September 2024

Hiking with a few ladies up to Peak 10420 and Blood Lake.  

E- Bike Ride with Lisa and Beth.  25 miles.  Three Falls and beyond

Abby joined X-country.  She was amazing at her first race.  She got 4th place over all the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls.  She was 2nd place of all the 6th graders.  She ran the whole thing, even the hills.  

My knees are feeling strong for the first time in my life.  It's amazing.  Hiking up Mnt Aire in Millcreek.  2 miles up and just under 2000 vertical.  It's so therapeutic to hike and bike and talk.  

We love talking to Tyler on Wednesdays for his P-day.  He met a good friend and Maverick Coach Parker Skouson one day.  

Ella and her friends are loving the P-town X-cross races.  I need to get Darren out there to race and have fun.  

While I was in Ouray Darren and Abby had hiking time together.  They made it to the Old Mill in LCC.  Then smores out on the back porch.  

Darren ride leading for the Pink Varsity girl group.  He loves to see these girls improve.  

Seeing Tylers face up on the missionary wall at church. Who knew I would be old enought one day to have a kid up there.  

Two hikes in one day.  Abby and I went to donut falls with Amanda and Beverly.  Abby had never been and it had been years for me.  So fun to go again.  Then Darren and I made it up to Silver Lake in Tibble Fork.  Beautiful.  

Beth, Lisa, and I took a fun E-bike ride in Corner Canyon.  25 miles and we went all over.  We loved all the fall leaves.  Three Falls was so tempting to get in but we had to move on.  

Week 5: Another Day of Sun

 Moi Moi!  This week probably went by faster than last week. I am starting to really like the MTC! Each week gets better and better. I am growing fond of this place which is crazy. Even though I am still doing the same thing every day it is super fun. I love getting the voice recordings and emails you guys send. They are the best!

MTC is really starting to feel like home. Every day we spend here we get more familiar with the campus. There are so many cool places to study. We are trying to find ways to break up the monotony of each day. 

Two other elders and I got to play a musical number for the whole MTC which was lovely.  Check out Google Photos to see it. 

Spiritual Thought:  

What do you desire most?  Take a moment to truly think about it. 

There are so many things you could desire and more importantly so many things the Lord desires for you. 

Being focused on our desires keeps us motivated and moving forward in life. The first step to anything is always knowing what you truly desire.

Alma 32:27 says “But behold, if ye will…experiment upon my words, and…no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.” 

I love that Jesus Christ works with our desires. He grows them and can change them through the atonement. Of coure the first step to change is desiring to change.

 If we don’t know what we desire the lord can help us with that too. All we need is a “Desire to Desire”

I heard a quote this week, “Far too often we trade the things we want most for the things we want in the moment” 

This week, think about “What desirest thou?”  Make a plan, and execute that plan. Pray for a desire to align your will with God and I promise you will be happier. I know I have. 

Short Version of Email:  Still at the MTC. I love hearing from all of you! I love it here. Remember your desires and act on them! Lots of sports! Musical Number.

5 Amazing Things of the Week:

1: Our district plays a lot of sports here and it has been fun to play other districts in kickball, soccer, volleyball and spikeball. We haven't lost yet! 

2 We fit 29 people in the elevator this week. (for context it usually only fits about 15) The elevator stopped and we thought we would be stuck but it all turned out ok! 

3:  We are going to meet some senior missionaries serving in Finland today. I am excited to see what they tell us. It will be so fun to meet them because we will serve along with them. 

4: The other Finnish missionaries have been keeping all their soda cans and stacking them up in the back of their room. The pyramid is about as tall as a person now. It got knocked down this week. :( Safe to say that we took a long time cleaning it up. 

5: During our devotional this week, Brian K Taylor of the 70 came and talked to us. It was his grandson's birthday. We sang him happy birthday. Singing happy birthday with a GIANT auditorium full of missionaries, accompanied by the organ on full volume was a highlight for sure. 

Miracle of the Week: I really needed a suit for Finland this week. (I only have 1 that fits) I wasn’t sure where I would get another one here but this kid came up to me out of the blue and offered to trade a tie for a suit. (He had no idea I needed a suit). It was such a crazy coincidence. But they say there is no such thing as coincidences in the gospel. 

Where I am Right Now: Right now I am in the Provo MTC (This section is mainly for my mom and is boring until I get to Finland)

Scripture of the Week: Alma 17:13

13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

My thoughts: I love this scripture. I have been thinking a lot about all my friends who I am now separated from. I love how the sons of Mosiah had faith that they would meet each other again. And they do! They have such great experiences separate from each other and that makes their reunion after that much better. 

Talk of the Week: Swallowed Up in the Joy of Christ  By Elder Brian K. Taylor of the Seventy

My Thoughts: This talk was such a good chance to think about perspective. We all have hard things in our lives and if we endure them with joy we will live happier lives. Elder Taylor shared 3 principles for becoming “Swallowed up in the Joy of Jesus Christ”

One—stronger faith comes by putting Jesus Christ first.

Two—brighter hope comes by envisioning our eternal destiny.

Three—greater power comes by focusing on joy.

This was a great talk! Nice and short if you want to listen. 

Another week has passed! Time is flying by. Each week is going by faster and faster. I am getting so excited to go to finland. Go tell your mom you love her. Moms are the best! Enjoy the fall leaves! Until next week! 

-Elder Balls

Nolan and Sandra's Wedding

I got a new sister in law.  Nolan married my friend and neighbor, Sandra Alsop Steele.  I love her and her family.  Her daughters were my young women girls years ago.  Jessica and I set them up and here they are over a year later - married and happy!  We had an open house on Monday the 23rd before the wedding.  On Tuesday we headed up to the Layton Temple to see them married.  Aunt Nellie was there but Jason and Whit couldn't make it due to illness.  The wedding dinner was up at Swen's at Alta.  The leaves were beautiful.  I smiled so much my cheeks hurt! (Fun to have Tyler call for his P Day and get to talk to Nellie. 

 

Week 4: Valmistatuattumisspaivastani (P-DAY)

 Moro Poro! (What’s up Reindeer) It does not feel like it's been a whole week since last P-Day. I never understood what all the other missionaries meant when they said they lose track of time here. Until Now. I've done literally the exact same thing for 4 weeks in a row. (28 days of no joke the same thing but it is still awesome) It's been 1 whole month of being a missionary!! Being a missionary in training is so much fun! Only 1 more month to go, of the MTC. 

This week the MTC campus reminds me of Hogwarts. Watching Harry Potter as a kid I always thought it would be cool to live at school, sleep in the dorms, and never leave. MTC really lives up to the hype. Except I’d take magically conjured food any day over the MTC food. We only leave the MTC to go to the exercise field, “Hogsmeade” in this case. I might be just rambling but thinking the MTC feels like Hogwarts just makes it cooler sooooo…

It feels like there is a fire alarm going off every morning which is a very lovely sound to wake up to. (it's really something--something I would love to never have happen again) 

We had our first full Finnish lesson (15 minutes) last Friday with a native Finn and it went about how I expected. About as good as you think, considering I know about 50 words. This week we have started learning more real Finnish. Little by little I am learning. I'd say I've graduated preschool Finnish and now on to kindergarten level, maybe. (if we are being generous)

In the words of Elder Bybee, “It's Finnish, it's not supposed to make sense”. 

Spiritual Thought: Our Tuesday devotional this week was Elder and Sister Ringwood of the 70. 

I’ve actually personally met them before (Shoutout Andre’s BOM Study) so my expectations were high but Elder Ringwood gave one of the greatest talks I've ever heard. 

This week I want to talk about Devotion. Elder Ringwood’s talk was called, “First Class Devotion to First Class Causes” 

He talked about the blessings we get from our mission and in life as we give “First Class Devotion” in all that we do.

I love this quote from Elder holland. He says “I cannot afford 19 month missions. The church cannot afford 19 month missions and most importantly you can't afford a 19 month mission.” I love this, we cannot afford to do something halfway, not just for others but for ourselves. 

My dad always says if you're going to do something, do it right. I always listened to him but now it has really sunk in that I need to get these next two years right.

Our district has a quote “Lock in speaking Finnish and with the Spirit, because for you it's only two years but for them it's for an eternity.”

This doesn't just apply to me though. Think about all the things in life that you could accomplish if you gave “First Class Devotion” to every part of your life. 

I hope this week you think about how you can give “First Class Devotion to First Class Causes” no matter what they may be in your life. I promise you that it will be amazing what you can accomplish. What you can accomplish with the lord. 

And most importantly, I hope you give first class devotion to the person who you should and can become because there is no greater cause than self improvement. 

Dream Big, Be Bold, and Be Devoted. Devoted to others, Devoted to yourself and most importantly Devoted to Jesus Christ. Go forward with total faith, because I promise, 

Jesus is a god of miracles, and why couldn’t they come to you. 

Short Version of Email: 1 Month as a Missionary! The rain is Awesome. Be devoted to everything you do! Find your own conversion to the Book of Mormon. Share your testimony with someone this week. Talk to people older than you, they can have some awesome stories! 

5 Amazing Things of the Week:

1: Our whole district learned how to say our testimonies in finnish. It felt so good to finally learn something spiritual in finnish. We all got to share our testimony after we learned it and there was such a strong spirit in the room. 

It reminds me of the scripture from D&C about, “where one more of my servants is testifying there will my spirit be also”.   (someone please email me and let me know what the scripture is, I cannot find it) 

2 This week we had an MTC concert. It was very lovely. The Nashville Tribute Band came and played. I have never heard of them in my life but it was probably one of the best parts of the week. Crazy how your perspective can change.

3:  We have been trying to talk with all the senior missionaries we can this week. It has been so cool to hear about them and their stories. There are so many cool missions and responsibilities I didn’t even know about! Family history missions, military assistance missions, stake president assistant missions. It is so cool how versatile the lord's work is to fit our own needs. 

4: Saw some old friends and new friends this week. Shoutout Kennedy and Avery for serving food. Shoutout to our amazing bus driver Parker! Shoutout all the Elders in the field now which means the food lines are shorter!! HOORAY

5: It’s been raining a lot this week! I love love love the rain. And rain at the MTC is something special! It is so awesome. 

Miracle of the Week: It is crazy how at the MTC whenever we have questions they get answered every time within 3 or 4 days. I will be talking with my companion about a question we have and no joke in 1 or 2 days in some MTC devotional or class our question will literally get answered. This has happened so many times that it's honestly so crazy. I know the lord really does give us answers when we earnestly seek them. 

Where I am Right Now: Right now I am in the Provo MTC (This section is mainly for my mom and is boring until I get to Finland)

Scripture of the Week: D&C 24:12

12 And at all times, and in all places, he(you) shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men

My thoughts: In my gospel studies I have been making a list of scriptures that show blessings of living the gospel. There are quite a few now in my list. I found this blessing this week. It stood out to me. I know the lord will give us whatever kind of strength we need to overcome our challenges as we live his gospel. 

Talk of the Week:   God’s Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon  

By Tad R. Callister Sunday School General President October 2017

My Thoughts: We have been talking a ton about the Book of Mormon as missionaries. The more I study it the more I realize that it is a book translated from God and not written by Joseph Smith. But I love this talk because Elder Callister talks about how secular evidence of the Book of Mormon’s truthfulness is different from a confirmation of its truthfulness from the Holy Ghost. While there may be mountains of evidence proving the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, the most important aspect is our own conversion to it and the truths it teaches. 

It’s been a good week living the dream here in the MTC. The more I’m here the more excited I am to go to finland! I hope you all are having the best week ever! I love your emails!! Please go into the mountains and send me some pictures of the leaves! I miss the mountains like crazy!

-Elder Balls