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