Far and wide his love proclaim

G'day!

 

Another great week in the work of the Lord. We had some great experiences this week. We took our investigator Magid on a tour of the chapel which was pretty awesome. He found it to be very interesting and then we had a long discussion about the Restoration of the gospel.  He really wants to know if Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today and he recognized himself that if he truly wants to know then our Heavenly Father will manifest the truth to him through sincere prayer. Our investigator Johnathan also came for a chapel tour. Johnathan is harder to teach because he is very shy and we're not really sure if hes just telling us what we want to hear whenever we ask him questions but so far he seems to really want to know if the Book of Mormon is true. We've got a few other investigators that we are working with too but there isnt really much to report on at the moment. So we have a lot of great potential we just have to listen to the spirit and discern what our investigators really need so they can also come unto Christ.  We've been focusing a lot lately on chapel tours because we have been really struggling with getting our investigators to church.  Unfortunately Magid and Johnathan didnt come to church but a miracle happened! Joyce came to church! Remember our African friend I told you about? Well she showed up to church with the Kawa family and so we taught Joyce near the baptismal font during the second hour. The spirit was very strong in the lesson. We found out that we lost her before because she felt there was no need in her getting baptized again. Obviously she doesnt understand the Restoration fully so we back tracked and retaught the Restoration as plain and straightforward as we possibly could and she finally understood. Joyce said well I believe that MAY be true but I will have to ask God and we didnt hesitate to agree. So we prayed with her on the spot three times. We prayed three times because we tried to explain to her that if we are specific and clear on our questions to our Heavenly Father then he can be just as clear on His answer. After the third time she prayed finally with clear questions she told us that she needed more time. We didnt wanted to push her so we committed her to continue to pray and read from the Book of Mormon and hopefully we'll be able to follow up with her during the week to see how its been going.  I also would like to add my testimony that that is true. Heavenly Father loves us and he wants us to be happy. If we have a question or if we need his help we just need to ask him. "Ask and ye shall receive." Of course he knows our thoughts and the intents of our hearts but he wants us to act upon our faith by asking him in prayer.

 

This week I was also asked by a member about my experience of being set apart. Man it brought back so many memories!! I'm thankful that she asked me that though because it really helped me to really reflect on my mission so far and what being set apart really meant to me. I love being a missionary. It is the greatest feeling. I remember when dad asked me at the beginning of my mission "Do you find yourself smiling for no reason? Loving life and loving knowing that your exactly where the Lord wants you to be ALL the time?"  And I do! I really felt that this week and I really want to make sure that I never take my time here for granted. I'm so grateful for the opprotunity that the Lord has given me to serve among his children, for trusting me to hold His Holy Priesthood and to teach His children the Gospel so that they may also be able to return to live in His presence. "Called to serve Him, Heavenly King of Glory. Chosen e'er to witness for His name. Far and wide we'll tell the Father's story. Far and wide His love proclaim. Onward ever onward as we glory in His name, Onward ever onward as we glory in his name, Forward pressing Forward as a triumph song we sing, God our strength will be press forward ever called to serve our King."

 

Elder Nelson

 

Mum,

 

Thats so exciting that we're going to be building our own house!! When do reckon you'll start? Stephen! Your an animal! Take it easy! Can I be your cheerleader?? GO STEPHEN HE's OUr MAN IF HE CANT DO IT NO ONE CAN!! GoooooOOOOO STEPHEN!! WOOOOOOOooooOOO. Yup. So Bryce....whats with the chicks?...What did you say to them Mum? I wouldve been like Um hey Brittany spears and Lindsey Lohan why dont you take a hike okay?? Jeez....how old are you again?? like 5? Woses. Anyway thats just ridiculous. I'll be the door monitor when I come home.

 

Man I wish we wouldve had Sadie Hawkins dances in Sactown! Thats so fun. Dont worry stephen your time will come. How weird would that be going on a double date with my brother......uhhhhhh.....yeah.

 

To answer your questions I love my area and my investigators. I dont really miss Dee Why. It was fun there but I never really missed it missed it. It was my longest area though. Way to go for helping clean up! Teach those Utards how we do in SActown! Represent!! haha. Okay I gotta go. Catch ya

 

 

A message to the fam...

Mum,

Wow thank you family so muchfor all the emails!! I'm really glad you had so much fun with Denisa Mum. It may not seem like it sometimes but I REALLY look forward to reading your emails every week. So thats why I'm always sad whenever I dont get an email. So are we building our own house? When did this happen? I'm so confused I thought Dad was just starting his business? I'm stoked as though!! Thats way awesome. Yeah I have a few suggestions for my room...I'd like an Ipad installed into the ceiling ummm and definitely a slide going from my room into the pool and ummmm definitely surround sound hooked to my stereo and uhhh yeah and put a slave bell in there with Stephen imprinted on it hahahahahaha. Jokes! so I have no idea...I probably wont be using my room very long anyway right because I'll be on my way to the sealing room hahahahaha. So uh just make it cool. Cool as actually. Game room sounds awesome. I've gotten a little bit better at ping pong so bring it OLd man(thats you dad). Islanders are obsessed with it. You'll have to send me a picture or something with the plans so I can see. I still dont know what I want to do for an occupation but I've been thinking about it and I wouldnt mind if you taught me a thing or two about Carpentry dad. So make sure you save me some work to do. If your gonna send a package mum I dont mind whats in just make sure its american. You know what I like. New ties would be nice. I used most of the money trudy and don sent me and I bought new pants and 5 new shirts. they're great and they were cheap. I still have 70 left. But I'll probably have to buy some new pants because they shrunk a bit and I think I am going to rip them soon. Okay they didnt shrink I'm just fat okay! JeeZ! Take it easy! Anyways sounds like your new callings will be great! hows stephen going on his calling? Good on ya bryce for that smashing tackle! you are my hero. Stephen your my sidekick. HAHA jk. I like the pic you sent of you on your mission mum. I cant believe we're about the same age in that photo. Where is Sister Dunning from? I'd love to get a letter from her! she'll be my new best friend and then she can tell me how you were hitting on all those elders and we can joke about you! Thanks mum :). You are the source of my entertainment. Ta as. Tell Aunt Denisa I said I love her and I look forward to her next letter. I hope she got my letter. I wrote Trudy and Don by the way. I wrote Adam this week too. I miss that guy heaps. I'm sad sister lealau died.  Good on ya for teaching RS mum. Your awesome. Dont worry about people judging you. We're always repenting and getting better anyway. My companions in order are Elder Dean, Summers, Modlik, Bills, Vardeman, Cahigas, and Stringam. Great emails! I love ya heaps as. ttyl.

Stephen, new word is "cake" or "mud". you choose... Elder Tuikolovatu told me in New Zealand they use those words on the street just for laughs when something is lame. Kinda like how we say "thats gay" Ya feel me? Its crack up. so like your football skills....totally cake mate...hahahaahaha. Catch ya lata

Springtime in O.Z.

G'day Mates!

Well I just got back from the temple. What a train ride. It was a great experience as always! Its springtime in O.Z. and its been raining heaps lately. Man we had the craziest wind storm on saturday night and sunday. I was suprised there wasnt a tornado because our flat was shaking and branches were flying everywhere and our neighbors roof flew off. It was crazy! And no one was at church either because all the old people stayed home and then some people had to tend to their homes so our weekend was interesting.

Sounds like you've had a crazy week too. I'm glad to hear that your talks all went well! GO family go! thats awesome. But theres no going back from not emailing me.... no email = disowned....yeah...haha just kidding.

WOW! Tell Trudy and Don THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Ta as. Of course I'll have to write them too. Man I feel so unworthy but I really appreciate it. I got myself a sweatshirt already. It was on sale for 20 and I had a little extra from my monthly dispersments. The winter was good. Pretty cold but I had enough to keep me warm. haha I'm glad you like the pictures :)

Well I'm not gonna lie we had a pretty bad week. It was mostly because we had heaps of meetings that took up most of our proselyting time but a lot of appointments fell through too. BUT NO WORRIES all is well. We'll just bounce back and smash this week. Yeah buddy. Its gonna be sweet AS. So pretty much tomorrow we have a meeting with the Atheist club. Yeah...for reals. One of the members of our ward used to be apart of the Atheist club at the Wollongong Uni so he talked to the leader and got us an appointment to give a 30min presentation on "Mormonism". We're so stoked! We got one our members to make a power point for us and everything! Pray for us! So other than that we've got high hopes and great investigators. Our Kongo investigators are still going great. David and Fiston had plenty of questions to ask us about the Book of Mormon but after we were able to resolve their concerns we were so excited because we can tell that they really have "real intent" in finding out if the Book of Mormon is the word of God. They are reading right now. We also had a spirit filled lesson with Erin on Thursday about the Restoration and she was so tuned in to what we said. She understands its significance and she is prayerfully reading the Book of Mormon as well. She said she was able to come to church this week but then at the last minute she wasnt able to come because it was Father's Day on Sunday so she had to go into the work earlier :/ HAPPY AUSSIE FATHERS DAY DAD! Well I better go but I love you all and I hope everyones doing alright. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The Foundation of our testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel. "The Book of Mormon is the most correct book of any book on earth and a man will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book"_Joseph Smith (quoted by Elder Stringam because he has it memorized). Miss you heaps! Take it easy! Alua

Elder Nelson


Mum, well now that I consider you apart of my family tree again....haha JOKES! so yeah I'm pretty much sick of hearing about how much of a stud Stephen is...WHat....about ...me Who does that sound like? Yeah. stephen. haha crack up as. Beware the me monster. Anyways I just wanted to say sup and I love the pictures. I know you sent the pictures just because you were trying to suck up. They are great though.  I pray for you guys every day. Bryce! You are one good lookin kid. Keep the girls far away. I havent heard from Adam for awhile actually. I cant remember who wrote who last but I should probably write him. I got the letter from Kelsey. THANKS KELSEY! Good pics too. Mum take it easy on the souvenirs alright. We've got plenty of time! Your trunky as. I pretty much already know what I'm gonna get you all you just gotta tell me what my price range is. Catch ya!