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.