Mother Dearest

A short excerpt from an email sent to Elder Nolan's Mum.

Mum,

How are you doing? What have you been up to this week? I love you.

Well, I am feeling good. Spiritually I am feeling stronger than ever

and I just feel really blessed. My Mission experience has been such a

joy, so many powerful experiences, lessons and miracles. It really has

been wonderful. Who'd of thought it ey? Think to who I was 31/2 years

ago. I have changed somewhat since that time. Just a little bit.

Christine, Annabelle and Gabriel are getting baptised today :) when I

was at the temple last week I put them on the prayer roll. Last night

they were all glowing, previously Gabriel had hang ups about the Book

of Mormon but just before they went away on holiday we had a great

Lesson and finally got her to commit to praying about it. She had read

so much already but I think she was just scared that it actually was

true. Last night as we were leaving I just looked at her and said 'you

prayed about the book didn't you?' , and her face just lit up even

more and this huge grin appeared, they are so happy! I will send you

photos of the baptism today :)

Mother! The baptism today was wonderful even though I forgot my whites and had to wear a jumpsuit!!

We had zone conference all week this week which was actually really

good. Yesterday was the best meeting. A member of the Watford stake

presidency trained us on member missionary work. He was the man me and

you met at the pageant.  It was an incredible training. It gave me

some great insights and ideas to use before I leave.

I love you mum and I miss you. I'm so excited to see you. I really

don't want to leave the mission field. I wish you could just all come

and live with me.

Elder Nolan

Alma 26:12

Johnson, Buddy, Me

Sister Craske, Johnson, Me, Benjamin, Rhiannon

Hey everyone!

How are you all?

Buddy was baptised this sunday! The Zone exceeded the goal, 7/6 and so did the Mission 56/50 WOOOOOOO! The missionaries are on top of the world right now,I have to share with you what President Jordan said as I can't say it better myself 

Sisters and Elders,

Last night I received reports from the zone leaders detailing the baptisms that took place this past weekend. Nineteen wonderful individuals entered into the waters of baptism. That brought the total during the month of August to 56! In our last mission-wide conference call, we united behind a goal of 50 baptisms for the month. You have met and exceeded your goal, and I am very proud of you all. Even if you did not personally have a baptism in August, you were an important part of this achievement. Your prayers, your fasting, and your spirit of unity were essential to what we accomplished as a Mission. When we fall short, we share the disappointment, and when we succeed, we do it together. As the Apostle Paul taught, comparing the oneness of the body to the unity of the saints, "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." (1 Cor. 12:26).

On the occasion of the October 1840 General Conference, the Prophet Joseph praised the saints for the way they were working and sacrificing together to build the Nauvoo temple. He quoted from the 133rd Psalm: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" and then added, "Unity is power."  In December of that same year, Joseph wrote a letter to the missionaries who were then serving in England: "The work in which we are unitedly engaged is one of no ordinary kind. The enemies we have to contend against are subtle and well skilled in maneuvering; it behooves us to be on the alert to concentrate our energies, and that the best feelings should exist in our midst; and then, by the help of the Almighty, we shall go on from victory to victory, and from conquest to conquest." That counsel to be unified is as applicable to us today as it was 174 years ago.

Tonight we will participate in another all-mission conference call. We will have the opportunity to talk about what we have accomplished and what we plan for the future. We will humbly give thanks to the Lord for all we have received, and we will pray for His continued blessings upon our work. I hope our spirits will be like the spirit of Ammon when he said to Aaron and his brethren:

11  But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12  Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

13  Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? (Alma 26:11-13).

We are witnesses to the Lord's hastening of His work. More than witnesses, we are privileged to be fellow labourers in the Lord's vineyard at a very special season of the work. Joseph Smith said, "Let the Saints remember that great things depend on their individual exertion, and that they are called to be co-workers with us and the Holy Spirit in accomplishing the great work of the last days." We have been blessed to all be part of a great achievement in August. There remains much for us yet to do. United is the only way to do it. As Joseph urged, "A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together."

We love you.

President and Sister Jordan

Amen to that. It's just wonderful. 

Thankyou for all your prayers,

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan
                                                                                                                                                                                                 'Buddy'......

                                                      Elder Johnson, Nolan and Buddy

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

28th July 2014 Update

MTC Group reunion at zone conference

Me maricel and elder Johnson!

New suit from matalan, 32 quid! hence the smile

Fufu at the simbis! 

Maricel and the Carters, we taught her in their home all the time. 

They fed us so much Filipino food!

Yes, maricel is pregnant. Heavily.

Elder Nolan, Elder Craske and Elder David

We got a flat tyre!

New district leader Elder Mortensen got hold of my camera during the baptism, irreverent!

Hey!

How are you?

We have had a great week; Maricel was baptised and confirmed! The service was lovely and the talks given invited such a wonderful feeling of the Spirit in the room. Everyone was crying! We had 10 investigators there! J it was just as well as Filipinos really do know how party, there was so much food after!

We also had the baptism of Joel, the son of a member who we have been teaching. His grandfather flew over rom America to baptise him and ordain his brother to the Aaronic priesthood. It was great.

We sang at both baptisms and then sang an accapella musical item at the north Norfolk branch on Sunday afternoon. I love going to this branch, they hold it in their living room and about 8 people come who can't travel all the way to the chapel. We get to take the sacrament twice which is always fun! It was probably one of my favourite Sundays on my mission, it was such a joyous day and at times it felt like I was going to burst or pass out like Alma. These are 'the good old days'.

Me and Elder Johnson have had some experiences this week where for the first time I have actually felt like a zone leader, where I have felt that what we were doing was really having a positive effect on the missionaries around us. We love the missionaries in our zone and we just want them to reach their potential as a missionary and even more so as a child of God. So many great things are happening. I can feel the Lord guiding and pressing us to push this zone so that he can then bless it the way he wants to.

I am really loving my time in Norwich.

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

I testify that what my Companion says is true...

Hey Everyone,

how's it going?

So this computer is being weird and Elder David has done a sweet job of writing an update on his blog, so I will kindly invite you to check it out, read and send him a letter maybe! 

I love you all, I will write properly next week.

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan
-- 

News Update 10th March 2014

Ready for a baptism!

All over London! Thanks!

Me, laura, curtis and Farley

All the people confirmed on sunday with the missionaries

Hey

How has your week been?

Our Friend Laura Puiul was baptised and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this weekend. It has been such a wonderful journey for her and us since we met her just 6 weeks ago. It has been such a blessing to observe and guide Laura as she has progressed towards baptism and the Lord has been involved intimately, making things happen and telling his missionaries what to do at the exact time it needed to be done. We have all grown together.

My personal  testimony of the truthfulness and divine power of the Book of Mormon has developed into a fortified conviction that this sacred record, that binds our Faith together is truly the work of Prophets called of God and that 'If you believe not in these words, then believe in Christ, and if ye Believe in Christ, ye shall believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ'. I love the Book of Mormon and I love sharing it with the people we meet.

Throughout Laura's teaching, the seed of Faith within her has been nourished by the life giving light of the Book of Mormon; Combined with the Spirit and the growing Light of Christ within her, we have seen a witness of truth begin to descend upon her soul which has brought her to the noble valley of repentance, and as she emerged the Lord welcomed her into the waters of baptism.

So, major miracle this morning. It's p day and so we began our day with a game of football with the district. On the tube home, we found that we had walked in to the shop of a humble european woman. She walked up and down the carriage placing tissue packets on the seats with a note explaining her domestic situation (probably to attract more custom) with an invite to purchase the packet of tissues. I was immediately impressed by the initiative and I really didn't care if the story on the paper was true. I emptied my pockets and exchanged the contents for the packet of tissues. The woman walked by myeand was seemingly pleased by my custom and as she began to leave the impression came that she was Romanian and so I asked her how she was in her native tongue. She smiled and replied and then began to converse with me a little. I got through it and we established that our roots in Romania aren't to far from each other. She then walked on and was greeted by another Romanian (Raluca) in the carriage, who then begins to talk to me and before you know it its a full blown Romanian reunion. Sadly, my level of communication in the Latin language was too basic to carry on so I had to admit that I was actually English and that if any more 'get to know you' chat was to continue it would have to be done in my native tongue. We got to our stop and Raluca was leaving also. We carried on our conversation up and out of the station and I told her that I was a missionary for the Church and asked her about her relationship with God. We ended the conversation with a prayer, the swapping of details and we are seeing her on Saturday! Bravo! This is another testimony of how the Lord works. He played at my love of 'if you dont ask you dont get'. If the Romanian woman had not brought her business to the tube there would have been no purchase of tissues. If I had not bought those tissues there would have been no conversation, no conversation - no reunion, no reunion - no prayer, no prayer - no daughter of God finally receiving the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am reminded of Alma 'By small and simple means doth the Lord confound the wise and bring about the salvation of many souls' (Thanks Grandad).

London North is a blessed Land. 3 people were confirmed on sunday, two were given the Aaronic Priesthood and two Recent converts were advanced to the Melchizedek Priesthood. The Gospel is good.

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

20th of January Update

Me, Mehdi and Farley

Random Chinese lady #1, me, Random Chinese lady #2, London Eye

Sweet silhouette sunrise big ben photo

'Samoan' (legendary missionary meal, apparently), Diet coke, Title of Liberty

Our new Flat, Me reading a (not missionary approved) book

Hello! Wow what a week. Mehdi Karimi, my best friend in London was baptised on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had the honour of performing the ordinance and it was one of the most powerful experiences. I have been blessed with to see someone who I have grown to love and respect take that great step and make his first covenant with God.

We have observed the symptoms of a changing heart at each stage of the teaching process with Medhi. He has a great faith in Jesus Christ and the reality of his atonement; He has a profound awareness the effect of righteous living on his personal happiness and well being. I admire him for his courage and his commitment to the gospel; He has just quit his job as a cocktail artist as he has recognised the difficulty of working in such an environment and being worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. He is another testament to that fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ compels men everywhere to change and 'to putteth off the natural man and become a saint' through his grace. Again, I feel completely humbled by the power that the Gospel possesses and the liberating effect it has upon the children of God. I could write about Mehdi all day, so I'll stop there.

In other news, we had an amazing miracle happen last week. Last transfer Elder Hein contacted a girl woman called Eli, another Iranian Christian. We set an appointment to meet but she had to cancel last minute and we hadn't heard from her since then. About 2 weeks ago Elder Farley and I contacted a woman outside a Persian restaurant, also an Iranian Christian called Akram who attends the Iranian church in Finchley. We had a lovely lesson with her outside the restaurant, she told us of her family and their mutual faith in Jesus Christ. We swapped details and have been trying to arrange a date to meet again. So, last Friday we made some calls to try and set some appointments and Eli miraculously answers and agrees to meet at the chapel. We meet at the chapel and have a wonderful lesson with her along with a church tour. We begin to talk about family and she mentions her mother and her influence on her. We ask the name of her mother and she says 'akky', instantly we respond 'is that short for akram?' 'Yes', 'do you live at 11 roman road?' 'Yes' 'woooooooooooow'! We were teaching the daughter of the woman we met outside the Persian restaurant, the daughter who she had spoken so fondly about and the desire she had for her to more fully commit to Christ. We have been praying for a family and Heavenly Father provided in a way which I would have thought near impossible. There are about one million people in our area and the chances of separately finding two members of an Iranian family, who both want to increase their faith in Jesus Christ is a statistic that I don't even want to think about. All I know is that it happened and it was orchestrated by the Lord himself. continue to be amazed by how closely our Heavenly Father watches over his children.

This mission is teaching me to be humble, to be aware of just how finite my mind is and to accept guidance from above without question or doubt. 'Do not be afraid, only believe'. He is there and He is active in our lives, He has our best interests at heart; what He needs from us is for us to trust Him. We have to let Him work with us and be malleable in His masterful Hands. I love you all and I feel the effect of your prayers, thank you. Please continue praying for those receiving the Gospel and share it with those who need it (everyone).

 Hugs and Handshakes, Elder Nolan

28th October News from the field

Greetings!

I'm into my 5^th week! Argh! This last week has been busy as ever!

Last Monday we (Nolan, Hein, Micthell, David) went to Harrods. We needed to do our weekly shop and found very quickly that our budget does not accommodate the purchasing of Harry Potter wands, exotic dogs and silk pyjamas. The place is amazing and obscene at the same time. As we left the great and spacious building we came across a black...Velvet...Ferrari. Yes, Velvet. You know you've made it when you have to take your car to the dry cleaners.

Since I arrived I made a few goals, one of them was to get into ward council. This may seem odd, but Elder Hein has been here nearly 6 months and has not been in one yet. Yesterday was ward council and we were in it! We put forward our ideas about member missionary work and passed around the teaching calendar we had made. It's so that every member of ward council goes teaching at least once a month with the missionaries. President Phillips (hyde park stake) has given us permission to really push this and use his name if ward council members kick up a fuss! He's great. The first person to complain was our Ward Mission Leader! What can you do? I pointed out that this hadn't really come from President Phillips, it's come from President Monson. Which actually means it's come directly from God.

The gospel principles lesson is taught by a recent convert, Mikko. He's a university lecturer who lectures masters' students on Corporate Strategy. The lesson was on Prophets and he posed the question 'how do we follow and sustain the Prophet'.. I've been pondering the stories from the Old Testament lately and Moses parting the Red sea came to mind. The hastening of the work we are seeing now can be likened to that story so well. Imagine being one of the Israelites, standing behind Moses as he did this and think about your reaction as he invited you to cross the red sea. How uncomfortable would you feel? Would you have doubts about how long the water would hold? Would you take your family? Would you have faith enough in Moses and his prophetic call to act on what he has proposed you do?  I've often taken the term Follow the Prophet  too lightly, it's very easy to follow him when the things he asks are easy; reading scriptures, praying etc but when he asks us to exercise our faith not only in him but in God and the power of Christ's Gospel, this is when we sometimes struggle. We're worried about the water not holding. What we sometimes miss is that everything the Prophet does is for the benefit of other people. When it comes to missionary work what we have trouble getting past is the fear of rejection. The wonderful thing about missionary work is that rejection feels good. Believe it or not. If someone rejects the message that we share that's fine, but if we fail to share that message in the first then we have made a pretty big decision for them. People we have found this week are people, who at first we thought wouldn't accept, or they were in too much of a hurry or they won't respond to me. These are little lies that we tell ourselves and you know who supports. The reality is, the people who are prepared will listen no matter how unprepared you might feel. A testimony shared invites the spirit; and the spirit invites them to share the blessings of the Gospel. I know this is true.

So, I have two weeks left here for definite, I have a feeling I'm moving as they need drivers. We have a good pool of investigators right now and we've just started teaching a family and we have another one on wed and Friday! I've wanted to teach a family for ages and now we have 3, the hard work has payed off! Now the real work begins. It's such great fun teaching the gospel and seeing the spirit testify to someone of truth. The other Elders in our area asked us to go and teach Florence who had been dragging her heels to the font for supposedly the second time. Everyone has been under the impression she has been baptised in the Church before but there is no record of it. So we went round (Thursday) and the first thing she said was that she was absolutely not getting baptised. The Spirit told us both that we had to be bold in this lesson and stress the importance of the covenant she may or may not have already made. We went through the baptismal questions with her and she passed with flying colours. She believed she wasn't ready. She thought that because the Church had lost her records that that was a sign from God that she shouldn't be baptised again. See how satan plants these thoughts. So the time came after we had shared some scriptures, when we asked her what her heart was telling her. She broke down, 'I know, I know' she wept. It was amazing, she finally let her mind listen to what God was saying to her, the spirit was so strong. She offered a prayer in which she asked God to make it possible for her to be baptised. She even made me teary! She's on date for this Saturday. I'm going to her house tonight to eat Jollof rice and watch the Prophet of the restoration film! Sweet!

So life is good. My mind is being programmed more like a missionary each day. Which at first is scary but now I'm letting it happen.

I love you all, thankyou for everything.

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan


STOP PRESS ... THE BIT THAT NEARLY GOT MISSED......

haha! I forgot to inform you that the ward had 2 baptisms this weekend, Curtis and Nigel. Great guys. Curtis was asked by the catholic church to become a Priest. Intelligent man. The ward has been in desperate need of preisthood holders and this year the missionaries have baptized 4 potential bishops. Really good men who want to serve. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost at the baptismal service and was part of the musical item!