July 1, 2019 The Falling Tree

This week flew by. A few highlights were we had a awesome church attendance (the bad part was I was speaking), we didn't die (a huge tree branch broke off a tree and smashed a house we were about to knock on), and we found 2 awesome people. It actually was a crazy week full of excitement. So, at the start of last week, I went on a tradeoff with Elder Welsh. He came out with me and was part of my mtc district so it was good to spend a day with him. All of the crazy things happened this week too. We got another assistant to the mission president, got a new mission president who I will meet on Wednesday, and our mission is finally combined with the Georgia Macon mission and Tallahassee mission.

The more spiritual side of my week consisted of reading through a huge chunk of the Book of Mormon because of a challenge to read the whole thing by the 7th of July. As I have been reading through it, I have really noticed how the things that stick out to me are pertaining to things that have been on my mind. This week the gospel of Jesus christ has been on my mind. First I gave a talk on it and second a lot people seem to be pointing fingers and make excuses in this area. It really made me think of how simple the gospel path is and how if we follow it, we will become a solution rather than a problem. Lots of times we forget the basics and try to complicate things but the best thing we can do is follow the gospel of Jesus Christ by exercising faith, repenting, focusing on our covanents, seeking the spirit and press forward relying on Christ.

Not much else happened this week! Maybe next week will be more exciting. Haha Hope everyone has a great week! Love ya

Card Ball

Card Ball

Elder Birch Driving

Huge Tree that almost fell on Jacob and his companion.

Airborne Gummies sent from home that arrived melted good old Florida heat!

June 24,2019 President Lee's Last Zone Conference

This week was good. Not much went on but we did have a zone conference as a whole mission. President and Sister Lee go home in 3 days from today and it was their last one. They themed the zone Conference as Remember, Remember and talked about what they feel are the most important things we need to remember. I also was asked to talk and picked the topic of The gospel of Jesus christ which was talked about in our zone conference and how that is the most important part of our lives. I was prepared and showed up to have it moved to next week because the high council was there. On pday we went disc golfing and fishing which was awesome. Time continues to fly by and as it does it reminds me of the importance of living the gospel each day. I love you all and hope you have great weeks full of living the gospel. 

Elder Birch and Elgaaen

Huge Spider

Jacob with Fish he Caught

Snake Jacob almost stepped on while disc golfing

Zane (recent convert) and Jacob

June 17, 2019 Branford

This week has been a one full of excitement. So on Monday, we actually got rained out of fishing and fished for 30 minutes and didn't catch anything. We plan to go fishing again though and catch some good fish. Haha On Tuesday, we had service as a district at the food pantry. We unloaded a van filled with food and sorted it. It's always great to serve there! The people are so kind and is awesome to help out those who really need help. We then came back to the apaprmtnet and I spent most of the day packing all of my stuff! I have been trying to get rid of some stuff and narrow down what I have and only take the essentials. The suitcases I have are both small and so Elder Babcock spent the whole time laughing at me as I tried to fit a lot of stuff into 2 tiny bags. I ended up going to Walmart and buying a $30 duffle bag which made everything work out. I finished packing about 11:30pm which made for a long Transfer day. We had a good transfer day besides the fact that it rained super hard all day. The guy who picked us up had a small truck so I had to put some of my luggage in the back and it got rained on. Haha. Everything was fine though. We went to our dinner and ate with the Petersons who were great. We got back to our house and it's pretty big. There also is around 10 acres of property where our house is. On Thursday we took a little time to explore and had a great time. We also were able to do our weekly planning and get most of it done. There are lots of awesome people in Branford who are super elect and so close to baptism that we are excited to help! One of the people is Greenly. She is a youth and her parents are members. She is waiting for her brother to come into town and besides that she is ready for baptism. We also are teaching a few families. One family, we had dinner with on Friday and they are super elect. They have a few setbacks but going to get baptized. Their kid that is 9 got baptized about a month ago and he is super cool. Branford is a lot like Live Oak. There is a lot going on and our area we cover is huge but there are so many elect awesome people. 

In my studes and over the last few weeks, the importance of personal revelation seems to keep coming up. I am so greatful for our ability to receive personal revelation to our questions, struggles, in our callings, and to guide us in our lives. In Preach my Gospel, it talks about how prayer and scripture study are a key to receiving personal revelation. Something I also have learned is that we receive revelation line upon line, here a little and there a little. It is something we need to constantly seek for to receive. I know that as we each seek revelation and guidence each day through earnist study and prayer, we will be filled with guidance and support from our loving Heavenly Father. 

Elder Gary E. Stevenson said, 

“To help you become all that the Lord wants you to become, kneel each morning and night in prayer to your Father in Heaven. … Study the scriptures each day and apply what you read to your life. … Strive each day to be obedient. … In all circumstances, follow the teachings of the prophets. … Be humble and willing to listen to the Holy Ghost. As you do these things, the Lord will make much more out of your life than you can by yourself. He will increase your opportunities, expand your vision, and strengthen you. He will give you the help you need to meet your trials and challenges. You will gain a stronger testimony and find true joy as you come to know your Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, and feel Their love for you.”

I'm greatful for the gospel and for all of you! Hope you have a blessed week! 

P.S. New Address: 25636 89th Road O'Brien, FL 32071

June 10, 2019 Hearing the Prophet's Voice

This week was great. I'm fishing today so will have to be brief on the highlights. Haha

On Wednesday we went finding in a small neighborhood. There was probably 20 houses so we decided to knock them all and leave a card at every one that didn't answer. We had around 15 people answer the door. Everyone wasn't interested until the last door. We knocked on it and found an awesome family. We asked if they were interested in our message and they very enthusiastically said yes. We are super excited to go back and teach her and her family.

On Friday we went to Texas Roadhouse which was super fun. There was a lot of missionaires that came but we had a good lunch. It will be the last time they eat at Texas because Elder Grieve who sponsored us is going home in a few weeks. After we had a Luau for 3 families that are moving out in the next few weeks for the military. It was fun. We went to our apartment for transfer call and found out that I am getting transfered to Branford Florida and my companion will be Elder Birch. I am super excited!

On Sunday, we went to our stake conference and it was really good! The theme was the Come Follow Me program. Something that stuck out to me was the Come Follow Me title. It is an invitation. We are invited to come and follow Jesus Christ. After conference, we were able to go down to St. Augustine and get on a bus down to Orlando to see the prophet speak. It was a long ride down and a hot bus too! On our way down there was some super slow traffic and we waited a long time but finally got through. When we were passing the emergency vehicles, there was some guy sleeping on the ground covered in a blanket or something.... Or he may have been dead. Who knows! The prophet devotional was super good. The prophet had all of the Primary children stand and sing I am a child of god! It was so so spiritual. The main messages were on the power of prayer, seeking revelation, making everywhere we are a place where the spirit can be, and the importance of scripture study. It was awesome. Besides that not much else happened! It was an awesome week and very spirit filled! Hope you all have a great week too. Also my new address is 25636 89th Road O'Brien, FL 32071 so feel free to write! Have a great one!

Amway Center

Elder Babcock sweating after eating hot food

Elder Elgaaen & Babcock by Orlando sign

Inside the Conference Center

Orlando Sign

Pigeon

Sign Announcing Prophet speaking

June 3, 2019 Busy Week

This week was a quick one! Time is flying by and it's crazy that it's already June! This week was a really average week but something that happened that was really cool was when we were finding. We were out in the 100 degree heat finding and knocked into Megan. Megan was super up front telling us she was Athiest but was very receptive to listen to our message. We talked with her about religion in her life and she mentioned her Grandma was religious and she was very open to taking about beliefs. We left her with the Book of Mormon and she said she would read. 

I don't really have much else to write about but I can always share my testimony! This week we had a great lesson in church on the signs of the times. It was related to the Parable of the 10 virgins. They talked about how we need to make sure that the lamps we have are full and how our perspective will change depending on how full our lamps are. For instance, if we live our life's prepared for Christ to come by living the gospel, we will find a lot more joy in the signs of the coming of Christ. On the other hand, if we live in sin and aren't doing the things that will prepare us (Reading Scripture, Praying, Church...) then we will fear the signs of the times. I know that we can find a lot of peace in our lives as we live the gospel and follow the council of the prophet. I also know that as we read the Book of Mormon Daily, our life's will change for the good! One member said, "We need to live with our suitcase packed" meaning that we need to be prepared all the time. 

I love the gospel and am greatful for the joy I have in my life each day. I am so blessed to be serving the Lord and have the first hand opertunity to see the gospel working first hand. Hope yall have a great week! 

Broken Sprinkler

Singing Fish

Turtle

May 28,2019 Weekly

Just a few highlights/Crazy moments of this week... 

So this week we had the big BBQ with the Candelaria family and it was super fun. We had 14 Missionaires come and played volleyball, spike ball, horseshoes, and some other games. It was really fun. Besides that we got to meet some more of the Candelarias extended family and they were super funny. There was also a tight rope there and I can't walk on them that well. I usually just run. One of the members that was there tried walking on the tight rope and he fell with the rope between his legs and let's just say it didn't go well.  

We went to a members for dinner and they asked us to take our shoes off. They had 4 dogs but we did. When we were carrying the dinner into the dining room, there was a strong smell of pee. I thought nothing of it so I walked into the room to take some food in and stepped in a huge puddle of pee. I sat with super wet socks the whole dinner and just walked out without shoes on. It was a good one! 

We had another BBQ with JL and his family. Jl is super excited to go to the ysa this next Sunday and really enjoys spending time with us. He wants to marry into the church too! He is awesome and continues to progress every day. 

In my district, there was a companionship that was struggling and we got a call from the mission president and they ended up emergency transferring one of the sisters. Now we have a new sister in our district and so hopefully that will be a strength to the new missionary. Missionary work is difficult at times but you just got to keep pressing forward. 

Interviews went well too! It was president and sister Lee's last interviews. It was sad but I am also excited to meet the new mission president. It was a long week and a good one. I'm under 100 but who's counting. Love you all! 

Bug

Sweet Playground

Corvette

Dogs that pee everywhere

Cool Playground

Trash

May 20, 2019 Prophets in Florida

This week started off a wonderful week and just kept getting better.

On Tuesday, we had the opertunity to do service for the Candelaria family. We brought 8 Missionaires and helped them build a shed we took down st their other house, tear out carpet from a small "side house/club house thing" and fixed a volley ball net. We got there at 10 and they made us pancake breakfast which was awesome! After eating a bunch, we did the service for them. After, they wanted to make us some more food. They fed us a awesome lunch and we had a good conversation with them. They are so awesome!

Wednesday we had zone conference and it was awesome. We take a lot about having a understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving The Gift of The Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). When we understand the simple pattern of the gospel and what it can do for us, we will change our actions, thoughts, and eventually mold us into a disciple of Jesus Christ. Later in the zone Conference, someone asked if we could go to Tallahassee with members when the prophet came. President Lee said as of now no... At the very end of zone conference, he talked about the Devotional and said the mission would be getting busses so we can go and were getting 2 extra tickets so we can invite those we are teaching. Everyone was super excited and now we're all looking forward to the 9th of June.

On Thursday and Friday to Saturday, I went on 2 tradeoffs. The first was with the zone leader (Elder Fry) and I stayed in Fleming Island. We had a super good tradeoff. We went to one of our areas that we hadn't been in for a while and tryed by a lot of people we had previously taught, are teaching, and some members. We were able to set up 5 lessons for this next week and find some solid people. Elder Fry does eat a ton of food. For example Durring lunch, he made 4 eggs, a bowl of rice, 2 pieces of Chicken, and ate 4 protein bars. He was just consuming food like a machine. Haha. The next morning, we traded off again. This time I was with Elder Hendricks in Fleming as well. We had a good tradeoff too. We found some really awesome people. One lady we knocked into said she had to interview 2 different religions and said she wanted to find a time to come to our church building and get a tour as well as ask us some questions about what we believe.

Just to wrap up the week, on Sunday we went to a area with a bunch of new houses. The first door we felt prompted to knock we talked with Anthony and his wife. They were super receptive and open to learning more. They have 4 boys and also just moved to this area 4 days ago and enjoyed our lesson. After, we went to see a less active member and while we were driving home, we saw JL and his dad standing outside their house so we stopped and talked to them. We were able to set some expectations of sharing our message with JL, find out more of his drive behind coming to church and meeting with us, as well as set up a lesson for tonight.

That pretty much sums up my week. I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Christ descended above all so we can rise through anything. I know our weakness and imperfections can be overcome through hard work and in doing things that will strengthen our testimony. Thank you for your prayers, letters, and everything you have done for me. I love you all and know that God will bless you as you center him in your lives this week.

Trade off's with Elder Hendrick's

Chandelarias and District doing service

Missing the Target

Porta potty Elder Babcock 

The District