Bye Bye Norfolk...

Taco bell on the air base today, So good and so cheap!

 

Mitchell, Mother Jacobsmeyer, Me





American Dr Pepper is the BOMB!

 This is a photo no one ever takes, Sister Jordan organising the Elders for a zone photo!

 

Bye Bye Norwich Zone

   
   Me and Neil, took this after he showed  us his new Porsche Cayenne - he is a student!

We're so busy, we wash our car at night whilst waiting for a kebab!

​Me, Buddy and Johnson, the three musketeers are taking a breather for now!

Hey Everyone! 

The time has come again to pack my things and prepare myself for a new adventure in the England London Mission. Although I'm sad to leave people behind and be split from Elder Johnson, I know my time has come to leave and I am really excited for my new area. I am going to the Watford zone and my new companion will be Elder Hutchins. He was also born in London North and he has been out 18 months. He is a great zone leader and I am looking forward to learning from him. 

I have loved my time in Norwich, I have learnt so many things whilst being here and developed my skills as a missionary. Last week, me and Elder Johnson taught a lesson to our friend called Andy and I feel like it was my finest hour of teaching from my whole mission (Because I wasn't trying to be the teacher). These past few months I have learnt the importance of helping someone conclude things for themselves, I've learnt that questions are the arrows to a missionaries bow and ultimately for conversion to occur we must have absolute faith in the mission of the Holy Ghost. He is the teacher. 

I read a book last week called 'The power of everyday missionaries' by Clayton M. Christensen. It is not in the missionary library, it is a book designed for members to read and it is a truly wonderful book. It has helped me to understand how members feel about missionary work, the things which everyone finds difficult and the way in which we overcome these obstacles in bringing souls unto Christ. If you're reading this and thinking, maybe I should read this book - read it. If you're reading this and thinking 'not another missionary 'how to' manual' - read it. I can promise you that you will enjoy it and feel a little more confident in sharing the Gospel, it helped me a lot.

General Conference was magnificent wasn't it? I loved it. I always feel so uplifted and hopeful after hearing prophets and apostles speak. The saddest moment of conference was when I realised I only had one left on my mission. Listening to conference on my mission is where I have learnt the principle of having ears to hear. 

So, the next time I write I'll have much more time hopefully and will be able to fill you in a bit better on what is happening. I want you to know that I am happy, I feel the spirit everyday and there is nowhere in the world I would rather be than serving in the England London Mission. 

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan

Live like a warrior!

Hey everyone,

Crazy day today so not much time to write!

So me and the Elders performed a song called 'Live like a Warrior' at the ward variety show and this is the audio from it, the video file is too big! Hope you like it :)

Love you all

Hugs and Hanshakes

Elder Nolan

(Editors note, sorry folks no audio clip was attached)

365 Down

NFN (Normal For Norfolk)

Johnson, Torres, Nolan

The first photo was taken at 6. 15 this morning hence the tired eyes

Hello!

 How are you?

This week has been somewhat of a mixed bag, filled with miracles, proud moments and reality checks. I'll start with a miracle; On Monday we were teaching at the chapel, a catholic woman who is really struggling to accept the apostasy. As, the conversation was getting a little heated whilst discussing the 8^th chapter of Moroni, my heart said a quick prayer that the contention would cease, just as that prayer was concluded we see a shining, Chinese smile searching for a place to pray beam at us through the front door of the Church. We beckoned her in and as drew closer we could all sense a Spirit of peace and calm, reminiscent of a new born baby. She tells us her name is Sabrina and that she has looked at the church a few times as she has walked to university and wanted to know if she could join us for worship. As we lifted our jaws from off the floor we swapped details and arranged to meet the next day. Since then we have been teaching her the restoration, (we even watched the film in Chinese) and she has accepted the challenge to be baptised on Oct 25^th!

The proud moment of this week was Sunday, sacrament meeting. We came into the Chapel at 9.25 to see Neil and Buddy sat together ready to pass the sacrament for the first time. It was so beautiful. There was only one problem; Neil hadn't received the priesthood yet! We told Bishop; luckily Neil was sustained last week, so bishop grabbed him and told us to follow! We frog marched Neil to Bishops office, sat him down and conferred upon him the Aaronic priesthood and ordained him to the office of priest. Despite the rush and mild panic, Neil received a moving blessing which visibly affected him. He and Buddy then fulfilled their duties with great reverence and the feelings I experienced were deeply humbling. To go from seeing Neil read the Book of Mormon in Chinese for the first time and tell us of his concerns about the word of wisdom as he was worried if he didn't drink he wouldn't be able to think o good business ideas, from seeing Buddy stare at the ward notice board instead of going into institute on his first night back at church, to today, seeing them fulfil sacred Priesthood responsibilities in white shirts and ties was a little overwhelming, yet wholly comforting. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about progress and change; it is about liberating an individual to the point that they do things that will have positive eternal effects on themselves and those around them. I love it so much.

The reality check that I was ambushed with was the arrival of a package from home marking a milestone event in a missionary's short life. I opened the box to find the inscription 'Oooh! We're half way there' (lyrics from an unapproved song I might add), nevertheless it screamed at me the harrowing truth that I am half way through my mission. This past year has felt like a life time played in fast forward, taking about a week in total to experience. I still remember the feeling I had driving to the MTC, thinking about whether I should take the bottle of orange cream soda I was drinking in with me or leave it in the car for my mum to clear away. I remember the feelings I had when I knelt down to pray that first night and telling the Lord 'Well, you've got me for two years' Not really anticipating what He was going to do with me. It hasn't been a perfect year, there are many things I could have done better, but I am comforted in the knowledge that a day hasn't gone by where I haven't testified of my Saviour Jesus Christ and the divine orchestration of the restoration of his Gospel in the latter days. I know he lives, I know he loves us and I know his Gospel is the answer to everything.  I feel truly blessed to have another year to bear testimony of that fact, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

This week we have Zone conference where we will be performing a song that we wrote last week on our exchange with Elder Torres (Assistant). We have changed the lyrics to Jason Mraz'- I'm Yours and have renamed it 'this time is yours (to put people on date)' hehe so hopefully I can get it filmed and send it through next week!

I leave you with a scripture that will cater for a lifetime of feasting upon the words of Christ, we studied it this morning at early morning seminary (we got there in the end Mum!) with the young men,

Doctrine and Covenants  Section 4

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

 2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that yeserve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

 3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;

 4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in storethat he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

 5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the gloryof God, qualify him for the work.

 6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience,brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

 7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan

                                                              365 CELEBRATION !!

 

  
                                                            Crazy Mum

A man without eloquence

Hey everyone!

How's it going?

It has been a very long week; so much travel, I feel like I have been a taxi driver more than a missionary. Nevertheless the Lord has blessed us with miracles and the work of salvation is definitely moving forward in the Norwich Zone!

Elder Johnson finally got over his sickness and jumped straight back into action, he had KFC for his first proper meal after 4 days of nothing, surprisingly he kept it down and so we are going to celebrate by going there for lunch today!

Buddy received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday! And he is so excited about it, this is what it is all about – progress. I have been amazed at the progress of Buddy, he taught a lesson with us last Monday and his testimony was riveting, in preach my Gospel it teaches that the time will come when someone is backed up to the wall of faith and at that point they must take a stand, this comes after someone bears testimony of the truth they have received by the power of God. At this point all tact, all argument, all philosophy and all doubt is drowned out by the insistent witness the Spirit gives that the testimony given is true. It reminded me of the video 'A man without eloquence' , the power of a simple testimony is unmatched and I am so thankful for the testimonies that Illuminated my understanding  and ushered in the hope of eternal life.

 We had a mission wide leadership conference this week, which is much like MLC but the district leaders are also invited. The trainings given were really inspiring, the mission has a lot of very experience senior missionaries; in priesthood leadership, business and many returned missionaries. Elder Phillips gave training on communication, and we had a game in which we had to navigate across an expanse of pieces of paper, it was almost like a minefield, the whole team of about 10 had to get across, the catch was that you could not speak or point. I was a referee and it was fascinating to see how the missionaries did this, they had 20 minutes, they could call everyone in together for a team talk and re-evaluate their plans, but once that was over they could not talk to one another. This dynamic was so interesting; I really believe they were more successful because they didn't speak. They didn't have one missionary shouting the loudest and taking control, it created a great sense of unity and people actually listened to the team talk and then observed how they as an individual could influence the team's effort for good. In the evaluation given by Elder Phillips he talked about how listening is the most important form of communication, I have definitely found that to be true on my mission. When someone is talking we are sometimes so hooked up on what response we are going to give that we don't even focus on what the person in front of us is actually saying! He also said that 'There is no failed plan, there is only feedback', I loved this, it is such a misunderstood principle. We feel like when our original plan has failed, that means that our goal is now impossible to reach, but it is quite the opposite, it means that you are progressing towards that goal as you have identified what doesn't work! Therefore you now have the opportunity to start a fresh, make new plans and learn valuable lessons in the process. Before my mission I had no understanding of what it means or even what it takes to be successful, now I know that 'failure' is the evidence of fault and success is the quest to correct it. #CaptainMoroni

We met a lovely lady called sally last Sunday as we were getting Elder Johnsons medication, we talked to her about all sorts of things and gave her snippets of the Gospel ; she told us of her time spent teaching her friends how to crochet and how she really loves to give of herself. She was such a lovely lady and had a wonderful spirit. I asked her 'do you know how to sew?', she confirmed that she did and we established that she could sew at quite a high standard, so I put her previous expression of charity to the test and popped the question (we met 10 minutes ago) 'Will you sew up my trousers? You see they have split at the seam and I just don't know how to fix it' to which after a few seconds of neural digestion she replied 'Yes, alright'. WINNER! The next day we dropped them off and the day after we picked them up. It was her birthday on Saturday so we posted a card through her letterbox; we are having an uplifting text conversation and are planning to teach her this week! My mother always taught me 'If you don't ask, you don't get!' Amen to that. PMG tells us that in every conversation we have we should commit someone to doing something; I don't think it meant this though haha

Anyway,

I love you all

Hugs and Handshakes

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

Yeah Buddy!

With the Craskes

Taking the sisters to the station today, Sister Aliberti (black hair) goes home to italy tomorrow!

The waffle house breakfast with Buddy

Our new companion Elder Craske!

Me and sister Russell - amazing woman!

Hey everyone,

How are you?

I never thought 6 weeks could go by so fast, but it has and I am looking back on it and all I'm seeing is a blurry memory of failures and success's, pains and joys, fleeting goals being enveloped by the shadow of doubt only to be chased away by the unstoppable rays of faith and love that have descended upon the Norwich zone in our labour to bring souls unto Christ. It has been a transfer filled with miracles.

I have learnt that when we put our trust in the Lord, when we stop thinking that we have to pull the line on our own and realise that there is no way that we could do it alone (or that we never have been asked to) and we plead with him every day and show him that we are willing to work until we can't work anymore, it is at that point that we finally unlock the door that is holding back the numberless blessings the Lord is eager to shower us with and allow Him to magnify the means to make miracles happen in the lives of those around us.

We are hitting our goals as a mission, as a zone and as individuals.

So our friend loving kindness came to church on Sunday and had a great time, he is about to go walkabout in the south west of England and I'm sure his experience of the 'Mormons' will stay with him forever. Buddy is doing phenomenally well and we are already planning out the road trip across America we are having after mine and Johnson's missions are up! He will be baptised this weekend, we are so very happy for him and we feel extremely blessed to have been a part of his conversion story.

So, transfer week is upon us, we got the call late last night; me and Elder Johnson are staying together in Norwich. We are really happy with this news and are so excited for the new transfer!

It starts again, we have set some great goals together and this will be the transfer that I hit my year mark. It is such a terrifying thought yet at the same time it will be a very humbling moment for me. I love being a missionary and for the first time it's beginning to hit me that this will one day come to an end.

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

Kings lynn district - I don't know what i'm doing - My bro Elder Tautfest on the far right with the sweet frames finishes his mission tomorrow, going to miss him! 

It's in right?

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

La Bamba

The reason this is entitle 'La Bamba' is because we have a great investigator called Buddy and he is on date for 31st August! This is the man we found at the chapel and showed the new mormon message to, we are teaching him today and going for a chinese buffet together! Shweeeet!

Hey,

How are you all doing?

We have had a good week, with lots of miracles, baptismal dates and even a brand new philipino baby being born! Maricel gave birth to her baby girl Alexandra on saturday morning! We are going to go round and sing to her tonight :)

Me and Elder Johnson are continuing to have a whole lot of fun, to work hard and in a way that the Lord can really use us to bring out his great and eternal purposes. Its good.

So on Wednesday, we were to do service at a members house, we had to grab something from the chapel and as we were the leaving it began to pour down. So we went to check something on the computer and after about 10 mins the Family History patron walks in with two very wet door to door leaflet workers. They sat down with us and we proceeded to chat and talk about life, work and eventually God. We shared with them a great video (i'll post it below) and they asked such great questions. We prayed with them, swapped details and we are meeting with them this week. I thanked the Lord for the rain that day, something which I have always been hesitant to do. They were merely looking for physical shelter from the rain and they left with sunshine in their soul. 

I love being a missionary!

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan

The District

5th of August 2014

Elder Johnson found me this morning, wide awake after a night of feasting upon the american treats Sister Teal sent me! 

 

We loaded this truck up this morning! There was so much flippin' stuff! Good workout, felt good to lift things again :)

 

Cromer beach

Previous assistant Elder Dominguez came to Norwich Interviews yesterday

'Are those signs for Manchester?'

Hey everyone!

This week has been busy, busy, busy. We had interviews on Monday which is always a great experience. We received a training on the Holy Ghost being THE teacher and not A teacher. It makes all the difference. I remember in the MTC when president Edwards asked me what I wanted to learn and I replied by saying ' I want to learn how to create an environment where the Spirit can teach and testify to everyone in the room'. For the most part I have learnt how to do that, but somewhere along the line and somewhere in between knowing nothing about the scriptures to feeling pretty comfortable defending the faith strapped with a leather bound quad standard works,  I have stumbled and made the mistake of thinking that I am THE teacher and have forgotten my humble desire at the start of my mission. Pride manifests in so many ways. Thankfully repentance is available to all. 

This week I got up in fast and testimony meeting. A sister had said that she love the fact that our sins are forgiven when we bear testimony of the Gospel. I said that I used to believe that missionaries were these sinless, 'one step from being exalted beings who never made mistakes, hence the shimmering glow that so readily had about them. But now I realise that it is because we bear testimony ALOT and so the gift of repentance is granted unto us continually allowing the Holy Ghost to give us that humbly recognizable spiritual sheen.

We had some wonderful miracles last week, one of them has been the answer to so man prayers me and Elder Johnson have uttered. We had forgotten to print something at the chapel, I was really annoyed I'd forgotten to do it as (despite pre mission habits) I don't tend to forget things now. So we arrived at the chapel and a member approached us and told us that a YSA had turned up to institute who hadn't been to church in over 9 years, 'could you go and speak to him'. We met him and I commended him on just walking back through the chapel doors as I knew full well how hard that can be. He was such a lovely guy. We felt inspired to show a mormon message with him. We found that a new one had been posted, we had not seen it and neither had he. We agreed to watch it for the first time together and the first line of the whole video was 'For 25 years I wandered' the man i was sat next to had also been wandering for 25 years! The video then continued to mirror some of the experiences that he had had and it brought about a great spiritual experience in him. After he assured us that his story wasnt quite as rock 'n' roll as the video, we prayed together and as we did it was clear that buddy was being re acquainted with his heavenly friend. We set up to teach him this week. We have since found out that he has never been baptized and so the miracle investigator we have been praying literally walked into our life. All this time I've been worrying about how we are going to replenish our teaching pool with solid new investigators and the Lord just patiently waits for me to realise that he has got it covered. I love being a missionary.

Me and Elder Johnson are getting along great. He is one of the most genuinely good people I have ever met, I don't think he has ever had a bad thought. He isn't naive though and I am teaching him how to drive so it's all fun and games. 

I hope you all have a great week! 

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