Challenges

Another part of my life will be starting 8 weeks from now.  I am nervous and anxious to finish my mission and move forward.  To be truthful, I am having a bit of anxiety over what my next move in life will be.  I am sure that most if not all missionaries go through these emotions, but it will all work out.

The biggest challenge this week has been that we have no investigators really. They have either dropped us or never return calls and texts.  So it has been a rough week. We have gotten quite a few comments from one investigator who has been trying to convince us that the Book of Mormon is written by the devil and that we should get out of this Church and into hers.  It has been interesting the read her texts that she sends.  Some peoples hearts are just so hard. It has been challenging lately to find new people to teach.  Just talking to people and then having them being rude back takes all desire out of me.  So it kind of finishes me for finding the rest of the day. Elder J and I have come up with a new approach using the family tree chart and we will see if it works. We used it a little bit yesterday and had some good luck with it.  The hardest days have just been the empty ones.  The days that are filled with ten hours of street contacting. The best days are the ones when you run from teaching appointment to another one. 

Tender Mercy for the week was probably the support from the Ward Mission Leader.  He saw that Elder J. and I are having a hard time and took us to dinner and kept encouraging us to keep up the good work.

Another tender mercy for the week is that at least the weather has been good. The sun has been out and it didn't rain at all.  But we woke up this morning and it was raining.  It is the never ending cycle of England.  A week of rain and a week without.  Thought I would be used to this by now.

To be honest nothing really that interesting happened this week. It was a boring week for us. Just the same old things. Lots of finding and not a lot of teaching. It is nice though because it helps me reflect on the good weeks and learn to enjoy them more when they come.

Thanks for all you prayers and support.

Love, Elder Nielsen

Story of the Donkey who feel down the well

Another birthday year has past.  Elder J my companion asked if I felt wiser when we got up and I said no.  Hence why I fell asleep after church and burned our lovely chicken dinner. I was cooking chicken in the oven and burned it into black hockey pucks.  But the good news is that my headache went away while I was dreaming of chicken for dinner. We didn't do anything for my birthday.  An investigator offered to take Elder J. and I to the pub for my birthday bump or drink but I declined.  

Best thing about the week has been game night!  We have a game night every Friday night at the Church and lots of people come and it was really fun. We played basketball and football.  Lots of members and investigators.  The craziest thing was burning Sunday dinner like I mentioned above. Elder J. and I had enough food for one meal on Sunday so I made a big Sunday dinner.  So we spent the next two hours saying what type of food we would want and what we would do for it. 

The investigators are pretty bad right now.  Everyone is still sick and no one has been to Church. They have problems with the Book of Mormon but will not meet up to tell us about them. So it is getting pretty frustrating. But we have found some new people this week and started to teach them. But only time will tell how it goes.

I heard a cool story during Sacrament meeting.  It was about this donkey who fell down a well.  The farmer found the donkey and thought for hours on how to get it out.  He finally decided that the donkey was old and the well was dry so he invited his friends over to fill in the well with dirt. The donkey realized what was going on and started to neigh.  But soon it stopped and the farmer looked down the well and saw something amazing. With every shovel full of dirt that hit the donkey, the donkey just shook it off and tramped it down. Eventually the donkey had made a platform of dirt to get out of the well.  The farmer was surprised at the result of this. We are like the donkey. What do we do with our problems, trails, or sorrows.  Do we bear them up or do we shake them off and move forward. 

I hope that we can all shake off our burdens with the help of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Love, Elder Nielsen

Through fasting and prayer we can receive peace and understanding.

Dear friends and family,

This week has been a slow one. We had the dodge call (transfer call) on Monday, February 2, 2015, night and Elder Jones and I are staying together for one more transfer.  It is nice because both of us didn't want to leave Derby.  Other than that Elder Jones is starting to get sick again with that same nasty cold and on top of that, all of our investigators are sick as well.  It seems like a cycle that just never stops.  Elder Jones gets better and they get sick.  They get better and Jones get sick.  We did pick up a new investigator this week but other than that it is slowing down.  I have a feeling that we are going to have to drop some people because they will not meet with us anymore.  

The tender mercy for the week was in Sacrament Meeting during the sacrament.  I had prayed and fasted for some help and I got this feeling of peace come over me and a voice that said you are doing your best and everything will be okay.  It was a nice thing to have and calmed my troubled heart.

There are lots of people in this Ward that I like.  And lots of families as well.  Everyone here in Derby love the Missionaries and we are always having fun with them.  

Mostly this week has just been a reset week for us.  Getting things ready for this transfer.  Cleaning up our books and finding the people who have fallen through the cracks.

But pretty boring week for Elder Jones and I.  Please keep praying for hearts to be softened in England.

I testify that the we can all receive personal revelation for ourselves and feel of the Spirit bear witness to us of peace when we are facing trials.

Have a great week!  Love you all!

Elder Nielsen

How do you live the Commandments?

Hello from England,

This week has been a crazy one. It snowed one day, then rained, then got really hot, then froze, and then fog. The weather just cant make up its mind. Other than that it has been a normal week with lessons and finding.  Other than that, not much exciting has really happened this week just that it is transfers. I don't think that I will be leaving Derby so that is good. 

Tender mercy for the week is not getting sick.  Elder Jones has been sick for two almost three weeks. This illness has gone around the whole Zone and I am the only one that it didn't hit that bad.

Favorite thing for the week was playing basketball with some of the Ward members.  It was a very interesting game. I t turned into prison rules kind of with lots of hard fouls but we had lots of fun at the same time.

I was reading this week in  Alma 5 from the Book of Mormon and learned lots from it.  Alma asks questions pretty much the whole chapter.  Questions that have made me think hard about my conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how I live the commandments.  As I was reading I conducted a personal interview and thought about all the questions that Alma asks.  It was a very spiritual experience as it led me to make some changes in my life but also in the lives of members here in Derby, England as I shared what I had learned for the spiritual thought at dinner appointments.  I am so glad to have the Book of Mormon and to learn from our ancestors of old how I can become a better person.

The investigators are doing good. One of our investigators that we are teaching will be baptized but not on the 7th of February.  I think it will be the 21st of February if it happens, pray for her heart to be softened and that the Spirit will bear witness to her that this Gospel is true.  We also have two more people who are set to be baptized on the 21/2/15 so we will see if they make the baptism dates and have the courage and faith to push through all the trials that are going to come.  We had lots of lessons this week for England so the week just flew by!

I challenge you to read Alma 5 and conduct your own person interview about the things that Alma has taught.

This Gospel is true!!!  Have a great week.

Love, Elder Nielsen

Who do you Follow?

Dear Friends and Family,

Well in answer to a couple of questions last week about the Manor that I visited last week.  The manor is really old and is on a ton of land.  It is very nice on the inside but it is also kind of worn down if I am being honest. There is a taxidermy animal collection that is just nasty.  Not that the animals aren't cool but they are old and falling apart.  Only the third Batman movie The Dark Night Rises was made there and they only used the grounds and one room to film in.  But is was fun to get out and see the sights of England.  I guess my favorite part about the day was playing American football afterwards. We had a nice four on four side match that was very fun on the wet grass.

More about our recent investigator.  She is from Nigeria and is about 25 and attends the University. She does not have any family in England with her that we have seen or heard of but she has many friends.

Tender Mercy for the week was the High Councils talk in Sacrament Meeting.  Who would have thought that the High Council talk would be the tender mercy for the week. ha ha Below is what I learned from the talk.

Mary had a little lamb

whose fleece was white as snow.

Everywhere that Mary went

the lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to town one day

and into all the shops.

It even followed her into the butcher shop

were it was promptly made into chops. HA HA

That is how the High Councillor started his talk on Sunday.  I was rolling on the ground laughing at it. He then pulled it into his talk very nicely though. So who do we follow? Are we like the lamb only following one person?  Are we being driving by many?  Do we trust who we are being lead by?  He answered it like this. If you trust in the Prophet (President Monson) and know that He is called of God you follow him.  If you follow him you will also follow the Stake President and Bishop. The High Councillor was asked to speak about the Book of Mormon and the challenge issued to our Stake, here in Derby.  Our Stake President has asked that we read the Book of Mormon as a Stake everyday for a year.  And in result to us being obedient, our Stake will increase in Spirituality and unity.  This talk was very good and it made me think who do I follow?  Sometimes it is the crowds and most of the time Christ.  So we must follow Him so we are not made into chops.

This week has been a good one. The work is moving forward nicely. We taught two more people this week.  It was Jim and Jess and they are on a baptism date!  We started to think that we would never teach them because they would only come to church activities. Then we asked them on Saturday if they would be willing to attend Church on Sunday and they said YES!  It was a very good lesson but only time will tell how it works out.  Other than that Elder Jones has been sick most of the week so we didn't really get much done.  But things are still good in Jolly Ol' England.  We will hope and pray for an even better week coming up.

Think about Who do you Follow?

Love to you all!  Love Elder Nielsen

Tender Mercy

This week has been a doosey. We have had wind and rain just wreck some of our area in Derby. We have had 60 mph winds for a couple of days. So fences are down and some trees. But the sun is supposed to come out soon and cleanup will begin. 

Tender Mercy for this week is we got a new investigator who we taught on Saturday, January 10 2015 and then to our surprise she came to Church on Sunday.  She has accepted the challenge to be baptized on the 7th of February IF she finds out the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  That is a big miracle.

I think my  favourite person for the week is the Ward Mission Leader and his family.  They invited us over for dinner and we had a really good time.  He is a young guy so it is really fun to talk with people closer to my age.  We have four Elders and two Sister Missionaries in our Ward here in Derby so the Ward members get plenty of opportunities to have a set of Missionaries in their home often.

I have been talking about the Atonement with my dad and companion and just as I think I have a handle on the Atonement, I learn something new that makes me restart and reset my thinking of it.  It is really nice how we can gain more knowledge if we put in the work of studying, praying and searching.

I don't really have much time this week. We are going as a District to see Wayne Manor from the movie Batman. The Manor is twenty minutes from us. So we are going to spend the wrest of the day there.  I will post pictures.

Have a great week.  Thanks for all your love and support, the Gospel is true!

Love Elder Nielsen,

Happy New Year

Happy New Year,

Here is a quick note that mom and dad received from President and Sister Rasmussen yesterday.

Parents,

We attended meetings in the Derby Ward today. It was wonderful to spend time with the great Sisters and Elders serving there. Sister Caffrey, Sister Schollars, Elder Rasmussen, Elder Labrum, Elder Nielsen and Elder Jones are much respected and supported in the ward.

The brother on the back row was baptized yesterday and confirmed today. There was a strong spirit in Sacrament Meeting as many members bore a strong witness of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Please know that your children are taking part in a great service. We thank you for all that you do to aid them.

President and Sister Rasmussen

It was great to have President and Sister Rasmussen in our Sunday meetings yesterday (Jan. 4, 2015). The Ward here in Derby is great, I think that I am going to fit in very nicely here. Elder Jones and I get along really well and we have lots of fun.  We don't really do much with the Sisters we see them once or twice a day in the streets but don't really do much teaching with them. 

It has been a messed up week with new years and what not. My body clock is very messed up. We didn't do anything for new years because we had to be in by six. So pretty boring right. So we just packed it in early.  I will attach some pictures of the snow that happened last week.  It is by all means not Idaho snow but it is snow none the less.  It lasted for about five days then melted away. It has also warmed up to.  I am no longer wearing a jumper (sweater), just my jacket.  With new years it has just been crazy. Everyone is getting over their Christmas hang overs and getting ready for the New Years one.  But we still had a good week. We have had a problem teaching people since I have been here. We can get three to five at Church but when it comes to teaching them they don't want to make the time or are just to busy.  It is an interesting change from teaching many people in Soulihul and having a hard time getting them to Church. 

But a big chunk of the week was just getting lost going everywhere. Elder Jones last companion didn't help him learn the Area so it is like the blind leading the blind. We have had fun getting lost and we do it on a pretty regular bases. This week we went to a members house and found out that it was their old house. So we had to call them and ask for a lift because we had no idea how to get to their new place. Other than that it has been a quite week other than the Baptism on Saturday and Confirmation on Sunday.  Hopefully we can start to teach people and get them to Church to hear and feel of the love of our Savior.

Remember that the Lord loves and cares for each of you!

Love, Elder Nielsen