missionary and Know that he will be awesome for the people of Montana.  Talking to him made all of our Christmas, it was a great day!

December 20th Email

hey
well this week was a good week we had 32 lessons. Serena the girl whos baptism got moved to Jan. 7 got moved back to Dec. 30 hopefully. Well I don't really got much to talk about since I talk to you in a week I need stuff to talk about. But anyways we had a good week and yea the lady in the post office was mean kinda got me mad, she said it to Elder Akina when I was waiting in line to get my package. and when I walked up she just said you guys have fun rotting in hell and walked off. but anywyas I have only got 1 package and it was from you with my presents thats all I have gotten so far. love ya

by the way President Gardner sent us all a emia,l we taught a mission high of 20 lessons average last week :)

Dec. 13 - Dec. 17

Below is some of Elder Branham's email from this week:

Well this week was probably the best week I have had since I have been out. I have really been struggling not that I don't love the work and I am glad to be able to serve a mission. Its just been really hard for me to adjust to missionary life. I prayed to Heavenly Father and told him if he didn't help me I was gonna go home cause I just couldn't do it anymore. Then the next day I checked the mail and I had a letter from Emily. To be honest I really don't know what was so special about that letter. But what I do know is that when I read it I started crying and I knew I was where I was supposed to be. The letter made me feel so much better. And after that I worked really hard and I have not stopped. I know that was Heavenly Father answering my prayers. This past week was a really good week. we had 2 reactivation's and set 2 baptismal dates. What sucks though is the baptismal dates are in January well we had to move one from Christmas eve cause the bishop said that was a family day. so needless to say elder Akina will probably be gone by the time they get baptized cause we are pretty sure he is getting transferred at the end of this month and I will be getting someone else. he has been in this area for 4.5 months. Hopefully I will get a good companion like elder Akina. I am really praying that he stays with me for one more transfer just cause we have been working together with these 2 people and it wouldn't be fair for someone else to come in and get the baptism. Sister Hathaway told me you called her. She had us guess what you told her and I guessed it right lol They are a cool family. this past Friday we had a lesson with one of our investigators and he cooked us moose and elk steak. it was really good. moose meet is way better than any game I have ate before. He also gave us a bunch of meat and some elk summer sausage. This past Friday we had our zone conference. We all wore a tie and did tie trading. President Gardner got my tie. lol our assistants to the president dressed up as Santa and his elf. lol we also sang Christmas songs it was alot of fun. But yea that was basically how the week went, really good. well tell every one I say hey.

December 5 - December 9

In Elder Branham's weekly email he stated that all was good in the Missionary World.  He and Elder Akina have been busy, they had 29 contacts.  They have 3 baptisms scheduled and 3 reactivated members.  One baptism is schedule for Christmas eve so that will be nice.  The weather has been cold but I think he is starting to adjust to it.  One morning their truck did not want to crank because it was so cold.  They have been invited to one of their favorite families home for Christmas Day so he was excited about that.  They almost hit a huge deer mule one night out driving and a moose another.  I sure hope he drives slow and careful.  I got a FB message from one of the families in the branch in Deer Lodge.  She said they just love Elder Branham and Elder Akina.  She said they are both hard workers and always eager to serve everyone.  She said he is doing good and she thought he was adjusting well.  I was so pround of him and loved hearing the compliments from this sweet family.  Elder Branham is looking forward to his phone call home on Christmas Day and so are we.  We continue to pray for his missionary successes and safety. 

A Fun Day Off!

Although he can't actually hunt while serving on his mission

he can go and observe.  A member of the Bishopric

took him and Elder Akina.  They sat and watched,

then helped him drag out what he got.  I know this

was a highlight for Elder Branham.

 Guess he borrowed camo, showing off!

 showing off the catch!

 Hard work pulling

 WOW!

Boy he wishes all these were his.

Let it SNOW Let it SNOW!

 Smiling with a friend

 He says, "look at all the snow".

 Snowy weather

 having some fun in the snow

Making a snow angel

Elder Branham Photo Gallery

 Elder Branham with a beautiful Montana Background

 Georgeous background

His dream to have one of his own

 showing off his cooking skills

 look at the snow

Anything hunting!

First Baptism in Deer Lodge

 Elder Branham and Elder Akina getting ready for their

first baptism

 Elder Branham filling the font

 Day of happiness

 Beautiful Montana

Now we know why they call it the Big Sky State

Adventures of Elder Branham Nov. 2011

 Elder Branham showing his pumpkin he carved

 Elder Branham and Elder Akina showing Halloween spirit

 While tracting they found a guy cleaning his elk,

Elder Branham was in heaven

 Elder Branham was able to start talking hunting with

the owner of this Elk and get invited to come back

to teach the gospel

Showing us what he does during free time.

Week Nov. 21 - Nov. 25 in Deer Lodge

This week there wasn't much said from Elder Branham.  He said he had been really busy.  He and Elder Akina are eating Thanksgiving at a members house.  One of the counslors in the Bishopric gave them Elk meat and steak.  They have been cooking it for breakfast and dinners...I guess he is getting good at cooking in general and especially Elk.  He is a little homesick but I think he will be fine.  Thanksgiving was nice but Elder Branham was in everyones thoughts, We know he is where he is suppose to be in this time of his life.  We pray for him and his missionary experiences everyday.  He did get three boxes of goodies for Thanksgiving, One from Mom, One from Mema and One from Grandma...He knows he is loved and supported back home.

Week Nov. 13 - Nov. 18 in Deer Lodge, MT

Weekly Email from Elder Branham:

Well this week has been a cold one. It has snowed everyday and been in the negatives every morning. I am starting to get used to it though. Next week is the last week of hunting season so I am gonna miss seeing all the elk and deer in the back of trucks. But it has been fun I ran into a family that we had dinner with. Who is a big big big hunter and travels the world hunting. well when he can. He owns a construction business and he said he goes huntin out of state at least 5 tiems a year. He is a role model to me owns a construction business and travels hunting. I like it haha He was showing me all his guns he keeps most of them in his truck cause he does a lot of work for yellowstone and he has tags to kill elk cause of nuisance. He had a 50 caliber he said he shot a elk at 2800 yrds with it this year. His family own a big ranch to. His daughters and sons were big into huntin to he was showing me pictures of the elk and deer and moose they had killed. His daughter killed a big mule deer with a 500 magnum handgun with iron sights this past year, pretty cool. It is snowing alot right now its like a blizzard. I am still trying to get used to drving in the snow its wierd. I Know by the time I go home I am gonna HATE the snow. Well the Gerstein family that we had referred to us and been teaching are doing good hopefully they get baptized December 10th that is what we are hoping for.   Well I will be getting a new zone leader this transfer one of my zone leaders is heading back home to Arizona. Well thats about all I can think of.

An Awesome Missionary Experience

This is Elder Branahm and Elder Aikia's great missionary experience:

so my companion and I got a referral yest of a lady and her son who is like 22. We went and taught them last night and the spirit was SOOO STRONG and they agreed with everything and said they had been praying to find a church for the last month and we showed up :) after the lesson I felt the spirit telling me to ask them to be baptized and I committed them both to baptism on December 10th, so we got to teach the rest of the lessons and the commandments and they are getting Baptised :) and then today on the way to the library there was this lady on the sidewalk and we walked by her and said hello then she was like can I have a Book of Mormon and we said sure... and she said she took the lessons a long time ago and was gonna get baptized but she moved and she has not seen missionaries since so she told us she wants us to come see her and be baptized :)

First Moose

Ok, so Elder Branham saw his first Moose yesterday.  They had dinner at a members house who lives in the mountains, a Moose walked across their yard.  He said it was huge!  The member has a stream beside his house and said that Bears, Moose, Elk and Deer come out of mountains and drink out of it.  He also was able to help pull an Elk out of the woods with one of the Bishopric counselors.  He said they had to chop it in half to get it out.  They are getting feed very good!  He said he is enjoying his mission and at the same time is homesick some.  He said he is becoming a pretty good cook, almost like his dad...this week is good but going a little slow.  The missionary conference this past tuesday was really good and they enjoyed it.  All is well for Elder Branham in Deer Lodge MONTANA!

Cold Weather has arrived

Elder Branham sent me his weekly email today.  He said the cold weather is finally there, it was
 -11 today and snow is everywhere.  He said that last week was a good week and that he was looking forward to another one this week.  The baptism was good saturday and the spirit was strong.  He said that they have a mission tour tomorrow and will be in Helena.  There is a Seventy coming to speak to the missionaries.  He said he didn't have too much to report this week so his email was short.  He is doing good and he misses everyone but is engaged in his work and staying busy.  Hopefully his coat is keeping him warm.

Happy Elder

My week has been great my companion and I got a referral from church headquarters yesterday of a newly wedded couple that just moved to Deer Lodge and were taking the discussions before they moved. We called them and they are excited to talk to us and I am excited too, hopefully something will become of it :) and we got our baptism tom. my first baptism :)

Pictures of Elder Branham's Mission Adventures

Elder Branham with Missionary's at MTC

 Elder Branham Provo UT Temple grounds

Elder Branham Loving his visits to the Temple

 

 Missionaries EVERYWHERE in the MTC

 Showing off his first batch of homemade sausage balls

that Grandma taught him to make, he looks proud

Enjoying the sights in Deer Lodge MT

 That deer is posing with Elder Branham, Guess he knows

Elder Branham can't shoot him

 Deer everywhere!

 Wow, nice apartment and truck!

 Boy he wishes he could say this was his...

 What a beautiful sight, MONTANA!

This place is so Elder Branham

Good Week in Deer Lodge

Today I got my weekly email and Elder Branham said that he and his companion had a much better week.  His Uncle Josh's email really helped him.  He has his first baptism scheduled for this saturday and he his looking forward to that.  He and his companion had 128 approaches this week and that is a new record for his mission.  He also told of one of the approaches:
we went to one house and there was a guy in the driveway and he said that it was his friends house so we just kept walking. when we walked back by he was cleaning a huge elk so we went up to him and asked if we could take some pictures and he said sure. i talked to him about how i liked to hunt and then he said you guys arent so wierd he goes yall come back and i will feed you some elk and maybe just maybe i will let you guys teach me a thing or two. so it was pretty cool. .
He is a good Missionary and has an awesome companion.  He said church was really good yesterday, he gave a 20 min talk in sacrament meeting.  He said a 76 year old lady taught Gospel Doctrine and told about how she killed an elk the day before...he said that was interesting.  He is getting letters from friends and family and he really enjoys those.  His companion went to take his drivers test today but did not pass so Ryan is still driving, he said lol...poor companion.  Today is a combined Pday with 8 companionships together since it is Halloween.  He is doing good, he did hurt his knee playing basketball but all will be good...Pictures to come.

Uplifting thought from Uncle Josh

Last week Elder Branham had a frustrating week along with other Missionaries in his area.  His Awesome Uncle Josh who served a Mission in Ogden Utah shared some thoughts and experience with us of his service....It really helped Ryan and also helped us to look at the mission in a new perspective with the Savior.  Here is some of what he shared:

As I matured more as a missionary, the experiences eventually became so humbling as I thought about the Lord all lonely being taunted, laughed at, ridiculed, tortured, spit on and killed.  He never raised a finger and only asked that they be forgiven.  We need to get that message across to Ryan.  Love those who persecute you as the Lord did.  Don’t let Satan’s influence enter your heart or hatred will consume you causing the spirit to leave.  He needs to let the spirit do the work. 
While on my mission, I received a confirmation from the spirit, that if I always have the spirit, then those who persecute me will feel it regardless of how close minded or hateful they are.  I remember seeing their eyes turn from such hatred to such a soft look from the beginning  to the end of our short conversation on their doorstep.  About 5 months out, I was serving in Logan Utah when I had this tracting experience:

It was -20 F along with a wind chill that froze us to our core.  We had walked a long distance from our apartment for an appointment after dinner at 6:30 pm.  We finally got there and they were a no show.  Since we had some time, we decided to tract some on the way back.  It was storming bad with snow blowing sideways and stinging our face as it hit.  Each home we knocked was rude for some reason.  Many of them called us “stupid kids out in the weather...Look, Satan is working you boys hard having you out in this trying to deceive the righteous.”  I would apologize for interrupting their evening and smile telling them it was nice to meet them anyway.  The last door we knocked was an elderly lady who smirked upon seeing us.  We were shivering as I barely got out our message we wanted to share.  This lady cut me off saying, “It’s nice and warm in my house…Too bad you aren’t going to feel any of the warmth because, as far as I’m concerned, you both can just freeze out there you devils.”  I remember the frustration I felt inside and then remembered the teachings of not allowing it to get the better of me.  I said with the spirit, “It is freezing out here, but my heart is full of warmth from the spirit of the Lord who has sent us here to you to share.  He loves you and has inspired us to be here.”  She had professed to being Christian and told us she knew we were not of the Lord again yelling at us, while LAUGHING, and said, “Don’t you guys get the hint that nobody believes your stupid religion and to quit wasting your time doing this?  I just could not believe her behavior.  Finally I said, “I’m sorry…and I wish you the best, but I want you to know that I KNOW the Lord has sent me, without a doubt, and it doesn’t bother us when you turn us away and scold us because that is what happened so many times to the Lord and now I feel even closer to him.”  The lady stood silent, appearing as if she had felt the spirit, for a moment.  Then, she shook her head, as if she was fighting to deny what she had felt, and slammed the door in our faces.

ELDER BRANHAM RESONDED TODAY TO THIS EMAIL:
 i took uncle josh email and ran with it. my companion and i tracked for 3 hours yest and had 30 approaches and 22 invites.

Thanks to Uncle Josh for his sweet spirit and inspiration in sending this email at the right time.

Thought from Elder Branham

17 Points of the True Church of Christ
Christ organized the Church (Eph 4:11-14)
The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 5:23)
The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 2:19-20)
The true church must have the same organization as Christ's Church (Eph 4:11-14)
The true church must claim divine authority (Heb 5:4-10)
The true church must have no paid ministry (1 Cor 9:16-18; Acts 20:33-34; John 10:11-13)
The true church must baptise by immersion (Matt 3:13-16)
The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17)
The true church must practice divine healing (Mark 3:14-15)
The true church must teach that God and Jesus are seperate and distinct individuals (John 17:11; 20:17)
The true church must teach that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone (Luke 23:36-39; Acts 1:9-11; Heb 1:1-3)
The officers must be called by God (Heb 4:4; Ex 28:1; 40:13-16)
The true church must claim revelation from God (Amos 3:7)
The true church must be a missionary church (Matt 28:19-20)
The true church must be a restored church (Acts 3:19-20)
The true church must practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 15:16&29)
"By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt 7:20)

Frustrating Week

Today I received my weekly email from Elder Branham.  He said last week was a very frustrating week for all Missionaries in their zone, the zone leaders had horrible numbers. They had many doors slammed in their faces, he was cused out, and a lady that they have been teaching for 2 weeks told them not to come back.  They went to the highway department today to try to renew his companions drivers liscense and the lady there was very rude.  Because they only have a PO Box they could not prove proof of residence and told them that even if they did have an address, they were Mormon so why should she help them...This was very frustrating to Ryan but he said his companion is awesome and encourages him.  He said it is hard and makes him home sick but he is learning alot.  He said they were feed steak last night from the 1st counselor in the Bishopric and played Dominos with there family.  He said the counselor is a big hunter so it was very nice for him to talk hunting with him and it help ease his homesickness.  He said he misses everyone and to send his love to ALL. 

I just want to thank everyone from our family for the love and support you give to him and our family.  We are truely blessed with a great family and Ward Family and Friends.

A spiritual thought from Elder Branham

Well today me and my comapion in study were talking about the restoration and he explained it good that when Christ died we went into an apostasy and its like a glass table with 13 legs the 13 being Christ and the Apostles. When Christ died it went down to 12 which were the 12 Apostles and in  the apostasy people began killing the Apostles so quickly that they were unable to meet together to call another Apostle to pass on the priesthood authority so one by one the legs began to fall as Apostles died and before long all 12 were dead and the table crashes to the ground and shatters and the pieces are all the churchs that are on the earth after the Apostles died but none of them are together cause none have the authority.
Ephesians 4:5 "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism."he explained it better than me but thats the basics.

FIrst Official Email from Deer Lodge Montana

Hey mom    I got your package today my compaiion got a package too. lol So montana is nice i fit right in with the people. I have had elk burger. Nothing else yet but rifle season starts this weekend so everybody will be huntin. We have seen alot of people in camo that have been bow huntin, and i told you about the guy on the moped. I have taken pictures, i was gonna do what my companion does he sends home his memory card his mom does what she wants with the pictures and sends him back the memory card. But if i do that send me an extra memory card i only have 2. Well 2 days ago we were driving to find a inactive members home and it was in this ranch type of place and there was alot of mule deer and whitetail deer. I want to see elk, mooose, bear, and big horn sheep, the people here say they will start coming down out of the mountains cause of winter. Well our apartment is made of logs well the outside is, and the inside is just normal, it is the biggest apartment in the entire mission. Its in a lumber yard that the 1st counselor in the stake presidency owns.  We live in a small small town of about 1000 in called deer lodge. But we cover 2 other towns which are about an hour drive. we cover 1 ward and 2 branchs. THis past weekend was stake conference so i got introduced to alot of people that i dont even rememebr. I am the driver which is very unusual cuase they usually dotn let you drive till you are on your mission for at least 8 months, but my compaions liscense is expired so i have to drive. We drive really nice trucks chevrolet colorado 4 doors z71 we are gettin a new one here soon cause it is abotu to hit 50000 miles and they trade them in after 50000.My mission president is really nice but REALLY STRICT! we have to wear proselytin clothes at ALL TIEMS even pday, adn we are not allowed to fish. or drink any caffience watsoever so no soda. So the other day me and my companion were planning and i told him i wanted to try something. i wanted to take out the former investigators book and pray and then open up to one and go see that person.(kind of the same thing i did at youth conference) so we did and we opended to a lady named darla white the missionarys taught her back in 06. Sothe next day we went to the address and the lady that came to the door was not darla white but the lady was really interested in the church, so we are gonna start teaching her this week. My compaion was liek wow i have never done that before lets do taht every night from nwo on. We have had no success tracking just doors slammed in our face but its fun. we track alot surprisingly. Then we went to a recent converts house her son is 14 and wants nothign to do with the church. I talked to him a little bit, he is just like me when i was his age doesnt like church thinks its boring.So i talked with him about how i was the same way but then i shared why and how i changed i told him a year ago i would have told you you were crazy if you told me i would be on a mission. I told him about my experience at youth conference i told him the power of prayer and how it has helped me i nlife. i had goosebumps sharign all of it. Then i asked him if he loved his mom and he said yes. And i said with the gospel he could live with his mom forever. I then asked him if he would pray about the book of mormon and read the introduction to know if its words are true and he said yes. :) The spirit was soooooo STRONG. I love sharing my testimony and i loving spreading the gospel. ONe thing i need to work on is praying at peoples hosue haha i forget there name and then they ask me to say the prayer and i dotn rememebr there names haha Oh yea at our apartment we have all our sheets and everythign we need to do our laundry. By the way i got 3 more suits people left them in the apartment when they went home and they fit me so i am using them lol THe mission president told called me into his office right before i left to head to deer lodge and said i am a leader and i asked him what that means and he said he can tell i have a big heart and that i am a leader and he wants me to get ready for anythign he throws at me. And he said i could be in this one area for as much as 10 months. he siad he wants to get this area back active again and he thinks i have waht it takes to do it. we do have a baptism in 2 weeks for a 10 year old girl. and this week we are planning on commiting 3 more to baptism a husband and wife and a 12 year old. Well funny story today me and my companion got up and went ot wash the trucka dn the doors were frozen shut haha it rained all yesterday and it was 20 degrees this morning. So i feell out of place everyone here has tons of ties really cool ones nad i hardly have any haha so send me some ties please :) Today i think we are gonna go bowling with some other missionaries from our district for pday. MY gps has come very handy in case you were wondering i am 1974 miles from my apartment to our house. Well i cant think of anythign else to write about haha sorry it is all confusing and out of order i just htink of somethign and type it. I am sure i am missing somethign but oh well. Tell everyone i love them.:)

 ps i got letters from grandma and papa, mema and pepa, bro and sis stubbs and the package today. pss i have been out a month in 4 days....
 love yallElder Branham

I am in Hunting Town!!!

Hey Mom,
I got my new address.
Well i am not certified to be an online proselyte yet but i wanted to give you my address. So you can give it everyone else. I am in a HUNTIN Town and my companion is AWESOME he is from Hawaii and plays basketball for byu Hawaii. We get really nice trucks to drive and i have to drive cause my companion his licence expired and we have a huge apartment! and the outside is made out of logs. well i will tell you more Monday. YOU SHOULD UPDATE MY BLOG! i went and looked at it. well i got to go :) and if you send packages make sure it is postal service. my companion loves beef jerky JUST SAY IN! well i love ya'll,  i will email you more Monday we are going to knock on doors :)
love you

Leaving the Missionary Training Center to go to the Mission Field in Montana

Today Ryan left the MTC at 6:00 am his time to go to the Salt Lake City Airport.  He will be catching his airplain at 11:40am to head to Billings, Montana.  He called me from the airport.  It was so good to hear his voice, I DID NOT CRY!  He sounded so good and excited to head to Montana and start his mission for the rest of the 2 years.  There were 6 total missionaries traveling to Montana with him and President Garner made him the travel leader.  I cannot wait the hear where he will be serving at in Montana and how he likes it there.

Last MTC Email

Hey mom

well its the last day at the mtc. I have learned alot and my testimony has really grown. it is weird and nerve racking to leave and go teach cause you mess up in the field you are asked not to come back. But i just hope i get a really good trainer. Well yesterday we watch Joseph smith prophet of the restoration. It really made my testimony increase. And it made me think i would be selfish not to serve a mission after all Joseph smith went through for us to have the gospel on the earth today.  The movie pretty much sums up the whole first lesson us as missionaries teach. And there are 5 of us going to Montana. I thought i would tell you that i can call you tom. But only on one condition. IF YOU DO NOT CRY! If you cry i will hang the phone up cause that will just make me more home sick and will distract me from my purpose. It snowed here this past wed and it is cold, i look forward to my mission but in all honesty i hope it FLYS BY cause i hate the cold and it is only gonna get worse. . And what address did you give people? the mission home? i hope not cause depending on where i will be put that could be 400 miles from where i am so there will be no way for me to get mail. When i get there i will have an address to my apartment and i will want you to put that address up. This morning i went to do laundry and there was another missionary who was like me loved to hunt and his dad sent him a picture of a mule deer he killed it was huge. That's something i hate not being able to do is HUNT that's what i always looked forward to.  Well our branch president gave a good talk yest. on the plan of salvation he took yarn and went around the class room with it then tied a knot in the middle of it and said that the not represented our time here on earth and the yarn that kept going was eternal life and he explained that everything we do here on earth is just a judgement for where we will go when we all die. I mean i have heard it millions of times but he explained it really good. One thing i feel i am not good at is the scriptures i read the book of Mormon while in the mtc again but i don't have scriptures to pull out and show people when i am teaching them. I just like to teach the lesson. lol I am kind of hoping that since there is 400 acres to every 1 person in Montana that i won't be too busy cause it gets way to stressful and i feel like that's not what the lord wants.  But yes i am staying focused but you always have those you love in your heart no matter where you are and all my family is in my heart  and every night before i go to bed that is what i think about. well i got to go get my laundry. Remember what i said about me calling you no crying!

love ya,

elder branham

A few pictures from the MTC

Ryan's first email letter

I received my first email letter from Ryan today.  I was so excited to hear from him, he sounded very upbeat and good.  He said he likes the MTC but it is very busy.  He really wants everyone to please write him letters, he really wants to hear from home.  He went to the Provo Temple and said it was amazing.  He has made friends and said that he is learning alot.  I cannot wait to get my next email next Monday.

Off He goes to the MTC

Ryan had a great send off to start his Mission Adventure!  He flew out of the Charleston Airport on Tues. 9/20 @ 2pm.  He arrived at the SLC airport @ 6:40pm to be greeted by his Uncle Josh, Cousins and friends.  His Uncle took him to the MTC on Wed. 9/21 where he started this awesome adventure with a huge smile on his face, He was READY!

Everyone was there for his awesome farewell talk in sacrament meeting.

At the airport getting ready for the plane ride.

Unloading his luggage at the MTC

There he goes with his Missionary host to begin his 2 year journey.