September 29th, 2014 - Wake me up when September ends?

Hey Everyone!

So... for those of you who have been sleeping all summer it's time to wake up since September has just about ended! I can't believe that September has passed already... but such is life on a mission. This week was pretty sweet though, with some awesome things happening! There were also a couple noteworthy events that were a blast to go to, including zone p-day last week. We had a fantastic Specialized training meeting last Monday where we broke down 1 Nephi 17 and related that to building an area and ourselves, and it was a fantastic spirit. One verse that I loved was verse 15 which says:

"Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments‍ of the Lord, and Idid exhort‍ my brethren to faithfulness and diligence."

On Tuesday we got to see Joshua and the Iser Family, which was awesome. With the Isers we talked about a few things that are happening these days and then Alma 34:34 which says:

"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, thatI will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which dothpossess‍ your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit willhave power to possess your body in that eternal world." and then left them to watch a fantastic talk from Elder Holland found HERE! 

Wednesday flew by, as we got to go out with Brother Robie most of the afternoon and got to visit with Brad, an associate Methodist pastor at one of the larger churches in town, and had a good visit about the plan of salvation. We also got to see a couple other people and at one home we got to watch the video I told y'all to watch last week found again here!

I spent some time in the Christlike Attributes chapter during my studies this week, specifically focusing on Hope and Faith. When I was reading the one on Faith a talk that referred to the account in Alma 32 was brought to mind, so I went and listened to that. At one point Elder Jensen shares that: (it's a bit long, but it's all good stuff)

"Alma compared the word unto a seed. I pause to emphasize that I have heard some in the Church cite Alma 32:28 and teach that Alma compared faith to a seed. The precise comparison is the word to a seed. I will read verses 28 and 30, and in each instance following the first sentence where the word seed appears, I will substitute the word word:
Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a [word] may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true [word], or a good [word], if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good [word], or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. . . .
But behold, as the [word] swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the [word] is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good [word]; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. [Alma 32:28, 30]
True words, true doctrines, and true principles planted by faith, like seeds, will sprout and grow. They lead to testimony. Listen again to three words from the last line of verse 30. They are “I know that.” These words often introduce expressions of testimony: “I know that God lives” or “I know that Jesus is the Christ” or “I know that the Book of Mormon is true.” We hear variations of this phrase in “I testify that” or “I declare that” or “I witness that”—all acceptable and appropriate."
(From Building Upon the Rock: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1827)

Anyway, it's a very interesting point to ponder about, and I've thought about it a lot the last couple days. In addition to that, I spent quite a bit of time studying "The Priesthood Man" by President Eyring since that's the topic for the lesson we got to teach in Elder's Quorum yesterday. It's a fantastic talk, and I've noticed a difference as I strive to remember and thank the Lord for the people who have blessed my life that day and how. There's lots of things President Eyring points out that we can do specifically to be great priesthood men, so I'm hoping to tackle them one by one and make them habits.

On Thursday we got to go on exchanges after weekly planning and such, and got to walk around and do some biking. We saw quite a few people, which was awesome, and I learned about luxury tax from one of them... something I only thought existed in Monopoly for all these years! Then on Friday we had a fantastic district meeting and got to help out with the Genealogy after hours event at the library here, which was pretty sweet. The speaker talked about using newspapers in research, plus the food was delicious.

On Saturday we had the fantastic opportunity to watch Little Oscar get baptized! There was a story shared by Bishop Newell at the baptism that went something along these lines: A man was hired by the road department and was assigned his first day to paint the yellow line that goes down the road. On the first day he painted 10 miles of road, which was fantastic! The second day he was assigned to the same task, since he had gotten such fantastic results, and he painted 7 miles - which was still above average! So, the next day he was assigned again to paint the line, and painted 5 miles - which is what everyone else does, so he was still doing well. The next day he was again assigned and only painted 3 miles. His supervisor was worried what was causing the decline, so he had a meeting with him and asked. The painter responded: "I keep getting farther from the paint bucket!" Bishop Newell then related that to how the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to carry the paint with us - to have the spirit with us whenever we are worthy and searching for it. It was a fantastic service, and I'm glad I've had the chance to teach him a few times. ​We also got to help the young men serve the women and girls of the ward who came for the dinner provided before the General Women's Meeting. It was a fantastic day!

Yesterday, as mentioned earlier, we got to teach Elder's quorum, and also had a fantastic time throughout the rest of the day. In teaching we focused upon three quotes from the talk:

"Each of you will be a model of a priesthood man whether you want to be ornot. You became a lighted candle when you accepted the priesthood. The Lordput you on the candlestick to light the way for everyone who surrounds you.That is especially true for those in your priesthood quorum. You can be a greatmodel, an average one, or a bad model. You may think it doesn’t matter toyou, but it does to the Lord."

"I have observed three common characteristics of the priesthood holders whoare my heroes. One is a pattern of prayer, the second is a habit of service, andthe third is a rock-hard decision to be honest.

We all pray, but the priesthood holder you want to be prays often and with realintent. In the evening you will get on your knees and thank God for theblessings of the day. You will thank Him for parents, for teachers, and for greatexamples to follow. You will describe in your prayers specifically who hasblessed your life and how, during that day. That will take more than a fewminutes and more than a little thought. It will surprise you and change you."

"“For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality‍ and eternal life of man.”
We are to help in that work. Each of us can make a difference. We have been prepared for our time and place in the last days of that sacred work. Each of us has been blessed with examples of those who have made that work the overriding purpose of their time on earth.
I pray that we may help each other rise to that opportunity."

That's all I got this week! Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

P.S. Sorry for the long letter again? I had plenty of time again today :P

September 22nd, 2014 - Zone Conference!

Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty great! We got to have a zone conference on Wednesday, which was super awesome. In addition to that, we had some good visits and had a pretty great time throughout the week. A couple noteworthy events happened throughout the week, that I'll talk about in a bit. After I share this quote from Elder Holland that I found was pretty neat:

"A memorable account of the power of such teaching comes from the life of the prophet Jeremiah. This great man felt the way most teachers orspeakers or Church officers feel when called—inexperienced, inadequate,frightened. “Ah, Lord,” he cried, “behold, I cannot speak: for I am [but] a child.”
But the Lord reassured him: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee. … Therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them.”
So speak unto them he did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson,whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. “I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,” the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not. Why? Because “his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
That is what happens in the gospel to both the teacher and the taught."

It's from the talk "A Teacher Come from God" and I thought it was pretty neat as I was listening to it this morning. Anyway, the first highlight I wanted to share this week was on Tuesday when a family invited all of us over for a Chicken Nugget Eating Contest, where I learned that after about 20 nuggets they just don't taste very good. The results of the contest were:

• Sister Ellis - 20
• Elder Neves - 30
• Aj McKendrick - 30
• Elder Hansen - 40
• Elder Hoopes - 50
• Sister Heaton - 53
• Elder Nielson - 65

Anyway, it was a pretty great time as we all struggled to eat as many nuggets as we could. In total we ate about 288 nuggets - just with those involved in the contest. Good thing they got them at Aldi instead of like McDonalds or something expensive like that. Then on Wednesday the highlight was that we got to go to zone conference! So, some quick thoughts/notes from that which I wanted to share!

• President Walkenhorst Shared some quotes from Elder Cook at the latest Mission President's seminar he went to:
• "If we have more faith we will have more success"
• "There is a large gap between the two" (D&C 10:53 and 29:7)
• "What is a mighty change of heart? A Hard heart to a broken heart to a healed heart to a turned heart (desire to share with others, especially your own family)."
• D&C Section 112:
• 10 - Be humble. God will lead you
• 14 - Feed my sheep
• 19-21 - An Effectual door to be opened. You have power to open the door
• 22 - Hearken to the voice of the spirit
• 28 - Purify your hearts before me, preach my gospel to every creature
• 30 - Power is given for the last time
• 33 - How great is your calling!
• President Satterthwaite shared some thoughts related to stakes that were pretty neat
• "What is a Stake?"
• Isaiah 52:2
• D&C 82:14
• D&C 109:39
• D&C 115:6
•  Lastly, at one point President Walkenhorst was talking about the church we are apart of and related it to a law firm - The people in the name are the key partners in a firm, and just like that the people included in the name of the Church are those who are important to it - D&c 115:4 says: "For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." It's not just the Church of Jesus Christ, it's the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - it's there for us and we have a key part to play in it. We're literally partners in his work.

The highlight/miracle from Thursday was that we got to see the Crofts! Brother Croft had been in the hospital the last couple weeks when he found out that he's got liver cancer, so we were able to chat with him a bit and hopefully next time we'll get to watch this cool mormon message that y'all should check out here!

For Friday the highlight was definitely our meeting with Bishop Newell, which was fantastic. We talked about the principle of visions that Elder Foster had taught us during the mission tour that I don't remember how well I talked about it last week... but basically he gave us 6 steps that are key to distinguishing between a vision and a goal. 

Hopefully that picture thing worked... Anyway, he talked a lot more about the vision side, since he said in general the church does pretty well with the Goals side. So, we shared that with Bishop, and then talked about it again in ward council yesterday, as we strive to share the vision with the ward that the Lord is Hastening his work to bring souls to Christ, and that he needs us all to be involved in it. But, the reason that was the highlight for Friday is just that it's always fantastic to work with people who have the same vision as you, and it seemed pretty clear that Bishop was on the same page. On Saturday we met a couple new people that will probably end up being highlights that you'll hear about in later emails, Joseph and then Brittany, but we'll see what happens.
​

Lastly, this week in Preach my Gospel I focused a lot on Chapter 10, as that's also what zone conference was focused on. It's all about teaching skills and a part from there I wanted to share with y'all along with a couple thoughts I had. It says: "The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have stated: “Our purpose is to teach the message of the restored gospel in such a way as to allow the Spirit to direct both the missionaries and those being taught.It is essential to learn the [missionary lessons] but these should not be taught by rote presentation. The missionary should feel free to use his own words as prompted by the Spirit. He should not give a memorized recitation, butspeak from the heart in his own terms. He may depart from the order of the lessons, giving that which he is inspired to do, according to the interest and needs of the investigator. Speaking out of his own conviction and in his own words he should bear testimony of the truth of his teachings.” As I was ponder this paragraph this week I noticed a couple distinct things that I've put in bold here. The first one, really struck me because of that last part - the spirit has to direct those being taught just as much as us. If we push too hard, or they choose not to follow it then it will be almost impossible for any conversion to take place. It then gives us the way that we can allow the spirit to truly direct both us and them - speaking from the heart. It reminds me of this quote from President Hinckley:

“We must strengthen ourselves and our people to get our teachers to speak out of their hearts rather than out of their books, to communicate their love for the Lord and this precious work, and somehow it will catch fire in the hearts of those they teach” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley[1997], 619–20).

As we strive to teach from the heart that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare - in fact I've learned that in order to do that you have got to be more prepared then you would if you were just using a memorized thing for in order to truly speak from the heart it has to be something that's in your heart and not just your mind - you truly have to know and feel the truthfulness of everything you teach and not just accept that it's what the prophets and apostles have asked us to teach. Another quote from that same talk by Elder Holland real quick:

"In this Church it is virtually impossible to find anyone who is not a guide of one kind or another to his or her fellow members of the flock... For each of us to “come unto Christ,” to keep His commandments and follow His example back to the Father is surely the highest and holiest purpose of human existence. To help others do that as well—to teach, persuade, and prayerfully lead them to walk that path of redemption also—surely that must be the second most significant task in our lives."

I know that the Lord places us where we are for a reason. Missions are tough, but they're also fantastic! It's not always easy for us... but then again it wasn't easy for our master and leader either, so why should it be for us? (See this talk for more on that). Anyway... I didn't really want to share this story since it's kind of embarrassing, but since I still have some time today I think I will. For those of you who suffered through the rest of this, perhaps this is a nice reward. On Saturday morning we were going through our phone contacts calling people we didn't know and deleting numbers that either we didn't need anymore - like people who have moved out, or that were disconnected. So, while doing that there were two noteworthy calls. The first was to a Brother Peterson... We had a less active brother Peterson on our roster, so that's who I figured it was... so we called the number to see if it still worked. After ringing for a little while someone answered, and I asked if it was Brother Peterson. It was, and then he asked who I was, so I told him. He asked what he could do for us, and so I asked if he was still living in Ardmore, he said that he hadn't lived here since 2006... so I asked if he was the Brother Peterson on our roster who was less active... and it turned out to instead be the President for the Lawton stake, President Peterson whom I had met a couple times while I was in Lawton... silly me calling him thinking he was less active, right?

The other probably not that funny story was a conversation with someone in our contacts named "City" It went something like this:

"Hello, City of.... (I couldn't tell what she said)"

"What?"

"City of Ardmore Answering Service, what can I do for you?"

"What is this for?"

"It's the Answering Service for the City of Ardmore...?"

"Oh... Thanks for answering!" - Call Ends.

Elder Hansen thought it was pretty funny... but I just had no idea what to even ask the answering service... and I would have felt rude just hanging up... so that's all I got. I dunno... it made sense to me at the moment?

Anyway, I've gotta get going now! I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

P.S. Sorry it's long today... Or I guess not sorry if you wanted a long email today... but I didn't have many other emails to respond to, and I didn't have anything else to do on the computer... so this is what happens I guess.

September 15th, 2014 - The Power of Counsels

Hey Everyone,
Here is Jordan's latest update! It's a great one!
-Spencer A. Nielson

Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty awesome, with a sweet mission tour with Elder Bradley Foster of the seventy and a couple cool miracles in addition to that. Aside from that it went by as a pretty normal week... no transfers or anything like that, and no super exciting changes really. 

Anyway, last Monday wasn't all that exciting, and then Tuesday was the mission tour so I wanted to share a few thoughts/scriptures from that in a bullet list!

• Alma 37:6-7 -> Small and simple means are key

• Trials are a lot like shampoo - if you look down they run into your eyes and make it hard to see the big picture, but if you look up they run off your back and don't interfere with your perspective

• Helaman 7:7-9

• Romans 8:16-17

• "You can't overcome temptation, you have to avoid it" - Elder Foster

• "The Greater the Agency, the greater the growth"

• Moroni 7:47 -> There is a difference between being "found possessed" and "possessing"

• Vision determines direction, goals are simply markers for the distance in that direction

• "The greater the vision, the greater the motivation"

• D&C 58:25-28

• Counsels are the way the Lord governs his church

• If people understand 2 things they will be motivated to act: (1) "I can do this" (2) "I or my circle will be blessed for it"

• "What I say unto one i say unto all" -> The Lord has told us this multiple times throughout the Doctrine and Covenants, do you believe it?

• Moses 1... pretty much all of it. 

• 2 Nephi 32:8

• 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

• Do you believe what the Lord says in D&c 98:1-3: "1 Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

•  2 Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

•  3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord."

So, it was a super awesome meeting, and pretty dang spiritual. I hope you caught the spirit of it. Two major things I got out of it were the importance of visions and of believing what the Lord tells us in the scriptures applies directly to us. 

On Wednesday we got to do a bunch of service and ended up with a nice looking flower bed instead of a weed infested patch of ground as the reward for our work - plus a nice lunch. Something I studied today was in Preach my Gospel chapter 11 where it says: "Repentance and change will help people conquer challenges, rid themselves of shame and guilt, and experience the peace and joy of God’s forgiveness." As I was pondering on that and striving to apply it I realized how important it was that we help people do things to move closer to God, for we all experience guilt or shame at some point and repentance, as this quote says, is the only way to rid ourselves of that. Also on Wednesday we got to have correlation and pow-wow which helped to get all the missionaries here in Ardmore on the same page. 

Thursday was pretty intense, with some planning and a couple sweet visits in the afternoon. Today we ended up focusing a lot on 2 Nephi 2:27-29 with those that we saw, as that's what we talked about with Jessica and the Isers. It says: "27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. 28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit; 29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom." As we discussed this with those that we saw it was pretty clear to me that these verses went along with the quote I had read yesterday... which was pretty neat. Something also reminded me of something that Elder Perry said about why missionaries have members with them. He said "While the full-time missionaries are responsible for teaching investigators, they can and should be accompanied ... Members who accompany the missionaries should bear their testimony of the principles taught in the missionary lessons and reinforce these principles between missionary appointments."

Anyway, the last highlight of this week was on Saturday when we got to go out with Oscar to see Cliff, David, and Jeff, a few guys we had met last week. We had a sweet lesson with them, and just had a blast as we discussed the restoration of the gospel. At one point the cups object lesson was brought up and brought out and seemed to help a lot, so if you've not seen the cups you could ask your local missionaries about it. But, it was a pretty great lesson, and it was awesome to be able to hear Oscar's testimony and some of his experiences as he joined the church last year. 

That's all I got for this week! Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

September 8th, 2014 - Missionary Work Rocks!

So my brother only has 8 or so months left so I'm going to have to post every week so that you all can see what he says in the home stretch. Enjoy!
-Spencer A. Nielson

Hey Everyone!

This week has just been a blast. I forgot to mention it in my email last week, but transfers were this week and Elder Hansen and I get to stay together here in Ardmore! Anyway, it's been a pretty crazy week with some awesome miracles and some sweet happenings. So, I'm just going to get into it.

On Monday, since it was Labor day and I forgot to talk about it in my last email, we got to spend all day at Confetti, a bounce-house place owned by a family in the ward here and it was a blast. They have a ton of cool bounce-houses and there was lots to do. They're kind of hard to describe in words but they have quite the selection. I think they might have a website with some pictures, but I don't know for sure. 

Tuesday we had a couple sweet visits, but we also emailed and had a couple longer drives throughout the day so there wasn't as much time as usual for a typical Tuesday. But, after trying to see the Iser family a lady across the way said that she was heading to work but wanted us to come by on Saturday, which was her day off, as she was heading inside. We weren't entirely sure what to think, but we wrote down that we'd go see the trailer park lady on Saturday at some point, and moved on with the day. That night though we got to see Joshua and somehow ended up talking about fasting with him, and he decided to fast and we decided to fast with him the next day to help with some of the trials he was going through at the time. We then got to follow-up with him on Friday about how it went and he was much happier and said it helped a lot to get him spiritually in tune again with the Lord. It was pretty neat.

I'm listening to this talk right now and they just said: "Either the teacher and the learner are both having a great time, or neither one of them is having a great time."

On Wednesday night after having a couple meetings in the morning and various other administrative things done during the day we had a few awesome visits. First, we got to see Linda and Lonnie briefly and talked about the Book of Mormon and the line on the title page that says "And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ." After that we got to see the Isers and had a sweet discussion on prayer and faith with them, playing a bit of hangman and also using the "What's in the Box?" Analogy of asking the Lord what you really want to know instead of just questions that are related to it. Then we got to see Oscar and watched this mormon message: Video! It was a pretty sweet night, and the spirit was super strong throughout the night. 

Today I wanted to share a couple quotes from talks that I've read this week and apply some of those principles. First, a couple quotes from Elder Ballard:

"Brothers and sisters, can you imagine the impact if family and friends included things they are learning from their personal study of Preach My Gospel in their letters and emails to their full-time missionaries? Can you picture the blessings that will come to families when they know and understand better what their sons and daughters will be studying and teaching on their missions? Can you even begin to fathom the extraordinary outpouring of atoning grace that will be ours, individually and collectively, according to the Savior’s promise to all who bear testimony in the process of inviting souls to come unto Him—and then following up on those invitations?


“Ye are blessed,” the Lord said through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.”
“For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast … in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.”
If we follow up, the Lord will not let us down. I have seen the unspeakable joy that accompanies testimony-driven inviting and faithful follow-up among members of the Church the world over."
It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand. While the outcome is a result of the exercise of one’s agency, sharing the gospel is our responsibility."

To apply that real quick, I wanted to share something I've learned from preach my gospel today. There was a quote that struck me today in chapter 4: "Tell the brethren to be humble and faithful and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord, that it will lead them aright. Be careful and not turn away the still, small voice; it will teach them what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their heart open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits—it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts, and their whole desire will be to do good” (quoted in Juvenile Instructor, 19 July 1873, 114)." As I was pondering how to keep the spirit of the Lord with you it reminded me of a section in Chapter 1 of Preach my gospel that talks about ways to teach by the spirit. 

Another quote from Elder Ballard real quick: "Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling, though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may change in the future when their circumstances change.

Continuing with the week, Thursday was pretty great as well, we got to have a couple cool visits and also had a sweet dinner with the Nuzmans where we got to talk about prayer for a bit afterward. We discussed the "prayer" section in the Bible Dictionary that says: "We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ—when His words abide in us (John 15:7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart." We had a pretty good discussion related to that, and it was a very clear reminder to me personally that prayers are so vital. Brother Nuzman made a point that whenever we say "Amen" after someone prays we're agreeing to and basically saying that prayer along with the person so it's important to actually listen to what is being said. 

In the talk they shared this quote: "Effective teaching is the essence of leadership in the church. Eternal life will come only as men and women are taught with such effectiveness that they will change their lives. They cannot be coerced, they must be led." - President Hinckley

Friday was intense. I decided this day that I wanted to memorize a scripture most everyday of the week - or at least see if I could - and so today I picked Mosiah 2:22 which says: "And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you." As I was pondering and memorizing that scripture throughout the day we had some pretty sweet miracles. First off, we got to visit with and then teach Heather and John, and awesome couple that we met a couple weeks ago but hadn't actually gotten to really visit with as of yet. The discussion was super spiritual as we discussed the restoration and the truths that have been restored and how the Book of Mormon is evidence of that. They were quite receptive, and actually know quite a few members of the ward already it seems. Later that night, after dinner with the Laws - an awesome family - we got to see Joshua as mentioned before. So, that was a pretty awesome day. 

Saturday was awesome! I decided today that I'd focus on memorizing 2 Nephi 25:23,26 which says: "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." In the morning, while we were going over the ward roster and updating records we listened to a talk called "The Missionary Next Door" that's pretty good. The speaker talks about two different types of conversion - social and spiritual, and makes it clear that the social conversion is the responsibility of the members while the spiritual conversion is the responsibility of the full-time missionaries. Then we went out to lunch with Linda and Lonnie to the corner cafe and then visited with them a little bit afterward... and then it started raining... really hard... so when we were biking home to get our rain jackets, we got totally soaked. It was the best! It's always good to have a nice rainfall, and it was super nice that day since it was pretty warm before hand. Anyway, we later got to meet and visit with Reggie and Kristine - Kristine was the trailer park lady mentioned that we saw on Tuesday. They're super awesome, and we even though we didn't have as much time as we'd like we got to talk about the Book of Mormon and they were super interested. Then we got to see the Lords family and did the restoration cups lesson with them, and it was pretty sweet. 

Anyway, Sunday was pretty sweet, Church was awesome and then we got to have an awesome dinner and discussion with the Fenton Family, before getting to see Connie and give her the sacrament and it reminded me of the days back home where we were asked to give the sacrament to people who were homebound and unable to come out to sacrament meeting. It was a wonderful experience and a fantastic way to spend some time on Sunday. During fast and testimony meeting, one member said this fantastic line "I'm about as nervous as a fly in a spiderweb." and then preceded to share a fantastic testimony about the truthfulness and blessings he's received from the Gospel. 

That's about all I got time for today, but know that I love you! I'm glad to be here on a mission in Oklahoma, and super stoked to get to stay in Ardmore for another transfer! It's been a fantastic week, and I wish that I could share more of the miracles with you!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

September 2nd, 2014 - Happy Labor Day!

Hey Everyone!

Happy Labor Day!... Well... yesterday. But, because of that we're emailing today instead so I hope none of you were too thrown off by that! Also, I don't know how many of you have heard of "The Purge", but because of that on Saturday our mission president decided it would be better to be safe then sorry so we got home at 7pm instead of the typical 9pm. Luckily nothing really happened that we know of, but we did hear a couple cop cars go past. Anyway, this week was pretty good with some good visits and some awesome new people that we've gotten to start seeing. The first one, Douglas, is getting ready to move to Duncan and start his own non-denominational church there. While the other, Brad, is an associate pastor at a large Methodist church here in town. We met Brad on an exchange with Elder Toiava and it was getting close to the end of the night. We had run out of things to do and Elder Toiava suggested that we knock a few doors and see what happens. The second door we knocked on was Brad's, and he let us right in which was pretty cool. We didn't have time for a full visit, so we answered a couple of his questions and ended up talking about the Articles of Faith and got through a couple of those before we had to leave, so we left him with the card that has those on there. Anyway, it was a pretty sweet experience.

Also this week, I've listened to a couple awesome talks in addition to the Book of Mormon reading I've been doing in relation to the challenge from Little Oscar to read it in 3 months. I'm on 2 Nephi 33 now, but like I mentioned in a previous email I've already thrown my favorite scriptures at y'all often enough, so today I'll talk about a couple cool quotes. The first is from Bishop H. David Burton, who used to be the presiding bishop of the church. He said:

"In spite of all of this, my young friends, we need not fear nor take counsel from our fears. The scriptures remind us that if we are prepared, if we are obedient, and if we are members of the Lord’s Church, we need not fear what the future holds. “The righteous need not fear” (1 Nephi 22:22; see also Alma 1:4; D&C 10:55). What manner of men and women we will be, in part, will be influenced by how well we handle the fearsome and unforeseen aspects of life. Realizing that real life is made up of struggles, problems, mistakes, opportunities, and lessons, please remember the old Chinese proverb that says, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Stated in the Lord’s terms, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11)."

I love this quote, particularly the points that I bolded as they're pretty clear. The principle that we shouldn't take counsel from our fears, but instead from the Lord, has been something I've noticed a lot in my life since oftentimes I fear various things and as a result of those fears either will or will not do things I should. For example, I don't particularly like talking to people for no reason other than to talk with them, so sometimes I find myself struggling to obey the Lord's command to "Open your Mouths" but I strive to follow the Lord's counsel that "Open‍ your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even asNephi‍ of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness."

Another talk I've particularly liked from my studies this week is from President Hinckley that you can find here: Talk! He tells a story that I wanted to share with y'all that was pretty entertaining. He says:

"A hurricane had hit the West Indies, and a bricklayer was sent to repair the damage. He wrote to the home office as follows, and I hope you can get this delightful picture:
Respected Sirs:
When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with the extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was, and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on, and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it bursted its bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of the line. The barrel then came down, giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave.
Life is like that—ups and downs, a bump on the head, and a crack on the shins. It was ever thus."

That's a great story... but the real quote I wanted to share from that talk is this one: "My dear young friends, never lose faith in yourselves or in your capacity to do worthwhile things. And call upon the Lord for help that your minds may be enlightened and your understanding quickened. Then go to work with that assurance inside of you that somehow you can do it." It's pretty clear cut, so just keep trying to apply that in your lives and I Know it'll all work out eventually.

One last highlight from this week before I let y'all go. On Wednesday a young woman, Mandy, was baptized and it was a super awesome spiritual experience for quite a few of the youth. The spirit was so strong, and then the youth got to sing "Come Unto Christ", which y'all should check out here: Video!

Lastly, there's a sweet article for y'all to check out here: Article! Anyways, that's all I got for this week. Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson

August 25th, 2014

Hey Everyone!

This week was a pretty average week as a missionary... we actually got to stay in our area and work all week, and saw some pretty awesome miracles in the process. I've had some fun studies on God's plan of Happiness for us, and some sweet reads in the Book of Mormon, plus a couple cool talks that I've gotten to read lately. So, it's been a pretty good week!

First off, a cool story from yesterday! Our Bishop shared an awesome experience/story with us yesterday when a couple that used to work for him - Charles & Tracy - came to church up here after Bishop went and gave her mother, a blessing (none of them are members of the church, as of yet). When we talked to Bishop before sacrament asking who they were he mentioned that they were Wicken and that they probably would stay that way since they don't really believe in Christ, but that he's been working with them for some time now. Then, when we talked to him before 3rd hour started he said that they had talked to him during 2nd hour and told him they had decided to become members of the church and so he talked with them about that. It was super exciting! Sadly they live in San Antonio, but it was still a pretty sweet experience.

Anyway, in my studies this week I've focused a lot on the plan of Salvation and Faith, reading a few awesome talks and having quite a few of the chapters I've read in the Book of Mormon this week talk about them. So, some talks/sections of Preach my Gospel/Chapters in the Book of Mormon I've liked this week:

• 1 Nephi 14
• 1 Nephi 17
• 2 Nephi 2
• 2 Nephi 4
• PMG: Plan of Salvation
• But if Not...
• Our Strengths can Become our Downfall
• The Great Plan of Happiness

Some short highlights of this week were that there was a funeral that we sang at for Brother Gooden, we had an awesome day on Saturday getting to go out with a couple members to some awesome people, and then yesterday at church there were quite a few people there! It was a pretty awesome week, sorry for the shorter email though, such is life these days in the mission though! Love y'all! Have a fantastic week!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan NIelson

August 18th, 2014 - 9 months left?!?

Hey Everyone! 

One of the kind Elders I serve around reminded me a couple days ago that I only have single digit months left on my mission... it was so very kind of him! But, somehow I've only got 9 short months left out here to have fun serving the Lord. Oh well... such is life. We've had some pretty cool experiences this week, so my list of things to put in this letter is longer than what I'll probably actually get to, but oh well. We got to have a zone meeting last monday, and then went up to the temple last Tuesday. That plus all the service we did made it seem like all we did this week was service, drive, plan, and study! But, we did have a couple cool experiences with people that I might get to share.

Anyway, this week in my studies I focused mainly on the Book of Mormon and also spent some time in Preach my gospel. A couple PMG quotes that struck me real quick:

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”
–Elder M. Russell Ballard

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the Church. Whenever there is a member who introduces an investigator, there is an immediate support system. The member bears testimony of the truth of the work. He is anxious for the happiness of his investigator friend. He becomes excited as that friend makes progress in learning the gospel.

“The full-time missionaries may do the actual teaching, but the member, wherever possible, will back up that teaching with the offering of his home to carry on this missionary service. He will bear sincere testimony of the divinity of the work. He will be there to answer questions when the missionaries are not around. He will be a friend to the convert who is making a big and often difficult change. … The process of bringing new people into the Church is not the responsibility alone of the missionaries. They succeed best when members become the source from which new investigators are found” (Ensign, May 1999, 105–6).

As we've tried to apply those two quotes throughout this week, it's definitely help us put in perspective the things that are really worth our time to reach our goals that we set. Also this week I've spent some time in the following places:

• Helaman 3-5
• 3:35
• 4:12-13
• 5:9-12,30
• Jacob 1,4,6,7
• 1:17,19
• 4:11-13
• 6:6-7
• 7:10-11
• Enos
• 1 Nephi 1-10
• 2:12
• 4:3
• 7:12
• 8:37
• 10:17-19
• "Prayers and Answers"

That's the short version of what I studied this week... it'd be nice if we had time for me to write a longer version, but such is life. Anyway, aside from the temple and the zone p-day we had last week some other highlights were helping a member put up hay, helping another member start her family history work, and some incredibly awesome dinner appointments. But, I sadly don't have time to write about all those :( So, I hope y'all have an awesome week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

August 11th, 2014 - Service Rocks!

Hey Everyone!

This week has been pretty entertaining, with a good sprinkling of service along with all our other missionary efforts. There have been some cool miracles, and lots of entertaining events, with some particularly enjoyable studies. First from my studies this week, I spent quite a bit of time in Preach my Gospel Chapters 1 and 9 - our purpose and finding people. The section in Chapter 1 titled "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" struck me this week, and a particular quote made me think quite a bit. It says:

"Individuals and families begin to follow Christ as they exercise faith in Himand repent of their sins. They receive a remission of sins through baptismand by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost from one who has authority fromGod to perform these ordinances. They then endure to the end, or, in otherwords, they continue throughout their lives in exercising faith in Jesus Christ,repenting, and renewing the covenants they have made. These are not juststeps that they experience once in their lives; rather, when repeatedthroughout life these principles become an increasingly rewarding pattern ofliving. In fact, it is the only way of living that will bring peace ofconscience and enable Heavenly Father’s children to return to live inHis presence."

As I was thinking about that paragraph and studying other things, I found a chapter in Moses particularly enjoyable - it's chapter 6, particularly verses 26-68 where Enoch is called to preach to the people of his day. Verse 58 reminded me of this quote from preach my gospel as it is through these steps, outlined in Moses 6:58 and the quote, that we're able to utilize Christ's atonement in our lives.

Anyway, that was one thing that I focused a lot of study time on this week, though I also had some things in the rest of my studies I wanted to share:

• Alma 16:13-15
• Alma 18:39
• Alma 19:14
• Alma 27:7-11
• Alma 34:33-34
• D&C 33:8-10
• D&C 33:15-16
• D&C 35:5-6
• Plus this article in this month's Ensign that was related to my studies:ARTICLE!

Alright, that's all I got for studies this week, so a couple quick miracles! First, last Monday we were able to visit with Ricky and it was an awesome experience. When we got there we weren't entirely sure what to do, but we felt like we should read from the Book of Mormon with him in 2 Nephi 31, sadly Jessica had to leave before we really got started with that, but the spirit was super strong as we were reading and Ricky was super committed by the time we left to do what he needs to in order to follow the example of Christ - reading the scriptures, praying, and coming to church in order to strengthen his faith, change, and prepare to be baptized.
Another cool miracle was on tuesday when we got to visit with Chris. We talked about all sorts of stuff, but eventually we got around to watching the Daily Bread Mormon Messages (check them out here), and it turned out to be a pretty spiritual experience.
The other highlights of the week were service related, when we got to help a member work on his building (the same one we've helped a couple times before), and he's actually making progress! It's slow, but steady, which is good. Then we had a day of service on Saturday, helping three families with various projects - building a fence, fixing up a shed, moving tool boxes, loading a u-haul truck, and just having a blast before getting to go to the stake general priesthood meeting on Saturday night. It was a pretty fun week, but that's about all I got.
Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!
'Til Next Time,

Elder Jordan Nielson

August 4th, 2014 - August has arrived!

Hey Everyone!

August has come already, and here in Oklahoma we're enjoying the unusually cool temperatures, and having a blast! We've had some awesome people we've gotten to visit with this week, some incredible miracles, less time on bikes, and just a fantastic time at church, so it was a pretty sweet week.

To start off, last Monday we got to have Family Home Evening with one of the families in the ward and it was just a blast. We talked about the restoration using the cups activity and it was neat to see the things that their kids knew! After that we got to play around in the gym they own for a few minutes and it got pretty intense by the time we left, so that was a blast.

Then on Tuesday we got to go out with the Bishop of our ward here and it was just an incredible time. I know Bishops are busy people and all... but they're super helpful in missionary work, especially since we got to visit with Connie, who just got baptized a couple weeks ago. She told us on Saturday that she really enjoyed having Bishop over, and it was just a fantastic night all around. We also got to see Joshua with Bishop and talked about how important it is to keep the commandments of God, regardless of what else is happening and it was just a short, very spiritual time that we all enjoyed.

The next highlight that I've got written down was on Wednesday when we got to help demolish some more stuff for Brother Thigpin, which reminded me that I'm still scared of heights, but also was just an enjoyable time to hit stuff with a hammer and not care what happened to it. You might have to try it sometime when you're frustrated, sledge hammers work especially well by the way. Anyway, that afternoon we got to go out with a member and visit Andrea and we read Alma 18 with her, which is probably one of my favorite chapters showing a very effective way to help someone come closer to Christ.

My next highlight from this week is on Saturday when we got to visit with Oscar, was baptized about a year ago, and his son Oscar, who isn't baptized yet, and it was just a super awesome time. Little Oscar (the son) asked about joining the military and what the church taught about that, so we shared part of Alma 48, verses 14-17 - Check them out if you have that same question. Also on Saturday we got to visit with Matthew, one of our awesome investigators, and we had a super spiritual visit with him. It was possibly the most spiritual discussion about the plan of Salvation I've had yet on my mission. He asked us when we got there about the three degrees of Glory, since he was a little confused about that and we felt that in order for that to make sense you have to go through the entire plan first (since it's hard to understand the end without the beginning). So, at multiple points throughout the discussion the spirit strongly testified to all of us (Matthew, Elder Hansen, and Myself) that what we were talking about was true. Then, it was just like 10 times stronger when we were talking about the kingdoms of Glory, and it was just super awesome. So, while I'm on the topic of spiritual things that happened, I'll go ahead and throw down my list of scriptures that I liked this week:

• 3 Nephi 22:8,10
• 3 Nephi 23:1-2
• 3 Nephi 23:14 -> Luke 24:27 (Road to Emmaus Story)
• 2 Nephi 31: 3
• Mormon 9:21

Well, that's all I got for this week! I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Love y'all!
'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson

July 28th, 2014 - New People?!?

Hey Everyone!

Well transfers happened this last week, which meant the first couple days were spent saying goodbye to people with Elder Lyman, and then these last few days have been spent working to get Elder Hansen used to the area and meet as many people as possible. It's been awesome to get to work with new people this week, as every companionship in our district was changed in some way. But anyway, some spiritual thoughts first!

This week I spent some time studying Alma chapter 38, which is Alma's advice to his son Shiblon, who is a pretty cool kid. I particularly found verses 10-12 interesting as it is some very pointed things that he counsels Shiblon to do or stay away from. I also read a sweet talk by Elder Packer about the Language of the spirit - y'all should check it out! A couple other scriptures stood out to me this week: 1 Nephi 1:12; 2 Nephi 3:12; Mosiah 4:9-10; Enos 1:8-9;1 Nephi 3-4. Plus, we watched a sweet video in ward council yesterday that talked about teaching and learning in the home and at church, y'all should check it out!

Video 1: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-06-001-learning-and-teaching-in-the-home-and-the-church-the-home?category=auxiliary-training-videos/2014-auxiliary-training&lang=eng

Video 2: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-06-002-learning-and-teaching-in-the-home-and-the-church-the-church?category=auxiliary-training-videos/2014-auxiliary-training&lang=eng

Alright, some quick highlights this week! On Tuesday, we got to see a ton of people and eat a load of food - some members had a party at Denny's for the missionaries who would be leaving, and then later we had dinner with an awesome family before another couple took us out to dinner at Café Alley. Wednesday was pretty exciting since it was transfers day and some incredible members were willing to drive us up to the city and stay up there until we were ready to head back - which ended up being a lot longer than usual since one of the new missionaries had to buy a bike while we were up there. Another sweet highlight was church on Sunday, where we had an awesome sacrament meeting, a good sunday school lesson, and then a super spiritual priesthood hour where the Elder's quorum presidency was reorganized and we got to watch a sweet talk from President Uchtdorf! 

Sorry it's short today, but such is life sometimes! Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson