The Sacrament

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was a hard week. We just had to many things to do and not enough time in the day to do them and it has been very hot and humid over here. We will go out for about two hours and then will need to come back to change our shirt because it is wet from the humidity.  It has made the work hard because people do not want to talk. They just want to get indoors and out of the heat.  It has made cycling hard as well.  Oh well, that is the life of a Missionary!  I need to enjoy the sun while it is still here because before you know it, the rain and fog will be back.

We have been going by a lot of less active this week that the Ward did not know about.  It was really fun. We met some really nice people and had a couple of them at Church on Sunday which was good to see.  The one hard thing that happened this week is I went on exchange (where my companion and I go with different Elders in different Areas) with a Elder in my Area.  It was a fun exchange but the Elders flat is right next to the airport.  The planes flew right next to their window and you could see the people in the plane window, that's how close they are!  It was really cool but also frustrating because it made talking to people in the streets really hard.  You would be having a good conversation with them, then a plane would fly over and you couldn't speak it was just to loud.  It was a good exchange though.  I like having the opportunity to work with other Elders.  I learn so much from them and their working style. 

One day last week we also had the chance to play football as a Ward.  It was a lot of fun but very hot. We played for about two hours and after that I had to go home and shower because it looked like I had just been thrown in a pool.  I was absolutely dripping with sweat, but it was worth every drip. Before we played football, a member of the Bishopric came up to me and asked if I would give a talk on Sunday.  The day he asked was Saturday evening,  so I had about an hour to prepare a ten minute talk on why it is important to prepare to partake of the Sacrament.  It turned out to be a good talk for so little effort put into it.  The one thing that I have never really realized is how many times the Sacrament Prayer say remember.  They each say it two times.  That they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy son, and always remember him. Blessing on the Bread D&C 20:77  Then the water has do it in remembrance of the blood, that they do always remember him. Blessing on the Water D&C 20:79  Every time we partake of the Sacrament we promise to always remember Him. The question I used to start my talk was do we Always Remember?  Life is hectic! We are all busy. But do we always remember Christ and his sacrifice for us.  Do we partake of the sacrament by just going through the motions or are we taking it with the intent to change. As I was preparing the talk I found lots of things I need to change.  I get to caught up with the things that need to be done this week rather than preparing myself to partake of the Sacrament.  We are not all perfect but have the chance to become perfect and we grow line upon line and principle upon principle.  We do this by partaking of the Sacrament and doing better each week.  It is the greatest blessing to be able to do that once a week.  To become better.

Tender Mercy I had this week would have to be attending Church this week.  I was way beyond frustrated with a lot of things and people so it was nice to just sit and do nothing and feel of our Savior's love for me.  Love this gospel!

Have a great week!  Love Elder Nielsen

Pictures below are from some of my adventures the past while.  The first set are pictures of the Elders flat and Church building that is near the airport.  Elder Nielsen raiding the refrigerator, more of the beautiful Country England and of course my green smoothie.  I try and drink one twice a day, who knew a Mission would make me so healthy!  And then the last few are of an old chapel and me in one of my new suits. 

Busy and Fast Week

Dear Family & Friends,

Here is just some information on the new Area I am in at this time.  The new flat in Solihull is alright as missionary housing goes.  I really liked the flat in Cannock better because we had a house and a back yard that I could go out and just sit and enjoy God's rainy green earth.  But the new flat is in a good neighborhood.  With my little bit of cleanliness OCD, I have already stripped the place and cleaned it twice but the floor in the kitchen is bad.  Our feet just stick to it no matter what we have cleaned it with.  Our neighbors are usually pretty good.  I don't think there has every been any problems with them.  The only problem we have had was that our shower leaked into our downstairs neighbor's flat.  But it was a quick fix.  My Companion and I are getting along quit well.  We only religious English talk not small talk English since he does not speak English very well it is hard to see if we have much in common.  The hardest thing I have done as a District Leader is having come to Jesus talks with other Elders.  It is hard to do this because it usually leads to them getting disciplined from the Mission President.  The other reason it is hard to do is because most of these Elders are my friends and we have lots in common.  But it has to happen.  The other day I was thinking about what strengthens my faith when I am down and discouraged.  Just thinking that I can choose how I feel helps but sometimes the power of Satan is strong enough that choosing to be happy doesn't always come easily.

I have not been in my Area of Solihull at all this week.  I have been gone four out of the seven days. We were out Monday which was P day to play football with some Elders in another Area. Wednesday we where out for District Meeting.  Then I went and worked with an Elder in his Area.  Then we came back to Solihull Thursday night then back out on Friday night to Saturday.  It was a fun and eventful week.  One cool thing though is when I was on exchange with the Zone Leaders and I got to ride in a car!  I have not ridden in a car for about a year and a half.  The best thing was that it absolutely dumping rain that day.  We saw some other Elders biking and we pulled over and told them that our heater was out and that we were freezing! ha ha  But that wasn't the best thing that happened that day.  We had the Stake BBQ.  I got to see some members from Kidderminster.  It was really crazy to think that it was almost a year ago that I was in that Area.  It was crazy to catch up with them.  Some of the people that I worked with in Kidderminster to bring them back to Church are still active and they are working to get a Temple recommend!  I was so happy for them!  The other cool thing this week is I ate a Kangaroo burger.  It was so good.  When I was with the Zone Leader we had to go into downtown Birmingham for something. We were both hungry so we just walked into a food court and there was a place selling Kangaroo burgers.  So I decided, that is something that I should try and got one.  It was really good. 

But the week went very fast.  It is good to back in my own Area of Solihull though.  As a Mission we have been working on conversion.  How to help people become converted and to convert ourselves.  It has been a good thing to look at.  It has helped me strengthen my testimony and has helped me work toward being more converted.

Have a great week!

Love you all,  Elder Nielsen

The Parable of Sin and Stinging Nettle by Elder Nielsen

This week was long.  We had meetings all this week so not much got done.  We had Zone Meeting on Wednesday and then on Friday I had a District Leader training meeting.  So Elder  Fonseca and I headed to Birmingham to the Mission Home. All of the District Leaders from the whole mission were in attendance at the Mission Home for special training.  We talked lots about the noble and great ones.  It was pretty good for me to hear.  I had been doubting why I was called to be a District Leader.  The Mission President, President Rasmussen, said that we are all called at this time to do something that needs to be done. We have the ability to reach an Elder/Sister in the way he or she needs.  It was pretty cool to hear that and made me realize that I should not doubt what I have been called to do.

Saturday was a fun day though. We had three service projects. We started at 10 in morning and finished at about 7 that night with all of them.  It was a long day and I will tell you about it in story form.

I would like to tell you the story of Elder Nielsen Vs. the stinging nettle.  There is a man we have been doing service for this past week.  His garden is very overgrown. With brambles and stinging nettle. We had cleared a good chunk of it but when we got close to the back we stopped. We stopped because we had a wall of stinging nettle that was taller than I am.  The wall of stinging nettle was even taller than Elder Fonseca who is six foot two.  We put off clearing it away in hopes that the stinging nettle would just go away.  But on Saturday we decided it was time and the plant needed to go.  I have now learned from first hand experience that stinging nettle really hurts when it gets you.  When we got home we both had to wash our arms to get the stingers out of them.  But even after careful washing, we are still feeling the effects two days later.  But it was a good lesson.  It was fun providing service until we got to the nettles.  Sin can be fun at the start as well, but the further we get into the sin and the more we sin sooner or later this sin will get you back.  We had fun doing the first two thirds of the garden. The last third was Hell.  We learn in the Book of Mormon that wickedness never is and never will be happiness.  Just because it is fun now it will not be fun later.  Stinging nettle takes about four minutes before it starts to hurt.  Those four minutes are fun but then for the next three days you are hating life. We had some cream though to put on our arms which took the pain away.  The cream is like the Atonement.  The Atonement is there for us we just need to know how to use it and be willing to act.  It was a good lesson to learn this week.  It also was a painful one though.  But the most painful lessons we learn the most from.

I had a question asked this week.  "What are Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ doing at this very moment?"  Here are my thoughts.  I honestly think that Christ is preparing for the second coming.  He doesn't know when but in the Doctrine and Covenants it talks about how he will come tomorrow. So that is what I think He is doing.  Heavenly Father I think is probably doing the same thing, but I also think that He is weeping too.  Just like he did when He talked to Enoch. Weeping because of the wickedness and hardness of the hearts of the Children of men. With Christ preparing He is doing lots. Separating the wheat from the tares and bringing people who where promised to be put in a favorable position to hear the Gospel before it's to late.  Leave me your comments on what you think Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are doing. 

It is my hope that we will all help those that have been promised and that have the desire to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love this Gospel, the people of England and all of you that support me in this effort.

Love Elder Nielsen

Transfered to Solihull England

Dear Family,

This week the exciting news is that I got transferred!  I have spent 6 months in Cannock so I was really ready for the change other than it was really hard to leave Cannock.  I have many friends there. One of the hardest things I have every done happened this week.  I had to say goodbye to Ingrid and her family.  They are the family that I had the opportunity to teach and baptize.  It took pretty long and they were not happy that I was going but that's life.

The last night I was in Cannock, we taught Maxine.  I don't think I told you but Maxine and Graham split up about three weeks ago.  So I went over to visit with her and tell her goodbye.  Then after I went to the Ward Mission Leaders house for some non alcoholic beers.  We sat in his back garden just having a right old time.  This will be another great memory of my time spent in Cannock.

I am now in a town called Solihull.  It is an area on the outskirts of Birmingham.  It 
is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753.  It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles (14.5 km) southeast of Birmingham city center. It is the largest town in, and administrative center of, the larger Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which itself has a population of 200,400.  Historically part of Warwick shire, Solihull is one of the most prosperous towns in the English Midlands.   In November 2013, the Switch Quality of Life Index named Solihull the "best place to live" in the United Kingdom.  Residents of Solihull and those born in the town are referred to as Silhillians The motto of Solihull is Urbs in Rure (Town in Country).  This is a very very nice area.  People drive Bentley and other nice cars every day and since I am a car fanatic, it should be fun.

It was pretty hard to leave Cannock but it was time to leave. On Wednesday I went to the Mission Home in Birmingham and met my new companion. His name is Elder Fonsaca.  He is from Cape Verde.  So he hardly speaks any English.  So I act as translator most of the time for the Ward. He is a good kid though. He has been out on his Mission for seven months. So still full of energy and motivation. Which is good. We had an interesting week.  We were heading to the store on Wednesday night and a man stopped us and started to ask us questions. That is one of my favorite things that happens. I do not like stopping people and talking to them but I do it. I really love it when people in the street stop us!  So I was excited when he started to ask some really good questions and acted pretty interested. Hopefully he will progress on past just the curious stage of it.

I have been reading the teaching of Joseph Fielding Smith lately.  I read about the millennium this week and what is going to happen. He talked about how our ancestors that have passed away will be able to give us information for the people who still have not had the work performed for them. But just because they can give it to us later doesn't mean we can just sit back and do nothing.  We have to work and listen.  President Rasmussen has been talking a lot about family history and that we as Missionaries need to be doing family history. It has been fun for me to write stories down about grandparents and parents and to learn more about them.  Just because I can't find anyone new doesn't mean I can't do family history.  He asked us to just write down stories and memories that we have.

I love this gospel and this new area that I have the opportunity to work in.  Have a great week.

Love,  Elder Nielsen

Elder Fonsaca

Tansfer Calls/Hold to the Rod

Hey Family and Friends,

This week things have been winding down, again. Transfers are coming up this week.  We will be getting the dodge call tonight (Monday, July 1, 2014).  I am ready to leave the Area but not the Cannock Ward. The Ward here has been really good to me.  I have many good memories made here in Cannock.  But change is all part of the work.  We have been dropped by most of the people we have been teaching this week.  So we are starting again.  It is fun though.

We had Stake Conference this week and Elder Donaldson spoke to us.  He talked about the four groups that are making there way to the tree of life.  How two groups cling to the rod one didn't even try and one held fast to it.  But Elder Donaldson explained the difference of the two. When you cling you hold tightly to the rod.  You can hang on with one or two hands, but you are still holding the rod but are you really? You can hold on with one hand and half a foot in both camps. When you hold fast you hold the rod like it is the last chocolate bar on earth and it is yours.  NO ONES IS GOING TO GET IT FROM YOU.  It is the whole work out your salvation with fear and trembling.  The other thing about clinging is that you don't move, you stay put. You are happy with the work or level you are putting in.  This new lesson has changed the way I have been looking at life. There are definitely some days that I just cling to the rod and there are other days that I am holding fast and progressing forward.  But other than that it has been pretty cold over here. There have been three days this week I could see my breath and had to wear a jacket and gloves.  It is crazy!  Almost July and still wearing jackets.

Hold to the Rod with all your might!

Love Elder Nielsen

Truly Converted

Hey all,

This week has been a pretty normal week. We have been teaching some new people and trying to find new ones. It is just the cycle of Missionary work that we are constantly trying to overcome.  We find lots of people and then half of them don't want us to come back.  Then we again get in with one or two of them and they don't want us to come back.  Then there is an investigator that is willing and ready to hear everything we have to say.  It is a ruthless cycle but we have gotten used to it.

The crazy thing this week with being a District Leader I have the opportunity to work with the other Elders in my Area.  An exchange is where I am knocking and teaching with another Missionary in our Area other than my current companion.  We are with the other Elders  for about 24 hours.  It seems as I look back in my planner that we have been mostly traveling.  But anyway,  I went with on splits with another Elder this week who is still pretty new to the mission.  I took him to a lesson with some new people that we are teaching in our Area and I have never seen someones eyes get so big.  When we finished our appointment, we walked out and the other Elder just said "Elder Nielsen, I didn't know what to do or say".  It was a good lesson to learn for both of us.  I had just assumed that he knew what to do and could read my mind like my current Companion.  And the Elder I was with  thought that he knew the lessons better than he did.  It was pretty eye opening that is for sure.

Wednesday we had a Zone Conference. We got to hear from the Mission President, President Rasmussen.  He talked to us about True Conversion.  President Rasmussen pointed out something interesting as he spoke. We read out of Luke the Intercessory Prayer that Christ gave.  Before he gives the prayer he talks to Simon Peter.


Luke 22

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

In verse 31 Christ says Simon.  Simon was called Peter by Christ when he was first chosen as a disciple.  Peter in Greek means rock.  So he says Simon when you are converted strengthen thy brethren.  He then says in 34 what he wants Simon to become.  He calls him Peter or the rock.  He wanted his faith to become unshakable so that when Christ is gone Peter can lead the Church.  I have been thinking a lot about that because what does Christ want most from us?  It is to be truly converted to become what He wants us to become and to be like Him.  It is a hard process to follow but it will bring the most happiness.  It might not bring us happiness now but in the long run the reward in Heaven will be worth more than anything that can be given down here on Earth.

That is my lesson for this week.  I love this work and hope that we will all be Truly Converted.

Love Elder Nielsen

Trials of being a District Leader

 Hello Friends and Family,

This week has been fun.  As I have mentioned before, the weather can not make up its mind on what it wants to do.  It rains then the sun is out then the rains some again and then it is very hot and humid.  The nice thing is though is that we are starting to get busy preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ again.  The work is going so well that it has gotten to the point where if it doesn't make it in the planner we don't go and get it done.

As I mentioned last week, I was made a District Leader for my current Area.  Becoming District Leader in a sense is a honor.  But for Elder Nielsen, who keeps to himself and just puts his head down and works, it more of a pain.  The biggest trial with being a District Leader for me is probably working with the leaders above me.  To report to them and then try and tell them why things went the way they did.  Hours on the phone, getting asked why Missionaries are not doing well in their Area?  Why their numbers aren't going up?  I am asked many questions that I have to give an educated guess to.  But on a positive note, I am excited and it should be fun.  One great thing about being District Leader is that I have the opportunity to go on exchanges with all the Elders in the District.  Last Monday we where racing around to teach two lessons. One at half six and the other at eight. We raced to the eight one and they said it was supposed to be at six. Whoops.  But we got to reschedule which most of the time you don't get to do. We have also been doing lots of service the past week. We have helped a member move and then helped another one to get her house painted. We have been pealing wallpaper a couple times a week for an hour.  I have told my companion that if my future wife wants wallpaper that he needs to talk her out of it.  I have gotten the chance to go on my first exchange as a District Leader.  It was fun.  I had fun with an Elder from Samoa.  In my new leadership position, I have come to the realization that "you lift where you stand".  I have come to the conclusion that as long as I lift the Missionaries I am over then I have done a good job.  If I help them change and become better I have been successful.  I will also have the chance to work with the other Missionaries closer and learn from them as well.  That will be great!

Our Stake here in Cannock has started a program called knock on every door. The goal is to knock every door in our Ward every couple of years.  So as a Ward we go out and knock doors once a month and we had a big miracle.  The last door we knocked one, we had a couple of people that where interested in the message we had to share with them.  We went by their flat last week and they wanted to set up an appointment.  So we had the opportunity to visit with them again this week.  This experience has taught me that when we do what our Stake Presidency has asked, we are blessed.

I have been reading 3rd Nephi Book of Mormon this past week.  It has been crazy to read about the people and events leading up to when Christ comes.  How quick they were to return to the sin they had just left behind a couple of years ago.  I have also been listening to the talk Beware of Pride By President Benson.  As I was listening, I learned that we humans are a prideful people and it is a hard cycle to break.  But we are blessed so much more when we humble ourselves and put our will in line with Gods.

I hope that you all have the opportunity to listen to and learn from the words from a great Prophet, President Benson.  I know that he was a true Prophet and that President Monson is our true Prophet today.  I love this work and the Gospel that I have the opportunity to share with others.

Thanks for all of the emails and letters!  I love you all!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Nielsen