August 17, 2015 - Phew! What a crazy two months!

Hey everyone!

So... for those of you who didn't know... I'm getting married on Friday! Yep, it's been a busy two months since I last posted on here, or however long it has been... But I hope you'll forgive me for not blogging very frequently... plans change ;) But! On the bright side I did quite well in school this term, and aced my programming class. I also got a new job opportunity that you will hear about later on down the road once it's a started. Before I get going too far though...

First off, here is our announcement for those of you who are curious and in case we missed people:

I thought it was pretty neat :) We're registered online at Target and Amazon, and that plus planning a wedding has taken up a good deal of our time... But.. Hm... how to help you catch up on what we've been up to... perhaps I'll use pictures to describe some key activities in our lives... Let's see what I can dig up!

Top row: Chelsea and I in the MTC, Chelsea & I on July 4, The Mckinleys came to visit!
Middle row: Chelsea and I getting engagements taken, The Mckinleys came!, Me at the temple :)
Bottom: The DeGastons came!, I got a turkey... I guess bowling class paid off!, I'm tiny eating a pop tart, I got baptized! :D

So those pretty well sum up most of what I've been up to, running into mission people, working, school stuff, and being engaged to the most awesome person ever have pretty well consumed my life ;) Plus, I threw in a couple oldies that if you're coming to our reception on Friday you might get to see more like them! So yeah, for the most part my life hasn't been super exciting... especially since I can't speak of most of the wedding planning that we've been doing until after Friday when it happens or else I'm supposedly cursed. Therefore, you should come out to our reception if you can! If you can't... well remind me next week to post and tell you all about it! We're super thankful for all those who have helped us out with various things up to this point... and we'll get some thank you cards out shortly after the deal is done. 

Alas, I'm pretty exhausted already... or else I'd probably make this a longer post. But, since I'm getting married... what do you guys want to hear about?!? Let me know in the comments below and I'll see what Chelsea lets me talk about ;)

Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Jordan L. Nielson

June 12, 2015 - On to Utah already?!?!?!?

Hey Everyone!

It looks like my time at home has already come and gone as I'm already down in Provo! Those few weeks at home absolutely flew by, so I'm terribly not sorry for missing a few blog posts... but alas, I'll probably make up for it over the next few days as I settle into being in Provo again and find ways to fill time. Anyway, it's been an absolutely awesome time being home from the mission, though I definitely miss it - a ton. There were tons of fantastic people that I was able to meet, and I even got to see one of them on Tuesday! The Bighams were in salt lake, so my cousins and I went down and had lunch with them and it was a blast!! I neglected to take a picture, since it totally slipped my mind, so you'll have to forgive me for that one and I'll do better next time. But alas, Wednesday my awesome cousins brought me down to Provo and spent most of the day with me and it was a blast! We had a delicious lunch at the Pizza pie cafe, plus we got to have a pretty good time going around town. I also got to see my great aunt and uncle in Orem and they seemed to be doing well! They're getting pretty old, but they're still getting around and doing things that they need to each day. I love having family close by, and it's especially fun since I don't know them super well - it gives me a chance to get to know them and that is always an enjoyable experience! I'd highly suggest getting to know some of your extended family, as they're typically at least a little bit different than the people you grew up with and from what I've experienced so far it's been a very worthwhile time!


So, my original plan of having two posts a week doesn't look likely so what I'm thinking now is to change it up a bit and do kind of like what I did with my mission weekly letters - a sort of hybrid tell you how I'm doing and what I've been up to but include spiritual thoughts and things from my studies in each one.
Anyway, a few quick highlights of things I got to do at home:
- Temple trip with the family!
- Church in Winter Park
- Family gatherings... Yes more than one!
- Tennis with Spencer... Where he beat me...?
- Working on a roof with Dad and Grandpa and Spencer and Darin
- Seeing old friends :D
- Spencer's Eagle Court of Honor!
- Watching Night at the Museum 3!


As you can see, I was pretty busy those three weeks and that was definitely a good thing. I learned a lot on my mission, but one of the biggest lessons was the importance of time - because contrary to what some people think, it is not unlimited. There's a great quote from an article I read on my mission that says: " It is a valuable exercise to step back and review the fact that each person has the same amount of time as the next person—168 hours each week. We cannot save time, in reality. There are no time banks. We cannot make up time; it goes by at a fixed rate always." (Rex Allred, June 1977 new era). Something that has been a major point in my studies this week, as I read Jacob 5 and a few other things, was the fact that the Lord would give us as many chances as needed to grow "good fruit" and to change to become more like him. I have found it fascinating as I've come home from a mission how easy it is to change your priorities each day - some days I find it sooo easy to get caught up doing things and not read my scriptures until late in the evening, while others I know it's important enough to do to get up earlier than I absolutely have to in order to be on time that I can read and study.

Something else I've been up to since I got to Provo a couple days ago is working... yep working. It's not always the most exciting thing, but it s actually a very enjoyable job! The folks I get to work with are absolutely fantastic, and it's been quite fun to get back into the swing of things. Alas, I do have to get heading to work, so I hope you have enjoyed reading and I'd love to hear some comments below on things that you'd like to have me write about or make sure to emphasize regarding what I've been up to (like food, or work, or school, or studies, or socializing, or church stuffs, or whatever else comes to mind)!

'Til Next Time,
Jordan

P.S. Throwback to the Masonic Temple in Guthrie for this awesome quote: