Week 86: April 30, 2012

Hello

Yes Mother I received the Easter package this week! It was awesome Thank you SO MUCH!

Uncle Kirt congratulations on purchasing a home in Ogden! I am wondering how far that will be away from Rexburg, maybe on some weekends I can help you with some yard work and other chores you'll have going.

Well this week was pretty productive, actually one of the most productive if you were to look at our stats for New Investigators.We came out with 11 this week, which is unheard of in the area we are serving in right now. Most of them are individuals, but we have one family that we met which were very receptive. We will see what will happen in our return appointments with them, hopefully it all goes well. It's a bummer when we go to follow up and the investigator isn't there, great we are back to square one.. hah oh well sometimes that is just what happens. This is the last full week of the transfer coming up, my bet is that I will stay for another 6 weeks here and then be transferred at the end of those. This will be my one and only 6 month area. We are working hard and keeping the pace up.

This past week I started to read The New Testament again in light of your new calling! Right now I am still in the Gospels but I will get deeper into it as I go. Also this week I started my D&C countdown. Since there are 138 sections of D&C I am reading every section top to bottom. Thats one a day for 138 days, which is how long I have left. The time is truly far spent and there is little remaining. 

Mom I am reallly glad that you love that house, I too cannot wait to see it. When do you think you will be moved in? 

Time for us to have a good P-day, sorry for the short e-mail.

Have a great Week everyone!

Love you,

Elder Nielsen

Week 85: April 23, 2012

Ahoy family!

Ariel do you have any idea when I have to accept my track at BYUI? That is the direction I am leaning towards.

We had a busy week with a lot of finding, which yielded lots of success. We have a lot of new people to teach and we have return appointments scheduled this week, so pretty soon we will know who is serious and who is pulling our leg. I am always excited in these types of situations on mission where you get to see if someone really grasped what you taught them or those who.. didn't hah. There are also some former investigators that we have set appointments for and we are really looking forward to teach them this upcoming week. Our Body Building investigator is awesome, it is difficult for him to come to church because of his work schedule but he is solid. I ordered an Afrikaans copy of the Book of Mormon and we were able to give it to him on Friday, he was really happy. We have a lot of people in our area who will one day be baptized but at this time right now each and every one of them has something standing in their way. In most cases they just need a bit of time. But for now we continue to work our hearts out and get going with new people to teach. 

Days and Weeks and Months just continue to fly which is kind of scary. Missionary life is the only way my mind thinks in right now and I can't even imagine any different. I am just going to give it my all and really utilize all of the experience I have gained on mission to bless the lives of others.

Thank you all for your support, I love you! 

Elder Nielsen

Week 84: April 16, 2012

Hello's

Well mom I am still in the same area I just have a new companion so everything is the same as far as flat, appliances and other things.

My companion cooks some pretty interesting things which I think are just as interesting as "what you got stew" basically where you throw whatever you got into a pot and cook it all up like. Thankfully we have some experienced missionary feeding members in our area who can cook some decent dishes. I am grateful for this area and my companion, it truly is a blessing.

We did meet some great people to teach this last week which was awesome, it feels good to find prepared people. Unfortunately we had to move our four baptismal dates back to the 12th of May but we are still excited for their willingness to get baptized and follow the Savior's example. The work is progressing well and we are excited for the future of our area with all of the work that we are doing in it.

I have not yet received that Easter Package but getting the post from Cape Town has been a bit hectic lately so that could be an explanation, I do look forward to it though :)

This past Sunday we finished watching the afternoon sessions of General Conference, wow there were some powerful talks! I cannot wait to have the ensign next month.

I am glad that you are on a contract with that house, actually I am not sure which house exactly you are talking about because it seems that there were two, but nonetheless I am thrilled that you are getting closer. That would be a fun little project to finish a basement. I have never done anything like that so it would be cool, and also all the yard work. Funny how I have taken such things for granted hah. 

Dad I am glad you are getting over your cold that you were able to stay in PTC for work. I can't believe you drove the golf cart to work hah! 

Addison thank you for the letter! enjoy school and your summer break coming up soon! good luck singing at your final assembly. 

Love you all sO MUCh

Elder Nielsen

**Note from Chase's mom in the weekly forwarded email: In a seperate e-mail to me, Chase said his release date is September 12th.  He will fly home on Thursday the 13th so depending on flights, he'll most likely get home on Friday the 14th of September.   I can't wait!   What a reunion!!!

Week 83: April 9, 2012

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday to Aunt Sondra!

It is raining a lot in Port Elizabeth, and apparently it does so throughout winter so It's going to be very wet the next couple of months for me. Today I am thinking of going to the shops and finding a rain jacket. It's pretty crazy that I have made it 19 months without one though, I have been pretty good at dodging the rain but it has finally caught up to me.

The work is going pretty well we are working a lot with our recent converts and some less-active members. The rest of the time we are trying to find new people to teach who will listen to our message, trying to find someone who is humble enough to listen is half the battle and the other half is having them act on our message as well. Most of the investigators that Elder Vernon and I found have sort of fizzled out so we have a lot of revamping to do. Finding is one of the tougher things to do in missionary work but it is really rewarding when you can see the fruits of your efforts. I like the fact that my new companion really wants to work hard which makes things much easier when both of the companions want to get things done.

Mom and Dad the housing situation is very interesting right now, but it seems that you will get into something very soon. I am glad that you have the oppotunity at other homes so you can pick what you like best. I am glad that you both were able to have a good Easter Sunday and enjoyed yourselves.

Recently we had a great lesson with one of our investigators and we taught about the word of wisdom. After teaching the principles and sharing a few scriptures we could tell that the Spirit had made an impact on our investigator. At this time we decided to invite our investigator to live the word of wisdom, and they accepted! There is something powerful in teaching true doctrine and presenting it in a way that the Holy Spirit can testify of it. Certainly obeying the Word of Wisdom has it's challenges, but with faith in God and sincere repentance we can overcome all obstacles and live the kind of life that our Heavenly Father wants us to.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week and have success in all you do.

Love you,

Elder Nielsen

Week 82: April 2, 2012

Hello's

So what is going on with the house mom?

We were only able to see the morning sessions of General Conference because the afternoon sessions were too late for us, so I feel like I missed a lot of it.

Well I have a new companion named Elder Davuke, he is from Fiji, and he is a little bit new on mission. However, he is really excited to do missionary work and together we are going to learn how to do missionary work much better. He speaks English well and likes to talk to everyone which is awesome. Elder Vernon was transferred to Paarl, which I was really excited about, weird to think it was over a year ago that I was serving there. Anyways Elder Davuke and I have already started to boost up our area a little more to have many options of people to teach, we have done a lot of different types of finding people.

Everything is going well and I am really happy to be staying here in Cleary Estate, there area a lot of things going on that I am excited about.

I hope all is well with you all, sorry for the short letter.

Love,

Elder Nielsen