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