December 17,2018 The Week of Transfers

This week was an adventure. We had a lot going on with transfer call, my companions going home, and spending a few days with Elder T and Elder Shurtliff. So we spent our week working pretty hard to find some good people before transfers to keep it alive. 

Saturday we were able to find 2 awesome people. They were out cleaning some leaves up and we decided to talk to them. They were both super interested and We had our last dinner before heading the next day to Jacksonville. We ate with the Robertson's and they made us Shrimp and Grits. They were pretty good. We also burned a suit as tradition for Elders going home. Most the time, they buy a 5 dollar suit from a local thrift store. 

On Sunday we had a good church service and had 5 people in church. It was super good. We had a great lunch after with the Osbornes and it was super fun. They also made us shrimp and some other super good food including Grape Salad, Apple Pie... It was really good. They said their goodbyes and we drove down to a Genesis concert which took 3 hrs. It was a long drive but it was good to see some of my past companions and other missionaries. The concert was good. They had a lot of people do special musical numbers from tons of other churches and they had some other pastors pray. The first Lady that prayed was yelling up at the pulpit and it was really interesting. 

After, I went with the Dunn Avenue elders and went to their apartment and am spending 1/2 the week with them. It has been a good week. I am going to be serving with Elder Bell in Jesup and it should be good. I am going to be the district leader which should be interesting. Well, next week I'll try and put a little more in my letter and get more pictures next week. Remember Christ is the center of the season. He is the master healer and the only one that can help us truly experience eternal happiness. 

Santa camera ornamnet

Christmas party Santa

Santa Jokes

December 10,2018 Cake!

This week was a good one! There was a lot going on but we had a really good time. 

On Thursday we had the mission Christmas party. It was a 2 1/2 hr drive down and back but it was good to see other Missionaires that I knew and we had a good time. All the missionaries that came out with me are super awesome and I really love spending time with them. One highlight of that was President Lee and the assistants dressed up in costumes and sung a song that they edited to go along with missionary work and it was super funny.

On Friday, I had a good day. I turned 20 and Ray Girard came up from Gainesville and brought some presents and cake and took us to lunch. We had a really good time and it really made my week. I also got some presents from my family at the Christmas Party and was able to open them. One of our recent converts Tom has the same birthday as me too which was pretty cool. 

Saturday was a crazy day! We had to build our float for the Christmas Parade which started around 5:30pm. We had a empty trailer and worked on it for 6 hours to get it to what it turned out. It looked okay and we were exhausted from all the work. We then drove it to the parade to line up and get ready. It was pretty cold and started raining. When we were driving over, some of the trees started tipping over because they weren't tied down well. Elder Gardner and I stood out on the trailer and held the trees up as we went 5 miles per hour for 2 miles. It was a long ride! haha we did make it and there was only one tree that fell off and got ran over by the trailer while we were driving. It still worked mostly and the float looked really good durring the parade and we had a great time. We got back late, and decided we would wait to clean it up because it was raining and we hadn't eaten and it was 8pm. It was a long day! Haha 

The more spiritual aspect of my week relates to the Atonement. This past week I have been thinking a lot about things I wish I had done or things I need to do better at. I was wondering if I was at a good place right now on my mission and how I stand before the Lord. I had a similar experience that Alma had in the Book of mormon. I felt like I hadn't done as good as I could have and that I was falling short in so many ways. I spent a lot of time praying and asking for a fresh view of what I am and who I am becoming as well as poured out my soul of how I was feeling. I felt a super strong peace come into my heart and mind and felt that I was where I needed to be and that I am good enough. I am so grateful for the power of the Atonement and how it changes our very natures. It gives us a reason to try and to work hard. It motivates me to be better every day and give my all. I know prayer is a powerful tool that can bring us so much closer to our Savior and we can recieve specific answers to our prayers. I love the gospel and how it is a gospel for the imperfect. It truly has helped me become a little better every day! 

I want to thank each one of you for the birthday wishes and the Christmas gifts and wishes too! I love each one of you and know that each one of you are in my life for a specific reason. You all mean so much to me and I appreciate all you do!  Have a great week! Love ya! 

Elder Gardner, Elgaaen, and Hansen on Jacob's 20th Birthday 12-7-18

Float made for neighborhood parade by the Elders

Old ceiling fan

Cups made by a member

Elder Larsen, Gardner in back, Elgaaen doing selfie

Fishbowl effect

Making Gingerbread houses

President and assistant's  Christmas costumes

Big fat Christmas Tree

Lots of Staples at a member's house

December 3, 2018 Happy December!

This week was a good and long week. We accomplished our finding goal of 3 new people by Tuesday and so we focused a lot more on the people we are already teaching. We had planned to do a Christmas parade on the 1st of December as a kickoff for the light the world. We weren't too organized on the efforts or getting a trailer together to ride on/next to on bikes with lights. A good thing was because of weather, it got moved to next week so we didn't have to stress a lot about getting the float together. 

In my study this week, I was reading about the Atonement. It was really good and made me think about how much Christ did for us. Also something that is super important to understand about the Atonement is that we all have our agency to use it in our lives. We choose to make change and be cleansed from our sins and mistakes. Nobody forces us to do those things. Another important part about the Atonement is the best time to make change is now! We shouldn't procrastinate the day of our repentance. It goes along with the saying, The best time to do that was last year. The second best time is now! As we repent, we are cleansed from our sins and are able to experience the most happiness and joy not only in this life but in the next life. 

2 Nephi 9:41 

O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Sunday was a fairly eventful day. We went over the new home centered church curriculum for the new year and I am super excited to see the difference it makes studying more in the home and the increased abundance of the spirit that will be in our Sunday meetings. After church, we found a super awesome guy. We were in a area about a week back and we prayed to see where we should go and I felt like we should go to this house right next to where we parked but Elder Jenson and Gardner felt we should go a different direction and said that before I did so I just went with it. We did find someone but even after when we headed back to the car, I felt like we should knock on this particular house. We didn't but ended up being back there and I said we should knock on this particular door. We found Joshua who is super elect and open to the message we shared. We had a good conversation with him and he is super funny and awesome. We also got to watch the Christmas Devotional which was super good. It really helped me refocus on the true purpose of the Christmas Season and have an increased desire to go out and serve. I really liked the talk about having a spiritual heart evaluation. If we had an instrument that measured how spiritually healthy we are where would it be at? I know Christmas is a great time to do as the prophet counseled in Loving like christ, forgiving As Christ, repenting to come closer to christ and eventually returning to live with Christ and God with the most happiness! I hope each of you take the chance to light the world this Christmas season and make this a season of love so we can truly light the world! I love you all! 

Long creepy snake

Dog in a Christmas sweater

Elder Jensen Jumping

Elder Jensen and Elgaaen in front, Elder Gardner in back

I'm Driving in my Car!

November 26,2018 Sean's Baptism

This week was great! We had Sean's Baptism and Conformation and the spirit was so strong! We can see the change in Sean as he has lived the gospel and progressed to where he is at today even in this short time. Some other awesome and interesting things happened this week. Sunday, we were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting. We weren't given a topic and so we spoke on whatever we wanted. I decided to speak on member examples. There is a great scripture in 2 

Nephi Chapter 26 which reads:

       

       23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness.

24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.

26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.

28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.

33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

I shared how the gospel is for everyone. Christ invites all to come unto him and as Members we need to be an example of Christ like love to members and especially nonmembers. Our example is what invites the sprit into the meetings we have and helps people feel welcome. Christ set the perfect example and we can better follow that example by reaching out to new faces or people who are in need. By sharing our time and talents to bless others and become their friends. 

On Friday, we had a good few hours to find some new people and we found a guy named Jonathan. We invited him to church and he said he might try it out and then he showed up! It was awesome. After Sacrament, a lot of the members actually reached out to him and introduced themselves. It was great. We had a lesson later that evening with him and he accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 15th of December. He is super awesome! 

We had a good Thanksgiving and ate a lot of food. We spent time with members and some less active people. It was a great time to be grateful for all that each of us have. I am grateful for all the blessings I have and the learning and growth that happens each day as I focus more on the Savior and his example. I challenge each of you to try a little harder to be a little better and follow Christ's example in all that you do. Have a wonderful week! 

Elder Gardner Sleeping

Elder Gardner, Sean, Elder Jensen, Elder Elgaaen

Wake up Elder Gardner

November 19,2018 Weekly

This week has been really good. We had a really horrible interview with Tanisha for her baptism and it was super sad. The person interviewing her took over 90 minutes and was making up his own interview! Then he said that we should wait a week for the baptism which was super pointless so we called the mission president and he said the baptism was still good for this Saturday and the person interviewing was still learning. Haha 

Transfers went okay. We had a super long drive up to Jesup and the area is pretty small. There is a lot of inactive members and not lots of people who are super willing to be involved but we are working on improving that. We have a person on date for this Saturday named Sean. He is super elect and we are excited to Baptize him. He will be a super awesome member. 

Something that is unique about this area is we have a member who owns a Gym and he let's us work out there in the mornings for free and we really enjoy it! When your at a gym, you have a greater determination to actually work out so that is a huge plus. 

Our first full day in the area, we went finding and found 3 super awesome people within 1 hr. It was cool to see how making the effort to talk with everyone really brings blessings. We were able to accomplish a lot and find some good people to work with. 

On Saturday Tanisha did get baptized and from what I heard, the service was good and there was a lot that was accomplished. I am excited to keep up with her and see her continue to progress in the gospel and experience more blessings. This week was all in all great and full of lots of learning and fun. I love my companions and my new area. I hope you all can have an awesome week and have lots of great experiences and continue to apply the gospel every day and see so many blessings come into your life. Have a great week!

Cool car of a member's son

Elder Jensen

Ever Sleeping Elder Gardner

Lifting Iron at a member's gym!

November 12,2018 Jesup Georgia

NEW ADDRESS: 285 S. 6th St Jesup GA 31545 Apt 4

This week was an eventful week! To start, we had transfer calls and I will be getting transferred to Jesup Georgia. I will be in a trio with 2 district leaders as my companions who are both going home after this next transfer. The next transfer will also only be 5 weeks so the elders don't go home on Christmas Eve. Elder Adair will be training a new missionary and so I have to go to the transfer building and be there by 8:30 and it is a 2 hour drive. Then Jesup is the furthest area from that in the mission. So next week will be a crazy week!

We met some super interesting people as well this past week. One guy was named Dr. Steven Bivins. We walked up to him on the street and he is a local pastor of a church. He talked with us for a good while and asked us if we would be on a talk show over the radio on some Sunday. We told him we would look into it. He gave us some other people who we could see which is always good. So after we went down the street and talked with a lady named Jackie. She was super awesome and after everything we said, she would say umhum and draw it out really long. It was super funny. She told us that we should invest in stocks and only share the gospel online and not to people who have grown up in other faiths because they can't be helped. She then referred us to a house around the corner to a bishop. We knocked on this guy's door and he said his name was Bishop T. Wilson. He invited us in and showed us how he has a online ministry over Facebook and how he shares spiritual messages on there. It was fun talking with him and it really motivated us to use Facebook more.

Over Facebook, we got to teach a few lessons. It was super powerful teaching over Facebook Messenger because it really allows us to say exactly what needs to be said and review and ask inspired questions. Also it helps the people we are understanding clearly receive the message and we have seen it be a super effective way to teach the gospel. Another cool thing is we add members into the chat and then they can see the progress of our people and comment and share testimony of how they have seen the gospel bless their lives. Technology is amazing! 

One sad thing but super awesome thing this week that is happening is we have a baptism for this Saturday for Tanisha! She is so awesome and is super ready to get baptized! The sad part is that I will be gone for the Baptism. It has been a great blessing being a part of her conversion process and seeing the blessings the gospel have brought her so far in her life and I look forward to her seeing more blessings later on! 

One scripture that stuck out to me this week in my study was in 2 Nephi 7. Jacob is talking to the people about some prophecies from Isaiah and in verses 10 and 11 he says, 

10: Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? 

11: Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. 

This scripture asks the question if you obey the commandments, will you walk in darkness? The next scripture made me notice that as we are obedient, we will be a source of light which we can follow. We will have the spirit within us and it will be a guide through our midst of darkness in our life. We just need to follow the small impressions and spiritual promptings we feel and focus on the light and good in our life as we follow the gospel. I love you all and hope your weeks are great! 

Banana Tree

Elder Elgaaen and Adair

Food from Wendy's 

Hang glider

Red Ant hill kicked by Elder Adair