14.3: training in da soo

 Its been like 3 weeks since I last emailed, so I figured that it is about time that I send another update out.

The work is going reallt good up here in the Soo, we currently have 17 friends that we are teaching (that is the most I've have in the Soo), the Lord is HASTENING HIS WORK! We put another friend, Brandon on date for baptism. He has some things that need to be done before then, so please keep him in your prayers! 

We still have our boy, Anthony on date for baptism too, but we are still waiting for some approval. He is so ready! We taught him about temples and he said "When can I go? I want to go!" That was a very special moment for me and made me ponder on how important the temple is to our eternal progression!

My new comp is Elder Minalga from Kaysville, UT. He has been in the field for 3 weeks now and is amazing and so dedicated to the work already! He is definitely better than me when I was his age on the mission, and he'll probably be overall a better missionary than me when this training is over. He loves the work and is always trying to be 100% in all aspects of the work. I needed him at this time of my mission and I know that I will learn more from him than he will from me.

Heres a cool scripture:

Mosiah 24:10 - "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

Love and miss y'all!

Elder Isaksen

 

13.6: finding peace in difficult times through Christ

 Friends and family,

Admist the trials that this past weekend had for us, I had one reoccurring throughout that Jesus Christ lives and loves us! He knows our pains and afflictions! Nothing that occurs in this life can change the fact that our Savior has risen and broken the bands of death. I testify that true and eternal peace is only found in and through Jesus Christ. No matter what is happening outside our door, literally and metaphorically, we can always find peace in Christ. 

We had a great week up here in the Soo getting lost in the Lord's vineyard. We had two new friends at church this week, the Lord is truly blessing this area at this time! Not to mention the perfect weather which we have been having. 

T-calls were recieved last Saturday as well. I will be training a new missionary up here in the Soo! I am pretty pumped for it! My current comp, Elder Muir will also be training but down in Lansing Spanish. For the loyal fans that remember, that is where I began my mission, so I am pretty jealous.

President Russell M Nelson has said:

"Because the Savior, through His infinite Atonement, redeemed each of us from weakness, mistakes, and sin, and because He experienced every pain, worry, and burden you have ever had, then as you truly repent and seek His help, you can rise above this present precarious world."

We can find peace as we look for it and keep our covenants! I invite you to find that joy that Christ promises all of us!

Love and appreciate y'all!

Elder Isaksen

13.4: Elder Good Edition

 Epder Isaksen is reaaly good at blvaowling. He is also really good at being a branch president.

What is up ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, elders and sisters!?!?

Thos weeks email comrrs from Elder Good, who doesn’t like when prople turn off auto correct on their keyboards. Ive decided nkt to correct anything as much as possible. For the mems sake...

This weel, Elder Osaksen had an exchange with the one and only Elder Baum, current AP. It was good. They had a good time visiting people in the Soo.

Also he wanted me to write about digging through Sis Flowers batherrome to find something. Dont remeber what it was, but thry ended ip finding a pizza box... in the bathroom.

BC pizza was good bc some less active members and members who dont live her showed up. Jad a grand old time

Currently we are bowling, and Elder Isakem is winning by a larg margin. Cool, but also not cool vro.

This weeks spiritual thought comes from Jacob 6:12

O be wise, what can I say more?

Wisdom is all about knowing how to apply the knowledge we have been given. Elder Isaksen is wise. Brother Downey is a wise guy. Currently elder good here is trying not to be.

And now, back to Elder Isalsen and his concluding thoughst....

 

Yeah, so things are going good. We had a good week. Maybe next week I'll actually write an email. Love and miss y'all!

Elder Isaksen

13.3: do you know the muffin man who walked on mackinac bridge?

 My dearest friends and family,

Life is going well as of late up here in Michigan. Don't got too much time as you can tell by the time I am sending this. I'll hit y'all with some quick updates from the past couple of weeks. I hope that those of you who still read these emails will enjoy it.

 -We made lots of muffins this week, I ate 18 in 3 days.

 -As a Zone, we got to walk the Mackinac Bridge, 5 miles both ways!

 -We had District Conference (so Stake Conference but smaller) this past weekend down in Traverse City. We had a spiritually nourishing time with members and missionaries from Northern Michigan. Elder Haynie, the area president came and shared his amazing spirit and testimony.

 -Our family that we are teaching made the weekend long trip and had a great time at conference. 

 -The leaves are turning colors up here and the locals are predicting a mid-october snowfall!

 - WE GOT CRACKER BARREL!

I love this gospel, I testify that Christ lives and stands at the head of His true and living church. I invite all to do the small things each day that will build your testimony and allow you to share it with others. "I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy." Mosiah 3:3 

Talk at y'all when I decide to email again, love and miss y'all.

Elder Isaksen

12.6: by the weak and the simple

 Well well well, what do we have here? Oh, another email from Elder Isaksen? Well, that's a surprise!

Nothing too crazy has been going down up here in Sault Ste Marie. Kinda the same ol' stuff. I don't have a ton to report on but things are going well! My comp and I are working hard to help others make and keep covenants with our Heavenly Father and we're having a joy-filled time while doing so.

This past Saturday, the Branch had a baptism and it went really good besides the power flickering out right before the ordinance of baptism. Luckily, it turned back on almost immediately. Twas a great baptismal service and a cool thunderstorm.

I love seeing Heavenly Father work through me to bless His children. I have gained a firm testimony that God prepares and qualifies those who He calls. I have seen that come to pass in others and in myself while on my mission.

D&C 1:23 states, "That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world."

I know that God calls us in our weakness to make us and others stronger. If you don't think you are enough, I promise that you are. Our Savior is with us in this great work.

Keep living life, my friends, it is a gift.

Elder Isaksen

12.4: "i'm from georgia, thank you. have a nice day."

 Good day, ladies and gentlemen. 

It is August 4th, 2026 here in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. I have surpassed 16 months being a missionay, which is crazy to think about. I'm about to beat the other Elders in Monopoly to celebrate.

We have been having a good time in this special part of the Lord's vineyard called Michigan's Upper Peninsula. A lot of fun and not so fun things happened these past couple weeks. Joy is found as we loose ourselves in His work, I promise.

A couple weeks ago, we were knocking and this lady was outside her house and wasn't too pleased to see us in her neighborhood. She said a couple things, we said a couple nice things after. As we parted ways, she hit us up with "Go back to Utah, you mormons!" I hit her back by politely saying "I'm from Georgia, thank you. Have a nice day." She said "Screw you." And some other choice words. Fun times. 

We have been continuing to teach our friend Anthony who continues to progress towards his hopeful baptism in October assuming we get the proper approval. Our family that we are teaching is progressing well, both of the kids, Faith and Tony, are headed to their respective youth camps this week. Pray that they will both have spirtual and testimony building moments.

I love the story of Nephi and his faithfulness to the Lord and His commandments. No matter what happened and no matter who lost faith around him(everyone at one point), he was the only one to stay faithful the whole time.

When commanded to build a ship, he said this to his brothers, "If the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"

In our lives, we may be called to build a ship or go through something that seems impossible. However, the Lord will instruct us as we are faithful to Him. I testify that we all can build a ship, no matter what that ship may look like as we turn to Him.

Love and miss all y'all,

12.1: strange things are happening here

 To my dearest friends and family, 

Well, some things have happened since I last wrote. I have a new companion. I had to kick Elder Michaelson back to Texas cause he was getting too annoying. Not really, I love the guy to death, he just finished his two years. I learned a lot from his example. My new comp is Elder Muir, he is a real hard worker, he is helping me be better. Se have been seeing great things here already, and it's only been a week. To add onto all of this craziness, we now have an upstairs neighbor who turned out to be a member of the church, so that is cool.

Things have been going great though here in the Soo. The fam that we are teaching are doing great and are continuing to come to church, meet, and progress towards baptism. Continue to pray for Jackie and her family, por favor.

This past Saturday, we got an online referral from a dawg of a guy named Anthony. He is looking to better his life up here in the Soo, and he is from South Carolina. He loves fried chicken and there is this place here in the Soo that supposedly has good fried chicken. So good, that Anthony says that it is better than Publix's...idk how that can be. I'll keep you updated on the fried chicken war that will take place.

The Branch is doing good, there is an amazing couple that will be moving up here in the next couple of months and they are going to be amazing for the Branch. We are seeing lots of miracles here in the Branch, thank you for your prayers and support of the Soo Branch.

Here's a little scripture to end things off for this week...

Alma 46:15 - "And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come."

How are you showing your faith in Christ? What steps are you taking to be an example of the believers? Why is it important to shine our lights so others can see them?

I invite you to ponder these questions and act on any impressions you recieve.

Love all of you, go eat some Zaxby's for those of us who cannot.

Elder Isaksen