Hello everyone!

So this week has been really great for finding new potential investigators! We've found quite a few people who are willing to listen to te message. Each one seems to have many difficulties and challenges in their lives, and the Gospel really is the answer for all of them. It's so great to see the looks on their faces as they feel the Spirit speak to them as we're teachingthe message on how the Restored Gospel can help them in their individual lives. I t really does seem as though there is nothing that the Gospel cannot solve. That's something that I've really come to know, during the last two years and teaching all those thousands of people, that there really is no limit to the power of he Gospel to heal and make right the wrongs in the world. There is nothing like it. I've not met anyone with a problem that the Gospel wasn't able to help.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

3-7-13

Hello everyone!

 

So last week I made my companion senior companion for a week, put him through his paces! It was nice to be able to relax and almost enjoy the ride, not having to be on top of everything and guiding all the details all the time. It was interesting, but I think the biggest thing that I've noticed that changed is that I seem to have a lot more energy now. Sometimes we get so lost in the work, trying to give our very best for as much time as possible, we kind of lose ourselves, and forget that sometimes it's much more effective to take the rest, slow down a little bit and be more energised, than it is to just give a load of hours with little energy and forcing yourself onward.  I think there is a good reason why the Lord had a day of rest too!

 

I love you!

 

Anziano Nelson.

26-6-13

Hello everyone!

This last week has been a whirlwind for us, it just flew by so fast! It's scary! Everyday is like a blink! I'd do almost anything to slow time down, it's flying by way too fast! Only 4 weeks to go, it's a scary thought. But still, I have some time left. I've been thinking alot about how I've used the last couple of years. How efficiently I've used my time. How well it's been put to use. It's interesting to note how hard I've worked has depended alot on my companion. How much he did, how hard he worked, how much he encouraged me. Sometimes my companion would make me work hard by being the example, other times by not giving me the opportunity to hide behind him. It made me realise just how important your companion really is, they define how well you will do in life and how you'll finish your "Mission" of life. That's why it's so important to pick carefully who your spouse will be, because they will define you for the rest of your life.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

20-6-13

Hello everyone!

So this week has been crazy with lots of things going on. We had our last Zone Conference Tuesday, both for me and for our Mission President. It was really powerful. All last week I'd been thinking about the power of the Book of Mormon and the importance in our work. I'd been thinking about basing my training on that for District Meeting next week. Guess what the Conference was all about? Book of Mormon. I was reminded of how important that little book is, and why it's so essential. It's the one thing that holds up the Church of Jesus Christ as true, without it the Church could not exist. Everything about the book is perfectly designed to fulfill it's many functions, and without the Book of Mormon we cannot have the fullness of joy that the Scriptures are designed to help us have. I love the Book of Mormon, and I have done from the very first time I received an answer that it's true, after having read and prayed about it. It has the power to change the life of anyone that opens and reads it with an open heart. It really is the keystone of truth upon the Earth. I have a request for you all. I want you to write down your testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and then email them to me at:

kieron.nelson@myldsmail.net 

I need you to do it before Sunday! I would like to include the testimonies in the District Meeting next week. If you don't wish to be identified, then leave a note at the end saying so, and I'll make sure that you won't be. Thank you so much!

I love you! 

Anziano Nelson.

Hello!

So I've just entered my final transfer, what a dreadful prospect! It's kind of been a shock. Especially watching the Missionaries I knew in the MTC stand up and give their final testimonies, knowing that I'm next in line! Really strange. Everyone has changed so much. There is one piece of consolation, my MTC companion is in my District now, so we'll be "dying" together, and better yet, we'll get to do an exchange in our final transfer - we'll have started the Mission together, and fnished our Mission together! We never did get to serve together as companions as we wanted, but we got the second best thing! But it's strange, being the most senior Missionary in the Mission, thinking about all the experiences that I've had, the good, the bad and the just down right brutal! I hope that I can put them to use for the last part of my Mission! That's the great thing about serving a Mission, you know when an era of your life is drawing to a close, so that you can focus yourself that one last time and use everything you have, your energy, your experience, into one short space of time, showing what your best really is!

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello! 

So I got a very sad letter on friday. It was one that made all the Missionaries who saw it say that they were sorry. I'll give you a clue what it was before telling you. My MTC companion got the exact same letter. It was the Customs Letter, that has the details of things I need to do to prepare to go home. It was...unpleasant! Though I am excited about coming home and seeing you all, being with everyone again, eating real meat (not paper thin slices of it) and normal life, it's still sad to be thinking that I'll be leaving this life behind, all the people and the joy you can get from serving the Lord directly for 24 hours a day (unfortunately that can be all too literal at times!). I still have seven weeks of it left, and I'm prepared to work hard in that time. I hope that I am able to go out at my best. It's been a great two years, two years that I'm going to be reflecting on for a long time I think, a decision that I don't think I'll ever regret making.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello everyone! 

So this week has been a little bipolar with the weather. One day it will be pouring it down with rain, and then the next the sun will be blazing down on us worse than in a desert, and the day after that it will be raining like no man's business again! It's been playing havoc with my head though, I've had a lot of headaches recently, probably because of the rapid pressure changes. One of the good things that it's done for us is that it's forced us to adapt. Forced us to think on our feet so that we could be at our most effective, given the circumstances. That's something that I've found to be absolutely essential. The ability to change and be willing to do the best thing. Too often we can fall into being rigid, especially as we get "more experienced", we get stuck into our ways, maybe because they are what have given us success in the past, but then we don't pay attention to what's happening in the present. The Lord doesn't want us to be tools that can only be used in one circumstance, he wants us to tbe versatile instruments that He can rely upon, no matter the situation, which is why I think during my Mission I've been subjected to various trials, all trying to tip me off balance, because when things constantly change, we are able to adapt, and become that versatile instrument that the Lord wants us to become.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello!

This week has been very busy trying to sort things out and organise my time in Lugano. But it's interesting that in this time in which we're doing so little finding work, that we're getting blessed so much in other areas, we've found more potential investigators in this period in which we're hardly getting any time to go out and work, than before when we had almost the entire time to do it! It's just proof to me that the Lord never closes a door without opening a window, that no matter what we're having to deal with in life, He is still able and willing to to give us all the blessings that we need and want in life.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello!

So I'm being transferred again, I think I really upset President this time, so much that he can't stand the thought of me being in the same country as him, so he's sent me to Switzerland! I've heard tell that it's the most beautiful place in Europe, I guess I'll find out tomorrow! I'll be living right on a lake, with a beautiful view, according to the previous missionaries who've served there. However I spoke to one of the other Missionaries who served there, and he has a photo of a thermometer proving that it had reached 50 degrees while he was there. I really hope that it doesn't do that this year, I start suffering at 30/35!

Something I've really learnt while in Muggiò how important the members really are. Most of my work came from members, involving them in teaching, but most importantly, teaching their friends. We were full by the end, no time to do anyhting but teaching. Something that they proved to me is that when we open our mouths with our friends, the Lord will help us. The Lord will show us what to do. Then, most importantly, we mustn't be afraid to trust our friends to the Lord's servants, the Missionaries! I'm comfident that your friendships will be strengthened and that you'll have friends that will truly love you as you share the Gospel with them, just enough to whet their appetite, and then allow the Lord's Ordained servants teach them the Gospel. There's nothing that grows love faster and stronger than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well? I'm enjoying the sunshine, finally got out from the rain! I hope I don't have to wear my raincoat too much more! So we had Elder Allen come, who is THE head of Missionary work, to teach us about how we can help people come unto Christ. Specifically he spoke about repentance and what we can do to help our investigators truly repent before being Baptised. It's something that I feel is really important. I noticed before and during the Mission that often people accept changes made in lives as repentance, when it's not the same thing. Repentance isn't just not smoking anymore. It's not just getting married so that you are no longer cohabiting. Repentance is truly feeling sorry for what you have done and fundamentally changing your personality. Often members at home would complain that investigators hadn't repented before Baptism, but I feel that this isn't just about those entering the waters of Baptism. How often do we just stop doing what we are doing wrong, and then present it to the Lord as repentance? How often do we brush off the sufferings that He underwent in order to pay for the mistake we just made? It really made me think. I know I do it all too often, and I'm praying that the Lord will help me take it more seriously, and that I can truly repent of all my misdoings, so that I don't have to make Him suffer anymore.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello everyone!

Did you all get to see General Conference? I hope so! I got to see all but one of the sessions, I loved it! Though to be honest I spent most of the time trying to help our investigators feel welcome and making sure that they understood what was happening. I remember one of the first times I came to Church was for General Conference, when President Monson was sustained as Prophet. I felt the Spirit so strong at that time, and gained my testimony that he was a Prophet of God as I listened to his talk. 5 years later all I can really remember of that talk was the story of him playing with a child, wiggling his ears while on the pulpit. Later I learned that there were probably a few people that thought that such behaviour was beneath the dignity of a Prophet. I've always thought, and learned again on the Mission, that the Saviour was right, that a man of God is willing to entertain and play with children. That as we are willing to do what we need to in order to make other people happy, to make them smile, that is when we come closest to God, because that is His work and His glory, to make us happy and to make us smile.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson

Hello!

So today, I was in Lecco and we decided to climb the mountain there, because there is a great view of the surrounding area, of Lake Como, Lecco and the valleys. On the way up, I was with another Anziano, who was probably more out of shape than I was, if it were possible! As we started, he already started to complain about the pace, and about how difficult it was. As we continued up, the path got steeper and more difficult. Trying to change his attitude, I started pointing out the blessings, the fresh air, the coolness, the great views we were seeing as we ascended up to the top. Very quickly there started to be a comparison to missionary work. The work is hard. the work is uncomfortable, and often not very pleasing. but we keep doing it because we know the blessings and we see the other sides to it that make it a great experience. I realised that it's no different in life. Sure, at times it's difficult. At times it's just gruelling. But if we take the time and see the blessings, see the positives, and just watch the great views, the drudgery and difficulty melts away. I looked back a few times, and felt satisfaction with having achieved the distance and height that I had at that point, even if there was a long way to go. Then I started reflecting on my own mission. as my exchange companion had commented the night before, my mission has not been an easy one. But looking back, I feel a swell of satisfaction seeing the trials that I've already overcome, the dark spots I've climbed out of, and the peaks of success. The challenges and stresses of my mission were swallowed up as I took in the moment, and looked hopefully to the future. I then realised that it was no different to my life in general. I have much satisfaction in the trials endured and overcome, I love the sights that I can see, and I know there are many great and wonderful blessings waiting for me in the future!

I love you all!

Anziano Nelson

Hello everyone!

Well this weekend was definitely a test of my patience. Our boiler broke, and so we had cold showers all weekend. Then our taperelli (a kind of blind that goes outside the window to protect it in bad weather or block out the sun if needed) broke and plunged our study room into darkness, and pretty much every single one of our appointments cancelled, destroying our work. It also rained for the entire time, I got bitten by a cat and by the end of it, I wanted to just call it a day and go to bed early. I didn't, but I wanted to. What it tuaght me though was the need to just let things go. I've been getting a lot of lessons about that recently. Just letting things go, and not letting them faze me. Too often I think we just let them bother us, when really we need to take a breath, then continue onwards. That's something I really need to work on.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a great week? We had a great one! The work's picking up! We got some really great new investigators. I was on a split with a member the other night, going to visit one of the new investigator families. It was interesting, I hadn't taught a Preach My Gospel lesson by myself for about two months, so it was an interesting experience, trying to keep the lesson powerful, but under control and interesting, all at the same time, without a companion to help. I was really nervous and didn't want to do it, because the family wasn't in a good way, and I didn't feel confident enough to give the lesson they needed by myself. I prayed really hard as I walked from the car to their house, asking for the Lord to guide me and show me the way, because I wasn't able to do it by myself. It became probably one of the most powerful lessons I've taught since being in Muggiò. As I was teaching about the restoration of the Church through Joseph Smith, I heard a noise beside my side. I looked, and the member was in tears! I continued teaching the principle. The brother then bore a really powerful testimony of the restoration of everything as was in the time of Jesus and Peter, and then really powerfully linked it back into God being our loving Heavenly Father. The Spirit was so strong! 

It was a great testimony of how the Spirit can take anything, even an Anziano who didn't really know what he was doing like me, and make him a powerful tool in His hands, if we just let Him. If He is able to do it with me, He is definitely able to do it with you! If you just ask for His help with sincerity, I know that you can do anything that is good.

I love you all!

Anziano Nelson.

Hello everyone!

So, these last weeks and days I've been reflecting a lot on my future. Two of the Missionaries in our apartment are "dying" (going home this transfer), and the companion of one of the Missionaries going home has lovingly decided to remind them of how many days they have left in the field several times each and every day, it even has a song that goes with it. Thankfully, there has not been a dance created to go with it. I beg of you not to suggest that to him. One of the effects of said song and seeing "16" written all over the apartment (the number of transfers an Elder usually serves in Italy) is that I've been reflecting on my own Mission and how little of it is left. It's been making me think about the expectations that I had of the Mission, and how the Mission has measured up to it. It has really changed me. I noticed just how much the other night. An incident happened in which usually, before the Mission, I'd have reacted, with my tongue and who knows what else. But my reaction wasn't to do that. I calmly smiled, and started walking away. My companion was angry, but was struggling to follow the example. I felt sad, but not because of the abuse I was receiving, but because I knew what would be awaiting those people in the future, what they were rejecting, and the regret that they would feel when the Saviour looks at them.  Even the though incident was in no way Spirit-conducing, as I walked away, I felt the Spirit burn brightly inside of me, as though Heavenly Father was sending me a message: I was doing what He wanted me to do. I'm not the same person that got on a plane 19 months ago.
I have these last few months to go, but I'm going to see what other changes I can make, so that when I come back, I can see even more of a difference, and be even happier with the face that looks back at me in the mirror.

I love you!

Anziano Nelson.

This week I've used up too much time, so I'll do a longer one next week instead! 

Hello!

So another transfer come and gone. I'll be staying in Muggiò for a while longer.  This transfer has made me think alot about goals. What I want to achieve over the next four transfers. One of the things that I've decided to do is to read the Book of Mormon, alot. I read the Book of Mormon in it's entirety in the last transfer, and I'm hoping to keep it up. Reading it made me realise the power that it holds, the ability to help us change, to repent. I've changed alot of the things that I've been doing and trying to get more in line with the way the Lord wants me to do things, and I'm pretty sure the motivation and desire came from reading the Book of Mormon. It has a special spirit that comes with it that you can only get by reading it. It really does help us to "deny [ourselves] of all ungodliness" as Moroni exhorts us to, so that the grace of Christ can save us. My testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon has grown alot just from reading it and learning from the secrets to life that it tries to reveal.

I love you all!

Anziano Nelson.

This week has been good. We had a great miracle! We had an investigator not turn up to his appointment (at his own house, joy!), so we decided to do some casa (knocking doors) nearby. We get into one apartment block, and a man from Santo Domingo (Domenican Republic maybe?) let us in. He was well brainwashed by the Jehovah's witnesses, so we didn't set a return appointment. At this point it was eight o clock, the time we usually stop knocking doors because otherwise the Italians call the police. But we had one floor to go, so I insisted we continue, because we probably wouldn't be able to knock them another time. So we did. The first door opened to a man. We try speaking to him, but it turns out he can't speak Italian very well, so he goes and gets his wife. I find out that they are Romanian, so I use my gift of tongues and ask "Che fac?", which is basically "How are you?" She's surprised, smiles, and asks why were here. My companion says "Well, we're Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of..." And she insists that we come in! We end up teaching them a lesson and we have another return appointment for tomorrow! It was a simple miracle but one that showed me how even the little things, like learning a phrase or two in the language of the poeple that you are speaking to, is important, and can potentially mean the difference in an entire family reaching salvation or not.

Hello everyone!

So this week has been good, some new investigators! We also had some crazy last minute changes to our schedule, which meant I wasn't with my companion for half the week!

On Thursday I went on exchange in Pavia, then we went to specialised training, and immediately went on another exchange with the Anziani in Lecco! It was fun though. In specialised training we had games designed to remind us of all the rules. Guess whose team won :D It was pretty fun, until we realised what winning entailed, which was to stand up in front of everyone, and recite everything we knew on the topic in one minute. My companion and I just looked at each other, said "GREAT!" (sarcastically, obviously), and probably had one of our most rambling talks we'd ever given, as we just spurted out everything that came to mind. We did pretty good actually, we only lost two points (the others lost 4 or 5). But the conference was a big call to repentance, for me at least, and I think for everyone. While our Mission is obedient, seeing and having the lines clearly stated, made us realise just how much we needed to improve to be ready for the "hastening". Living in four makes it really difficult for us to be exactly obedient, but we're working on it. I think the Scriptures are basically a call to repentance like that conference. We see how those righteous people lived and behaved, we look at ourselves, and we think "Oh, how terrible am I???" and then we repent. That's why I love the Scriptures anyway. Always have something to teach us, and help become better Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I love you all!

Anziano Nelson.

16th January 2013 

Hello everyone! Hope everyone had a great week this week? I did! We had an interesting coincidence! My trainer, Anziano Jenson, served here about 2 years ago as his second city. In that time, he was the first Missionary to start teaching a particular investigator. That investigator became "eternal". Well, last week I was interviewing a man for Baptism, and guess who it was? That same man! We had the pleasure to see him get Baptised last saturday! I didn't even know, until, to get to know him better I asked him who were the first Missionaries to teach him, and he says "Anziano Jenson"! It's interesting how the full circles come about, the different connections in life. It strengthened my testimony, in fact, that the Lord never forgets a loose end, and that He always works with purpose, and even with elegance. Weaving all these patterns into our existence. Always adding little thoughts and sidenotes to remind us that everything is in His hands, and He never loses anything!

I love you all!

Anziano Nelson.

9th January 2013 

Hello everyone!

So how is everyone? Well I hope! We had Zone Meeting on tuesday, and it was really good. We talked alot about our need to be obedient. Our Zone Vision is about making our relationship with God so strong that we can say as Nephi did "Thus has the Lord commanded, and I must obey. Amen." (2 Nephi 33:15). We talked about the difference between the obedience of Nephi, and that of Naaman. It's such an interesting comparison. How Nehi did it out of love and faith, but Naaman did it out of pride, or even just determination. It showed a whole world of difference, even if they did both obey and keep the commandments. We should seek to be like Nephi, not Naaman. Naaman is great, he was obedient, but Nephi will be going to the Celestial Kingdom. Naaman could too, but Nephi will have a much more happy and joyful journey! My invite to you is the same that was extended to our Zone. Find something that you can do over the next six weeks, that will improve your relationship with your Heavenly Father. Then do it. What's the best part? I want to hear about it. You can write to me or send me an email or something. But I want to know what you are doing to improve your relationship with our Heavenly Father, and then let me know how it's helped. I need all the advice I can get :)

I love you all,

Anziano Nelson.

2 January 2013 

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas holidays and new years? We spent most of the time inside, not working! But it was good, we all got to know each other really well, over some lovely pandoro (something I'll greatly miss in the UK). While reflecting with my companiion about our vision for the next few weeks, I really thought about obedience, and what it really means. I thought about Laman and what made him so different from Nephi, why one was so great and the other, well, not so great. After all, Laman was obedient. He did do what the Lord asked of him. He did go and try and get the plates off of Laban, and he did help build the boat etc. The difference, I found was the why. Why he was obedient. Nephi wanted to be obedient, Laman didn't. That's what  really made the difference. It's our attitude that is so important. It's what makes the difference.  That's our vision for the next few weeks. To stop obedience from being an irritant, and make it our quest, so that God will endow us with His power, according to the words of Ezra Taft Benson.