October 6th, 2014 - CONFERENCE!!!! WHOOOO!!!

Hey Everyone!!

This week was absolutely fantastic - with a ton of awesome things that we got to do! Foremost is of course General Conference!! I don't know if y'all liked what I did last conference or not, but I did the same thing again since I liked it... so here is the summary for this conference! As you go through the list, write down talks that stick out to you and research them further - Check it out online at gc.lds.org!

President Monson

-Saturday Morning: The work moves forward unhindered – 88,000+ missionaries, 143 operating temples and 27 more in the process

-Priesthood: A Man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder, so we must chart and sail a course straight to the Celestial Kingdom of God

- Sunday Morning: Physically walking where Jesus walked is far less important than walking AS he walked, which path will lead us safely home through his teachings and example.

- Sunday Afternoon: May you return home with a resolve to do a little better than before!

President Eyring

- Priesthood: All of us have an obligation to help other prepare through trust and caring to come unto Christ

- Sunday Morning: Revelation continues in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “the Prophet receiving it for the church … the father for his family, the individual for himself.”

President Uchtdorf

-Saturday Morning: The Process of Gathering spiritual light is the quest of a lifetime, and the more we incline our heart and mind to God the more we receive. By the same token if we remove ourselves from the Gospel our light will dim, for the Savior promised that if you seek you will find.

- Priesthood: “Lord, Is it I?” is something each of us must regularly ask ourselves as we assess our progress on the gospel path, which progress we need to see clearly through God’s eyes.

President Packer – We need everyone to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ and apply all of their wisdom, insight, and spiritual strength to moving this work forward.

Elder Perry – To be a Christian is to admire Jesus so fervently to aspire in our lives to be like Him, and the home is the best place to begin as we fulfill the different roles described in the scriptures and the Family: A Proclamation to the world.

Elder Nelson – Do you and I really understand what it means to sustain the prophet?

Elder Oaks – As we strive to obey Christ’s command to “Love one another, as I have loved you” we must avoid contention through patience and kindness and pressing forward having a love of God and all men.

Elder Ballard – Stay in the boat (the church), always wear a life jacket (the scriptures) and hold on with both hands (through the atonement) until the old ship Zion arrives safely at the Celestial Kingdom

Elder Scott – The tools to find peace in this life are sincere prayer, studying the scriptures and words of prophets daily, weekly family home evening and going to the temple!

Elder Hales – To receive eternal life we must come to know God the Father and his literal son Jesus Christ, which is done through personal revelation and building upon his Gospel

Elder Holland – We obtain a remission of our sins by pleading before God, we retain it by caring for and serving others – Christianity is obviously not a statistical matter

Elder Bednar – “Why are latter-day Saints so eager to share what they believe?” Absolute truth exists still, so we urge you to come and see if the restored Gospel enlarges and enriches what you know!

Elder Cook –Our daily conduct and choices should reflect moderation, balance, and wisdom and be consistent with our goals, for our “Decisions determine destiny”.

Elder Christofferson – Personal accountability is the only way to achieve our full potential as children of God as we apply the Gospel of Christ and avoid relativism.

Elder Andersen – Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers from God and every person must obtain for themselves from God a spiritual knowledge of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Elder Robbins – Remember which way you should face as decisions of character must be made by remembering the order of the two great commandments. Ensure you do not fear man more than God.

Sister Esplin – The sacrament needs to be a spiritual highlight and experience each week!

Elder Wong – To assist the savior in saving souls we should always be anxiously engaged and work together in harmony, each fulfilling our roles

Brother Callister – Parents are to take the responsibility as the prime gospel teachers

Elder Klebingat – We must increase our confidence before God by taking responsibility for our spiritual and physical well-being, whole heartedly obeying God, becoming really really good at repenting and forgiving quickly and thoroughly, and accepting the trials that will certainly come

Elder Gavarret – We all must feed the desire in our hearts to answer “Yes Lord, I’ll follow thee”

Sister McConkie – Following the Prophet and standing with the prophets is always desirable

Elder Hamula – The Sacrament needs to become more sacred and Holy to each of us as it helps us not only to Remember, but also receive the benefits of Christ’s Atonement.

Elder Godoy – Are you living in a way that the blessings promised to you by God (specifically in your patriarchal blessing) will be fulfilled? To do so, consider your options with the end in mind, be prepared for the challenges that will come, and share the vision with the people you love

Elder Allen Packer – Frequent small course corrections are easier and less painful than large ones, strive to fulfill ALL the requirements of exaltation. It’s time to take the cover off our hatchets and go to work!

Elder Martinez – “He who serves in some thing is good for something, he who serves in no thing is good for nothing”, so discover needs of individuals and families then tend to them as you strive to minister

Elder Kacher – “There are many currents in this earthly life, some safe and others not” - Where do you turn to find out which “currents” are safe or what is true? You must turn to God for absolute truth!

Alright... that pretty much covers general conference! That was two awesome days this week, but there were many other highlights this week! First off, aside from conference, the coolest thing that happened was that we got to watch "Meet the Mormons"! It was fantastic - I'd highly recommend it! We were told to write down some quotes we liked... so I did... and I thought about sharing them with y'all, but I think that'd spoil the movie... so here's just one: "Just as bad choices can spiral to despair good choices can turn into miracles." Since I don't want to spoil it I'll leave it at that... There's an awesome song from it with a few cool clips located at this link: Meet the Mormons! It was a dang good video, so you all should check it out! Since this email is already pretty long I just wanted to share two other experiences real quick. First, on Monday we were out and about and thought we should try one of our investigators we hadn't seen in ages, so we did and he was home! He also had a friend there, so we got to have a pretty cool discussion with both of them about opposition and trials and such, and it was pretty spiritual. The other highlight I wanted to share was from the funeral for sister Gooden we went to on Thursday. Bishop Newell spoke a little and shared a story about a man who opened a new business and his friend ordered a wreathe of flowers for him. When it was delivered the florist made a mixup and the new business owner received one that said "Rest in Peace". When he called his friend to ask why he sent that, the friend replied: "Just think of a dead man with the wreathe "Good luck in your new place!". I thought it was a pretty neat story, but I learned that day that sometimes funerals end up being pretty light-hearted.

That's about it for this week! Have an absolutely fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

P.S. I would have written a longer email... but I have a couple others to write today :)