Spring is here!

Acura is running a TV commercial about their cold-weather testing done at a facility near Baudette, MN (about 50 miles west of I-Falls). They end by saying, “If your winter is tougher than this, you don’t need a new car – you need a new place to live.”

I-Falls was the coldest spot in the nation yesterday? (+6 degrees) Not very cold! I am starting to realize I probably will be one of those "it-isn't-cold-out" guys who claims that anything above -40 is t-shirt weather.....ok, maybe not to that degree, but the cold has sure given me a different perspective on weather and thankfulness that I live nowadays where I have heaters. The snow is melting and everything is filthy muddy! Wow it’s muddy. Yesterday there was a light mist for most of the day and it just felt like I was back in the Northwest. Tender mercies...

I like that quote you wrote - "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." Elder Morris and I have that on our table. I feel that we have been blessed with success by the little things that we do to try to be obedient. I have sent you light-hearted pictures and videos the past few weeks of us having fun on P-days...we cannot take pictures while we are out working, so from pictures you really only get to see the lighter side of missionary work (on p-days). I learned a lesson this past week that I'd like to share regarding those pictures: last week Dad reminded me to stay focused, and I initially got frustrated by that because I felt like you only saw one side of missionary work and were judging me strictly by that. But as I pondered that parental counsel, I really saw the wisdom in that. As I thought back on that, I felt that you were just lovingly encouraging me to do my best and to give what I have to give. So I made a special effort this past week to do what I could to further the Lord's work. Thanks Dad. This past week we met a very promising young lady to teach, we set a baptismal date, we had Sacrament Meeting's highest attendance since I have been here, and even more. I feel that these things were not coincidental: when I put more into the Lord's work, the Lord gives back. D&C 82:10: the Lord is bound when we do what he says. Now, that success will not always be evidenced by baptismal dates, but it will be there. PMG (Preach My Gospel) is very specific in saying that a successful missionary is not determined by the number of baptisms he/she has, but by their devotion to the work.

To wrap up my spiritual thought, I thought of Kim as I read 2 Ne. 5:1 this morning. I cannot remember off-hand what exactly it said, but that by substituting Kim's name in there that it had a very applicable meaning. Kim, you are in my prayers daily. Remember D&C 82:10's promise. I look up to you for using the gift of the temple that is near you. I envy you for having (and using!) that supernal gift. Not having a temple nearby is perhaps one the greatest difficulties of missionary work.

I gave a talk in the Fort on agency. It’s one of those topics that you could probably write a 1000-page book on and still have more to write about. What a gift it is. Agency: the gift to choose, use, misuse and/or abuse. Record attendance in the Fort due to visitors: 11. Although I poke fun at that branch occasionally, I really do enjoy the lessons there and the teaching that does take place.

Yesterday we had a lesson with a family in the branch that is very...busy. So Elder Morris and I tried a new tactic to teaching: enacting Book of Mormon stories. We talked about Enos and prayer last time; we decided to switch things up this week and throw in a biblical classic in David and Goliath. Elder Morris kicked it up a notch and cut up an old white shirt and bought 150 feet of string for a buck and made legit slings and we slung marshmallows with the kids. They loved it! I don't know how much they will retain, but I do know that they will remember that lesson for a long time. Our aim is to get them excited about the scriptures.

Ok, which reminds me of an inactive guy we are teaching. He grudgingly let us in his home when we met him a month or so ago, and we gave him a BofM and he started reading and got REALLY into it and was excited to see what would happen next with Nephi and his brothers. He was making ties to gospel principles and invited himself to church! Unheard of! I wanted to get a tape recorder and say "can you say that into the mike again please?" kind-of-thing. He ended up being sick, but I am confident he will attend church soon. All because he read the Book of Mormon. When we read and earnestly study God's scriptures, we cannot help but be captivated! The Book of Mormon has the power to change lives and I have seen it in Marge's life, Edilyn's life, Bro. Oster's life, and now in Brett Eidman's life.

Speaking of Bro. Oster, he is probably laughing at the mention of his name. He google'd Boden Oster and my blog was the first thing that came up and he found my blog! Little trickster! Now he knows that my first name isn't Elder anymore...something like ter-hay or something like that. Which reminds me of a time when I was in high school (still weird saying that) and a substitute teacher was calling role and horrifically butchered my name and then some: "Is ter-ee-uh here...is she here?" Oh, she did not have high marks on my books. It says “Male” right next to the name. Sheesh. I love my first name, just not the way she killed it.

Bro. Oster is a wonderful man. Someday on P-day I will play Monopoly or Risk with him and crush him. You will all definitely hear about that when (not if) it happens. Bring it Bro. Oster!

Anyway, I accidentally left my notes about what I was going to write about back in the apartment, so I am fresh out of what to say. Godspeed. Just remember the best part of the gospel: It’s all true. I love my family!

Elder Galbraith

No transfer for me!

Elder Morris and Elder Galbraith on P-Day a week ago. He says the reason we only see casual pictures is because they do not take pictures while they are proselyting. He says they really do work, not just play around in the snow.

Well, another week up North has passed away. The sun has shown a few times and it’s beginning to get warmer. It’s consistently just about freezing as daytime highs, which feels warm now.

Elder Morris and I are staying together for a third transfer! It’s really rare to stay with a companion for 3 transfers (4 1/2 months), but since we are like peanut butter and jelly, we are just hard to split. However, President did tell Elder Morris that he would be leaving after this upcoming transfer, which ends the end of April. So I will very likely be staying here for 6 months--at least, which I am happy about. I get all the perks of being in a foreign mission, with all the luxuries of being in the States--at the same time.

So I have a few funny stories this week. I got my Minnesota driver's license and saw my picture and thought that my neck looked thicker and I just looked a bit bigger. With that in mind: We visited a recent convert who has a 7 year old. After the lesson the 7 year old saw my scripture box and saw the picture of Brendin, Nate and I on it and asked if that was me (pointing to me). I said yes. She said I looked different. So I decided to exploit the brutal honesty of a small child. I asked her how I looked different...if I looked bigger, smaller, skinnier, fatter, different hair...She said "You look skinnier in the picture." AH! That is what a mission does to you. Now, I am not a chunker, but I am just filling out. Just filling out....Well, I wanted honesty, and I got it. I actually think its funnier more than anything.

But that is not the end of the story. The recent convert grabbed the box and saw the picture of my sister and I. She asked if that was my girlfriend--now, this happens A LOT. I laughed and said it was my sister. Her response was "oh, so how much younger is she than you?" I laughed again, because my sister is older than I am. Kudos to Kim for all the compliments!

Spiritual thoughts....2 Nephi 25:26, 29. Give 100% (on p.100 of BofM) of what we have. We must believe in Christ and act on that faith that we have. Can't you see how passionate I am about faith and works?! I run into a lot of people, and what I see and learn just reinforces that belief an hundredfold. Go and do, sort of thing.

From another short e-mail - "The ancient Jaredite transoceanic migration that lasted 344 days (Ether 6:11) ceases to seem so fantastic when it turns out to be exactly the length of time it takes the Pacific current to go from Asia to Mexico." ---John W. Welch

So I have a birthday gift idea for you. Elder Morris has this astounding book called "The Pocket Reference Book for Missionaries" by Adrian Parker Call Jr. It’s a small spiral-bound book that is so useful.

Teaching a lot of different people, and we have one person that is progressing. Her name is Geri and she is a Jehovah's Witness. She loves the concept of the Spirit World. Nothing much more to report about teaching really.

You mentioned work ethic. Wow, it is so important in the mission field too! Coming out, I thought all missionaries were perfect. I will be the first to tell you that not all are. A missionary's work ethic is very evident and is so vital to the work! I will leave that there for now, but it is something I am passionate about. I saw a great lack of ethic in the workplace at Bellevue Golf Course, and I think they liked me because I actually went out and worked. They would say, "you get things done quickly", when in fact all I did was get things done.

We went to Voyaguer's National Park this past week. The Cutlers took us. It was great! Everything was white, but it was still pretty to see. It was very relaxing just to get out into nature for that short while. Wow, do I miss camping.

That’s about it.

Love you,

Elder Galbraith

Nearly spring

Your "favorite Elder" is doing just dandy! Weather is fine (I have a summer jacket on in -15C), skies are clear, and of course, the deer are loving our deer maze. In fact, so are we. More on that later.

I have pictures of the Osters so you can finally see them and put faces to these names.

Today was a great week to be a missionary in I-Falls...as a mission we are pushing for 30 proselyting hours each week, which really stretches us to make the most of all the time we have. It is especially hard for us because we have branch meetings to attend to and Institute, but we managed to achieve this goal this week. We taught 14 lessons and tracted for 16 hours, AND had a baptism! Hoorah! To help you see just how difficult it is to achieve 30 hours proselyted (lessons taught + hours finding), let me run you through my weekly schedule, because I don't think I have ever done that before. The life of a missionary in I-Falls:

Studies every morning at 8am-10am...
Monday--P-Day until 6pm, be in by 9pm, oftentimes in by 8:20 or so to make phone calls.
Tuesday--Full-day available. Out at 10am, in by 9pm.
Wednesday--District Meeting over the phone from 10:30-noon, Institute at 7pm
Thursday--Full-day
Friday--Weekly Planning from 10-2.
Saturday--Full-day
Sunday--Church in the Falls 9-noon, church in Fort Frances (yes, -es at and) 1:30-4.
All other possible working hours per week total something like 39 possible proselyting hours, travel times included. Thought you may like all this Dad....

Boden's baptism went very well, much of the branch came to support him. Oh, the baptism took place in I-Falls. Bro. Oster baptized Boden, which was a big deal! Elder Cutler confirmed Boden and gave him the Holy Ghost on Sunday. Bro. Oster shared a very tender testimony about the Priesthood just before he baptized Boden. Bro. Oster then described how he felt the power of the priesthood, and shared how important it was to do things by God's authority, not by man's. Oh the power of the priesthood! I can bear testimony of its power because I have used it many times now on my mission. But even before I used it, I had to build my faith in Christ and find out for myself that it was God's authority. Isn't it wonderful how our testimonies should rely on prayer--talking to God--not by things such as archeological evidences?! I think God very purposefully designed it that way--he wants us to communicate with Him and stop and listen for the answer. Prayer takes work! Sometimes people that I work with become frustrated because prayer does not always yield instant results like video games or TV. All this talk of prayer reminds me when I was searching for my testimony. I always heard people from the pulpit say "I know this Church is true..." Sure, I said "I know..." once or twice when I only believed, not having obtained a full knowledge. But I wanted to know for myself. It took a while! When I read Alma chapter 32 I see how I realized that I had a testimony. I knew the feelings I had were good, and I knew the "seed to be a good seed". It wasn't anything big like seeing an angel. Everything boils down to faith. That is why "without faith we are nothing". I had to be doing what God asked me to do, and following God's commandments to know they are His commandments. John 7:17--If any man shall do His will he shall know of the doctrine." If someone wants to know that a commandment is from God, they have to live it! You have to live the Law of Tithing to obtain its blessings, you must live the Word of Wisdom to know it is of God--and the first step to living a commandment is to have faith that it is a commandment. Isn't it great how everything ties together?

After rereading that last paragraph I kind of smiled and said, "yup, I am a missionary".

My scripture of the week is John 15:2, which is within a parable that Christ is giving, but basically says that Christ gives us challenges so that we bring forth more good fruit. I KNOW this scripture to be true because I have experienced it first-hand. My "down years" in mid-high school have helped propel me to become a better person, more confident in myself, more confident in my Savior, knowing who I am and where I came from. Truly we are shaped in the refiner's fire. Trials came to Job, and he emerged a stronger person.

Now on to lighter things...Mom, I held a snake this week! Creepy. It feels so weird, and it kept wanting to go up my sleeve...Oh, Elder Morris talked to an investigator 5 minutes prior to an appointment and they said they would be there. Nope, we got lunched. Such is missionary work, all I could do was laugh and truly how ridiculous that was. Ridiculous. Oh, thanks Mom and Dad for the mini Book of Mormon and the Mentos. Good stuff.

This week we should get transfer calls. I am pretty sure I will stay at least another 3 months, but I don't know about Elder Morris...he has been here for 6 months now. I don't want him to go! We are like peanut butter and jelly! If he lived in Redmond, it would be me, Nate, Brendin, Jolly, and Elder Morris, for sure.

To answer some of your questions, no the snow really isn't melting, but that is ok because we are sure enjoying it while we can. We sang "Home Can be a Heaven on Earth" for that wedding. No, I have not made an appointment for my back. It has been feeling a little better the past couple of weeks and I am trying some small things to improve it.

I love my family, they are the best. Truly I was so blessed to have a large ward family and great friends who supported me in my upbringing. Serving in a small branch really opens your eyes...and sorry Dad, that story with 4 people at church in France...4 is twice as many members as there were in the Fort yesterday. Love you!

Elder Galbraith