Last words as a missionary

I  love being a missionary. Working with people, inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel is amazing! That is why it is our purpose as missionaries. The gospel is so simple! Faith in Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the End. That is it no more no less. There is no imaginary bar we have to reach. There is no passing grade. We are not here to earn heaven and eternal life. We are here to learn eternal life, to make heaven on earth whenever we can. Have faith for a better tomorrow. Have faith that through our Lord and Savior our broken pieces will be fixed. Give up that which is evil and devilish, all that truly brings pain, sorrow and misery. Give up your sins and Christ will fill you. Repent. Rely on him and his grace and he will make you into what you were designed to become. A son; A daughter; of the most High God to inherit his kingdom. Remember who you are. Follow him. Be Baptized! Make an eternal and unbroken promise with Him that you will love him, that you will serve him and that you will lift up his sons and daughters at all times. This is your duty. Receive his Holy Spirit into your life. Let him lead you, guide you, walk beside you. You will find the way.(1) Peace He leaves with you, peace He gives unto you but not as the world gives, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid(2) for He is with you from all eternity to all eternity. Never give up. Straight is the way and narrow the gate which leads to the kingdom of heaven,(3) but He is with you and if you give Him your whole self he will carry you to the mansions of his father. If you love Him, if you serve Him, if you follow Him. This is my testimony. I know this work is true. I love the Lord with all of my soul! And so help me God, you will feel His love and know His way. It is the only and true way under heaven. All of this I say and bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, Amen.

A servant of the Lord,

~Elder Joshua Alger

(1) LDS hymns #301

(2) John 14:27

(3) 3 Nephi 27:33

Week 101 - I love being a Missionary!

We have been working hard. Michelle and Junior. Were happily baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I baptized Junior and Elder Kersten baptized Michelle. On Sunday I conferred the Aaronic Priesthood to Junior. He is excited and ready to serve. He told us he wants to serve a mission. On Friday they will be going to the temple to be baptized on behalf of their own ancestors. I am so proud of them. They make great Mormons! Because this is my last week in the mission field I want leave you with my final testimony to you as a Full-time Missionary of the Lord. I will send it in the next email.

~Elder Joshua Alger

Me above one of the many canyons that speckle downtown San Diego

 

Multi Zone Sports with our Mission President, a once and a mission experience.

The classiest Restroom sign I have ever seen in my life! I had to share lol 😂.

Us with Michelle and Jr. At the Mormon Battalion. That was a blast!

Elder Kersten, Michelle, Elder Alger (Me), and Junior at their baptism

Week 100

Just a video and a photo this week.

Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/2_nURvipKMA

Week 99 - I am sick

I am sick but working hard. The ward takes care of me when I need help. I have been given 2 remedies for my cold/cough/flu or whatever it is. I am not cured yet but am defiantly feeling better. Also, I have a great companion to support me. As long as he knows I am trying, he is patient with me. It is such a blessing. 

I have been so spoiled. I have not been sick very much on my mission. I cannot remember a time when I had to stay in the apartment because of my own illness. Whatever I have is pretty darn annoying and exhausting though. It's just like I am constantly breathing up dust bunnies and sleep is a real struggle. I took some NyQuil last night and that knocked me out but I hate drugs. I am holding up though. 

On a lighter note we have 3 people with set baptism dates, 2 in June and 1 in July, and getting 3 people back to the temple. The work is hopping!

Love, 

Elder Alger

We got to go to the aquarium with the Nielsen family.

Week 98 - There is so much work!

The 1st ward is chock-full of missionary opportunities. Half of the people we randomly meet will listen to us. In the past week we found 3 or 4 members that were not on the records just on the street! 

Michelle and Junior are doing great. They came to church for the first time this last week and they are actively working to prepare themselves for baptism. It is great! 

The members here are wonderful! They all want to help each other. Brother Putt has got to be one of the best of them. He works so hard to keep everyone who gets baptized active and to the temple. And he does a wonderful job. Currently we have about 8 active Recent Converts 3 of which are preparing for their endowments. I love the work and I love this ward.

Love ya! 

Elder Joshua Alger

 A member took us out to a Thai place and I got fried rice in a pineapple. It was soooo tasty!

Super tasty pizza at Bronx Pizza

Week 97 continued - I love this ward!

I have seen so many old friends it is amazing! For those of you that do not know my old ward San Diego 4th ward was dissolved and half of it was merged with San Diego 1st ward, the ward I am currently serving in. So in sum, it is awesome! Brother Putt is our Ward Mission Leader and a great one at that. We love him dearly and he loves the work. It is a beautiful relationship. We have been teaching a lot of cool people. First off we baptized Allen this Saturday. He has been attending church for the past 7 weeks and is going strong. When he came out of the changing room after he was baptized he burst through the doors and said "I feel like I have been born again!" It was awesome! And this man is just behind 80 years old! 

This week has been full of similar miracles and lovely city scenes. I will try to take pictures this week. And on top of all of that Elder Kersten, my new companion is awesome! He is super fun to be around.

These truly are the best two years. :-D

Love ya! 

Elder Joshua Alger

Week 97

Just a short video this week. https://youtu.be/tKjcQSuNsAI

Week 96 - Transferred again!

It has been short but it has been fun. I am going to miss everyone in Del Sur and PQ3 but I am excited to be back in the hood!

Week 95 - Lots of Fun in Peñasquitos!

This past week we were involved in the PQ5K. An event originally made to celebrate Pioneer Day but then adapted to be a community event for Peñasquitos. In the event, you run from the stake center to another church building and then get to partake of a complementary breakfast of bacon, pancakes and fresh squeezed orange juice. Super fun! We helped out in the serving department. So I gave people bacon all morning, pretty much the BEST JOB EVER!

Later that day we went by our stake patriarch's house. We knocked and rang the the doorbell in the middle of a patriarchal blessing! Oops... but it worked out alright. We got to know them a little bit, they are kind, nice, cool people.

We have been spending a bit more time focusing on the youth in our wards and it has gone a long way! We have 4 friends of different youth that are pretty promising prospects for being taught by the missionaries.

To add on to that, we had the opportunity to witness the opening of Britain Hale's mission call. He is a graduating priest in PQ3 ward and super cool. I especially liked it because it made me think of my little brother Tim and when he opened his mission call. I am so excited! Missions are the best!

Love y'all!

~Elder J. Alger

The Zone together helping with the PQ5K

Britain opening his mission call to the 

Missouri, Independence Mission!

Lots of mini-golf fun

Week 94 Baptism!

Romeo was baptized this Saturday! And then confirmed a member of the church and received the Aaronic Priesthood, which I was able to confer upon him!!! He is such a stud. He is in the Navy and is currently out to sea but he wants to get to the temple a soon as possible. I love him dearly.

Another highlight for this week is that I met Tom Kirchner for the first time! Tom is working towards being baptized in early June but is currently in Germany with his family. We FaceTimed him yesterday and it was great experience.

I am back to making cookies again! We have been having a hard time contacting people and I know that if you knock on someone's door with a plate of cookies they are much more likely to be kind to you than not. So on with the cookie making. Also the leadership in our wards are so fantastic that we just have to give them something to say thank you .

I love my mission. It is interesting thinking about the length of my mission and my contacts in all of the different areas and changes in myself over the years. I know my mission has been nothing but good for me and for those around me. I would recommend it. 

And also a shout out to Tim, my younger brother for getting his mission call to The Korea, Seoul mission to report in August! I am so proud of him. He has become a true follower and disciple of Jesus Christ and there is nothing better I could dream of for him. I love you Tim!

~ Elder J. Alger

Tom and his wonderful wife Bri 

The missionaries and Bishop with Tom (can you guess which one is the Bishop?)

Some members took us out to Chick-Fil-A to eat and I saw these teens in waiting to order their pre-prom dinner. I thought it was kind of funny . But hey, this Chick-Fil-A was pretty cool , it had a community couch.

Week 93 Progress!!!

This past week has been a blast! We have been a whole lot busier teaching less-active members and non members and some active members in the mix. Teaching is my all time favorite part of missionary work. When we teach an individual and they come prepared (hopefully), having read and prayed and contemplated what we had left them last time, we then follow up with them ask them about their experience, if it inspired any question and what they personally got from it. Then we get into the goods, an inspiring stream of thought with doctrine, soul searching questions, scriptures and personal testimony paired with experiences. The room fills with light and our minds and buzzing with excitement. Then you see the light in their eyes. They get it. They understand.... then we help them apply their new found knowledge and light with assignments to read ponder and pray about. Then we leave having had an amazing spiritual experience.

That is what it is like when missionaries teach.

I love the wards I am serving in. I love the people and everything they stand for. 

Salutations!

~ Elder Alger

Do you see Sara in this picture? I found this print in our primary presidents home.

The view from our apartment early in the morning.

Week 92 Easter!

Easter Sunday!

It has been a lovely week in fine Peñasquitos Zone. We have been teaching more and more since I have been here. It is great we are becoming more and more involved with the members and it is starting to show. I love doing the work of the Lord but it is a lot more effective and fun when we work with the local members.

I also had the privilege of going on a companion exchange with Elder Platt, our district leader. He is a strange one but he wants to do what is best so that is what counts.

Sunday was awesome! Especially in the Del Sur Ward. There were at least 3 families that had brought a neighbor or friend that normally would not come to church. I had opportunity to sit next to one of them named Nina. She Is from Russia and is super nice. Maybe we can get her to come again. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼. Hopefully we can see her again tonight. 

I love the work. 

~Elder J. Alger

Elder Platt and Me

Week 91 Living in Luxury

This week has been insane! My first week in Peñasquitos 3rd, and Del Sur wards have been super busy. We have been meeting a lot of the members. Our areas here, Peñasquitos and Del Sur are very affluent so knocking doors and talking to people in the street is so very much less than effective. Luckily, we have some of the best members in Peñasquitos Stake. The members are always thinking about us and our well being it is awesome. 

They are also pretty good at sharing the gospel. Just yesterday after a family home evening at the Harris home we were able to pin point 4 individuals the family is going to reach out to and invite to Easter Sunday. 

Elder Seavey is a great companion as well. Like I said last week, he is a redhead which already puts him up in my mind. To add to that he is a great bible scholar and can answer just about any question you might have about doctrine in it. He is also a great teacher. I think I am in for a real treat this transfer. 

Oh and lastly, we have 3 investigators with baptism dates, Tom R. (husband of a returning less-acitve member), Tom K. (19 year old German exchange student), and Talan (10 year old unbaptized child of a returning less-acitve member). I have met Talan but both Toms are out of town for about the next month.

The mission is AWESOME!

~Elder J. Alger 

We do not have a can opener in our apartment so we had to get creative...

This is the richest part of our area. It is in a country club and every house looks like a castle!

Family Home Evening with the Harris family making cookies

Silly pic with the Harris family

The Peñasquitos Zone at the San Diego temple earlier this morning

Week 90 God Bless Penasquitos!

Pq

I got transferred!

I am in a new city in our mission Called Penasquitos. It is super rich and we cannot do missionary work on our own here, only by working with members ( or so I have been told). I do not know much about this place yet but I will let you know next week.

In the mean time let's talk abut General Conference. I would have to say the Saturday afternoon session was my most favorite. I loved all of the speakers and I defiantly took the most notes. 

I love being a missionary. I am no longer a zone leader which means I get to spend ALL of my time doing missionary work and no Meetings! I am excited and to top things off I am companions with another redhead, Elder Seavey!

Love you! Bye.

~Elder J. Alger 

Bonus!

I received a sweet message this week:

Hi Sister Alger!  This is Sister Young from Poway. We have missed your wonderful missionary son in our area!  Tonight I got a text from the elders asking if they could stop by because they were thinking of me. My first thought was "I haven't  gotten a text like that since Elders Jensen and Alger were here. Makes me miss them". Before I could even respond there was a knock at my door and there was your son on splits with Elder Smith from our ward!  It was so good to see him!  I wanted to give him a big hug, but of course I couldn't!  He was only in my home for a few minutes but he brings such a wonderful spirit!  What a wonderful young man he is. You should be so very proud. I snapped this picture before they left. Please excuse me, I've been sick and I've was getting ready for bed when they stopped by!  I tried to have as little of me in the picture as possible! ❤❤

I love the hat and was glad to see he had it!  I know he had lost his just before he left our area. My friend and I were going to get him one for his birthday and then he got transferred so we didn't have the chance. Glad to see he got another one!!

Nicholle Young

Week 89 Lots of Fun and Miracles

Jill was Baptized!!! She is a great convert too! Probably on of the strongest I have helped along yet! She is the sweetest lady and is super excited for the Gospel too! I am just so happy for her. Sharing the Gospel is the best.

This week has Been crazy. We have been jumping all, over the place with exchanges in Poway and Ramona, and to top it off  a ward party, a baptism and a Mission President's Devotional. That is 5 major events in one week. I was super stressed and worried. Thankfully with Christ, the Prince of Peace, we can find refuge in the storm. 

We are looking for new people to teach now. If we were smart we would have been looking while working with Jill but hey we aren't perfect.

We are spending a lot more time with the members of the ward. For example today we went on a hike with Sister McVay an her family through the creek in the back woods. I should have pictures next week. More important than hiking though and way more rewarding is when we get to talk and converse about the wonderful truth of the Gospel. There is literally nothing better than helping someone who was completely lost in the confusion of the world and help them find the solace of Christ, our Lord. Someone we are teaching had a very powerful experience she shared with us. She was in her room playing one of her favorite songs, Amazing Grace, and the Spirit hit her and as she put it, "I went straight into prayer mode...". She felt the hand of our Savior on her hands. She found peace. She is making leaps and bounds.

Love ya! 🏼 

~ Elder Joshua Alger

This is us with Jill right before baptism

I had the wonderful opportunity to pray right next to this gorgeous field when I was feeling super stressed

Week 88 Loving Life!

Another Week in the Life of Elder J. Alger 

Baptism time! Jill Slovacek is going to be baptized! She has been making lots of friends and has been so inspired by the spirit. She is ready! The Gospel is so true. Jill was found by the missionaries here in the Highland Valley Ward back in October last year. She has since met with them as her health permitted. As she went along she realized in her heart that were some commandments she did not feel ready to obey and that was a tremendous wall for her blocking her. 

A couple of weeks ago she experienced a mighty change of heart. She realized how detrimental the sin was that she was holding onto and completely let go. She has since transformed. She is truly converted. It is truly amazing!

As for me the missionaries in the northern portion of the mission gathered together last Tuesday at Camp Wildwood, a church owned camp in our ward boundaries, and we did a super awesome, highly spiritual missionary conference. It was great! One of the things I learned was that if I am too worried about what I am supposed to do than I will neglect much of what others need. I need to change my perspective to completely and wholly focusing on the needs of all of the people I work with each and every day. Only then will I truly help change lives.

Love ya! 🏼 

~ Elder Joshua Alger

Elder Young and me sitting in the apartment enjoying being around each other :-)

This is Elder Anderson (the goofball) placing one of many less than attractive photos of himself in my iPad 

And a charming picture of Elder Young, my Beloved companion, right before our Silent hike.

Week 87 Loving Life!

Sometimes life give you lemons but not this week. We have been teaching and preaching like no body's business! We are working with Jill almost everyday leading up to her baptism date on March 18th. It is wonderful. We also are working with a gal named Andrea. She is a great person and is ready to change. She said "I think my own personal apostasy is almost over." That sure brought a smile to our faces. As for myself I have come to realize again that I can do so much more to help those around me. The biggest ah-ha moment I had was about my own prayers. As a missionary I think very often how we can help those we teach make the next big step like come to church or set a date to be baptized. I realized if I really wanted to help those people I need to pray for them specifically each day. This applies to you too. If you truly want to help someone else, to show Heavenly Father you truly want it to happen you better pray for it. It is so simple but hard to apply because we are creatures of habit. 

I love my mission and everything about it I hope you get to have similar experiences with your friends.

~Elder Alger

Week 86 Invested in the Lord's work

Another Week in the Life of Elder J. Alger 

This week has been pretty great! We added a new missionary to our ranks, Elder Ray. He is super chill but is here to work. I love him dearly.

The work is starting to get moving. We helped gal named Jill set a baptism date on the 18th of March. That was an experience. She has been meeting with missionaries since June last year and she really likes Mormons. She just has some major health issues that get in her way quite regularly. Please pray for her so she can make her date and enter into the Lord's kingdom.

As for myself. The realization that I will not stay on my full-time mission forever is becoming more and more real to me. And although I will not let coming home distract me from my service to the Lord I have decided that I need to do a little bit more preparation before I come home. Mostly spiritual preparation.

During Stake Conference this past week the spirit told me I should start thinking about making my own personal member missionary plan. And on top of that a personal temple plan to best prepare myself to get fully invested in all aspects of the work of salvation. I would recommend you doing the same. A plan helps us stay focused on the things that matter most and make our journey on earth as wonderful as possible.

Life is great! Almost to good to be true.

Love ya! 🏼 

~Elder J. Alger 

Rainbow

Petes BBQ

Steven, one of our investigators, kid

Do you see it? (hint: it's bigger on the inside)

Fridge pics from a little girl I drew a picture for.

Elder young and I on the road to success

Elder Ray and I at the Temple today