Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 9:02 AM

This week went pretty well but there really wasn't anything super interesting that happened. It was just a lot of hard work. We are teaching a guy here is is super ready for baptism. We just need to help him to realize that he is ready. We see him about every 2-3 days and we have super great lessons with him. So it's just a matter of time.

 

We've been meeting a lot of awesome members of our ward lately. Our first week in Sacrament meeting in this ward was a pretty cold welcome but we've been visiting lots of members and sharing spiritual thoughts with them and helping them to do missionary work. Now we finally have members actually coming to us to say "Hi" and ask us how we are doing. And now that we have members who are actually happy to have us here, missionary work is finally progressing in the area a little bit. It's amazing how much your relationship with the members of the ward helps the work to progress in an area. I'd go as far as to say that it's the most important factor in missionary work because without the support of the members it is really almost impossible to find people to teach (especially in this area).

 

I've started to find that heat and humidity don't really bother me nearly as much as I thought they would. We went tracting the other day for about 3 hours. I knew it was pretty hot and I was sweating real good but I didn't feel run down or anything. I guessed it was about 80 degrees with a bit of humidity but then I finally asked someone and it was about 94 degrees + humidity which made it feel about 105 degrees. I agree that it's not to comfortable here but it's really not as horrible as everybody says. I guess the trick is just stay focused and forget about the heat and then you don't even really notice it.

 

A really cool scripture that a investigator showed to us this week. 2 Timothy 2:19 "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." There are a few points that I really like from this scripture. 

 

1) The "foundation of God standeth sure." I think about all the times that we hear that we are to build our testimonies based upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. And it's true, if we build our testimonies upon the rock of Christ, who standeth sure, then the Devil will never have power to overcome us with temptations... "Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail." -D&C 6:34

2) "The Lord knoweth them that are his." God knows and loves each one of us dearly. I can't imagine an all-powerful God who does not know each and every one of his children, and their trials, and their joys, etc... Not only that, but I can't imagine an all-powerful all-loving God who would not help and support his children in their times of trial and comfort them and bless them. But he does, and he does love us, and he promises that we may find peace in Him... "And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture." -1 Nephi 22:25

3) "Let every man the nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." Each member of the church has literally taken upon them the name of Jesus Christ when they were baptized. We promised that we would be examples of him in all that we do, that we would remember him at all times and in all places, and that we would obey his commandments. If we are truly disciples of Christ and truly want to follow him then we need to make sure that we are making an effort to become better and better every day and to "depart from iniquity". The Lord is very clear when he tells us that if we continue in iniquity throughout our lives that, "And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." -Matthew 7:23

 

I've noticed while I've been on my mission that it is so important to really "study" the scriptures rather than just "read" them. There is so much more to be gleaned than what we just take at face value. The scriptures are just loaded with things that can help us in every phase of life. All we have to do is truly search them and apply them to our lives. Without real life application they don't really do much for us. It's like learning 100 recipes and never cooking a single one of them. Then how do they help us at all? They don't. So why do we read the scriptures and never use them in our lives? We don't.

 

Well that's about it for the week. I hope all is going well at home. Have a fantastic week. I Love You All!

 

    Love

         -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 9:02 AM
Subject: Subject

 

Well time just keeps flying on by on my end. I feel like a just wrote an e-mail home yesterday. But it's been a whole week I guess. Time flies when you're on a mission. It's starting to get hot and humid here but its all good because we have the car for the next two weeks starting today. So we will be pretty safe from the weather. I really like our bike weeks during weeks when it rains (like this week). For some odd reason I really enjoy riding my bike when it's pouring rain or snowing (Elder Drinkall doesn't like it so much though).

 

Words of Wisdom for new seminary students. Don't sleep the whole time. And don't give my Mom a hard time ;) Treats are only good if you give them to the students AFTER seminary or else they don't pay attention the whole time.

 

Training is going well. Yes mom I am still training Elder Drinkall, they haven't fired me quite yet. Elder Drinkall is really proactive and willing to learn and work so training him isn't really a problem at all. 

 

I think it's kinda nuts that Spencer is coming home already. I feel like we were all eating at Tucano's together right before I came out here. Shouldn't he have another year or so left? The other day I watched a little segment of a church video in Portuguese because I had heard that it is suuuuper similar. Well it is because I could understand almost everything that was said in the video.

 

So Erika's friend Shannah got Baptized on Saturday so Elder Drinkall and I got to go over to Independence for the baptism. It was a pretty great experience and Shannah's parents (who I had never met before) came to the baptism and I think they had a really good experience also. Hopefully that will make a new teaching opportunity for the Sisters in the ward down there. I don't know if I ever told you but the only reason we ever started to teach Erika and Lily and Shannah is because Erika's mom came into the Independence Visitors Center to get a blessing because she got poison ivy real bad. Believe it or not, even poison ivy can bring blessings ;)

 

I've been studying the Doctrine and Covenants a lot for my personal study. I came across D&C 58 which I found out is revelation specifically for missionaries serving in Jackson County Missouri. It kinda hits home to you when you are serving your mission in the exact place that the Lord is talking about. There are a lot of cool promises made and a lot of cool blessings promised. And some additional commandments for those serving in the area. Maybe something good to read during your scripture study. It was for me.

 

A scripture that I've been thinking about a lot lately is Ether 12:11 "Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled." I feel like I have gained a much stronger testimony and appreciation for the Atonement while I have been out on my mission. The thing that always sticks out to me thought is that without Christ and his sacrifice we really wouldn't have a life after this one. There would be no point to the creation and "God would cease to be God". But Christ did live, Christ did die for us and Christ did overcome death for us. Now each and every single one of us will live again. Now each and every one of us has the opportunity to live with our families for eternity and to live with God again. All that "was" and "is" and "will be" possible is made possible in and through Jesus Christ. So again "In the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way" and I love Him and His Son for it.

 

There's not really much more news for the week. We are just chuggin' along. Have a excellent week everyone. I Love You!

 

     Love

        -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 10:18 AM
Subject: The Ball Is Rolling

 

So this week ended really really well. We had not one, but two speakers in Sacrament meeting that were talking us up over the pulpit, which is much needed in this area. I feel like we are finally starting to get some real good member support and we are starting to develop good relationships with the members in our ward, hence the "the ball in rolling". I guess the hard work and diligence really pays off. If we aren't in a member's home for a quick visit and spiritual thought then we are out tracting anywhere and everywhere. This is the most tracting I've ever done and we are getting the worst results I've ever seen haha. But the seeds are planted. Give it a few years and they will grow.

 

I've been doing really well lately. At the beginning of this transfer I felt really overwhelmed with opening a new area and training at the same time but now it's just starting to feel normal. I've definitely noticed that you learn a ton more while training than you do while being trained. The training part is almost starting to become something that I actually enjoy just because I can see the growth in myself and the knowledge that I'm gaining. Also, new missionaries just come out with so much enthusiasm and energy that they just give you the push you need every day to be excited to go out and work. And they have tons of new ideas for finding people to teach and working effectively in the area, ideas that you start to forget after you have been out for a while.

 

We had an awesome visit with Brother Bryant (who is working super hard to overcome smoking and enter the temple) this last week. We were able to go with him to the Independence Visitor's Center with a ward member Brother Hales (who just moved into the ward). We saw most of what the Visitor's Center has to offer and we had some really good spiritual discussions also. I love being in the VC because the spirit is just so strong there and it is a wonderful teaching environment. Brother Bryant are Brother Hales both really enjoyed the visit also and were really glad that we asked them to go there with us. Neither one of them had seen the VC in about 30 years and it has changed a lot since then. They were really impressed with the tours there and the spirit that was felt during our visit.

 

I found a really cool scripture this week that I wanted to share with you all. Its in Ephesians 2:19-21 and says "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:". This scripture really stuck out to me this week because some of the work that we have been doing in this ward. I feel like when we got here we didn't really have any ward support, members weren't excited to have "the Elders" because of the issues that came up with the last set that were here. Well, I was relating this scripture to us as missionaries and to the members of the ward. When I we first got here the "building" was not "fitly framed" whatsoever. Things were leaning, walls were cracking, ceilings were falling... missionary work was not progressing. But now that we are starting to work with the members, now that the members are beginning to trust us, and now that the building is becoming better and better framed, Missionary work is beginning to progress in the ward. One thing that I learned while I was at the VC this week is that the church or a "Holy Temple" or Zion for that matter aren't places. WE are the church, WE are temples, WE are Zion. As members we have the sacred duty of sharing the Gospel with those around us. The duty of sharing the happiness and blessings that we have received with anyone and everyone. The problem is that without the members and missionaries being "fitly framed together" in the ward we cannot become a "holy temple in the Lord" and missionary work cannot and will not progress. But even further than that, are our lives fitly framed together? are our families fitly framed together? If not then I think that what we always need to return back to is the "foundation... Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone". I know that if we do that then we will see the blessings of the Gospel in our lives and we will be strengthened in our testimonies and our faith.

 

There's really not much more for me to talk about this week. Things are just rolling. Slowly for now, but a slow roll turns into a faster one eventually. Hopefully I'll have some good exciting news next week. I'll let you know :) Anyways, have a great week everyone. Love you all!

 

   Love

        -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, August 04, 2014 12:02 PM
Subject: Going Strong

 

Well this week went by super extra fast and went pretty swell also. The big blessing this week was that Erika Beccera (who I baptized last week, I think I wrote her last name as Pujols), sister Lily Becerra, got baptized on Saturday! So I got to take a short field trip down to my old area so that I could attend her baptism. It was a pretty awesome experience and it's really a testimony to me that just because we left an area doesn't mean that we didn't leave a lasting impression or effect on the people there. So far I feel like in my mission I've been more a "Planter" but you know, that's perfectly OK with me as long as I still get to see people progress in the Gospel. And so far I've been able to do that so I'm happy :)

 

We met a pretty awesome guy this week. His name is Brother Floden, a less-active member who was baptized about 30 years ago in Germany, lost contact with the Church shortly after his move back here to the United States, and has been learning about the church again for about a year now. Anyways, we met him in the Liberty Jail with another member of our ward and had a nice sit down spiritual lesson with him. Before we really started teaching at all though he was telling us about his life and how he has people at work ask him "How do you stay so happy all the time with all this junk going on around you?". Brother Floden's answer is always "I just say my prayers and drive on". It's really a wonderful testimony to me that such a small thing as saying our prayers every day can make such a huge difference in our life. That is what sets Brother Floden apart from everyone around him at work, the fact that he says his prayers each and every day, acting with faith that God will support him in the trials and challenges that surround him. Just a thought that has kept me going over the past few days.

 

Well the weather has been great but I hear that it is about to start heating up real good, up into the 90's. Its really a bummer because this week we won't have a car so we are going to be frying outside all day. But we are going to be doing a 2 car to 3 companionship rotation so we will have the car during the (hottest) last 2 weeks of August which is good. I know there are missionaries all over the world who have it a heck of a lot worse than I do but I'm not going to lie, I'm glad I'm not in their shoes right now. I'm really grateful to be able to have a car hahaha.

 

So I don't know if anyone has heard the (not so) latest church news. I guess every missionary in the USA should have an iPad as a teaching aid and to help better organize ourselves by the end of the year. Something cool that we get to look forward to. Man we really are some spoiled missionaries...

 

D&C 18:11-13;15

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"  I read this the other day and it's just been on my mind ever since, especially the parts that I put in Bold. I think every day we have a lot more opportunities to "cry repentance" unto the the people than we realize. We really do "cry repentance" through our actions and the example that we put forth to others. And how great will be our joy when we pass through this life and see all those people on whom we have made a positive impression, who we have helped to return to live with their Heavenly Father. Just something that I think each one of us can do, to look at our life and see how we can set a better example for those around us so that they can find happiness in the Gospel just as we have.

 

That's about it for the week. There was more that I wanted to write but I don't remember what any of it was. That's what happens to me every week. I think my brain doesn't work with that stuff to well because all my memory is being used to remember the names of all the families in our Ward. Well... check back again next week.

 

Love you all! Good luck with the move Becerra Family. Should be fun ;) Have a great week everyone!

 

    Love

       -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, August 04, 2014 12:02 PM
Subject: Going Strong

 

Well this week went by super extra fast and went pretty swell also. The big blessing this week was that Erika Beccera (who I baptized last week, I think I wrote her last name as Pujols), sister Lily Becerra, got baptized on Saturday! So I got to take a short field trip down to my old area so that I could attend her baptism. It was a pretty awesome experience and it's really a testimony to me that just because we left an area doesn't mean that we didn't leave a lasting impression or effect on the people there. So far I feel like in my mission I've been more a "Planter" but you know, that's perfectly OK with me as long as I still get to see people progress in the Gospel. And so far I've been able to do that so I'm happy :)

 

We met a pretty awesome guy this week. His name is Brother Floden, a less-active member who was baptized about 30 years ago in Germany, lost contact with the Church shortly after his move back here to the United States, and has been learning about the church again for about a year now. Anyways, we met him in the Liberty Jail with another member of our ward and had a nice sit down spiritual lesson with him. Before we really started teaching at all though he was telling us about his life and how he has people at work ask him "How do you stay so happy all the time with all this junk going on around you?". Brother Floden's answer is always "I just say my prayers and drive on". It's really a wonderful testimony to me that such a small thing as saying our prayers every day can make such a huge difference in our life. That is what sets Brother Floden apart from everyone around him at work, the fact that he says his prayers each and every day, acting with faith that God will support him in the trials and challenges that surround him. Just a thought that has kept me going over the past few days.

 

Well the weather has been great but I hear that it is about to start heating up real good, up into the 90's. Its really a bummer because this week we won't have a car so we are going to be frying outside all day. But we are going to be doing a 2 car to 3 companionship rotation so we will have the car during the (hottest) last 2 weeks of August which is good. I know there are missionaries all over the world who have it a heck of a lot worse than I do but I'm not going to lie, I'm glad I'm not in their shoes right now. I'm really grateful to be able to have a car hahaha.

 

So I don't know if anyone has heard the (not so) latest church news. I guess every missionary in the USA should have an iPad as a teaching aid and to help better organize ourselves by the end of the year. Something cool that we get to look forward to. Man we really are some spoiled missionaries...

 

D&C 18:11-13;15

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"  I read this the other day and it's just been on my mind ever since, especially the parts that I put in Bold. I think every day we have a lot more opportunities to "cry repentance" unto the the people than we realize. We really do "cry repentance" through our actions and the example that we put forth to others. And how great will be our joy when we pass through this life and see all those people on whom we have made a positive impression, who we have helped to return to live with their Heavenly Father. Just something that I think each one of us can do, to look at our life and see how we can set a better example for those around us so that they can find happiness in the Gospel just as we have.

 

That's about it for the week. There was more that I wanted to write but I don't remember what any of it was. That's what happens to me every week. I think my brain doesn't work with that stuff to well because all my memory is being used to remember the names of all the families in our Ward. Well... check back again next week.

 

Love you all! Good luck with the move Becerra Family. Should be fun ;) Have a great week everyone!

 

    Love

       -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 10:17 AM
Subject: Another Week of Change

 

Soooo a lot changed this week. A lot a lot. So I'm opening an area, Shoal Creek Valley. It has only been a ward for 4 weeks so I'm kind of repeating what I did in the Hill Park Ward. The Elders that were here before (about 2 or 3 months ago) were a bit disobedient and got pulled out of the area so we are dealing with trust issues from the members in this ward which is hard. On top of that I'm training a new missionary (Elder Drinkall, who just happened to come out with Elder Fillerup as well... seriously, the names are no joke) which is a pretty new experience in and of itself. But so far it is going well. Bummer part about the area is that there are pretty close to zero Spanish speakers around, which is weird because 5 of the 8 missionaries in our district are Spanish speaking missionaries. So to answer your question mom, yes this week is full of new stuff.

 

Hey, Erika Pujols was baptized the day before transfers and she actually asked for me to baptize her so that was a great experience. We had started teaching her but then turned her over to the sister missionaries a little while back. Hopefully her little sister and her two friends (who have been attending church for about a month now) will follow suit. Pray for them :D

 

Mom, you should definitely take up Dustin Prusso on the invite to learn about the climbing gear and work at "the wall". That way you can come outdoor climbing with Paul and me ;)

 

On cooking catfish, we cooked some up a few weeks ago for a District Picnic. We got the fish a little wet and then put it in a dish of zataran (I think is what it was called) and then fried it and it came out REALLY good. Might be something for Dad to try in the future if he plans to cook catfish again. And the tortillas with cinnamon sugar are really good also. The Spanish members in Kaw River made them for Christmas so we had a lot of those. I agree, they are pretty delicious.

 

The thing that really stuck out to me in my studies this week comes from Moroni 10:3-5. Everyone knows that it's Moroni's promise that if you Read the Book of Mormon, Ponder it in your heart and Ask God if it is true then Heavenly Father will answer your prayer so that you Know that it is true. I think it really applies to a lot more than just knowing the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon though. I think that same principle can be applied to any situation or question that we have in our lives. We have to Read/Study/Listen/Act in some way so that we can put forth our own effort and show our determination to find out what we want to know. We then need to Ponder the matter in our hearts, really see how the things that we have studied/read/heard can apply to our lives and our situation. After all we can do we then ask our Heavenly Father to assure us that the decision that we plan to take is correct. The Spirit of God will then let us Know through feelings of  "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (as talked about in Galatians 5:22-23) if the decision that we have made is correct and at that point we really will have obtained knowledge. So I guess the goal is to see what situations or questions we have in our lives that we can apply to this pattern.

 

Well that's about it for the week. So far everything is going great here so we will just keep on keeping on and working hard. Have a great week! Love you all!

 

    -Elder Nyholm

 

Here's some pictures.

 

1) Erika's Baptism;

 

2) Great-Grandpa>Grandpa>Father>Son (Elders Christensen>Sanchez>Nyholm>Drinkall);

 

3) Elder and Sister Haws. Elder Grzan and I are the only missionaries who they have picked up from the airport. They finish their mission in about 3 weeks.

 

Sent: Monday, July 21, 2014 8:57 AM
Subject: My Birthday Week

 

Yes mom it was a pretty swell Birthday celebration. And yes the members here are awesome. I think that there are at least a few that will be sad to see me go (since I'm probably getting transferred on Thursday, I find out for sure on Tuesday). It sure does feel good to be loved in the ward where you are serving though. If the ward members don't like you then it'll probably be a pretty rough time haha. Yes I got 1 "I love old people shirt" (the black one is on backorder) and BANG, and a care package, and the lialda. Thank you for everything :D

 

The 19th of July was pioneer day and of course they do it big here in Independence MO so we had a pretty good celebration. The Polys in our ward cooked up a nice big 260-300 lb pig for lunch so that was a pretty nice sight to behold. We got there too late to see the thing whole because Elder Parry and I were busy at a "training meeting for trainers" which brings up the next point... yes I will be training a new missionary this coming transfer so yeah... that should be an experience. But hey, I'll attach some pictures from Pioneer Day.

 

That's awesome that Brady gives people wet willys now. Way to go Andrew :D

 

I remember saying something a while back about how useless I thought planning was since we never ever get to follow our plans anyways. Well, Sister Erikson who is about to go home on Thursday said something during our District Meeting that kinda hit me. She said "Life is all about how you handle Plan B". Now that I think about it, life never ever goes how we want it to or how we plan for it to. We just have to trust in God and work with Plan B. I guess what really matters is what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith". Really it doesn't matter where Plan B takes us, as long as we remain firm in the faith of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Oh and by the way, we had turned 2 of our investigators over to a set of sister missionaries about 2 or 3 weeks ago because they are girls. Well, we have a baptism scheduled for Wednesday night now for Erika Pujols, and her sister and friend aren't following too far behind. So that was our bit of exciting news for the week. And for whoever looked at that last name and thought of Albert Pujols (the baseball player), yeah they are second cousins or something (which I've heard is a bit unfortunate).

 

But that's about it. Everything is going great. Love you all! Have a great week!

 

    Love

         -Elder Nyholm

 

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 8:38 AM
Subject: Interesting Week

 

This week went really well and really interesting. Generally we have a district lunch after our district meeting but everyone was too cheap to go to TacoBell or whatever so Elder Parry and I cooked up some catfish fillets that we got from an investigator that we are teaching. We had helped him a few weeks before to clean the fish so that was a fun experience and since we helped him he just gave us the fillets. We weren't really sure how it would turn out but it turned out waaay better than we thought it would and was super delicious. So we had a nice district picnic which was pretty fun.

 

The other day I was walking out of our kitchen and saw this little black thing run across our floor and went "Darnit Elder Parry. I think we have a mouse...." That led to a nice 30 minute mouse hunt, which also led to a mouse getting squashed under Elder Parry's shoe. So hopefully that was the only mouse in our apartment, but I have heard the term "if there's one there's many". We'll see.

 

Independence is also going to be on TV soon! For what you might ask? For a few episodes of COPS. I'm pretty glad that I'm inside at night haha. Maybe the reason that they came here for the show is that Independence was the Meth capital of the world 3 years ago. Fun Fact for the day.

 

This week was a little bit of a bummer for us. We had a lot of investigators getting really close to baptism but 2 of them are gone out of town for a few weeks, the other 2 have parents that arent motivated enough to get them to church or activities (Even though they themselves are members....) and we had to give 2 more to a different set of missionaries. So now we have this little tiny teaching pool that we are trying to build back up. Hopefully by the end of this week we will be rolling again.

 

A scripture that Elder Parry shares a lot that I've come to really appreciate is 2 Timothy 2:3 "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ". It's interesting to think about because when we think of war heroes and soldiers in our lives we think of men and women who were willing to risk their lives "when the times got tough and the bullets started flying" for their comrades so that their comrades would be able to return home to live with their families again one day. Within the church we aren't asked to risk our lives for those around us, but we are asked to provide service to all those in need. And what is our end goal. Our end goal really is to make it possible for others to return to live with their families, not just for this life, but for eternity. Sometimes its hard. Sometimes we come up with a million different excuses of why we shouldn't go over and help someone in need. But our charge is to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" and provide the way for those around us to live with their families for eternity. Good soldiers don't make excuses, they are exactly obedient to orders of their captain. So onec again, "serve the Lord, He is our captain".

 

That's about it for the week. Hope All is well. Love You All!

 

    Love

      -Elder Nyholm

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 9:39 AM
Subject: Happy 4th of July

 

We had a super awesome week this week. On the 4th of July we had welcome interviews with our new mission president, President Vest. Right after that all us Elders went over to the CoC (Community of Christ; Formerly RLDS) Auditorium to be ushers for a George Dyer Concert. It was super awesome because we had permission to stay and watch the concert. Something other than MoTab sounds really good after that is all you've heard for 8 months haha. Especially when you have permission from the Mission President to listen to it. So after the concert we had to be at home at 9:30 right when fireworks started. It just so happens that they do the fireworks right across the street from our apartment so we got to watch the firework show also, which was a pretty nice treat. Most missionaries couldnt see the fireworks from their apartments so we are pretty lucky that we got nice front row seats in our drive way. So yeah, 4th of July was surprisingly great for us.

 

So in terms of missionary work, we've been teaching a lot of Part-Member families lately. We have about 6 youth that are ready to baptized and have the desire to be baptized, the problem is that their parents either aren't supportive or are just plain old lazy and won't bring their kids to church. It's pretty sad when a returned missionary won't bring his own kids to church so that they can get baptized. That's the way it goes though I guess. So those are the challenges that we are facing right now. Parents... hahaha.

 

I heard a quote this week that I really liked that said "Ability is what you are capable of. Motivation is what you do. Attitude is how you do it". It really reminded me of 1 Nephi 3:6 which says "Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured". I think attitude is one of the most important things in our life that we have the ability to control. It's motivating to me to know that as we follow the commandments of the Lord and do so with a grateful and willing heart, that God will bless us because we have not murmured, which reminds me of another quote I heard this week which says that "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, God immediately endows us with power". So again, the attitude that we have towards being obedient to the commandments of the Lord is ultimately what will help us become worthy of the blessings of the Lord.

 

So our neighbors, the Buzards, are in their 70's and not doing so well in terms of health. Anyways, they wanted to BBQ a 16 lb brisket on the 4th of July so we helped them get this huge piece of meat on the BBQ at about 8 in the morning. Then at about 8:45 I look out the window and there are flames coming out of the BBQ so I run outside and Sister Buzard is stuck on her wheelchair ramp because her wheelchair ran out of battery. Anyways, she askes me to put out the flaming brisket so I do and then for the rest of the morning we were putting out flames on this huge hunk of meat because the Buzards couldn't get out to save it due to their health. Well we finally had to leave for good to go to a meeting but at night when we came back Brother Buzard walked up to us and said "The brisket died. It burned and went to Hell". Just a funny moment that I just remembered that I thought you would get a laugh out of.

 

Well that's about it for the week. I hope all is going well for you all at home. Have a fantastic week. I love you all!

 

      Love

          -Elder Nyholm

 

P.S. Here are two pictures that I found that I just really love. Thought you would enjoy them.

 

 

Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 9:33 AM
Subject: A Bit of Change

 

Sooo this week went pretty great. We are continuing to work with several investigators who are pretty promising, are progressing well and look like they might be getting baptized in the next 2 weeks or so. We've been getting tons of ward support so we have a member at almost every single scheduled teaching appointment that we have, which makes a huge difference in the progress of those whom we are teaching. I have really come to love the Hill Park Ward and I'm pretty worried for when I have to leave because I love the people here so much. But the day will come so I might as well start preparing for it. The big change this week was that we got a new Mission President. President Vest arrived on Saturday to start directing and leading the Mission. So it's a pretty big change for us missionaries. I think time will go by really really quick for the next few weeks as we start getting new instruction from President Vest.

 

Yes Mom, we are on bikes this week. I'm not excited in the slightest. It's starting to get pretty warm here, but worse than that, its starting to get pretty stinking humid. It's always bad when someone gets out of the car and their glasses fog up haha. I figure all I have to do is survive a week and then I get the car again and all is well. Keeping that good positive thought in your mind can keep you going pretty well.

 

We were at a member baptism on Friday and the person giving the talk about the Holy Ghost said a quote I really liked, which was that "God doesn't care where you've been. He cares where you are and where you are going". It was a great thought for me because I think a lot of times when we are called by the Lord to do something we can start to feel very inadequate or unworthy for the position that we've been called to. I think it's just important to always remember that as long as we are doing our best now, and as long as we are continually striving to become better, that we are worthy and adequate to serve in the position that the Lord has called us to. Along with that, President Keyes had us all on a conference call before he left and as a last word of advice before President Vest came in he told us "Serve the Lord, He is our Captain". As long as we serve our Lord, our Savior, our Captain Jesus Christ we will be headed in the right direction. We will be continually improving our lives and the lives of others and we will see the blessings that that service and obedience brings into our lives.

 

Well that's about it for the week. Great week with big changes. Change is good in the mission I think. It really helps to keep us focused and on top of things. So we will see how it goes. Have a great week. Love You!

 

      -Elder Nyholm 

Sent: Monday, June 23, 2014 8:31 AM
Subject: A Great Week of Biking

 

As per the subject, we lost the car this week. We had to share with the other Elders. Sometimes I hate sharing hahaha. But I tell you, biking in rain and thunderstorms really makes you appreciate having a car. This week we get it back so I'm pretty excited :D But even without the car we were able to make some super great progress in missionary work. This week we were able to help 4 people to make the decision to be baptized and to pick a baptismal date in July. They are all super solid people who really want to change their lives and follow the example of Jesus Christ. So yeah, we are pretty pumped this week.

 

Tell Erik that he is free to use any of the RC stuff as long as he doesn't break them :D The RC car is all easy fixes though so He should be fine with that for sure. Mom says no one will fly RC planes without me because they don't think they've got the skills for it. Just fly the flying wing because even if you crash it you can just throw it up and fly it again (usually).

 

I was looking for a spiritual thought to share in a Dinner appointment yesterday and came across Alma 23:6-8. It talks about the Lamanites who were converted unto the Lord by Ammon and his bretheren and says "And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away. For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God anymore, neither against any of their brethren. Now, these are they who were converted unto the Lord". It was cool to me to read this scripture because it brings out the importance of being truly converted. There are so many ways that we can help other to become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ but I think the most important way is to help them to understand how much they are loved, both by us and by God. As they start to comprehend the amount of love that their Father in Heaven has for them, they will start to understand the reasons that we are given commandments, trials, hardships, etc in our lives and understand that those things come to us so that we can become stronger in our faith and testimonies and come unto Christ. I know that as we help those who are struggling or those who are newly coming into the Church that we can help them to become truly converted so that they will never fall away.

 

Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 9:12 AM
Subject: 6 More Weeks!

 

Well, this week was transfers and I found I have at least another 6 weeks here in Independence Mo in the Hill Park ward with Elder Parry. I thought that you only had 2 transfers in a row with your companion if you were training or if you hated your companion. I love serving with Elder Parry and I thought the feeling was mutual but now I'm having second thoughts about what he is thinking hahaha. But no really, we work great as a companionship and are trying to be more and more effective every day.

 

Funny story of the week. I was sharing a a spiritual message after dinner at a member's home this week. My message was centered around how we can protect our families from the influences of Satan but I was trying to relate a story about the Lamanites attacking the Nephites. Anyways, I asked 9-year old Sam Olsen who we are fighting against since there are no Lamanites. He immediately yells out "The Catholics!". His dad had a pretty hard time explaining to him that Catholics are great people and that we are really fighting against Satan and temptations in our lives. Just something that made me laugh this week.

 

On a more spiritual note, yesterday during ward council the ward clerk Brother Cato shared a really great spiritual thought. About 6 years ago he had some serious health problems and ended up having 2 heart surgeries within 10 days of each other. He got through them fine and was planning on taking a vacation with his family withing the next few months. One day he was sitting on his recliner with his 3-year old son Max and Max asked him "are you going to swim with us while we are on vacation Daddy?". Brother Cato told his son "I can't swim right now". 3-year old max replied "Daddy, I will hold you". How many people do we see each and every day who can't swim through the trials that life brings to us and need someone to hold them. Each one of us is here, as a servant of god, to hold those who stand in need of help, comfort, support, etc. As Mosiah 18:8-9 says, [we should be] "desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and [be] willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and [be] willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places". I hope that as each one of us goes throughout our day that we will look for people who may be struggling and think the words of 3-year old Max, "Daddy, I will hold you".

 

Nothing super interesting or new has happened this week. It has just been a great week of teaching and bringing others closer to Christ. I hope you all have a great week! I Love You!

 

  Love

     -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, June 09, 2014 7:47 AM
Subject: Its that time again.

 

This week I get to find out if I will be spending another 6 months in the Garden of Eden or no. I really hope I get to stay here because I love the ward members and the people that we are teaching. Elder Parry is also a great companion so I'm not to keen on getting a new companion either. Since I love the area so much I will probably get moved though, so I guess I'll just hope for the worst and then be pleasantly surprised if I get to spend another transfer in the area.

 

Hahaha if I were at home during church this week I would be laughing. Dad as the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric? Now at least he will have to stop doing so many projects around the house and have to focus on other stuff that won't allow him to fall off a roof or chop his fingers off. That's always a bonus huh? Anyways, congratulations Dad! Have a great time and remember to follow the spirit. The Lord qualifies those that he calls.

 

Well, I found out that Kansas City is like Disc Golf Central. Last week Elder Parry and I bought a few disks and went and played on P-Day. I was super nervous because we went straight through some poison Ivy looking stuff. Part of the course was in the forest so I was sure that I was going to have Poison Ivy, ticks and chiggers up the wazoo but we all got lucky and I guess the plant wasn't poison ivy after all. And I got extra lucky and didn't get any chiggers at all. Everyone else got a few. I guess I don't taste too good.

 

Well, we had Stake Conference this Sunday and it was awesome! First Stake Conference I can honestly say that I have ever enjoyed, probably because I am a missionary. The adult session was all based on Hastening the Work (I think everyone's probably is) and it was just a great spiritual meeting. One quote I really liked was that "The Savior reserves the full measure of His spirit for those who are fighting on the front lines". It just really stuck out to me because those that are constantly sharing the Gospel will constantly feel the influence of the spirit. If we feel like we need to feel the spirit more in our lives then we should fight for what we believe in. Go on team-ups with the missionaries. I can promise that you will feel the spirit there. Invite your friends to ward activities or other church meetings and TESTIFY of the blessings that you have received from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Give Christ a reason to provide you with the guidance of his spirit. You never get something for nothing.

 

Mom sent me a nice big box of cookies this week. It really helps me to not have to spend money on food. I just eat 2 cookies for breakfast, 2 cookies for lunch, a dinner with members, and 2 more cookies for bedtime snack. It's perfect! I figure that the cookies have pumpkin in them so they should be healthy enough to eat all the time :D Dont worry though mom, I try to eat something else healthy every day, so you can still send me more cookies if you want.

 

That's it for the week. I'll let you know if I get transferred. Have a great week. Love You All!

 

    Love

        -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, June 02, 2014 8:14 AM
Subject: Super Quick Great Week

 

This week felt like at flew past even quicker than normal because we e-mailed on Tuesday last week. That, and we had a pretty decent teaching week. It wasn't nearly as good as we would've liked but its all good because we had a few investigators come to church which is really the most important indicator of whether our teaching is being effective or not. So yeah, pretty exciting week in terms of getting people to church. One of the other reasons that we didn't get as much teaching in as we would have liked is because we had a service project every other day or so. I figure that service projects are prime times for finding people who will be interested in the Gospel because they can see that we actually provide the service instead of just walking around and talking about it. There are always people watching us, they can see the differences that we make in the lives of others.

 

I'm a little sad this week because my District Leader is getting sent home because of health problems :/ He leaves today so it's a pretty big downer. He's probably the best missionary that I've seen out here and he's been the best example to me out of any other missionary I've met out here so I'm really bummed that he's leaving. On the plus side, he should be able to come back in about 4 months when he gets better so I'll get to see him again. He will also be out the same amount of time as me when he gets back so we will leave our missions together which is pretty cool.

 

There was one quote that I heard this week that I thought was really good. It's that if you live as you should "Others will know Jesus Christ by knowing you". That really stood out to me because as missionaries we have the name of Jesus Christ written on our chest all of the time. But even more important is that as members of the Church we should each have the name of Jesus Christ written upon our hearts as we promised that we would when we were baptized and as we take the Sacrament each week. Because we have that name written upon our hearts we should be standing as witnesses of Christ in all times and in all places, acting as he would in all that we do. And as we do that, "Others [truly] will know Jesus Christ by knowing [us]".

 

We did have one really entertaining service project this week. Elder Parry and I had to move a refrigerator all on our own because the people we were moving it for are old and couldn't do it themselves. So we get this fridge outside and into a little trailer and the old man starts driving away with it and we are following him. It was a great sight to watch because the road was pretty bumpy and that refrigerator was getting some pretty good hang-time. I was pretty surprised that it didn't fly right out over the edge of the trailer, especially as he went over the railroad tracks at about 35-40 mph. Pretty fun to watch. We followed at a pretty long distance...

 

That's about it for the week. All in all it was a great week that went by waaaaaaay too fast. That's good though. Have a great week everyone. I love you guys!

 

     Love

        -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2014 11:22 AM
Subject: One Day Late

 

This last week was pretty fantastic. We had a mission temple trip which was just amazing. There are ~280 missionaries in the mission so we did the trip in 4 temple sessions. So ~70 missionaries in each one, which is a lot for the little temple over here. This was a "special treat" for the mission because President and Sister Keyes go home at the end of this transfer (3 weeks). We also did exchanges this week so I was with a different missionary for a day which is always a nice change. It was pretty funny because every morning when this Elder wakes up he walks up to the mirror and tells his reflection "You're beautiful. I love you. I forgive you". Exchanges also means that I didn't have to plan one night because I was in his area :) I'm still not a huge fan of planning if you couldn't tell. It's always good to plan... the problem is that a missionary's plans (almost) never happen.

 

Mom, we are going strong with our 4th week with a car. It's a pretty big miracle. And to top it off, I haven't gained any weight since we got the car. I guess sitting is better exercise than I thought. It's only in the 80's here but its getting pretty humid so it's really really really nice to have a car.

 

Funny story. Whenever mom send me a package she always manages to fit in a few packages of powdered Idahoan potatoes. I love those potatoes and I figured that mom must have known it and that was why she kept sending them to me. Anyways, I was making some today for lunch and then I just happened to see some black lettering on the package and I was thinking "hmmmmmmmmm what does that say?" Well I looked a little closer and what do I see? "Use by 3/15/2011" Now I know the real purpose behind sending me those potatoes :D And i'ts OK because they still taste just as good.

 

Lately we have been finding a lot of "Golden Contacts" in his area. We have several people that we are teaching that are progressing really really well. We figure that as long as we keep putting in the effort and work smart that we should always have a few people that will be willing to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, that effort and hard work is really paying off and we are super grateful for it.

 

On Sunday one of the speakers during church said something I really liked a lot which was "[Christ] died for us. But first he lived for us". As I thought about that I really started to wonder which part of Christ's life was the hardest, the suffering that he participated in in order to make it possible for us to be clean from sin -or- the perfect life that he had to live in order to have the ability to perform the Atonement for us. Just a good question to think about a bit.

 

I was studying in the BoM this morning in Alma 60 and I read a few really cool verses. This chapter is about Captain Moroni rebuking the people in the Nephite government for not sending troops and supplies to his armies. So here's what he says in verses 7,11 and 19. "Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren— Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain. Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies?" It really made me think about our lives and if some of us feel so secure and set in our ways that we feel like we don't need to spend time spreading the Gospel. Our enemies, Satan and his followers are spreading spiritual death around us among our brethren. Are we really worthy to be delivered by the goodness of God if we never put forth our efforts to save our friends and neighbors from the influences of Satan? It's our duty as Christians to help those around us to better their lives and to come unto Christ and to find the joy in their lives that we have felt in ours. Anyways, I just thought that was a pretty cool set of scriptures as I was reading this morning.

 

Well that's about it for the week folks. I'm looking forward to a great week and I hope that you all are also. So have a great one. Love You!

 

 Love

  -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 8:12 AM
Subject: Doing Great!

 

This week went pretty fantastic. Mom just e-mailed me and told me about how little you really need to survive. I can agree with that. For the last 2 weeks I've been living off of bananas and cans of tuna fish for breakfast/lunch. Nice and cheap... and quite filling also. We had a nice surprise this week also. It was supposed to be our week with bikes but somehow we got blessed with the rental car for another week, and we get it again this week. So basically we've been getting unlimited miles in a nice 2014 Chevy Impala for the last 2 weeks and we are still going strong haha. Yup, missionaries in the USA are a little spoiled.

 

You said something about Iva doing fire-knife dancing. Did I tell you that I met a 3-year in a row world champion for fire-knife dancing? We went and visited him at the hospital about 2 weeks ago. No he did not cut/burn himself to go to the hospital... he just got bit by a spider.

 

This week we did a ton of tracting which actually turned out to be pretty fun. You meet a lot of, how to I put it... interesting people when you are knocking on random doors all day. So now we have a nice big pool of people to work with which is really nice. Gives us more time in people's homes and less time walking in the street.

 

Elder Parry and I are always trying to find service projects to work on with people. This week we helped an old guy (70's) move a bunch of gravel into his driveway. He's going to pour a brand new driveway but first he's gotta put gravel down so that he can pour on top. It's a long driveway too so he's got about 18 tons of gravel that he still has to move. So that will be a pretty good project that we can help him out with once a week or so. He can't really do the work very quickly on his own so he really appreciates the help and Elder Parry and I appreciate being able to do some nice hard labor every once in a while.

 

Something I noticed in my studies this week. I was reading in Alma 43 which is, as you can guess, about a war between the Nephites and Lamanites. It's pretty cool as you read through because you can see a nice pattern that you see in a lot of other scripture also. Verse 9 = Desire/Purpose. Verse 19 = Preparedness/Action/Faith. Verse 23 = Prayer. Verse 26 = Unity. Verse 50 = Success. So as you go through you can see that fighting against temptation or other bad things in your life always starts with a desire and a purpose. If you don't have a desire to become better and change our lives then we never will. After we develop that desire we act on faith that we can change by putting on "the whole armor of God" though prayer, scripture study, church attendance, etc. That leads to the ability of being able to become united with those that share your same values and those that are fighting for the same cause, which ultimately brings about success. A lot of times we look through the "war chapters" of the Book of Mormon and think "how the heck am I supposed to apply this to my life?". What we fail to realize a lot of the time is that we are in a war. Once you realize that it becomes a lot easier to apply those chapters.

 

Well have a good week. Love you all.

 

     Love

       -Elder Nyholm