Week 73: Thanksgiving

Hey Y'all!!

This week has been really good. We were out of our area most of the week, but still managed to eat tons of food on thanksgiving and get super drowsy.  It was super nice on thanksgiving, mid 60s and sunny!! Last night was wet snow and mid 20s. We are working on getting Light the World out into the community, having some quality conversations with those around us, and sharing the Light of Christ. A scripture that goes along with the Light the World campaign is 3 Nephi 18:24. Check it out!

I hope you all have a great week, and remember to do some service this Saturday ;)

Love,

Elder Eliason

  

 Pie

 Plymouth Roadrunner

Elder Haines

Week 72: Re: Weekly

Hello y'all!!

I have had a purty good week this week.

We were down in Bentonville a couple of days for a big missionary conference and a meeting. It was good to reconnect with some people I have served around/with previously.  Elder Koplischke of the Seventy was there, he gave some magnificent remarks.  It was really enlightening. 

One thing I really loved about what he said was that church can be a truly revelatory experience. As we come in a preparation to receive that portion of the Word meted unto us at that time, we can receive the inspiration that the Lord wants us to receive for that week.  We can really receive answers to our questions at church.  

As the Body of Christ, we can join together to help one another temporally and spiritually. 

Some people say you don't need church, but I know that it is a necessity!! It's not the building, it's the organization, the people, the Priesthood, and most importantly, it's what our Heavenly Father has asked us to be a part of and contribute to.

It snowed a lot, got down to 10 degrees on Wednesday... brrrr!!

We are going to be busy busy this next week, and I'm loving being a missionary!! I am learning so much and growing lots too. It's amazing to reflect on who I was when I started my mission, and see the leaps and bounds I have made in my character.

Well, I love y'all!

Keep up serving others, and have a great Thanksgiving wherever you are!!

Love,

Elder Eliason

 Brrrr!

 Crisp Morning

 Elder Williams and Elder Eliason

Elder McMaster, Elder Eliason and Elder Haines

 Elder Eliason, Elder McMaster and Elder Haines

 Elder Eliason and Elder McMaster 

all the peeps- a Book of Mormon experiment at the Joplin mall

Week 71: Winter is coming❄

This week was spectacular! 

Super cold but we have been on bikes the last couple days.  We are working on finding the people who have slipped through the cracks lately. We were able to find a whole family that lost contact with the missionaries when they moved from California to a house here in the middle of nowhere.  We found it and talked to them. We are going over this friday! It will be a good opportunity to involve people in this ward.  They really want to do missionary work.

It's snowing today, I am not too excited for tomorrow morning when all of the slush turns to ice haha. But it's pretty now.  It gets bitterly cold here, but with bikes we stay pretty warm once we get going. And have earmuffs. Without those it would feel like a piece of ice grating across your ear as you ride against the wind. Not fun!
But anyways, this week has been really good and this next week is shaping up to be stellar!!

We have a 6 zone zone conference, so probably about 100 missionaries out of 170.  It will be good to see some friends that I haven't seen for a while.  

One message we have been sharing with members focuses on Alma 6:6. When we gather together, as the body of Christ, in prayer and mighty fasting "in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who [know] not God."

Who do you know who is only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it?

What can you do this week to help them grow closer to the truth, to prepare the soil for the planting of the seed of faith? Do you need to clear the land? Discard the rocks? Fertilize the soil? There is a small and simple thing that we can all do to help those around us!!

So... in the words of my favorite member of the LaBeouf family, JUST DO IT!!

Love,

Elder Eliason

 Elders Swensen, Wheeler, Plummer, and me

 Snow

 Me and Elder Haines

 Panorama of a cool place we found while biking

Sunset on bikes

Week 70: Weekly Email From Ya Elder

This week was super good! A bit chilly but lots of work and fun.

We did lots of service, moving boxes, splitting wood, splitting more wood, etc. We had to drive and drive and drive Tuesday and Wednesday, meetings :(

We don't have a big teaching pool here, but we are focusing on finding through the members.  Our mission president also committed the whole mission to have 22 quality conversations with nonmembers, where we get to know their name, extend a commitment, and have a meaningful exchange. It's going to be a bit of a struggle balancing those two, plus exchanges, service, and lessons. But it will all work out, like it has 100% of the time every day before today :)

It's supposed to snow on Thursday here, that will be exciting!! I love snow, not so keen on biking or tracting in it haha.

Well, I hope y'all have a great week this week!

Love,

Elder Eliason

 Fall Leaves

 Landscape with Cows

 Landscape with Cow "dots"

 Landscape and Road

Landscape