July 22nd, 2013 - Short and Sweet?

Hey Everyone,
Spencer here and even though I am sometimes lazy with this blog here is the newest post from Elder Nielson! Honestly I kinda like to call him that even if he is my brother... :P It is what it is. Anyway enjoy reading!(It is quite short compared to the others)

Hey Everyone!

This week... like all the others... has flown by! I can't believe it's already monday again! It's been a super crazy week here, with exchanges, interviews, finding out about upcoming events, and visiting tons of people!

First on my list of things to talk about is that I finally got to meet an investigator! He's been someone that they met before I got here, and we'd try him on occasion whenever we were up that way - which seemed like 5/7 days we were - and we could never catch him. He works on installing sprinkler systems, and so he works pretty long hours. But, we were able to catch him on Monday and I finally met him after not getting to for an entire transfer! It showed me that persistence really does make a huge difference as we were able to have a really awesome visit with him. 

The next cool thing on my list is the generosity of people here. On Friday I forgot to put my camelbak - I had already filled it - in my backpack. So, when we went on exchanges I didn't have it with me! It was pretty terrible to not have any water, but the people were so nice! We ended up getting water from like 4 different people, so I never ended up getting dehydrated! It was awesome :)

The next thing on my list... it's another persistence example. Go figure. We went to visit a less active sister for an appointment, but she wasn't home. I was on an exchange, so I didn't know much about the area and what had been worked, so when we realized she wasn't home I asked if we had ever knocked her neighbor. It turned out that they hadn't, and when we did she told us she was super interested in learning more about our message! They were supposed to see her a couple nights later, so we'll findout how that went. But, it was an example of persistence as well, because later that night we were passing by on our way home and we noticed that the less active's truck was there. We stopped by to see if she was home, and we were able to share our message with her that we had planned to earlier in the day. It was awesome! Even if it's a bit stalker ish... but that's what happens when we bike the same routes each day as they're the fastest ones to where we need to go.

Then yesterday, the elders in Ponca City were given the opportunity to speak in sacrament! We were asked to talk about our conversion stories, but I also used some quotes from Elder Holland's talk "Lord, I believe" and Elder Robbins' talk "What manner of men and women ought ye to be". They're both pretty awesome, and the ward said our talks were great :) You should all go check out those two talks though... they're really quite good. 

Alrighty, that's about the highlights of the week, so here's a quick list of scriptures for your studying pleasure.

• 1 Nephi 10:17
• 1 Nephi 13:24
• 2 Nephi 11:8
• 2 Nephi 24:23-24
• 2 Nephi 26:33
• 2 Nephi 27:23
• 2 Nephi 33:14
• Jacob 5:70
• Enos 1:6-8
• Omni 1:1 -> Importance of Genealogy ;)
• Omni 1:26
• Mosiah 4:11
• Mosiah 16:8
• Mosiah 21:15
• Mosiah 23:8

Alright, so I would put some thoughts with those... but I don't have time this week, so you're just going to have to look them up and figure out why I sent them ;)

This week I'm starting to add some New Testament time into my studies, so for those who aren't too keen on the Book of Mormon - which you all should be ;) - will get those next week.

I think that's all for this week, sorry it's short, but I don't have as much time as I would like here :P

Love,

Elder Jordan Nielson

July 15th, 2013 - ... Wait a second! That's 2 months!

Hey Everyone!

So, I realized this morning that it's been 2 months since I entered the MTC, and it has flown by... Looking back I'm not entirely sure where the 2 months went... or what even happened. But anyway, this week has been a blur to say the least. It seems like all I can remember doing is walking inside, planning, going to sleep, waking up and planning again?

So, like I said, this week has been a blur. I don't have the planner from this week - as it's a new transfer and therefore a new planner - so we're going off my memory, which is a bit sketchy. 

The first cool thing that happened this week was that we started teaching this awesome part-member family. Ace and Sherry are quite awesome, and Sherry hasn't really been to church since she was baptized at 8 and Ace has never been. It's been super awesome to be able to see the impact that learning the gospel has on them. It was awesome for him to hear the plan of happiness, and he said that it had never been presented so simply or directly before on what his purpose in life his, where he came from, or where we go after this life. It was awesome to help him recognize how important that plan is and the impact it can have on his family! 

Another cool miracle happened last night, when we had run out of people planned to visit. They were all not there or unable to talk with us at that time, so at about 8:15 our list of people to try had run out. So, we said a prayer and the first name that came to our mind was a potential that we had tracted into a couple weeks ago, and hadn't been able to contact since. So, we went and knocked at the house he was living at when we found him, and it turned out that he doesn't live there anymore. The lady who lives there told us that he had a fit and left, so she's back to living there with her 3 kids. The coolest part was that the lady had moved down from Wichita a couple months ago, and up there had been visiting with the elders. It was super awesome, because she had googled where the church was at and even told us that they came up for the 3rd hour! We didn't actually see them, but she said her kids and her went to the last hour of primary and they were learning the song "Follow the Prophet". It was super cool as they had been reviewing that song and singing it just 10 minutes before we got there, and from what she said it sounded like we were an answer to her prayers as she was looking to get back into contact with the missionaries!

Another interesting thing this week was helping an older member of the ward move. I don't think I had ever seen her at church, but the 4 elders of the ward and 4 other members were there helping her. It was one of the most interesting moves I've ever helped with, as she had so much random stuff that she wanted to keep as she's an artist and a writer. So, most of the stuff she had to sort through while we were there and it didn't feel like we got as much done as we could have in the 2.5 hours of helping her. But, such is life when people aren't prepared or packed to move and they need to see everything before packing it away ;) My companion's take on it was a lot different than mine, as he was helping her sort through the stuff a lot more than as I was - I was basically just carrying stuff to the truck and walking back. 

 So I think that's the cool experiences of the week... so that means I get to talk about scriptures right? Sweet! I actually remembered my study journal, so this is going to be a little more organized. I picked out a list of scriptures this week, and I've been reading a lot so it's fairly long. 

So this list is basically just going to be the scripture, and if I feel like my thought was exceedingly profound I'll share that. Otherwise it's scriptures that I think might be good for y'all to look up/think about!

• 3 Nephi 14:20
• 3 Nephi 18:19,21 - We are commanded to pray alone and as families, so do it, please?
• 3 Nephi 20:40
• 3 Nephi 27:8 - If it be Christ's church it will be called in his name, so why are churches called by anything else if they are Christ's?
• Mormon 7:8-9
• Mormon 8:34-35
• Ether 2:14 - As you call upon the Lord in times of peace, as well as in times of need, he blesses and prospers you
• Ether 4:12
• Ether 6:9
• Ether 8:26
• Ether 12:4
• Moroni 1:2-3 - What would you think if we lived in a world where those around you would kill you if you wouldn't deny Christ? 
• Moroni 8:10-12
• 1 Nephi 4:13
• 1 Nephi 6:5 - The things Nephi writes will be pleasing to those who are not of the world, and it applies to the entire Book of Mormon

So that's the list for this week, if you have questions about any of those scriptures, send me an email and I'll let ya know what it was on the list or try to answer your question!

I think that's it for this week, so I hope you all are doing well!

Love,

Elder Nielson

July 8th, 2013 - First transfer complete. Ponca city now on overdrive

Hey everyone it's spencer here(as always now) and here is Jordan's latest blog post so enjoy!

Hey Everyone!

This week has absolutely flown by... I can't believe July 4th has already passed! But, this first transfer is just about over - but I get to stay here in Ponca City with Elder Rasmuson! So, we're going to kick Ponca City into overdrive this transfer, and our goal is to work as well with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader as possible. 

Anyway, this awesome week has flown by with some great lessons, incredible miracles, sweet studies, awesome meetings, and fantastic people! 

So we'll start with the great lessons... We've taught a couple people the Plan of Salvation this week, and it's been super awesome to hear some of the questions people have and the hope that they receive as they recognize how many questions that awesome Plan answers. We taught this awesome younger couple on Monday about the plan, and it was super cool with them to see how they recognized the changes it could bring to their family. Then on Friday we taught the Plan of Salvation to a minister for another church and it was interesting to see the differences on our perspectives on that awesome plan. When we were teaching that lesson we were on exchanges though, so I got to lead out that one and help focus it on his needs. It was pretty sweet to be able to do that for the first time! Also on Friday we got to teach the Word of Wisdom - still on exchanges - and the Elder I was on exchanges with hadn't really taught it before either. It was still a great lesson as it was pretty much just us testifying of the benefits it has brought to us and the member that was with us (who was Baptized in January and had been chewing until about then) helped a ton. 

Then there's the incredible miracles that we've seen this week! One of my favorites from this week was with our Bishop. So, a family we have been teaching for a little while now that's been to church the last few sundays has been having car troubles for the last week or so. They found out Saturday that the car battery was the issue and we visited them Saturday night with the Bishop. In a sweet act of charity - nobody asked him to, and the idea hadn't even occurred to anyone else - he volunteered to go up to Auto zone for them and exchange the part that they had thought was the issue and figure out if the battery really was the issue. He came back instead with a new battery, and wouldn't let them pay him back. It really showed me a good example of how kind people here are to their neighbors, and it helped us recognize how awesome our bishop is (not like we didn't already know it... but it was increased quite a bit). We had a super cool experience yesterday - a miracle even - when we visited a fellow named Clarence. We taught him the restoration, and he received it incredibly well. He brought up the point where if he wasn't interested in our message, or if he didn't trust that we would tell him the truth he wouldn't have even let us in, so it was cool to see how willing he was to believe in our testimonies. Something I've been working on myself is recognizing spiritual gifts - in myself and others - and he really does have that gift of believing the testimony of others, it was neat to see how quickly he was willing to read from the Book of Mormon and find out from himself, but he also stated multiple times that he already believed it was true based on our testimonies and that fact that it talks of Christ.

In addition to those sweet lessons and miracles, I've been learning a ton in my studies! Since my last email to you guys, I've read through Alma 36 - 3 Nephi 10, and picked I think a scripture from each of those chapters that has stuck out to me. A couple of my favorites - and the insight I had with them - are following:

• Alma 37:35-37 -> These verses have been a great help to me as I've grown up in the church and the counsel from Alma is priceless to counsel with the Lord in all they doings and to learn the commandments in thy youth so that you can align your will with his.
• Alma 40:11-13 -> These verses discuss the state of a soul between death and the resurrection, and it's pretty cool to have a clear and simple knowledge about that when so many people don't
• 46:12,16 -> These verses involve two different titles - the Title of Liberty and the title, or name, of Christian given to those who believe in Christ. Something that stuck out to me was that both titles still apply today, and are something to rejoice in and strive to be worthy of.
• Alma 48:17 -> This scripture has always hit me pretty hard, as it reinforces the concept that Satan only has control of us so far as we let him, and if nobody were to let him control them then the very powers of Hell would be shaken. It's pretty cool to think about ;)
• Alma 56:46 -> From this verse I recognized that the reason why you do something is almost as important as actually doing it. It reminded me of the principle Christ taught about being someone who does something for the praise of men or to draw nearer to God.
• Helaman 5:9-12 -> This was our scripture of the week last week, and something I really love about it is how this counsel from a parent to a child influenced them many years after Helaman's death, and how that eventually impacted thousands of Lamanites.
• Helaman 14:11-13 -> These verses showed me the purpose of prophets in a pretty simple and distinct way.
• 3 Nephi 1:20 -> This verse shows that the words of the Prophets will always be fulfilled... so listen to them
• 3 Nephi 3:7 -> I've heard of some missionaries who mistake and use this scripture instead of 1 Nephi 3:7... so consider the impact that might have on an investigator ;)
• 3 Nephi 7:15-26 -> It stuck out to me how it took more than a year of miraculous things happening through Nephi for people to recognize that he was a man of God, but it eventually lead to many people being baptized

So that pretty much sums up some of the awesome studies I've had this last week - it's pretty sweet... I'm trying to finish reading the Book of Mormon before the end of this week (this transfer basically), so I think I can do it if I keep this pace up. But, we have definitely had some awesome meetings in addition to all that other stuff going on. For one, our new mission President - President Walkenhorst - did a mission tour and stopped by our zoneon Thursday morning. He is a pretty awesome guy - and just about 7 feet tall... like literally. It's kind of crazy how tall he is. But aside from that he is incredibly spiritual. Something he really focused on while he was here was that we are his "Fellow servants in Christ" and because of that we all have the same purpose - to Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. He really emphasized that our God is still a God of Miracles, as stated in Mormon9:15 (and quite a few other scriptures). He gave us a pretty good chain to use in relation to that: 

1 Nephi 17:50,51 -> 2 Nephi 26:12,13 -> 2 Nephi 27:23 -> Alma 23:6 -> Mormon 9:11 -> 3 Nephi 8:1 -> Mormon 9:15 -> Ether 12:9-24 -> Moroni 7:27-40

He also talked about the importance of having Virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly (D&C 121:44,45) and how that will give you the confidence to call upon God for miracles. The cool thing is that it can also apply in life in general - not just missionary work. As long as you stay obedient to the commandments of God and work hard, he will bless you with the miracles that are according to his will.

Anyway, that's about it for this week! I hope you are all doing fabulous, and I  really do hope you enjoyed reading through this and that it uplifted you in some way...

Love,

Elder Jordan Nielson

July 1st, 2013... ALREADY?!??

hey everyone it is spencer and i hope you all are enjoying your summers. here is jordan's new blog post so enjoy.
-spencer a. nielson

Hey Everyone, 

I looked at my watch this morning and saw that it was the first of the month... and I got thrown off a bit by the fact that June is already over! Who knew?! I'm super excited for this month, as this week should start it off fabulously!

We heard today that our new mission president - who I haven't actually met yet - is letting us stay out until 10pm on the 4th in order to watch some fireworks, so that should be super exciting! I'm probably going to be super tired the next day, but such is the way things go.

Anyway, so this week absolutely flew by. It seems like just yesterday I was emailing y'all, so we're going to treat it like that and touch on the highlights. For one, one of our super solid investigators came to church yesterday. He said that he enjoyed Sacrament meeting, and he is developing a friendship with a super awesome member in our ward. It's great to see his willingness to change, and hopefully he'll stay interested. 

Another cool thing that happened this week was that I got to have two exchanges! The first one was from Thursday to Friday, and it was with an elder serving on the other side of Ponca city. It was pretty interesting to have two missionaries working together when both have been out for about a month... but that's how it played out. We had quite a few miracles on that day, not the least of which was the multitude of times people gave us water. It was super impressive how nice the people are to us, and I was incredibly grateful for the water as the temperature got over 110 degrees at one point in the day. 

On the next exchange, from Friday to Saturday, one of the zone leaders came out with my companion and I and he taught us so much! One of the key things I gained experience and confidence in was the power of the Book of Mormon! It was incredible to see the differences that carrying it in your hands makes, as people are then able to ask you about it and it makes it so much less awkward to talk about it. Also, we met quite a few solid potential families that day and I was able to go on splits! So the difference between splits and exchanges real fast - splits are when there's 4 missionaries/members working in an area and they split up, while exchanges are where you switch companions for about 24 hours. Anyway, during the exchange - as we had an extra missionary - we also had a 17 year old member of about 3 months come out teaching with us. So, we decided for most of the evening to go on splits. I went with the 17 year old, and my companion and the zone leader went off teaching. It was definitely a cool experience - and one that built our faith a ton - to have a missionary of about a month and a member of about 3 go out talking to people about the gospel. Anyway, that day we ended up placing around 20 copies of the Book of Mormon, which was a ton! 

But, one of the coolest experiences that day was when a couple that we're teaching committed to a baptismal date of August 10th! It was super cool to be able to see the excitement in their faces as they decided together to work towards that day as when they would be baptized. They've come to church the last 4 weeks, and they have been learning a ton from that and meeting the members of the ward. It's been super cool to see how they've changed from when we started teaching them to now, as they have started reading from the Book of Mormon and also as they've attended church as a family. It's been neat to see their faith grow and how inviting and friendly the members have been to them. 

Anyway, that's about all the cool experiences from this week, so now I get to talk about what I've been learning during the awesome time that we have to study! 

This week I've really been emphasizing the teachings of Alma, as I've read about 30 chapters of Alma - from chapter 7 to chapter 35. There's so much great material in those chapters, that I'm not quite sure what to pick out. I'm not sure if anyone used the links I included in the last email, so I'm gonna leave those out this time to save a bit of my time while here. So, the following is a list of scriptures that really stuck out to me this week and the thoughts I have related to them.

• Alma 7:11-16 -> This is a super cool scripture that talks about Christ and how he really can help us in everything we do and we use it a ton with pretty much everyone we meet.
• Alma 10:23 -> This is an interesting scripture, as it points out that a few righteous are able to make a huge difference among the people
• Alma 17:11 -> This has been a super good motivational scripture for me, as I've been able to recognize that their afflictions they faced were a lot worse than anything I have to deal with while trying to spread the gospel to my brothers and sisters here
• Alma 19:31-32 -> People have their agency to listen to Christ's gospel, but those who do become converted unto the Lord and are blessed
• Alma 20:4 -> This scripture has motivated me and helped teach me that of myself I really can't do or teach much of anything, but in the strength of the Lord I can do all things
• Alma 21:10 -> People have one of two reactions to the word of God - anger or a recognition that it is true
• Alma 23:7 -> a Question I asked myself in relation to this is: "What weapons do you still use to fight against God?"
• Alma 25:9 -> The scriptures show the fulfilling of the prophecies contained therein
• Alma 27:25-26 -> Stories of conversion bring much joy to those that hear and listen to them, and that's the reason for testimony meetings 
• Alma 30:44 -> One of my favorite scriptures about how there truly is a God
• Alma 31:32-36 -> The prayer of faith will lead to an abundance of the spirit
• Alma 32:40-43 -> This is an attitude that I've been working to develop as a missionary, to see people how they can become

Alright, so that's about the extent of my thoughts for this week, and I hope you all enjoy them!

Love,

Elder Nielson

June 10th, 2013 - Wait... It's already the 10th?!? (June 10th blog)

Hey Everyone,
This is Jordan's blog post from the 10th. Enjoy reading!
-Spencer A. Nielson

Hey Everyone!

It's been a crazy week for sure, but things should be slowly becoming more normal now. We've done everything from tearing down fences to chopping up downed trees, to proselyting all day!

So on Tuesday we went down to a little town of about 600 people called Carney and helped out a guy there to clean up from the Tornado damage. We tore down a fence for him that consisted of a layer of Chain-link fencing, then a layer of barbed wire, and then a layer of chicken wire. It was pretty tough to get it down, but eventually we were able to accomplish the task. Then that night we were able to visit with a less active family and we talked with them about the doctrine of Christ and going to church. It was super awesome! We also met and got to teach a new investigator about the restoration, and it was super awesome because he just lives down the street from us!

Then the next day, we had a miracle where we stopped by to see one of the part member families in our ward and were able to have a really spiritual discussion about weaknesses and turning to Christ to help overcome them. It was super awesome, and I think it helped them a lot.

Then Thursday was pretty awesome as we had a member go out with us to one of our appointments. Sadly, the appointment fell through, but the miracle was after that we were able to visit with two other people and teach them! It was awesome, and I was glad he was willing to go out and help us. Sadly, he moved away to Texas this past Saturday. Then we got to visit with a recent convert named Tyler and we were able to talk about a lot of the questions he had - a lot of which regarded the Priesthood. Later that night, we were able to visit with another person and talk with him. It was pretty great!

The day after that, Friday, we had district meeting, and the zone leaders came up to visit us and counsel with us during that. We discussed getting members involved, and also the commitment pattern. It was pretty great, and the zone leaders had some awesome insights. After that we went out to lunch at a Mexican all you can eat buffet named El Patio, and it was pretty tasty (they only have the buffet for lunch) and you should try it if you're ever up this way in Ponca City. Then one of the zone leaders, Elder White, went out with us that day and we were able to visit with a less active named Marion, and his uncle ( a non member) named Darrell and we talked about the atonement and recognizing God's hand in our lives. It was pretty awesome, and Elder White had some great insights for us. Sadly, our appointments for later fell through, but the people we had set up a church tour with showed up and that was a great experience. We had the church tour with the three of us missionaries and our awesome ward missionary, Brother Avans, and it went over quite well. The family that we gave the tour to then followed us out to a ward cook-out where there was some delicious food to be partaken of. They had a great time there, and so did we, so it was a pretty great day.

The next day we got to go down with some of the members of the ward to help clean up down in Shawnee, and we spent a good 5 hours down there cutting up large trees that had fallen and putting them in a pile to be burned later. It was hard work, but was definitely worth it as we were able to help out an older lady who would never have been able to do it herself. Then when we got back that night we were able to see a few investigators and visit with them briefly, and it was another day that flew by.

Yesterday, Sunday we had a great ward council meeting, and the ward leadership was quite happy with all the effort that we had put into that week and we're going to do even better this week. Then we had church, and the family that we had given a church tour to on Friday came! It was a great experience to have them there, and we were super happy. The speakers in Sacrament talked about Priesthood keys - one was a member of the bishopric and the other was the high councilman - so they were kept pretty interested in what was going on because most of it was new information. Then they stayed for Sunday school, and I got to teach the Gospel Principles lesson and help them understand the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The members that were also in the class were a great help in explaining that clearly, because it is definitely something that is experienced differently for everyone. After out studies and meals that day, we headed out to proselyte and were unable to see any of the people on our list. We did however, at the very end of the night, meet a great potential investigator and we'll be seeing him next Saturday.

So that's my crazy week, and sadly I haven't gotten as much study time in this week as a typical week is supposed to, as we didn't have studies on Tuesday or Saturday. In addition to that, instead of the 2 hours of companionship study we're supposed to have most days of the week as part of the 12 week training program we only got to have the full 2 hours on Wednesday.

Anyway, for my studies this week I have taken on the challenge of applying the scriptures I'm reading into my life and the lives of my investigators. So, a chapter I read this week is 1 Nephi 18 and a few things stuck out to me. For one thing, in verse 3 it was awesome to see that when you pray often the Lord blesses you. Then in verse 4 when I applied it to myself I noticed that if you humble yourself and let yourself become a "work of the Lord" you'll find that you turn out "exceedingly fine" and the same goes for any one of us. Then in verses 13-15 I put myself in for Laban and Lemuel and realized that sometimes it may take until the 4th prompting for me to realize that I need to do something, and that it also goes for my investigators where it may take until the 4th time for them to realize that the message we're sharing is God's word. Then in verse 21, Nephi calms the storm through faith and I related that to when Christ did the same thing and then realized that, if God needed me to, I could also do the exact same thing through faith in Christ. It was a pretty great study session that day ;)

Then another day I studied on how to best develop the Christlike attribute of virtue, and as part of that I realized it was important to figure out what virture was. So I tried looking in True to the Faith and didn't find a definition, which made me sad. So I came up with one myself... and it's that virture is goodness and being morally strong, and that it is an attribute that when combined with Faith in Christ gives one power to do all things. So I worked on finding ways to develop virtue. I read D&C 121:45-46, and came up with some ways to let virtue garnish my thoughts unceasingly. For example, making sure that I'm always praying is important, as it memorizing hymns/scriptures so that if any unclean thoughts do enter my head I have something to call upon to clear them out. Another thing I deduced was that it was important to seek after virtue, and to pray for the Lord's help in developing it. A way to work on developing it as well is to magnify and exemplify what I have been called to do. Then I read in 2 Peter 1:3-8, and focused on verse 5, which talked about adding to my faith virtue, and to my virtue knowledge. From that I realized that as you have faith and experience things, virtue is what takes that and makes it knowledge for you to use.

Anyway, that's mainly what I've learned so far this week in addition to studying more of the lessons to know them better.

That's all for this week, oh and for those of you who are wondering, still send things to the mission office (416 SW 79th St. Ste 210 Oklahoma City, Ok 73139) as they forward them out to me wherever I am.

Love you all,

Elder Jordan Nielson

June 17th, 2013 - Alright... someone needs to slow this down!

Hey Everyone,
So this is Jordan's blog post from June 17. I know I know, I am a little late in putting it up but late is better than never right? Anyway, enjoy reading!
-Spencer A. Nielson

Hey Everyone!

I seriously can't believe another week has gone by already! I hit my month mark since I entered the MTC a couple days ago, and that was surprising enough. Seriously... missions aren't quite long enough... Considering there's about 4 months of training before you really get kicking, it's not as long as it seems. Then there's the fact that it flies by like no other!

This week has probably been the best week yet... actually it definitely has. My companion's subject for his weekly email was "Awesomest Week Ever!" and I think mine would also be that if it hadn't flown by so quickly!

On another note, you all should vote on if you prefer me going day by day or if you prefer just listing some cool experiences and scriptures... I don't really mind either way, but someone should get a vote going for me.

But anyway, Tuesday was pretty awesome! We were able to meet with a less active member and visit with him. He was pretty awesome, and I hope that he was able to feel the spirit that was there as we discussed the importance of reading scriptures daily. It was pretty awesome, as we just barely caught him before he headed out the back door. Then we met with a recent convert who hasn't been to church in a couple weeks and had an inspiring lesson with him about the importance of church. It really helped me to see really why we go to church and why it's important to make that sacrifice to get out of bed in the morning to renew the covenants I've made with my Father in Heaven. Then, because a couple members had cancelled on going out with us, we asked him if he wanted to go teaching with us that night. It was pretty awesome, as we got to visit with an older lady and teach her the stop smoking workshop and he was able to bear his testimony of prayer there and it was just a super awesome spiritual experience. Then we visited with a family we're teaching, and he was able to bear his testimony about the importance of church to them as they had come to church for the first time the sunday before. Then on the way back with him, we started talking about missions, and the coolest thing happened. He said that he had been considering if he wanted to serve a mission and do what we do, and that his experiences that night had helped him decide that he indeed wanted to serve! It was awesome to see the change in him just from that afternoon when he was kind of luke-warm about going to church to deciding to serve a mission by the end of the night.

Then came Wednesday, which was a pretty great day. We had a meeting down in the city for the new Veteran Missionaries (those who have been out for a couple weeks) and President Taylor, Sister Taylor, and the AP's gave us some awesome training and counsel. It was incredible! Then we headed back up to Ponca and with the two and a half hours we had left we got to work. We had asked in Priesthood on Sunday if any of the brethern could come out teaching with us to an appointment we had, and after none of them raised their hands our investigator who was there leaned over to us and told us he would ask his wife, but he wanted to come out with us. Then on Wednesday the investigator we had the appointment with cancelled, and all of our back ups were also not home, so we decided to see a less active older couple who lives around the block from him. It was an awesome experience as he was able to bear his testimony about church (even though he had only been there once) and they both shared some of their experiences with him. So, basically we had an investigator go out teaching with us to visit a less active... even though it probably is supposed to be the other way around. It was awesome!

Thursday came, and Thursday went. It was my first exchange, as my companion is the district leader and par tof his responsibility is to go on exchanges with all the members of the district. But... I'm out of time, so I'll start with this Thursday next week when I have more time!

Love,

Elder Nielson

June 24th, 2013 - Elder Nielson's Weekly Blog

Hey Everyone,
So I have been totally slacking in putting up Jordan's blog posts for the past three weeks but I hope you all will forgive me. So anyway here is his latest one and I will put up the other two as well so enjoy. (They are pretty long... but full of good stuff)
-Spencer A. Nielson

Hey Everyone!

How are you all doing?

Wait just a minute... It's already June 24th?!?!?!?

Alright, so I've been in the field about a month now, and it's pretty much flown by. Like seriously... July is less than a week away and it's kind of scary - we get a new mission president this Friday!

This week pretty much flew by, with zone preparation day last Monday, lots of work Tuesday -Thursday, going on an exchange to Blackwell on Friday, Tornado Clean up on Saturday, church and that awesome broadcast yesterday, and finally I'm here! But, my last email wasn't as complete as I would have liked to make it - and I have a bit more time today, so let's start there.

I kind of mentioned in my last email about last Thursday (the 13th) going on my first exchange - it was a pretty swell experience to see how another Elder does his work. I learned a lot from him, and increased my confidence quite a bit as I was put on the spot a lot more and cared less about how people responded as it wasn't my area. That might have been a bad mindset... but it definitely allowed me to be more bold with the people - which was good - and it also made it easier to talk to the people as I didn't figure I'd see them again in the near future. Then came Friday, and we had a miracle in that we were able to catch a couple people who we don't usually get to see.

Saturday was pretty great in that we were able to go out with one of the most solid members in our ward. We were able to teach and visit with 3 people and they all went pretty great. We even saw some of the people we taught at Church the next day! Speaking of which the next day was pretty awesome. We had church and it was Father's day which made church even better! It was probably our laziest church day ever as all the teachers were there and so we didn't get to substitute for any of the Sunday School classes, and most of the young men were there as well! It was pretty awesome. Then that night we had a great experience visiting with a couple less active members (who haven't been to church in probably 5 or more years) and it was neat to be able to listen to them and just gently encourage them to read their scriptures and pray and then work towards attending church.

Alright, now that we're up to this week (we're on the 17th for those who lost track like me and had to go look it up). For zone preparation day we went bowling, which was pretty awesome. My best game I bowled a 104, which was pretty solid for not having bowled in months. There was an elder there who bowled a 185 one game, which was quite impressive. He gave me a few tips as well which helped out a bit.

Then we had a great zone training meeting, where we discussed personal challenges that we face, and how through his Atonement, Christ is able to help us overcome them. We also talked a bit about how to get along better with out companions, and to apply the Doctrine of Christ into our lives. A question I asked myself a couple times during this meeting, was "How can I desire to... " and the answer I've found is generally to look back on experiences that I've had previously and then pray to understand the Atonement more. As I've done that I've discovered that the promise in Moroni 10:5 - that by the Power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things - is true for everything. I've also learned from that meeting that it is vital to get to know the members you're working with - and the members getting to know the missionaries - so that all can work together to invite others to come unto Christ.

Our zone (and now mission) is implementing a program called "#THEFLOOD". It's a pretty simple way for members to get more involved spreading the gospel to those around them. the basis for the program is found in Moses 7:62 "...and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth..." So with that verse, the challenge we give to the members is that every 2 weeks they (as a family) will give someone a Book of Mormon with their written testimony inside to help spread the gospel. There's 4 simple steps related to that, in the acronym P.R.A.Y.. The first step, Prayerfully consider is related to D&C 9:8and is where they consider who they could give the Book of Mormon to through prayer. After they decide on someone and the spirit confirms to them that it is a good choice, they make it Relevant. The scripture with that is 1 Nephi 19:23 and it's where you make it personal to them by writing your testimony inside. After that you Act in faith and actually give them the copy. The scripture with that is Mosiah 4:10 and it basically tells you that if you believe the gospel see that you do these things - meaning share it in this case. After that you're promised that Ye shall receive which is related to D&C 6:29-31 and because the promise in that scripture is from the Lord, you are sure of the promise in Ether 3:12. So basically, it's just a pretty simple way to share the Book of Mormon with those around you, and if you have any questions you're supposed to ask the missionaries in your area.

So yeah... that was only about half an hour of the meeting - so imagine how awesome the rest was! Another highlight from this week was on Saturday (the 22nd) when we went down with our ward to help with Tornado Clean up in Shawnee. We spent some time down there helping clean up an antique workshop - a place where they buy old furnishings and such and fix them up for antique stores - which was interesting as there was some pretty cool things there. But, most of it looked like junk to us so we spent a little while questioning why they wanted to keep so much of it, but that was their choice. It was pretty cool as we got to basically tear down a building (as 3/4 walls has blown away on the workshop) and move the contents to a car port they had just finished. After that we headed over and helped clean up some trees that they had cut down earlier in the day - Cedar trees for those who might want to know -and they were pretty huge. They made a sweet looking chair, but I didn't have my camera on me so there's no picture of it. We then headed up to Freddy's for lunch and we had some tasty food. Something super cool happened though - we were in our yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts, and some random lady who we will probably never see again came up and thanked us for our hard work and left the brother who paid for our lunch with a couple twenties to "treat us to some ice cream". Now I don't know about you, but we all thought that was a miracle because we felt bad for having him pay for our lunch when we had just eaten at his house a couple days ago. It was neat to see how the Lord works in small ways. After that we headed back home and got back to work.

Another highlight of this last week was the Broadcast yesterday, which if you want to watch check it out here: http://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast?lang=eng it's about 2 hours, so be aware but it's super awesome! I learned so much about how to work better with the people in our area, and I'm so excited to start applying it. Now, there are some pretty exciting announcements in this broadcast, but most of them are going to be phased in throughout the next year so I'll let y'all know whatever happens.  

Alright, I think that's enough highlights about what all I'm doing, so now it's time for my favorite part of emailing home - the chance to share some things I've been studying!

My studies this week have mostly come from the Book of Mormon - particularly Mosiah and the first couple chapters of Alma. Something cool I realized as I was reading through Mosiah 12-15 (the story of Abinadi teaching King Noah the commandments) was that there were a few slight differences between the commandments but the basic jist of what was being asked is the same. It helped me realize that the Book of Mormon and the Bible really do teach the same thing, and it also helped me to recognize the importance of using both.

Another cool story I read this week is in Mosiah 24, specifically verses 13-15 as they helped me realize how willing the Lord is to help us throughout or trials. It was cool to read about their experience with the Lord's help and then try and see how the Lord blesses and helps me with my burdens. A few examples I came up with are as follows. (1) He strengthens me - there's no other way I would be able to bike how far we do (at least 8 miles a day) and talk to as many people with out his help. (2) He gives me what to say - a cool experience with that this week was when we were visiting with a family in our ward and sharing a spiritual thought with them before dinner. We talked about #THEFLOOD with them, and the sister asked what to do if you've already given someone a Book of Mormon to bring up the gospel again. We mentioned publications like "The Living Christ" as a way to bring up gospel subjects that she could bear testimony about, and she said to us that she had never thought of using those before. It was cool to see that the Lord really does help us know what to say right when we need it.

Today I was studying in Alma 5, which is a chapter I really like to read whenever I think I could use a little humbling. My favorite verse in the chapter - verse 26, reminds me often that I need to consistently reinforce my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon, for without that constant strengthening that testimony would collapse. Something else I really like from this chapter is the kind of questions Alma asks the people. Most of the questions aren't just yes/no questions but they're there to really make you think about your life and reflect. As part of that reflection I've kind of challenged myself to apply this chapter more in my life by applying that samePRAY acronymn to it. But, switch it up a little bit by prayerfully considering which question to work on/answer that day, and then making it relevant to me by rewriting it so that it is a question being asked to me in this time and then acting throughout the day to apply it. Then the Ye shall receive step is kind of related to verse 46 of the chapter where "the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit" because I know that as I work to apply these soul searching questions into my life Heavenly Father will manifest by the Holy Ghost the things that I can do to be better and become more like him.

Alright... so that's kind of a long email, but I had some time today to write one :)

I hope y'all like it, and in case you didn't notice there were a couple links in there to the scriptures to make it easy to look it up so that I wouldn't have to quote them all and make my email twice as long as it already is.

Thanks for all that you guys do to help me!

Love,

Elder Nielson

June 3rd, 2013 - First week in the field... is over?!?

Hey all Spencer here. So here is another blog post from Jordan detailing his first week in the field. Have fun reading it is sort of long...

Hey Everyone!

It's been a super crazy first week here in the field! I got here on the 28th, and was out in my area by that night which was appearantly super unusual. We got to Oklahoma at about 2pm that day, and then were at the chapel that they were doing transfers at that week before 2:30pm. We had lunch and then had a super brief orientation before getting interviewed by President Taylor and sending a super quick email to our parents. We then got to meet our trainers and companion for the next six weeks, so it was super suspenseful! My companion/trainer/dad's name is Elder Rasmuson, and he's pretty awesome. He's from Saratoga Springs, Utah, and has been out a little over a year so far. His trainer/dad was Elder Fee so that's my grandpa. He's also been out a little over a year as he trained Elder Rasmuson when he was out for only 3 months. Anyway, they're both super awesome and knowledgeable. My companion and I are currently up in Ponca City, which is about 2.5 hours north of OKC and is a pretty small town. There's about 25,000 people here and about 80-100 active members in the ward.

My first real day in the field was eventful to say the least - we had to do some shopping as we didn't get to our area until late Tuesday night. So after lunch was when we really got to work and it was pretty cool. We got to stop by and visit some less actives and a few of the investigators and get some appointments to come teach them later in the week. We also got to help the son of one of the members move back into the ward which was pretty exciting to get to meet some of the ward members that first day. The next day was much of the same, yet very different as the people we saw were incredibly different and we got to teach a few lessons which made it that much more exciting. On a random note, we get two hours of companionship study each morning (except Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays because of various reasons) and we're a bike area. With my arrival - and that of another new missionary, Elder Spafford, we split the Ponca City Area and there's now four Elders. So in our ward we have Elder Spafford, his trainer Elder Glad, my trainer Elder Rasmuson, and me! Our district also includes another companionship over in Blackwell, Elders Roundy and Platt. Anyway, back to Thursday - overall it was a pretty successful day as the lessons went well and one of the less actives we met with came to church yesterday. On Friday we had district meeting, so the morning was shot with studying and that. Then after lunch we started to go around trying some people and it ended up being what my companion called a "Trial of your faith" day, as we didn't end up getting to see or teach anyone really as our two appointments fell through and then the weather got crazy. The weather was a very interesting thing to deal with, and I got to spend my first couple (of probably many) hours in a tornado shelter under orders of the mission president. Then that night the entire district stayed over at our house in preparation for the next day.

Saturday came, and we got up at 4:45am to head down to OKC to help with the tornado clean up efforts. Once we got down there, we had a meeting first with Elder Rasband of the presidency of the seventy, and he was awesome. He had been at a party to Celebrate President Eyring's 80th brithday the day before, and President Monson had sent him with 3 explicit things to tell us: (1) President Monson loves us (2) He prays specifically for us (3) He is grateful for our efforts. The spirit there was exceedingly strong, and it was pretty cool to be able to shake his hand. The most impressive part was probably the fact that 200 missionaries in the yellow "Helping Hands" shirts standing in the chapel was a sight to behold, so much so that one of the senators of Oklahoma - Jim Inhofe - came and spoke a few words to us. It was awesome. After that meeting we got to go and clean up a giant park for 3 hours and then we headed back up to Ponca City.

Yesterday was awesome, as we started out with church meetings at 9:30am, then the 3 hours of study, and then we went off to see people. We ended up meeting two awesome potential investigators and hopefully you'll find out more about them once we start teaching them.

So in my studies this first week I've studied a large range of things. The first day I focused my studies on lesson 1, and the scripture in Act 10:34-43 stuck out to me, especially verse 43, how Prophets are called to testify of Christ and that is what they have done since the beginning of time. The next day I focused on the section in Preach My Gospel about "How to begin teaching" and worked on learning those bullet points. I also spent some time in Alma 5, which is a pretty awesome chapter, especially if you want to ponder and think about some "Search your soul" questions. I especially like the question he asks in verse 26: "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" It's just one of those great questions that makes you really search your soul and see how you feel when you're asked that. I also love in verses 45-47 where he shares his testimony and how he gained it in what I can think of as the simplest way. I love those verses because, by the "Holy Spirit of God" I also know that Christ atoned for our sins and suffered our pains and afflications for us. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God by that same spirit and it has also testified to me that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. Those verses have been a great strength to me in these first few days as I've worked to testify by that same power to others. Another day I spent studying the Gifts of the Spirit, and I found it super cool that those are found in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10:9-19), New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), and the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 46:7-26). Those gifts are super awesome, and I've been able to see some of them in real life already on my mission - it's super cool.

Alright, well that's about it for this week... this email took about 20 minutes of my email time, so I hope you read it all the way through and it wasn't time spent for nothing :)

Love,

Elder Jordan Nielson

May 27th, 2013 - So it Begins!

Well everyone here it is!

I don't know about you guys... but these two weeks have absolutely flown by! I leave the MTC tomorrow morning, and it's been such a blast. My favorite part of being here has definitely been the devotionals we've been able to watch, partially because I know that I'll never get to see those again (unless I end up being like a branch president or something here... that would be pretty sweet). I might have to send out an email next week with my notes from all of them (the parts I want to share) just so you guys can have a glimpse into how awesome they are. Aside from that, my experience here has been pretty sweet. My district is still ridiculously awesome, and it's incredible how close we've gotten over the mere period of two weeks. The study time is still quite awesome, but I think I've begun to enjoy the teaching chances more - TRC (Training Resource Center for those not familiar with MTC acronyms) is a blast.

Just so you're all aware - and this is kind of really really important - I know that the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is the word of God. I know it to be true, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the Earth today. That's rather important to me, otherwise I wouldn't be out here getting ready to head off and tell the people of Oklahoma that. I know that if you take the chance to follow the teachings of Christ and his church that your life will be blessed - I've seen it already in mine, and in the lives of those I teach.

Well, aside from that I don't really have any huge major events that have happened since I got here, though I have gotten the chance to see a bunch of Elders and Sisters that I knew previously such as Sister Roseman, Hermana Lind, Hermana Baria, Elder Mccullough, Sister Macintosh, a friend named Robert who I can't spell his last name,  and Elder White. It's been pretty sweet to see familiar faces and it has definitely made the days much easier.

So a scripture I've heard a lot while I'm here is Proverbs 3:5-6, which talks about trusting in the Lord. Goodness how applicable that scripture is here! There are so many things that I just have to take on faith that they'll work out that I don't even care to count them. It also applies in all my relationships with my district and companion as I know there's a reason I've been placed with them.

In addition to that one, a scripture I've looked over quite often is Alma 34:14-17 (and just that chapter in general... it's pretty great). One of the devotionals pointed out those verses to me and had us count how many times the phrase "Faith unto repentance" is there, so I challenge you guys to do that as well.

Then there's one of my favorite scriptures: D&C 121:7-9 which has basically been a great help to me throughout these two weeks as a source of peace and comfort. I know that my time serving the Lord isn't very long (for those of you older than me... what were you doing two years ago?), so I need to make the most of it as I know it will all be a good thing in the end.

On a slightly random note, if you don't have a paper copy of any of these books of scripture that I know are true - specifically the Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants - check out lds.org and go to the scriptures category to find an online version.

As I've been here at the MTC and as I head off to the mission field I plan on taking Nephi's advice in 2 Nephi 33:15 "and I must obey. Amen." The MTC President pointed out that as Nephi's last words of scripture he put that, and he made sure to have us recognize the importance of obedience.

On another note, I hope all of you are doing well out in the world, and that you'll let me know how you are doing, as I love to hear from you! Feel free to send me an email, but since I only check that once a week it might be a better idea to send me real snail mail at the mission home address:
416 SW 79th St

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA 73139-8121

Sincerely,

Elder Jordan Nielson

May 21st, 2013 - Week 1: The first week of training at the MTC

Spencer here, and this is a new post that Jordan sent me to put up here. So enjoy!

Hey Everyone!

So my first week in the Missionary Training Center out in Provo is over, and it's been super fabulous so far!

The food isn't too terrible, and there is as much of it as I want so that's definitely a good thing for now.

Aside from that, there has been ample time to study the scriptures and learn things, so the majority of this email is probably going to contain stuff about that.

As I've been here so far, on the average day we have at least two hours set aside to study, most of which is personal study time. So I've been reading some awesome scriptures and after this I'll share some thoughts on them.

Recently, one of my favorite chapters to go to is 3 Nephi 27 as there's so much great information to learn from it.

For example, in the first few verses (4-10 or so) Christ is super patient with his disciples as he explains to them in great detail why his Church needs to be called in his name.

Additionally, in verses 13-21 he lays out his gospel in such awesome and plain language that it had never struck me before how simple the gospel really is.

The rest of the chapter has some awesome blessings and things as well, but I haven't gotten around to really studying it yet as I've also studied elsewhere in the scriptures.

We spent some time in 1 Nephi 1, and it's kind of ridiculous how much you can get just from the first verse of that chapter. For example, it shows in the first line how important family is to the Lord.

Then it moves on to let you know that learning is also important to the Lord as it comes right after that. It continues to relate how even through afflictions Nephi was blessed of the Lord.

And he ends the verse telling you that because of all the things the Lord has blessed him to know and see he makes a record of his proceedings. I find it pretty cool that he says he is making the record "of my proceedings in my days" as that shows that even the prophets are only going to talk about what they know. It's just awesome for me to see that.

If you keep reading the chapter dissecting each verse like that it's pretty awesome how much you get just from the first chapter of the book.

For a random note, I want you all to know why I decided to come out here and serve a mission for two years. It certainly wasn't a choice I was pressured to make, as all of that pressure was relieved once the three brothers before me didn't go. So, it was totally my choice to come, and I don't regret it for a minute. I'm here because of the fact that I love my savior Jesus Christ, and know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is true with all my heart. I wouldn't deny those things for the world, and I'm super grateful for the chance I have to serve the people of Oklahoma for the next two years, and I hope that you all can bear with me as I send you word perhaps kind of infrequently.

On another note, my district here in the MTC is pretty awesome! We have 6 elders (including me) and 4 sisters, so there's a total of ten of us who are all going to the same mission. My companions Elder Pinder is from Boise and is kind of ridiculously awesome. He enjoys singing, and in addition to that has a great sense of humor that keeps me happy and upbeat. He definitely makes this experience a lot more fun than I had planned on it being. Our zone leaders are Elder Garner and Elder Hoddy, yes that is actually his name... and lots of people here think it fits him. They're pretty great, and are both from Utah (one from Orem and one from South Jordan). In addition to them, we have Elder Watkins (our district leader) and Elder Martin his companion. Elder Watkins is from California and loves to sing as well, and he's like 6' 5", easily the tallest of our bunch. Then there's Elder Martin who is from Utah and enjoys singing but thinks he's bad at it and is about 5' 10" and ends up being the shortest of our bunch of Elder. Then there's our awesome sisters, starting with Sister Cooper who is from Riverton, Wyoming and played basketball on her college's team before coming out here. Then there's her companion Sister Williams who is from Utah, and is pretty great at just being an awesome example and happens to be the Sister Training Leader (which basically means she helps train the sisters). We also have Sister Roberts from Boise who does a pretty good job of keeping us all on our toes with her sarcasm and humor that make her a joy to be around (but seriously... it makes the MTC a lot less of a prison to be here with such awesome people). Her companion is Sister Durfee who is from California and is one of those people who loves to sing Soprano because she can make it sound good... not that I have anything against Sopranos....

So that's our district! Our zone has a few awesome people still, but most of them left yesterday. But staying behind we have a few sisters going to the London Visitor's Center, one of which is the previous Sister Training Leader Sister Walmsley who is from New Zealand and has a ridiculously sweet accent. Aside from that, the MTC is just pretty awesome :)

I've learned so much here it's kind of ridiculous, and on a slightly random note if you ever get a chance to watch a talk by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ" seize it immediately. Like really. It's kind of ridiculous how awesome that talk is.

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson