"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart"

Good morning Everyone!

This past week we have spent most of our time focusing on trying to help the Indian family we have been working with. We were able to meet them a couple of times this past week, and we were preparing them for their baptism for this Saturday, March 1st. They came to church on Sunday, and they announced their baptism over the pulpit and everything. It was super awesome to see the welcome that they were receiving from the ward. Steven turned to our ward mission leader during Priesthood meeting, and he said, "I feel like a rockstar!" It was so funny to be able to hear that from him, because he is one of the most humble people I have ever met.

We had a really tough experience with them just this morning, however. We taught Steven and his family the law of tithing yesterday, and they said that it would be really difficult for them to live it because they support some of their family that lives back in South Africa. They said they would think about it and discuss it. Steven called us this morning, and I answered the phone. He said that they aren't going to go through with the baptism this Saturday. I had always heard of those stories where an investigator calls to cancel the baptism, but I didn't know how it would feel nor did I expect it to happen. It hurt so bad to hear him say that. What has helped me is knowing the Lord has a plan. No matter how narrowly I see things I know the Lord has a plan for them. I am glad that I was able to take a part in sharing the Gospel with them. It is still so hard knowing that they aren't ready to fully accept it now, but I have hope in the Lord's plan for them in the future.

This is the last week of the transfer, and there is a possibility that I could get shipped out of Roseville. I have been here for 3 transfers, and with Elder Ure for 2. We will see! I will have the news next Monday, so I will let you all know then.

I love you all! I hope you have a good week!

Sincerely,

Elder Nielsen

"With God all things are possible"

Happy President's Day!

We were able to meet with Steven and his family a couple of times this past week. Have I ever said how awesome I think they are? I hope so, because they are super awesome! We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we invited them to be baptized. We invited them two weeks ago, and they told us they wanted to come to church twice before they decided on that. This time we invited them they accepted a baptismal date of March 1st! It is the last Saturday before the transfer, and I will probably be getting shipped out of Roseville to somewhere else. I am hoping that everything goes well in order for them to be baptized on the 1st of March, and it has worked out so far! We taught them the Word of Wisdom as well, because they have had a history of drinking tea and coffee. We explained to them that there is a 2 week period before baptism in which you have to live the Word of Wisdom completely in order to be baptized. Before we could even start going over ways they would be able to overcome coffee and tea, Steven mentioned to us that he has been off of coffee for a couple of days already! We were so excited since they had already started to live the Word of Wisdom on their own! Steven and his family inspire me by the way they learn the commandments of God, and then they live them. No questions asked. They know that because it is a commandment from God, we really don't need to bother ourselves with the why and how. They know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for us, and they follow His commandments for that reason.

I had the opportunity to play an arrangement of "Come Thou Fount" in church this past Sunday. I was so nervous, and my heart was pounding so loud I was sure everybody could hear it! Luckily, one of my friends in the ward was giving his "Pre-Mission" talk, and since he was sitting on the stand he was able to joke with me to calm me down a little bit right before I played. I made sure to pray really hard right before hand too! My leg was shaking so bad on the pedals that I thought people could see the whole piano moving! It went well, though. Multiple people thanked me for playing, and I told them to thank my parents! They are the ones that made sure the lessons happened and were paid for. I just got the fun part!

We weren't able to have much of a sit-down lesson with Kimberly this past week, but we did stop by to try and see how she is doing. She told us that she was watching a Christian movie a couple days ago about a girl who rebels against her father and her religion, and goes off to do her own stuff. She finds out that she isn't as happy as she thought she would be, and ends up going back to her father and to church in the end. Kimberly told us the movie really touched her, and put everything into perspective. She told us she has felt she has pushed back against what we have taught her and invited her to do at times, and she told us she is so grateful for everything we have done. She said she has been trying a lot harder to get over her issue with coffee, and she has been off of it for 3 days now! She has told us that she has had coffee every day since she was 10 or 11, and it has literally become a part of her. Doctors have been so surprised at how crazy her medical statistics are because of how much coffee she has had in her life. By her being able to be off coffee for even 3 days really strengthens my faith that "with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26) She had tried to do it by herself before, but it didn't work out until she humbled herself and turned to God.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Nielsen

Pouring out in Roseville

Hey everyone!

We finally got some rain! It was raining for a couple of days pretty steadily, and it was very needed. We are still in a pretty good drought, but it was so awesome to be able to get the rain we were able to get. We were biking around in it and just smiling, because I LOVE THE RAIN. It was great to show up at people's houses and they would invite us in immediately. It just needs to rain all the time!

We taught Steven and his family the Plan of Salvation this past week, and they were really receptive to it. They all came to church for the 2nd week in a row, and they are loving it. During Sacrament meeting, the congregation was singing "How Great Thou Art." Halfway through the song, Steven stood up and walked out. We talked to him afterwards and he told us that something really touched him and he got so emotional that he had to get up and walk out! Steven and his family have some of the sweetest spirits I have ever come in contact with.

We had another miracle this past week, and this is one was crazy and completely unexpected. We were on Facebook one night, and I got a message from a woman named Mandy telling me she was interested in Mormonism and what missionaries do. I actually found out in the process of chatting with her that she currently lives in Orem, UT! We were able to talk to her a bit more, and we set up a time where we could FaceTime with her and teach her. We taught her the Restoration and she committed to be baptized on March 22nd, 2014. We invited her to go to church in her area, and she asked us what time the church starts. We told her we could look it up for her if she gave us her address. We put the address in, and surprisingly, my home ward popped up! I gave her my mom's number, and she said she would call her. Later, I found out that Mandy is the granddaughter of my nursery leader when I was growing up! I did not expect any of it at all, and it is a testimony to me of how Heavenly Father knows exactly what He is doing and He has a perfect plan for each of us.

I love you all!

Give em' Heaven!
Elder Nielsen

Just a bit about my favorite little Indian family...and the temple.

Happy February!

We met with Steven and his wife this past week. They are an Indian family with a 13 year old daughter and a 17 month old son. They moved from South Africa about 17 years ago; their ancestors have been slaves there for hundreds of years. We started talking to Steven on the street about a week and a half ago, and he said we could go visit with him. We taught them the Restoration on Saturday and invited them to baptism. They said they would like to come to church once or twice before they decide to be baptized. They told us they were extremely open, and their biggest concern was being accepted by the members of the church since they are Indian. They came to church on Sunday, and Steven told me, "Before I came, I thought the Mormons wouldn't accept us. Now that I have come I see that it is very different than I thought!" They seemed to really enjoy church, and we are looking forward to going back to meet with them again this week!

We were able to go to the temple this week, and it was sweet! It didn't turn out the way we thought though. We got there kind of late, and so we had to change really quick. We realized Elder Ure had a short sleeve shirt on, so he had to grab a spare and try to change really quick. I was the last one before Elder Ure to go into the session, and so I told the workers that there was one more person behind me. It turns out that they closed the doors right before Elder Ure was changed, so he wasn't able to make it into the session. Instead, he just did initiatories for about 2 hours. He wasn't too bummed about it, but I felt pretty bad! I was able to do some sealings as a son after the session. They asked me if I had ever done it before, and I said, "Yeah, when I was 2!" It was nice to be able to get back to the temple after a couple of months without it.

Love you all!

Elder Nielsen