March 19,2018 Short Week

What a WEEK!

This week we had a lot of different things going on. I will just highlight a few which are.... 

1. Many much referrals

2. Patriarchal Blessing Revelations!

3. ‎Elementary School Fair

4. Brother Barber and Purgatory

5. ‎Migraine Sunday

So this week was a very good week with the missionary work. We have received an explosion of referrals this past week. The best part is they are all from members or other missionaries so they are super promising and have a desire to learn! Something I feel really contributed to this was our preparation as missionaries. This week I have been refocusing my studies and studying for my investigators instead of myself. Selfless study! HAHA! Anyway, as I have prepared myself and searched for the best ways to teach and searched for the guidance of the spirit in how I prepare, I feel that I am better prepared to teach. In doing this, The Lord has trusted me more and is putting more people in our path that are ready for the message. Each of us can do a similar thing in our own lives.

 Self Evaluation:

- What are some things I want in my life (More of, Less of, Change, Improve....)

- ‎What is my specific plan to prepare myself to accomplish these things

- ‎Are my "Goals" in line with Heavenly Fathers Goals (Pray and Ask!)

- ‎As we are blessed, What will we do to show our appreciation and build our trust with Heavenly Father so he can continue to bless us

I think in about every aspect of our lives we can use a very similar process and it will help us align our will with Heavenly Father's ultimately helping us achieve our end goal of Eternal Life with our Father in Heaven and our families.

Something I think everyone should try that I saw awesome results from this week was thinking of a life question, Praying for inspiration, and reading your patriarchal blessings and writing down things that stick out to you. Sometimes I wonder if parts of my Patriarchal blessing have been fulfilled and "Pass Away" or don't apply to me any more but in doing this exercise I have received new levels of inspiration and guidance in my day to day struggles and found answers to every question I've tried it with so far! Try it!!!!

On Friday, we had a opportunity to volunteer at a children's fair for a elementary school. Something that really stuck out to me was the impression people had of the missionaries as we served in the community. There were many comments similar to this, "Whatever group your from is awesome! We really appreciated your kindness, willingness to serve, and your example." As members, we may take this lightly but it really shows that there is something different about Those Mormons. We have a light about us and as we go out and follow the example of Christ in all we do, others will see that light radiate from within us and some may rub off on them. Service is powerful! 

So probably the highlight of the week was Brother Barber! On Saturday, we offered to help him with some service after we ate lunch and he offered to take us to lunch. We drove around for a few minutes trying to decide where to go and in the end he decided McDonalds would be fastest and we were short on time. We pulled up to the drive through and there were probably 10 cars in the line waiting to split into one of the drive thru lanes. Brother Barber started driving past all of the cars so I was assuming we were just going to go in. While passing all the cars, he said in his low raspy voice.... "All those people choosing the left are choosing purgatory." I then realized that he was passing all of the cars that had been waiting and cutting into the right lane. Me and Elder Gibby were laughing so hard. Brother Barber didn't even realize what he was doing which made it funnier. He proceeded to tell us that his uncle told him that "When everyone else in the world is going left, go right!" It was defiantly a good time!

On Sunday, I woke up at 4:30 with a killer headache. I tried going back to sleep and just sleeping it off but I couldn't! I finally got up at around 5 and took an Advil and tried going back to sleep. After around 30-45 minutes I was able to sleep for a little until the alarm went off. It wasn't the best morning and for the rest of the day I had the worst headache right behind my eyes where if I turned to fast or bent over I would get light headed. It wasn't the best but its life. Just imagine how much of a Headache Christ had to feel as he did suffer for all of our pains and afflictions. I know that Christ is the one person who knows what each of us are going through in our lives second to second and has been through our pains. We can turn to him and as it says in 

 ~ Mosiah 24: 15 ~

     And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

Lets all remember to turn to the Savior in our hard times and look to him. He will help us through them as we submit to his will!

A Short week has come to a close. I am so grateful for each and every one of you. You make my life so much easier and help lighten my loads and I hope I can do the same. If you ever need anything, feel free to send me a email(Spiritual Message, Diet/Workout ;), Some Hot Weather, Want to share testimony w/ me...) Keep on following the example of Christ in all you do and it will bless you and those around you and don't forget to always choose the RIGHT! (Not Purgatory) Haha. I love you all and hope your weeks are spirit filled and full of laughter and smiles! 

Biking Elders

Cool Wooden Moose

Truck with bench

Fish



Flag

Flower

Flowers

Free Pizza



Jacob Elgaaen

Shrimp

Weird Florida Door mat

 

March 14, 2018 Wowzers!

This was an interesting past week and a half fish. We had a lot going on and a lot of weird things happening. First off, the highlight was probably listening to Lynn G. Robins talk to us at our zone conference. What a guy! Some other things that happened were making medical trips to Gainesville 2×, 2 awesome lessons with GoPaul, a bunch of exchanges, going to bed early, and EGGS! 

To start, Elder Lynn G Robins came and spoke to us for our zone conference. The main topic that he spoke on was Hope. He shared how the Lord knows all things. He knows the past, present, and future. We each experience hard trials and have sorrows in this life and need somewhere to look and make our goal. He gave an example. Imagine you were stranded in the middle of the ocean. There was no indicator of where you were and nowhere to go. You have close to 0 motivation to paddle because you could be traveling further away and quickening your death. But if in the horizon you see a island, you will have 100% motivation and 5× the strength to work to get to that island. I really liked this image and it really explains each of our lives. Some feel lost with nowhere to go. In this situation there is little encouragement or excitement to act. But as we set that end goal and desire to get there, we will work our hardest and be motivated to take the journey. He also talked about repentance. Here are some notes from that:

REPENTANCE

     - Doing anything that brings you closer to God is repentance 

     - Blessing

     - Repentance can be tough. Temptation enters a door that may intentionally been left adjar or open(Having rated R movies available on Netflix even though we may not watch them)

     - Repentance Requires The Redeemer; Alma 34

     - Any way other than the Lord's way is multiple choice misery 

     - Signs That Are on the road to repentance (Stop, One Way, HOV) 

     - ‎Alma 34:15-18; Celestial Repentance

     - Repentance doesn't erase consequences 

     - We can strive to have a perfect day but we will fall short daily. Repentance is a lifetime curriculum. We don't have repentance because we might sin, we have repentance because we will sin. There is no other way, repentance is the only way!

Medical stuff loves Elder Gibby! 1st, we had to go to Gainesville for Elder Gibby because of counseling. He has been stressing way to much and so he has to meet with some lady every other week. We were suppose to be an hour at his appointment and had to be super strict with time because we had someone dropping off dinner at 5 and she had somewhere to be. Also we had an exchange starting at 6 so we had to be at the church by then. Gainesville is about a 30 minute drive from Alachua where our apartment is and our apartment is 15 minutes from the church. We got to Elder Gibby,'s appointment at 3:30 when it started. I sat outside in the chapel and waited. Come 5 i was tempted to go knock on the door and tell him were late. Soon after he came out. We got our food delivered to one of our neighbors and ended up having a 5 minute dinner so we made it to our exchange on time. Very stressful day! On Saturday, Elder Gibby's eye was hurting and we ended up going to the Insta-care to get it checked out. He had scratched his eye and that made our day very limited. After we got back from Gainesville, it was about 7:30 and Elder Gibby eye was hurting so we turned all the lights off and still any light hurt so we ended up going to bed super early at 8! It turned out to be good because daylight savings was the next day! Anyways, we our both doing okay... or at least I am! Haha. 

We had a bunch of exchanges this week were a member goes out with us and helps us in our missionary efforts. There is an awesome spirit present when members come. We got to meet with one of our investigators, GoPaul twice during the past week and ended up inviting him to baptism. He said yes! We still need to set a date with him which we plan to do tonight at dinner. 

And last of all, EGGS! I had asked some members if they could spare some eggs because being out in the country, there are tons of chickens. I ended up getting 108 eggs from church and it was awesome! Haha I usually eat 8 Eggs a day which can get expensive so the more eggs the better! 

Well I hope you all had a great spiritually filling week so far. Remember Christ in all you do and you will be blessed. I love you all and am so grateful for your love. I feel your love for me and find strength in your testimonies. Keep on keeping on! Love ya! 

Random Thought: 

Remember it's hard for Heavenly Father to steer a parked car! Faith without works is dead!

Freezing Again

Dog who wanted to go tracting

over 100 eggs donated by the members

Elder Gibby's new look after an eye exam

Frog by the library

Moldy Gatorade

Treats made by the Relief Socity

Notes from the Relief Socitey

Treats from the Relief Socity

 

March 5, 2018 Remember to Laugh!

Its crazy I've already been out over 6 months! Time just flys. This week we had transfer calls and I am staying in the same area with Elder Gibby. This week went by fast as usual and work is about the same. This week we were trying to help with visiting less active's or the low hanging fruit. We have had a few successes and are hopefully helping lots of people come closer to Christ.

This week something that stuck out to me was the power of laughing. Sometimes life doesn't go how we want it to and the best medicine is laughter. When I laugh every day, my day goes better. So... I challenge everyone to laugh at least once a day this week. Find something to laugh about and laugh! I think there is a song about laughing... Listen to that and sing along! HAHA

Well this week was awesome and full of Missionary Work! Im glad to be serving the lord and im greatful for every day on my mission. Most of all im greatful for the ability to laugh! Laughing is the best! I hope everyone has a great week and takes at least a few minutes to laugh. I love you all!  

 

February 26, 2018 Moroni 7:12-13 Choose God or Satan

This week was fast! It fills like just yesterday I was writing an email to send out to everyone! This week has been a good one. We were able to visit quite a few people. One of the people was a potential who had been contacted once and never taught. We decided to stop by when we were driving around out in the sticks. To get to her house, there was a super, super  steep hill. It was very uneven and Sandy. It was a miracles we made it over the hill. Thanks to our Rav 4 and 4 wheel drive we made it! I had drank a bunch of water before and had to go to the bathroom super bad. We went and met Ashley. She was very sincere and willing to listen and wanting to learn. We had a good hour discussion. After I asked if I could use the restroom. On my way out, I saw her son trying to solve a Rubik cube. I was able to solve it and get to know him better. They really wanted us to come back and visit and they showed us all their animals. They have 80 chicks and 2 baby ducks. We got to hold them and it was awesome. They are planning on getting some pigs and some other animals. It was good to be able to open up more with them and talk to them one on one and build a friendship. It was awesome. We also had branch conference this week. We got trained on ministry visits and the importance of helping those in the branch progress and advance in the church. It was cool to see how closely it relates to missionary work.

In my personal study, I was reading in Moroni 7: 12-13

       12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.

       13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

Something that caught my attention was the inviteth and enticeth. We each have agency and have the ability to choose for ourselves. Satan can invite and entice us to sin and he does with everything and anything he possibly can. His goal is to make us miserable. He however can't force us to do anything because he has no power over us. 

God does the exact same thing. He invites us to do good. He invites us to follow his commandments. God can't force us to make any of those decisions. He pleads with us and wants us to follow him but it's up to our choice.

We get all these invitations through our life to either follow Satan or God. Like many ad's Satan can make things look super good and enjoyable but in the end, we will end up waiting our money and wanting a refund. God however has never tried to trick people into following him. He however is the product that has perfect 5 star reviews, no complaints, and in the end we get more than what we ever invested. ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD! His product has a life time warranty. No matter how much we damage or break his product (commandments) from miss use, he will always as we promise to do better and read the instructions and use the resources (scriptures, prophets, family....) he has provided we will Receive a new tool with no questions asked. 

What do we choose to purchase? Of the 2, God's gifts and blessings are where I want to invest my talents, money, and life. I know that as we remain cautious to Satan's invitations though they may be tempting, and strive to always follow God and choose him we will be blessed immensely. Following God can only bring joy. Following Satan will only bring heartache and misery. 

I love you all and hope your weeks are all great. Remember to always look to follow the perfect example, Jesus Christ! I know it will bring everyone joy and happiness as it has to me. Love you all!

Another cool tree

Big twisty tree

Elder Elgaaen and Gibby

Elder Gibby poking a fire ant hill

Baby Chick

Jacob and a baby duck

Just before sunset

 It's a jungle out there

 

 

February 19, 2018 Life is Good if it isn't Make it!

This week was good. There was a lot of good things happening. We focused this week on reading the scriptures with our investigators and servi mg. There is truly an amazing power in the Book of Mormon. Brad, one of our investigators, said that the Book of Mormon explains what is happening right now in his life and gives him the answer to what to do in that situation. That is truly what the Book of Mormon does for us every day as we read it.

I was also working on prayer. I made a goal to say one of my personal prayers out loud every day. It was awesome on the amount I was able to concentrate more on my prayer, better communicate with Heavenly Father, and it was an overall better experience. The power of prayer is amazing. 

On Saturday, we were able to do some service for one of the members. They were very appreciative and after asked how one of our investigators was doing. We said he was good but not really wanting to listen to our message. She said that her husband and this guy were cousins. She wanted to confirm that so she could better do her family history work. We called up this investigator and he was very open to talking about family history. His wife just passed and so he is going through a lot. This really hit home and drew in his interest. We will continue to work with him on doing his family history online. I also was able to do some family history work on Saturday. We went to the library and in a hour, I found a bunch of people who needed their work done. Everyone should do family history work. It does bring joy into your life. Life is great. I am greatful for my family and especially for the temple. 

Life is good. If it isn't make it! Attitude is everything. Keep up everything you all do! I love you and hope your weeks are all great! Love ya!