Blessings

                                                                     New haircut!

                                 

                                     The wonderful Honn Family!

                                                      

Brother George Stevens from Maldon, great to see him. 95 years old and still cleans the chapel twice a week!

Hello Everyone,

How are you?

This week has been great for our area, we have some wonderful friends

we are teaching and they are progressing so well. We have our friend

called Pare who we found two weeks ago and she is preparing to be

baptised on the 9th August. We found her after praying where we should

go in all of London after a day of phone calls with the zone leaders.

We felt prompted to travel to a place called Vauxhall - and so we set

off with a spring in our step, confident that the Lord had a work for

us to do there. As we walked we were finding by the way and after a

few dead end conversations we stopped this young, Thai student who had

a lovely cross necklace. It's always a great opener to point to that

and ask about their time as a Christian (it's incredible how many

people just wear it as a fashion item!). We then had the most amazing

step in lesson with Pare, the Spirit was so strong and she said she

felt like she wanted to cry. We talked about Ether 12:27 in the Book

of Mormon and it brought such comfort to her. We extended a baptismal

invitation and set a date on the spot. Since then she has met with us

3 times and we talk nearly everyday about her wonderful experiences

with the Book of Mormon. She is keeping the word of wisdom and when

she was taught the plan of salvation she expressed that now she

understands just how much God loves her 'this gives my life so much

meaning and purpose', we feel so blessed!

Next week we have the baptism of our friend Gem who is from Burnley of

all places! She is so great and is progressing really well. She

brought her friend to the church a few weeks ago and we taught them

both with President and Sister Stevens and it went really well. Gem

has quite an incredible story, she had some health trouble and

suffered some memory loss, when she woke up after the ordeal the only

thing she could see in her minds eye was the Book of Mormon despite

not remembering what the missionaries had previously taught her! How

crazy is that? And what a blessing in disguise when you think about

it, I think it really solidified her feeling that this was the most

important thing she could choose to do. So we are really excited for

her this week.

We've been on 3 exchanges this week which has been fun! I was in St.

Albans with Elder Williams , then back to Maldon with Elder Helisto

who's only been out 3 months - he thought he was in big trouble when

he found out he was exchanging with us - he is a really promising

young missionary and we have planned to work more with the young ones

as the mission will need young leadership very soon. And then lastly I

was with Elder Patterson in London. Going back to Maldon was awesome,

I saw Irene again, Mani, Kavita and sveta and of course the Wheelers!

Such great people over there, I love it. Bro wheeler asked me what my

favourite meal was before I came, so I jokingly replied 'steak

and ribs', we got there on Thursday night and he had gone and sorted

it out hadn't he! What a lad! We had some good fun. It was just great

to see how well everyone was doing. Irene is just so pure and faithful

- she is preparing for the temple. Mani swung by the chapel just as

we're teaching a lesson and he was able to join us and bear testimony

of his experience with the Church and his testimony of Jesus Christ

and it was so powerful, it really benefitted our Romanian friend who

we were teaching. I really enjoy exchanges, it's such a blessing. In

the missionary handbook leaders are counselled to always remember that

exchanges are a time for learning just as much as they are a time for

training and I can testify that that is true. I think every exchange I

have been in I have returned as a better missionary because of the

example of the missionary I was with. This mission has awesome

missionaries and in a few transfers it will have the best missionaries

in the world.

                               Organising transfers - Before!!

                                       Transfers done! - After!!

So, transfer weekend. It has been quite the task getting it sorted,

but we got there. It is always a spiritual experience when we work on

the transfer board and organise the missionaries to where they need to

be and more importantly who they need to be with. The Spirit works 

with you in a very particular way. Your mind feels quickened in

organising and discerning what will happen in a certain

companionship. At each stage of the moves a feeling of rightness or

the opposite will testify to all of us in the room and we will know who

needs to stay or change. On my mission, one of the challenges that I have

loved most is problem solving and finding the best solution for

multiple parties and so doing the moves, whilst being challenging and

long, has been a lot of fun for me as well. I'm just so grateful for

these experiences. Sister Stevens cooked a wonderful meal for us last

night as well! Three courses, we were her guinea pigs for next weeks

departing dinner! This meal came after I had been taken by Elder Leite

to a Brazilian barbecue for lunch. So much meat! It was amazing. His

family friend from back home dropped by to take him out for dinner on

behalf of his parents for his birthday! It worked out that his

companion Elder Jackson and my companion had a family they baptised

together come and visit them. So I got to go to this epic feast.

Whenever me and Elder Leite are together we just get taken to the

fanciest restaurants - we got taken to the Langham together last time!

It was a lot of fun.

In other eating outings, the Honn Family came to visit on Friday! They

are from Idaho and Sister Honn was raised in Norwich, their son Ethan

enters the MTC in 3 weeks. We went to a chicken restaurant in

Piccadilly Circus and it was so good! It was such a blessing seeing

them again, they are a wonderful family and I have really bonded with

them. Me and Ethan talked about the mission and he asked for some

advice so I gave him Mosiah 24 to read. I love how many great people

we get to meet on a mission, I really hope I can keep in contact with

all of these great people.

In other news, I bought a suit this week for £30 from tesco's so we

will see how long that lasts. Hopefully for 6 weeks, right? Yikes!

Anyway,

Have a great sabbath!

I love you all

Hugs and handshakes

Elder Nolan

Photo Time

 P Day Morning, Sun over London 25.11.13

Thanksgiving Meal 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

25th November News from the field

Heyy friends!

Apologies for the silence last week!

I'm just in an internet cafe in archway as Hyde Park chapel's computer room was seemingly very popular today! Me and the other Elder's travelled to London bridge this morning to catch the sun rise over the skyline. Such an amazing sight, sadly we were the only people appreciating it as passer's by were too busy reacting to the stench of Tourist (us) in the air. So many people cross London bridge in the morning, all going to northwards, all staring dead ahead, facing the harsh cold and another day at the office. It made me appreciate how blessed I am to be serving a mission. I wake up smiling (on the inside at least), I wake up excited to read my scriptures and to find new people, I wake up wanting to be better than the next day. I hope I don't lose this attitude when I get home and the daily grind start's to take it's toll. If anything I hope that I always remember how much the Gospel has blessed my life and challenged me to be better.

After enjoying the views and taking some quality photo's, we decided that we would no longer be an audience to the infamous roads of London Town and become a part of the mayhem. We hired bicycles. Barclays Bicycles. It was one of the craziest experiences of my mission so far! We road on the shoulders of Giant red buses, we navigated through the desperate cracks of a temporary traffic jam and braved some of the most accident ridden junctions in the northern hemisphere. And we survived. Such great fun!

So the rest of my week has been busy as ever and has again fortified my testimony of the restored Gospel. We are teaching a man called Allar, he's from Estonia (so tempted to mimic his accent in lessons) He does 3d virtual design- he worked on the John Carter Disney film, he also studies psychology in his spare time and attends conferences at Oxford on the matter. He's a thinker which I like. He recognised early on that he had to be open to change as people tend to suffer from change aversion theory which basically means someone is resistant to change even if the change is for the better as it means leaving behind the version of you that you are comfortable with. Anyway, we showed him the video Mountains to Climb, for those of you who haven't watched it, watch it. If you come away feeling the same as you did before you watched it then something is wrong or your name is Allar! Haha We couldn't believe his reaction, he felt nothing. So we moved on and commited him to keep on reading and praying. SO the last time we went round we began talking about the past week and Allar shared with us something neither of us expected. He said 'The other night before I went to sleep, something happened, It felt like clarity in my mind and I began to understand the message Book of Mormon. I know I felt something aswell', Boooom! He just took a ride down revelation street baby! This is how I received my testimony of the Book of Mormon I told him. Just before we go to bed and our mind is clearing, this is the time that The Spirit can communicate with us and connect our hearts and minds to the portal of truth. At the close of the lesson he gave such an inspiring prayer, where he told his Heavenly Father that he looks forward to receiving the happiness that he has witnessed as he attended church with us. He knows the Gospel truly blesses people's lives.

Krissy one of our less active who we have been working so hard with finally attended church yesterday. I didn't think i'd feel that happy! We've been trying for this since i got here and Elder Hein has been trying before that. She is such a sweet soul and we love her so much. To see her progressing as she is, is so wonderful!

We had a great miracle happen yesterday, which came from being in the right place at the right time and DOING the right thing. President Jordan has included it in his email to all the missionaries;

Elder Hein and Elder Nolan in London North had an experience like that this week. They had planned to visit a potential investigator and take him a Book of Mormon. Despite having planned properly, when they arrived he was not home. Like diligent missionaries, they decided to find by the way and began street contacting in the area. And then a miracle came, but not from any of the people they had stopped. Two young women, both 18, walked up to them and said, "You're Mormon missionaries!" The elders agreed. One of the young women explained that she had recently moved to London from up North. She had been taught there and was preparing to be baptised. When she relocated to London she lost contact with the Church. She referred herself on mormon.org but no one had contacted her. Then as she was waiting at a bus stop she saw the elders talking to people on the street. She walked up and asked if she could be taught again and her companion also expressed interest.

We plan and God prepares, but not always in the way we anticipate. That is one reason Preach My Gospel reminds us:"Perhaps you have been led to this person because someone else in the home or the neighbourhood is ready for the gospel." Our part is to do our best and then trust the Lord of the harvest. As the Prophet Joseph put it, "let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." Don't be afraid to follow the promptings you receive. Don't be discouraged if things don't work out the way you planned. The Lord sees your sacrifices and in his time you will see his hand in your work.

So, it's thanksgiving this week and I don't understand why we don't celebrate it as much as our American friends. I think it's such a wonderful holiday; it's something that England needs to celebrate. We have been asking people what they're thankful for as we've been working this week. Last week me and Elder Hein visited a Retirement home and sang hymns for the inmates. They loved it! It's great practice for me as well as their ears don't seem to detect duff notes (or they're just too polite to tell me). We asked these great people what things they were thankful for and we found that the most important things to them were Family and Jesus Christ to which I couldn't agree more. What are you thankful for? I'm thankful for many things; Socks. Imagine a life without socks? Imagine waking up with no toaster in the house? Imagine if toothbrushes were still a concept? First world problems eyy.

I still feel all of your prayers. I love you all.

Hugs and Hand Shakes

Elder Nolan

PS. I miss SO many things out in these e-mails so I'll have plenty more to share with you when I return as I have quite a committed relationship with my journal. Be sure to check out Elder Heins blog if you just can't get enough of the escapades in London North ward!