Elder Tyler Nielsen- Hawaii Honolulu Mission: Week 8 Miracles and the U.S.S. Missouri

Hi Everyone! I realize that I didn't send an email last week so sorry about that. However, I hope you will enjoy some cool stuff that went on.

A very special event is going to be happening in my area. President and Sister Walker prayed really hard for ways that we can start to see changes in our mission. And what they were prompted to do was to plan a special sacrament meeting that is going to take place in every ward in Hawaii. This sacrament meeting is going to be all about the Restoration of the Church. Only the missionaries of the ward are going to be speaking and they will be discussing heavily about the restored gospel in the latter days. That is going to be happening on Sunday, September 26th. That's been the primary focus now about our teaching appointments and either inviting people to the meeting, or telling members to invite their family and friends. President and Sister Walker promised miracles would occur with this event and I can't be more excited about it.

Last week we had interviews with the President and he gave me a blessing. I asked him in my efforts to constantly ask questions, to be more humble. He reminded me that I was specifically called to this assignment with Elder Clapper for a reason. I look up to him for a lot that I've learned so far about being a missionary and how to better love the people we serve. Then we had a zone conference where I got to see Elder Owen. He seems to be doing well in Honolulu West. He says he meets a lot of crazy people on the daily so it sounds pretty fun. But don't worry. Mililani has it's fair share of crazy people.

Remember the Fenton family? Well Paul finally came to church! And it was fast Sunday of all the days! He got to hear a lot of really good testimonies from the ward that had a huge emphasis on faith. Afterwards we said hi to him and his whole and it seems like he really enjoyed it!

We got to go to Pearl Harbor for our service day! my group took some of the original wood planks and scraped the caulking glue off so that they can be carved and fancy stuff like that. The U.S.S. Missouri is such a fun and sacred part of U.S. history and I highly recommend going there if your ever in Oahu. If you sign up to volunteer, it's a free tour and you get to do some service. You also get a free pin so that's pretty fantastic. 🤷‍♂️

One of the three assistants to the President(ap's for short), went with me and Elder Clapper about our day. We did comp study and talked to this one woman who takes care of other peoples dogs for a living. We talked some story and invited her to the sacrament meeting. We visited some people around one neighborhood and talked to TONS of people on the street. We even met a UPS driver named Alex who was actually a member of the church. He asked for our address and told us he was going to send us pizza because that's what would happen to him on his mission. Apparently, in some parts of the world, if your serving the Lord then you get free pizza. Man, I Iove my calling sometimes

Then the last thing I should mention was it was my sister Grace's birthday on Friday. 17 years old! I hope you all wished her a happy birthday for me. If you're ever around my family, make sure their doing good. They mean a lot to me.

I've made so many new friends with opportunities to teach these past two weeks. On one day we had a zone meeting with just the missionaries in Mililani and we were challenged to go to the park and find one new friend. Me and Elder Clapper found 3 new friends. Then just a few days ago we found an additional 3 new friends. And very soon, I believe, Paul will have enough faith to enter the waters of baptism.

You can listen to me talk about all the people I've met, the miracles I may have witnessed, or anything I talk about in my own experience as a missionary. But these kinds of events don't just happen to missionaries. They can and do happen to everyone.

One of my favorite songs from a church youth album says the line, "Miracles can happen when we do the small things." The Lord promises us blessings and miracles if we follow his commandments and always strive to stay on right path.

The Lord told Joseph Smith, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10)

I know that if we are trying to live our lives in the way the Lord would have us live, he promises us blessings. Always remember to do the small things.

I know this was a long email so thanks for staying with me .

Mahalo! Love and miss you all!

Elder Nielsen

1-4. The Missouri!

5. The Honolulu Tabernacle that we do Oahu zone meetings in.

6. Elders from the MTC!

7. P-day(the aftermath)

8. Cool side of the Missouri

9. This is where we went hiking last p-day