Braden's update for October 28th, 2013

So how is every one doing on this beautiful fall morning, everything is going really good here we are just enjoying it being cold. Not really, I would prefer summer to come back. It was good times with warm weather. 

So the random thought I have for this week is, the Book of Mormon and Bible. This is something a lot of members I believe get a little confused on, we need both of them. They are equal and contain the fullness of the gospel. We had an interesting experience this last week with guy trying to prove us wrong, well it actually happens quite often, but anyways we were talking with him and he wanted us to show him the need for the Book of Mormon. So the answer is simply this, it clarifies and enhances the Bible. And it goes both ways. There are a lot of instances where the Book of Mormon is confusing and we are able to gain clarification by cross studying parts of the Bible. I think a lot of us forget about one or the other, where in reality we need both. We have so much more of an advantage having both of them and being able to study out of both. We have more word, then to add on top of the Book of Mormon we have modern Prophets and Apostles. So there is your random thought for the day. Love you all and take care.

Love

Elder Elquist  

 

Additional info from other emails:

 

"So new things with me, it got really cold last week and then it is warming up again, so that has been fun, I think that is pretty much all from me as far as I know on new things.

 

My past week was a good one, the chapel still has bed bugs, which has really been a pain in are butt. Usually we have 6 or 7 investigators at church and less active members also, but for some reason we can't even get the active members to show up. We usually average at about 140 people in the congregation, but this past week we had 25. So it is like being in a branch all over again.
So Monday we had a lesson with a Recent converts sister Myanna, she is doing well she is in 1 Nephi 19 right now and is progressing really well. She will hopefully be getting baptized on November 9th and it will be a good experience to see her make that covenant. 

Tuesday was a fun day, we met with a former investigator. He was taught a year ago, and for some reason the missionaries stopped seeing him. We quickly found out why on that one. He just wanted to prove us wrong the whole time. He didn't really want to listen at all just bash with us. So we invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. 

Wednesday we had a really slow day and nothing really happened, it was cold. Pretty sure there was snow on the ground in the morning, but quickly melted and went away, hopefully it went away for ever. 

Thursday we had a really good day. We were able to meet with Myanna again and talked with here about the importance of Church and making sure that we come and partake of the sacrament. Then we also had another miracle happen and a part member family called us up and wanted a blessing, so we talked with them and got to give a blessing and teach them a lesson. 

Friday we had a really slow day, nothing to really report on that one, super cold.

Saturday was super busy and we had a lot of good stuff happen. We were able to meet with Chris, the son of a member he is 49 and likes to drink. Then we met with a couple of other random people. 

Sunday was okay, only had sacrament meeting due to the bed bugs, and then went out and tried to find people to teach."

This past week has been quick and yet at the same time it felt like a normal week. So I don't know really what is going on  time front. It seems like everything is just speeding up and it is going super quick. 

So I don't have much time today to say much, but I will talk about something that is pretty dear to me, and that is the Savior and his example. A lot of you remember me from my young childhood days and remember how much I loved to ask questions. I can successfully say that, that has not changed, in fact I probably ask more questions now. So back to the Savior, in all he did he asked people questions, he would explain what he meant, but usually every answer he gave was in fact a question. So questions make us think. So ask questions people. Love you all a ton and miss you. 

Love

Elder Elquist

Braden's Update for October 14th, 2013

How is everyone doing this fine October morning, I am sure you are all loving it, I am sure loving it, so in other news transfer calls came and I am staying for at least another 6 weeks, so it should be a fun 6 weeks. I can't wait to see what it brings.

So the random thought of the day is just about life. One scripture I have been thinking a lot about is John 14:27. "Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give unto you; Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid." The reason I have been thinking about this a lot is because, when life seems hard, stressful, tons to worry about, dark clouds hang over you, the Lord has given us this promise. That he would give us peace. Not world peace or things like that, but he would give us personal peace, peace to deal with what lays ahead of us, peace to handle the world. He is always there for us and will always come through on His end. So trust in the Lord and let nothing waver.

Love
Elder Elquist

a few excerpts from Braden's email to me (Mike):

"So Transfer calls came and I will staying here another 6 weeks with my current companion, so that will be a total of 4 and a half months with him, my guess is I will stay here the rest of my mission and die off here. Which I would be happy with, I enjoy being here and it is a awesome area with tons of people to talk with and it makes it a ton of fun. We are pretty much in a humble area and it makes it a ton of fun to be able to talk with tons of people and they always are willing to listen to improve there life's. They have been humbled and are willing to learn.

So This past Monday nothing to exciting happened we saw a recent convert and his sister and were able to teach them, she is doing well, she is reading and progressing well to baptism and confirmation, so we will have to see how that goes. Then Tuesday we got to see them again and also saw some of are other investigators and so that was good. Nothing to exciting that day either. Wednesday we went to district meeting in Spanish land and got to see a lot of cool stuff happening there with them so that is always good to see happen. So Thursday was an average day, really nothing to exciting happened until Friday and that is where the fun stuff started happening and we had interesting experiences starting to happen.

So Friday, this was the super bad part, I had to eat SeaFood. I have had to eat fish before but not to this extent. We had Crab, Lobster, Shrimp and other things. Let's just say that I am not a fan of fish or seafood of any kind. So I just want to say that. To make matters worst the members just keep giving it to us, I thought I was going to be sick, the cool things was watching the member crack and get the meat out of the shells. I honestly believe people take so much time to get so little meat out of it. It seems like a waste of time, doing all that work for such little meat. Just saying.
Saturday we went on exchanges with the Eaton elders and that was a lot of fun as we had tons of zone leader crap to get done that day and even though we were at the computer typing up reports and stuff for a meeting on Sunday we still found 1 new investigator and taught several lessons.
So Sunday was a fun day, it was fast Sunday so we were fasting and fasted from 7pm the night before to 8pm Sunday night. We had a meeting with the Stake president and Mission President starting at 4 and ending at 8. We had to leave at 3:30 and had appointments from the end of church at 1 to then. So that made it a fun day. Needless to say I know what it is like to fast for a full 24 hours. Lots of fun.

So yeah that was pretty much it for my, week. I don't really know anything else to say as of right now. Lot of fun happening here, it is scary that tomorrow is my 20 month mark, where did the time go. It feels like I just got here to the mission field yesterday."

Braden's Update for October 7th, 2013

Well I don't have tons of time to email today so I have resorted to pictures this week and then next week will be back at it, on second thought. I just want to say how grateful I am for modern day prophets, and having a modern mouth piece of the Lord. It is awesome to have a open cannon of scripture from Prophets and Apostles. No other church has that, which handicaps them. We have some one who speaks and gives us direction directly from God. He unifies the church. The Closing song yesterday was awesome. You could feel the spirit in the Room as they sang the song Follow the Prophet. There is my two cents for the day. Love you all and take care.

Love
Elder Elquist