Tuesday, June 27, 2017

June 26, 2017 An Overload of Tender Mercies!

This week almost did not happen! It went way to fast. If I could I would do it all over again (it was that full of miracles)
The first thing that we did was pick up four new investigators!! Most of them are farther away, but they all seem fairly solid. So the next new Sister to come to Hamilton with Sister Armstrong will be well on her way to committing many to draw closer to there savior and be baptized.
The Highlight of the week was Kaiden's BAPTISM!!
Sister Elgaaen, Kaiden, & Sister Armstrong at Kaiden's Baptism
He is just a child, but it was still something that I will hold as a treasure for a long time. The planning was all worth it, everything seemed to just work out better than planned, and lots of people came.
The Last amazing thing was having a potential attend Church to hear me talk! Her neighbor is our branch mission leader. His wife asked me to volunteer to give a talk on Sunday so that she would have a reason to invite Pam White. I did ask, get assigned, and She came!! We asked her about her experience, and she told us that it was like all of the talks were prepared for her :)
The talk that I volunteered to give was on "Finding Christ in Other's"
Finding can be explained in D&C 88:63, "...seek me diligently and ye shall find me..."  If we truly desire to have an answer, or come to a conclusion about something, all we need to do is diligently search for it and desire it.   Before we can find Christ in others, we have to find it in ourselves first. The best way to find Christ is to learn about Him and work on becoming more like Him. The main three attributes that I think of for Christ are; Faith, Hope, and Charity.   Faith is a complete trust or confidence in Heavenly Father, Hope is manifested in optimism an patience towards something, and Charity never fails and is the pure love of Christ. So, after finding Christ in yourself and developing those attributes, you can look for it in others. 
The first step for 'finding Christ in other's' is seeing them how Christ would see them. D&C 18:10, "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God."   This poem also gives a great example on how Christ views others.


The touch of the Master's Hand 
by: Myra Brooks Welch
'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"
But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."
"And many a man with life out of tune
All battered and bruised with hardship
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

We are all not perfect, and thus battered and scared with sins (even if the scars are small and more like scratches- none of us are perfect.) With the Master, we all can be perfected and seen as of value. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, "...the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."   To truly Find Christ in other's we must recognize there value and look inward. Elder Eyring mentioned in this past general conference, "If you walk with the savior long enough, you will learn to see everyone as a child of God with limitless potential, regardless of what his or her past may have been."   If we have diligently searched, come close to the Savior ourselves- then we will easily be able to see Christ in Other's and be better able to help them see it themselves.
I hope that Everyone has a new resolve to draw closer to there Savior this week. I know that He is patiently waiting for us all to turn to Him, so that He can help us see the potential and greatness in others.
I Love serving the Lord and being privileged enough to view people like this all the time!
Bill Brooks & Katelyn

Double Rainbow at the golf course.


Katelyn Enjoying frozen cookies.

Katelyn & Francis and Nancy Mcremond

Top:Lonnie, Terry Furgeson, Ron Thomas-
-Middle: Caroline, Vonnie Furgeson-
-Bottom Katelyn, Jordan, Becky Thomas
 

In the Car Again

Jared, Dan, Karen, and Abby Rains with Katelyn

Steve Phillips & Katelyn lgaaen

Katelyn with Sister & Elder Swenson Palmyra Temple Missionaries

Katelyn with helper Olivia Carroll

Katelyn & Steve Phillips

Katelyn Saying goodbye to Hamilton Friends

Katelyn & Chris Moglia

Lovin' the Field

Katelyn and Random Strange Houses

Singin' in the Rain Again!

Katelyn Looking Beautiful
 
Katelyn with Sylvia & Stanley

Katelyn, Kaiden Wiley, Jessica & Jeremy Carrol

Katelyn, Kaiden Wiley, Sister Armstrong
At Kaiden's Baptism

Katelyn, Kaiden, Sister Armstrong

Katelyn, Miliana & Milly Hartwell

Katelyn, Niki Fallon, Keith Simpson

Katelyn, Trevor Wright, Sister Armstrong

Making White Bean Chili


Picture Perfect Day!

Sister Armstrong & Elgaaen

Sister Elgaaen & Armstrong


 

Being a Patriotic Missionary!

The Gang's House.
 

Monday, June 19, 2017

June 19, 2017 Being a Missionary

Hello Everyone!  Happy Father's day!
 Right after emailing last week Sister Armstrong and I were able to go on a Hike in the adirondacks!
We hiked Bald Mountain. It was a different type of hiking that in Utah, the paths were rock instead of dirt- and everything was really green. The humidity was also new and made the experience a bit more wet that usual. We made it there and back safely and even had a quick lunch by a lake. How blessed we truly are.
   My pondering scripture this past week was in Romans 13:12. Something that I found interesting to study was the part, "Armour of light". In Ephesians 6 :10-18 it talks about the 'Armour of God', "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."   We are at war with the world. IF we refrain from putting on the Entire Armour, then a piece of us will be weakened, and the enemy will strike there. Satan is a master craftsman and can recognized a lack of protection.   Armour is not meant to be comfy- it takes practice to move in and muscle to hold it all up. We must continue to build our strength within our refuges (church, temple, home) where Armour is not needed so we can be better prepared for the daily attacks against us.   With Christ's help the Armour will become light and bearable.With Christ's help we will never lose a battle and will continue to be conquers! 
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week. There are so many signs all around us that there truly is a loving Heavenly Father and that He does care about us. Just going on the Hike and seeing all of the details that are put into every piece of nature, how can there not be some greater power who is the author of it all.
I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to draw closer to my Heavenly Family. By serving others and taking the time to notice all of the tender mercies that are presented to me daily, I truly can testify that I KNOW I am loved. This time on Earth is a preparatory stage. A time to learn and grow. It brings me peace to know that the path I am walking is being guided by a well experienced 'nature guide'. He is a wonderful leader pointing out the beauty and also the danger. I know that as we stay close to Him and listen to His wise words we will be kept safe from the terrible cliffs of sin.
We must all put on the Armour of God, of Light and truth. But we also have to follow an experienced and caring leader- who will guide our feet on the pathway back to our Heavenly Home.
I love you all! Keep close to the savior and don't ever hesitate to hold tight to those around you
if they are getting 'distracted' by what is off in the wrong direction. [There is nothing off the path that will bring true joy, only true misery]
Love, Sister Elgaaen



Eating Ice Cream with a cookie stuck to it.

Field between rainstorms.

Guess which side is mine.

At the Top of Bald Mountain

Posing at the top of Bald Mountain



Enjoying some ice cream.

Sunset

T

 

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

June 12, 2017 Service :)

 This week one of the main things that we did was pull weeds! We served 4 different people for 2 hours each... That adds up! The best part about the service was seeing the increase of love in myself for the people, and also watching an increase in love that the person had for us.
   In my scriptures study this week I was in Romans. Chapter 8:38-39, "Neither [a bunch of terrible and powerful things]... shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."   This is powerful! How often do we fell like Heavenly Father and Christ are 'not really listening' or 'are too far away'?  These two verses testify that Nothing could ever separate us from God's love- Nothing.    13:8-14  This is talking about obeying the law and putting on the Armor of Christ to help us obey. It is said that loving one another is the highest commandment because everything else falls underneath it.  "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."  The last few verses tell us to 'put on the Armor of light' and ' put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.'  By putting on the Armor we will be better able to serve and understand and love our neighbors. Through Christ All things are possible, including love for another.
   In Church a few of the speakers talked about families and being prepared spiritually. One of the speakers mentioned the story of the 10 virgins with oil. He said, "The oil of preparedness is attained drop by drop. Each act of faithfulness and kindness adds a single drop to our lamps. Spiritual preparedness cannot be shared."
 The next speaker talked about having a testimony, but being able to make sure that our children or youth have one as well. A quote she used was, "The more surely you rear your children in the ways of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with love and high expectations, the more likely that there will be peace in their lives."- President Hinckley   Someday everyone, including children and the youth will be faced with challenges when they need oil in there lamps. You can give them a lamp, tell them and show them how to fill it, and even allow them to watch you put a few drops in your own lamp. But eventually they will need to fill it themselves. The speaker said, "Home is not the quiz, it is not the test. They (children and youth) will get enough of that outside in the world. Home should be the place where answers are given. We must create a home where we are safe and can prepare to fill our lamps."   How interesting is this idea of having home be a place of answers, a refuge, and the location where we don't need to spend oil, but can conserve and save it.
  I hope that all of us will try a little bit better to give the youth and children the opportunities to fill there lamps. Because light in this darkening world is much needed, and it is something that they must start now to obtain. 
I hope that all of you are able to fill your lamps a bit more this week and that you all have a week full of learning and laughter!
wonderful video that goes with the talks from church!



At a fountain by our home.

New dress modeling.







Sylvia (age 84) a nice lady who let us take a picture on her dock.