February 2nd, 2015 - Groundhog's day!

Hey Everyone!

Happy Groundhog's Day! I have no idea what the groundhog said... but I'm going to assume that he said spring is coming soon since that's what I wanted him to say! This last week has been pretty sweet, though nothing was super noteworthy, it was just a good week.

First off on my list of fun things was Tuesday! The whole day was pretty sweet, with a couple particularly awesome things happening. For one, we got to talk to a cool older guy in the afternoon and ended up reading "A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon" with him. I don't know how many of you have read that, but it explains what the title page talks about - with all the different plates and stuff - in a one page dealio. Then that night we had our scripture study class and had an awesome discussion about prayer and the importance of applying Moroni 10:4 which says:"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." We really emphasized the importance of sincerity, real intent, and faith in our prayers and had a good talk about different things that people have done to increase those three key aspects. One thing that was mentioned was the devotional from Brother Ridd that talked about real intent (by me), that if you still haven't taken the chance to watch it I'd still highly encourage it ;)

Wednesday was a relatively sad day, especially when compared to Tuesday... I had to take the time to sign up for college stuff today, since we didn't have time on Monday or Tuesday... and it was just sad... It's great to move on and stuff, but to know that I'm already registered for classes that start in the middle of June was kind of depressing since it means my mission will definitely be over by then... But after that was taken care of it was a pretty sweet day! We had a fantastic dinner, and then after that got to go up to the church for Michelle's baptismal interview - which she passed with flying colors! She's going to be baptized this Friday, so that's going to be awesome!!

Thursday was good, but nothing super noteworthy happened... Same with Friday... We did a lot of driving those two days since we had a few extra miles, and we still had plenty for Saturday! Saturday was a pretty awesome day, since we got to go out to lunch to the "Cow Calf-hay" with an awesome couple, and it was delicious. I'd highly recommend it. Especially if you like greasy food. Also on Saturday we got to have a sweet lesson with Michelle and Sandy where we discussed many an awesome quote. A couple ones I particularly liked were: "For each of us to ‘come unto Christ,’ to keep His commandments and followHis example back to the Father, is surely the highest and holiest purpose ofhuman existence. To help others do that as well—to teach, persuade, andprayerfully lead them to walk that path of redemption also—surely that must bethe second most significant task in our lives." - Elder Holland
"The responsibility to teach the gospel is not limited to those who have formal callings as teachers. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you have the responsibility to teach the gospel. As a parent, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, Church leader, classroom teacher, home teacher, visiting teacher, coworker, neighbor, or friend, you have opportunities to teach. Sometimes you can teach openly and directly by the things you say and the testimony you bear. And you always teach by example.The Lord said, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). As you think of the role of gospel teaching in the salvation and exaltation of God’s children, can you imagine a duty more noble or sacred? It calls for your diligent efforts to increase your understanding and improve your skills, knowing that the Lord will magnify you as you teach in the way He has commanded. It is a labor of love—an opportunity to help others exercise their agency righteously, come unto Christ, and receive the blessings of eternal life." - Teaching, No Greater Call P. 3

We had an awesome discussion on the basic principles of teaching in the gospel, and it was super spiritual. We were able to testify of the importance of relying upon the Lord and His Spirit, since as missionaries whenever we try to teach from our knowledge I've come to see that it really doesn't help anyone. When it all comes down to it our whole role is to help invite the spirit to allow it to testify unto the person, for there really isn't any other way. On Sunday we had a fantastic time at church, with a pretty solid testimony meeting, and good classes. We shared this quote from President Packer that says: "Individual doctrines of the gospel are not fully explained in one place in the scriptures, nor presented in order or sequence. They must be assembled from pieces here and there. They are sometimes found in large segments, but mostly they are in small bits scattered through the chapters and verses. You might think that if all the references on baptism, for instance, were assembled in one chapter of each standard work, and all references on revelation in another, it would make the learning of the gospel much simpler. I have come to be very, very grateful that scriptures are arranged as they are. Because the scriptures are arranged the way they are, there are endless combinations of truths that will fit the need of every individual in every circumstance."

That's all I got for this week! I hope you guys have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson