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

News from the field 19th February 2014

Hey everyone!

How are you?

I’m sorry it’s been so long, things have been a little crazy!

I’m staying in London North for another transfer with Elder Farley and to be honest I am really quite happy about it; the thought of packing all my things made me crease at the sides ha! Not the fact that we have a great area with lots of work to do. Also to report, London North district baptized 4 people in 5 weeks and we have two more on date, Andrew and Laura. Laura is from Romania (she is extremely offended that I do not speak Romanian) and is on date for the 9^th of March; she is progressing so well. Too well sometimes; each commandment we have taught her, she has just accepted and committed to living it. She has come from an orthodox background but was seemingly not very orthodox… I always find it funny when people tell us that they’re ‘orthodox’ and then begin to tell us of how unorthodox they have been living, making their previous testimonial of orthodoxy an heretical paradox. Hehe. Anyway, Laura is wonderful and Me and Elder Farley feel really blessed to be teaching her. She is at a point where she really wants to make big changes in her life and she loves how the Spirit makes her feel. Please say a pray for her welfare J

London North ward got two more sister missionaries this transfer and so seeing as the majority of our teaching pool was single women we decided it would be a good idea if we handed them off to the new sisters. We now have a very small teaching pool haha Ellie and Akram will be able to have regular visits now and I’m really excited for them.

So as a flat we have entered into what is called ‘Purification’, where we fast from certain habits that poke at our spirit for 40 days with the intention of becoming missionaries that have the spirit with them all the time. These habits range from Getting to bed on time to prematurely thinking about what’s for dinner to fantasizing about the new highlighter pack Tesco have started to stock (Missionaries get weird man). So we write 10 of these things down during a physical fast and then bring them to the Lord and consecrate our performance to Him. I’ve already felt a difference. At the same time I started this Mental Fast I began to ponder on what it means to be a Son of God and how strongly I even believed I was. In the past I have sang the song ‘I am a child of God’ and have felt of the peace and Spirit that it brings, however I haven’t previously asked myself what that actual fact means to me. From prayer and my studies I have started to understand the character and nature of our Heavenly Father and comprehend his greatness and power. He is the governing force of Creation and Order throughout the entire Universe. He stands at the head of the bow of Progression, leading us all to one day become like Him. In every moment He is perfect, He has perfect Judgment, perfect Knowledge, perfect Love and He is our Father. That is quite a powerful thought and I wonder if we will ever fully understand what that means. With this knowledge we then understand that we have the capacity to do anything as ‘the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children then Heirs, Heirs of God’ when we understand that we are ‘Heirs’ of God, we begin to understand our true potential and will not be able to ‘sin so cheaply’. We feel a greater desire to repent, an increase of love towards one another and we begin to see just how much He loves us. With this new understanding of our heavenly origin, we will delight in sharing the gospel of truth with our fellow brothers and sisters as we will remember that they too are heirs of God, despite where they might be at this moment.

I know that I am a Son of God and I know that He loves me. If I don’t learn anything else on my mission, I will always be happy in the knowledge of these things. I know that if we all knew this then the world would indeed be a very different place; however there is someone who doesn’t want us to know of our true nature. He would have us define ourselves by our mistakes and our past. 

He would make us feel like there is no use in being good when everyone else around us is seemingly being bad. He would have us believe that forgiveness is something that cannot take place and that we must feel the guilt of our actions for the rest of our lives. He does not want us to believe that we are the Sons and Daughters of God; who is infinitely more powerful than he. Do not believe it. Believe that you are a Child of God and that He loves you more than you could ever know.

In other news, the band traveled up to Ely, Cambridge this weekend. I got to drive the van again. Ely is Elder Farley’s last ward and so it was a really great experience for him to see some of the people he had to leave. We played in the centre of town and next to no-one stopped to listen ha! We then had a gig to play in ‘The Beet Club’ and we played really well. Being the only Englishman, I was assigned to introduce ‘Jerusalem’ and it went down a treat. We sang it twice so that the audience could join in. The Spirit in the room was very strong and it has never felt so good to make other people cry! President hopes to send us down to Canterbury which I’m really looking forward to.

I’m so grateful to be serving here in London and with such great missionaries. I’m humbled by their example and dedication to the work. I love all of you and I am so thankful for the support that I have felt and the prayers that have been answered.

I’m sorry for my lack of contact recently; I’m really not too good at emailing fast!

Hugs and Hand Shakes

Elder Nolan

27th of January Update

 London bridge Book of Mormon musical style

Forgot about this Anchorman Tribute...

Drums with Medhi Wooooop

Sweet view from Muswell Hill

Hey,

How are you all doing?

This week has probably been the hardest of my mission so far. Since we baptized our progressing investigators it has been a time of rebuilding and I have been quickly reminded how hard missionary work actually is. Plus I have finally had the 'I really miss home' moment. I only allowed myself a few minutes to be homesick and now I feel fine. J

This week has come with miracles though, so I really shouldn't complain. Elder Farley shared something with me which I really appreciated at the time. This was on Saturday night after every appointment except one, either cancelled or wasn't home when we stopped by. We were walking to Tesco to find tasty treats to ease the pain and Elder Farley said 'There is a difference between bad and hard days on a mission. This is a hard day; a bad day is when you go all day without feeling the Spirit.'  It really soothed me! I've been thinking about it and I cannot remember having a 'bad' day in the past 4 and a bit months.

So, Mehdi is doing great and yesterday his girlfriend Nicole attended church and has told us she is ready to learn about the Gospel. We have been purposefully holding back a little with her and have focused on her getting to know us rather than ambush her with doctrine. We want to make sure she is doing this for herself. She is really cool though and the way she has supported Mehdi has been exemplary. We went round yesterday and as Mehdi left the room to make us Virgin Mary's (I'll let you work that out) Nicole asked us some great questions and it really opened my eyes. She asked 'What makes you different from mainstream Christianity?' 'Are the suits you wear uniforms given to you?' and 'Do you go two by two because of Noah and the Ark?' She was so genuine and it taught me a lesson. I think I have fallen in to the trap of perceiving that everyone knows what we are about and that they already understand the scriptures and so what we share shouldn't be so different to what they already know.  So me and Elder Farley were both humbled by it and I'm glad it's happened now and not at the end of my mission!

We visited a recent convert called Mikko this week, originally from Finland and brought up in Judaism. His conversion story is so wonderful and President Jordan had to help teach him because of how much he already knew! He invited us round this week for cookies, herbal tea and deep doctrine. We discussed the King Follet sermon given by Joseph Smith at Kings Funeral. Crikey. Pre mission I was all for plunging in to the depths of the scriptural abyss but since I've had a tag, I've been strictly focusing on the basics. I forgot how awesome it is! It was such a great discussion and we stuck to what the scriptures say!

The district sang in sacrament meeting this week, 'Armies of Helaman' and we sounded really good. The Spirit is always really strong when that song is sung and many of the congregation were visibly feeling it.

So now I'm off to band practice again, we have a performance coming up which is in Elder Farley's old area and he wants to come so bad.

I love you all,

Hugs and Hand shakes

Elder Nolan

I found the shorter version of this quote in my room the other night…

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow

Virgin Mary'

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

13th of January Update

Hey!

How are you doing?

Man, this week has been so tiring. Me and Elder Farley really have to soldier on through daily planning when we get home. Ughh. But I guess this is missionary work? And I guess that those feelings of exhaustion and fatigue are what cause us to sleep with a smile on our face.

So, we have some news to announce.... Angela was baptised and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this weekend. I performed the baptism and Elder Farley the confirmation in which she received a wonderful blessing. The spirit was so powerful on Saturday to the point that Elder Mitchell and Nielsen's investigator concluded that they wanted to be baptised also. How great is that? The day did not come without its fair share of curve balls though, but it was nothing a Priesthood Blessing couldn't deflect. Angela then struggled to relax in the font as she has a slight fear of immersion, so I told her to 'trust me' and to 'just sit down'. This worked wonderfully J

Her sons were at the meeting and I finally saw them with their guard let down, they felt the Spirit and we are now teaching Naheim, Angela's 12 year old so please say a prayer for him!

It's so humbling to see how the Lord works and when I've observed how well his plan's come together I realise how minimal my part has been. And yet with this thought of being a very small instrument in the Master's hand, I still feel greatly blessed by the things that I have learnt and experienced as Angela has made her first covenant with Him.

Now onto the next one! Medhi is to be baptised on Saturday 12^th, he is preparing himself brilliantly and so please pray for him. And his girlfriend now wants to meet with us and they have already had dinner at the Bishops house! Whoop!

We had an amazing experience last Wednesday when we were walking home and came across a Lady who was walking home from a day's work. She had shopping bags and so we offered to help but she declined, we then asked her about her faith in God and she said it was everything to her. As she was speaking I felt strongly that she needed a blessing. I inquired about how she was feeling and then explained who we were and the Priesthood that we held. When we asked her if she would like a blessing, she answered 'yes' with all the expression of relief you can imagine. We were in quite a private are of the street and so Elder Farley anointed her and I sealed the blessing. When the blessing ended we lifted our hands to find a humble face laced with tears. As she opened her eyes she immediately asked, 'Can I come to your church?' She then began to express how she has been struggling with depression and how her health has been on the decline. She also told us of her struggles at work as we walked her home. We met her husband and taught him a little about the Gospel. We have exchanged details and will be seeing her this week. The Priesthood is not only the power to heal the physical pains of the world, it is the power given to us from heaven to heal broken spirits and to rescue wayward souls. Nancy felt the Power of God manifest in the hands of His young servants. Neither of which have the wisdom or understanding necessary to fully comprehend his glory, yet he loves us and trusts us enough to involve us in 'bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man'.

In other news the Band is alive and kicking again, we had our first practice today. It has been modified to a manageable number of missionaries who can all fit in the mission van which will hopefully be driven by me! I got to see Elder Hein today which was fun and we are singing a song together called 'Be thou my vision'.

 Also last week we had Zone conference and it was great. I really love zone conference, man. Earlier in the week I had written in my Journal 'buy a ukulele' and then a couple of days later sister Jordan calls with an assignment to 'buy a ukulele', can someone explain? Haha. Anyway it transpired that the music shop was not in my area and so it was reassigned to another Elder. However, I still had to learn how to play the song 'How can I be?' This proved difficult without a ukulele at hand, but like Nephi I tried to come to the Father with solutions before I asked him for help and realised that the dimensions of my phone and the fret board of the ukulele were very similar and so practice commenced, and after listening the this song for the 100^th (exaggeration) I felt confident that I could transfer my skills from the phone to the real thing. Thankfully it worked and I, Elder David, Larsen and Adriano performed the song in zone conference! The video should be up on Sister Jordan's blog soon!

So it may seem that I'm enjoying myself a bit too much but being a missionary really is the best thing. The mission on a whole is very young and so it will be interesting to see us all grow and progress into the mission the Lord knows we can be.

I love you all and I am so thankful for all the letters and packages I've received, it really means so a lot.  

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

6th of January 2013 Update

One page of potential investigators!

Christmas Present from the Jordan

Hello!

This will be a short one!

How is everyone? 

So we have had a great week. Angela is preparing for saturday and Medhi is on date for the saturday after wards! Medhi is Johnny the cocktail artist and he's fast becoming my best friend. He is such an amazing man. He was born a muslim in Iran. He had an experience where he knew that Jesus Christ was his saviour and because was persecuted in in his country to the point he had to flee at the age of 17. He came to england not speaking a word of the native tongue and began studying classical music at a university. He can play classical piano like no other, its so natural to him, when you watch him play its like its something that comes from inside him. He is one of those people who can do anything that he puts his mind to and now living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is next on his list. We are currently putting a plan together to find him a new job. He is so ready to be baptised and commit to Christ. He says that he has felt the light of his faith dim as he has been working in London and he has recognised the difference in his life, in his happiness when he has put Christ first. I love him. Please pray for him. He needs strength and Job oppurtunites and I've come to know that there is a direct correlation between the prayers we offer and the results we achieve, and when we pray together the results are amplified. 

Me and Elder Farley are doing great together. We study hard and work hard. And we eat ALOT! He eats more than me! He is a basketballer, a very good one, but if only he had played football from a young age. He's got the legs of a Bull and he's a lefty. Americans marvel at the 'wonders' my feet can do with a ball. haha. They aren't too impressed at what my hands can do though. Basketball just feels completely wrong to me. I tried to dunk the other day and in the act, pulled an abdominal muscle. I didn't dunk it either. Stupid game. haha Its a lot of fun to watch some of these Americans play it though, they're very good. 

So until next week my friends. 

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

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

Happy New Year - New year update

One of the seven packages!

We had a sleep over on Christmas!

 My new quilt!

We put this togethr for krissy one of our less actives :) 

they had no green trees left at tesco!

Happy New Year!

Christmas was so good! We watched a tonne of films and skyping home was amazing. Thank you all so much for the gifts and letters I received. It really made my first Christmas as a missionary special and I wouldn't change it for the world.

So New years in London is amazing! We were on the banks of the Thames witnessing the Eye shoot thousands of fancy fireworks into London town's already heavily polluted atmosphere. We saw all the festive delights come to a majestical close as the shift from 2013 – 2014 commenced. Just kidding, we are missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ and we were tucked up in bed resting after a hard day of labour! Hehe

We had to be in our flats for 7 as the celebrations can get pretty crazy so we've heard. Apparently a mouse was found on a bus last year wearing a crown with its fur shaved reading 'God save the queen through 2013' (copywright Elder Nolan)

So we came home early and wound down whilst watching a film called 'The Testaments' it was pretty good.

Me and Elder Farley are doing great! He is a good missionary, very orderly and obedient which I exactly what this flat needed! He said he needs to learn how to be bold, so it looks like he's in the right place. He came from Ely and was Elder Gore's companion for the last transfer. We have already had some great studies and teaching experiences and so I'm really excited for this transfer. We also have a baptism on the horizon! Wooooohooooooooo! Angela is getting baptised! She is doing great as she prepares so please pray for her. She wants to set the example for her boys. Her aunt is a member in Jamaica and so she has known about the church for a long time. She has received the spiritual witness that the next step in her life is to be baptised and commit to Christ. It's just wonderful. I'll send a copy of the program when it's finished.

I'm beginning to understand my role as a missionary. This has progressed as I have started to really understand prayer. I always felt it awkward to ask Heavenly Father for help with an investigator when the whole point of us teaching that person was so that they could return to God anyway. I thought that Heavenly father would just fill in all the gaps regardless of my faith in asking him to. But as I have come to understand prayer and how it works, I'm starting to understand the whole concept of being a missionary. The Lord could quite easily 'pour out his Spirit' upon the whole world and people would be flocking to the font. He could have people knocking on our door trying to set appointments with us. He could make sure that we have a 100% success rate with every person we talk to and we could sit back and be spectators of this marvellous work. However, although at first it would seem logical and easy, there would be no growth, there would be no faith and there would be no experience for both the missionary and the individuals we are teaching. This is wholly and completely the Lord's work and in his mercy and love for us he has given us the opportunity to play a part in. He has given us the tools and methods to bring souls unto Christ whilst in the meantime we are saving our own. This sacred process of 'forgetting yourself and going to work' was taught by Jesus Christ himself 'He who shall lose his life shall save it'. When we put our faith in God and put our hearts to work we see a change, not only in others around us but mostly within ourselves. As I have tried to thank Him for every blessing we have seen in the field I am filled with joy and the spirit as it eradicates any notion that I am responsible for any success we are having. And if we don't have success even though we have tried our best and have exercised faith, it  simply means that the agency of other is in action and with this, feelings of despair and guilt are muted.

I have so much yet to learn in these short 21 months left and I feel so blessed to be in the London North ward at this time. I'm blessed to have Elder Farley as my companion and we are going to have a great transfer together.

I love you all,

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan

Ps. If Elder Hein's family read this, please tell him I love him and that his beautiful face has a place in my wallet. He also left his memory foam pillow on my window sill as a surprise for when I got home after I gave him grief for not giving it to me in person. What a man. I'm also sorry about the Glitter incident, he told me of the pain it caused (him and you), I had no idea he had an actual phobia! Haha Happy New year Hein family!

Christmas Update

Christmas Greetings!

Christmas as a missionary is wonderful! We've all had such an amazing time and have made some great memories! 

How has your Christmas been? 

So, we came to the chapel this morning to receive the moves calls as a district and whilst we waited for the call we watched the second half of 'The Muppets' movie and we also watched The sound of music! how good is that film?! 

Anyway, we got the call and....I'm staying! Woohoo, my new companion is Elder Farley, another Utahn! Elder Hein is going to the St. Albans ward as district Leader, Elder David is going to hyde park as district leader and Elder Mitchell is staying!! It feels so strange to have people moving, we've all gotten so comfortable with each other and we've become like a family! 

I'm excited for this new transfer, it's going to be a good learning experience both spiritually and geographically as I can no longer rely on the navigational skills of my Father. 

So yeah. Everything is good. I'll send a longer update on monday but we have quite a few things to do today! 

I love you all!

Thank you so much for all the letters and packages, they mean a heck of a lot to me, I WILL reply in due time.

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

Ps. I love the quilt! all of those who donated time and effort, thankyou! My mission presidents wife is going to love it ha ha 

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

9th December Update

heyy!

This is going to be short!

Strange week really, we had three performances eurghh! They all went well though and I got to drive! An 8 seater vauxhall van. First to Watford and then all the way to Ipswich! It was an automatic which made it a breeze to drive in London despite the gauntlet of death AKA Oxford Street. Crikey. We made it through safe though, I definitely felt prayers being answered! On the way back from Ipswich I follwed President Jordan and he lead us through the sweetest route into London. We drove through Canary Warf and eventually past tower bridge, the eye and big ben etc It was at night and so everything was lit up so it looked so cool. Definitely a must for anyone who likes driving in cities! 

So in other news, the band recorded today! It's up on soundcloud and so I guess this is my christmas gift to you ! I play percussion in hallelujah 2.0 and sing in the choir on all the songs except the sister songs obviously. This is our Christmas CD and will be released in all good music stores in the near future! 

Finally who's heard of stickpole? Joseph Smith used to play it apparently! SO there is a tradition of Elders playing this game in the mission and it gets pretty intense. The current champion (unbeaten) is one of the AP's Elder Tobia from italy, his father is a body builder so he comes from good stock! Anyway, we got back to london late after ipswich and so we stayed at the AP's flat. The championship belt was then challenged for by Elder Nolan. After 6 bouts Elder Nolan had conquered the Italian. Elder Nolan is now the Champion of the England London Mission. Boom! Tell your Friends! ha

I love you all, Next weeks update will be longer and better!

Hugs and Handshakes

Elder Nolan

2nd December 2013 News from the field

Wagwan!

Did this week even happen? It seems like I wrote the last update just yesterday. Crikey.

Anyway, let's give credit where credit is due, America was on the money when it decided 'Thanksgiving' was a good idea. This is a holiday that the whole world needs to celebrate. A brother compared the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation to thanksgiving dinner and said the latter just loses out. Alas, after eating at Brother and Sister Leavitt's house last Thursday, this comparison has been put into question. OH MY DAYS. I'm proudly announcing that I managed 3 platefuls and 2 slices of pie. Street contacting for an hour and a half proved difficult. But not as difficult as the meal appointment we had directly after. Haha.

So, people;

Growing up in the green hills of a north England village, I would watch Hollywood movies and television series' seeing through the scripted scales of these shady reptilian characters, not for one second believing that people like this actually exist. And it wasn't just the dark character's but the ones who would travel the world and have completely ridiculous background stories as to why they were in there particular situation. Having served in London North ward for nearly 2 and a half months now, I've been body checked by reality and can testify solemnly that these people do exist.

It's come to our attention that a certain Antiguan amputee who we visit each week, whose mail we sort through and who makes the most incredible ginger tea, is feared by all honourable drug dealers in the Area. Quote 'they (drug dealers) are all in Herbert's pocket', 'If he goes to church then there really is a God', 'Losing his leg really slowed him down; before he lost it he was the biggest Gangster around here!' I love it. This man now attends church, gives us countless referrals and is working towards the temple. The gospel is the real deal man. Once you know it's true then you ain't got time to be playing the role of an original G. Instead he became an inspirational Home Teacher. Boss. He's still crazy though; Just last Wednesday we helped him load his wheel chair into his Renault Modus as he wanted to take it to the auction (as in sell the car, not his wheel chair). This man has one leg and attempted to navigate the streets of London having not driven for about 2 years. We read him a psalm as he sat in the driver's seat and prayed with him. Heaven knows if he made it. Just kidding, of course he did. He's Herbert West!

And then there is Andreus. A greek man whom we have been visiting and who has been attending church. We believed that he was an investigator to the church and so we began to plan for baptism with him. He responds to this 'suppose I was baptized in your church many years ago', 'well were you andreus?'  'yes I was'. He has been playing us, he wanted to see if the church had changed. The plot thickens, he would not give us his date of birth (as we needed it to find his records) as he thought we would hack his bank account with it. He then began to express the true depths of his paranoia when he claimed that he witnessed the Bishop of the time receiving the tithing slips from the ward as he basked in his power and hackled as if 'possessed by a demon' . He believes that every woman in the ward fancies him and the man is outrageously racist. It came to the point where I just needed to leave this man's house, he'd gone way over the line and so I stood up and announced that we were leaving. Elder Hein felt I should've been a little more polite, which could be true but I feel leaving at that point was more polite than throwing him out of his own window. Ha. We still love him obviously and I hope he comes round one day. But for now we won't be seeing him and it seems he's happy with that also

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Our Friend Margarita is a saint, Elder Hein has probably written a great entry about her on his blog as he thinks he's her favourite, so head over there to hear about this spectacular woman.

So Christmas is fast approaching and the mission band gave its first full performance to a sold out chapel of people (no one had to pay to get in, just so you know!). It was such a great experience. The choir sounded wonderful and me and my trusted kajun box were in beat with the band! Woohoo. We performed today at a community centre in Ilford after we had served Christmas dinner to an array of elder and disabled people from the area. It was such a lovely experience. I introduced the Choir and I think the people liked the fact that I'm English very much! President Jordan then appeared as Father Christmas and used his missionary elves to distribute presents to the crowd. This was a pretty unique experience for a missionary to have and I'm really grateful to have been involved. We were assigned a table to serve and eat with and so we got to meet some of Our Father in Heavens choicest of children. It made me think of the talk that Jeffrey R. Holland gave in the recent GC 'I bear witness of that day when loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be!' I know that this is true.

I love you all and I love this mission. Miracles are happening everyday and lives are being change by the Good news we have to share!

Hugs and Handshakes,

Elder Nolan

Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having  compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous