Rock City

This week was very busy with Zone Conferences across the mission. They were pretty enjoyable, but they seemed to get pretty long near the end of the week. We had a meeting from about 8:30-5 for each of Tuesday-Friday, and I thought I was starting to develop "Restless leg" syndrome! The Tuesday meeting was in Anderson, Wednesday in Yuba City, Thursday in Lincoln, and Friday in Antelope. One of the main topics of the meeting was conversion. President Marston had asked everyone to prepare a 5-minute talk on how they had become converted on their mission, and I had the chance to be one of the people to give talks. It was a neat experience to hear the experiences of all the different missionaries and to piece them all together.

I love talking to people on the street, and just wherever they are! This was the thing I disliked most at the beginning of my mission, and I know I enjoy it so much. Yesterday we were having a lesson with a recent convert on the college campus, and we started talking to this guy named Tanner as we were walking out. He said he has never gone to church much but he wanted to check out Mormon.org from the card we gave to him. It is so cool to just do a little bit here and there especially if we aren't able to start teaching someone right away. He said he hadn't heard much about the church other than the musical about the Book of Mormon, so now he gets to learn actual stuff!

We also talked to a guy last night as we went to visit a less-active. He was looking at his car a few parking spots down from us, so we walked up and started talking to him. He has a bunch of LDS friends, and he told us he is searching for truth on his own right now. We shared Moroni 10:4-5, and talked to him about how we can come to know truth through study and prayer. He said he would check it out and add us on Facebook so we can keep in contact with him! He told us he likes doing a bunch of stuff, like slack lining, so we are going to do it with him sometime!

At zone conference, we also had the chance to hear departing testimonies from the missionaries who going home in the next 2 transfers. I love hearing the testimonies of the missionaries who have been through a mission worth of successes and failures. I have even come to enjoy hearing the testimonies of those departing more and more as my mission has grown shorter on the tail end. One of the Elders that bore testimony really touched me a lot. This particular missionary is a very smart guy. He has also had his fair share of trials on his mission. He shared how he has battled with depression and insomnia, so he spends most of his time in the night by himself. He said he has felt very alone at times, and the only comfort he could receive was from the Atonement. His general message was this:

"Sometimes the Atonement only assists us by causing us to know we are not alone in comprehending our suffering since we know Christ knows exactly how we feel. When we pray to our Heavenly Father, if our plea for the removal of our trials is a "not now...not yet." then Christ, because of his Atonement, is still able to comfort us with companionship. As we are in the midst of sorrow or affliction he puts his arm around our shoulders and comfortingly says 'I know...I know.' Sometimes this companionship is the strongest thing we could receive, and it is, in the end, really all we do need." In the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "...because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so." I know Christ is here to help is in times of trial and to help us become better through those times.

To finish the week off right I had the opportunity to go to the temple to witness the sealing of this couple, Bob and Lois. I had taught them while I was in my first area, Citrus Heights, and they are the nicest couple ever. The missionary I am with is Elder Zaugg, and he is the one that replaced me in Citrus Heights. It was such an awesome experience to be at the temple with Bob and Lois. I am so grateful I had the chance to work with them, and I am so happy they are now sealed together for eternity. They have so much love for each other, and they are so sweet.

I hope you all have a stupendous week!

Elder Nielsen

The busy life of an AP

Elder Nielsen was a little late getting his group message sent; they have zone conferences all week and he's been super busy. He did send a short message today and he sent a picture on Monday of the slack lining they've been doing on p-day:

This past week was a good one. We went on 3 different exchanges, and one of the ones that I went on was with an Elder Nelson. That was pretty confusing for people that we talked to! We were able to get a lot of good stuff done. I also went with Elder Duce on Saturday, and we worked very diligently. It was awesome to be back together with him again. Elder Duce has definitely been one of my favorite companions. It will be kind of lame when we can't see each other often since he will be going back up to Canada. I tried convincing him to move down to the US, but he said he is sticking to the land northward.

Happy Presidential day!

Hello everyone!

This week was kind of a slow one. We had to do exchanges, but they were kind of different this time. Since this transfer was so busy with stuff we just did two exchanges in one day, so we ended up leaving our area completely for two whole days. We weren't able to see quite as many people because of it, but it turned out ok. I was able to go to two of the zones that I served in at the beginning of my mission, so that was awesome!

Richie is struggling with his situation right now, so we fasted as a zone for him this past Sunday. We are really hoping things turn around for him. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, but his family will not allow him to join the church. They threatened to disown him, so it is really tough for him right now. We are hoping and praying for a miracle!

We had a cool experience contacting a guy who was working on his car while I was on exchanges in Roseville. We walked up to him and talked to him for a bit, and we were able to teach him about how the gospel has been restored to the earth by a living prophet in our day. One of the missionaries I was with recounted the first vision, and I could feel the spirit so strong. I love being able to just talk to random people about the gospel.

So one of the exchanges we went on was with the Elders in our zone, and the missionaries we live with went on exchanges the same time with another companionship. We pulled out the cotton "snowballs" mom had sent me, and we went crazy with them. Here is a little video
portraying the events of that fateful night.

Love you guys!

Elder Nielsen

Happy Birthday Erika!

Hey everybody!

So this was a pretty awesome week. Cindy, Meredith, and Teresa all came to church today. It was super cool. We had a lesson with Cindy on Saturday. We talked to her about the Restoration, and she said she believes it already. She feels like she could never really belong to a church, and she also mentioned how she has always wanted to get baptized but has never done it. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted a date for February 28th! She seems pretty excited for it, so I hope she continues to take steps of faith towards the waters of baptism.

We got kind of bummer news from Richie. He told us he knows the Book of Mormon is true and he knows the LDS church is true, but his entire family has threatened to disown him if he joins the church. He said it is an incredibly difficult situation for him. He told us he has to do some soul searching to figure out what he is supposed to do. It was so tough to hear that from him because has been doing so well, and his faith has been growing so much. We are trying to think of ways to soften his family's heart because that is the main issue at this point.

We moved all of the bunk beads in our apartment into the same room, so now all 4 of us elders are in there. It is a ton of fun because they are all cool Elders. We have PVC pipes that have been used for nerf wars, so we have been having a ton of wars at night.

We slack lined with a bunch of people from the zone today, and it was so awesome! It was so much fun with everybody trying it out and just hanging out. We have a ton of really cool people in our zone that I have known from other times in the mission, so I am pretty happy about it!

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

Elder Nielsen

P.S. Happy Birthday Erika! Love you tons. Hope it is a great day for you.

The little things.

This was an awesome week. There were some struggles, but they're all working out. We had another zone blitz this past Thursday. That is where all of the missionaries in our zone go work in one area for the day. It was pretty awesome, and we were able to see some good things. We ended up knocking on doors for about 4 1/2 hours, and that was pretty fun. We had a cool experience knocking on this one lady's door. She started talking to us and she told us she was from Italy; I liked her instantly from that moment. She told us some of the struggles that she's going through. We have offered to share our message with her and we promised that it would bless her life. She said her husband wouldn't be willing to let us come over. We talked to her for a little while and said a prayer with her on her doorstep. She was really touched, and as we walked away she just kept saying goodbye on the doorstep. It was awesome to see how the little things we do can bless others lives.

I also went on exchanges in Auburn this past week. We weren't able to see tons of people during the day because we were helping out with service in the morning and afternoon, but we were able to see some people in the evening. The last people we ended up seeing were very friendly. They told us some of the family struggles that they are going through right now, and we were able to share a message that applied to them. The mother was crying and you could definitely tell that they felt the spirit. They thanked us for coming over, and we headed back home. It was an awesome experience. I am grateful for the simple little experiences that I have had that have helped me to more fully appreciate my mission. I know God has a plan for each of us, and he is working in our lives every single day.

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

Elder Nielsen

Week 6 of 7

So this is our really long transfer of 7 weeks. This is week 6, so it is kind of weird!

We are seeing a lot of progress with a couple of our investigators this past week. Teresa says she is a lot more confident that she is going to be baptized soon. She is currently just praying to know when she should be baptized.

We had a really funny dinner last night. We are eating with the family, and the table we were at was large and full of people! They had a microfiber tablecloth, so whenever liquid spilled on it it would just bead up instead of soak into the tablecloth. It turns out that I knocked over my glass, and the water ran in between all of the plates on the table and landed in the lap of the girl across from me! It was so hilarious and terrible at the same time. That kind of thing would never happen again if I were to try 1,000 times.

I found a really great quote a bit ago. President Boyd K. Packer said "The Atonement has practical, personal, everyday value; apply it in your life. It can be activated with so simple a beginning  as prayer." I love that because it shows how infinite the Atonement really is. The Atonement is meant for the mountains that we cannot overcome completely without Christ, and it is also for the everyday things that stretch us just a tiny bit further then our comfort zone. I am trying to remember that the Atonement isn't just for the end of the day accounting before Heavenly Father where I ask for forgiveness for wrongdoings, but it can be used throughout the day to strengthen me as well.

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

Elder Nielsen

Elder Nielsen got a haircut today.

20 means maturity...

Hey everybody!

This last week was awesome. Richie, one of our investigators, came to church this past week. He is such an awesome guy. He set up an activity for the ward to go on a hike, and tons of people are planning on going! It sounds like he is getting a lot of good fellowship, and he is already helping out with the ward! He is planning on being baptized on January 31st and he announced it during Elder's Quorom on Sunday. I am so glad we have the opportunity to work with him.

So I turned 20, so I am officially no longer a teenager! It feels pretty good now, except everybody is still going to think that I am really young. Every comments on how young I look, and then they ask how old I really am. 20 sounds a lot older than 19, so it might surprise them even more now!

Things are going well here, and time is going by so fast. It is crazy that we are almost halfway through January already.

There was an awesome sunset the other day, so we decided to snag a picture of it.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Nielsen