The beauty that encompasses Crested Butte during the changing of the leaves is remarkable. Even though we have seen the fall leaves in Crested Butte several times, it never gets old, and I am always in awe at the beauty that I witness. This year we were small in numbers since Mike was out of town at a conference and Abby stayed home to audition for a play. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the fall leaves after supporting Emma at the HS Invitational Elk Run ​5K. After Emma's race, Madeline and I headed over to Judd Falls where we hiked toward the Copper Creek trail. Madeline was not her energetic self, and she really was struggling to want to go very far on this hike. I convinced her to head past the falls and hike a little way down the Copper Creek trail since that section is usually the prettiest. As soon as we turned around and made our way back on the gentle downhill slope, she perked right up and started hiking faster. She is just like her mama and loves the ever so slightly downhill sections! As soon as we finished our hike we went back to the condo and grabbed Emma so that she could go with us to Kebler Pass. At the pass we saw mostly orange and yellow but there was a small section of red. It is always a rare find to see red leaves in the mix. We didn't stay that long at the pass since the sun was starting to go down and it was getting windier. We got our fill of yellow goodness and then headed back to the condo for dinner and watching movies together! 

The parking garage had a charging station so that's awesome!

Matching pajamas for our girls night

Resting and eating jelly beans

I found myself doing a good mix of biking and running this month. This month started out with a quick two loops around the Black Forest Section 16 loop, a fun ride with Madeline on her new bike, and a family bike ride up to Denver. The rest of the month was focused mostly on running and preparing for and recovering from the Ascent. Mike and I headed to the top of Pikes Peak to do the 3,2,1 run which was absolutely brutal. I ended up only doing the 3,2 which is 3 miles down, 3 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up. Mike ended up doing 4 down, 4 up and broke a rib along the way when he fell. Another fun workout was cruise intervals on the track in Manitou with the Striders. This was intended to be a race tune up for the Ascent. After I recovered from the Ascent I jumped back in with Striders and did short fartleks at Prospect Lake and the Cheyenne Canyon climb where I got a PR (43:29). The run down on the Cheyenne Canyon climb was the most beautiful I had ever seen the canyon. The fall colors were still out and I kept wanting to turn around just to see the beautiful colors against the backdrop of the mountains. 

Madeline got her first real mountain bike a couple of days before her birthday. She was so excited that after we got home she wanted to go for a ride around the dirt loop behind our house. | After getting back from a long family bike ride up in Denver we came home and watched Goonies with the kids and ate curly fries. | I love it when we get a fantastic sunset. | Madeline and Mike crated the coolest train track with the GeoTracks down in the basement. | Madeline always wants to take selfies with me. | We finally found a fantastic PT for Emma and she spent the tail-end of her first session getting her legs dry needled. | Madeline started back up with cello lessons with our good friend, Emma Patterson. | One of Madeline's birthday gifts was a giant ramen squash mallow. It was so cute! | During one of Abby's drives she learned how to pump gas into the car. | Madeline loves going to the playground and her favorite place is probably Black Forest Park. | Abby passed down the panda onesie to Madeline and she wears it almost every day. | I went to pick up my packet for the Ascent and took a photo of the elevation that I would be running to the next day. It was both exciting and daunting. | After the Ascent Mike made me a fantastic lunch of meat, potatoes, carrots, and fruit. It was the perfect recovery meal. | Emma was highlighted on the Pine Creek website for her outstanding performance at the Liberty Bell meet. | I finally got new biking sunglasses from Smith, and they look awesome. | One of Madeline's favorite things to do is go to Scheels and play the car game. She finally came in first place. | We headed out on another bike ride with Madeline on the dirt trail near our house. She loves her new bike. | One of the best parts of the fall is roasting marshmallows under our gazebo and watching the sunset. | It was so cute watching Madeline during the primary program at church. | Mike makes the best crustless quiche dinner. | I took some headshots of Abby for her upcoming auditions. 

​Hello Everyone!
 
I hope everyone is doing well. I have been able to see a lot of amazing miracles this week both in myself and with the people around me. 
 
Recently I have started to learn an ancient Filipino writing system called Baybayin. One of the other Elders in our house is fluent in it and has started teaching me. The letters are very flowy and are all based on the shells that are frequently found on beaches here. Anyone that knows me well knows that my handwriting is less than adequate. Since I've started learning Baybayin, however, my bad pencil grip suddenly changed into how one is supposed to write. My handwriting continues to get better and better. I consider this a real miracle because I have been trying to fix my handwriting for over a decade with no luck, until now.  
 
Other than that, my week has been full of finding amazing new people all around our area. We found a new person all the way out in the jungle, and they are progressing super-fast. They said that they had passed our church before and wanted to go inside but were too nervous. They said they had prayed that someone would come and help them get inside that church. She then recounted that we had showed up shortly after. She has accepted everything we have taught her so far and has already come to church. She is already such a blessing to the ward because there are many members in that area that can't go to church because it is too far and expensive, but she said that she could give many of them a ride. What a miracle!
 
One thing that I have learned since being on my mission is the reality of hoping for and believing that miracles will occur. Sometimes I think it is easy to fall into the trap of only doing the things we are told to do because we are told to do them. I have found that when we have belief in the things that we are doing, the result will often work in the correct direction. But belief alone in ourselves will not spring up into miracles. We need to believe in God.
 
To believe in God is to believe that things will get better. It is to believe that there is sun behind the darkest of clouds and have faith enough to see it. To have faith is to move forward, unwavering in following the commandments of God while knowing that no matter what happens, He has a plan for us. God is the only sure thing. Whether there be prophecies or knowledge they shall pass away, but the prophecies and knowledge of God are eternal, full of truth, and are unchanging. 
 
I implore you to set your foundation in the One True and Living God. For it is written that,
 
"12 ... it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation;... 
 
which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. " (Helaman 5: 12)
 
I know that belief in Christ will spring up into miracles and through His Atonement alone, do we have the ability to endure to the end. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.
 
Elder Wilhelm

​Sorry this email has been a long time coming and sorry it is also a long email. A lot has happened in the past few months so please bear with me.
 
Around one a half months ago my companion, Elder Valencia was admitted to the hospital. Before we went to the hospital Elder Valencia had been fighting a nasty fever for a few days and it seemed to be getting better until it hit almost 104° F. This is when we didn't waste any more time and went straight to the hospital, which is fairly far away. After getting some lab work done, we found out he had so many different illnesses and he was promptly transferred to Tacloban to be admitted to a better hospital there. The main thing he had was Dengue Fever, which is a really nasty illness, but we were thankfully able to catch it in a relatively early stage. We spent the next week and a half in the hospital which was an interesting experience on its own. I navigated the hospital system in a different language and made sure the insurance went through properly. That is never something I thought would occur on my mission. After a long two weeks, Elder Valencia recovered, and we returned to our area. 
 
However, a week before the transfer cycle ended, I went to Tacloban until the transfer cycle started. I was in a companionship with Elder Rawlings and it was just the two of us because his companion went to the office. We had a fantastic week and found so many new people to teach. The area had so many mountains in it and so we spent a good amount of time hiking through the jungle. 
 
When the transfer cycle came around, I got transferred to Tunga, which is the smallest municipality on the island. It was so beautiful there and the people were so nice. Sadly, my companion was really sick since he had just gotten out of the hospital. Due to his illness, the mission president decided it would be better if his companion was one of the same language, so I transferred again. It was pretty sad because we were good friends and were fairly excited to be companions. My new area is in Capoocan where I am companions with Elder Phillips. Our area is humongous, and it has so many beautiful spots, including some white sandy beaches. Since our area is so big, we use every single form of transportation imaginable to traverse it. 
 
The past few months have been interesting to say the least. One thing I learned more in depth about is forgiveness, not only for others, but for ourselves. 
 
In the book of Mathew, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother and Jesus replies
 
22 "... I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
 
This commandment to forgive doesn't just mean to others but to ourselves as well. Sometimes it's really easy to doubt ourselves after making the same mistake over and over again. Satan can easily flood your thoughts with statements such as "you cannot change", "look how much you have failed", or "look at how much more they are improving than you". There may be times where these statements have some truth in them, but it is not the design of God to discourage his children. God knows you will mess up and He has provided a Savior just for that. It is written that 
 
"7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered." (2 Nephi 3:7)
 
We must develop a contrite spirit within ourselves in order to do the will of God. That is, the work of charity. We must forgive ourselves in order to properly forgive those who have hurt us. We not only have to trust that the atonement will work for others, but that it will work for us.  This is putting your faith in Him, "relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." (2 Nephi 31:19)
 
There are times when it is hard for me to feel God's love for me. In those moments, however, it is imperative that I pray. When I pray and read the scriptures, I receive a witness of his love. I begin to understand that as long as I rely on the spirit, I will make the right choices. I know of the love of God because I've felt it. I know as we learn to love ourselves and have patience with our growth, we will be better follows of the commandment to 'love one another'. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 
 
Elder Wilhelm

​Homecoming is always such a fun time of year for the girls. Both of the girls looked beautiful in their new dresses. Emma went with her friend and teammate, John. They went just as friends and had the best time with some of their fellow teammates. Abby went with her group of girlfriends and had a blast. Apparently Homecoming this year was a step up from last year’s dance. Their biggest complaint – not enough slow songs.

Madeline's birthday started out with me bringing donuts into her classroom for all of her classmates. I brought an assortment of donuts so that each of the kids got to pick the one they wanted. Then Madeline passed out some goody bags we had put together with bubbles, glow sticks, and ring pops. Madeline later told me that everyone really loved the donuts and the party bags.

Since this was an odd year, we celebrated with a family birthday for Madeline. Her biggest request was that I make a Pikachu cake. It had been quite some time since I had decorated a cake so I was relieved that this cake would be fairly easy to do. Madeline loved it and that is all that mattered. For her birthday this year she got Anna and Elsa barbie dolls from Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz and a mermaid barbie doll, ramen squash mallow, little figurines, and a new bike from mom and dad. She was so excited by all of her new toys.

​We headed up to Denver to ride the Cherry Creek Trail with the girls. We somehow made it to 7 miles before we stopped the first time for Madeline. Then we rode another few miles to the lake and played for a while. We knew the way back would be a little harder for Madeline, so we made sure to take lots of breaks. She really got the hang of her new shifters which was a game changer for her. We stopped at Kneaders on our way back to break up the ride and to eat lunch. The éclair was just the energy boost that Madeline needed to finish the last few miles of the ride to the park. It really was a fun day with the girls and an impressive long ride for Madeline.