President Marston

So this week was an interesting one. We had our last meeting with President and Sister Weston, and we are getting our new mission President in about an hour when President Marston comes in. The meeting with President and Sister Weston was pretty cool. I am so grateful for their service that they have given to The Lord. They set an amazing example for everyone in this mission, and they are true disciples of Christ.

Elder Duce and I gave talks in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. We got a call Saturday night that here was time that needed to be filled, so we got to speak! We had a ton of time, so it wasn't bad at all. It was a lot of fun, and we got to sing as well. We sang with the Sister Missionaries that cover this ward too, and it seemed like the ward enjoyed it.

I was studying about being born again this morning, and it was pretty interesting. I have come to understand more fully what being born again really means. It means that we are being spiritually born of Christ and we have a true desire to follow him. I read Mosiah 27, which is the conversion of Alma the Younger, and he talks about how he was born again after he repented and regained strength to his limbs
again. Most examples of conversion don't happen like that though. In 3 Nephi 9:20, it talks about how the Lamanites were "baptized by fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not." A lot of the time, we won't realized conversion is  happening. When we look back on how far we have come is when we truly realize what The Lord is shaping us into.

Keep it real, y'all.

Love,
Elder Nielsen

P.S. Here's my son!

Elder Duce & Elder Nielsen

Will work for miracles

This week was filled with a lot of miracles. We have been trying to be diligent, and the Lord has blessed us so much! We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Huey, last Monday evening, and we shared the message of the Restoration with him. He explained to us that he has been looking for a church where he can feel the Spirit and worship, but he just hasn't found the one that feels right to him. He then told us how he felt like we were led to him just a week or two ago, and we told him we felt the same way. At the end of the lesson we extended a baptismal invitation for August 2nd, and he accepted it! He said he wants his wife to learn as well, so we are hoping to meet with her soon. He and his wife both came to church and they really enjoyed it, and the members were incredibly welcoming to them. Things are definitely headed in the right direction!

About the middle of the week we were trying to contact some potential investigators that all live in an apartment complex. No one was answering the door, and there wasn't anyone outside that we could talk to for the first couple of minutes. We saw a man and started talking to him, but he told us he was maintenance at the apartment and didn't have time at the moment. Later on we OYMed the manager of the apartment, and we had a conversation with her for about 10 minutes about the church. She let us know that she was not interested though. However, it gave us the chance as we were leaving to talk to the maintenance man for just a second more and ask if there would be a time when we could come back and share more with him, and he said yes! When we went back for the appointment he told us he only let us come back because he wanted to be polite, but he said we could share a message. We shared the message of the Restoration with him, and we promised him that he would be able to grow closer to God if he exercised faith to read from the Book of Mormon. He told us that he has been wanting to grow closer to God for a few years, but wasn't sure how. We invited him to be baptized on August 9th, and he accepted the invitation. Heavenly Father is leading us to prepared people!

We talked to another guy this week, and he told us that he wants to teach us how to make styrofoam remote-controlled airplanes. We just have to go over any P-day, and he will give us everything we need. It should be fun!

To finish the week off, we were trying to visit some potentials on Sunday night and we weren't having a whole lot of success with it. We texted one of the members who has been having a really hard time recently and asked if we could come over and visit him. He said we could, and so we went over there around 8:15. We started talking to one of his friends, Devin, that came to church with the member that day, and he said that he had taken the lessons from the missionaries before. He expressed to us that he loved the church and was planning on coming back next week. We were able to sit down and share the Restoration with him, and the member was bearing powerful testimony of how the gospel has blessed his life. The member and Devin are both recently recovering drug-addicts, and the member told Devin how the Gospel has blessed him. We invited Devin to be baptized on July 26th, and he accepted it! The Lord has blessed us with so many miracles because of our efforts to be diligent, and those efforts are definitely paying off.

Also, I hope you have an awesome birthday mom. I love you! You are the best.

I love you all, and I hope you have an awesome week!

Elder Nielsen

One down, one to go.

I officially broke the year mark last Thursday, the 12th. It is so weird that I have been out for a year already. Time is flying by.

We had a TON of meetings with the stake and the other missionaries this week, so we didn't have as much time proselyting as we would have liked. We did get to see a couple cool miracles though. We were trying to contact a potential investigator who had talked to the missionaries 3 or 4 years ago. We knocked on the door, and a lady came to the door. We asked for Shenna, but the lady said she didn't live there anymore. We started talking to her about our message and asked her about her beliefs as well. She explained some of the problems that she has been having in her life, and she told us going back to church would probably help her. She also told us she has a 4 year old son, and she wants him to grow up knowing about God. We ended up leaving her with the Book of Mormon, and she said she would read it! 

Jasmine was baptized this last week, and it was a really neat baptismal service. Her less-active mom and non-member dad came, and they seemed to enjoy it. The mom said she wants to read through the Book of Mormon again and check it out, and the dad has looked at it a bit already. We are hoping to start working with them to help them live the Gospel as a family.

Our Mission President spoke at one of the sessions of stake conference this last week, and one of the things he said stood out to me. He said, "If missionary work feels like a burden, then we are doing it wrong." There have been times when I have felt like missionary work is somewhat of a burden, but I should never feel like that! I should be so happy that I get the chance to share the Gospel with others. I have noticed that when I really do throw myself into the work and do everything I can to share the Gospel with people, then it never feels like a burden. I love sharing the Gospel!

Love you guys. Have a great week!

Elder Nielsen

Heating up in Red Bluff

We saw some pretty neat miracles this week. We have been focusing on trying to talk to more people, and we met a man named Huey who was working in his yard. He said he hasn't really felt the Spirit at any church that he has gone to in the past couple years, and that is part of the reason why he doesn't go anymore. We taught him a simple Restoration lesson, and he said we could come back. We set up to come back this week, and he said he wants his wife to be there too. It should be really cool!

I was studying part of Jacob 5 this morning, and it is so awesome! I am really going to dive deep into it as I study over the next few days. I read a quote by Elder Holland about how the Atonement is the underlying message of Jacob 5, and Elder Holland said that the chapter mentions at least 15 instances of the Lord of the Vineyard saying he will gather the fruit unto his own self. He connected that to the Atonement, and how we are to be reunited with the Lord through our faith and repentance. It gave me a whole new perspective on how merciful the Lord really is, and how much He loves us.

I love you all!

Elder Nielsen

P.S. The members here in Red Bluff like to make jokes about how hot it is. Our Bishop said, "Missionary work is hard in Red Bluff. In the springtime, Heaven doesn't impress anybody; and in the summer, hell doesn't scare em'!"

It's a(n) boy (Elder)!

Forgive me for the cheesy subject line. It's who I am. I am officially training, and so I now have a "son." His name is Elder  Duce, and he is from Canada! Pretty sweet? Yes. We have been working really hard and had a lot of fun already. Elder Duce is very hard-working and has a strong desire to serve the Lord. It rocks.

This past week was a good one. We had a couple of dropped appointments, but we were working very hard and we were able  to see some of the fruits of our labors. We picked up a couple of new investigators, and they were really neat miracles. We were visiting with one of our investigators and her niece was there too. We shared a scripture with them, and started talking to the niece about her beliefs. We invited her to find out more about what we teach and what we are teaching her aunt, and she said yes! Awesome.

We are still working with Jeff and Jasmine to prepare for their baptisms coming up on the 14th. They aren't acquainted at all, but we will be combining their baptisms since there are a bunch of stake meetings on June 14th. Jasmine is doing well and reading the Book of Mormon every day. We are really excited for her, and we are hoping her baptism will help spark the family to be more active. Jeff is also doing awesome. He has an incredibly strong desire to follow the Lord and His commandments. I love that guy.

I love you all. I know the Gospel is true! Test it out. I dare you.

Love,

Elder Nielsen

Also, a chicken.