The leaves are changing and so are lives!

From Ethan:  22 Sept 2014

Wow you would not believe the beauty of this place in the fall!! There are birch trees among the pines on the mountains turning all sorts of beautiful colors. The mountains are coming alive!! We were able to take some hikes with people and see the beautiful landscape that Stanley provides :) This weekend was quite a busy one because of the really nice weather. 

Sad news, Sarah has gone back to Portland to start school :( We got to meet her parents who were super cool just like she is. It has been an amazing summer for Sarah to be here in Stanley all around nature and people who love her! Her testimony of the Restored Gospel has gotten so solid because of her faith in her Savior Jesus Christ , like the scripture in Helaman 5:12, "remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation...which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Her foundation is in Christ! It'll be hard for Sarah to go back home. Her faith will be tested,  but I really do know that she will press forward and make the covenant of baptism back in Portland. (You're strong Sarah!)

Great news, Brenda Adams is going to be baptized this Saturday! President Curtis came up to Stanley yesterday for one final meeting with her and she is all ready to make this commitment! Boy oh boy Brenda has turned her life around 180 degrees. Last year around this time she was charged with a DUI and went to the Boise Woman's Correctional Facility but since that time she has made changes in her life to conquer her addiction of alcohol and smoking! Now she is strong in faith, courage, good works and is all around more happy!  That’s my message the last couple months - the Gospel is here to help us be more like our Savior Jesus Christ and by doing that we are happier! Brenda is a perfect example.  This Gospel, the Restored Gospel given to us by Jesus Christ through prophets of all ages and times is true! I hope everyone takes the chance to learn and discuss the Gospel with missionaries where ever you are. The message that I and every other missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  shares is a message of hope, love, peace and happiness! You can know the truth that is out there and you can come closer to your Savior Jesus Christ. Take my word for it, I see it every day!  With that I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day! Love you all!

-Elder Ethan Howard (ehoward@myldsmail.net)

Write me a note or letter at:

Elder Ethan Howard

Twin Falls Idaho Mission

421 Maurice st. N Twin Falls, ID 83301

The wisdom of Him who knoweth all things.

From Ethan: Mon, Sep 15, 2014 2:16 pm

Hey friends and family! It's interesting how even though the little town of Stanley is starting to pack up for the winter, we are still teaching and giving service all the time! In just a couple more weeks all the lodges, resorts and stores will close down. The town will be back to its little population of 63.

I met a guy named Ron Khosla this week at Red Fish Lake.  He grew up in upstate New York and has been to Palmyra where Joseph Smith lived when he was called to be the Prophet of the Restoration. Ron told us all about his life and inventing this little machine to help cool his outdoor cooler. Now he lives in Oregon but visited Stanley and we were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to him! He has a cool story.  Read it here  http://storeitcold.com/thestory.html 

I met a Stanley resident who is originally from Northfield, Minnesota!  Shout out to all my friends at St. Olaf and Carleton College! We had dinner with her and a family who are members of the branch (small congregation)  here. She grew up Episcopalian. We discussed how similar all Christian churches are. She talked to us about a struggle of faith about her brother passing away recently. What bothered her is that her brother was one of the most faithful guys she knew and God let him pass away. We were able to teach this wonderful lady about the Plan of Salvation!! We are so blessed to have the knowledge that we are children of our Heavenly Father, that we lived with Him before this life and have the chance to live with Him again. We will all see each other again after this life because of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Our friends and family pass away but we can be assured that "all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things." (2 Nephi 2:24). 

It's pretty awesome to be able to lift people up with the knowledge of God and Christ that we have. Like I said last week, it is the gospel that changes people’s lives for the better.  I am blessed to be a part of it, to have it change my life and assist in changing other people’s lives. 

-Elder Howard

Everyone and Anyone Can Come Unto Christ

From Ethan: Mon, Sep 8, 2014 2:33 pm

  Wow it seems like I was just doing this, but that was a whole week ago! The old proverb is still in effect, "Time flies when you're having fun"! Well being in Salmon last week was incredibly fun! I'm blessed to know such wonderful people there in Salmon Idaho who are doing great! :) I can't wait to spend at least a week with everyone up in Salmon when I return home from off my mission. Things I have to look forward to are a river rafting trip with Jeremy Varley, salmon fishing and wolf and elk hunting with Dave Silcock (Mr. Hot-Garbage), building an Iron Man suit with Ed Davis and all the other shenanigans I can pull with the Bingham family! 

Most of the business we had this week was service. We helped Dia split and move wood, we took care of a guys dog for a couple hours while he was fixing a water pump, we baked cookies for people and laid sod for a family. Like I've said in other letters, service is one of those things that softens hearts and makes the world a better place! That's why us missionaries love, love, love to do it! One day was a Zone Meeting that we had in Arco which is two and a half hours away.  Meetings with other missionaries weekly and monthly can rack up a lot of time and miles. We are in the Carey Zone in which missionaries are in Shoshone, Dietrich, Carey, Sun Valley, Arco, Mackay, Stanley, Challis and Salmon. It's the biggest zone in the mission area wise, but has the fewest missionaries.

I got an awesome email from Jennifer Sizemore in Mountain Home about her baptism! She told me it was amazing!  She wrote, "That poor lost and alone woman you met six months ago is gone. I have a family now." Seeing changes in people that accept the restored gospel has helped me understand that everyone and anyone can come unto Christ and be lifted from their burdens. Recently I have reflected on the changes in others and me when we dive into living a Christ centered life.

Sarah McInroy wants to be baptized here in Stanley at Red Fish Lake! Her parents are coming to pick her up on Sept. 20th so we will see what happens!

I hope we stay busy this week just like the last! I love hearing about everything happening back home and miss you guys! Keep me updated! I am amazed at all my friends getting married or going on missions or having more kids, it's amazing what happens in just one year. Like they say in Meet the Robinson's, KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

-Elder Ethan Howard (ehoward@myldsmail.net)

Just some pictures that are cool :) 

-We found a little Cigar Indian just like in "Seinfeld!" 

-The Sockeye Salmon looks like the Walleye up north in MN. 

-I found that tuba in Dia's plane hanger! I had to play it :)   

Back to the Stomping Grounds!

From Ethan: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 12:38 pm

Hello everyone from SALMON, IDAHO! Elder Prosch and I came up here for P-day :) Driving up here was awesome because seeing everything brought back so many good memories! We are emailing here at the Meadows Assisted Living Center which the Binghams' own and live at. They are so awesome! We are going to lunch with the Bills later! I also plan on visiting my old Ward Mission Leader, Bro Dave Silcock, a.k.a Mr. Hot Garbage! We are going to catch up and play some guitar together :) Maybe we'll go fishing at his pond again! I also plan on spending some time with the Davis family, Ed and Chrissy and also see Samantha Ladd and her son Dylan. I miss it up here but I'm so glad to be able to come up for a day! Back in God's country again! :)

We were again able to do some service for Ms. Dia Danner! We filled in some ground squirrel holes, moved a cabinet, dug up some rocks and split kindling for her! Service is an awesome thing. It is one of the ways we show our love for God and for our friends :) Like Mosiah 2:17 says, "when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God" :) Dia is such an interesting person and has really enlightened my mind about the creation of the world and science. I hope we are enlightening her mind in return about God, and our Savior, Jesus Christ :)

With Sarah McInroy we watched some sweet movies! "The Work and The Glory" and "17 Miracles"! Each movie showed how much people suffered and went through persecution just because they knew the Restored Gospel to be true. I am amazed at the faith of those people to be able to walk across the plains of America just reach Zion. They suffered so much on the way but their faith brought miracles! Sarah, being the first in her family to come to know of the Restored Gospel will probably suffer persecution for it, but she is strong and faithful! Like it says in Philippians 1:29 "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;" with a belief in Jesus Christ sometimes comes the burdens of discipleship, but in the end brings everlasting peace and joy in our lives :) 

We got the transfer call yesterday! Both Elder Prosch and I are staying in Stanley for another 6 weeks! It's crazy because in a few weeks most things will be shut down for the winter.  We will lose all the extra people but we still have 3 weeks with Sarah, and till Oct. 5th with the Red Fish Lake employees. We are staying in Stanley for a reason, we may not know it yet but I know we'll find out. The work of the Lord will go forth everywhere! No matter how desolate and how small. It'll be an interesting 6 weeks but I'm sure I'll learn some valuable lessons :) Until next week!! Have a blast everyone! I sure am.

- Your Son, Brother, Friend and Colleague,

        Elder Howard

The Most Odd Opportunities Can Turn Into Missionary Work

From Ethan: Mon, Aug 25, 2014 5:46 pm

    Again another rainy week has slipped by in Stanley, ID. The weather is turning colder.  Yesterday it was a crisp 44 degrees most of the day! Not your typical Minnesota August weather. 

  Well this week it seemed that we got tossed into a huge variety of odd opportunities but in every case we were able to help someone increase their faith in Jesus Christ or learn a little bit more about the gospel. On Thursday, we went into town to find out that an outdoor community country concert and dance was going on! We recognized a few people standing on the sides so we decided to take an adventure and talk to them! Almost instantly we had people coming up to us and asking us questions about our missions or about certain doctrines in the scriptures. I guess in our white shirt and ties we stuck out pretty well among the crowd :) Although we weren't in a normal teaching setting when talking to these folks about the gospel I still felt the Holy Spirit testifying of what we were saying as true. We weren't in the best environment and got offered beer, whiskey and vodka a couple of times, yet we were protected as we focused on helping people in their faith. As I thought about this experience the rest of the week my mind was brought to the Savior and His ministry. In Mark 2:16-17 we see just how Christ went about his work. "16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Now, I'm not saying everyone there was a sinner or anything like that, but we were able to help people in a place where people wouldn't expect missionaries to be. 

   

   On Sunday, we attended one of the other services at the chapel, the multi-denominational service. When people saw us they were definitely surprised but didn't say a bad word. All they did was welcome us to the service and commend us for our work! Visiting was a Lutheran Pastor from Hailey, ID, just over the mountain. His message was about the "Body of Christ" and the grace by which we were saved. It was a wonderful sermon. However, through the whole thing I felt as if something were missing. As Elder Prosch and I discussed afterward what was missing we determined the Authority of the Priesthood wasn't there. The Pastor shared a great message and he didn't say anything against the doctrine of the Bible, but we could feel the lack of Priesthood Authority from God there. We are so very blessed in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to have the fullness of the gospel and Priesthood Authority restored from Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. I have a testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel.

   Shout out to the Clegg family from Jerome and all their generosity allowing us to eat and be at Red Fish Resort so much! As it was another rainy week, we spent some time inside of the Clegg's family cabin watching movies with Sarah McInroy and others. Don't worry they were all good movies like "The Restoration", "Finding Faith in Christ" and "The Best Two Years". Sarah is quite determined to be baptized into the church and married/sealed in the temple for all time and eternity :) She is waiting to share this with her family in Portland, Oregon and will be baptized in her ward up there.

I got some fantastic news from Mountain Home today! Jennifer Sizemore has received a witness that the Book of Mormon is true.  She will be baptized on the Aug 30th! Sadly I won't be able to attend the baptismal service, but I would ride my bike the whole way if allowed! She really is a special daughter of God :) If there is anything I've learned in the past month, it is that anyone can change. Anyone can partake the gospel of Jesus Christ and be forgiven of their sins through repentance! That is exactly what repentance is, Change. Our Heavenly Father is just waiting for us to change ourselves and accept His truth. Through His son, Jesus Christ we are able to be forgiven of our sins and return to God. This is true and to quote the Prophet Joseph Smith about the First Vision, "I knew it, and I knew God knew it." 

Sincerely your friend,

-Elder Howard          (ehoward@myldsmail.net)