Elder Nolan: Medhi

Showing posts with label Medhi. Show all posts

Monday, 7 April 2014

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

Friday, 31 January 2014

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'

Monday, 20 January 2014

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