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Searching for the Elect

G'day,




How is everyone! Me and Elder Vaivela are doing well. We found some

new investigators this week. One of them is from the States and his

name is John Nelson! Crazy eh? I dont know if we are related but he's

a good man and a retired Navy officer. He's seen a lot. We taught him

about the Restoration and he said he would come to church. BUT

unfortunately he didnt come. I called him on saturday and he said they

were still planning on coming but something must have come up.

Everyone seems to be afraid of coming to church here I dont know why.



I dont really know whats happening with Dave and Kahn. We are trying

our best. Last I heard Dave told us that he hasnt had a drink for 8

days which is really good. But the bad thing is we didnt get to teach

them this week because they were busy on tuesday and on thursday Dave

said he was really sick. And.......they didnt come to church!! WHAT IS

THE DEAL!!!?? Sometimes I just want to go to their homes in the

morning and just rip them out of beds and tie them to the bench at

church. Yeah that would make me feel a lot better. I'd feel the spirit

because I wouldnt be so frustrated! haha but it is all okay because me

and Elder Vaivela did have a good week. We had many opprotunities to

work with the ward. To serve them. Show them that we love them and

committ them to take the next step and do some of their own missionary

work. We had a last minute visit to the Reilly's on thursday and that

was a great visit. I love that family (by the way Sister Reilly is

trying to find you on facebook mum). Her daughter Lisa, who is usually

a huge rebel, told us that her and her boyfriend wanted to meet with

us during the week so we did and it was great! They both have next to

NO knowledge of the gospel or scripture but that also means they

havent been corrupted by false doctrine which is great! It really was

a nice visit. They are both about 20 yrs old so it felt nice to be

able to relate to them. They want to believe and have a spiritual

witness so badly and we told them they can but they have to willing to

put in the effort! We're encouraging them to read, pray and come to

church! So far they did everything but pray. They came to church

though! Hallelujah! Prayer is a new thing for them so our next lesson

will be all based on prayer. I think Lisa is really good. We're going

to be focusing a lot on her.



Those are our main investigators. Dont ask about Kiani.  But I know that Heavenly Father loves his children a lot more

than I do. Haha that sounds bad but its true. I do love them.

Sometimes. When they listen. Man I bet this is kinda how Mum and Dad

felt raising me. SOrry parents!



Well we are doing our best. I know that this is the Lord's work. Jesus

Christ is the son of the Living God. Our Savior and Redeemer. He is

the Great Jehovah. He created the heavens above and the earth beneath.

Through his atoning blood our garments may be washed clean. On

conditions of repentance. As it reads in the 26th section of the

Doctrince and Covenants "His atoning bloods only cleanses those who

heed his voice." In the church of Jeus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we

are lead by HIS voice. His voice is carried through the living prophet

Thomas S. Monson.

I am grateful for modern day revelation. As representatives of Jesus

Christ we are looking for the elect, "For the elect shall hear his

voice and harden not their hearts." I pray each day that all of God's

children will choose NOT to harden their hearts so that they may not

be "past feeling." That they may be able to rejoice in the glad

tidings of great joy which we declare. I know this is true in the

name of Jesus Christ Amen.



Elder Nelson

Tender Mercies

G'day!



Hey everybody! Another eventful week in the great work of the Lord.

Elder Vaivela and I had some good experiences this week. None of our

investigators are ready for baptism yet though which is a shame BUT I

had a bit of my own personal revelation this week. I've been feeling a

bit anxious because Elder Vaivela and I havent baptised but then I

remembered Sister Simmons words when she said "Maybe you were just put

back into this area to train Elder Vaivela." Maybe she's right. I did

realize though that after all the training and working we did witness

someone become converted to the gospel and have a change of heart. I

told you about Malakai before but let me refresh your memory. Malakai

is from Tonga and he is the Taofi's 2nd cousin. He was baptised a

member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints when he was

17 years old. After he was baptized he never went back to church. He

started drinking, smoking and getting himself into all kinds of

trouble. He's 26 now and he's married with two young children. He came

over to Australia to earn some money because there arent very many

opprotunities for jobs in Tonga. So he lives with the Taofi's and they

are very strong in the church. Since he's been living with them he's

had to stop drinking and smoking. Elder Vaivela met him at church one

sunday and decided that we would teach him the lessons. I couldnt

understand anything because it was all in Tongan but my point of all

of this is that BECAUSE Elder Vaivela taught him the gospel. He's now

converted. He wanted to get baptized again (even though we cant do

that) becuase the first time didnt really mean anything but he's

grateful that he is apart of the church. Now he is preparing himself

to hold the priesthood and to go back to Tonga to baptize his family!

I asked Elder Vaivela what has been the strongest spiritual experience

he's had so far and he said teaching Malakai. The Lord's Tender

Mercies are everywhere. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father taught me

that lesson this week.


Again I testify that Heavenly Father has a deep love for all of his

children. NO matter what they look like! haha. We found this new

investigator Jason this week and he is a crazy looking dude. He has

long as hair. Its faded red. looks burned. He's a wanna be rock start!

Haha I know this sounds really mean but its true. But he has a solid

faith that Jesus Christ Is his Lord and Saviour. We taught him the

Restoration this week by the Dee Why Library on a park bench and I

felt the spirit. When we taught him about the Restoration and the

prophet Jospeh Smith the spirit testified to us all that what was said

was true. It was a great feeling! He could feel it too. I know he did

becuase we asked him. We invited him to be baptized and he said he

would need to read some of the Book of Mormon and come to church but

if he knew it was true he would! He's a humble man. We're praying that

he reads and continues to progress. We really need to focus on getting

our investigators to church. I know that we need to invite ALL those

around us to COME UNTO CHRIST no matter what they look like because

its not for us to make that judgement. I love you all. Ofa Atu


Elder Nelson

Rugby or Missionary?

G'day Family


It was so great to talk to the family last week. You all sound so

good! Thanks Mom for making it so clear how much time I have left.

Haha. Its funny because everyone is telling me that I'm going home

soon but I just dont feel like I am. Theres just so much work to do

and Elder Vaivela and I are trying so hard to baptize someone! The

work is good. We had to drop some investigators because they werent

progressing but we're searching high and low for the investigator that

we will be able to baptize. Dave Reilly came to church this week but

he still needs to get married to his partner and he needs to stop

drinking. We committed him to stop and he said he is trying. Its not

easy for him since he has been an alcoholic for most of his life.



The most exciting news here is that Will Hopoate, one of our ward

missionaries, is a professional Rugby player (we got to see him play

last week) and he decided he is going on a mission! He turned down an

offer of 1.5 million dollars to play for another team. How crazy is

that? He's an amazing man and he will be a hectic missionary. The cool

part for us is that now everyone in our area is recognizing us as

missionaries! They say "Doesnt Hoppa go to your church?" Is he going

to be doing what your doing? He's had a massive impact on everyone in

this area. It was all over the news and newspapers. Its such a good

example to the other young men of the church in Australia that are

also great Rugby players. He will be so blessed for his sacrafice.

More than he's probably tried to imagine. It just goes to show how

making one right choice can make such a difference in many peoples

lives around you.



Elder Vaivela and I are great. We're having lots of fun and making the

most of the time we have. I know that this is the Lord's work and that

Heavenly Father loves his children. People ask us all the time why

does God allow suffering to occur if he's so loving. I know that if

there was no suffering and sorrow we would not know compassion and

joy. God will hold the evil accountable and reward the righteous. Our

losses will be made up. Death is not the end. I have FAith in Jesus

Christ. With that Faith I have a bright hope that we will live after

this life. We will be with our loved ones again and if we are obedient

we will have Eternal life. I love this gospel. In the name of Jesus

Christ, amen.



Quick Funny Story: We were driving to our flat with our zone leaders

and we noticed that some lady was getting filmed in front of the

chapel! We were like what the heck? So we turned around and pulled

into the parking lot like we were getting something and then I walked

up to them and asked them if they needed help. The lady was like high

I'm Tracy from Channel 10 (she was way snobby) and we're doing a story

on Will Hopoate going on a mission. We were like great! We're

missionaries! She was like oh! (I thought: this is my chance....I'm

going to be on TV!) NOPE! She hogged the whole thing and her story was

lame and she was like can you hold this styrafoam thing and shine it

on me so I look better! PSSSH! Yeah I helped but man they were lame.

Another newspaper said "WIll hopoate is going to SALT LAKE CITY!" Man

these people have no idea what they are talking about.

Love ya heaps as. Catch ya next week.

Elder Maikolo Viliami Nalesoni

Jungle Boy

G'day Mateys! HAPPY EASTER!




The emails this week were so exciting! Sounds like everyone had an

awesome easter. Everyone sounds so happy which is great to hear. I

love my family! and friends.



Well Jungle boy and I had a great week this week. Haha man seriously

thats how I feel sometimes. You have no idea. Do you remember that

movie Jungle to Jungle? yeah. Thats my everyday life haha. Just

kidding its not that bad. He just ate a chocolate egg off the side of

the road and while we were tracting I turned around and found my

companion "watering" the neighbors tree. Yup. Good on ya mate! But

other than that the missionary work here is picking up!



We have a solid investigator pool right now. Some investigators were

formers(taught previously), some we found on our own and some were

member referrals. There was nothing TOO exciting this week with our

teaching but we still had some cool experiences. One experience was

with our investigator Jake elliot. Jake has done a lot of research and

study on the Bible. He believes passionately that the Bible is the

word of God. Which is great! But it also left him very skeptical of

the Book of Mormon. The last lesson we had with him was a bit

contentious because he wanted to compare scripture and it was

completely pointless because he interprets every scripture the way HE

wants to. But in the end of the last lesson we committed him to read

and pray about the Book of Mormon and he said he would and that he

would meet with us again. So we went this past week and he said he had

read (he didnt really read). We read through Moroni 10:3-5 and

committed him right there to pray. I felt the spirit. We knelt down

and Jake just sat there in silence. He wouldnt pray! JAKE YOUR

PRIDEFUL! No I didnt say that but I was thinking about

it.....afterwards. I knew while we sat in silence that the spirit was

really working on him. He used his moral agency and decided not to

pray. He chose instead to continue to try to mingle scripture with his

own interpretation. It was really sad. But we testified boldly of the

authenticity and divinity of the Book of Mormon and left him with a

prayer. The reason why I wanted to mention this story is because even

though it was a moment where things werent going exactly as planned. I

still felt the spirit testify to me that the Book of Mormon is the

word of God and I felt the spirit strengthening me in a time when I

was backed up to the wall of faith. I love the feeling of being a

missionary. I also hope that none of us will be like Jake. I hope we

all strive to seek the Lord's will instead of our own. I know if we

do, we will progress.



Another quick awesome story! YOU CAN RECIEVE REVELATION AT SACRAMENT

MEETING! While I was sitting in sacrament meeting this week we had a

High councilmen visit and give a talk about Easter. His name is Bro.

He and he is from China. While he was giving his talk I remembered a

Recent Convert from a year ago that we had run into during the week.

His name is Jerry Hong and he is also from CHINA. Jerry joined the

church 15 days after he came into Australia. The reason why I know him

is because I was able to do the baptismal interview for him last year.

Right after sac. mtg. we grabbed Bro He and asked if we could go visit

someone. He happily said yes and we drove to go see Jerry. Jerry had

just woken up and he was making himself breakfast when we introduced

him to Bro He. You shouldve seen how excited he was! He didnt even

know there were such strong members of our church that are Chinese.

They talked for awhile and exchanged information. Bro He told him

about his ward in Ashfield that is completely chinese and Jerry is

going to go there next week. He was so excited! But on top of all that

Bro He told Jerry that he was an electrical engineer which is Jerry's

dream career! Thats why he came to Australia and thats why he studies

so hard. Brother He offered him help with his studies. Jerry kept

saying "I'm so happy, I'm so happy!" I was happy too! haha. I was

watching Him answer his son's prayer and I was so excited to be apart

of it! I know that God loves all of his children and he hears our

prayers. He always finds a way to answer. I love this gospel. I know

that God lives and this is where we find never ending happiness. A

quote that I love from President Monson is "Its easier to be Obedient

100% of the time than 98% of the time." President Monson is a prophet

of God. I Love you all! Ofa atu



Elder Nelisoni

Malo lelei!

Malo lelei!




Fefe ake? Sei pe? Io. Haha see I'm learning a bit from my companion.

What great news this week. The blessings of serving a mission are

endless! I love my mission. I heard from Jimmy Stringam this week in

an email and he's been home for about 2 months now. He was one of my

favorite companions and he told me how hard it is to "let go" of the

mission. I dont even want to think about it. I bet Adam had a similar

experience. By the way when you see him tell him I said gday mate and

that in a few short months we'll be able to hang out again.



Let me tell you a bit about our week. We had a good week. We found a

few new investigators which is really exciting. Most of them we found

through GQing. One of them is Cecilia Vave and she is actually related

to the Mafoa family in our ward. I swear that family gets bigger and

bigger each week. Everyone is related to them. I actually wasnt

present for the lesson because Elder Vaivela and Elder Branco were on

trade offs because we wanted to give Elder Vaivela an opprotunity to

lead out in the area. Elder Branco said he did well which was exciting

for me! Elder Vaivela will be the best Tongan missionary this mission

has ever seen! He really is a great companion and his english is

noticably better. So they taught Cecilia the Restoration and they said

it went really well. She had some great questions and she wants to

come to church this week! I'm excited for her.



We added a couple new investigators from Armenia! Cool eh? We teach

people from all over the world here. We stopped by and gave them a

Book of Mormon in Armenian and invited them to church. They were late

as but they came! They liked it but it was very different for them.

They come from a staunch Catholic background so after sacrament

meeting they were like "so...where is the statue of Jesus and where

are the candles?" dont you give time to pray? I was like UHHH yeah in

the great and abomidable church they do!! haha jk. I just quickly

explained that the most important part of the meeting was the

sacrament and why its so important. We're going to teach them the full

Restoration this week.



We also taught Dave Reilly's partner from Thailand about Jesus Christ

using the Finding Faith in Christ DVD because she's Buddhist and has

never learned about Jesus Christ. That was a cool experience too. It

reminded me when President said " We are representatives of Jesus

Christ. We RE-present Jesus Christ to the world." I'm thankful that

the Lord trusted me to be able to do that.



I'm going to have to go but I love you all so much! thank you for

being faithful enduring to the end. Is there someone else around you

that you could reach out and help? Save the one-President Monson. I

know that God lives and Loves his children. The purpose of this life

is to learn and to progress. We can become more like our Heavenly

Father through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know this is His

Church. I'd also like to add that the gospel is as exciting as you

make it. It doesnt have to be boring. Spice things up! There's a time

to be serious and there's a time to have fun but serious doesnt have

to mean unhappy. Be of good cheer! Its all through the scriptures. IF

YOUR HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT...SUCK IT UP!



Love, Elder Nelisoni