Hey all,
Lets talk about the weather. Over here in England, it has been overcast for the whole week. And it has been cold and raining. I have been able to see my breath a couple of times this week. That is not supposed to happen in August and I am not ready for the cold! I am not the biggest fan of the rain. It has just been a constant drizzle this week.
We have been mostly working with the less active members in the Area this week. With August being the holiday period of the year no one is around, everyone is on "Holiday". Even the members, we had 40 people on Sunday out of the 80 or so that normally come. We are working with a couple of them and the good news is that they are coming to Church more often and staying for more of it. We really don't eat at members houses here. We are lucky if we get in with one or two members a week. This area is really posh and people don't want to talk about religion at all.
I have found that sometimes the Lord tell us to stop finding souls and to get the ones who are already found back into the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes though working with less actives is harder than finding new investigators. The members who are less active have a reason most of the time and they know exactly what the Missionaries are doing coming around their place. We have been taking the "Ammon" approach to working with our less active families. And that is we have been just doing service for them. It has gotten annoying and trying a couple of times but hopefully it will start to work out. This week should be a good one though.
Hope everyone has a good week. Sorry for the short email. Because it is a Bank Holiday, the computer is going to kick me off in thirty seconds.
Until next week!
Love Elder Nielsen
Monday, August 25, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Follow the Prophet
Hello everyone!
The good news is that I am not sore anymore. Elder Paton and I did a two and a half hour work out last Monday and we couldn't move for the rest of the week. It was bad. I have never been that sore. Elder Paton and I couldn't walk for most of the week. Tuesday it was alright then Wednesday to Friday it got worse. It got to the point we couldn't get out of bed. It was so worth it though. We looked like we where drunk because our legs couldn't hold us up. It is over though thank goodness until we work out again. Hopefully I will not be as sore the next time.
We had the opportunity to serve a member who needed help moving this week. They had most of their stuff out of their house but they needed us to get the stuff out of the attic. It took us about six hours to clear the attic. I was up in the attic and Elder Paton was at the bottom of the ladder. One of the bad things that happened is that I ripped my pants on the ladder. It was to the point of no repair (sorry Mom). We all got a good chuckle out of it though. The members have one of the best food storage I have ever seen..... in England. They had one ton of wheat vacuum packed and ready to be ground. By the way the wheat was in the attic. I would clear all the boxes I thought where wheat then I would find ten more boxes. They also had an impressive collection of music records. They had the big twelve inch ones and the 8 track and every kind. The records where easier then the wheat. So thousands of pounds of wheat and thousands of records later we were done. With every box of wheat we pulled out the wife just looked at us and said, "I AM FOLLOWING THE PROPHET." I thought about her statement and I thought what great advice is that. When the times get rough if we follow the Prophet we will be fine. It is a pattern in the scriptures. Every time the people followed the Prophet they were blessed and things just worked out. We don't see the immediate results of it but it comes. When the next natural disaster happens the people who followed the counsel will be okay.
A tender mercy that happened this week has been just the things that have been happening in our Ward and Area. Things are starting to slowly look up. The Ward is starting to help us out and we are getting to know people in the Ward. It feels to good to finally be acknowledged and helped by the Ward members.
Have a great week and continue to Follow the Prophet!
Love Elder Nielsen
The good news is that I am not sore anymore. Elder Paton and I did a two and a half hour work out last Monday and we couldn't move for the rest of the week. It was bad. I have never been that sore. Elder Paton and I couldn't walk for most of the week. Tuesday it was alright then Wednesday to Friday it got worse. It got to the point we couldn't get out of bed. It was so worth it though. We looked like we where drunk because our legs couldn't hold us up. It is over though thank goodness until we work out again. Hopefully I will not be as sore the next time.
We had the opportunity to serve a member who needed help moving this week. They had most of their stuff out of their house but they needed us to get the stuff out of the attic. It took us about six hours to clear the attic. I was up in the attic and Elder Paton was at the bottom of the ladder. One of the bad things that happened is that I ripped my pants on the ladder. It was to the point of no repair (sorry Mom). We all got a good chuckle out of it though. The members have one of the best food storage I have ever seen..... in England. They had one ton of wheat vacuum packed and ready to be ground. By the way the wheat was in the attic. I would clear all the boxes I thought where wheat then I would find ten more boxes. They also had an impressive collection of music records. They had the big twelve inch ones and the 8 track and every kind. The records where easier then the wheat. So thousands of pounds of wheat and thousands of records later we were done. With every box of wheat we pulled out the wife just looked at us and said, "I AM FOLLOWING THE PROPHET." I thought about her statement and I thought what great advice is that. When the times get rough if we follow the Prophet we will be fine. It is a pattern in the scriptures. Every time the people followed the Prophet they were blessed and things just worked out. We don't see the immediate results of it but it comes. When the next natural disaster happens the people who followed the counsel will be okay.
A tender mercy that happened this week has been just the things that have been happening in our Ward and Area. Things are starting to slowly look up. The Ward is starting to help us out and we are getting to know people in the Ward. It feels to good to finally be acknowledged and helped by the Ward members.
Have a great week and continue to Follow the Prophet!
Love Elder Nielsen
Monday, August 11, 2014
When through fiery trials
Dear Family and Friends,
The adventure at Five Guys was good, way overpriced but I had to try it. We paid $9.50 for a burger and small fry which is outrageous. I was a little ticked but the burger was good.
Elder Paton is from Australia and he is twenty and has been out for just over a year. On Monday, August 11th Elder Paton and I went and worked out for P-day at a local gym in the morning for three hours. Elder Paton is a personal trainer, so he just whipped my butt into shape today. I am already sore and ya. We are going to try and go every Monday but we will see what happens.
We got hit with the left overs of Bertha a huge rain storm and it was alright. Just rained and rained most of the day on Sunday. But we didn't flood or anything, it was just very wet and hard to get anything done.
This week has been a good one as usual. We have been picking up the pieces of what is left of this transfer. It has been one of the most heck-tit transfers I have had on the Mission. It has been worth it
though. Mostly this week we have been trying to get to know the members. I have only been here for five weeks and Elder Paton has only been here for a week and a half. We have just been going by members houses and introducing ourselves to try and get to know everyone. We have met a lot of cool members and are starting to get members excited to come out with us. It is crazy how much of Missionary work is a cycle. You start to get things going and then a wrench gets thrown in. Then you start the process over again. But it is what makes Missionary work fun. On Sunday I was looking at the hymn How Firm a Foundation and this verse stuck out to me.
When through fiery trials
thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
I have been I little miffed about all the trials I have been going through and this answered my question why. But it is all for my good. As much as at the time it doesn't feel like it is for my own good, it all is. I have learned that the hard way. Some things that you go through develop things you need to have and learn. But the light is always there at the end of the tunnel. You just need to look for it.
Sorry this entry is so short. But we thought the Library closed at six today but it is at five. So only an hour today to email.
Have a great week and may your trials be light.
Love Elder Nielsen
The adventure at Five Guys was good, way overpriced but I had to try it. We paid $9.50 for a burger and small fry which is outrageous. I was a little ticked but the burger was good.
Elder Paton is from Australia and he is twenty and has been out for just over a year. On Monday, August 11th Elder Paton and I went and worked out for P-day at a local gym in the morning for three hours. Elder Paton is a personal trainer, so he just whipped my butt into shape today. I am already sore and ya. We are going to try and go every Monday but we will see what happens.
We got hit with the left overs of Bertha a huge rain storm and it was alright. Just rained and rained most of the day on Sunday. But we didn't flood or anything, it was just very wet and hard to get anything done.
This week has been a good one as usual. We have been picking up the pieces of what is left of this transfer. It has been one of the most heck-tit transfers I have had on the Mission. It has been worth it
though. Mostly this week we have been trying to get to know the members. I have only been here for five weeks and Elder Paton has only been here for a week and a half. We have just been going by members houses and introducing ourselves to try and get to know everyone. We have met a lot of cool members and are starting to get members excited to come out with us. It is crazy how much of Missionary work is a cycle. You start to get things going and then a wrench gets thrown in. Then you start the process over again. But it is what makes Missionary work fun. On Sunday I was looking at the hymn How Firm a Foundation and this verse stuck out to me.
When through fiery trials
thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
I have been I little miffed about all the trials I have been going through and this answered my question why. But it is all for my good. As much as at the time it doesn't feel like it is for my own good, it all is. I have learned that the hard way. Some things that you go through develop things you need to have and learn. But the light is always there at the end of the tunnel. You just need to look for it.
Sorry this entry is so short. But we thought the Library closed at six today but it is at five. So only an hour today to email.
Have a great week and may your trials be light.
Love Elder Nielsen
Monday, August 4, 2014
The Natural Man
Dear friends and family,
This week has been pretty stressful. I lost three Elders out of the District in 24 hours. Tuesday I got a call from one of the team and he said that he is getting transferred to Wales and that his companion is going home because of a medical issue. So there went two people. On Wednesday we had District meeting with Elder Fonseca, myself and the other team and after that we all went on exchange. So we are biking to a dinner appointment and the phone starts to ring. I thought I am at a red light I will see who it is and then call them back. I look at the phone and it was the Mission President, President Rasmussen, so I answered while I was stopped at the red light. And Before I said HI this is Elder Nielsen, I just said President I am really busy right now can I call you back? He said sure and shortly I called him back and explained that I was on my bike at a red light and he just laughed. But then he told me that my companion, Elder Fonseca, is getting emergency transferred tonight. I didn't know what to say. I was shocked and I asked when does he need to be ready and that could be a problem since we are on exchange. But we worked it out. I now have a new companion, Elder Paton from Australia. It was just a crazy day. I went and picked up Elder Paton and we got back to the flat at about ten at night. So while he unpacked I cleaned the place a bit. Elder Fonseca had been in Solihull for six months so his stuff was everywhere. We torn the flat apart making sure we got everything he needed because we only had an hour to pack. Everything worked out. But other than that it has just been a massive learning curve for me since I have only been in the Solihull area for three weeks and now it is the two of us that are new to the Area. It will work out though.
Below is a picture of a statue that I took this past week and I want to explain why I took the picture. The statue is of a man working with a horse. The man represents the human man and the horse is our passions and natural man. I just looked at the statue and it hit home to me how hard it is to put off the natural man. I have been thinking about this and how we can tame the natural man. And it is through charity. The natural man thinks only about himself and no one else. A charitable man thinks about everyone but himself. It is the only way that we can truly change the natural man and tame our passions to become the instruments that God needs us to be.
I hope that we can all become charitable men and women and be the instruments that God needs us to be to hasten His work.
Love, Elder Nielsen
Pictures below.
This week has been pretty stressful. I lost three Elders out of the District in 24 hours. Tuesday I got a call from one of the team and he said that he is getting transferred to Wales and that his companion is going home because of a medical issue. So there went two people. On Wednesday we had District meeting with Elder Fonseca, myself and the other team and after that we all went on exchange. So we are biking to a dinner appointment and the phone starts to ring. I thought I am at a red light I will see who it is and then call them back. I look at the phone and it was the Mission President, President Rasmussen, so I answered while I was stopped at the red light. And Before I said HI this is Elder Nielsen, I just said President I am really busy right now can I call you back? He said sure and shortly I called him back and explained that I was on my bike at a red light and he just laughed. But then he told me that my companion, Elder Fonseca, is getting emergency transferred tonight. I didn't know what to say. I was shocked and I asked when does he need to be ready and that could be a problem since we are on exchange. But we worked it out. I now have a new companion, Elder Paton from Australia. It was just a crazy day. I went and picked up Elder Paton and we got back to the flat at about ten at night. So while he unpacked I cleaned the place a bit. Elder Fonseca had been in Solihull for six months so his stuff was everywhere. We torn the flat apart making sure we got everything he needed because we only had an hour to pack. Everything worked out. But other than that it has just been a massive learning curve for me since I have only been in the Solihull area for three weeks and now it is the two of us that are new to the Area. It will work out though.
Below is a picture of a statue that I took this past week and I want to explain why I took the picture. The statue is of a man working with a horse. The man represents the human man and the horse is our passions and natural man. I just looked at the statue and it hit home to me how hard it is to put off the natural man. I have been thinking about this and how we can tame the natural man. And it is through charity. The natural man thinks only about himself and no one else. A charitable man thinks about everyone but himself. It is the only way that we can truly change the natural man and tame our passions to become the instruments that God needs us to be.
I hope that we can all become charitable men and women and be the instruments that God needs us to be to hasten His work.
Love, Elder Nielsen
Pictures below.
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| Box of new shirts Mom sent. Elder Nielsen square feet. |
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| Elder Nielsen new shirt and tie. |
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| Church of England |
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| Outside our flat in Solihull, England. |
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| Elder Paton at the grocery. |
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| Elder Nielsen trying out the new Five Guys, smell and anticipation of how good it will be. |
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| Five Guys burger. YUM |
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| New Five Guys restaurant. |
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