Every member a missionary

This week was a great week. We are trying to work with the members of the ward a lot more. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader and we are trying to figure out how we can get the members more excited to do missionary work. We are going to try to be in members homes a lot more teaching them the lessons so they have sharing the gospel on their minds more. We have had a couple of new visits with members already, and we are hoping to see a lot of miracles by working this way.

We are still working with Wes, and he is doing really well! He is still preparing to be baptized on November 15th, and then in a year his family will be able to go to the Temple to be sealed for eternity! They are such an awesome family, and I am so grateful we have the chance to work with him!

We went on an awesome hike today. We hiked up to a place called Brandy Creek Falls. There were a couple of different pools of water and some pretty sweet waterfalls! I really enjoyed it, and we were able to run back down the trail so it was just like running trail back in Utah for cross country! We also got some really cool pictures on what is called the Sundial bridge. It is a huge suspension bridge in Redding that they light up during the night, and it looks sweet!

Our ward had their chili cook off this week, and Elder Page and I were the judges. Our ward mission leader entered the contest and he wasn't too happy with how the results turned out. He has been teasing us a bit for the past couple days about how we don't know what good chili is. Hahaha! I don't think I do know what it is, but it was a lot of fun!

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

Elder Nielsen

Have Your Heart in the Journey

Hello!

This week was great! Not everything worked out perfectly, but we were able to see a lot of tender mercies. We met with Wes this past week, and the lesson went really well. Wes's less-active wife, Eva, was there as well, so we were able to teach most of their family. We discussed the Restoration with them, and the Spirit was very strong. We talked to Wes about being sealed in the Temple, and he said it is what he wants for his family. We talked to him about the path to get to the temple, and how baptism is the first step. He said he would like to be baptized, and he is going to do so on November 15th! He truly wants the best for his family, and it is going to be amazing to see how they are going to grow closer together as they are all trying to be more like the Savior.

We were trying to contact some of the people that our Bishop does not personally know last Thursday. We visited somebody that said the person we were looking for does not live there anymore. We asked her how long they had lived there, and she said they had just moved from Brazil about a month before. They had talked to a couple of missionaries there and knew a little about the church, but had never invited the missionaries over to teach them. She invited us to come back on Saturday and meet with her husband. We came back and met with him, and we were able to talk to him for a bit. It was very nice because he was very friendly and open to us! We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel, and he was very attentive during the entire lesson. He told us that he doesn't accept everything at this point, but he does want to know if it is true. We are planning on meeting with him again tonight, so we hope he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying in order to receive his answer!

As I was studying this morning I ran across the doctrine of conversion. A principle was really impressed upon me; in order to become converted our desire to follow the Savior must increase continually. Action alone is not enough. We MUST have our heart in the journey as well. M. Russell Ballard wrote "...you find yourself wanting to do what He would do and respond as He would respond in an effort to bring your life into harmony with His." I know that Christ lived a perfect, sinless life. It is for that reason that I feel so much joy and peace when I follow and direct my heart towards Him. As I follow the example of Christ, the Spirit confirms to me that the way of life I am living is good. Alma once said "...it is discernible, therefore you must know that it is good." (Alma 32:35). I have never seen Jesus Christ, but I don't need to in order to prove all of His teaching to be true! I can discern that I feel good when I follow the Savior, so what else do I need? I know the way to pure happiness is by following Christ's example. I encourage you all to direct your thoughts and desires towards the Savior a little more today, and then recognize how you feel. There is no better way to live!

From the desk of...

Elder Nielsen

Faith brings miracles!

So we we were able to contact a lot of our people this past week, which is really good since we haven't been able to for the past couple weeks! We are just trying to be really consistent with everyone to help them progress, and it isn't the easiest thing to do because of the dynamic of our area and the people that live in it.

We worked hard throughout the week and were able to see some of the fruits of our labors on Sunday. We were just leaving the YSA branch when we met someone who decided to come to church with one of the members in the branch. He basically told us that he doesn't have a church that he goes to so he wanted to come check ours out. We are going to go back and meet with him this next week, so that will be
awesome! The other cool miracle was in the family ward. The husband of a member came for the first time in a little while. He told her that he wants to be married in the temple to her, so he is going to be coming to church from now on! We were able to let him know that we can help him prepare for his marriage in the temple, and he invited us over to go meet with him! We are really excited because the work is starting to pick up a lot more recently, and the ward really needs it.

I love you all. Have a great Columbus Day!

Elder Nielsen

News on news.

Hey everyone! Lots of stuff happened end this week, so I will try and recap it all.

Elder Page and I are officially companions now, and things are going well. We are getting along swimmingly, and it is a bunch of fun.

We got the chance to see "Meet the Mormons" this past Friday, and I loved it! All of the stories we so inspiring, and I want to see it again! All of you who are able should see it, and then tell people about it, and then go see it again. It is awesome.

General conference was so amazing. Alisha and I are definitely on the same wavelength, because Lynn G Robbins's talk was one of my favorites as well. I loved how he touched on whether our loyalty is in the Lord or in others.

And lastly, we were playing basketball for p-day today and I messed my toe up pretty bad. I came down on the tip of my right foot and dislocated my right toe. It didn't feel too bad at first, but I found out I couldn't walk on it after a couple steps. We went to the doctor and got some x-rays, and they looked pretty gnarly. The doctor happened to be LDS, and he was able to tug it back into place. It's all good now! Now I am just sitting here in a boot in the gym. Rocking the boot!

Love you all!
Elder Nielsen