He's On His Way Home!!!

 An Elder serving in our ward in Billings, Montana taught Elder Hebert. He was called to the Arkansas Bentonville Mission and began his work in the field as Michael is leaving. They had the opportunity to communicate prior to Elder Hebert's arrival and grabbed a quick photo! So glad they were able to meet. We sent a copy the Elder that taught Elder Hebert. What wonderful blessings and experiences.

 Elders Eliason and Barber in the airport... heading home!

Elders Franks and Eliason

Week 103: Last weekly :'(

Hello! I hope all is well for you. 

This is my last week in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission! It's been a crazy time, and I have grown so much. 

This week was incredible. Monday we knocked into a guy named Demarcus and he was looking for a church and wants to get baptized and we were all like, "we can definitely help you!" 😂 We met with him and his wife on Friday and they wanted to come to church, so we came back on Saturday and introduced them to some members, who picked Demarcus' wife, Jamie, up for church, and the members said Jamie really enjoyed church and want to bring their whole family next week! Demarcus had to work last minute :(

We also knocked into a guy named Dillon that couldn't talk then but we set up a return appointment and when we came back, he really opened up to us and had some great questions that he was sincerely looking for answers to. He prayed at the end of our discussion, and when he prayed he thanked God for sending him us as a sign as an answer to his prayers! He is pumped about coming to church as well. He loved the way that the children are taught at church. 

We have had many experiences that are tender mercies from the Lord. 

I love this work!! I am so sad to leave it full time, but I am excited to start a new chapter of my life, and do all that I can to follow God's will for me. 

God loves us. Christ atoned for our sins and he is there to comfort and support us through our trials and weaknesses. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to become like our Heavenly Father and receive all that he has. We can change. Our desires and our works are important. As we follow Christ and forget ourselves, we will be supremely happy. Through Joseph Smith Jr. the Church of Jesus Christ had been restored. As we participate in the ordinances of salvation, we will receive greater light and direction in our lives. The Holy Spirit is active on the earth. He inspires and directs us as we allow Him. God has a plan your you and for me. We can do it! I know these things to be true.

My heart is full, and I feel so much love as I look back on the people I have interacted with during the last two years of my life, and I am so grateful for this labor of love that I have been a part of. This truly is God's work, and His glory. 

I love you!! Take care, and I hope to connect with all of you very soon. 

Love, 

Elder Eliason 

 A live tree growing out of a piece of wood. 

 Pictures with the Palmer family, the Bishop of the 1st ward.

Week 102: Weekly

Hey! I hope this week has been really well for you. It certainly has been for me!

Highlights of the week:

A lady we have been teaching came to church for the second week in a row!! We are excited to help her keep progressing in her testimony of the Gospel of Christ.

I was able to call home on Father's day!! It is always a sweet experience to remember all that my father (and mother) have done for me. It's so much, and I bet I don't even see past the surface. My parents are the best!!

We were able to very specifically pray for people to talk to while knocking doors, and we haven't been able to knock on that many doors because we keep having great conversations with those we talk to.

A recent convert has been struggling with defending truth and his faith, even among his own roommates. We talked with him about how certain qualities like meekness and love unfeigned are how we are able to reach the hearts of those we interact with, and the heart is where true change comes from.

I read this quote in a talk Elder Uchtdorf gave in a talk in April 2016: "Obedience is the lifeblood of faith. It is by obedience that we gather light into our souls." I know that this is true! Obedience allows us to show our faith, to receive blessings, to learn truth, and to return back to our Heavenly Father. These are the blessings of obedience!! What great rewards!

Jesus Christ lives, and through Him we can live, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Love, 

Elder Eliason :)

 A picture of me with a "razorback" hog, the mascot at the University of Arkansas

 I'm going to expire before a gallon of milk now!

 $23 in quarters I have saved over the last year. For the worth of a quarter is great!!

A quote from President Monson that I really enjoy

Father's Day tie from Elder Johnson, my trainer. Just happened to notice the inscription.

Week 101: Fishers of Men

We went fishing with a nonmember who has taken the lessons in the past and afterwards he and his girlfriend said they'd like to meet and talk about the Book of Mormon!! We had lots of success finding people to teach in the singles ward this week.

                                                

Week 100: Cover Photo

Hey! I hope you had a week as great as mine! We were busy busy.

Tuesday we had a tornado warning, so we ran to the institute building from contacting on campus and played ping pong in the basement until the warning passed. Then we drove to Bentonville and picked up an extra car. (yay!!) On the way back, we saw 3 or 4 wrecks. It was raining pretty hard and I guess people went faster than their tires could handle, and they hydroplaned.

We did lots of service this week, lots of it the same as always, but on Saturday we had 10 missionaries at the library for the Summer Reading Kickoff. We helped set up bounce houses, booths, we popped popcorn, we were parking attendants, I was a crossing guard, and my favorite of all, I got to be Pete the Cat!!!!!!!! It was awesome! There were 6 thousand people there, and we got to interact with most of them. One of the library workers said, "We couldn't have done it without the black tags!" It was a blast. 

We rode bikes some this week, and I went to church at the YSA for the first time, so I guess I'm officially a missionary in the YSA ward. I'm sad to leave the 1st ward, but I'm glad that we are still here to help the sisters transition. This summer, since school is out, the focus for the YSA is preparing the missionaries for the fall. Part of that is having students take a survey that President Strong has put together to evaluate the need of different resources that we have at our disposal, that we haven't used, like the Addiction Recovery Program, or the Self Reliance Courses, or classes to overcome anxiety and depression. I really think that this is a good direction for the future of the work on the campus. The work is hastening! The times are changing! And we are in the middle of it!! It is wonderful :)

Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Eliason

I made the cover photo of the Fayetteville Public Library!! 

 Cover Photo Close-up 

 A very interesting take on life

 Pete, So Sweet

 Pete The Cat Eliason

South Zone Conference

Week 99: Crazy

This week was so crazy!! We had tons of great experiences. This transfer we moved from a really nice apartment all to ourselves to a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment close to campus with 4 missionaries. My companion and I are covering the first ward, and now we are going to be finding and teaching on the University of Arkansas campus. Go razorbacks!! It is a sweet gig. We moved in Wednesday night, and Thursday Elder Dike and Elder Cepeda moved in. They are going to be traveling the mission the next 4 weeks, and then they will go home with me. What is interesting about this setup is that all four of us are companions. There were a couple of days where we switched companions twice a day! This is so that Elder Broadhead can learn the YSA work and still go to all of the lessons we have in the first ward. I went to church with Elder Cepeda, and we spent most of Sunday on bikes. It was really really humid, but it was a fantastic day nevertheless. We went to the park and talked to people, we biked to a couple of lessons, and tracted a bit. The Lord rewarded our efforts with lots of people to talk to. We have had some great lessons, some great stories, and lots of great fun in the service of my fellow man. Being a missionary is such a blast. It has gone by so fast! But I'll have some great opportunities to share the gospel when I get home.

I love the Lord. He is so so so good!!!! Sometimes he gives us trials and mountains to climb, but as we keep Christ in our mind, we will always have the strength to overcome the challenges that beset us.

Much love!!

Elder Eliason

 District - Boys will be boys

 District Tough Guys

 District

 Experience Fayetteville

 Spider got the dragonfly

Week 98: My Week

Hey!

This week has been wonderful. We have had lots of opportunities to serve, to bless, to teach, and to find those willing and open to receive the "good news" of the gospel. 

We volunteered at the local watershed alliance and picked up trash along the riverbank of a tributary of the White river. It was loads of fun!

We helped a guy put in trim work in a room of his house

We volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity

We taught some great lessons, and we felt the Holy Spirit carry our message to the hearts of those we were with

I went on an exchange with a great missionary named Elder Rodgers. He's from Washougal, WA and he's been out for about 3 months. We rode the bus to the library to do some studies and on the way, a lady asked him some very unusual questions regarding our salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven if we pass gas. She was very very interesting!

We played basketball with a part member family, and dug some roots into our relationship with them. It was a blast!

Overall, it's been a spectacular week. We have had ups and downs, but that is the spice of life. If it weren't for ups and downs, we would have all things "compound in one," not knowing the one from the other. How grateful I am that we have Jesus Christ, who is there for all of it, good or bad, happy or sad. He is our exemplar. He is our Savior. He is my Savior. I love Him!!

I love you!

Elder Eliason

 Elder Rodgers and myself on that infamous bus

 Elder Petersen, Elder Walton, and myself

 Our district

 Our district 

Elder Barber and myself

Week 97: Weekly!

Hey Y'all!! 

I hope you all had a great mother's day :) My mother is the BEST!!! I love my family :)

We had some really amazing experiences this week. 

To start off, I ran over a groundhog while riding my bike!! I was going fast down a hill, and there was a strip of grass between the road and the sidewalk. In half a second, I saw the groundhog and guessed its intentions to kill itself. Sure enough, it tried to dart to safety away from the road and sidewalk. Unfortunately, my back tire had other plans and squashed it. I am very very lucky it didn't hit my front tire, in which case I would be in the same state as the groundhog. The Lord definitely allowed me to follow promptings to keep my helmet buckled (which I don't usually do) and keep my hands on the handlebars instead of getting a drink like I thought to do. God is good!! (all the time)

I sang at the "House of Prayer Full Gospel" church in Huntsville, AR on exchanges! I sang Come, Follow Me and one other song that I can't remember right now. My companion for the day, Elder Rex, played the piano. It was very odd! I haven't every sang in public before but I think I'm at the point in my life where I can fail at something like that and be fine with it, dust myself of, and get back to work. It was a small congregation, but it was a fun experience!! They definitely PREACH the word there hahahaha

We had some really great lessons this week, as well as some good finding time and service. 

It was Elder Broadhead's birthday on Friday!! We threw a surprise birthday party for him at our Bishop's house, and it was lots and lots of fun!! He's a great companion and a stellar missionary. I found out that he doesn't like surprises too much, though.. :(

We are making some good progress here in Fayetteville!! It's an amazing area with some amazing people. I love it!

Love,

Elder Eliason

 Rainy valley in Huntsville, AR

 Elder Broadhead and some cool shades he found at church

Me on a fence

Week 96: Following His Path

Hey y'all! This week has been really good. We have done lots of service, cleaning out an abandoned school, volunteering at the habitat for humanity, removing invasive plants from a nature preserve, just to name a few!! 

We also had some really cool spiritual experiences. One is with Jonathan. We were coming home one day, and I had the thought to tract an area we had already passed on our way home. We turned around and headed back that way. We went to a certain parking lot, but it was full so we went to a different lot and parked. I saw a man standing outside on the sidewalk and we went up and talked to him. His heart was softened to the Book of Mormon, and we were able to teach him a little about the Restoration of the Gospel. I have seen the fruits of the Gospel in my life. I know it is true. As we testified to him, I really felt the spirit testify to me that I am doing the Lord's work. I know that we can all follow the spirit, not even knowing beforehand what to say or what to do, and the Lord will use us as tools to harvest in His vineyard. I love the Lord!! He is so so good to me. His gospel is wonderful to me :)

I love you all! Have a great week! :)

Elder Eliason

Elders Anderson and Eliason

Elders Broadhead, Anderson and Eliason

Elders Anderson, Eliason and Broadhead

Week 95: T Minus 11 Weeklys

Hey y'all! Sorry I didn't write last week.. It's been hectic. Things have been going well here, though!!

Fayetteville is amazing! I love it here. So many amazing people and so much to do!

We have been doing tons of service this week, at the Fayetteville Library, at the Habitat for Humanity "restore" (a thrift shop lowes), at the Mt. Sequoyah Woods Trail removing invasive plants, and doing random acts of service for people. We have had lots of cool lessons. 

One family has not been to the church for about 4 years, since they were baptized. They have committed to come back to church, and this last week we invited them to pray about a date to go to the temple and get sealed as husband and wife. They are amazing!! 

Another lady we just started teaching last night. We took a young couple from our ward with us, and we had a really good time talking with her. The couple we took parked at the back of their driveway, which was shaped like a hockey stick, with the curve towards the road. In the middle of the lesson, which was outside on a picnic table, a young woman walked out of the house and got in a car. She started backing out, and we thought she had enough room. We continued talking, until we heard a *SSHRHSSHRRRRRRR* and looked back to see the girl turning too early, and pulling the back bumper of the couple's new car a bit off. 30 minutes later, after lots of insurance company phone calls and a police officer visit, we were able to finish our lesson with a prayer. Moral of the story? Always have a backer!

One time we set up an appointment with a middle aged man that we hadn't seen at church in a while. He was baptized a year or two ago. It was set up for a Monday night at 7. When we got there, his mother let us in and he was sleeping on the couch. His mother tried to wake him up, but he was unresponsive. He was a little stiff and had a hard time breathing. Long story short his mother called 911 and the paramedics came and treated him for super low blood sugar. They took him to the hospital and afterwards, his mother, who isn't a member, thanked us for being there. She said she would've left him there because she thought he was sleeping. The Lord definitely had a part in that experience. 

I love being a missionary. I always try, every single day, to "go about doing good." Most of the time I don't know the effect of everything I do. I sometimes don't even know if the things I do have an effect on those I try to reach. But I know the Lord knows. He leads me. He is in charge.

Love ya!

Elder Eliason 

 Elders Anderson, Eliason, Broadhead and Rogers

Elders Rogers, Broadhead, Anderson and Eliason

 Nice Home

My Next Ride

Week 94: No letter. :(

Week 93: Fayette(chill)ville :)

Hey y'all!!

This week I'm writing to you from Fayetteville, Arkansas. This is only the second time I've served in Arkansas. I'm serving with Elder Broadhead. He's been out for about 8 months. He has been here for a couple of transfers, and knows the area well. It's a great place!!

We are doing lots of missionary work here. I'm ready to get into gear and gooooooooo!!!!!

Not much out of the ordinary. Knocking doors, teaching people, eating, studying, etc. 

One family we are working with hasn't been to church much since they were baptized. We taught them about faith, and how sometimes you have to take a step before the next step appears on the path. We also talked about how some people just hold onto the rod of iron in the scriptures, but don't walk forward. It was very cool to see that they recognized where they were spiritually. The wife figuratively put her foot down and said "we are GOING to get sealed in the temple!" I have faith that they will. One night we were sleeping and all of a sudden we heard a "BOOMM!!!!" that woke me up. Our whole apartment shook for a couple of seconds. It was a lightning strike somewhere really really close. Then we went back to bed :)

I can really see the hand of the Lord in this area!! It's great to be here :)

Thanks for all of the support and love that you give me!! 

Thanks :)

Love,

Elder Eliason

 I trained Elder Johnson in Parsons a little bit ago, and this is me with Elder Johnson and the Elder that he's training!!! It was super cool to see them on the transfer loop. 

Springtime in Fayetteville