Monday, July 29th, 2013

Hey there!


Dillon is pretty great. We had a pioneer celebration on the 24th. We went to the Barrett camp grounds near by and had a BBQ and played games. It was lots of fun for us.


The Williams, who we live with, just got a new Quirgy puppy. They're cute dogs. Their family just had two extra puppies so they got one. And just yesterday we got two baby rabbits that we are going to surprise them with when they get back from park city! We just saw a sign on a corner for baby bunnies and we decided to call the number. We got a boy and a girl. We are going to see if they will keep the rabbits for us since we can't really have them. We're hoping to have them mate in a month or two. And it's okay if they don't let us keep them at their place, we'll just set them loose on the property. I got a black one and named her Eve. They smell really bad so we put them in the garage. We're going to put up some fencing in the barn so they will see them when they go to feed the chickens in the morning.


We just had one family reactivation and the eight year old son just got baptized. The father is a nonmember but it won't be hard to get him going. We got our first referral this whole transfer just the other day! There is a lady who really wants to hear about the gospel. We're going to knock on her door some time soon. Member referrals are a must!


I'm just going to send this letter to both of you because I don't see a reason in writing the same letter twice.

Everyone here keeps complaining about the heat. It only gets up to the 90s! I don't see the problem. They all think I'm going to freeze in the winter. Apparently it only gets to about 40 below. Not a problem. I'll be fine!
My companion has been in this area for a total of a year. Everyone knows him so it is kind of hard for me to open up because people know him and don't really talk to me all that much. I am sure after he leaves I will be able to talk to people more and find out who needs to hear the spirit through me. We both agree that things might run smoother after he goes home in a week and a half.


There is a lady here that we visit every Friday. She always gives us ice cream! She is a nonmember and doesn't really like going to church because of the way she has seen people act in church. She has never been to a Mormon church before but she doesn't want to go to church. It's very hard trying to get down to what she needs to hear. But I think she really likes me and might be seeing something soon. I shared with her a scripture and she asked for me to find another! I hope that soon she figures it all out. She says she knows God put us boys into her life for a reason, but she just doesn't know yet. She's been visiting with the missionaries for over a year now. I'm hoping that I can be the straw to break the camel's back. She shares a lot of our view about the world and I know she would make a perfect Mormon. It's just so confusing...


I hope all is well and everything works out with the vending machines! I'll make an edited version of this letter and send it to the bishop to read because I don't feel like writing out the whole thing all over again.
Love, Elder Garceau (I love you mom!)

July 15th 2013 part 2.

I played basketball with some of the young men. It was fun and I even made a few baskets. Super proud of myself. I stole the ball a bunch of times as well. I went golfing today. I sucked! It was awesome though. We caught a snake and found a dead rat floating in the pond. 

The work here is ok I guess. Not too many people want to talk to us. Knocking on doors is pointless. The members don't give us very many referrals grrrrrrrrrrrr always... always... always! ALWAYS! GIVE THE MISSIONARIES REFERRALS! It's really kind of hard. 

We had a baptism on saturday. he's 16 and his name is Gavin. He's been dating this girl for a while who is a member and he took the discussions from my companion and his last companion. He really likes the spirit and the church so he got baptized! it was wonderful. They made me lead the music. Someone apparently thought my voice was good. I hope they don't make me sing in sacrament meeting. 

My companion is teaching me how to play the guitar. Now when I play, I'm not really paying attention to how I sing the words because I'm taking it one step at a time. I sing the words to the song, but I really only care about learning the instrument when I play it. And now the family I live with is under the impression that I have a hideous singing voice. Oh well. I can use this to my advantage and maybe I won't have to sing in sacrament if they say I'm terrible! yes! hahaha >:)

Peanut Soup

Steve wanted me to add this in since Adam wanted it.

Peanut soup... probably would have helped if I would have written the recipe down... :)  Here is the winged version, in order of how I made it.

Take 1/2 of an onion, chopped,
 and add to that 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, 

saute them in olive oil, or vegetable oil if you don't have any olive oil.  Do this on medium heat.  

Add a few pinches of salt and same amount of pepper.  Once the onions are softened (probably 2-3 minutes of stirring around), add a half cup of peanut butter. 

 If you are feeling extra nutty, add another half cup of peanut butter.  (I was feeling extra nutty)  

Then add about 2 teaspoons of crushed red chili's or crushed red chili paste.  Add about 1 tablespoon worth of finely chopped ginger, you can crush that amount in a garlic press if you have one, and just get the juice.   Stir all of that together with the onions and garlic. 

 Add water slowly (about a cup or so), working it into the peanut butter.  Add thinly sliced cube steak, about half a pound worth. 

 You can use stew meat too, it will just take a bit longer to cook.  Stir that around until the meat starts to brown.  

Add your vegetables, whatever kind you like.  We used some fresh green beans, peas, carrots, and then some frozen stir fry stuff that I chopped up.  Let that cook for a few minutes.  

Add another 3 cups of water, and some beef stock concentrate, or beef flavoring.  Allow it to cook for about 15-20 minutes, staying on medium heat, it should boil a bit.  Serve with rice or with potatoes.  We were actually going to fry up some already cooked potatoes and just pour it over that, but we forgot to fry them up... they are still in the fridge.

You can use sausage too, if you have that, or you can use chicken as well.  Then just switch out the beef stock for chicken stock.

Monday July 15th, 2013

i think we have about 100 active members in our ward. They don't really give referrals like they should. It gets agitating sometimes. Tracting does nothing because people don't like us at their door. they must be afraid or something. We have maybe 1 investigator right now. A kid just got baptized on Saturday. He's 16 and he is a great kid. 

A girl called me handsome the other day. too bad she's like 80 or something. 

I would love a peanut soup recipe! that would be awesome! 

Not too many hindu squats. don't quite know what those are. I have been doing quite a few more pullups. I went to the college to lift weights with the kid we live with. He's 15 and he is pretty cool. Everyone here likes sports, so the only thing to do is golf and play basketball. 

I love dillon so much! it's a great place to be serving

Monday, July 8th, 2013 - to Grandma and Grandpa Weist

We have a family feed us dinner every night. the past couple of nights I
almost burst! sister towery is an elderly lady who cooks delicious food and
when she sees you have an empty plate, she hands you more! same with the
family we at with last night. I should be gaining some weight pretty soon
here! 

We have run into quite a few methodists and lutherans. they think
that the Book of Mormon is of the devil or something. I dont know what to
say some times. 

I love you so much!
Elder Garceau

Friday, June 14th, 2013

I made it to the Billings airport and stayed at the mission home there for a couple days and now I am in Dillon, Montana! It's a nice little town in the middle of nowhere and most of the people think the Book of Mormon is of the devil or something. oh well.

We had a lot of rainbow hippies in town for the fourth. they had some sort of circle of life thing going on in Jackson. There were about 7000 of them. it was disgusting, they are revolting people. Most of them left after that though. 

We go play bingo every Wednesday with the old folks in assisted living. That's a lot of fun. I love my ward and we got to go semen test some bulls with one of the members who is a rancher. We also get free golf at the golf course because a member owns it! I suck at golf though. Last time I only got a 62/32 par. not very good but oh well haha

Elder Garceau

Temple photo

This is a picture of our district at the MTC. it was

fun. from the left is Elders Prescott, Taryein, Charles, Huff, me, and my

companion Elder Izatt. The sisters Munn, Winkler, Garner, Rockwood, Walker,

Butchenrite.

July 1st ~ MTC photos

This is all the Elders in my zone at the MTC. two of
them went to the Tucson Arizona mission. The rest went to Montana. We had a lot of fun. (Rikala, you like the PT belt? lol)

Friday June 14

 The MTC is wonderful. the first day we got right into the work. I met my companion, Elder Izatt. he is from nephi. he is a wonderful elder and is strong in the priesthood! the spirit at the MTC is so strong! it's a big change spiritwise, but other than that it's not as chaotic or hard as basic training. we just did a stress management class. what i find hard to get is what is so stressful about the MTC? dont got bullets flying over my head so i think i can keep myself from going mad. I cant wait to get out into the field! learning in class is so much fun! i enoy getting letters a lot more because they time us on our emails. (30 min) i ave 3 minutes left. so i will leave you with a few words. nitwit, blubber, odment, tweak... oh and if the gospel wasnt true, the 19 year olds would have ruined it a long time ago. just a little penny for your thoughts.

btw, if you have to give your two cents, and you get a penny for your thoughts, who gets the extra penny?

Elder Garceau