Loving Kindness

Another photo with Maricel plus the craske kids. Benjamin is our third wheel, he even has a missionary planner!

We spotted this view going at the national speed limit, had to get a photo, the reason i am looking to my left; oncoming traffic is also going at the national speed limit! We got back in the car and set off just in time :) 

We  made a tasty vindaloo together, ever since eating that scotch bonnet spicy food doesn't scare me

Hello!

How are you all?

What a wonderful week of blessings, lessons and revelations from heaven it has been. 

Buddy is doing unbelievably well and Maricel is settling into her life as a new member and new mother! 

The zone is halfway to achieving  it's goal with two weeks left, so we are really happy with that. Me and Elder Johnson have had a lot of exchanges recently and it has been really wonderful to be with the missionaries in our zone, to get to know them, learn from them and help them progress along their road of discipleship. 

We have a wonderful friend who we are meeting with right now who's translated name is 'Loving Kindness'. He is a Tibetan monk, he has lived all over the world and is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. We really connected when we first met and our conversation has been on of delight filled with a humble respect for eachothers understanding of God and he has helped me to understand a few things I was struggling with. It has really testified to me that truth is everywhere and the Lord is mindful of all his children. LK is currently feeling that there is a Father of us all and therefore a God who we can turn to and have a personal relationship with. It is a really interesting and fulfilling task in helping him to discover just how close his relationship to God is and that the process in which we become at one with Him is by turning to his Son Jesus Christ who makes intercession for us and is the leader of the rescue party to bring us safely home. His understanding of why we are here is clearly inspired and I can feel the genuine love he has for the people around him. We just have to help him as much as we can before he goes back to the jungle in Nepal.

I once again have been humbled by the words of President Jordan in his recent e-mail to the mission. He always offers words which help me to repent, to change and ultimately become a better missionary. He shared this,

If you love the Lord, your call is to feed His sheep. Could you ask for a greater responsibility? President Gordon B. Hinckley, quoting an unknown author, once said, "Survey large fields and cultivate small ones." He then added, "My interpretation of that statement is that we ought to recognize something of the breadth and depth and height—grand and wonderful, large and all-encompassing—of the program of the Lord, and then work with diligence to meet our responsibility for our assigned portion of that program. Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture, the large composite of the divine destiny of this work. It was given us by God our Eternal Father, and each of us has a part to play in the weaving of its magnificent tapestry. Our individual contribution may be small, but it is not unimportant." If you will take a word of counsel from your mission president, it is this: cultivate the field the Lord has given into your care. Preach the gospel in your area. Feed the sheep in your flock.

Wise counsel for young missionaries. I echo his words, could I really ask for a greater responsibility? Cultivate the field. Preach the Gospel. Feed the Sheep.

I  love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan