Elder Braden Elquist, September 30th, 2013

Well it has been an interesting past few days and weeks, and in fact months and year. I have loved every second of it, but it doesn't mean that it has all been easy or fun. But oh so worth it.

So the thing I am going to rant on this week is a change of gears from the usual stuff I do. I want to talk about what a mission can do for you. So to do that I want to speak on what it has done for me. Truly words can not express the feelings I have about this time and what it has done for me, but what I do know it has done for me is helped me gain a relationship with my Father in Heaven and also my Savior Jesus Christ. I can honestly say if it wasn't for both of them as well as the comforter, I would not be here today.

Another thing I have come to know is true Joy for your fellow brothers and sisters in the world. One of the most amazing things to watch and see is someones life change because of the gospel. Over the past few weeks I have been able to watch an Investigator Donnie start from not religious to sitting down and reading 10 chapters in the Book of Mormon. The change it has brought to his life has been amazing to see. He has a glow about him and has truly been changed.
 

The other thing I have watched over the past few years is myself and what it has done to me. I know that my mission is one of the things my Father in Heaven expected me to do on earth. He had set the bar for me to do it, I can remember from a very young age knowing I would go on a mission one day. It has also been apparent in my life that Satan doesn't want that to happen. He has tried to stop me from making it here, but I made it here and moving through it all full speed ahead. No way I will quit.

I have also seen what it has done for my Family, I have been around a lot of missionaries and I don't know very many of them that have Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas, Grandpas emailing them and even all of their brothers and sisters  and parents emailing them. I truly have come to love and appreciate the closeness of our family, because I know that not everyone has that.

It also is a great cause to want to share it with others, when I see someone on the street I want them to have what I have and want them except it is because I can see what it would do for them.

So the reason I share this is because I know that all of you are affected by missions in one way or another and have an influence on the youth. So my plee for you is to get them ready for what it can do for them. Teach them the basics of praying and having a close relationship with there Father in Heaven and help them to go out. Get them out and it will change them for the better. Hopefully this doesn't bore you or anything. I love you all and appreciate the love and support you give me.

Love
Elder Elquist

So how is everyone doing this 23rd of September. This month has flown by and it is insane how much has happened in the last little bit I don't really even know where to start other than our Heavenly Father is awesome. We have been blessed so much since getting here and it is awesome to be able to just see how much he does for us. So my random thought of the day is just that it is awesome to know who we are. One of my favorite things to teach people about is how we are all children of a Loving God. He is there for us, he cares about us, weeps with us, and rejoices when we do what is right. If you think of what it means for us to be children of God, it is insane, God is this all powerful being and he wants us to pray to him and communicate with us. So communicate with him and above all else trust in him and follow his direction.

Love

Elder Elquist

 

Braden's update for September 16, 2013

So how is everyone doing this fine Monday. I am doing great, just loving life and trying to work as hard as possible. The weather has started to get cold which I don't like, I hate snow and I hate winter. Just saying I am done complaining about cold. So it has been a lot of fun this last week. We had are investigator Robert get baptized which was awesome, he is such a neat guy. 22 years old and has a super strong relationship with Christ. Also super funny. My companion sneezed into his arm yesterday, and Robert thought he was blowing up his muscles, so he started blowing his muscles up. Super funny.
So for my random spiritual though today, I was studying this morning and I was thinking about why some people accept the gospel and why others don't. So I was thinking and I came up with a couple of examples in the scriptures. The first being Laman and Lemuel vs. Alma the Younger. So when we look at these two they were both able to see and angel. But two different outcomes. One straightens out his life and goes on to be the Prophet, the other two go on to be the cause of so much bloodshed and heart ache to thousands of people. So looking at the two the thing I came up with is the Humility. Laman and Lemuel were prideful and didn't want to let God into there life and expect his plan. The other was willing and did act on the things he had planned for him. Humility is a key factor in life, if we have not humility we aren't willing to listen and learn. But we can always learn new things and learn and grow. It is when we think we can't that we are compelled to be humble. So my advice is be humble and willing to act on the plan God has for each and everyone of you.

Well Love you all tons. I included a picture of the baptism and me and my last companion

Love
Elder Elquist

 

Well what to tell what to tell. I can't think of anything to groundbreaking today. It is sunny here today if that is ground breaking. It has actually been really nice weather here for the summer though. So yeah nothing exciting. So for my random spiritual thought for this week, what oh what to tell. Okay so here is one thing that I have been pondering on. Faith and Works. Do we need both one but not the other or what. So as I have pondered a lot about this it is pretty interesting, we need both. Faith is a verb not just a belief. When we have faith it makes us work. In James 2: 18-20 it says:
 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

So the thing that stands out to me, is in verse 19. The devils also believe there is a God, and fear him. So what set's them apart from us, WORKS. You have to have both. So yeah that is just my thought, think about that, the Devil believes in God and Jesus Christ. He does or else he wouldn't be trying to knock us off the course of getting back to him. So what set's us apart. So yeah random thought for the day. It is always interesting thinking through things like that. But let's do some works, act on your faith. Read, Pray, Go to Church, and live like Christ would have us live.

I hope you all are doing well, love you all.

Love
Elder Elquist

 

Elder Elquist, September 4th, 2013

So I don't have tons of time but I figured I should send a quick spiritual thought for everyone to hear. The thing that I have been thinking about a lot is of course the Gospel and what it does for us. so the definition of the Gospel is Gods plan for us to have peace in this life and Joy in eternal life. When I found that out it struck me as that is what the Gospel does for us. It goes along things I have shared in the past, but God is always with us and wants us to be happy and all we have to do is to to trust in him and all else will be taken care of. That is pretty much it from me. Take care over this next week. Love you all and don't text and drive.

Love
Elder Elquist