#Becauseofhim

Hey, everyone! Happy Easter!

Its been a wonderful weekend and we have not gone short of easter eggs thanks to our lovely ward!

Poor Elder De Beer


Waddup original bom


jones, nolan, phelps, de beer (with chicken pox ha)

This is what we have been sharing with people recently and I absolutley love it.. Easter Mormon.org

So, we had moves calls yesterday and Elder Phelps is off to London! He is going to the stratford ward. President called and asked if i was ready for a new assignment and so I've been called as district leader for Chelmsford. So I'm staying in maldon and my new companion is Elder Martin who has been out for 11 weeks. He's from New Zealand and I already know him as he was born in my zone back in London North. I'm excited. The only sad news about yesterday is that i injured my back pretty badly. We were at a ward activity in the morning and i was running and something just 'went'. I walked it off at first and then sat down for about an hour. Big mistake. I couldn't walk! I've neve felt like this in my life! I'm getting old man! I had to walk to the car like quazimodo! The cashier at tesco's was visibly concerned due to the amount of ibuprofen I was purchasing. We got back to the flat and I had to just lie down with an ice pack on it. Today i'm wearing a heat belt and it seems to be improving slightly. Sister Jordan directed me to do most of the above. When President called he told me I have no time to be sick haha so true! But crikey, I know how grandad and grandma feel everyday now!

So over easter we were invited to a pentecostal passover feast by our friend from maldon whom we call 'pentecostal rob'. His church is in maldon and he told us that we would be their guests. It was such a great night! Each table had a plate with bitter herbs and horseradish etc and P-Rob taught us about the history of the passover and instructed us on how to partake of the Jewish Tradition. We sat on a table with all types of people and ofcourse we were the centre of conversation. I was sat next to a lovely man who was continually making doctrinal inquiries (to me) and beautifully explained the wonders of creation and his relationship with Christ. The evening concluded with a feast, headed by a bucket load of roast lamb. It was delicious, me and phelps tucked right in! We are so blessed to have so many different cultures in such a concentrated area. We plan to return and follow up on the pass along cards we gave out!

We have a great new investigator named bill. He is a less active Jehovahs witness and on a last visit he committed to read and pray about the book of mormon which is a huge step for him. He used to meet with missionaries about 15 years and one of them still keeps in touch with him, how amazing is that? I'm sure that Elder felt a need to do this and now hopefully that need is being fulfilled. We did some service for Bill, hedge trimming. I was confident in my skills due to my booming business venture pre mission and asked bill for his electric trimmer so i could give his conifers the shape up they deserved. Alas, after neatly trimming 95% of the hedge, disaster struck and the rookie inside me made a devastating error. I trimmed through the flippin' wire! The amount of times i've done that now! So embarrassing and I felt so guilty! I told Bill what had happened and he assured me that he had done it many times before. Now this experience sparked a moment of brilliance from myself and in my spare time i have been designing a solution to this everyday problem that, i'm sure 1 in 100 (may not be accurate)  males experience in their life time. I have sought advice from qualified engineers and upon my return home prototype production will commence!

I got my haircut last week at the turkish barbers! What an experience that was, never before have I had my ear lobs tapped with a flaming metal stick and paid for it. For the first time in my life I have 'pointy' side burns, not sure if its mission appropriate but as my mother always said 'It'll grow back'! ha The barber also got our his cutthroat and shaved my neck bare before splashing abit of scented alcohol onto the open pores he had just carved out. Owwwww! I loved it though, i think it was the manliest hair cutting experience ive ever had. £10, not too shabby.

So please continue to pray for irene, bill and hayley! They are all such wonderful people and we feel so blessed to be teaching them. We have had a great transfer together me and Phelps and have had a tonne of fun! Something which I feel is necessary in missionary work is to have fun! Its what keeps you up there and can be such a great motivator. The other day we went tracting and it began to pour down. So we would stay under the archway of each door about 5 minutes before we knocked and the thought of us just standing there without the people inside know really humored me. I don't know why. But it kept me from wanting to go home! We must find 'Joy in the Journey' always.

I love you all! I love and appreciate all the letters and emails I recieve.

Maldon to Victory!

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan