New Responsibilities

Yesterday about 1 o'clock after I had e-mailed, I got a phone call from President Layton. I answered the call and during the call (Mandan was over for P-day too) President said


"Elder Kissner, well you know that Elder Callor is getting transfered to Alliance, Nebraska, and Elder Holmes is going to New Town..." At this point I kind of cut him off, because Elder Holmes was told he was staying in Mandan and getting a new companion, so I asked him, escuse me president? I thought that Elder Holmes was staying in Mandan? He's right here and telling me that he thought he was going to stay too. So president proceeded to tell me that last night he recieved revelation that he should move Elder Holmes out of Mandan and open up a new area, New Town, which means since both Mandan missionaries are being moved out, that I would be taking over both areas, so now I've got Bismarck and Mandan and all the investigators to work with instead of just the Bismarck area. And on top of all this at the tail end of our conversation, President threw another Curveball at me and asked me to be the District Leader. Honestly I didn't know how to really respond, I was caught off guard for the second time in less then a few minutes. I really didn't know what to think. Of course I accepted and thought through my head... wow why am I a District leader this early in my mission... I don't even know really what I'm doing yet all the time... But I suppose president trusts me.... So, with the removal of Mandan, I'm now District Leader over the smallest district in our mission. Our district simply consists of Bismarck, Dickenson, and the CES missionaries that travel over the entire stake. So really I'm just over 2 other missionaries... I suppose that makes it easy, but at the same time, Dickenson is still in another time zone meaning that I'm probably going to have to stay up each night as I wait for them to get in... which will be lots of fun.... But anyway... Besides the fact that I'm floored atm, I have to finish up this e-mail so that Mandan can tour me of all their investigators in the next 5 hours...

Havin' fun

Elder Foulger

It's cold up here.

Good People I work with.

Being a missionary

most people who convert take a long time going through different missionaries. It's really exciting seeing that 5 of  the people I was teaching back in Gillette are now on date to be baptized, and they've gone through at least 4 missionaries to finally get to that point. Most people want to make sure their making the right decision, and most don't realize that you're not always going to be there, so out of the blue... missionary leaves new one comes in. Still we see stuff like that all the time. Almost everyone up here has a conversion story, or a my parents were converted. It seems like this entire ward is made up of first generation converts. So it's very interresting some of the stories you hear. But you win some you lose some...

Our mission is not neccessary to convert. It is simply to proclaim the gospel, and invite people to partake in the saving priciples and ordinances of the gospel. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them recieve the restored Gospel, through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, reciving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We invite people and take them through step by step the fourth article of faith~

MTC Pictures