More from Roseville

Well, hello!

This week we were able to teach a bunch of really cool lessons and have some really cool experiences! One of them is with the Iranian couple that we tracted into a couple weeks ago. We were able to go inside and talk to Aly for a bit about Iran and his religious beliefs. Aly told us that we were their first American guests. How cool is that?! We weren't too sure on their customs, and they seemed pretty cautious so they wouldn't do anything that might have seemed rude. While we were talking to Aly, his wife, Mariam, was sitting right in the other room listening, but she wasn't participating in the discussion. We had to start off with a lot of the basics with Aly, since they were originally Muslim, and we told him how we believe that Jesus is the Son of God as well as just a prophet. We talked to them about the Restoration, and how we can come to know whether or not it is true if we read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We gave them a Book of Mormon in Pharcy, and then we left after a prayer. As we were walking out, Mariam came to see us out the door. Right before she said goodbye, she flipped through the Book of Mormon real fast. It was cool to see that she was listening and hopefully she has the desire to find out what we were saying is true. 

We also had a really cool experience with our new investigator named Kimberly. She is a incredibly nice and humble, and she has 2 sons. One of them is just a baby, and the other is about 13 years old. We were able to go over and teach her the Restoration and give her a Book of Mormon. As we were leaving, we asked if there was anything that we could do to help or serve her. She told us that she doesn't have a bed, and neither does her oldest son, so she asked us if we could watch out for some. We told her we would, and then we left to go meet with a member family named the Justesens. We told them about the lesson we had with Kimberly and her need for a bed. They immediately started getting blankets and pillows together, as well as getting an air mattress out of their garage. We were able to take the air mattress over to her right then, and she was so grateful. When we were walking back to the car, Brother Justesen said, "That is exactly what the Gospel is. It is a way of life to help others." It was an awesome experience.

I am so excited for this weekend, because I get the opportunity to baptize an investigator in my last area named Bob this Saturday. We are going to go back to Citrus Heights for the baptism, and it is going to be amazing. i will try to include pictures next week!

Love you all!

Elder Nielsen

Elder Nielsen serving at the home of a ward member

Another week in Roseville

Hello everyone!

We met an Iranian family this past week, and we are hoping to be able to start teaching them!  He told us that they were Muslim, so we aren't completely sure that we are allowed to teach him without permission from our mission president. In my last area, the other elders in my ward were able to teach the Muslim people but weren't able to baptize them without permission first, so we'll see how it all goes!

I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Dedrickson, who is in the Roseville 1st ward, this week. We had a bunch of really cool experiences. It all started off with us riding our bikes and a lady drove up asking us if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. We told her that we were Mormon missionaries, and she said that would work. She told us about her 30-something year old nephew that she just dropped off at the park because he has gotten really deep into drugs and she isn't sure what to do. We went and talked to him for a bit, and he didn't seem very open or interested, but as we talked to him some more he opened up and at least took our number.

The next experience, which was probably the coolest experience of the day, happened at a place that we were at for lunch. We weren't sure what to get, and we were taking a bit of time to choose, so we let the older couple behind us order before us. They gave us a couple of suggestions of what to order, and we were able to chat for just a second. We thought they were really nice people, so we asked if we could sit next to them to eat. We were able to talk to them about our purpose as missionaries as well as what we believe in. The husband didn't seem very open, but the wife was pretty interested. We were able to leave a Book of Mormon with her, and she told us to look her up if we were ever in Lincoln! One of the coolest parts is that we almost didn't ask if we could sit by them, because we were kind of nervous. We got over our fear though, and because of it we were able to have an awesome teaching opportunity as well as leaving someone with a Book of Mormon! 

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ethan Nielsen

Greetings from Roseville!

So it is definitely weird getting transferred after being in one area
for a couple of months. It is kind of hard to learn the new area as
quick as possible, but I'm trying! Roseville is a really cool place,
and I have really enjoyed it so far. The ward is awesome, and the Ward
Mission Leader is really awesome as well. He is very involved in the
work, and I am really happy about that. The Bishop is new, but he is
focusing on reaching out to rescue those that have not been able to
make it to Church in quite a while, so I am looking forward to being
able to get a lot of work done!

We have a baptism coming up this week! Her name is Rachel, and she is
a really awesome lady. She has a bunch of tattoos, and she used to
drink and smoke and a bunch of stuff. She really turned her life
around in just the month that she has been meeting with the
missionaries, and it is awesome! Her baptism will be this Saturday,
and Elder Herrador will be baptizing her. We also had a really sweet
experience with another investigator. We went to visit her in a rest
home, because she gets really lonely and down a lot. We shared a
spiritual thought with her, and started talking to her about baptism.
We weren't planning to, but that is the way the conversation went. We
were able to set a baptismal date with her for November 30th! It was a
really cool miracle that we were able to witness and be a part of.

Some news from my last area - the Tempo Park Ward: Bob and Lois's
baptism date got moved up to the 23rd of November, and so I am looking
forward to going to that. Elder Peek, my last companion, also told me
that Bob wants me to baptize him! Elder Peek is going to baptize Lois, and
I am going to baptize Bob! It is going to be an exremely cool
experience, and I am really looking forward to it.

Love you all!

Elder Nielsen

Goodbye, Citrus Heights!

Well, the title says it all. I am getting transferred! I am leaving Citrus Heights, and going to the good ole' city of Roseville, California! I am sad to leave the Tempo Park ward, because it has been the best experience to be able to serve here. I am also looking forward to being able to meet all of the amazing people in the Roseville 3rd ward. 

We were able to set a couple of baptismal dates this past week! Bob finally got cleared by his doctor to get baptized anytime after the 20th of November, so we were able to set a date with him and his wife for November 30th. It is going to be a really cool experience, because Bishop told them that since Bob is doing so well with the Gospel that he will be able to baptize Lois after he gets baptized. He will come out of the font and get ordained into the Aaronic Priesthood, then he will go back into the font to baptize his wife! It is going to be a sweet experience. We were also able to set a baptismal date for the Castillo family for December 7th. The son isn't sure about baptism yet, so he is going to think about it. The parents are all for it though, so hopefully the son will be able to see how happy the parents are with the fulness of the Gospel in their lives! They said they have been super impressed so far, and they love the feeling of when they come to Church. I hope I am able to come back to see their baptisms!

That was pretty much what happened this past week! I love you all! Next stop - Roseville!

Elder Nielsen

The Lord knows best

Hey there, everyone! How's it going?!

The weather here is still feeling like summer weather, but it is starting to cool down. It feels good most days now, and it feels great when we are riding our bikes around at night! 

We went to a lesson for a Ukrainian couple with our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Wright, this past week. When we got to their house, all of the lights were off. We went up to the door and knocked, but no one answered. We were really looking forward to having a great lesson with them, but it didn't work out. Brother Wright was telling us that whenever he goes out with the missionaries the lessons always fall through. We were trying to think of people that we could go visit, so we went to see one of the families that we have been trying to teach. They weren't home either, and Brother Wright seemed to be getting pretty discouraged. We went to the gas station real quick to fill up on gas in Brother Wright's car, then we decided we would go see the Castillos. The Castillos are normally really busy, and we haven't been able to see them over at their house for quite some time since they aren't home. We stopped by, and they were all there! They invited us in, and we were able to talk for a couple of minutes. We didn't want to stay too long, since it was getting pretty late. The mom piped up and said, "We wanted to talk to you guys about getting baptized." It was super surprising! Later on she said, "So who do we talk to about getting baptized?" It was so cool to see how the Lord led us to their house. As we thought about it, we realized that we weren't supposed to see the Ukrainian family that night, but we were meant to go visit the Castillos. It is amazing to see what the Lord can do in this amazing work as we put our trust in Him and do the things that He wants us to do.

We also had a really cool experience with Robert and Francis coming to Church. Robert turned to me during one of the meetings in Church and said, "We have been meeting with the missionaries for 7 years, and this is the first time we have come to Church." They really enjoyed being able to go to Church, and we are looking forward to being able to meet with them this week!

On a fun note, we all got costumes for Halloween! Our ward mission leader, Brother Wright, was having a Halloween party at his house on Saturday night, and he told us that we could stop by. He didn't expect us to be all dressed up! Everyone there loved it, and it was a bunch of fun. We bought the costumes from a local store, and Elder Sampson dressed up like a ghost. I got the Spiderman costume. Elder Gillies is Captain America. Elder Peek, my companion, is Iron-man. There is a trunk-or-treat going on at our Church this Saturday, so we might dress up and hand out candy to the kids if we can get some of our investigators to go to it!

I hope you guys all had a great week, and I hope you all enjoy this next one. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Ethan Nielsen

Happy Columbus Day, everyone!

We were able to start teaching a man named David that we have been trying to set up lessons with for quite a while. His wife is a recent convert, and they have two sons. One of the sons became a member with the mom, and the other son isn't incredibly open to the Gospel yet. It was really cool though, because David was talking about getting sealed to his family and everything. We were able to set a baptismal date with him for January 4th, 2013! It is so exciting to be in this area, because we have multiple people that are preparing for baptism. Bob and Lois are some of the others that are looking forward to baptism. Bob is still waiting on getting cleared by the doctor in order to be baptized. Because of his 4-way bypass surgery, he still isn't able to be completely immersed in water yet. 

We were able to have the Castillo family to all 3 hours of Church this week for the first time! It was really exciting, because the Young Men were able to take the son and have him participate in the youth classes. The mom was able to meet people in Relief Society, and she told one of the members that she will see her next week! We haven't been able to meet with them a ton the past couple of weeks, but we are hoping to be able to get over there more often.

So there is a sick bug going around that a ton of people have been getting. It started with one of the other Elders, and it has circulated until it finally got to me. I was hoping it would pass me up, but it had a different idea! It isn't too bad though, and I think I am getting over it. 

So the people in the Tempo Park ward feed us incredibly well. I have already gained at least 10 pounds since I have been on my mission. If I keep going at this rate I will need to get some new clothes pretty soon! I'm working on becoming a world-class jump-rope artist though, so no need to worry.

A scripture that I read this week that I REALLY like is Moroni 7:37. "...it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." If we have the faith, then the Spirit will touch the hearts of the people that God is preparing to receive His Gospel. This doesn't just require the faith of the missionaries though. It involves all the people that are a part of the work of God, which is every member of the Church. The Gospel has blessed our lives, so we have to have the faith that it can and will bless other people's lives as well! God has prepared us so we are able to share the Gospel with his prepared children, so we should all strive to live up to the divine potential that our Father in Heaven has in store for us. 

Hope you all have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Ethan Nielsen

Loved Conference!

Hello all!

Well, General Conference was awesome. One of my favorite quotes from conference was by Elder David A. Bednar when he said, "...the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather then expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else." I really like this quote, because we aren't exactly sure what blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for us. We do know, however, that Heavenly Father knows what is best for us, even if we don't always remember that in times of trial or discouragement. There is a simple passage of scripture that I really like that goes along with this. It is near the beginning of the Book of Mormon when Nephi is inviting Laman and Lemuel to have faith. They are angry with him and choose to bind him with cords.

The passage of scripture says...

"17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. 

18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again." (1 Nephi 7:17-18).

Heavenly Father answered Nephi's prayer, but not in the way that he had asked for or expected.

So transfers are still 3 weeks away, but I am kind of dreading them because I am not sure I want to leave this area quite yet! I am loving the area I am in. It would be nice to have a bit of a change, but I would like to stay for a bit longer before I ship out.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Ethan Nielsen