July 23,2018 My Week

This week was really awesome as well. It did rain a lot and it is suppose to rain all of next week as well. We had the car this week so it was good. On Tuesday we were able to meet with Tyler and solidify up his baptismal date and change it from the 18th of August to the 11th of August

. We made some plans and got his mother involved so that will be good with helping it go through. We were also able to teach a little bit of the lessons to Tyler's mom and set a return apointment to teach her more and so she is someone who we are teaching now.

On Wednesday, Elder Hansen had Mission Leadership Training and so I went on a tradeoff with a brand new Elder, Elder Barton. We were able to do some good work. A few of the people we saw we got sad news but I guess now we know they aren't ready at this time for the gospel. We did however teach Jeff Church a little and we helped him understand that a testimony of the Book of Mormon will come as he acts on the things he reads and applies the messages we share. Later we met with Kris and he is super elect. We caught him at a perfect time and were able to teach the restoration. When we were doing the first vision, I had been talking most of the time so I asked Elder Barton to do the first vision. He did and it was super awesome. After the lesson, he said you should probably get that memorized. I told him I did have it memorized and I just wanted him to do it because he wasn't talking much. Haha! 

On Friday, Dee from Jax Beach came and dropped food off for us and the Sisters. It was not really for much reason but It was super appreciated. So that was really cool. On Saturday, we had a bunch of lessons set. 3-5 went through and we were able to find a new person. It was super cool to notice through the week how you can see how the lord provides a way for you to be in the places you need to be to meet people at the perfect time. 

On Sunday, we had an awesome day! We were able to find the one at church. We also were able to have 4 investigators in church. Most weeks we have 2 or 1 but the last few weeks we have had 2 in church consistently. We decided to work on getting more people in church and it seemed to work amazingly. So the investigator we taught durring church was a person who came to church last week with his friend who was yelling durring Sacrament. They came again and sat in the foyer and we caught them after church. Then we were able to go by the Watchman's and visit with them for a little while which was super fun. 

Well, that pretty much sums up my week. I am glad to be on my mission and am loving every minute! There is power in prayer, in scripture study, and in the atonement of Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope you take a moment this next week to find some strength through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all!



Key Board Art see above discription

 

July 16,2018 Referral Party

This week was super. We were able to get a lot done and have a really spirit filled happy week. This past week was transfers. We had to go to transfers to pick up a key because we are now sharing a car with the sisters in our ward. We took their car down and picked up the key. I got to see a lot of old time Missionaries and members which was super fun. We went to Whataburger after with the elders from Gainesville and had a good time with them.

A big miracle that happened this past week was we get a lot of referrals. I think we got a total of 4 and 3 of the 4 were made new investigators this past week. It was super cool to see how the Lord will make a way for us to accomplish his work. He knows what our needs are and I know that this is not our work but the Lords. 

 

One of our investigators, Patricia has come to church 2 weeks in a row and we set a baptism date with her for the 18th of August. She is an awesome person and she really does care and put in the work. She is shy and doesn't really think too much out loud but she will write her testimony and it is so powerful and so sincere. She is so elect and awesome! 

 

We are also teaching a guy named Roger. He has taken all the Missionary discussions before and felt pressured into baptism. We are trying to teach him at a slower pace and really help him gain a testimony. It has been a great experience to teach in that way. We have had numerous opportunities to share our experiences and testimony with him as well as be a part of his own spiritual experiences. His wife suffered from PTSD and we have been able to help her as well. She has a super strong testimony and is always willing to share with her husband about the importance of the Gospel to her. 

Last of all, this week we were able to give 4 priesthood blessings. I love priesthood blessings and know there is so much power in receiving a blessings. Each time I have taken part in blessings someone, I feel the spirit stronger, I feel a greater love and a deeper gratitude for my Father in Heaven as well as the person being blessed. I really love the focus from this weeks church lesson on small and simple things. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. We all need to work on the small and simple things in our lives and continue to do all we can to grow each day and become more like our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

I love you all and hope your weeks are all amazing. This is our time to prepare to meet our Savior and God. I hope you all will continue to turn to Christ in all you do! Love ya!!!! 

 

July 9,2018 Transfer Calls

This week was a good one. On Monday, we went fishing in St. Augustine. It was super fun and we caught a bunch of fish (pictures sent last week) we had a super time with Brother Mitte. He is super funny and was enjoyable to be around. On Tuesday, we did some service at a place that sells donations to make money for charity. We most of the time just sort through bags of nasty clothing and try to find clothes that aren't ruined. We have fun being together as a district though so it makes it worth it. On wednesday we had our district meeting which is always a joy. The new Preach my Gospel came out so lots of things are a little different than they were before which makes things hard because of how we are use to doing everything. On Thursday we got to visit with Grandpa Girard again. He came up and fed us breakfast. It was super fun to spend some time with him. We ate at Cracker Barrel. The next few days were just normal days with not much going on. On Saturday, we had transfer calls. Me and Elder Hansen were both wanting to stay in our area. We did end up staying together and were super greatful for that. Some of the other missionaries in our district are getting shut down and they are adding another set of sisters from a different district so we will now have 4 sisters and us. Its going to be interesting but we should make it out alive. Haha Sister Missionaires are awesome! 

The spiritual aspect of this week that I wanted to share was something someone shared in Sacrament Meeting. He shared how in an Orchestra one instrament will tune to a tuning box or something so they are perfectly in tune. After that one person sets the perfect tone and the rest of the Orchestra tunes all of their instraments to match. He shared how it is the same with Christ. He came and he set the perfect example for us to all tune our lives to. We all need to strive to keep our lives in tune with him so we may be the best instraments possible in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Something in our mission that has been a huge focus is the "Alter of Sacrifice." I would like you all to think of something this next week you can put on the Alter of Sacrifice and give up for the Lord and so we can be more in tune with his perfect example. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! Strengthen your testimonies and then help others do the same! Have an aweosme week. 

 

July 2, 2018 Fishing in Florida

This week was a good week. We were able to find 4 people and teach some good lessons. A few awesome and weird things happened this week. On Saturday the sisters in our ward had a baptism, We met a crazy guy while walking on the skreet, we met a munk who we taught, and Today I am going salt water fishing.

The highlight of the week was defiantly the baptism. Jada was the one who got baptised and It was a awesome spirit filled baptism. Her parents have been less active for some time so they have started to come back to church and change their lives because of Jada's example. It has shown me that all of our actions are important and people are looking at us and our examples can change someone's life. 

Second highlight was probably the munk. The guys name is Damrong. It is a interesting name and people always question when we say it first to them but he is super awesome. He invited us into his home and we were able to teach him with a member and it was super awesome. When we were leaving he asked where our church was and he also asked if we could take a picture of him with us. He was a super awesome guy! 

Last of all we were walking over to an area to go tracting. There was a guy who was walking so we were going to talk to him. Before we even said a word, the guy loudly said thankyou. We said how are you doing and the guy said he was going that way and pointed down the street. After he turned the opposite direction that he pointed and started walking in the wrong direction abruptly turned back around and then he sang us the N.Y. Nets theme song and said Thankyou, love you and he was off. It was super funny and weird. 

Well I got to get back to my fishing but I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Damrong  Elder Elgaaen & Hansen

sunburn

Happiness is fishing!

 

June 25,2018 What's UP? Fake Identity

Hello Everyone!

This week has been a good one. For the start of the week, I went on a Tradeoff with Elder Karl. It was interesting and kind of like the good old days. Right after, we had a sleepover with the other Elders. It was fun. Elder Karl and Hansen both were going to the temple. 

On our tradeoff, we did service by laying sod. We did it for around 5 hours and it was just 4 Missionaries because the lady failed to announce it earlier than the morning of. It was super hot too this past week. It was over 100 for a few days which was pretty great! At least we had the car. 

There wasn't much else going on this week. A guy in sacrament told a story I really liked so I will try to retell it the best I can. 

The Great Ape:

Th are was a guy who had been out of a job for a few months and nothing was working out. He was looking through the job listings one day and he saw a job opening at the zoo. He applied for the job out of desperation and got called in the next day for a interview. The zoo owner asked him to raise his hand and take an oath. He asked what the oath was for. He said that the great ape was sick and was going to die and that his job would be to dress up in an ape costume and act as the ape until they could get the replacement. He said that would be easy because he had done gymnastics in High school and college so he was put to the test and hired on the next day. Over time he became a really big hit. He made the news and hundreds of people were coming from all over to see him preform. One day there was a crowd of around 500 people watching him. He was flipping majestically all over on the trees and ropes. As he was super high up swinging on one of the ropes, the rope snapped and he fell down right into the lions den. He got up in a panic and started pacing back and forth like a gorilla would do. Not knowing what to do he decided to give up the oath. He started saying I am just a man, please don't eat me. The lion got up from where it was sleeping and started walking over. His lip pulled up over his teeth as he approached. The man started yelling and doing everything he could to give up the fake identity and so he might live. Then he heard a distinct voice say, stop giving yourself away or you will end up getting both of us fired. 

Sometimes in life we put on fake identities. At times it may make us feel good or help us get somewhere we want but we may get stuck in a situation and what will we do then? We always need to be ourselves. If we don't like who we are then we can change through the atonement. I love you all and hope you all have an awesome week! Love ya

Very Hot Temperatures

Jacob's Weights

Service on Exchanges

 

June 18,2018 My Week of Wonders

This week was a good one. We had a interesting week because we had a tradeoff, zone conference, and stake conference. So our week was packed before we made any plans. We had a lesson with Anthony, Dwayne, and Leishia. Leishia and Anthony are both new super awesome investigators. We also were able to get in contact with a good amount of investigators we haven't met yet. 

On Wednesday, we had our zone conference. It was a long meeting but the spirit was there. The topic of this meeting was the power of the spirit. The Spirit is so awesome and essential to every aspect of our lives. Something I really liked was the spirit is something we need all the time. It isn't like an old sweater that we pull out of the closet before we go out of the door. It is something we need to constantly have with us. As we constantly have the spirit, we will be able to withstand the temptations of the adversary and receive revelation. Receiving personal revelation is so important to each of our lives. It is needed to further the work of the Lord as well as help us to be tools in the hands of God. 

We had some good lessons this week. Anthony is a less active members husband. He is in the military and was open to letting us teach him. We talked about desire in our lesson and how if this is something he wants he will need to put in the work to receive his answer. We talked about the power of prayer and how important that is in conversion and gaining a personal testimony. Super awesome lesson! Next was Dwayne. Dwayne plays the piano at another church and has for some time. We shared the restoration with him last lesson and so this lesson we followed up with him on the importance of reading and praying. We talked about how to strengthen the testimony he has with the Book of Mormon. Last of all was Leishia. Leishia was a potential for some time and on Sunday we decided to stop by. She had just gotten back from her vacation and we were able to share a brief message with her. We talked about how God loves each of us and how trials can strengthen us if we have the right attitude. She lost her mother when she was young and so she said she has been trying to strengthen her relationship with Christ and its been hard. She is super excited about learning more and is an awesome investigator. 

In Stake Conference, the main focus was Ministering. There was a lot of good talks that really helped me see the power in ministering. Just like in zone conference, I think one of the most important things we can do with ministering is seek the spirit and receive personal revelation. As we do this we can be guided in all we do and be the most effective instruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Each day I have strived and done my best to always have the spirit with me. It has been such a blessing in my life. I challenge you all to seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost each day in your life. Always have the words "What would Jesus Do" on your mind as you go about your day and go out of your way to serve as Christ would do. There is so much power in Service. 

Last of all, I want to thank my Dad, Grandpa, Uncles, Cousins, Neighbors, Priesthood Leaders, and any other fathers out there that have played a part in my life. I am Eternally grateful for your examples and guidance you have given me in my life. Your are doing an awesome job and what you do! I love you all and hope you had an amazing Fathers Day. Fathers have a sacred call to exercise righteous dominion with their priesthood and to be the vessels to bless Gods children on earth. I am grateful for each one of you and all you do for me! I love you all and hope your weeks are full of tender mercies. Seek the positive and remember attitude is everything.

Eating a Grasshopper

Large Grasshopper

Eating Lunch with Grandpa

Bike

Rainbow's

Water balloon Tub