May 14,2018 Trust in the Lord and give your all!

Hey Family and Friends!

This week was a good one. It went super fast but it was full of fun and success. I went on a trade off with the district leader and it was so full of miracles. We were able to find 4 awesome investigators in less than 24 hours. It was such a party. We found one lady named Krishna. She was super, super promising and really ready. At first contact, she said she wasn't interested but inspired questions lead to a good conversations with lots of questions and interest on her part. It was amazing.

 

This week I wanted to share a short testimony on how god knows you. There is a short story that goes along with it. 

 A golfer, now into his golden years, had a lifelong ambition to play the 17th hole at TPC Saw grass in Ponte Verde, Florida, exactly the way the pros do it.

 

The pros drive the ball out over the water onto the small green that is on a small spit of land. It was something the golfer had tried hundreds of times without success. His ball had always fallen short, into the water.

 

Because of this, he never used a new ball on this particular hole.  He always picked out one that had a cut or a nick, as did many other "average" golfers when negotiating very challenging holes.

 

Recently he went to Saw grass to try again.

 

When he came to the fateful hole, he teed up an old, cut ball as usual, and said a silent prayer.  However, before he could hit the ball, a powerful voice from above seemed to be booming out from the clouds, saying, "Wait! Replace that old ball with a brand new one, a Titleist ProV1 if you have it."

 

The golfer complied, with some slight misgivings, despite the fact that this same force seemed to be implying that he was going to finally achieve his lifelong ambition.

 

As he stepped up to the tee once more, the voice came down again, "Wait  Step back.  Take a practice swing."

 

So he stepped back and took a practice swing, certain now that this heavenly force was going to make his dream come true.

 

The voice boomed out again, "Take another practice swing."

 

Dutifully, he did.  He stopped expectantly and waited; a long silence followed.

 

Then, the voice again, "Use the old ball."

Although funny, There is a deeper message to the story. Everything God does is for our good. Sometimes, we think that as we do something, we are doing it for a certain purpose. Sometimes God has bigger plans for us. Sometimes we need more practice. Sometimes, we get impressions that may just be for our own good even if we don't see the reason. I love the Holy Ghost and the comfort, peace, and direction it brings into each of our lives. Sometimes we need to trust in the Lord and give our all even if we don't see the point. God knows us perfectly and knows when we are prepared and when we need a little more practice. I love this gospel and hope you all can find a little time this week to think about what God wants you to become, think of the potential you have, and think of what you are doing each day to become a little more like Christ. 

I am so grateful for my Mom! I love her as well as all the other mothers that have played a part in my life. You made me who I am and are such an example of Love and peace and kindness to all those around you! I love you all! I pray that you all can feel that love through others every day. Thank you for your Christ like examples and all you do for me. I love you all so much and hope your week is great! 

Elder Elgaaen & Hansen Eating out with a member at Bev's Fried Pickles and corn fritters.

 

May 7,2017 Praying brings the Spirit

This week was a awesome week. There wasn't a lot going on but it was still a good week. A lot happened in church and hopefully the efforts towards member missionary work will change over the next few weeks too. Some things that happened this week were Gopal quit smoking, we found John, and we had a good church count. 

So this week was a good one. We had quite a few lessons and are getting super close to setting some baptism dates. We have a lesson set up with Jimmy and Carol who we haven't been able to see in a long time. It is exciting. I am looking forward to that lesson because they are always so filled with the spirit. In lessons, something that really invites the spirit is praying. If you are in a place or need a little more of a spiritual boost, say a prayer it works! 

So Gopal has been an investigator for 3ish months. He has improved a lot from before not talking to us at all. He now has open discussions and understands why we do what we do. He is wanting to overcome smoking and he has such a strong desire. He is getting rid of all of his smoking equipment because he uses a pipe thing. He said he wants to give it all to our Branch president because he got him patches. He is so awesome. I am glad that he is willing to work towards giving up his smoking habit and becoming free from the chains of smoking. 

John is one of our newest investigators. He is so awesome. He is a guy we met while knocking doors on Saturday night. He works at the prison and goes to a church that is around 1 hr. away so quite the drive. We praised him on his dedication and asked if he would do the Book of Mormon Challenge. This is where you take a Book of Mormon and flip to any page and read it. You then underline the references to Christ. Lots of people are shocked on how much the Book of Mormon speaks about Christ. We gave him a book and he started flipping through it as if he were looking for something. We asked what he was looking for because that isn't the purpose of the challenge. He said that he wanted to find something that applied to him. We lead him to Alma 32 and he read a scripture he liked that talked about humility. He marked it and we started discussing it. He said he thinks the Book of Mormon is true and that it will bless him. He wanted to read it so we gave him a copy. He said we can come back and share more. It was such a spiritual experience. There is so much power in the Book of Mormon. If your not reading it, READ IT!!!

So we are doing a count on the grounds at church. If we get enough people attending, we will be able to be made a ward. We had a lot of people at church this past Sunday and so I think the count is going well. There was a lot of good food after as well because we did a break the fast. It was super awesome. We have invited a bunch of people and even though we didn't have anyone we invited show up, we did have other people there. It shows how the lord has a plan even if its not what we think it will be. Our job is to invite and strive to get people to attend church and accept the gospel. The Lord knows who is ready and will make things happen as we work. WORK YOUR HARDEST AND YOU WILL SEE MIRICALS!!!!!! 

I love you and hope you all have an awesome week! Keep working hard and doing your best! I appreciate all of you and I love hearing from you. Thank you for the emails and letters. They make even the worst day better! Love ya!

New Knife

Coins

Peanut butter started by my Uncle Sheldon Bartholomew

 

April 30, 2018 My Testimony

This week was good. We didn't have much going on besides we did find 4 investigators. We had a goal this past week to invite people to church we had a goal to invite 7 people a day. It went really well. As we invited everyone we had tons of success even though people didn't come to church. On Saturday we went to a Krishna Temple because we were invited by a guy we met. We went with our ward mission leader and the people there were super nice. I enjoyed the people and they were super kind towards the "Mormons". It was super cool to learn more about their religion.

Sorry for the short letter but I just want to conclude with my testimony of the Church and the blessing it is to be a member. People in this world are confused. There is a lot going on and a lot of people are led astray by the world. To know what we know in the gospel, to have knowledge of Eternal Life, to feel the power of the Atonement, to have a personal relationship with Christ.... Is such a blessing. Every single day I see people who are confused and are miserable. I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon and its power. I love my testimony and the things it helps me get through. I am grateful for prayer and the spirit I feel as I look to my Heavenly Father for guidance and strength. Testimony is what gets me through day to day. I pray that all of you will do what you can each day to strengthen your testimony. It is so essential. I love you all and hope your weeks are great! Make Christ the center of your life!  Keep the Faith

eggs glorious eggs

wood with a cool pattern

Rubik's cubes

cooking 18 eggs

Elder Hansen Dog Whisperer

Chillin with the members

Elder Hansen and Elgaaen

Beautiful flower

Cool Lizzard

Lord of the Rings Money

Jacob Selfie

More Lord of the Rings Money

 

April 23,2018 New Companion Elder Hansen

Hello!!!!!!!

This has been a great week! I have received my new companion and he is super awesome. He doesn't like germs and does a lot of weird things but he loves basketball and he is super nice and happy. This week was an eventful week. There was a lot of good things that happened this week and the work is moving along. This week we had a lot of weird things happen. One thing in particular was when we were teaching Bob and Glenda It was going good. We were having a great time teaching her. we said a prayer and were asking if we could share a video. Glenda was going to move to a different chair because the one she was in was a wood stool and there was a recliner open. She stood up a little and was shaking her coffee. I thought she was shaking it to spill some for her dog to drink because he was standing right in front of her. She spilled it and the dog continued to stand there. She started bending over, continued to spill the rest of her coffee and started falling to the floor. It was weird so I asked if she was okay. She went limp and was in a super uncomfortable looking position. After a minute she told us she wanted help up because the position she was in hurt. We asked if we should call 911 and bob said no. We helped lift Glenda into a chair and she lay limp for a few minutes before she started to move. It was a weird experience. I learned that service is awesome. We need to serve others and help them. It makes us experience joy as well as helps others. We latched a Mormon message called Lift. It is super good. I want to share my testimony about service. Jesus Christ went around serving everyone. He never complained or did anything for himself. it was all about others and he did it out of love. I know that as we serve others and help them in every way we can, we will magnify Christ more fully in each of our lives and be an example to all of those around us. Please take time this week to serve. It will bring such blessings and help us to become more like Christ. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Thank you for everything you do. I learn so much from each of your examples. Keep the faith and keep and keep smiling!