Hikin' and Teachin'

Hello!!

Early in the week we went on a hike with the Activity Day girls (ages 8-12) and it was SO fun, especially since we know the majority of them now.  There was one girl named Cambry, who held my hand almost the entire time.  She is absolutely adorable.  Once we got to the top, we all had lunch and then Sister Bonn and I taught a short lesson about the 13th Article of Faith.  Afterwards, the girls played in the waterfall for a bit....Sister Bonn and I opted to not get too wet and we just hopped on the rocks!  On Sunday, the Activity Day Leader, talked to us about how parents of the girls were so happy we went and that they were grateful for our example to their daughters.  Ah, my heart!  So tender!  It really was so enjoyable to be with those girls!

Cambry from the hike :)

After the hike, we had exchanges and I went in a trio with the sisters in Stevensville.  They are solid sisters so it was a pretty awesome exchange!  They teach well, are unified, and are so fun!  While we were planning, they brought out some raspberries they had picked and also chilled chocolate chips. YUM!!

Stevensville sistas!

We did service this week for one of our investigators. We drilled long sticks together and 

then taped her vacuum to them.  It actually worked pretty well!

Thursday of this week was pretty much our golden day.  We finished exchanges and once we were back in Hamilton we had appointment after appointment.  First, we met with Betty and read the first chapter in the Book of Mormon with her.  It went really well and she seemed to understand it and like it!  Then, we met with Lois. The cool thing with her is that we have met several times and she would never find her Book of Mormon, but she finally searched for it this past week and read 3 chapters before our next visit!  We were so proud of her!!  She seemed pretty happy about it too :)  Then we visited another family and we taught about faith.  The husband even dusted off his old quad this time to be able to find the scriptures we referred to.  We invited them to read Alma 32 together as a family and they were more than happy to!  They even said they would try coming to church next week! Yay!! And lastly, we visited Ed, Jamie, and Cameron.   It was awesome!  We had a dinner appointment with them and after that we had a great lesson!  Cameron is Jamie's non-member son who just barely moved in with her for the school year.  He loves the Gospel and the church so much! We are hoping to keep meeting with them to help Ed and Jamie be married and sealed and also to help Cameron be baptized. I seriously love that family so much! And Sister Bonn and I are so impressed with Jamie. She is just stellar!

Also, EARLY Friday morning we went on a hike with our bishop and other missionaries he works with at Institute (He teaches there in Missoula) and it was a total blast!  His wife and son went too and I just love their family so much!  We had a great time together and I realized I have a slight fear of heights....haha.  Never thought I had one!  And then on the way down the mountain we picked huckleberries! Sooo good.  We filled our empty water bottles with them and now I put them in my fruit smoothies :)

Something I really love about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is how much we all try to help each other. Yes, some are better at it than others, but it is definitely an overall attitude of the members in the church.  That attitude is something I have really seen here in Hamilton. There are so many families here who are so kind and willing to help those around them!  I really know that that's what the Gospel does for us. It helps us to be our best selves and to serve others.  There's a promise that comes to mind from Elder Christofferson.  He said that if we study the scriptures daily that we will have a greater desire to serve those around us.  Cool, right?  So, as we help ourselves individually by keeping the commandments and "feasting upon the words of Christ" daily, then we are also preparing ourselves to help and serve other children of God.   I've learned that helping others and doing service is the quickest way to true happiness.  Therefore, keeping the commandments equals happiness :)  There many other reasons why keeping the commandments equals happiness, but that is a solid one. 

I'm so grateful to be a missionary, to see how the Gospel changes lives, and how it continues to positively affect those who faithfully live it.  I love my Savior and the beautiful plan God has laid out for us.

I love you all!! :) Have a great week!

Sister Asay