October 30, 2017 Transfer's Already?

Hey! I thought I sent a letter last week but maybe I didn't? Sorry...

Well this week was very good. We were preparing all week for transfer calls to see who was getting transferred and where. Out of 6 in our district, 4 got transferred including me. Every one I've talked to said that they stay in a area for usually 3-6 months before getting transferred. I guess not me! I'm going to Jax Beach in Florida and it is right on the beach. We have a mission rule that where the sand begins the mission ends. So I can't go on the beach at all which is sad but I can look at it. I've really grown to love Waycross Ga and all the people in it as well as my district. They are awesome and have helped me grow so much. 

This week we found 5 new investigators and had a lesson with 2 of our progressing investigators. It was a really good week and was super productive compared to most. One big thing that I've noticed that probably made the work better is having a positive attitude. A positive attitude is very necessary to have a enjoyable time in the mission field as well as life. Sometimes things don't go your way, you make mistakes, and life just sucks. Satan would love us to be angry and bitter in these times. Doing this only effects our family, friends, and our brothers and sisters all around us in work, school, and at home. A positive attitude can make the worst days bearable if not enjoyable. I have seen how much the Lord blesses me when I keep a positive attitude and act like Christ would in every situation. Like one of my favorite songs from Alex Boye ( lemonade) it says when life gives you lemons, MAKE LEMONADE! I challenge everyone to make a list of things that are lemons in your daily life and then a list of things you can do to make those lemons into sweet lemonade. A few suggestions is to read scriptures, sing a hymn, view everyone as a child of God, know that God knows and loves you individually and has a plan for you. I can testify and know that as we make lemonade with our life problems, and have a positive attitude we can better ourselves as well as all those around us!

I love all of you and pray for you. You are what has made me who I am today. I love the letters and emails and appreciate the love you show for me. I love you! Have a blessed week

Love,

Elder Elgaaen 

Pictures

1.Cotton Field

2. Crazy Halloween Decorations

3. Me on a Train

4. Pig

5. 6:30 run (a bit chilly)

6. Me by another Cotton Field

 

 

October 16, 2017 "The Dog?"

This week went by so fast! There were a few crazy experiences that happened this week. So we will start!

Tuesday I had a cool experience with Elder Wilson. We haven't found anyone yet and so we went to the Church to do some online finding. We called up a potential investigator and we were able to do a Facebook video chat with her. It was cool to see how she was interested and wanted to learn even though we weren't talking in person. Facebook has been such a powerful tool and has helped us find people and keep in contact with people. 

On Wednesday we were able to give a  blessing to someone who was sick. It was good and a cool experience. After we got fed even though we didn't have a meal and we also got to know one of the priests named Hinckley better. 

On Thursday, we helped set up for a wedding reception that was going to happen on Saturday. It was a sister who served here who married a guy from here. We were also told about mission moms on Facebook and they have posted pictures on there of us. 

On Friday we helped a little with the setup of the wedding because we had a trade off. Me and Elder Whittle were together and it was quite fun. While we were together we stopped at the church and we helped a little more with the wedding reception setup. We carried some things in and when we were walking down the hall to go plan, one of the sisters there said that Sister Bennett had fallen and she needed help up. She had tripped over the curb cement things and fell on her shoulder. We helped her up but she was in a lot of pain. We gave her a blessing and she went to the hospital to get it x-rayed. She broke her shoulder in 2 places. When we gave her the blessing she felt comforted which was really cool. That day me and Elder Whittle found a few people and it was cool. It seemed that people were flocking to us as we walked around. Haha 

 

On Saturday we had the wedding reception and it was fun. We ate lots of good food. 

This p-day, we had it with our zone. I bought a afro and was a basketball player. I'll include a picture. It was fun and we hung out with a lot of people.

A cool experience we had yesterday, was we went to teach an investigator named Luke. He has always made excuses that he is busy every time we go by. This time his family was just leaving and he had a moment to talk. When we talked to him, he understood and was able to explain why on almost everything we asked him. He is almost ready and we set a baptism date for the 25th of November. He was defiantly prepared by the Lord to hear the word and he needs to make time for it. I love that and hope everyone has a great week. Have a blessed day. Love you! 

1. Our only weights

2. ? 

3. Morning face yawn

4. Clouds

5. Fog

I forgot the dog storie... So when we were teaching a investigator a random dog came up and he was on his side and he would scoot towards us and bite our pants to get our attention. It was weird. I kept moving and he kept following me!

More pictures... 

1. Afro pic

2. Sunset

3. More afro

4. Lucky acorn

My new afro

 

Lucky Acorn

 

 

 

 

 

October 9, 2017 This Week Was Awesome!

This week was awesome! It did rain a little bit too. I was fairly busy every day during the week. On Tuesday we did service all day and didn't have any time to meet with anyone. Thursday was a zone conference down in Jacksonville and we left at 9 and got back that night around 9. Wednesday  we did a trade-off and that was fun. And the rest of the week was normal.

So a cool story that happened to me was on the trade-off on Thursday. It was me and Elder Smart teaching together. We didn't have much success finding anyone but we had a lesson with a investigator named Saundra. I had never met her before but the other elders had taught her a few times. She had lots of questions and I was trying really hard to listen and answer by the guidance of the spirit. After a while her daughter came by and joined us for the lesson. After teaching a while, there was a really strong spirit that I felt. Around that time, Saundra's daughter asked me when the first time I felt the Holy Ghost was. I said when I was a young kid, I had lost a book and couldn't find it. I looked everywhere for it but found nothing. Then I asked my mom if she had seem it. She asked if I had prayed. I had not prayed. So I knelt and asked if Heavenly Father could help me find the Book. Immediately after I stood up and felt I should walk over to a area and it was sitting on a shelf where I had already looked. That is when I had first felt the spirit. Then she insisted that I ask her why she asked me that. I asked and she told me that my face glows when I speak and teach. It really helped me to feel like what I was doing was the right thing and that I was doing what I was that evening for a reason. 

On a more crazy note, on Saturday night me and my companion were looking for a new investigator. We went up to a house where we saw someone. We asked if he would have time to here our message and he said no. We started walking back to the car and a guy was yelling at us from his porch. He was asking why we were out so late. We said we were sharing a message about Jesus Christ. He said he really needed that message and that he has been trying to change but keeps messing up. He said that his friend had just brought over a 6 pack of beer and some cigarettes and he had drank and smoked all of them. It was funny because he kept pounding on his chest and saying God is so good. We tried sharing a short video but he couldn't concentrate so we shared a scripture and plan to meet with him again tonight. Hopefully he isn't drunk! Haha

In a book I've been reading recently called The Power of Everyday Missionaries has given me a new perspective on missionary work. Everyone could and should do missionary work in every day and every aspect of their lives. As we do missionary work we are fulfilling our purpose. A good way to think about it is this... How many blessings do we receive as being members of the Church? The answer is so many! You can find so many scriptures of promised blessings. Also think of how heart broken you would be if someone in your family or one of your friends left the Church as many of us probably have experienced. You would feel so sorry for them. As members of the Church it is our responsibility to share if not just offer to share the gospel with anyone. It is their choice to accept it but we need to offer it. I know sometimes it might not seem relevant or like it's the right time but it is! Apply the gospel in schooling, work, activities, and in your home. As we do this we can share how we have been blessed and draw the interest of others. I promise if you do this, you will be blessed and bless others lives. By just planting a seed in someone's life, a whole tree can grow.  I love all of you and pray for you. We are a peculiar people and are all a huge part of missionary work. Have a blessed week and remember that we are all children of God!

Flooding fountain in a church.

Missionary Party

Wycross Georgia

 

 

October 2, 2017 The Week of the Bible

This week flew by as well. General Conference was awesome and I learned a lot. One of my favorite talks was by Elder Gary Stephens. I loved the analogy that small sins can cause an eclipse in our lives and block out the light of the gospel. I loved also how he said that when eclipses happen, we should still know the right path to follow and be able to follow it until the eclipse passes. It was sad finding out that Elder Hales passed away but he is on to better things. This week we found a few new investigators and all of them were teenage boys. It's cool to see how we can meet people in the most random ways and it can feel as if they were put there for us specifically.

On Thursday I went on a split because Elder Kingston and Elder Whittle had to go down to Jacksonville. We ate at a place called Rockn Bear Cafe and it was so good. Later that day we had a bible referral and went and taught a lady who had beenvvgoing through some hard things. We challenged her to read the Book of Mormon at the end and she told us that she would and she told a story of how she knew we were there for a reason. Just previously a month or so earlier, she had lost sight in both of her eyes and wasn't able to see. She had also been hit by a car and had a few other horrible things happen. She was single and didn't have anything at the time because her husband had left her. She prayed to god and asked for his help through all of her trials. She was miraculously able to regain sight in one of her eyes and when we challenged her to read the Book of Mormon, she was so grateful and knew that is why she got her sight back in her eye. Again it is amazing how heavenly father prepairs people to receive his word and prepairs them to meet the missionaries at certain times in their lives when they are ready and willing to accept the gospel.

I got to meet and converse with my first Jehovah Witness couple. It was a good time even though they believe you will get cursed and plagued for adding any word to the word of God. I don't think that they realize that the bible has been changed many times and people have added to the bible they believe in. We were mostly discussing how our religions believe similar things with the wife of the couple and it was all good and smiles. Then the screen door moved a little so she opened it and her husband was standing there listening to our conversation. That's when the arguing started. We won and he lost words to say but it was all good. It was a good learning experience though.

In closing I want to emphasize the power of prayer. I pray around 15 times a day if not more. It is a huge blessing to be able to ask for things from my Heavenly Father and be able to receive instant answers and revelation. It is also a very reliving feeling to be able to pour our my heart and my struggles and sins to him and ask for help and forgiveness. An amazing example in the scriptures is Ether. We need to use the power of prayer in our every day lives. It doesn't just have to be in the morning and night, bugg should be all the time. As we listen after and during our prayers, we can literally speak to our Father in Heaven. I know prayer can bless any and all of us no matter what we've done or in what were looking for. PRAY EVERY DAY! It is how we can keep close to god in the crazy world around us.

I love every one of you and pray for you as well as feel the blessings of your prayers to me. Remember that we are all children of God and that he loves each one of us so much. Have a blessed week (something they say in the south).

Elder Elgaaen and Kingston

Elder Elgaaen & Patrick

Patrick & Elder Elgaaen Pink Ties are in!

Everything here is going good. My companion is great and loving even though he is a crazy driver. I am in Waycross Georgia and the area is quite crazy. There is sometimes murders if not a lot in this one part of town called Garlington Heights. We don't go there because there are loose dogs that try to bite you that aren't fenced in. Its quite special I guess. There is a guy named Brother Fish and he is quite a Character. He is shorter and older but looks like a pirate and has a funny sense of humor. It has been fast short week and it seems to be flying by.

September 25, 2017 Week One

This week went by so fast. It feels like I just got here yesterday. My companion is Elder Kingston from Quincy California. He has been out for 21 months and is training me. He is an awesome person but because he is from california, he is a crazy driver. He is really dedicated and on top of things and has a awesome testimony.

I have a cool story to tell that happened on thursday. We were looking for investigators to teach and we went to a person named Jimmearea. Her husband, Ben was there with her and he is a big guy. He was probably 6 ft. and 300 lbs. He had gold teeth and looked intimidating but when we started talking to them he seemed really interested in Christ and knows that God is a huge part of his life as well as his family. Then I gave them a bible and Book of Mormon and we shared a lesson about it. They really appreciated it and seem to really love Christ and Heavenly Father. We are going to start doing lessons with them. It was a cool experience. We are going to teach them today again. It is awesome that someone who looks like they have had a rough past can have such a love for Christ and Heavenly Father.

I went shopping and bought only doughnuts because they were cheap for the quantity you get. JK. I bought all good things but durring the week before I got to go shopping, we were living off the generocity of the members and a loaf of bread that was left in the apartment. We drive a nice car (2017 Chevy Malibu) and our bikes because we are in a car share. There are some places that we arent supposed to go in because of the gang violence. All of the ward is really nice and loving. One of my favorite members is Patrick and he loves all the missionaries.

Jacob Elgaaen with President and Sister Lee

Elders and Sisters who arrived on September 19th

Our Mission Car Chevy Malibu

Elder Elgaaen doing another selfie for MOM

Elder Kingston and Elgaaen

Elder Elgaaen and Patrick