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

Thankful for the Restoration

G'day




Hey mates! We had a pretty crazy week. Whats with everyone trying to

play "Bash" the Mormon missionary?! Its been a few times in a row now

where we meet these people that are like oh hi and nice and they

invite us over and then we start the Restoration and then BAM!

contention! It must be happening for a reason because its only been

happening to me and Elder Vaivela. This week we taught Joel who even

met a member of Manly ward on the bus and recieved a Book of Mormon

from them. He seemed to be really interested when we first met him and

he's a really nice guy but when we went to teach him he wasnt exactly

humble. His biggest concern was when we said that we are the ONLY

church that holds the authority of God. He didnt like that. BUT he's

texted us a few times since we saw him and asked us a few questions so

he must have felt something when we met with him. It just goes to show

that it doesnt matter how many scriptures you go through. You can

argue until your blue in the face but its not until someone FEELS the

spirit that they will become converted. I also want to add that I know

that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints really is the

Lord's church restored to the earth again. He is the head of this

church. Thomas S. Monson is His prophet. The Authority to baptize is

in this church. And the Keys to the children of God's Salvation is in

this church.



Unfortunately our investigators were busy this week so we didnt get to

teach very much. But this week should be full of teaching. General

Conference was Awesome! I loved it. I learned so much. Priesthood

session was again my favorite. President Uchtdorf really was on fire.

His talks really get you pumped! I loved the "Do It Switch" analogy.

Maybe you noticed a different overall theme but what I noticed is that

each talk had an underlying theme of ACT. And Do it Now! Its in the

Doing that we'll gain a testimony. Its in the Doing that we're going

to bring more souls unto Christ. Its in the Doing that we achieve

Exaltation. I hope that we will all be "Doers of the word and not

hearers only." I know that I've definitely seen that on my mission. I

could also add that doing takes humility because when we GO and DO we

make mistakes and we have to repent but when we do, we progress. Thats

the purpose of Life. I felt the spirit multiple times during

conference and I also want to say that I'm so grateful for the

knowledge of a living prophet! Thomas S. Monson really is God's

mouthpiece.



We had Zone conference this week about the Restoration and it really

got all of us missionaries really pumped to share our testimonies with

everyone. Something that President Simmons read really touched me.

Have you ever thought about the blessings we have personally recieved

from the Restoration? Becuase of the Restoration I know that God Lives

and Loves me. I am a child of God. Because of the Restoration I have

had great friends that were a great influence in my life and helped me

to be a better person. Because of the Restoration I was baptized so

that I can return to live with Heavenly Father. Because of the

Restoration I have the Holy Ghost. Because of the Restoration I can

access Jesus Christ's Atonement and Repent of my sins. Becuase of the

Restoration I can take the Sacrament every Sunday and renew my

baptismal covenants. Because of the Restoration I'm a missionary.

Because of the Restoration I've been able to help God's children to

find more truth and more happiness. Because of the Restoration I've

seen lives change. Because of the Restoration my family is happy and

strong. Because of the Restoration my family is forever.



Have you ever thought about that? I know that I hadnt until the Zone

Conference. I encourage everyone especially my family to spend the

time to think about the blessings that you have recieved personally

because of the Restoration of the Gospel. I cant express the joy I

feel when I think about these blessings that I have recieved and the

blessing I have to share these truths with others. I know this is the

Lord's work. I love you all heaps as! Ofa atu



Elder Nelisoni

Germany

G'day,



How ya goin mates?! Sounds like there are a lot of crazy happenings!

Congrats on your mission call Brittani!! Thats so exciting! If you

ever get to meet President Uchtdorf tell him I said hi okay? And tell

him my name....and where I served....and what my favorite things to do

are. Haha just kidding. I just realized though that If you do get to

meet him then that would be so cool because you could speak to him in

his first language. I met a few German people this week actually. One

of them was really nice so dont get discouraged that it might be hard

Brittani! That just means you'll see heaps of miracles. Australia is

known to be a "hard" mission too. Just trust in the Lord and watch him

work! But you know that and I'm excited that I'll get to see you

before you leave.



Thank you for the great emails! Let me tell you about my week.


We had a great week. We had a few great teaching appointments. Our new

investigator Ananda is from Brazil. She's really cool. She's a surf

instructor. In Brazil she was apart of the Christian Science church

but now that we've taught her the Restoration she's committed to

reading the Book of Mormon and praying to ask Heavenly Father if its

true. I'm excited for her.



Elder Vaivela and I found a miracle this week. The night before in

planning we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to guide us on where we

should go to do our finding. We decided that we would tract in

Brookvale on Consul street. We biked across our area and while we were

traveling we noticed a huge rain cloud coming our way....ohh no. It

was crazy because it came in fast and it was like we were watching

"the end of days" happen. So we got to our street, locked up the bikes

and it was like someone just opened a massive hatch in heaven. Boom!

instantly soaked. But! Also as soon as it started raining we heard a

voice crying out to us. Elders! Come inside! This guy at the first

house was calling out to us and inviting us in. I was thinking to

myself "Who is this guy? is he crazy or what??" No one has ever

invited us into their house when it was raining. But we went in

nonetheless. It was a great visit! His name is Johan Dupreez(said the

French way: Yohan Dupria) and he is an excommunicated member! WOOOOAH!

haha yeah I was tripping out! And also...he served a

mission!...ha...ha...uh oh. But he also told us that he wants to get

back in to church...AND INTO the church. I'm excited! He also has a

non member wife that we can work with too. Miracle!



Its Elder Vaivela's 20th birthday on Sunday!


Another amazing story that I'll mention quickly is that ALL of the

Reilly family came to church this week! wooooo! the Reillys were a

less active family that I was working with last year when I was here.

Me and Elder Bills helped their son Kingi to be baptized. But they

still had a hard time coming to church. Now they are working on going

to the temple! They both shared their testimonies this fast sunday and

they were so powerful. By the way I want to mention that Bro Reilly is

coming back to church after 35 YEARS of being innactive! Its never to

late to come back to church. Miracle as. I was on a huge spiritual

high yesterday.



Well I better go. Elder Vaivela's english is slowly improving. I'm his

english teacher! I'm learning a little tongan too. Its pretty fun. I

really want to learn another language. I'll probably learn spanish

though because It will be way more useful in the States. I love you

all heaps. Catch yas lata.



Elder Nelson

Elder Vaivela from Ha'apai Tonga!

G'day Folks

How is everyone? I'm doing pretty good. I'm not gonna lie being a

trainer is hard. Sister Simmons said "Welcome to parenthood." haha.

Yeah....NOT looking forward to it. haha just kidding. But seriously I

think Training is the hardest thing I've had to do since I've been

out. The first week is always the hardest though. So I've been told.

My companion is Elder Vaivela from Tonga! He's from the small Island

of Ha'apai. 2000 people live on his island. I told him "elder....3000

people went to my high school." He says our area is bigger than his

whole island. Woah.

The main lesson I learned this past week was Humility. Big time. Elder

Vaivela is probably the most humble person I've ever met. I feel like

I've taken my whole life for granted! He came out with nothing. Tonga

isnt the most wealthy country. I have great respect for the

missionaries who come out from the islands. They take the counsel from

the Lord about leaving everything behind very literally. Even right

now Elder Vaivela is emailing another Tongan missionary he met in the

MTC because his family doesnt have any access to a computer back home.

He'll just write them letters for the rest of his mission. On top of

that! Only him and his little brother are members! His parents and his

other 4 siblings are members of the Wessleyn Church. He joined the

church in 2008. He'll be a member of the church for 3 years next

month! Man! I'm just in awe of this man. Such great faith! So on top

of training him in missionary work I'm also teaching him the gospel!

He understands most things but there are a lot of things that he

doesnt understand as well. But another thing is he doesnt speak any

english! He's learning pretty quickly though so we can carry on a

conversation now (slowly). He got his first suit when he came into the

mission. His first camera which he still doesnt know how to use. He

used a fork and knife for the first time in the MTC. Seriously! He saw

his first helicopter. He went on an escalator for the first time in

the MTC. He got his first watch. He had cereal for the first time.

Mexican food :). When we went to Mall he was completely shocked about

how big it was. He said their biggest shop on his island is as big as

our living room. Small as. The list goes on and on! He made sure that

I always ate before he did and I'm like MAN YOUR LIKE STARVING

COMPARED TO ME! Oh yeah he had McDonalds for the first time. So I'm

trying my best to serve him in any way I can because I feel like a

spoiled brat. By the way you should send a package to him. Just fill

it with anything. Two lines of two great hymns come to mind. " Count

your many blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings

see what God has done" & "Because I have been given much I too must

give." We've been given so much! Its almost embarrassing. And its even

more humbling when I think about it in terms of gospel knowledge. I'm

so blessed to have been born in this church! I hope Stephen and Bryce

are reading this because they are the ones that I've been really

thinking about in this past week. We dont really have a teaching pool

right now which is hard because we "shot guned" the area so I'm more

tired than I've ever been in my life but thinking about the blessings

I've recieved and my humble companion are two great motivations. I

hope I really take full advantage of this opprotunity because I know

the Lord is really trying to teach me some things. I'm So grateful to

be a missionary and to have had the upbringing that I've had.

The Harbord Ward was pretty excited to have me back in the ward. I was

excited to see all of them too. It feel kinda weird to be back here

though since I spent so much time here before. Sister Simmons said

that I'm more in this area for Elder Vaivela though. Which is sweet

as. I just REALLY hope we can find some people to teach quickly and

hopefully get some people in the waters of baptism. My companion needs

to see some miracles! But I know they'll happen. Thank you for your

support and prayers! They are a BIG help! Love you all heaps.

Ofa atu Doksio

Elder Nelson

Freshwater and a Greenie

G'day,


Sweet Moses! Transfers are here! The beginning of the end is nigh! I'm

in Woy Woy right now with Elder Ulmer from California(Who is a STUD

missionary and he's only been out for 5 weeks. The bar truly has been

raised. I cant wait to see Stephen and Bryce when they serve their own

missions) and Elder Kerr from N. Carolina(different Elder Kerr than my

previous companion). We're working in Elder Kerr's area until tomorrow

because tomorrow we'll all be heading down to the mission office to

meet our new companions. I'm training! I'm so excited. But whats even

CRAZIER....guess where I'm going.....?...can ya guess?....DEE WHY!!!

CHYAH! haha well its actually called Freshwater but its the same ward

and pretty much the same area. I'm stoked out of my mind! I'm so close

to everyone there! My new trainee is going to be so spoiled! We're

going to have to start from scratch though with investigators and

such. How crazy is that? I'm also about 99 % sure that this will be my

last area too. My trainee will probably kill me off. Its too weird to

think about though. I've only got 3 transfers left. I cant imagine

what Adam is thinking about right now. Also I'm not Zone Leader

anymore. I served as Zone leader since last February. It was a lot of

fun and I learned a whole heck of a lot. About the work, myself and my

Savior. I'm going to miss Zone Council and other Zone Leader perks but

I'm not gonna lie its going to be nice to not have any leadership

responsibility. All I have to really focus on is my area and my

trainee. I dont know who I'm training yet. I find out tomorrow. I'll

let you know next week. I heard there are quite a few Islander Elders

coming in though. I've never had an Islander companion. Exciting

stuff! I'm going to really miss Elder Christiansen. He was definitely

one of my all time favorite companions. He's a legend and we got a

long really well. I'm going to miss Parramatta Ward too. Besides

Harbord ward, Parramatta ward has been the most missionary minded. And

go figure those two wards have been the strongest too! A few of the

families I got close to gave me a nice little farewell. I'll miss them

heaps. O well, Back to the beach! Churr. Haha just kidding.


Monika Tahim and John Munday are both still solid to get baptized this

month though. Elder Christiansen and I are really excited for both of

their baptisms. Oh also last week we set a date with that girl Theresa

King. She's so golden. Hopefully her and Monika will both be baptized

on the 26th of this month. OH man! Thats the day Adam goes home. AH!

John's baptism is this weekend. Me and my trainee will be taking a

little trip back to Parramatta to see that.


We are all Enlisted till the Conflict is o'er! Is the conflict o'er? I

say unto you nay! Happy are we Happy are we!


The Lord is really blessing all of us missionaries in the Australia

Sydney Mission. There's never been a more exciting time in the

mission! I'm so excited to train. Miracles are happening everywhere.


I know that God lives. Jesus Christ is our Savior. We can all be

cleansed from sin if we have Faith in HIM. Repent and are Baptized by

someone having authority. For those of us that have been baptized. We

have to keep our covenants and Endure to the end. I hope that we can

be like the Anti Nephi Lehites and shake and tremble at the idea of

breaking our covenants we've made with our God. I'm thankful for the

knowledge of the gospel and the joy that it brings to my life and to

my family. Now I have the opprotunity to spread that joy. I know that

This church IS Jesus Christ's One true church. We have the FULNESS of

the everlasting gospel. We have the keys to exaltation. I love you

all! Catch ya lata!

Elder Nelson


Mum,

Sounds like you and Dad had a great anniversary! Happy Anniversary! I

love Dad's cookbook. Thats an awesome idea. I'm so glad I have parents

that love each other! haha I know that sounds weird to say but I'm

just really happy about that. But! Dont send me embarrassing pictures

mum! jeez! I'm sitting in a public internet cafe! haha whatevs. Bryce!

Happy Birthday! Holy crap your old as! Almost as old as DAd! O wait

sorry he's ancient! hahahaha! Sounds like you got some awesome

presents. And Aweseome parents! What are you gonna do now that your

are 13?


Dad! I'm excited for your new calling! How awesome is that? You'll be

serving with an ex stake president! You'll learn heaps as! Fill me in

on the great doctrine you learn. Fill me in or else. :). Stephen.

Whatcha doing going around being a stud for? You got asked to a dance

by a senoir? Holy COW! Dodgey as. How is she only 1 year older? Is

stephen just old for his year and she's younger or something? Take it

easy mate! I'm excited that my family will be "hanging out" with such

spiritual giants. If you want to be a spiritual giant. Hang out with

Spiritual Giants! Its that easy! Thats Elder Nelson doctrine. Write it

down. Quote it. It'll be in President Monson's talk next General

Conference. IT will. You'll have to send me a picture of this girl

stephen. We'll see if she's up to par alright mate? I'm gonna have to

do some interviews with this fan club of yours when I get home. Can I

spend 20 bucks on new walking shoes tomorrow? Also I'll probably buy

souveys in May unless you want me to buy them sooner. I have plenty of

time before July. ALright Latas.

Elder Nelson

Happy Birthday Dad!

G'day


HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD MAN! I hope you had a good birthday. Sounds like it

was a lot of fun. We had a great week this week. Full of teaching :).

Well first of all Grace didnt get baptized. I know. Bummer. I cant

remember how much I've told you about her but let me fill you in on a

little bit of her story. She is probably the most interesting

investigator me and Elder Christiansen have ever taught on our

missions. I dont know how you could be more interesting. Grace is from

the Indian Reservation in Arizona. She's part Native American and

African(Soudanese). She didnt grow up with her family and she told us

that the "chiefs" raised her. We assume that she means the leaders of

the Reservation. She keeps in contact with them often and one of the

things they asked her to do is to get involved with the Aboriginal

people her in Australia. Missionaries tried to teach her before but

they lost contact after awhile. We taught her from the beginning and

the thing that she was most interested in was the Book of Mormon. She

heard from the chiefs that their history is in the Book and that she

needs to learn about Nephi. So thats what sparked her interest again.

We gave her a Book of Mormon in the first lesson and committed her to

read it. After we came back we found out that she had read the entire

book of Alma! She told us that it was definitely a history of her

ancestors and she knew that it was true. From there we taught her the

Restoration and Plan of Salvation and she progressed really fast. We

were so excited. The only thing was that almost every time we met with

her and even in between appointments by telephone she would tell us a

concern she had: "we're racist, we have to get married, why?, we have

to be modest, women dont hold the priesthood, what goes on in the

temple ,etc, etc. The list seriously goes on and on. She tested us on

everything! Its really been a great learning experience. But anyway

amongst all of that we committed her to be baptized and she happily

said yes. So a couple weeks ago we had an appt and she brought up some

concerns that she had in the past and we said "Okay Grace, we've

answered these questions before. Let's get ALL of your concerns out on

the table so we can answer all of them and move on." But we said it

really lovingly ya know...ha. But it worked and she got it all out.

SO! this weekend she was meant to be baptized but we met with her on

friday and we asked her some "heaven sent" questions about her

testimony. We asked her about how the chiefs felt about her getting

baptized because she told us before that they werent too keen on her

joining the church. She said "yeah they're fine the only thing that

they told me is that when I join the church I'm not allowed to go into

the temple..." UHHHHH....RED LIGHT! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! We heard

that loud and clear and we asked her if she believed that Thomas S.

Monson is the living prophet and she said yeah but then we explained

that that means that pretty much whatever he says goes. "So grace that

means you need to choose. Are you going to follow the prophet or the

chiefs." THATS THE DOCTRINE! She heard THAT loud and clear and she

said well I cant betray my chiefs and so thats where we're at now. We

explained that its up to her testimony of the Book of Mormon because

if that is true then Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet. She's

reading the Book of Mormon everyday now.


Well that was a really long story but thats the Gos right now in Elder

Nelson's life. The nitty gritty haha.


John's doing great. His Marriage/Baptism is next week. We watched the

Testaments last night with them. They really liked it. Good movie as.

Theres a rumor right now that I might get transferred next week so I

might have to visit from my next area to see John's baptism.


Monika came to church too! She's our Punjabi friend. Shes still ready

to go for her baptism next month. She told us a crazy story this week.

I dont have enough time to tell you it. She's got some serious dramas

going on in her life though. She loves the gospel and its helping her

a lot.


I know that Miracles happen. Christ's Atonement heals the broken

hearted. Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet. He IS Gods

mouthpiece. I read a scripture this week that I really like in the

31st chapter of Alma. "....our affliction was swallowed up in our joy

in Christ." I love that line. I hope that in all our lives we can

allow the sadness and afflictions and trials to be swallowed up in our

joy in Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.


Elder Nelson

G'day mates!

G'day mates!



Well this week just flew by. The Legend of Elder Christiansen and

Elder Nelson still lives on. Oh yeah, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! EVEN

THOUGH THIS HOLIDAY MEANS NOTHING TO A MISSIONARY! But Happy

Valentines to you mom!

Some exciting/crazy things happened this week. The craziest thing that

happened was yesterday at Stake Conference. They totally dissolved

Parramatta Stake! So there is no Parramatta Stake anymore and what

that means is, there is no more Parramatta Zone! Weird. When they

announced the changes Elder C and I looked at each other and were like

"Uhh does this mean we're released?" Of course it doesnt but it was

funny at the time. It does mean that next transfer everything will be

different though. Our zone members and areas in our zone will change

and everything. Change is good though. Parramatta Stake was really

strong so I think they are trying to spread the love.

We had a miracle this week! On monday we got a call from the Mission

Office and Sister Wight said she had a referral for us! Sometimes

these referrals are a bit "fluffy" but she said that this one she

recieved directly from the person interested in investigating. They

had emailed the office to get in contact with the missionaries. We

just so happened to be the missionaries in that area! Her name is

Theresa King and as soon as I heard her name I was like ah man maybe

she's mexican! (not that that even applies to me because I dont even

speak spanish). But she's Vietnamese. Born in Australia though. She's

22 and she is working as a high school Maths teacher. She comes from a

Catholic background and we had the priviledge of teaching her the

Restoration this weekend. I was so pumped! It was probably one of the

first experiences I've had on my mission where the investigator was

looking for us instead of us looking for them. The experience also

greatly increased my testimony that Heavenly Father really does

prepare his children to recieve the gospel. Do you know how she found

out about the church? Well apparently she made this friend on Facebook

who is a member in Utah. He is also confined to a wheel chair. They've

been having many good conversations and he has talked many times with

her about the church and testified how it can bless her life. So since

he always brought it up she thought it was only reasonable to

sincerely look into it. Look at the missionary work he's done! We've

only taught her once so far but she responded well to our message and

we're just praying that as she reads from the Book of Mormon and prays

sincerely she will recieve an answer from her Heavenly Father that the

Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Grace decided she wants to get baptized! Her date for her baptism is

set for the 26th of this month! We're so excited! She's such a

worry-er so she has this little concerns pop up here and there. For

example she comes from an African background and as she was reading

through the Book of Mormon she came across the scripture in 2nd Nephi

about how the Lamanites were cursed and were marked with a skin of

blackness. Just wait until I get to meet Nephi. Me and him are gonna

have a serious chat. Haha just kidding but we resloved the concern

with another scripture. Its Alma 26:33(I think). Its a good one. But

other than that she's feeling great about the 26th. She's such an

interesting story. I'll have to tell you her whole story another time.

The Lord's been good to us. We are enjoying some harvesting while we

plant some more seeds as well. Elder Christiansen and I have a lot of

fun.

I know that Jesus Christ is the head of this church. Why does this

work move forward unhindered? Why have the prophets given us prophetic

counsel to prepare us for the storms ahead? Why have millions of

humble people around this earth knelt in prayer and recieved a witness

by the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God? Because

this IS Jesus Christ's church. He IS the Son of God. We CAN recieve

Eternal Life through this Gospel. Thomas S. Monson IS a living

prophet. I know these things are true. In the name of Jesus Christ

amen.


Elder Nelson

A good week

Venacum, Eppady Sugam?


Uhhh yup. I know that that is what all of you are thinking right now.

I just thought I'd give you a little taste of what its like to live in

our area. Thats the language of Tamil. They speak it in Shri Lanka. We

have so many people in our area from Shri Lanka and India and Lebanon.

They take up about 60 percent of our area and its hard because most of

them are Hindu or Muslim which are the two hardest religions to talk

to about Jesus Christ. BUT they are still my brothers and sisters in

the spirit and they deserve a fair chance at receiving the gospel. I'm

grateful for the great diversity in our area because it has opened up

my eyes in a lot of ways.



We've got a great teaching pool right now. Its got a lot of diversity

too. John Munday and Ziggy Brown from New Zealand, Archena and Rajesh

from Nepal, Grace Dominguez from Arizona (true story), Jamal from

Iran, Naomi Tarr who is Tongan but born in Australia, and Ryan

Campbell from Australia. Crazy! They are all so good too! We've been

greatly blessed. There is so much to report about this week but I dont

have much time. We just got back from the Temple.



Miracle Story! so the other day when I was on exchanges with another

missionary I saw a guy jogging down the street and yelled out for him

to stop. I said " Hey Mate we've got a card for ya!" Amazingly he

stopped! Joggers never stop! He said his name was Ryan. We told him

about the Book of Mormon and he was actually really interested so we

got his number and told him we would contact him soon so we could go

see him. I tried to call him a few times but I couldnt get ahold of

him. Not a new thing thats for sure. But the miracle was on sunday. On

sunday morning we were preparing everyone for church and making sure

everything was in order and we get a call from a number we didnt

recognize. It was Ryan. Another crazy thing because NO ONE calls us!

He said when can we meet? We said what about right now? He said sure.

So we met him at his house and we introduced the Book of Mormon to

him. He had a couple concerns since he has come from a Baptist

background but he was really interested. Then we said well we are on

our way to church will you come with us and he said sure! so we're

like SWEET AS! He came and he loved it and man I was on such a

spiritual high on sunday. We had a good handfull of investigators at

church on sunday and seriously that is the best part of a missionaries

week. When the investigators come to church its so exciting! Not just

for us but for the ward as well! that was a miracle.



Another awesome thing to report on is John Munday. He's doing amazing.

He's MORE than ready to be baptized. I think he's ready to be called

as bishop. Haha jk but seriously he's the man. We have no worries with

him. We are just waiting until next month. Him and his soon to be wife

Jay are planning on taking a trip to Utah in October for Conference so

maybe we'll all be able to meet up! THAT WOULD BE SWEEET!!! But man I

get way too stoked for that stuff so I'll just focus on the now. Oh!

and our investigator Naomi wants to get baptized too!! WOO! WOO! WOO!

We have to wait for awhile though because they're planning on getting

married in April. But its still exciting! Man so many blessing! Some

of you must have really been praying hard this week.



I love you all! I love this gospel. I love my Savior. I know that He

Lives. I know He loves us. I know this is His church. In His name,

Amen



Elder Nelson

It's been a good week

G'day My People!

Fair Dinkum. We had a good week. But its SO HOT! Hace Color! Aye AYe

Aye! Australia day was this past week and I think it hit 107! about 42

in celcius. It was so humid too. So we just walk around and sweat like

animals. "Hey can I give you a card?! Oh.....its kinda

wet...ha...ha....oh its falling apart? Let me put it back together!

Have you wondered this question: Purpose... whats the is...life?" Haha

okay it wasnt that bad but it was something like that. Plus our area

was dead on wednesday. Everyone left to the beach. We were supposed to

go to the park and have a ward activity but the Council had the park

booked so they cancelled it and I dont think anyone wanted to leave

their house anyway. It hasnt been that hot since but today is pretty

hot. We're all getting a nice missionary tan. Where only your

forearms, hands and face get dark. Gotta love it!


One of the most spiritual experiences this week came from working hard

on Wed though. I cant remember if I told you about Naomi. Shes a nice

tongan girl who was actually born and raised in Australia. Her partner

is a Less active member named Hingano Toto. He's cool as. They are an

awesome couple. We met her walking down the street one day and said

she had just moved in with her partner that week and that he was a

member of the church. We were pretty excited to hear that. Then we set

up an appointment and only Hingano was there and he said discretly "

Naomi's not baptized! you need to baptize her." Yup sweet as! the

first time we sat down with her she said " So....why are you here?"

Because Hingano said.... then she butted in "Because I'm not baptized

eh?" Well of course! we said. haha she's really cool. But anyway this

week we saw her and Hingano together and we taught them with Bro. Ma'u

our ward mission leader and also Brother Finau who is just a great

member always eager to do missionary work. They both came and even

though it was noisey in their flat we taught them the Restoration.

Naomi loved it and said that it definitely could be true. She knew

that to find out for herself she needs to read the Book of Mormon and

ask Heavenly Father if its true. By the way she comes from the Wesslyn

church which is a big church in tonga. (I feel like I've said this

before. If I have I'm sorry). But ours is BIGGER :). In the end of the

lesson Bro. Mau and Finau bore their testimonies and then left some

time for Hingano to bare his. He has a great testimony. He cried. He's

a great man who just went a bit wayward. Naomi cried too. It was also

pointed out that since they were living together they need to get

married. They came to church! It was awesome. And they met with

Bishop! They got right on it and now they are preparing to get

married! Its so funny because our best investigators right now all

have to get married. Alright "Kids" get in the nice big shiney plane

we're all gonna go to nice place with lots of lights called LAS VEGAS!

Yeah! okay lets go! haha. serious though I'm praying about it. haha

jk. But the point is the Lord is blessing us. We've seen many

miracles. Our new investigators from this week are a family! their

from Nepal! Yeah its crazy! cool as. They are great and they love the

idea of eternal families.


John Munday and Jay Ngakaru are still going strong for March. WOO! GO

GO GO GO! We're so pumped for them and also we are trying to set up a

time when President and Sister Simmons can come meet them and teach

with us. We are really excited about it. Its going to be awesome.

Elder Christiansen and I both think that he will be a great leader in

the church. He's just so dedicated. I CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET HIM

ONE DAY!! Well I love you and I love this great work. I know that the

Lord prepares his children to recieve the gospel. Thank you for the

support and prayers. Today we are supposed to have preparation day but

we have Zone council to get to so that will be good because next week

one of the members of the Area Presidency is visiting the mission!

Yeah! We're pretty stoked. Okay I'll go now. love you all. Fa



Elder Nelson


Grandma,

Ha fooled you mum. I gotta reply back to Grandma first. thanks

Grandma! I feel heaps better. Being sick on a mission is the worst! I

feel full of energy again though. My companion and I went running this

morning. (yes mom I am exercising). We had a few investigators at

church and this next week a lot of good things should happen. If you

ever learn any more family history stories let me know please. Cheers!



Mum,

Hey Mexican! So you come to me in your time of need? You wish to ask

the master about the Sabbath eh? Well your lucky. You put some money

in my account. Maybe I will condescend. JOKES! You'll be fine. What do

you have to teach about the Sabbath day? Do we have a Preach My Gospel

in the house? Read the 3 chapter 4th lesson and Commandments under

Sabbath DAy. One line that I think is very interesting says something

like "When a nation or society fails to remember to keep the Sabbath

day holy the moral and spiritual well being of the nation (decays).

 A great example of the this is the island of Tonga. NOTHING is open on sabbath

day. EVERYONE (literally) is at church or doing something with family.

Look at how blessed, spiritually minded, and faithful they are. I have

a testimony of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Also if you want more

information read what Bruce R. Mckonkie says in the Bible Dictionary.

Also I love Elder Oaks quote when he said: The sacrament makes

Sacrament meeting the more sacred and important meeting in the church.

I hope thats along the lines of what you were asking for. Bryce! Keep

with it! Explore those talents. Push through the hard times!

Stephen....psssh....what to say.....you keep looking at those muscles

of yours and their gonna fall off. Also, you should've listened to me

AGES ago about playing basketball! Tell dad to teach you the proper

way to shoot. I'll have to come home and school you. Haha not. Thats

cool that you want to play though. Love you family! Stay sweet.

No Choco Cita

G'day Mates!



Transfers have come and gone again. Me and Elder Christiansen are

still companions! Yeah! We were pretty excited to hear the news

because the assistants before were saying they were going to have to

split us up. We're having a lot of success and we're especially

excited to both see John Munday prepare for his baptism in March. We

had two baptisms this weekend!! Woooo! Melesia Hufanga and Angel Lole

both got baptized on saturday. It was a massive baptism. There was a

huge feed afterwards. A couple other people the other elders in our

ward got baptized too so 4 people in the Parramatta ward were baptized

this weekend. This ward knows how to do missionary work.



Elder Stringam has completed his 2 years. Crazy! His family was there

with him at transfer meeting. Then for lunch his family took me and

Elder Christiansen out for lunch. We went to a local Kebab shop. It

was delicious. It was so weird being with Elder Stringams family! But

so fun. He's got a great family. Hopefully the Stringam and Nelson

families will be able to meet up sometime. The Christiansen family

will have to come too :).



I finally got over my flu I had and its been great to get back into

the work. We've got some great investigators. One miracle we had this

week happened on saturday. So we try to find new investigators every

week. We hadnt found any this week. So on saturday night when I was

feeling better we knelt in prayer and asked Heavenly Father to guide

us to find a new investigator. So we had a few potentials in mind and

then we went out looking. We followed up on a couple addresses I had

and man every one of them was FAKE! LIARS! haha man it was rough but

we decided that we would tract a couple houses near one of the

potentials I had. An Indian fella answered the door named Richi and he

is so awesome. He was way interested and so was his friend. We found

two new investigators in those 30 minutes we had to find a new

investigator last week. It was a great testimony builder for me. I

know that God answers prayers. Sometimes, according to HIS will,

almost immediately!



We had a special visitor a couple weeks ago that I didnt tell you

about! Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to

our mission! It was such an awesome experience. He was actually

supposed to go to the Brisbane mission but since its so flooded there

he couldnt fly in. He visited us instead and we had a great visit. He

is definitely an Apostle. His insights and testimony were inspiring. I

know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only

true and living church upon the face of this earth. I love you all. I

hope you all had a great week full of smiles and laughs. We have

plenty of reasons to rejoice! Especially to know the Great Plan of

Happiness.



Elder Nelson

Grandpa

G'day!

How is everyone? Man I was really worried when I saw the subject

heading of your email "Grandpa." But I was relieved to hear that he's

okay now. AND THEN you send the pictures and Grandpa is chilling at

the top of a ladder! Holy cow Gramps! Take it easy mate! The pictures

are great though thanks. I cant believe Dad was even adventurous

enough to hang upside down from the roof either. Oh maybe its because

he only weighs like 90 lbs. pssh. Anyways! Sounds like everyone is

doing pretty good though.



Elder Christiansen and I had a fantastic week this week. I cant even

begin to tell you how awesome this week was. Well first of all I'll

just say that the ONLY downside to this week is that I got sick. I've

been sick as the past few days and its been so dumb. I had a fever and

the shivers and its just not cool. But I got a blessing and I'm doing

heaps better. Second of all. WE HAVE TWO BAPTISMS THIS WEEKEND!!

Wooooooo!! Melesia Hufanga and Angel are getting baptized. Melesia is

a cousin to the Leota family in our ward. Brother Leota is ALL about

missionary work. Its pretty much all he talks about but hey he's

awesome and he's helped HEAPS of people come into the church. Melesia

is from Tonga but she speaks pretty good english. She has a strong

desire to be baptized which is so awesome. Then Angel! She is actually

cousins with Melesia.(YOu'll learn REALLY fast that when your dealing

with TOngans, pretty much everyone is Cousins with everyone! hahaha).

So on tuesday we were having a great lesson with our investigator

Arthur (from TAiwan) at brother Leotas house(which is another really

cool story) and then in walks Angel. She's 10 yrs old and two of her

older siblings are members. Bro Leota says her parents arent members

but someone else said they are just less active so we dont know whats

going on there but she comes in and tells us she wants to get

baptised! Of course Bro. Leota played a BIG part in it with talking to

her family and everything but she said that she has wanted to get

baptized since she was eight. So we were like........SWEET! haha its

been a week of miracles. BUT! that wasnt even the best part of our

week. I know. Crazy eh?



The best part of our week is when we met with John Munday. It was

definitely a spirit filled lesson. They had just gotten back from

their trip to New Zealand and while they were there they stayed with

his partners family which is awesome because they are strong members

of the church. They made sure that him and jay came to church and also

participated in Family Home Evening. We were so happy to hear about

that. So on wednesday we had a lesson with them and we had AWESOME

fellowship there. Bro Leotas son, Semisi(he's a young guy on the

bishopric) and his wife. They are newly weds. John and Jay live

together but they arent married. So we followed up on his reading and

he had done his assigned reading and then when the spirit was strong

we committed him to be baptized. He immediately said yes! WOOOOO! But

then of course the only thing that would keep him from getting

baptized is keeping the Law of Chastity. SO! we just got right into

it. We told them how much we loved them and how much Heavenly FAther

loves them and then taught them the importance of the Law of Chastity.

The air was tense for just a second when we started teaching it but a

spirit of love filled the room as the lesson went on. If an outsider

were to look in at the situation and what was being taught they would

probably think it was ridiculous but when the spirit is there anything

is possible. The best part of the lesson though was when the Newly

wedded couple got to bear their testimonies of the blessings of being

married and keeping the law of chastity. It was an awesome experience.

When Elder Christiansen and I got in the car we couldnt help but just

yell " YESSSSSSS!! WOOOOO!" THEN! this sunday John and JAY said hey we

want to meet with Bishop. BY ALL MEANS! So they did and now they are

getting married on the 12th of March. John will also be getting

baptized on that day. Man.........too much excitement! I love being a

missionary. Shall we not go on in such great a cause! I love you all!

This is the Lords church. How lucky are we to be apart of it.



Elder Nelson



Mum,



HEY!! Well this week has just been too good. Let me know when you put

money in my account. I know the Souvey man thats a member gets back in

March. So may not start buying stuff until then. Do you want Ugg

boots? We probably cant afford to get everyone Ugg Boots. What color

and what size shoe do you wear? What does everyone want? I thought I'd

for sure get stephen and Bryce some Kangaroo coin sacks! haha you know

what I'm talking about. I think I'll get one for Adam and probably

Katie as well. HAHA. Maybe stephens friends would want some. Man I

just need a list of what everyone wants and then I can add up the

total of how much it will cost. The bat in those pictures is dead. It

was fried on the telephone wire. The bats here are HUGE!! Stephen's

trip sounds fun! Keep up the good work Bryce. We all know that the

only sport they will accept in the Celestial Kingdom anyway is

Basketball. True story. I prayed about it. haha jk. My official

release date is July 12th. Crazy! I cant believe this is the last week

of the Transfer. Theres a good chance that me and Elder Christiansen

wont be companions next transfer which is pretty crap. I have a

feeling we'll hang out a lot when we both get home. I'm training soon

too. I dont know when. Maybe my extension seems a bit longer to you

but to me its not long at all because we work on transfers. So if I

didnt extend I would only have 3 transfers left but now I have 4 so It

gives me a greater chance to train since training a missionary usually

takes longer than just 1 transfer. Exciting changes are right around

the corner. Well I should probably end this now. Love ya heaps. Catch

yas.

Gentiles!

G'day Gentiles!




REPENT! How ya goin mates? I hope you all had a great week. Ours was

full of meetings meetings meetings but it in the end it was very

fruitful.



We had Zone Council, Leadership Training, Interviews, Zone meeting and

also a few trade offs. Which, as a missionary, leaves you with only a

little time left to get some work done in your own area. But President

promised us that we would be blessed and we were. Our lesson with

Ziggy was a great spiritual experience. He's kiwi as and so funny. He

loves his old legend stories but he's got a good heart and we're

working hard to help him to his baptism. The biggest thing right now

is smoking. We've committed him to quit and we're doing all we can to

help him to do that. He's been smoking his whole life so its just

second nature to him so its really hard for him. We're praying hard

that he will be able to break the habit. We talked a lot about the

Atonement the last time we saw him so I hope that he will trust in our

Saviour during these hard times.



Arthur and Eric. Our two Taiwanese friends are doing alright. We had

an amazing miracle happen this week. We taught Arthur at the Leota's

house which was good. We watched Finding faith in Christ in chinese

which was Hilarious. It was so funny because I've seen it so many

times in english that I pretty much have it memorized and then we

watched in Chinese. It was like watching one of those old chinese game

shows. So now to the amazing miracle: we thankfully got them to church

again even though its so hard for them because they dont understand

very much english. While we were in Sacrament Meeting all of a sudden

this older couple walks in and they look like they are possibly

Chinese. Both me and Elder Christiansen are praying the whole time

that they speak chinese. After the Benediction we just B lined it

straight to them and asked them where they are from. They said "Where

we from? We from Taiwan!" The angels were definitely singing the

Hallelujah chorus. Brother and Sister Kuo are just visting Australia

on Holidays and visit family and they just happen to visit our ward!

So cool! That was our exciting miracle this week. Luckily they are

staying for a few weeks so they will be teaching Arthur and Eric with

us while they are here. They thought they were on Holiday. Psssh.

ha....psssh. NOT!



Another AWESOME miracle was on thursday. The Chin family invited us

over for dinner. They are a cool couple. Bro. Chin is a music

producer. He's awesome. The more he talked about it the more it

sounded like something that I would love to do. He also plays the

Sitar! Haha its awesome! The sitar is that Indian guitar thing you

always hear on movies ya know? So they are cool and they just happened

to have this flat mate Haryuo. She's from Japan but speaks really good

english. I told her that Uncle Jerry served in Japan and lived there

for two years and she thought that was really cool. Well we finally

sat down for a spiritual thought after dinner and we started a

discussion and then Haryuo was like "yeah when I first came to

Australia I went through a very dark time and I did a lot of spiritual

searching." "I always thought to myself What is the purpose of life?

There must be a place after and there must be a place where we were

before." Elder Christiansen and I thought it was a joke! It was just

too perfect. We were like Uhh and then we saw Brother and Sister CHIN

and their eyes were wide as and then we knew it wasnt a joke. They had

just never talked to her about anything having to do with the gospel

and they live with her everyday. So obviously we talked about the Law

of Chastity! haha JOKES! We of course talked to her about the Plan of

Salvation. It was a great discussion. A few days later we picked up a

Book of Mormon in Japanese(because they didnt have any plan of

salvation pamphlets in Japanese) and then introduced that to her. She

was very excited to learn about it. That night I learned that It just

goes to show that no matter who they are in your life you just dont

know until you ask them if they are interested in the gospel. The

Chin's were so suprised. It doesnt mean she will get baptized but at

least it will be a great spiritual experience and it will definitely

plant a seed.



So those were just a couple miracles from our week. We had more but

those will just have to wait for later :). I love this great work and

I know more than ever that the Lord is FOR SURE in this work. This is

HIS work and he is not afraid to show us that it is. We just have to

have the courage to open our mouths. Hopefully we'll be having a

baptism on the 22nd. Melesia is looking pretty good for that date.

She's been in Brisbane with family but the Leotas told us that she has

been calling and is really excited for her baptism. I'm thankful to be

on a mission. I love you and I wish you the best. Latas!





"Parramtta, Service with a Smile :)"



Elder Nelson



Mum,



Hey!! Thank you for approving the Extension. If I just end the next

transfer after the 31st of May then I will probably be coming home the

2nd week in July. I'll let you know when I actually know the official

date. We had Interviews with President and he just asked me how much

longer I have on my mission because I told him that I want the

opprotunity to train. I said well my release date is for the 31st of

May and Sister Wight has already given me my "trunky call." Which

means she calls and tells me she is getting my flight plans ready and

everything. President just rolled his eyes and then I said I was

wondering if there would be a possibility to extend? He said he loved

the idea of keeping me longer and he asked when I went into the MTC. I

said June 17th. He was like WHAT?? Becuase our transfers switched to

theirs at the merge. President said he has the ability to extend 30

days after the original release date. But of course he said I had to

clear it with the fam first. We talked about how this will give me a

better chance of having time to train. Since originally I would have 3

transfers after this one and I've only been with Elder Christiansen

for 1. Also a typical training period is two transfers. I hope that

helps you understand a bit better. Now, I dont HAVE to train. But

President said that I should definitely be given that opprotunity and

the issue right now is that he needs good, experienced leaders. And I

cant really be a Zone Leader and Training at the same time. I mean its

been done but its not really effective. So thats the story. I love you

all. I havent gotten the package yet. Did you get mine and the letter?

Happy New Year!

G'day!




HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2011 came so fast! I remember last year when I talked

about how 2010 would be a year to remember since its the year I spent

the bulk of my mission. So many memories. I dont regret a minute. I

learned heaps and saw so many miracles. Elder Modlik and I were

together this time last year and we were doing a bit of reminising the

other day. By the way he says "THANKS HEAPS AS for the T-shirt. He

LOVED it you shouldve seen him. He was like a giddy girl. Elder

Christiansen and I had so much fun for New Years. We get along really

well. I feel like I say that about all my companions. I've been really

lucky. Elder Christiansen and I are like best friends though. He

reminds me a bit of Adam but he's not as goofy. Hopefully you'll get

those pictures soon. I sent a letter and some pictures home just last

week so it should be there soon. We did stay up until midnight on New

Years. We played a couple games like connect four and jenga. I am the

Jenga champion! But Elder Christiansen smoked me at Connect four. We

went to Woolies and got some food for our New Years feast. We had

hamburgers and milkshakes. Delicious as. It reminded me so much of

home. Then we just chatted it up and told stories. Good times.



We had a good week. It was hard because of the Holidays but there are

some great things happening in the Parramatta Ward. Its awesome

because everyone is making New Years resolutions and most of them have

to do with missionary work! Yesssss. I have a feeling that my time

here in this ward will be very worth while. To answer Bryce's question

we've got a few solid as investigators right now. Melesia, John and

Ziggy. Melesia is from Tonga. John and Ziggy are from New Zealand.

They are all great people and trying their best to follow Jesus

Christ. Unfortunately john and Melesia were out of town for the

Holidays but they should be getting back this week. We've had some

AWESOME experiences with them. I wish I could tell them all at once.

They are all progressing really well so in these next couple weeks

we'll have to see how they do. I'm so excited though. I'm excited for

this year too! Of course my main goal is to finish strong. I wonder

how Elder Hogge must be feeling right? Ah! I love you all heaps! Ofa

atu.



Elder Nelson



p.s. We had another Awesome experience this week where we were on our

way to an appointment and these two Muslim ladies were stranded in the

middle of the road because their tire blew so we stopped and helped

them. It sounds pretty regular but me and Elder Christiansen felt

really good about it because there is definitely a division among the

Muslim and Christians in our area. Muslims and Christians unite! Who

you gonna call?? THE ELDERS!