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