Jul 30th, 2012

Well how is everyone doing in life. It has been pretty awesome with all sorts of fun stuff going on. The work over here is going amazing, it is amazing to see how busy you stay out here with all sorts of fun stuff going on. We had several times this last week where we sat down to have a break and had to run out and do something or teach some one. Probably the biggest thing I have loved since getting out here has been being able to study about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is truly an amazing thing, in the scriptures it is mentioned as a infinite and eternal sacrifice, which means that it can Help Any one and Forever. It is amazing to think of how powerful of a thing that is. I was watching a Talk by Elder Holland this last week and in his talk he focuses on how alone Christ must have felt while he was going through the Ultimate sacrifice and how hard it must have been for him to be completely alone and how we can stand by him now by being examples of True Followers of Christ. It is amazing how much he has done for us. Well I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying preparing for school and everything.


Love
Elder Elquist

Jul 16th, 2012

Well how is everyone doing this week, the mission has been great, it is a constant amazement at the miracles I am able to see while being out here and being able to do this work for the Lord and getting to see amazing things as I am out here serving the Lord. It feels like there are so many times when I have been discouraged from one thing or another and it has just been away for the lord to humble me and then he builds me up in a different way and it was for the better. There is so many things that have happened to me to even doubt that there is a God. This last week was the end of the Transfer and I got a new companion and so we were down a day and we needed to get about 10 lessons 5 being with a member present and 5 just being other lessons. On Sunday we were so close we had 4 member present lessons and 5 other lessons, and we were accomplishing all of are other goals and I was worried that we were going to be able to accomplish are goal, and we were praying a lot for help to accomplish it, and Sunday comes around and it is already a pretty short day with church and meetings and dinners and other things and we ended up only having about a hour of actual missionary work time, and we didn't have a lesson set up, but we got a member to just come out with us and try to teach some one. So as soon as we come out of are apartment at 8 to meet the member a guy goes riding on his bike and we start talking with him and we are able to teach him with the member on are grass, it was just one of the little miracles that happened this last week. Well I hope all of you are doing well and are having a good summer and enjoying all of things you have to do. All of you should write me, but hey I understand.


Love
Elder Elquist

Jul 9th, 2012

Well hello everyone, it has been a while since I have done one of these so sorry, have been kind of busy with this and that. So how is life going for everyone, I haven't heard that much. Hopefully everyone's  fourth was a good one. Hopefully your states didn't get set on fire from the massive drought. As for me, pretty sure the heat hasn't been horrible. The past 2 weeks we have set record highs since the begging of time. This has been the worst heat wave since 1939. Everything has pretty much died and dried up. We were on bikes this last week when it set the all time high for this area of 108 and about 50 percent humidity. Pretty sure that Utah heat is nothing now. I will be shivering in the summer. It felt like a oven got opened each time there was a little bit of a gust of wind. Pretty sure me and my companion thought we were going to die of heat and just burst into flames. I imagined it looking like when on War of the Worlds the aliens are wiping out the people and they just go poof into ashes. It has been fun though, I just think it will be fun to tell my kids all about it when I have kids in the distant future. Well the work has been going really good here and I have loved every moment of it and wouldn't trade the experiences for anything. Transfer calls were today and I am staying in Franklin, my companion Elder Rogers is leaving. I guess there is still something I need to learn from this area. At the end of the next transfer I will have spent a quarter of my mission here, which is kind of weird to think about. Well I hope all of you are doing well and you are enjoying the summer.


Love
Elder Elquist

Jun 11th, 2012

Well How is everyone. Sorry I didn't have enough time last week to send a mass email. Well everything here is going great, we have had a lot of success these last few days and have had a lot of fun. We had 3 baptisms this last Saturday and it was amazing getting to see that and see them strive to progress in the Gospel. Next week we have another one and it will be amazing to see her baptized. I can not tell you all how amazing this work is. I have never been so happy to work hard so that when I lay down at night I fall asleep almost instantly. It is amazing to see the Lord provide and support missionaries. Well The Church is true and the Book is Blue. Love you all and miss you all.

Love
Elder Elquist

May 21, 2012

Well here is a quick update from me. Life is good and being a missionary totaly rocks. There is no greater work than this, than to assist the Lord in his purpose, which is to Bring to pass the Immortality and Eternal life of man. There is no greater work. If any of you are struggling in your testimony of the Gospel I challenge you to start doing the little things. Praying each day and reading each day. They are the two greatest gifts the Lord has given us other than Sending his son. Well I hope all is well with you and everything is going good with everyone. It has truly been a blessing having each of you in my life. Oh next week is also transfers. I probably won't be moving but I will let you know on Monday what is happening.


Love
Elder Elquist

May 14th, 2012

Well Hello everyone. I hope all of you are having a good last little bit of school and are enjoying having to do those things. It is amazing to see that I have already been out here for almost 3 months. It feels like I just got out here. I honestly don't think I have been out here for that long. It feels like just yesterday I was walking out of the Airport Terminal and my Mission President, President Collins and his Wife Sister Collins and the Assistants are all just standing there with big grins on there faces and Sister Collins is taking lots of pictures and all of us are walking out like who are these people. They all were so happy and they all came up and gave us hugs and welcome us to Indiana. It was definitely a fun experience. Something else that has been weird to me is that I am actually on my mission. It is weird to think about how you look forward to something for 10 years and then you are finally doing it, it just feels unreal. I love being able to serve the people of Indiana, the people here are amazing. It doesn't matter what part of the State you go to, the Lord has people prepared for you to teach and meet and help. There have been so many times where I have had a strong impression that the Lord has sent me here because he has prepared people just for me. I don't care what some one says about are religion was supposed proof they have that we are fake. This church is True, and Christ leads and Guides this church and he Lives and is the Son of are Heavenly Father just like we are all sons and daughters of him, and as long as we strive all are days to follow his commandments that are just given to us to bless us more we will have eternal happiness. I don't care what people say about how Satan has made them do things. He only has as much power over us as we give him. We control how much power he has over us. We have the ability to choose. I hope all is well with all of you and you are all doing well and loving life.


Love The One and Only
Elder Elquist

May 7th, 2012

Well Hello every one I hope all is going well with every one. I only have a little time so I will keep this short. The church is true the End............. Just kidding I do have to keep it short but not that short. It is amazing serving the Lord 24/7. There is not greater work than that. No matter where you go on a mission it is and amazing experience. The Lord has blessed my life so much out here and I am grateful for that. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the place I am so suppose to be, and when I am suppose to be here. The Lord has given all of us so much and all he is asks is 2 years to serve him. That is such a small amount of time for how long we are here. I hope all is well with all of you and you thank your mothers for all they do for us.


Love Elder Elquist

Apr 30th, 2012

Well hello everyone. I hope life is going well for all of you and you are doing good. My week has been field with fun and I have been enjoying being able to be out here. I am in week 8 right now of my training which is 12 weeks total and then they put me where ever. Should be fun to find out when transfer calls come on Monday the 28th. I hope all is well with you all. I have had some pretty sweet experiences this last week. We had several less actives call us up and want us to come over, so we did that and they have kids that they would like to get baptized and they also want to work towards getting sealed in the temple. We had that happen with 2 different families and it is sweet to have stuff like that happen. We also have been able to meet some pretty awesome people and be able to talk to them and get new investigators that way. We have had tons of stuff going on and we are so busy. It is great to see the Lord reward you for hard work you put in. Well I hope all of you know this Church is the only true church and when you actually sit down and read the scriptures there are so many evidences of the Book of Mormon in the bible and the importance of both is so amazing. I hope you all are doing well and hope life is awesome.


Love
Elder Elquist

Apr 23rd, 2012

Well how is everything going for everyone back home? I hope all of you are doing well I don't have tons of time because we are having to walk everywhere to do laundry and go grocery shopping because my back tire got a flat. Well I hope all is well with everyone and you are all enjoying having to make grown up decisions and do things like that. Okay it does sound kind of fun doing stuff like that. But a little about how I am doing. I am still in Franklin for another 5 weeks at least. In 5 weeks from today it will be transfer calls and I will find out then if I am leaving. Hopefully not because Franklin is awesome. So some things going on here, we have had weird weather with it being 80 one day not needing our suits to 54 the next day needing suits. Hopefully here soon it will be a little more consistent. We are having a lot of success here and that is great and I think bad at the same time because it gives me the feeling that we might get transferred. Hopefully we don't because I love the people here and love are investigators and want to see them reach there goal here in a couple weeks. Well I have to get going hope all is well with you.


Love

Elder Elquist

Apr 16th, 2012

Well I want to let all of you know that I am sorry for grammatical errors I make. English has never been a strong point for me, in fact I hate English, honestly how many different versions of to, there, wear, or even one that drives me nuts is are and our. Or except and accept. English let me tell ya. Well now that I have gone on, on that tangent for a second. Well the work is going great, I love being out here and being able to do this work. There is a unique spirit you receive when you are set apart as a missionary and it is amazing to see the revelation you can receive when you are out here. I am constantly amazed at the things we are able to learn from the Lord as we are out here. I am not looking forward to having to go home and lose that. So a quick story we have been trying to find new investigators and trying to get people interested for a while, we are constantly doing things to meet people and talk to them about the church, and we have been seeking the Lords help and yesterday we were walking out of are apartment and this guys dogs ran up to us and we started petting them and he walked up and started talking to us and didn't even notice are name tags and we started talking and him and his girl friend are actually looking for a church to go to, we were able to talk to him and set up and appointment to talk to them. It is amazing to see answers to are prayers. When you ask you will receive answers to your prayers. I am loving Franklin and it is amazing to see the work progressing. If there is one thing I am glad that I get to do out here it is talk to people everyone has a unique story and needs something that the gospel can give them. I hope you all are doing well and that you all are amazing people. Love you all.


Love
Elder Elquist

Apr 9th, 2012

Well How is it going. So a little update on me. I am still serving in Franklin and would be happy to be able to serve here for the rest of my mission. It is and awesome little town and I love being able to serve here and talk to people and teach them about the gospel. I think my favorite part is getting to know tons of different people and being able to here there background and see what they have been through and apply are teaching to that, to show them that the Gospel can fix any issue you have or problem you are going through. I was able to have my first baptism this week. I wasn't the one baptizing or anything but it still counts as my first. It was awesome to see how the Gospel takes some one and makes them an amazing person and strengthens them against all types of things. It is amazing to see that no matter what problem you have the Lord will help you and bless you.I am truly blessed to be in such and amazing ward and and amazing place and have the opportunity of serving with some of the best missionaries in the world and have the Best Mission President in the World. I am grateful to all of you for all you have done in my life and all you will still do in my life. I hope everyone had a great Easter Holiday.

Love Elder Elquist

Apr 2, 2012

Well I hope all is going well for everyone. I am doing great and I am loving it out here and and am constantly saying to myself I am glad I made the decision to serve and come out and share the gospel with others. I hope all of you listened to the talk yesterday and will write me......JK. I know you guys are really busy with life and other things. I appreciate getting emails from you all and being able to see how things back home are going. It is great to read your emails and take a break for a hour or so. I am glad that I am able to be out here right now. People are opening up to the gospel more and more. The people who don't listen to us or anything it is sad to see how unhappy there life's are right now and watch them stay in it, when I know how much the gospel can bless people and make them happy. I am constantly amazed at how much of a difference you can see in peoples life when they follow the commandments and follow Christ example he set for us. You truly are happier when you serve others. I have also found out that there are tons of different types of things you can do with ramen noodles. The main thing out here for missionaries to do is Make a Tongan Pancake. When I get back I will have to make each of you one. It is probably not the healthiest of things to make but it is pretty good. I have also been told you can make sandwiches out of them and other things like that. I am looking forward to trying many different things with them. Also I have learned to like several new things such as sour cream and whip cream. We have members feed us a ton out here and you just have to eat what ever they give you mostly it is really good and you learn you like a new thing. I have learned to eat several different types of pie; Cherry and Banana. It has been quite fun and I look forward to being able to share tons of stories with all of you when I get back, hopefully you will enjoy them. I am currently trying to implement hoosier words into my vocab such as a couple three, sweeper, warsh, minute ( apparently a minute is used for any amount of time.) I hope all of you are doing well and I love you all tons.

Love
Elder Elquist

Mar 26th, 2012

Well Just a quick update on how everything is going for me. I am loving being out here it is truly a blessing I don't have tons of time to write but I want to keep you all up to date on how things are going for me. Being on a mission is truly a blessing you don't always know why the Lord does certain things until after you do them. I can't count how many times we have had things fall through and just start knocking or run into some one and that is the person we are suppose to meet. I hope all is going and well and you guys are doing good. I love you all and hope you write me or email me back. I would love to hear from all of you. You all have been amazing examples to me and I love you all. So neat story this last week on Thursday we had a plan to go see a potential investigator who might be under 18 so we didn't want to knock and ask to speak to him because of the risk of getting parents upset so we went to do are back up plans and drove down a little bit and then realized we were heading the wrong way and turn around to go to the directions the last missionaries who were here left us with and it was the south west corner of the intersection of 2 streets it lead us right back to the same house as the potential, so we went to are other backup plans and sure enough it was the same house. So we went and knocked it and sat there and talked to a lady for 20 minutes about her experience with the church. She was not one of the people we were looking for, so we talked to her and left. No idea why we were suppose to talk to her but we did.
 Love you all tons sorry if you already heard the story.


Love Elder Elquist

Mar 19, 2012

Well where to start. Well first of all, Franklin is amazing. I am truly glad to be serving here of all places. The people are great, they all respect you and what you are doing even though they may not think your church is true they still appreciate what you are doing. I haven't had one person chase us off or be mean to us and hopefully won't have that. The people are amazing, once you trust in the Lord that he will lead you to the places he wants you to go and the people he wants you to talk to, you have so much success. I have truly been able to see so many miracles take place where do to circumstances we are just wandering around looking for people and end up on a street and start tracting and then all the sudden you find some one and start teaching them. We were riding are bikes around this past Friday and didn't have any one to teach and then we just ran into these 3 people. We started talking to them and getting to know them and we after a few minutes started teaching them the plan of salvation. They were extremely open to what we had to say and loved that we accepted everyone no matter what, one of the ladies said that the Catholic church wouldn't baptize her for some reason and was extremely happy to hear we would. I invited all three of them to be baptized yesterday and all of them said yes, and it all started because we trusted in the Lord that he would lead us where he needed us to go. It is amazing to be able to be out here and serve the people of Indiana. It is extremely hard and you face  a lot of rejections some time, but it is amazing to see how rewarding the work is. I am truly blessed to have been able to come out here when I did. We have one investigator who has been investigating for a while and she is doing everything herself. We were going to talk to the church scheduler on Sunday after church and before we had the opportunity to Jessica had already found her after Relief Society and scheduled it herself. She is amazing and I am glad to be able to teach her. The work is the most amazing work to do. I hope all of you know that you have been amazing examples in my life and I love you all tons and hope that all is well back home. I will make sure to keep writing everyone. Love you all.


Love Elder Elquist

Mar 12, 2012

Well just a quick summary with what is happening to me is. I am in the Town of Franklin Indiana it is about 45 minutes south of Indy. It has been quite interesting here. The ward is awesome, they love to feed us, so I usually don't have to cook my own dinner which is great. It was a shock the first few days getting out here and realizing I was actually out here. So it took some time to get used to not being in Utah anymore. It took some time but I got over it. I am glad to be out here, but it is hard work. It truly does exhaust you. I love my Bed. The apartment where we stay is very small. The bedroom dining room and study area are all one room. We then have a kitchen and bathroom, with a toilet that is right in front of the Bathtub, so to use it you have to put your feet in the bathtub. It has been quite interesting. I get a car every other week, so I will have to get a bike Today, so that I have it when we give the car to the other part of are district. Well I am running out of time. I would love pictures of everyone in kind of a photo album if you could do that it would be great. Love you tons. I only have a certain amount of time on the computers at the library. I love you lots. I know this church is true and it is amazing to see how it changes lifes. I love being out here, it might be hardwork but it is rewarding. Love you all and look to seeing you in 23months.

Elder Elquist