Week 96: July 9, 2012

Hello family!

Wow it looks like you guys had a whole lot of fun this week! Jam packed with activities and what looked like a lekker Braii (BBQ). I am sure the fireworks were phenom as they usually are in PTC. I too had a good week.

We had a sweet experience in our area this week! While we were spot tracting houses with cars we found a man named Sanda, who told us that it was a miracle that we knocked on his door. He said that he is going through a transition in his life right now that is a bit challenging and he is looking for some direction. After talking with him for a couple of minutes we came to find out that he was leaving for work soon, so we were able to schedule an appointment with him the next morning . We had an awesome first lesson and he said that he enjoyed our visit and really wanted us to come back to see him again. What I thought was cool was that he recognized that we were messengers from God because we came to him in a challenging time in his life and we were able to comfort him with our message. He has observed that many churches that he has associated with in his lifetime are very corrupt which is why he does not attend a church currently, if that's not a perfect opportunity to teach the Restoration I don't know what is. We look forward to following up with him, however we can already see that there are some things in his life that will have to change before he is baptized, like he has to Repent and get married or Repent and separate from his girlfriend. In any case That was one of the coolest part of my week. We also had a great investigator at church who is the father in a father led family, however the mother is not very interested in taking lessons from us at this time which is preventing the father from progressing a little bit. Also we had a 21 year old male pass a baptismal interview this weekend and we are super excited for his baptism this next Sunday, it would be awesome if in a years time he could go on a mission of his own!

This week is going to be another awesome one. We will give the zone some training on Wednesday with President and Sister Wood. Then on Thursday we are going on exchanges with Mthatha, which is about 2.5 to 3 hours drive through beef cattle territory, it's a nice African drive up through there. We will stay two nights there and drive back to Queenstown Saturday morning. I look forward to seeing a lot of the people I was working with again. I have a feeling this week is going to seem really quick.

Thank you for sending the pictures of your week! haha I know you all had a fun time. Have a super week!

Love,
Elder Nielsen

 chasing cows, Don't get hit by a bull! 

My companion, Brother Makanda (RM Fellowshipper), Tata Libazi (he and his wife gave us the most exquisite dinner appointment last night) and myself. 

Treasuring up his word, Personal study time.

Week 74: February 6, 2012

Had a marvelous week, or something

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yes it was lekker week, although all of this missionary work is really exhausting me, 12 hours of proselyting a day is no joke, but sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven and we have really noticed that this week.

There were 6 of our investigators at church yesterday, and all of them will most likely get baptized in the coming months. One of them even bore thier testimony of the Book of Mormon at fast and testimony meeting yesterday! That was awesome. Another cool part about the week was on Friday. It was raining so we decided to go tracting in an indoor flat complex, where we found two people who listened to and understood the Restoration of the gospel and were interested enough to come to church. They accepted a baptism invitation and the next time we see them we are going to give them a date! Also on Saturday I went on an exchange with Elder Bangerter (pocatello, Idaho) from my District and we met with a man who we had previously street contacted a few weeks back, we had a sweet lesson and he seemed very interested as well. So it seems that all of the hard work has payed off and we are beginning to reap what we have sown, and the Lord is really blessing us with people to teach, they are coming our of nowhere.

This week we will probably be moving flats, because our lease on our current flat is up soon. We will probably do that all of tomorrow. I am not really looking forward to that but it's what we have to do I suppose.

Presently my diet consists of granny smith apples, peanut butter and jelly, what you got stew, brown rice and yoghurt. In this area it is hard to eat a very healthy diet because our area is so far away from the boarding but we are alive. I look forward to having a well balanced diet once back in the states. Also we do not have a washer in our boarding, So we take it to a laundromat each week and its not so bad, I love having a washing machine though. Each monday we go shopping at Pick 'n' Pay where we can get fresh fruit and veg and all of our other needs .

Last week for P-day we went to the walmer chapel with the rest of the Zone and played volley-ball and also American Football, it was a lot of fun. Wow I am out of shape though haha, getting a bit chubby too.

Mom and Dad good luck with your challenge of being diet pepsi and coffee free. YOU CAN DO IT! Also good luck with the house hunt! and Dad keep up the good work at Pitney Bowes.

Sorry for the short letter last week and the quasi short one this week.

Everybody have a good week!

Elder Nielsen

Week 73: January 30, 2012

Report for the week

Well we had 5 investigators at church yesterday that was awesome. We continue to help people towards their baptismal dates and things are going well with that. We did a whole lot of tracting this past week with some success but very little compared to weeks past. I have just been super tired all the time, day after day, but keeping up with the pace of the hectic schedule. That is the most rewarding, especially studies in the morning, that's my favorite.

Congrats on the move Mom and Dad, hopefully you don't need to stay there long.

Colin, good luck with that new opportunity, I'll keep you in my prayers, may the lord bless you in all that you do.

Sorry for the really short letter, we have got some sweet plans for p-day

Love you all,

Elder Nielsen

Week 72: January 23, 2012

Another good week

Hello everybody, this was a pretty fantastic week. We have really been doing well lately, with some baptismal dates coming up in February, and some great progressing investigators. Really excited about that and loving every minute of being out here.

Some of the best parts of the week was really finding new people to teach, on saturday night we were on a role. It seemed like everyone we spoke to was interesting in what we were saying and willing to let us share with them and come back another day. It was probably one of the best days I have ever had on mission, afterwards it felt great to be able to share with so many people in a pretty decent area.

Overall we have been keeping very busy and pushing the work along, each week we are making goals that will really stretch our abilities, hopefully as we continue to do so we will be able to reach new heights. Elder Vernon and I have been getting along really well, so far he has been one of my most favorite companions, we would be good friends back home as well.

We had Zone Training and interviews this past week, and we were fortunate enough to hear a presentation from Elder Hartman (Dr. Taylor Hartman) who wrote the book "The Color Code" which is now known as "The People Code". Dad you may have heard about it before, but what it is all about is that all human beings have different personalities but each of us are motivated by different things which determines our color. Me for example, I am motivated by power so my color is red, my secondary is yellow which means I am also motivated by fun. In total there are 4 colors any human being can be classified under. It was probably one of the coolest presentations I had ever seen, overall I think it helped all of us understand that everyone is the same and we all have our strengths and weeknessed that we need to overcome, and knowing peoples strengths and weeknesses helps us get along with each other better. I was able to get a photo with Elder Hartman which is attached.

Colin that dutch over lid lifted looks pretty ingenious, nicely done! Also Whitney way to hold down the plasma business, that is pretty cool they sent you down to clean up some problems.

Addison thank you for your e-mail, keep up the good work with school and practising your talent with music!

Grandma and Grandpa thank you so much for the christmas card! hope all is well with you two!

Mom and Dad, love you so much, good luck with the house hunt and work! oh and also figuring out which golf cart you would like haha! About a vehicle, I honestly haven't thought too much about it. It is going to be a surprise enough to come home to a new house and all.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! love you,

Elder Nielsen

Week 67: December 19, 2011

Merry Christmas

I cannot wait to talk to you guys on either Christmas Eve or Christmas day, if I am correct it will be Dad, Mom, and Uncle Kirt. On Christmas Eve I will call from here maybe around 4 o'clock, which means it will be about 9 Ante-Meridian your time in Destin, Florida. I will call your cell phone Dad 425 358 1184, if you would like me to call your other phone we will sort that out then. Mother's day does seem a bit far away come to think of it, but at the same time Christmas has really come fast, faster than any other year.

Sounds like you are experiencing some warm weather there in Georgia, well it sure has been heating up here a bit as well, wow and we have some Gnarly thunderstorms our here, it's pretty cool. The humidity in the eastern cape is much much more than in Cape Town, which has it's up's and down's.

This week Elder Simpson and I were able to make some good progress in the area, we finally got a solid baptismal date with an investigator and have been working hard on finding good people to teach, each day it gets more enjoyable knocking on doors and proselyting in general. At times though it is hard because right now people are going to different places for the holiday's, only to come back sometime in January, some streets of our area is like a ghost town. The holiday season is a season of it's own for missionary work though, it's probably one of my favorite times of the year to do the work.

Ariel thank you for the information, I bet it is a wonder for you two to look at Ava and just imagine where her spirit was residing not too long ago. Knowing the doctrine behind the plan of salvation creates a lot of time to ponder and think about His plan for us. I too cannot wait to meet her. Continue to do well in all your efforts there, and Brian keep working hard, it really sounds like you are doing well.

I think I will leave you with that for now, until we get to talk on Saturday :)

Merry Christmas, Love you all

Elder Nielsen