'Singing in the Rain'

We had another great week last week. First off, the Espiritu family was finally baptized last Saturday. It was a wonderful baptism and there were many members and nonmembers who attended. Three of our investigators were able to attend the baptismal service. The Espiritu family has changed so much over the last couple of months. They have completely changed their behaviors, habits, and life style in order to bring their lives in line to the will of God and His Gospel. We are happy that they were able to accomplish their first goal, which was entering into the waters of baptism. Their next goal is to be sealed in the temple as a family. Overall, it was a very successful and happy that I will always remember. 

The Aquino family also attended church on Sunday. They are a recently found less active/part-member family. The father and the mother are both members, but none of their four children has been baptized yet. At church, we introduced them to the members and helped them make friends in each of their classes. We talked to a member who said he would be willing to get Brother Aquino a job, because he has recently become unemployed. Our ward played a big part in fellow-shipping and welcoming the Aquino family. We are pretty confident that they will come again next week. 

It has rained quite a bit lately. It makes it a whole lot hard to play basketball when it rains because the court always get wet and slippery. That is right, there are no indoor courts in the Philippines. They have covered outside courts, but there are none close top our house. It is kind of a bummer. 

But we had a cool missionary experience that started in the rain. I will copy it from Elder Perkins email. And I think I might just forward his email to you. 

"Our area is luckily one of the areas in the mission that doesn't experience too serious of flooding. Or so we thought. This past Monday, after our P-Day was done and we were going home from proselyting, a sort of flash flood rose up in one of the lower parts of our area. We had to wade through it to get to the other side. Somewhere along the trek, Elder Nielsen and I felt it would be a good picture opportunity. But what started out with an idea to take your typical flooding picture turned into something much, much more.

After a couple of selfies, we took individual shots in the rain. Eventually for some reason, we decided to jump in the pictures. They turned out great on the waterproof camera so we snapped a couple of more. But then we decided we needed a companionship jumping picture. Nobody was outside at this point in the rainstorm, but hope shined through the storm when a lonely stranger trudged through the water. We approached him and you could tell he was a little shocked to see too 6' Americans jumping around in the water, and all the more when they came up to him and asked him in Tagalog to take pictures of them jumping. He snapped a few good ones.

We figured there was some purpose he was sent on that flooded road other than to take pictures of us so we explained to him although we were excited and happy to take pictures in rainstorms that we don't experience where we come from, the real reason we are happy is because we have a message about families (ie the Gospel). He invited us to come to his house.

Since that point in time, we have taught this former stranger, June, as well as his wife and child Karen a couple of times and they have huge potential. They said if two Americans can have fun in the rain sharing a message in Tagalog, there must be something special about what they are sharing. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of November. The other cool news there is they have a friend that now wants to listen to us as well!

God works in mysterious ways. With that said, I wouldn't recommend the 'jumping in the rain' proselyting approach all the time."

I am learning a lot from serving in this area. I have really seen how powerful and helpful the members are and can be in missionary work. They play such a crucial role in Lord's work. I solemnly believe the reason the Camarin 2nd Ward is doing so well and progressing is because of the help we are receiving from the members. The members really make the difference. 

But everything has been going swell. Elder Perkins is a great companion. We have a lot fun together. He might be transferring this next week.. But we will see what happens.. 

And I was not informed there were Peru trips being planned while I was gone?! What is all that about? First, there was the trip to Hawaii. I was left home. And now this? Who is the man in charge of all this trip planning? You are going to get lost without your tour guide ( ME).  But anyhow, that sounds like a lot of fun! Good Luck! 

This mission is great. It is a wonderful experience. Choose the Right! Love you all!

Nagmamahal,

Elder Nielsen

ps. Happpppppppy Birrrrrrrrthday Car Car! You are getting so old! But you are awesome Carly. SO sweet and nice. Keep watching over your two other sisters for me. And guessed what?! Next year you can start hunting! Watch out! You need to start practicing! Looove ya! :) 

Teaching zone conf

Mission tour

Ballerina or Air Jordan.. you decide. 

Espiritu Baptism

Email from his companion:

Subject: What a Wonderful World
To: 

*Name two different artists that sing a song with that title (one of the titles doesn't include What a)

"It was the best of times." -Name that author too for an extra point

Water. For being bawal for missionaries to swim in, water pretty much has summed up my time here in the Philippines. From sweating to rainstorms to baptisms, we as missionaries are pretty much always surrounded by water, so my email will mostly be focused on that element today.

Singing in the Rain- Our area is luckily one of the areas in the mission that doesn't experience too serious of flooding. Or so we thought. This past Monday, after our P-Day was done and we were going home from proselyting, a sort of flash flood rose up in one of the lower parts of our area. We had to wade through it to get to the other side. Somewhere along the trek, Elder Nielsen and I felt it would be a good picture opportunity. But what started out with an idea to take your typical flooding picture turned into something much, much more.

After a couple of selfies, we took individual shots in the rain. Eventually for some reason, we decided to jump in the pictures. They turned out great on the waterproof camera so we snapped a couple of more. But then we decided we needed a companionship jumping picture. Nobody was outside at this point in the rainstorm, but hope shined through the storm when a lonely stranger trudged through the water. We approached him and you could tell he was a little shocked to see too 6' Americans jumping around in the water, and all the more when they came up to him and asked him in Tagalog to take pictures of them jumping. He snapped a few good ones.

We figured there was some purpose he was sent on that flooded road other than to take pictures of us so we explained to him although we were excited and happy to take pictures in rainstorms that we don't experience where we come from, the real reason we are happy is because we have a message about families (ie the Gospel). He invited us to come to his house.

Since that point in time, we have taught this former stranger, June, as well as his wife and child Karen a couple of times and they have huge potential. They said if two Americans can have fun in the rain sharing a message in Tagalog, there must be something special about what they are sharing. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of November. The other cool news there is they have a friend that now wants to listen to us as well!

God works in mysterious ways. With that said, I wouldn't recommend the 'jumping in the rain' proselyting approach all the time.

--------------------------------------------

I love my companion and this area. Elder Nielsen is one of the great missionaries I have met and I am blessed to be with him in this area. 

Espiritu Baptism- It went through and turned out incredible. It was one of the best baptismal services I have attended since I have been here and was without a doubt the one with the highest attendance. All their neighbors and friends came from the ward and supported and their testimonies were great. They really are ready for missions and temples. Good news about the baptism- we had a number of investigators show up as well with members that we weren't expecting and it seemed like they really enjoyed the service. 

Missionary work is the best thing I could be doing in my life right now and I have never been happier.

Have a wonderful week!

Mission Tour 2K16

This week just flew by. It seems that so many things has happened. But like always, as I starting to write this letter nothing comes to mind.

First off. We had another great week last week. Yesterday after our stake conference, the Espritu family had their baptismal interviews. Not surprisingly, every member of the Espiritu family passed their interviews so their baptisms will be held this Saturday.They are very excited to be baptized and become members of The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We feel that they have truly repented of their sins and are prepared to enter in to a sacred covenant with our Father in Heaven. Junior, Melva, and their son M-Bong are also working towards their baptism. Junior and Melva have not yet been married so last week we taught them the Law of Chasity and committed them to live the Law of Chasity and be married. They accepted our commitment, and are now working towards saving enough money to pay for the expenses of their marriage and filling out all the paperwork for their marriage. 

And also, I think I forgot to mention to all of you that we were going to have a mission tour. Elder Evan A. Schmutz of the Seventy visited our mission last week. And it was GREAT. I learned so many wonderful things. He arrived here on Tuesday and asked to meet with all of the senior couples in the office, President and Sister Bertin, and us. He was a very nice man. Very warm and friendly. WE had a big group meeting and he asked us a few questions and got to know us a little better. Then Elder Perkins and I had an interview with us. He asked us about the our mission and the missionaries in it, and what we thought about it,about the legacy of our mission, how we were handling our busy schedule, about the obedience of the missionaries serving in our missions, and about other new things that the Missionary Board has implemented into our mission. It was very nice interview, but I have to admit it was still a little bit intimidating. Then later that afternoon we had a Missionary Leadership Council and Elder Schmutz, his wife, President Bertin, and Sister Bertin all spoke to us. It was great. 

Then on Thursday we had our actual mission tour. They again all spoke to us. They talked a lot about obedience and how we need to be exactly obedient to qualify for spiritual power. And how every time we are not obedient it dulls our spiritual power. It was great. They are all very talented speakers, and I took down so many notes. My favorite part of the whole meeting were the experiences that Elder Schmiutz shared. One of the stories he shared was about how on time on his mission when he was training, he was teaching an investigator and they asked a question about the Book of Mormon and how do they actually know there are people living on the American continent and stuff.He said that morning he studied about how there is "other sheep that are not of the fold" in John 10. But he said he forgot where that verse was found. Then he said, he a vision type thing, and he said his scriptures appeared in front of him (his real ones were still on his lap)  and they opened to the that exact page where that verse was found. And he could see the verse clearly and he read that verse word for word. He said while this was happening he could still see his investigator sitting in front of him the whole time. 

Second story. He was talking about how when he was a lawyer he would wake up from 4-6 every morning and would study the scriptures. He said he many powerful experiences. He said because he was doing this he started to have many spiritual experiences. One night while he was sleeping he had a very real vision of Outer Darkness and what it was like. It was suuuper cool. He had a few more cool stories, but there is just not enough time to type them all. But overall, I learned lots of wonderful things. Great meetings.

Besides that, everything is going well. The are is great. There are many people to teach. 

I am very thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve with Elder Perkins. He is very passionate about missionary work. He works so hard and cares so much about the people he is teaching. I have learned so many things from him in such a short period of time. He truly is a wonderful example for me. 

This Gospel is great. I love studying it. Thanks for all the love and support. Have a great week!

Ginagugma taka

Elder Nielsen 

ps. Tell Addi that I have not yet received her package. 

Golden Members.

Zarina's binyag. 

We had another great week last week. Sister Zarina was baptized last Saturday. Her baptism was very successful. All of her young single adult friends were able to attend her baptismal service. Zarina has many friends in the ward, and she has also signed up to go to Baguio with all the other YSA in October. We know that she has truly repented and understands the covenant that she has made with our Heavenly Father.  However the highlight of her baptism was the fact that her mother was able to attend. Her mother's husband, who has passed away, is also a member of this Church. We have been teaching Zarina and mother for a while now, but her mother just never really progressed or went to church. However, her mother attended Zarina's baptism and also went to church the next day. After Zarina's baptism her mother whispered to us, with teary eyes, "Thank you." We feel this is the start and the little push that Zarina's mother needed. We really feel that she will start to progress, and we are hoping that the next baptism that she attends will be her own baptism. 

Last week, we started focusing a little more on part-member families, and we have already seen many little miracles happen in our area because of our new focus. One miracle we have experienced is that we were able to find a part-member family that Elder Perkins has been looking for the past few months. This family has member in their family that was supposed to be baptized a few months ago. He had attended church four times and was preparing for his baptism. Unfortunately, they moved to a new house, and the missionaries were never able to find their new house. Then yesterday, when we were in our area, Elder Perkins saw their family walking down the street and we were able to talk to them and find out the location of their new house. We set a return appointment with them on Wednesday. 

We also just recently discovered that their is a very active member in our area, that missionaries never visited. All the other missionaries have thought she lived in the Sister's area. Another member in our ward showed us her house because this Sister had a referral for us. After visiting for a while with this Sister, we learned that she has been a member for a very long time and that she also does a lot of Visiting Teaching. She literally does missionary work, she is the best! Her husband has passed away, so she just does visiting teaching, to stay busy. We struck gold on this one. We found the golden member. She knows pretty much all the members in our ward, less active and active. She was able to tell us where some less active families, that we had never visited, lived. At one of these less active's house, we met a family that has been less active for a few years and the missionaries have never visited their house. This family welcomed us in and we were able to meet them and teach them. In this family they have a 15 year old, 20 year old, 21 year old who still have not been baptized. Not all their children were home when we taught them, but at the end of our lesson, we were able to extend a baptismal date to one of their kids. We were invited to come back and teach them on Tuesday. 

I can not think of anything else. This area is great. We have seen so many miracles in this area. We are expecting 6 baptisms this month and 4 baptisms next month. 

And to answer Mom's questions from last week, we do not have house help anymore in our mission. It is not allowed. So we do all the cleaning and stuff. But we do have a member that does our laundry for us. So instead of taking 3 hours to do our laundry by hand, we pay someone to do it. They come to our house and pick it up, and then come drop it off again. It is great. It gives us more time to play basketball on P-days. And for cooking, we do not do that either. Our next door neighbors cook, and we just buy food from them. It is great. And it tastes a lot better than our cooking. 

Have a great week! I love you all. 

Nagmamahal,

Elder Nielsen 

How to Find

We were invited to  come over  and break our fast at the mission home last night . Yuum! 

We had another great week last week. Despite the strong rain that started last Sunday morning most of our investigators were still able to attend church.This is the third consecutive week that it is has rained on Sunday, and once again our investigators showed their faith by traveling to the church in the rain.Though their church clothes got wet, their faith did not get wet. We are very excited about the progress our investigators have made. We can see their desire to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. We are now trying to find the replacements for all of these investigators who are going to be baptized. Every time one of our investigators gets baptized we want to replace their spot with a new investigator that will also be baptized so we can keep a constant flow in teaching and finding, and have convert baptisms weekly. 

In order to do this we want to start focusing a little bit more on our less actives and part-members in our ward.The Elders that have served here in the past have really focused on working with members and receiving member referrals.There are a many part-member families in this area that we can teach. 

We have also planned to bring our CMIS with us to church this Sunday.We want to ask the members in the ward to help us identify all the part-members in our area so that we can find them and teach them. 

The area is doing swell and so is my Companion. We are doing are best to try to keep our area like a "model area". With all the new changes in missionary work, the focus and roles of the Assistants has also changed. No longer are the Assistants just holding the bags of their president or running around doing errands, but they are out working and going on exchanges. So we are trying to balance the busy schedule with all the meetings and keeping our area in tip top shape, with our investigators still progressing. We also have to do exchanges with all the zone leaders every transfer. There 11 zones, and 6 weeks in a transfer so typically we are going on exchanges about two times a week. It is a little hectic. But the reason for all of this is to show all the zone leaders what a "model area" looks like. Progressing investigators, returning less actives, finding ect. We are pretty much President's 'show horses'.But it is a lot of fun, I learn a lot from exchanges. The only down side to all of this, the studies are taking their toll. Since there is only limited time on some days, we usually have to chose, "Do we want to do our studies or go proselyte?"  And we usually have to pick proselyting, in order to keep our area at tip top shape. So that is a lit bit of a bummer. I love Tagalog study and my Person study. 

I also had the opportunity this week to go on exchanges with Elder Narciso. Elder Narciso is a very mature elder. I was impressed by his focus, and his desire to serve the Lord. He is also a great teacher. He knows all the understand the scriptures and the doctrine, and he teaches the doctrine very clearly and simply. He also did well in finding. Many occasions throughout the day he would stop and OYM someone we met or saw on the road. The advice I gave to Elder Narciso was to be a little more bold while teaching and extending commitments. I told him that it is sometimes a good thing to be bold with investigators and less actives so that they will see our love for them and so that they will recognize the importance and seriousness of our message. I also advised him to not play with his watch while teaching because sometimes while he is teaching his hands would start nervously moving around and he would start playing with his watch. But overall, Elder Narciso is a solid missionary, with a solid understanding of the scriptures and his purpose as a representative of Jesus Christ. 

Another focus right now in the mission is finding. We are trying to get the missionaries to find more and be better finders. The mission and leaders of the mission are really struggling right now. We do not really understand why they are nit finding. Finding is a lot of fun, and it is they only way to get a lot of investigators and in the end lots of baptisms. So that is a problem we are trying fix right now in the mission. 

I also lost (kinda stolen)  my cool coin pouch with my money in it this week.. It did not have anything that in important in it, some money, a pin to pump up basketballs, buttons, small keys to locks I bought ( I have a spare), and my little container of concentrated oil. But I am pretty sure we know who has it, we did a little detective work, but I do not thing I will get it back. Pastilan! I will tell you the story next week. 

Take care! Get good grades in school! I love all of you and I love this opportunity I have to be a missionary. Mahal ko kayo. 

Sumasaiyo,

Elder Nielsen

ps. The San Juan mission is a mission that is really close to our mission.