I'm in Maldon Baby!

Me and phelps

My first fried snickers! scrumptious!

Burning of our ties. me, Sister Falcao and Elder Mitchell,

all 6 monthers

It was harder than i thought it would be!

I burnt a nice one aswell so it felt like a sacrifice haha

Leaving Highgate

Medhi, me, Wilson, Andrew and elder Mitchell. 

All three will be blessing the sacrament soon

Service Day

Hey!

How are you?

This week has flown by as me and Elder Phelps have seen so much success in the blessed land of Maldon. The Ward is amazing, In every sense of the word. Elder Nielsen in London North told me all about this place as he has served here for 6 months. When he arrived at our flat in London north he was so homesick for this ward and I can understand why. It reminds me of home, they have long standing members who all have super strong testimonies of the Gospel and personal relationships with their saviour. I could feel their faith in sacrament meeting on Sunday and I know that they are about to burst with missionary work. There is so much potential for growth here.

It’s just as well as leaving London north was really hard. It was like leaving home again. Packing my things up and seeing people for the last time was much harder than I thought it would be, I guess you get comfortable. London North will always have a reserved spot in my heart. I learnt how to be a missionary there, I learnt how to listen to the Spirits promptings and most importantly I learnt how to trust in the Lord. I LOVE YOU LONDON NORTH!

SO We already have a wonderful investigator called Irene. She has been attending church for the past 3 weeks and the ward has welcomed her so lovingly. The best thing is that she has a strong faith in Christ, her desire to follow him is increasing and she has expressed her desire to be baptised. We are currently working out logistics as the next few weeks seem pretty hectic for her but I know we will get there. Please pray for her to continue to feel and be taught by the Spirit.

Our new district leader asked me to give training in district meeting on Saturday on why we need the Spirit in our work. In preparing, I pondered on the experiences of my mission that have not only taught the people I’ve been teaching but have helped me grow and they have all been products of the Spirit. As we help people come closer to Christ by preparing them to make covenants with God and live the requirements to receive a remission of sin, the Spirit prepares us to keep those covenants and truly become converted to the Gospel. Without it we would simply be immersing an individual, but with it the individual experiences new birth, free from their past and is filled with a ‘perfect brightness hope’ towards the future. I once again feel humbled by the power the Spirit truly has in our lives and the cleansing effect it has on our hearts.  

Me and Elder Phelps are having a blast, I am so happy to be having fun all the time! We are so excited for this transfer and we can see the wave gathering on the horizon and its up to us to catch it.

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

Picture Time

Watching "Despicable Me" Christmas 2013 

Hein & Nolan December 2013 before transfers

Christmas Gants 2013

11.11.13 Went to Gelato waiting for transfer news

Jonny the Cocktail Artist Dec2013

Nov 2013 Zone Conference 2

Pass along card mania Christmas 2013

The London North Zone Dec  2013

Tube home from Christmas Show Dec 2013

16th December Update

 Me and Elder David (White) and Mitchell (Brown) 

Missing Picture

Me and SIster Rainsley, she brings me prawn mayo sandwiches to the church on tuesdays as she knows they're my fave. I love her!

Me eating our favourite kebab. 3.50 for chicken chips and a drink! bargain in London!

This is us with Allar, he's from estonia. He had an accident a few years back and shouldnt be here he told us last time. He's off to estonia for christmas and is planning on telling his family about the gospel. He's slowly working towards baptism. Prayers are welcomed :)

Greetings!

How are you all doing?

Apologies for my lack of communication lately!

Christmas in London is already a sweet experience, all my Christmas shopping was purchased on a market stall in Camden town, boom. If you don’t already know I really dislike shopping so this was a blessing!  The decorations around the city are looking great and there is a real Christmas atmosphere in the air.

So, something we do in the Mission is a little exercise called ‘Mind the Gap’ in which we teach a certain point of doctrine with a scripture and an inspired question and this all has to be done in 2 minutes. The points come from PMG and everything we need to teach is broken down into 12 weeks so we can practice them 4 times a day and by the end of 12 weeks have it remembered. SO, this week we had a visit from Elder Dyches of the seventy. The chapel was filled with half of the mission, senior couples, President and Sister Jordan and Elder Dyches and his wife. Elder Riki one of the AP’s was conducting the meeting and as he began the announcements I receive a premonition of what is about to happen. Elder Nolan will be giving a ‘gap’ training on the ‘book of Mormon; another testament of Jesus Christ’.  Lo and behold, this becomes a reality. I have not reached this in my 12 week course and so the panic set in. Time seemed to stop. I looked to Elder Hein for some kind of fatherly support and all he could say to me was ‘Moroni 10’, this was not the scripture to be used in the training. ‘Elder Nolan’ I hear coming from the stand. It’s do or die time, so I walk up to the stand, I see Elder Dyches’ huge smile and for some reason it doesn’t help. I get to the stand and start trying to find the scripture I’m using and it seems as the Book of Mormon I’ve been reading wasn’t the one in my hands. Anyway, I begin and get through my 2 minute testimony of the BoM. I feel President Jordan’s hand on my shoulder and he asks the congregation ‘what did you like about Elder Nolan’s gap?’ They were very kind and liked that I described it (BoM) as a fruit of Joseph Smith. President Jordan then went over the points and it was clear that I had missed more than a few haha He asked the congregation what I should do to improve to which I replied ‘Study the points!’  Elder Dyches Shook my hand and said I did great. Now, the plus side to this story now is that I know that point of doctrine from top to bottom with the scripture etched on my soul!

After the meeting, Elder Tobia came to me and informed me that he was the one who constructed the agenda for the meeting and frighteningly said to me ‘that is what you get for beating me at stick pole!’ haha

Elder Dyches’ gave us some great insights into working with members and told us the parable of the Oranges.

So, this week was the ward Christmas party. All the missionaries in the ward were at the chapel on Saturday morning for the English class we hold. Me and Elder Hein were teaching Margarita and had a wonderful experience with her. We chose to watch the talk ‘We will never walk alone’ by president Monson and it was perfect for her at the time. We had no idea what it was about or that it was in the Relief Society session we just felt it was the right one! SO, Dasoulla turns up at the chapel with all the food for the Ward Party. Stacks of it. Then just as she begins to prepare it she gets the call that her daughter is going into labour! Ha! So she has to shoot and in panic asks the Missionaries to supervise the situation. The other sister who was supposed to be coming also had a family crisis and so the London North missionaries have to come to the rescue. I wasn’t impressed at all. No one was picking up their phone and we had missionary work to do! Thankfully our appointments cancelled and we could get on with the job. We did such a great Job. The sister missionaries ran the kitchen and the Elders sorted the music and decorations. I somehow ended up in the middle and cut up peppers, rolled ham, rolled cheese, made salad, cut bread, covered all the food with foil ( which Americans can’t seem to understand why) and made a reservoir of fruit punch! We had to transport this bowl of punch from the kitchen to the hall and it was the most stressful part of my mission haha! The sister’s were the ones that made everything happen though. Hats off to them.  Now, this situation was annoying at first, but then we saw it as an opportunity. We tried to see the situation as Ammon would see it. We were ready to smite the arms off this Christmas Party so to speak. And we did. In turn I really feel the ward trusts us a lot more and on Sunday we had members asking to come teaching with us and inviting us round for dinner to teach their friends! What a great blessing! We really showed that we are here to serve in ANY way we can. I wasn’t too happy we had to clean up as well though haha Elder Hein will account of his escapades as the friendly Neighborhood Spider-man. I'm way proud of him for this.

So we had Margarita and Angela at church and they both loved it. Please pray for them over this period as they are so close to being baptized they just need that extra strength to commit to the Lord. J

Sunday night we performed at Hyde Park for the last time as the Choir. I thought it was our best performance as well. I’ve really enjoyed performing and it’s been a really unique experience to have as a missionary. I’m really thankful for the talents Heavenly Father gives each of us and how even if we aren’t very good at something we can still enjoy doing it. I hope you’ve enjoyed the songs we recorded. WE recorded in the chapel and when we were warming up last night in the basement we realized we recorded in the wrong room haha

So I’m still happy and enjoying myself even though this week has been hard at times, appointments falling through and the heavens have felt more distant than usual. I guess we need to work harder, ey?

Helaman 5:12

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

Note from the "Editor" seems like everyone, we didn't get the pictures 
Elder Nolan thinks he sent :)
Update 18/12/13 all but one picture found and added