October 21, 2019 A Baptism, Book of Mormon's, A snake and possum

This week was SO amazing!! I had exchanged this Monday and Tuesday and we got to hold a SNAKE and a POSSUM!! We handed out 6 book of mormons and got rejected 15 times!! (Our goal was to get 20 rejections, so we were close haha)

We had a BAPTISM this saturday and Adah who is 11 and Mason who is 13 got baptised! They have been working towards baptism for a little over a year and it was such an amazing experience to be able to witness and speak at their baptism.

This week I read JACOB 5! I have read Jacob 5 many times in my life. I have been able to relate it to myself in countless ways, especially now as I am helping to gather scattered Israel as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints.

 The verses that stands out to me the most are found in vs. 41 and 47 

 It says: 

"And it came to pass that the Lord of the vinyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my Vinyard? 

.... have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vinyard?" 

The Lord of the vineyard spoken of in the allegory is representing our Heavenly Father. 

He can see exactly what is happening on the earth! 

He weeps when we choose to hurt others or disobey the commandments. He cries when we are depressed or broken, he mourns when we curse or fall away. 

He loves us perfectly, and it pains him when we choose to doubt him and the perfect plan he has for each one of us. 

He truly has nourished us, he has given us food, clean water and a shelter over our head. He has provided an extraordinary prophet and his faithful apostles to help us strengthen our testimony and continue with the Lord's work. 

He has digged about us, constantly new ideas and opportunities for growth are beginning to form. Heavenly father had blessed us with technology and many other advancements that have blessed the Lord's work immensely! He has allowed temple after temple to be build so we now gave 166 dedicated temples to help us gather Israel on both sides of the veil.

He has pruned us. And although it may be painful and heartbreaking, he knows exactly what he is doing as he expertly cuts away pieces of our branches so we can grow to our full potential. 

He has stretched forth his hand to us, and his hand is stretched out still. 

So take his hand! 

Endure all of lifes challenges with unshakable faith! 

If we slip, get back up again. And do so quickly, because the devil, your adversary walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

  It is Satan who is corrupting the Lord's Vineyard and he desires each of us to be miserable as he is. Don't Let Satan Win!! He will try to convince you that you are worthless, that you aren't doing enough, that you aren't cut out for this work, but let me tell you this: HE IS LYING! 

You and I mean each of you are a beloved Son or Daughter of our heavenly father. He loves you! You are worth SO much to our father in heaven. If you are struggling with feelings of self doubt or depression I would like to give a reminder, that you are NEVER alone! Remember Heavenly father and our savior Jesus Christ are constantly there working in our vineyard. No trial or challenge is too big for you to overcome with their help! Don't ever give up on our father in heaven, because he never has and never will give up on you! 

Houston Temple trip

Baptism of Adah & Mason ages 11 & 13

Ann & Possum

Sister Lewis & Elgaaen

Face Wash Sister Sessions and Elgaaen

October 14, 2019 "Be Healed"

Hi family and friends! This week we schedualed 2 baptisms!! They will be held this Saturday for Adah and Masen! I will keep you posted. 

On Wednesday the 9th of October, we rose from bed early to quickly prepare for Zone confrence which would begin promptly at 8 a.m.. We were picked up by the Galveston sisters who drove us 45 minutes to the church where the confrence was being held; everything was perfectly normal... or so we thought.

 

 Lunch time came and there was an assortment of salads and fruit. We piled our plates full of the delicious food and sat at a table where a companionship of two sisters, who were our close friends, joined us opposite to where we were seated. One of the sisters, sister Aung, has a sevear allergy to peanuts, and the ward members who provided the meal were very aware of it. They had made sure NOT to have anything that contained peanuts even optional on the lunch table.

  We ate lunch and were exited when they brought out root beer floats for the missionaries. We each had one, but only about 3 bites in Sister Aung began to feel sick. I asked if she needed to go lie down or if she would like me to call for our mission nurse. She said she would be fine, but as time went on she began to get progressively worse.

  

 Eventually she was leaning over with tears in her eyes trying to breath. Her companion asked her to pull out the epy pen and had it in hand, but the sister didn't want her to use it. Myself and others constantly were reaching out to her, asking her if she needed anything and tried to do all we could to help her feel better.

Time seemed to speed up as Sister Guthrey, our mission presidents wife, came over to her and instructed her to move into a different room. Sister Aung relied heavily on sister Guthrey as they slowly began the walk out of the gym. Not even ten steps later sister Aung went limp. I watched as Sister Guthrey tried to support her weight but eventually ended up guiding her to the floor where she lay motionless. 

I quickly bowed my head and offered a prayer for her. 

Fear filled me inside and out. My hands shook and my eyes filled with tears, all that I could think about was loosing sister Aung. She had stopped breathing and her companion ran to her side dropping to the floor with the epy pen in hand. She stabbed it as quickly as she could in Sister Aung's leg but had forgotten to take he cap off. Precious time ticked as Sister Aung lay lifeless on the floor. I pressed my eyes closed as her companion finally jabbed the epy pen into sister Aung. We waited. But nothing happened. 

Soon President Guthrey was kneeling on the floor and with his hands on Sister Aung's head. The Priesthood blessing was given quietly and urgently.

As president Guthrey uttered the words "Be healed" Sister Aung suddenly sucked in a deep breath, sending fresh tears to my eyes that streamed down my face. She would be ok. 

The Priesthood is the power and authority to act in God's name. This experience has helped me understand deeper how wonderful this gift from heaven is. It was no coincidence that it was only after the priesthood blessing where Sister Aung was able to recover quickly. The ambulance came and giant men stood over her ready to take her to the hospital, as they would with any other person that experienced something such as this, but through the priesthood blessing she was able to recover enough where that wasn't necessary.  

This last general confrence during the women's session our prophet said, 

"Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.

The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life." (President Russell M. Nelson) 

I know that this is the true church on the earth today, for no other church has the priesthood power given to them by God! We MUST continue fighting for what is right and constantly strive to become more fully converted to this gospel. 

Our father in heaven loves each and every one of us, he has given the priesthood power to us on this earth today and we must remember to constantly stay worthy to receive blessings from the Priesthood. 

Sister Aung is doing wonderful, but I may never look at root beer floats the same way again. 

I hope you all have the BEST WEEK EVER!! 

Lots of ghost's for booing people

Another Rain Storm

Queen's Daughters of a Heavenly King

Texan's like things big!

October 7, 2019 A Father's Embrace

At the age of 7 Joseph Smith was experiencing a sharp pain in his shoulder which was guessed to be a Fever Blister or Tie foot fever. The doctors extracted about a pint of puss from Joseph's shoulder but the pain then went straight into his leg. 

This sweet little boy was suffering and the doctor suggested amputating Joseph's leg. Instead of just chopping the leg off however, the doctors agreed to perform a surgery where they would cut into his leg to extract the infected pieces of bone.

 

The doctors brought in ropes to tie little Joseph down, but he refused. Joseph said he was content in his father's arms. The doctors tried to at least give him some form of alcohol to numb the pain, but again Joseph refused.

 

Joseph, not wanting his mother to see or hear his cries asked her to leave the room while the surgery was being performed. She complied, but despite the distance she still heard Young Joseph when he Screamed out in agony as the doctor made the first cut. 

Lucy made her way quickly back to the room. Whatever they were doing to her baby needed to stop! But when she entered the room, Joseph, with what I can only imagine was a tear stained face, told her once again to leave, that he would be ok. WHAT A BRAVE LITTLE BOY! 

The surgery turned out a success and Joseph was slowly but surely making his way to recovery. 

Fast forward three years, Joseph's family was struggling to get by. Plants weren't growing due to the poor atmosphere from the Tambora volcano that had erupted in 1815. Although Joseph's father didn't want to leave Vermont, he decided to head to New York so he could purchase land to provide for his family. In 1816 Joseph SR. Left for New York. 

That following winter Lucy and her 8 children were going to follow in their father's footsteps and meet him in New York to begin their new life. So Joseph and his family packed up all they could carry in a small wagon and prepared for their long journey. 

Lucy choose to hire help for her journey, someone to steer the wagon. She found a man named Mr. Howard and paid him to make the trip to New York with their family. 

So with their few belongings Lucy and her children began their journey to reunite themselves with their father. 

On the road Mr. Howard handled their belongings very roughly and gambled and drank away their money.

 

Although Joseph struggled with walking due to his surgery about three years prior, Mr. Howard forced poor Joseph to walk. 

Eventually Mr. Howard said he would go no further throwing all the Smith's belongings out of the wagon, preparing to take off and return home. They were about 100 miles from Palmyra New York where their father was waiting when this occurred. 

You could imagine he stress and anxiety that must have been streaming through Lucy during this moment. 

It was winter for heaven sakes! 

She picked herself up and found Mr. Howard who was drunk in a nearby bar. She publically announced what Mr. Howard intentions were, and decided then and there that she would still make it to New York even if she had to do it herself. 

Eventually Lucy led her family safely to Palmyra. 

There was a time on the road to New York however, where Joseph felt be couldn't go on. Each step was excruciatingly painful! Joseph stopped walking and just laid down in the snow. 

Maybe there have been times in our lives where we felt we couldn't go on. Even just one step more was too painful. 

But Joseph wasn't left behind. Someone picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to New York. 

We aren't expected to go through lifes trials alone! When we are down at our lowest, when even the thought of moving on is too painful, that is when the savior will pick us up and carry us safely back to our father in heaven who is anxiously anticipating your return. 

Joseph would go on to experience many more challenging times in his life such as mockery, physical and mental abuse, he lost almost every child he tried to have with Emma. He was thrown in jail and eventually shot to death. But through all those challenging moments, it was learning to trust in the Lord from the beginning that kept Joseph going. 

Joseph always believed in God. His parents taught him to love God and to follow the commandments. If Joseph wasn't taught that in his early years, I believe that None of the maraculious work he has done would have happened. 

Alma 37:35 says: 

 O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

It is critical that we teach our children how much their heavenly father loves them! A child is submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict up on them, even stumbling through the snow with an ingered leg such as Joseph, or losing a job when everything was seeming to go well. 

Joseph was the kind of child who was willing to submit to the father even if lifes challenges seem too hard to bear. 

Our heavenly father LOVES his children! He especially loves the little ones who are innocent and hopeful. 

Joseph wasn't perfect, maybe he tipped over an outhouse, or pushed his brother in the river, but Joseph was pure in heart. Joseph was able and willing to do exactly as the Lord told him, and that is why Joseph was chosen to restore the fullness of the gospel on the earth once again. 

We must become as a child! We must submit to our heavenly fathers will even if it is painful. Because he knows what is best for us. 

"C. S. Lewis explained God’s transforming power this way: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably. … He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of. … You thought you were [being] made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. Which He intends to come and live in  Himself.”

I know as we continue trusting in God's plan, enduring all the trials and struggles that come our way, we can be an instrument in God's hand. He can make us into something we couldn't even comprehend.

 

We may not experience the first vision such as Joseph did,  but that doesn't mean God isn't there. I have seen him in everything! He is always there for me and I can't wait for the day when I am able to fall into our Heavenly father's embrace and be reunited with him once again. 

I love you all!! The mission is going great! I am almost fully trained haha (not) 

Time just seems to be flying! 

I love all of you!!! 

Sister's in the District

Sister Elgaaen & Lewis at the Beach

Bubble Blowing!

Watching General Conference at the Wilstead's

On the Fairy Dolphin Watching

Flowers

It's a Flamingo

Look Mom no hands!

Watching General Conference

Balance Sister Lewis

Sister Lewis Bubble Contest

September 30,2019 What a "Trashy" Day Ha Ha!

Hi family and friends!! 

This week was amazing!! 

At the beginning of each day we set a finding goal of how we will find a new person to teach. We have noticed that the more specific our goal is, the more success we have been with finding people. 

Our goal was to knock on a house that had the color pink somewhere on the property. 

Our day went on as normal, we helped at the food bank and did studies. When the time came where we had planned to bike around I began to look for houses with big pink wreaths or maybe a pink door. I wanted to find a house that was coated in pink! We knocked on a few doors that had big pink flower bushes and another door with a pink sign, but we were getting no where. 

While biking away from a door we had just knocked at with no success, I glanced to the side and saw a single pink rose next to an old broken down house. 

I thought in my mind, "That's not enough pink to actually stop and knock." 

Well... the Lord had a different idea in mind. 

The next thing I knew my bike slammed into an open trashcan that had seemed to slip into my path unnoticed. I knocked the trashcan over and barley caught myself from falling over. I quickly hopped off my bike and looked at sister Lewis who was smiling uncontrollably. 

"We have to knock this door" I said before we burst out laughing. 

We made our way to the door where the single rose sat at the side of the house open in full bloom. 

The man who lived there had just moved in that day, he had met with the missionaries before and was exited to meet with us again. 

Heavenly father knows his children! 

Sometimes I am able to listen to the Spirit to tell me where to go, but sometimes I make an excuse not to follow through. It was no coincidence that the single pink rose sat outside this individual's door. Sometimes we expect miracles to come that are life changing and BIG, but most of the time it is the small and simple things that strengthen our conversion and bring us closer to our Savior. 

I guess it took a trash can to help me realize the importance of listening to a prompting the first time it enters your thoughts. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week full of fun! Avoid the trashcans if at all possible haha! 

Love. 

Sister Elgaaen 

(P.s. WE MOWED A LAWN!!!!!) 

Blowing Bubbles with the Elder's

Burrito Blanket

Eating Texas Shaped Waffles

Finally mowing a lawn!

Sister Elgaaen & Teralin

September 23,2019 A Book a Day Keeps Satan Away!

Hey family and friends!! 

This week was a little rainy, but our goal was to "Sprint to the finish" and find 5 new people and hand out a book of Mormon each eay... we found 6 people and gave out a book of Mormon each day!!! I truly saw miracles this week as it rained and we were "home bound" for hours. Each day there seemed to be a small break in between the downpour and we would go out tracting where we knock on doors and hope to find a new person who would be interested in the gospel. 

Each time before leaving our apartment we would pray to give away a book of Mormon to someone who could use it, and each day we did just that. 

Sometimes it was the first door we knocked on, and sometimes it was the last, but when we put our self out there in the world ready to share his message with each and every person, eventually we will find the ONE who is placed in our path. 

I would like to share a little experience but I wrote it kindof different, so we will see how you like it  

She began her prayer believing she was broken. Her words rushed out as her head hung low, fingers pulling at her light blonde hair. A tear dropped from her blue eyes unnoticed. 

She was upset with me and spoke of her situation. She felt completely alone. She asked me why I couldn't have protected her, comforted her. Why hadn't I sent someone to life her up? Why did she have to suffer alone? 

I have watched her each day; she had let the words and actions of others cut into her deeply. 

She went on. Praying why hadn't I sent someone who would stand up for her, someone who could understand her - who would protect her. 

Her words pained my heart.

How could she forget? 

I stopped her thoughts and said quietly with tears streaming down my face "I have!" 

Emotion overcame her as she recalled the one I had sent, Jesus Christ, my perfect son, her brother. I sent him to suffer and bleed from every pour for all of my children.  The last words I whispered to her before her prayer ended are words she has never forgotten 

" You are never alone."  

When I was in 9th grade I struggled with feeling alone, I constantly felt like no one around me cared for me. One day when I felt completely lost I went out to the backyard and sat on the swing in the dark. I then asked Heavenly Father why he couldn't have given me someone who would be willing to stand up for me, and sacrifice their time to get to know me. I wanted someone who would always be there for me and I was confused as why I felt there was no one. I was asking heavenly father why he couldn't send someone... Just when I had almost finished this thought, my mind went blank and I heard a still small voice say "I have." Images of Christ filled my mind and I knew that the savior was the ultimate older brother who is always looking out for us. 

 I know that the savior loves us. He loved us when he was mocked and spit upon, he loved us when he bled from every pour and experienced all the temptations, illnesses, pains physical and mental for each of us. He loved us while he was whipped, he loved us while a crown of thorns was placed on his head. He loved us as he carried his cross, he loved us while nails were pounded through his hands, And he loves us still. No matter what we do he will always love us. He suffered for everyone, he didn't pick and choose who he would atone for. He loved each of us and no matter how painful our experience was he choose to go through it with us. I know that if we reach out to the savior he will grasp our hands and pull us into his embrace. You are a child of god and he loves you still. 

My seminary teacher asked us "If you knew that the savior was going to be at the confrence center tomorrow for one day, but there was no form of transportaion avalible, would you walk?" If I knew that the savior would be at the confrence center tomorrow, I wouldn't walk. I would Run. 

I know without a doubt that we are never alone, because Christ  is ALWAYS with us. No matter what we experience, he is there to lift us up. 

I love my heavenly father. I know it must have pained him for me to think for even a second that I am worth less then I am, that I am alone, because we are everything to our heavenly father. 

Those negative thoughts that we may have about ourselves are from no one else but SATAN! He wants you to be miserable just as he is, DON'T FALL FOR IT!! If you even begin to believe that you are less then a beloved Son or Daughter of a heavenly king then you are already letting Satan take over your thoughts. 

Don't let him get to you!! He will try to tear you appart. I have seen it first hand. You are worth more to our heavenly father then you could ever imagine. He loves you enough that he sent his only begotten son to die for you, and for me. Just imagine how heartbreaking it is to our father in heaven when you think negatively about yourself. You were created by God's hand, and he doesn't make mistakes. 

Anyway, I hope you know how much I love you and just to end I want to share a few experiences from this week haha: 

When I was exited to give a lesson in district council the district leader said of course, it's easy for you because:

"You don't read the book of Mormon, you eat it!!!" -Elder Monteroso

A little 3 year old girl answered the door one day while we were tracting and she asked what we were doing. I told her we were going around sharing a message about Jesus Christ. She looked up at me confused and said "Jesus doesn't live here."

This Sunday was our primary program and a little boy came up to give his testimony. He was about 4 or 5 years old and he said "Jesus loves everybody, even the bad guys who stuck nails in his hands." 

This little message touched my heart, it is so important that we love everyone, even if they treat us terribly. 

I hope you all have a BLESSED DAY!! 

Love ya!!!!! 

Blowing Bubbles

Ann Elgaaen

District P-Day

Ann Elgaaen I'm Happy

Studying Bubbles

Burrito Blanket

Rain

It's Raining!