Week 74

We started off the week by loosing an elder and gaining Elder Mackey. Elder Mackey's companion had to leave so we ended up being his new companions until President Schmitt found him a new companion. It was
really weird but fun at the same time. Elder Mackey is super sarcastic and loves messing with you. We all got along great.

In the midst of all of this we went over to Josh and Sara's. They had a life changing event happen to them that is very motivating to get them married. So we challenged them to pick a date in December and fast to know if it is right. They chose Christmas Eve. We are ecstatic!

On Saturday we had not one but 2 ward Christmas parties. Elder Jensen and Elder Mackey went to one and I went to the other. Both wards are amazing and I was sad I could not go to both. At the Twin Peaks Christmas party (the one I went to) they had a wonderful Nativity scene. It was so fun and to top things off we had some ward members sing. It was a blast!

At the end of the day on Saturday Elder Maughn joined us and we had to let go of Elder Mackey. Elder Maughn was my zone leader in Chula Vista. He is a great missionary and does not tolerate anything short of what needs to happen. I love him so much.

On Monday we had a super fun Family Home Evening. We went over to a member's home and had a sweet object lesson on how we influence everyone in our lives by what we do. We then gave them 3 minutes to write down the names of every nonmember that they could think of. Afterward, we showed the Christmas video and asked them to think of how they can serve those individuals. They all ended up having 2 people each that we are going to help. It was a great spiritual experience.

Week 73

This week was Thanksgiving so we were not able to meet with very many people but that does not mean we stopped working. We have been meeting a lot with our investigator with a baptismal date for the 22nd. When
we haven't been able to meet with him, we were baking cookies!

Week 72

It is cool here too! It gave a a little drizzle here on Sunday which was super Great! It even inspired my very first Shrinkydink! (I didn't know that was a thing).

Lately we have been visiting the members like nobody's business! It has been loads of fun to try some new things to share the Gospel!  This week we also did something called MTE's (missionary training exchanges). During his exchange Elder Macky joined for a solid day. We taught active members, less-actives and investigators. It makes for a wonderful day. Elder Macky's area in in Penisquitos (PQ) and they have really been grasping for straws in the teaching sector. But luckily in the California San Diego mission we see miracles and Elder Macky's area started teaching 3 new sons and daughters of God!

I have learned this week that the Lord provides but many times it takes us looking at things from a different perspective. Sometimes it doesn't take a change of amount of work in the mission but maybe how you are working in the mission to bring about the miracles you expect. I have learned a lot from Elder Jensen and I hope to maintain it. He is the hardest working Elder I know! He is amazing at balancing having the fun and diligence of missionary life. I could not have asked for a better Zone Leader trainer.

~ Elder Joshua Alger

Week 71

This week has been loads of fun! We had two exchanges! One in Ramona, the wilderness. And one with Elder Balderree our district leader. They both were super fun!

In Ramona we spent half of the day doing service for people in need. The coolest of which was for a super chill wheelchair bound man. We helped him take leaves and dig a trench in his yard. He was so grateful! We then went out in the back woods and searched for people to teach. We finished off the night by running into Andrew. It was at night and really dark and we saw this guy walking by. We caught his attention and started talking to him about the Gospel. He is pretty interested. He got stuck in the wrong crowd and wants to get out. Luckily for him, he lives down the road from the Ramona church. The rest of the week we spent time working with members. We give them an inspiring message and ask who they know who they could share the Gospel with and then we help them make a plan. It is really good because then we get to know a lot of member and we are helping them grow as member and finding people at he same time!

That has been my week. Peace!
~ Elder Joshua Alger

Week 70 On the Up!

This week has been great! Our wards are slowly but surely picking up! We just started teaching Kylee, who texted us on Friday asking if we could teach her about baptism! She is super prepared! She goes to the
dances, seminary and church and she doesn't even have a date for baptism yet! We are super excited! We also started teaching the Reinheart family. They are great! They love he missionaries and are already sharing the Gospel with their friends! They were talking to some of their friends and they had some questions about Mormons and they set them straight on some of the things they have wrong. It is awesome!

I love the area! It reminds me a lot of home. The biggest difference is all of the hills! San Diego is a very hilly place and Poway is one of the hilliest parts! Elder Jensen and I had a neat experience last night. We had dinner at a member's home who was super rich! He owned like 30 different companies and has no need to really do much of any work. At the end of the night both my companion and myself came to the conclusion that we do not want to be rich. It feels too empty. Luckily, it is not always like that. We have super wards who are great at missionary work and very supportive of their elders.

That is the life in Poway!
~ Elder Joshua Alger

Week 69

My new area is super fun! There are lots of great members and nearly all of them are uber missionary minded. We are eating with members every night and even more so when we can get them on the missionary boat. 

To clear up any confussion, when we were biking last week, we were in another missionary's area. We have a car and use it daily. Our apartment is very large but having two companionships in it makes up for the extra space. It is super fun and distracting to be in the same apartment as another companionship of missionaries but I mostly love it. 

My companion is very diligent! He is the best missionary I know. I will likely not be with him very long though so I will cherish every moment. Right now, we are teaching about three households worth of people. Sara and Josh, a returning member and investigator, the Kroepels, Ryan  and Charlie, who are unbaptized children to Todd, a less active, and lastly David, the ❌ to a member with active kids. They are Luke Warm right now but we are trying to get them cookin! 😁

Life is great!

~ Elder Joshua Alger

Week 68

My new area is great! I am in Poway, about as close to Utah as you get in San Diego. Everyone is rich and white. It is pretty much a medium size city amongst large, bouldery hills. My wards, yes plural wards, are really great! Everyone wants to share the Gospel and all they need is a push in the right the direction and this area will work wonders! There is so much potential here. And we are super fed. They call Poway the land of eternal dinners! Lol!  

My new companion is Elder Jensen. I have worked with him before when I was in forth ward, he was my Zone leader. Now we are working together as Zone leaders. Super fun! He is very diligent and great at talking to everyone.

I am sad to leave the wonderful people of Otay Mesa but I am so excited for all of the wonderful work to be done in Poway!  We are currently teaching a few people but we are slowly but surely increasing the quantity and interest of the people we are teaching and at the same time finding new and creative ways to find them!  I am super excited!

Love, 

Elder Alger

We rode our bikes on exchanges in the the first rain in Poway and all of the gross stuff off of the road and onto our white shirts. Yuck!

I made pancakes for the first time ever. Not to shabby if I don't say so myself.

Fun in the apt.

Elder Jensen and I in front of the church after a day of hard work.

Good bye Elder Mahoney! Have a good time with YOUR trainee!

White chocolate tie that I thought was adorable! So I had to take a pic!

My Halloween costume! Lol!

Decorating cupcakes for less Actives!