July 21st, 2014

Hello! Everything is going well. Not really. I'll tell you a couple stories.

We made friends with some of the local "gangsters" in town. (Elder Frost's family are Crips and he knows wannabe gangsters when he see's them) They think we're cool and they wave at us all the time so that's good. One drunk native kid said he was going to shoot us and we told him we were helping his friend so he decided to be friends with us haha. Then he asked my companion ," Who's this guy?" ('cause I'm white) and he told him I was in the army. After that he said,"That's what's up!" And then we were cool. Told you the tags worked. I actually got a lot of respect from most of the natives because I served in the Army before ha.

Elder Frost and I were kinda disappointed we haven't had any violent encounters with the drunks ha. We thought they were going to jump us and then it would give us the opportunity to break some knee caps and elbows hehehe. Elder Frost said that if anyone jumps us, Everyone gets a broken knee cap! The way you do that is with a Heel Hook (hook the foot in the pit of your elbow and twist. It doesn't take much.) But everyone seems to like me so there hasn't been any problems. And don't worry, I know a thing or two from training. Elder Frost says I can hold my own in a street fight. If you see a newspaper article about a bunch of dudes trying to jump the missionaries with broken kneecaps and broken elbows, it's probably us haha.

But, I am no longer going to be in WolfPoint, which I am sad about. I've only been her 11 days and they are sending me to Billings in West Parks ward. I am very sad because I love the people here, and I love Elder Frost. He's a great guy. We were gonna get some boxing gloves and box every morning! Kind of a bummer. I don't think I'll have another companion that will want to box with me again. Or wrestle for that matter.

I am going to Billings because I haven't had my wisdom teeth taken out yet. So I am being sent where I can get the surgery and recover properly. I'll be having the operation on Friday morning at 0700. It's not all bad, because I know who my new companion is and he's a nice guy. Everyone is jealous of me because I get to be Elder Organ's companion. So I'm kind of stoked to be getting him. I just wish I could get another sparring partner. I really hope I can come back to WolfPoint.

The other day I made some ginger beer. It's the best brew I've ever made! It has the right amount of sweetness with the right kick to it. I'm pretty sure it's just perfect and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy mmmmmmmm. I have once again claimed another victim to ginger beer when I shared a bottle of Bundaberg with Elder Frost. haha

Also made some biscuits that Emily gave me the recipe for. Thanks! They were wonderful! I'm going to double it next time and make some bigger ones that will last me longer.

Hope everything is going well! Have a great and blessed day!

-Elder Garceau

(I love you mom!)

July 7th, 2014

So the pictures... The first one is a poem that was written by a return Missionary in my area. he's been home for about 20 years now, but anyway, he served in the North Carolina Deaf mission. He also served in California. The poem is called Highs and Lows. The author is Jack Lindsay Brinkerhoff. It's a very popular poem among missions around the world and people don't give him credit for it but it's been in circulation for about 20 years.

The second picture I thought was cool because it's a soda with my name on it!

The guy on the ground is Kirk. He has autism and he doesn't communicate very well, but he has a brilliant mind! He is doing three puzzles at the same time. The amazing part about that is how fast he does it! As soon as he picks up a piece he knows exactly where it goes on the puzzle, and sometimes he starts in the middle. He is never wrong. Coolest thing ever! And he can school anyone at jeopardy. 

We had some members drop off two 12 packs of California dreamin'. They were thanking us for helping them do some roofing on Saturday. We tore apart the whole roof on the garage and started putting shingles on the roof of the house. It took us about 6 hours of labor and it was very hot! We've been having 100 degree days lately. 

And the last picture is how my face looked when I found out I'm getting transferred.....................................................................................................................................................

Wolf Point is part of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The same blend of tribal and non-tribal residents (about 50%) exists today as did in the early 1900s. The Fort Peck reservation is home to the Dakota-Lokota-Nakota (Sioux) and Dakota (Assiniboine) nations.

I asked my companion,"It's because I'm brown isn't it?" he said yeah. The natives don't like white people and since I have a dark tan, I can go there. Just to give you an idea of how much they don't like white people, if members want to give something to the Elders, they will give it to the dark skinned companion instead of the white one. And another Elder I knew got death threats so they shipped him out of there. We are right next door to Poplar which has more stabbings per ca-pita than any other city in the US! So I'm probably also getting sent there because of my combat training. We are not allowed out at dark because of the drunk Indians with knives. The good thing is though, that none of them have guns. They are too poor because they spend all their money on booze. So I guess I can deal with knives. lol 

Mom, what can you tell me about these tribes?

The cool thing though is that I get to go to a rodeo next weekend which is called the "wild horse stampede". it happens every second weekend in July. It's the grand daddy of all Montana rodeos. It should be pretty good.

I'm leaving right at a time when we are going up in baptisms and reactivations, but I am also going into the largest baptizing area in the Glendive zone believe it or not. They have four people on date for baptism. Some people have said that I am being sent there because I can be trusted. I'm still going to be Junior companion, but that works just fine for me because I like doing grunt work. This sheep dog is ready for some wolves!

If anyone is sending mail soon, please send it to the mission address or just wait until next Monday when I can tell you where I am.

1848 Rimrock Rd

Billings MT 59102

have a great day! talk to you next week and I'll tell you how it is!

Love, Elder Garceau

(I love you mom!)