April 12 - Two More Half Dead

yesterday while we were pitching hay to some cows Bishop Harris's dad, Mcgee, motioned for me to come to the front of the tractor. He pointed down to a calf that wasn't moving. i went over to the little guy and picked his head up. I yelled he's still alive but barely. He had me put him on the the trailer. Five minutes later same thing different calf, not as bad though, he was able to hold his head up. So we took them back to the barn and Bishop asked whats wrong with them. Mcgee said "scours" which i guess is th equivilant of diarrhea. so i got to say with bishop the rest of the day while pickett kept pitching hay with mcgee. i got to play nurse while bishop was trying to put an I.v in there jugular, i think they'll be ok now that why have fluids in them and a quart of milk replacement in them. after we finished with those two there was a mother that was getting ready to calf so we had to put her in the barn in one of the stalls. it took bishop, his brother mark, and I 15min to move her from the corral to the barn which is only 20ft away. she wasn't having it. after we got her in a stall we had to figure a way to get her head in the shoot. man was she mad she kept hitting the door to the stall and butting the side of it. Mark took a rope and put it around her neck and through it to me and i threaded it through the shoot and then all three of us pulled trying to get her head through. Mcgee came in and walked by the shoot and she ran at him and got her head stuck in the shoot. he made it look easy, or the cow just really hates him. after that mark went in to do the dirty work, unfortunately the calf's leg was turned the wrong way and wasn't going to come out. called the vet he came over and gave the mom a shot to relax her then they got this contraption called a "puller" and wrapped a chain around the calf's legs and started pulling him out. he ended up being still born. Mark said from all the stress the calf drowned in the birthing fluid. but we did find out that the vet was catholic so we have to figure out a way to get him back out there so we can talk to him. but i did start the book of Mormon over again. this time i decided that I'd read in chronological order so im in ether. in ether 2: 23 i really like what the lord said to the brother of jared: "And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?"the brother of jared was asking the lord what he should do and the lord pretty much said i gave you a brain you figure it out. i put beside that D+c 9:7-8: "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must astudy it out in your bmind; then you must cask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your dbosom shall eburn within you; therefore, you shall ffeel that it is right." sometimes the lord makes us "study it out" and then ask him. when investigators say i haven't gotten my answer whats wrong, i read that scripture in doctrine and covenants. our baptism this week went flawless. Ashley had alot of people there for her. we had our first new member discussion with her sunday and asked her how the holy ghost has helped her since she received it. she said that it had kept her from saying or doing something she wasn't supposed to. she said like when she wants to yell at her brother she thinks about it and feels like she shouldn't. her brother and her best friend megan aren't members either she's supposed to be inviting them to her lesson next Sunday. thanks love you all-- Elder Tyler Herring4380 So. Orchard AveSouth Ogden, UT 84403

April 5, 2011 - First Week in Soda Springs

i love serving here in soda springs, ID. the first day i was here we went to visit a bishop outside of town. after driving on a dirt road for 20min we came to his house (ranch). it was really muddy that day and bishop Harris looked at me and said "elder don't come back unless you got boots and a work coat, your going to get sh*t all over your church clothes." that night i went to a local farming store and bought some boots and a car-hart coat. since then we've gotten to work on bishops ranch twice. i guess the missionaries work for him twice a week in the mornings. it was a lot of fun though. he had us throwing 1ton hay bales with a pitch fork to his 400 head of cattle. definitely not the easiest thing Ive done. its one bale for every 100. this week he's supposed to be bringing back 1600 more from malta, id. i love it out there. next month he's invite the whole zone out with the local football team to help him brand all the baby calves. yesterday morning we were helping find any calves that the mothers had hid in bushes and sage brush. we found one little guy half frozen to death in the pictures that's who im holding. his whole body was covered in snow and frost and couldn't even stand up so we had to carry him back. he was a heavy little guy. the other picture is from the top of bishop harris's ranch looking over our area. a frozen tundra right? its not to bad if you have a thick coat in. in the picture with the calf it was 18 degrees but with the wind chill bishop said it was hovering around the single digits. my cheeks were pretty cold. but i did get to go to all of saturday conference. we sat four rows from the front on the right hand side. it was the closest ive even been to Thomas S. Monson. i really enjoyed Elder Oaks talk on desire. ill link the video: http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/04?lang=eng&vid=880291640001&cid=11 i really enjoyed what he said at the beginning of his talk. "he said desires dictate our priorities. priorities shape our choices and choices determine our actions." when he said that i thought what do i really desire, i said to myself serving the lord..... then the holy ghost whispered to me go deeper. and a scripture in alma 29: 1-8 popped into my mind: 1. O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the atrump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! 2. Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and acome unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. 3. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. 4. I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their adesire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their bwills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. 5. Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is ablameless; but he that bknoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of cconscience. 6. Now, seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to aperform the work to which I have been called? 7. Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends of the earth? 8. For behold, the Lord doth agrant unto ball nations, of their own nation and ctongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he dseeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.theses scriptures go really well with elder oaks talk. like my desires are good..... but i should desire to declare repentance to the ends of the earth. that translated and humbled me that i should be running from home to home declaring unto everyone of the restoration. thats something we should all be doing or at least having a missionary mindset all the time. but im doing good i really like my new companion Elder Pickett. we actually have a baptism today at 6:30pm ill be sure to take pictures for you guyslove, -- Elder Tyler Herring4380 So. Orchard AveSouth Ogden, UT 84403

March 29, 2011 - Going to Soda Springs

hey whatsup family and friends, so we had transfer calls this morning and my dreams and prayers came true im going to Soda Springs Idaho. I'll be serving with Elder Pickett up there with a car. my current companion just came from that area and i asked him what he did to earn member trust and to have work up there and he said that he would work alot with the farmers around there mmoving ad working there cattle all day twice a week. Elder Whitby said that id probably be branding, banding, and giving shots so im really excited cause ive really never done any of that. ill be sure to take alot of pictures. this week was really cool one of my zone leaders elder weiland is going home soon... like 3 days and his parents drove here and got here early so he asked president if he could go to dinner with them. so elder weiland and i got to go to dinner with them to Costa viida. they picked us up at our Passion Pit (house) and his mother hugged and kissed his boy for a good 5minutes.... apparently his mother missed him alot. :) sorry for the short letter this week though..... i have alot of laundrey and packing to do. love you all ill be sure to write a really long letter next week im sure ill have tons to tell you all -- Elder Tyler Herring4380 So. Orchard AveSouth Ogden, UT 84403

March 22, 2011

last Tuesday i tried running........ it went great not up to bar for playing any sports yet, probably wont be able to play sports till i get home :( ankles are bruised cause i havent ran in a long time but everything is starting to heal up. my companions back held up for about three days before he messed it up again we were playing a 3pt shooting game as a zone. so we went to the chiropractor on monday and got him all straightened out. on friday i was on exchanges with one of zoneleaders elder bevans to morgan, ut. morgan is the coolest little town ive been to. its this little tiny town surrounded by a farm community (reminded me alot of gordonsville!) they have theses two restaurants we always eat at stephs and debs. there sooooo good, diet goes out the window everytime we go to morgan. we'll probably have zone breakfast there when transfers happen on the 30th. im really hoping that ill be able to go to idaho this next transfer, were thinking that the assistants will take over our area because they need to be closer to the new mission office. so we'll see what the next couple of weeks will bring. hopefully ill be able to go and stay up there the rest of my mission :). not to much to report areas doing really good nothing to complain. were still looking for a place to live. our apartment flooded to many times so we opt'd to move out and live with our zoneleaders. but were hoping that the stakes we are serving in will be able to find us another place to live. yesterday i was on an excahnge with the other district leaders companion and i guess the day before they wee teaching this young lady and she asked them why and how do you kno there was an apostasy so elder conover and i studied that together for personal and companionship study and i flipped open my preach my gospel and turned to the restoration lesson to the great apostasy and found a scripture in amos that prophesied a great apostasy. in amos 8:11-12: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a afamine of bread, nor a bthirst for water, but of hearing the cwords of the Lord.... And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall arun to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."amos had prophesied a long time before christ had sat up and restored the church in Jerusalem. and if you look in chapter 40 of jesus the christ the catholic church sent out a decree to the world that the "known" world was in an apostasy..... meaning there was no priesthood on the earth.....did the catholic church just prove that they had no authority from god? read in the chapter notes in chapter 40 in jesus the christ number three and see what you think. by the way the mission address has changed so if you would like to send me any mail please read my signature at the bottom. love you -- Elder Tyler Herring4380 So. Orchard AveSouth Ogden, UT 84403

March 15, 2011

not to much to report this week my companion elde whitby has been out w/ a back injury, so not to much missionary work. today were going to a chiropractor at 4 to get him fixed, he hasn't been able to walk at all or get out of bed. so ive had alot of time to study this week. ive been reading in mosiah this week and in chapter 4 or 5 it talked about a change of heart. i was wondering why the scriptures always talked about a change of heart so i pulled out my institute manual and turned in it where i was reading. it said in the scriptures that it refers to the heart a lot because its the center of everything. emotional, personality, and your spirit. so when it says a change of heart it means all of you changes.... everything especially your outlook on life. king benjimen goes on to say that his people didn't want to do anything evil anymore but wanted to do good continually. it was really cool when i read that and made that connection. but pray for elder whitby and his back and that he will be able to get better soon -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

March 8, 2011

this week was pretty chill, my companion elder whitby has been having some back problems so we haven't been able to go out during the day to much this week but last night we did commit two people for baptism for the 26th. it was awsome the less active mother bore her testimony to her kids on faith and how the holy ghost has helped her through out her life. it was the bomb. so thats a total of six w/ a baptismal date. last night tho i was pretty mad at this fellowship.... we've been teaching this girl named paula who in her past over dosed on drugs and "cooked" her brain so she sorta aggrees to everything you say. but after paula had left and the lesson was over they were both like "paula said that she wants to be baptized this weekend, but we think she needs more time to learn at her own pace" elder bevans whipped out a scripture and it basically said if they have a desire to be baptized they can be baptized. lol straight out of joseph smiths mouth from the d&c. so we settled w/ we'll see how mext lesson will go, i hate stupid fellowships. but other than that things are going good. we had interviews this week and president said he mite send me to idaho!!! im so down w/ that never been up there before. im hoping for malad or soda springs. if i get sent up there next transfer ill be sure to take lots of pictures. this week ive been reading in alma 47 and the very last verse of that chapter. it says they were more hardened and wicked. when i read that i thought of some of the anti people that we run into day to day that were members of the church at one time but now have turned completely against that light and truth because they had gotten there testimony shakened. i really hope that some day they'll be able to come back into the fold of god and partake of all that he has. Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

March 1, 2011 - Surprise

i have a surprise for you..... guess who shaved his head :P I'll attach a picture for ya to cry over. but this week has been really fun. elder whitby and I have a goal of twelve baptisms this month and this week we found enough investigators that are progressing that it looks like we are going to accomplish our goal. we went back to our apartment to grab some stuff and were pleasently surprised, our landlord laid down all new carpet and cleaned the majority of our apartment. he really wants us to move back in but it still smells kinda funny in there. we also went out and blitzed the sisters area in morgan, funny story. elder weiland and i were looking for this address and it was up this really steep snow covered dirt road, we got about half way up and we couldnt go any further (stupid front wheel drive malibu's) so i tried backing up and gunning it up the hill...... no go. so we decided to back down the hill slowly. i slid into a snow bank and my back wheels got stuck...... elder weiland had the bright idea of putting the car in reverse and turning the wheels to the left and gunning the engine to swing the front end around. the hard part is we were on the side of a cliff and elder weiland was on the side of the cliff.... i guess to stop me from falling off.... idk how he was going to stop 2k pounds tho. but we made it safe and sound. something spiritual i learned this week was the importance of prayer. elder whitby and i were going to go teach this 16yr old girl for the first time and when we got there i felt like we needed to prayer before we went into the lesson. she excepted a date to be baptized on march 19th. afterwards in a different lesson i thought about what were supposed to pray about.... and i found in what we left our investigator paula to read in alma 34:17-27. it says that we have to pray over all we have and when we cant pray we should have a prayer in our hearts. love ya -ty herring picture:from left to rightweiland, me, bevans, and whitby -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

February 15, 2011 - Staying in South Ogden

so this morning we found out what was going on with transfers. Im going to be "white washing" the area that im currently in with elder witby. unfortunately elder smith got called else where to serve in layton. even though ive been in the area for a little over a week i still haven't met all of our investigators or met any of our ward mission leaders. elder witby and i have our hands full this week, it'll be a little easier because he's required to have a car for his back i think. so we do have the opportunity to make it to the gym every morning. pretty overwhelming task we have. after thinking about it for a little bit a scripture came to mind that sorta gave me encouragement. its in D&C 112:10: "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers." even though it seems like a really big task it's accomplish able. after talking to my zL he said "two men can do anything as long as one of them is god. be unified with your new companion and the lord and everything will work out" i get to meet elder Witby at the Ogden Tabernacle tomorrow at lunch time, so the majority of today is going to be sitting around letting the other two pack. but i did have a pretty nice birthday, even though they kinda suck on ur mission because you dont get to spend them with the ones you love. but we had breakfast over at the Shaws, played some games there and then everyone decided to go to the nickelcade to have some fun. one way super addicting game we played over at the Shaws was a dice game where if you roll double you get a pen and as fast as you can you start writing from one to one hundred meanwhile while your trying to do that others are passing and rolling the dice until someone gets doubles and then they steal the pen away from you and start writing down one to one hundred. its a ton of fun with a lot of people around a table. a bunch of way funny stuff happened this weekend though. first not so funny elder leon wasn't keeping up with elder smith and I and didnt make the light and almost got ran over by a dodge diesel truck. the other thing funny that happened is elder smith and I stayed up till one talking in the living room and when we started heading in the room to go to bed elder leon was making alot of crazy noises sorta like he was mumbling and I asked him if he was ok, and at the top of his lungs he yelled maaaeeehhhhh!!!!! it was pretty stinking funny and through the night he was sleep walking and "sleep eating" cause he doesnt know how he made it in the living room or where the pan of now empty brownies went sitting beside him. im gonna miss Elder Smith & Leon but im sure Elder Witby and I will have fun and work hard and be able to teach a lot of people. Actually this weekend we have two separate baptisms this weekend, ill send those pictures home next weekend -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

February 8, 2011 - Finally Back

so yesterday i reported back to being a real missionary. im serving in south ogden with elder smith and elder leon. its been really fun being able to come back and start serving again. last night we had a lesson with one of our investigators lindsey it was really cool she asked us "what do we need to do to be baptized and what do we need to do after were baptized. elder smith read her a little section out of mosiah 18, it says: "And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are adesirous to come into the bfold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be lightYea, and are awilling to mourn with those that bmourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as cwitnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the dfirst resurrection, that ye may have eternal lifeNow I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being abaptized in the bname of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a ccovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts."that something that i like to call the baptismal promise. if you comfort people, be a witness of god, and help others out you will be able to have the spirit with you more and be able listen to his promptings. but later that a couple of the elders in the zone came by to see how i was doing and asked how my knee was. i explained them how the doctor did the surgery. they took a cheese grader looking thing and took part of my hamstring out and folded it and twisted and threaded from the bottom of my knee to almost the bottom of my hip and bolted it into place. its pretty sweet how they did it. but im loving being back hopefully i can stay here with elder smith till he leaves later in march. but while i was recovering in draper with my uncle in draper i did get the opportunity to go down to st. george. it was alot of fun and nice and warm to be down there and to see how beautiful it it down there. but next week i promise it will be more interesting since ill have a whole week to write about and not one of two days. oh yea today we did get to go to the nickel arcade as a zone and play some old skewl games like pac man and mario brothers. whats really nice is everything there is a nickel or two to play so for like a dollar you can have a ton of fun. -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

Recovery Pictures

Elder Herring recovered at Uncle Lewis' house. He got to play with baby Carsyn while he was there.

December 21, 2010 - Update: Elder Tyler Herring

so pretty eventful week. went back to the doctors for a post operitive appointment and we took my little cousin chase with us. while waiting for the doctor chase and i were cutting up, so i decided that i would play doctor with him. i said doctor chase my shoulder hurts can you fix it? he wheeled over the doctors chair and jumped on it and started to mess with my shoulder. he then decided to start punching it, i said doctor i dont think thats going to fix it he said yes your right please make another appt with my assistant on the way out!!!! :) that kid is so funny. so far im not using my crutches anymore, and yesterday graduated to riding a bike at the rehab place. so its going pretty good stopped taking my pain medication on the fourth day!!!!! but it was way cool how they did the surgery. they took this cheese grader thing and took part of my hamstring and folded and twisted it and then fed it through the bottom of my knee all the way up to below my hip. you can see what my knee was like before with the pictures that are attached. right now were just working on getting the swelling down and hopefully getting the bruising gone. -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

December 7, 2010 - Last couple days in the mish

so basically everything is set for my surgery im just waiting to hear back from the hospital to see what time im coming in to have it. they will be reconstructing my ACL and removing some bone off of my knee. yesterday i went to doctor sorensens office and we went over whats going to happen and he gave me a bunch of papers to fill out and a kewl "high-tech" knee brace that im suppose to wear while im recovering and walking around. im projected to be back in the mission in six weeks, so that'll put me coming back in the middle of January. but this week our area is finally starting to pick up!!!! now that im leaving :( ohwell thats good for elder mccolm and johnson. were finally teaching on average four lessons a day. so thats about 28 lessons a week. the majority of those are non-members!!!! i really hope that ill be able to come back to this area after im done recovering. it would be sweet. swani someone that elder johnson and i started teaching finally said that nothing is going to stand in his way of being baptized. before he was worried about his family especially his parents. which is really good for him, he's really confident that his family will come around and become members as well. we also had a bomb lesson with chris, he has been taught for about six weeks and has really turned his life around, a complete 180. the lesson before this one we exteneded a baptizmal date and he was way against it. but we found alot of stories that relate to him like the sons of mosiah and alma the younger. now chris is starting to loosen up. im really sad to leave the area but im excited that now its starting to pick up and people are calling us with friends they want us to teach -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

November 30, 2010 - Thanksgiving Weekend was Sweet

this week was thanksgiving. it was sweet we got taken care of so much. at 12 we went to Boondocks with some of our investigators (Dude and Niya) and went bowling and played lazer tag. afterwards we went to eat a late lunch over at the Houston home, a less active family that wanted to have us over to eat. after eating we played championship fuse ball. i got beat twice :( at three we had another dinner over at the young home. they made probably the best thanksgiving ive ever had.... sorry mom and grandma. except there pumpkin pie wasn't up to par. the youngs invited us to stay for the rest of the evening as we played games and helped them plan for there black Friday attack. it was a way sweet thanksgiving. since we were rushed at the houstons because we got there late and had to leave we promised we would make it up to them. on saturday we went and painted there whole basement :). it was alot of fun. elder mccolm knocked over a whole bucket of paint on the carpet :) hahaha fourtunatly we got it up. after we finished putting on two coats of paint sister houston asked if we could hook up her surround sound system for here big screen tv. it ended up being really really hard but between me and elder johnson we figured it out. one inappropriate but funny thing that happened yesterday (remember im a guy) is we went over to a relief society presidents house to talk to her and while we were leaving we decided to play with her bulldogs. one of them really liked elder mccolms leg :) ill just leave it at that... hahaha it was freaking hilairious it was chasing him around the yard. 1:the young family2: me getting owned at foze ball -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

November 22, 2010 - Broke Some Lights

this was a really good week. Emily someone that has been taught by the missionaries for five years finally excpted a baptismal date for dec 9th, the day that i leave to have surgery so ill get to see her baptized. it was a pretty crazy lesson. we taught the plan of salvation and afterwards we explained the paradisaical glory of th earth. i thought great now were going to go off on a deep docterine tangent and shes going to start asking a ton of deep questions. but she didnt she said "oh my gosh it makes perfect sense!" then she said "ok ill do it" i was like do what? be baptized? she said yep ill do it. apparently i missed cause i said what? oh man thats sweet. after i collected myself i asked her if she would follow the example of jesus christ by being baptizd on dec 9th. coincidentally its on her birthday so shes excited that shes going to be "reborn" or baptized on her birthday. it finally snowd here..... its flipping cold now. but all is good here this week we helped all of our investigators put up there christamas stuff. icicle lights, trees, etc. it was alot of fun to see what different people do for christmas. one funny thing that happened our investigators mom said she didnt like the lights like that so we took them down but instead of going up the lader again i just yanked them off and broke a ton of them :(. she was pretty pissed but i apoligiezed. she said screw christmas then i went and bought her some really nice lights and made her happy. -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401

November 16, 2010 - Not My Meniscus

not to much to report this week. my acL is torn not my meniscus. so double the healing time. im still going to be in draper, UT to recover for six weeks. the goal is to be back in the mission by February. nothing really new has been going on in our area. two of our investigators lost there dates because there dad said that he'll never let them get baptized. we'll pick up one new investigator this week and Swani is getting baptized. so theres some positive notes. one funny thing happened tho. swani's wife was complaining to her grandma about us asking her to give up smoking. her grandmother (active member) flipped out at her and said "oh my hell, what is your problem" hahahaha swani was telling us the story, it was so funny. but today is a busy day were getting someone in a 4wD to take us up to the top of Farmington canyon up to the radio towers. love you all -- Elder Tyler Herring2133 Washington Blvd.Ogden, Utah 84401