I apologize for not sending emails as regularly as I should. And I also apologize if my language in writing makes it sound like I'm forced to write these entries. In all reality, these are going to help me the most in remembering the key, important moments of my mission. It also gives me an opportunity to reflect on the most spiritually impactful moments in my life to you; my loving friends and family.
This last week was absolutely PACKED with memorable moments. Among these was meeting our good friend Danielle.
Danielle is a media-referral. Which means that she reached out to the church through an online advertisement and became interested to speak with us, get a copy and learn about the Book of Mormon, and attend church. We met with her last Tuesday. Elder Carlson felt prompted to share the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson which goes like this...
The Gospel of Jesus Christ (which talks about)
-The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ
-The Gospel of Jesus Christ
-Faith in Jesus Christ
-Repentance
-Baptism
-Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost
-Enduring to the End
Danielle had us meet with her at the Wahiawa Botanical gardens. Then she waved us over and we started talking. She comes from another church and is deeply rooted in Christ. She told us some struggles she has as a mother and as an imperfect Christian which we definitely related with her. And we had one of the most heartfelt lessons I've ever had. Not a single eye was dry during that lesson and I'm not really that emotional. We all felt the spirit really strongly. She took a Book of Mormon from us and we set up our next lesson for Thursday at her home.
During that lesson, we shared with her the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
-God is our loving Heavenly Father
-The Gospel blesses individuals and families
-God gives us his gospel in dispensation
-Jesus Christ's ministry and Atonement
-The Great Apostasy
-The restoration of the Gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith
-The Book of Mormon
-We can pray and receive answers through the Holy Ghost
By the way, she had already read A LOT of the Book of Mormon already! And everything we taught her, she understood and felt it all to be true. She said that she believed the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We invited her to pray about herself and she said she would. I also shared with her a personal experience of how I've asked if the Book of Mormon was true.
Later, her husband Walle brought out two paintings. One with a big blue tree with a river in the background and another with purple and pink trees with a leading fence down a path to a cross. These two images are very similar to the story of the tree of life in the Book of Mormon. [1 Nephi 8] And I said out loud "That looks like the Tree of Life! Danielle, did you paint that?" She said that she did paint them for Walle (who is a less active member!) He smiled at me and said..."You're only the 2nd person besides me who recognized it as the Tree of Life. And now it's yours." Through some miracle, Danielle had painted these beautiful depictions of a scripture story that she had never even read before! We left that house on that Thursday morning knowing that Danielle was an elect daughter of God and that we would continue to help her family come closer to Christ.
Next to our friend, Mardy. On our last visit we prayed for her home, gave her pictures of Christ to put around her house, and shared a message prompting her to read scriptures and replace bad spirits and feelings with the good spirit; the Holy Ghost. When we visited last week...WOW! What a change we saw immediately! She looked so much happier! And we felt, instead of a looming/dark presence, a warm Christlike feeling of love. She said that putting up pictures of Christ helped her remind her of Jesus Christ. And now we hope that she will continue to purify her house and make it a place where the spirit dwells. And I believe she read some Book of Mormon on her own too ( :
On Thursday, we took with us a member of the YSA ward who is about to go on his mission in Reno. We took him with us to try to teach our friend Jennette, but she wasn't available. Then we went over to see our friends Jayden and Virginia. We shared some stories with them and Brother Stockdale (the pre-missionary) got to share a scripture to help Virginia with the stress she had.
We had a lesson with a less-active member of the YSA ward named Adreus. We showed him a Book of Mormon video, but then felt like we should just talk with him. We asked if he was doing ok. He told us he has been having a lot of self doubt and issues with self worth. We taught him that just like a robber would never try to rob an empty house, Satan attacks those who are good because they are good. We told him how awesome of a friend he was and he seemed to feel better. But it made me sad because I've had feelings before about self-worth and I knew how dismal of a mindset that can be. Please pray for Adreus and I know he'll feel better.
Patrick Harris, our progressing friend, continues to learn about the church still and is now getting ready to move! Which is big news for us because he said he would feel more ready to think about baptism and maybe visit the temple with us when he moves into his new house. Please pray for him to continue to grow his faith and receive an answer to his questions!
At our car wash on Saturday, I gave out two copies of the Book of Mormon! I was on the street with the Free Car Wash sign and the other Elders were washing the cars. They had a box of Book of Mormons and were supposed to give them out to people they met. When it was time to end at 5, I went up to one of the cars they were washing and I asked the guy if he wanted a copy of scripture. He said "Yes! I was just about to ask you that!" And then we got free McDonalds for dinner. yessah.
Alright. The last three things. We had stake conference on Sunday which is where all the church congregations in the surrounding area meet together for sunday. The heavy topic discussed that day was temple attendance.
Many talks given that day by church leaders pleaded with the members of the Stake to go to the temple more. And since I had gone the previous Monday, all I could say was Amen! I can't wait to attend the temple frequently when I get back home! It's such a beautiful place to visit! And there's another temple opening up in my area at home called the Feather River Temple. I'm going to be able to go to the open house when it's completed!
And after the stake conference, we had our interviews with President Sloat, our mission president. During interviews, President Sloat gives us personal counsel for any struggles we're going through or just gives us advice on how he feels we can improve, but he also makes a point to congratulate us on our successes. He pointed out to me that...*sigh*...I've hit 18 months as a missionary. Which means that in 6 more months, I'll be finished. He gave some wise advice on how to finish as strong as I could.
LAST THING!! I finished The Book of Mormon for the 3rd time on my mission! I learned so much from the time I've spent reading it. Some things I learned include...
- The Book of Mormon helps us answer deep questions and opens our minds to receive personal revelation (which anyone can receive)
- If we read it, The Book of Mormon will warn us of things to happen in the future. And it will help us prepare for future, unpredicted events.
- True peace and happiness comes from following God's commandments.
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, pure and strong but people are the imperfect ones. Our closeness to God and the blessings He gives us hinges upon if we are willing to follow His gospel or not.
And last thing...
-The Book of Mormon is a great source of peace! I've seen it help people come to understand God and Jesus Christ. AND it helps us to recognize miracles in our lives.
Well thank you for sticking through this abnormally long email haha. I guess I've just had a lot of things on my mind since I've only got 6 months left.
Always remember. There are numerous ways that we can feel peace in struggling times. In stake conference, they all testified that the temple was one of those ways. Whatever you're going through, seek help through divine sources like prayer and scripture.
I promise you, as a missionary for Jesus Christ, that you will feel God's love.
Well! Thank you for all of your prayers and I love you all! Keep being the best you can be! God loves you. I wish you all the best week.
Love, Elder Nielsen
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