Hey Family
Mom I believe you forgot to attach those photos, have not yet received the Christmas package but it is still quite early, plenty of time until Christmas day.
Colin and Whitney congratulations! What are you going to do with all of them ducks?
Well I have a new companion, his name is Elder Simpson. He is a big guy from Arizona, and he happens to be a united states Marine, pretty cool guy. We are going to get along great, also Elder Naylor one of my old companions has come to Mthatha, and it has been really cool to catch up with him and share memories together. This will be a really sweet transfer for sure. Of course when changes happen on mission everything changes, mostly what you eat changes but that seems like everything.
Sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we were planning on having a big feast but we just never found the time. We were going to make mashed potatoes and have some grilled chicken but we settled for some PB & J. Nothing special but it was filling, for a while.
We found quite a few new investigators this week, and we are excited to find some more. There is not really a special story of the week, it was just a bit of an adjustment as transfers usually are. I really look forward to the next six weeks, they will be full of great stories and experiences.
Thank you all for your continuing support, have a great Week!
Love,
Elder Nielsen
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Week 63: November 21, 2011
Thanksgiving + Transfers
Thank you all for your letters, it's good to hear from everyone. I am jealous that you all are going to enjoy Thanksgiving and the feast that comes from it.
This week we worked a lot with the members in our area and found some pretty good success, the work always goes smoother when you use the members. We possibly have some baptism's coming up at the tail end of December, but that is a fair distance away in terms of the preparation of the investigators. It would be awesome however to have someone baptized on Christmas Eve and then confirmed on Christmas day! That would be a memory that nobody could forget. Around this time of year here people are out of school and on Christmas break, as of right now most of the schools have finished for the year and those schools who haven't finished yet are soon the close in the next week or so. The holiday season is basically the same here than there which is quite interesting.
Yeah last week was quite disappointing, basically all of my proselyting materials were stolen, which is quite humorous because there is no profit that a thief can have from scriptures, pamphlets and church produced DVD's unless of course He decides to read them and turn a new leaf. I have ordered a new pair of scriptures through the mission office but I will not be taking those out into the area at all, I now have an economical bible that I will use to proselyte with, and if somehow that one gets stolen it wont be too much of a loss. I will probably not be sending any more pictures until I can save up to get a cheapo camera again, because I definitely want pictures to remember my mission from.
We did some service out in the village this week where we built a wall out of homemade bricks and some makeshift mortar, it was a really cool experience. The Family we did it for was so incredibly grateful for our efforts and fed us a nice lunch. We always like to do service because it definitely helps out in the missionary efforts, directly after service you will see referrals coming out of the wood work and people to teach like crazy. Also it fills in the morning hours, which are usually awkward times to proselyte during.
Transfers are this week, nobody is leaving the mission this transfer and nobody is coming in. I personally hope that nothing is going to change, I would love to have Elder Scicluna as a companion for another transfer. We really work well together and have a lot of fun at the same time. Also the other guys in the district too, I hope nothing changes with them, we just have an awesome time together and we all work hard. Whatever happens is what happens though, I won't be sad if anything happens, change is good. Whoever you serve with and wherever you serve doesn't really matter, it's just a privilege to be able to do this king of work that really matters the most.
Brian, Ariel, and Ava I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving in Georgia, I am sure it will be fun to visit all of those cool places around the Atlanta area again. And for you Brian and Ava for the first time it is going to be a blast. Hey Callaway gardens although we only went there once was Awesome! those Christmas decorations were incredible, that will be a really cool experience.
Mom and Dad, good luck with work and the house search! and also have a great Thanksgiving weekend, I know that you will all have an amazing time!
Colin, I will keep you in my prayers as you are seeking for a sweet job. Have a ginormous feast this week!
Love you all so much,
Elder Chase B Nielsen
Thank you all for your letters, it's good to hear from everyone. I am jealous that you all are going to enjoy Thanksgiving and the feast that comes from it.
This week we worked a lot with the members in our area and found some pretty good success, the work always goes smoother when you use the members. We possibly have some baptism's coming up at the tail end of December, but that is a fair distance away in terms of the preparation of the investigators. It would be awesome however to have someone baptized on Christmas Eve and then confirmed on Christmas day! That would be a memory that nobody could forget. Around this time of year here people are out of school and on Christmas break, as of right now most of the schools have finished for the year and those schools who haven't finished yet are soon the close in the next week or so. The holiday season is basically the same here than there which is quite interesting.
Yeah last week was quite disappointing, basically all of my proselyting materials were stolen, which is quite humorous because there is no profit that a thief can have from scriptures, pamphlets and church produced DVD's unless of course He decides to read them and turn a new leaf. I have ordered a new pair of scriptures through the mission office but I will not be taking those out into the area at all, I now have an economical bible that I will use to proselyte with, and if somehow that one gets stolen it wont be too much of a loss. I will probably not be sending any more pictures until I can save up to get a cheapo camera again, because I definitely want pictures to remember my mission from.
We did some service out in the village this week where we built a wall out of homemade bricks and some makeshift mortar, it was a really cool experience. The Family we did it for was so incredibly grateful for our efforts and fed us a nice lunch. We always like to do service because it definitely helps out in the missionary efforts, directly after service you will see referrals coming out of the wood work and people to teach like crazy. Also it fills in the morning hours, which are usually awkward times to proselyte during.
Transfers are this week, nobody is leaving the mission this transfer and nobody is coming in. I personally hope that nothing is going to change, I would love to have Elder Scicluna as a companion for another transfer. We really work well together and have a lot of fun at the same time. Also the other guys in the district too, I hope nothing changes with them, we just have an awesome time together and we all work hard. Whatever happens is what happens though, I won't be sad if anything happens, change is good. Whoever you serve with and wherever you serve doesn't really matter, it's just a privilege to be able to do this king of work that really matters the most.
Brian, Ariel, and Ava I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving in Georgia, I am sure it will be fun to visit all of those cool places around the Atlanta area again. And for you Brian and Ava for the first time it is going to be a blast. Hey Callaway gardens although we only went there once was Awesome! those Christmas decorations were incredible, that will be a really cool experience.
Mom and Dad, good luck with work and the house search! and also have a great Thanksgiving weekend, I know that you will all have an amazing time!
Colin, I will keep you in my prayers as you are seeking for a sweet job. Have a ginormous feast this week!
Love you all so much,
Elder Chase B Nielsen
Monday, November 14, 2011
Week 62: November 14, 2011
Another Baptism
Hello family, all is well here in South Africa. As it is starting to cool down there, it's warming up a bit here. Actually the weather this past week was quite mild, but we are expecting a great surge of heat sometime soon.
Yes we had another baptism just this weekend, it was a great service and the Spirit was definitely felt. It really has been an amazing experience teaching sister Anathi, she was so prepared to receive the gospel and it was just in our Heavenly Fathers plan that we were to meet, teach, and baptize her.
The last picture is a bit of a sad story, that is evidence that our car was broken into this last week, and some of our belongings were stolen. We have reported it to the police, and done all we possibly can. It is too bad that there has to be opposition in all things, but that is just the way it is. Also last night someone tried to break into our house, but once they tripped the alarm they were booking it. Sounds like we have a lot of work to do as missionaries huh? We certainly are the warriors against wickedness, that's a cool way to look at it I've found. In 2 Timothy 3:7 I believe it says that those who are righteous are bound to be persecuted. We cannot let some thieves ruin our experience on mission, rather we will just press along.
That house you are describing mom sounds quite nice, again whatever you two decide I am completely happy with. Yes I did receive the Halloween package, thank you So Much. I loved the items you packed in there, and so did the members in the district. I bet that task you are undergoing right now is a bit tedious, good luck with it and all will be well. This week I have received news that in order to make it a possibility to serve in Namibia I will also need to complete new medical forms, they have sent me them and I will get them completed this week. Thank you for working so quickly in getting the police clearance to the office. Hopefully this will be the last of many steps that the Government of Namibia has made in order for missionaries to go there. I initially will have to pay for it, but however the mission will refund.
Dad, the service you went to is that the guy who sounds like coach Jackson? just curious. Sounds like this week might be a little tough for you, that can't be an easy task. I pray for you continually. Thanks for giving me the update on the Football scores, I can't believe it is already November, it goes by fast that's a fact.
Ariel, thank you Soo Much for doing all of those applications for me. You are the bestest sister Ever. Hope you, Brian, and Ava are doing well and enjoying life. I am glad you are enjoying the weather in Texas.
Hope you all have a great week! Love you
Elder Nielsen
Hello family, all is well here in South Africa. As it is starting to cool down there, it's warming up a bit here. Actually the weather this past week was quite mild, but we are expecting a great surge of heat sometime soon.
Yes we had another baptism just this weekend, it was a great service and the Spirit was definitely felt. It really has been an amazing experience teaching sister Anathi, she was so prepared to receive the gospel and it was just in our Heavenly Fathers plan that we were to meet, teach, and baptize her.
The last picture is a bit of a sad story, that is evidence that our car was broken into this last week, and some of our belongings were stolen. We have reported it to the police, and done all we possibly can. It is too bad that there has to be opposition in all things, but that is just the way it is. Also last night someone tried to break into our house, but once they tripped the alarm they were booking it. Sounds like we have a lot of work to do as missionaries huh? We certainly are the warriors against wickedness, that's a cool way to look at it I've found. In 2 Timothy 3:7 I believe it says that those who are righteous are bound to be persecuted. We cannot let some thieves ruin our experience on mission, rather we will just press along.
That house you are describing mom sounds quite nice, again whatever you two decide I am completely happy with. Yes I did receive the Halloween package, thank you So Much. I loved the items you packed in there, and so did the members in the district. I bet that task you are undergoing right now is a bit tedious, good luck with it and all will be well. This week I have received news that in order to make it a possibility to serve in Namibia I will also need to complete new medical forms, they have sent me them and I will get them completed this week. Thank you for working so quickly in getting the police clearance to the office. Hopefully this will be the last of many steps that the Government of Namibia has made in order for missionaries to go there. I initially will have to pay for it, but however the mission will refund.
Dad, the service you went to is that the guy who sounds like coach Jackson? just curious. Sounds like this week might be a little tough for you, that can't be an easy task. I pray for you continually. Thanks for giving me the update on the Football scores, I can't believe it is already November, it goes by fast that's a fact.
Ariel, thank you Soo Much for doing all of those applications for me. You are the bestest sister Ever. Hope you, Brian, and Ava are doing well and enjoying life. I am glad you are enjoying the weather in Texas.
Hope you all have a great week! Love you
Elder Nielsen
Monday, November 7, 2011
Week 61: November 7, 2011
Serving in South Africa
The first two pictures are jakaranda trees, purple in color that bloom in late spring here. Since it is the last time I will be seeing these trees i have decided that I needed to take some pictures of them. The last picture is quite typical to Africa, when you make a mistake, make the best of it. I can imagine what these guys thought when they ruptured this fire Hydrant by mistake "WOW, this thing is gushing large amounts of water at an incredible rate, good thing cuz my hands are really dirty".... and then later one asks the other how are we going to fix this? This is probably one of the reasons we mysteriously have no running water at our house for days on end. Gotta love it
This past week was great, every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday we have an opportunity to do service for Members and investigators. On Wednesday we did service at the Binta's, a part member family who we are sometimes fortunate enough to teach. We are basically clearing their Simba grass and weed infested backyard in preparation for a vegetable garden. It proved to be tough work, which is good because we are building up some nice hard hands. We know that it will be a blessing for them once we have completed the almost endless amount of work. On Saturday we went out to the villages and did service for the Mamoza family, there we are busy moving dirt into the foundation of the house that they are waiting to complete, that too hardens our hands a bit.
Yesterday we had 7 investigators come to church, and the other guys had 10 so there was a total of 17 investigators attending church yesterday, that's a pretty large amount of investigators to teach in the Gospel Principles class. It's a good thing that I taught the Sunday School class, and we also had our lesson on the spirit world, and funny enough tonight we are holding a Family Home Evening and we will be teaching about the spirit world.
On Friday we are holding a baptismal service, we are really excited for that! Hopefully more baptism's will follow this one, we have really put in a lot of work in this area. This week we plan on finding a whole slew of new investigators, we have struggled a bit in the past weeks finding new people, but we have been kept busy with all of the appointments we have set up.
I think the house you are thinking of making an offer on is a good house, it looks very nice. It's much like the house on Se 47th, as far as the rooms to bathroom ratio. However this home seems to have a bit more room inside. Whatever you feel is the best home for you two I am completely happy with.
Glad the Vandals finally won, for some reason they always, always have to make it hard for themselves to get a win.I guess that's why they are a fun team to watch, cuz if they win it comes down to the wire.
Love you all So MMUCH,
Elder Nielsen
The first two pictures are jakaranda trees, purple in color that bloom in late spring here. Since it is the last time I will be seeing these trees i have decided that I needed to take some pictures of them. The last picture is quite typical to Africa, when you make a mistake, make the best of it. I can imagine what these guys thought when they ruptured this fire Hydrant by mistake "WOW, this thing is gushing large amounts of water at an incredible rate, good thing cuz my hands are really dirty".... and then later one asks the other how are we going to fix this? This is probably one of the reasons we mysteriously have no running water at our house for days on end. Gotta love it
This past week was great, every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday we have an opportunity to do service for Members and investigators. On Wednesday we did service at the Binta's, a part member family who we are sometimes fortunate enough to teach. We are basically clearing their Simba grass and weed infested backyard in preparation for a vegetable garden. It proved to be tough work, which is good because we are building up some nice hard hands. We know that it will be a blessing for them once we have completed the almost endless amount of work. On Saturday we went out to the villages and did service for the Mamoza family, there we are busy moving dirt into the foundation of the house that they are waiting to complete, that too hardens our hands a bit.
Yesterday we had 7 investigators come to church, and the other guys had 10 so there was a total of 17 investigators attending church yesterday, that's a pretty large amount of investigators to teach in the Gospel Principles class. It's a good thing that I taught the Sunday School class, and we also had our lesson on the spirit world, and funny enough tonight we are holding a Family Home Evening and we will be teaching about the spirit world.
On Friday we are holding a baptismal service, we are really excited for that! Hopefully more baptism's will follow this one, we have really put in a lot of work in this area. This week we plan on finding a whole slew of new investigators, we have struggled a bit in the past weeks finding new people, but we have been kept busy with all of the appointments we have set up.
I think the house you are thinking of making an offer on is a good house, it looks very nice. It's much like the house on Se 47th, as far as the rooms to bathroom ratio. However this home seems to have a bit more room inside. Whatever you feel is the best home for you two I am completely happy with.
Glad the Vandals finally won, for some reason they always, always have to make it hard for themselves to get a win.I guess that's why they are a fun team to watch, cuz if they win it comes down to the wire.
Love you all So MMUCH,
Elder Nielsen
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