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!