Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 10:30 AM
Subject: Whoops

 

I had written down all the cool stuff that happened here over the last week and then I forgot my planner so now I'm back to square one. It's great isn’t it? I think I remember most of what I wrote down, which still isn't very much but we'll see how it goes.

This week one of our members gave us a big cable machine for exercise so now Elder Monroe and I can actually be motivated to exercise. It was a beast to move into our apartment but now it's there and it's functional so we are pretty excited about that. Maybe we will turn into big muscle men now in the next 5 weeks (hahaha just kidding... have you seen our little spaghetti arms?).

We went on a tour of Liberty Jail with a recent convert and her non-member husband. On the tour there were us 4, the tour guide sister missionary, and one other guy who was really short with black hair. Elder Monroe leaned over to me and asked, "Hey, is that David Archuleta?" I looked at him and it sure did look like him. Well at the end of the tour Elder Monroe talked to him a tiny bit and it turns out that it really was David Archuleta. I guess David doesn't like talking too much though because he really wouldn’t talk to us hardly at all... he was kind of a chump.... but oh well. Just thought that you might think that was interesting.

After who knows how many times going through Liberty Jail I learned something new again. If you stand by the side of the jail so that you are looking through the barred windows, then you are staring directly at the picture of Christ in the exit room. I thought that was pretty cool because we as people seem to focus on our trials a lot when we should really be looking toward Christ despite our trials. You'll have to take a look the next time you visit Liberty Jail.

I did get the cookies on Wednesday. They are super moist and delicious still. They came in the best shape that they ever have. Thank you!

There is a cool scripture in Alma 18:34 that says "Ammon said unto him: I am a man; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true". I think this scripture is really cool because each one of us has the responsibility to help others to come to a knowledge of the truth and closer to their Heavenly Father. We each have received so much joy in our lives from the Gospel, so why are we sometimes afraid to share it with those around us? I know that as we overcome our fears and our anxieties and begin to share the Gospel with those around us that we will see our lives and the lives of other change for the better, that we will see people have more happiness in their lives because of the knowledge that we have shared with them. I've seen it a lot over the past 14 months on my mission. I've seen it happen :)

Did I tell you that it has been really warm here lately? Like 50 degrees every day for the last week. I haven’t had to wear a jacket at all. Last year at this time is was probably about 20 degrees outside with a foot of snow on the ground. I'm really enjoying this winter a lot better though haha. If we are lucky we will be able to make it out of the really cold months (January and February) without too much bad weather.

So since it was really warm yesterday, we went to "The Plaza" in downtown KCMO and just became tourists for a day because it was our P-Day. It was a pretty cool place and I guess at Christmas the whole place is decorated really nice. We went too late in the season though so all the decorations were already gone. Andy Reid, Member of the church and head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs also lives like 5 minutes from the plaza. Elder Monroe went on exchanges a few weeks ago and got to go in Andy Reid's house. It must be a pretty nice house because it was big enough to have an elevator in it...

That's about it for the week. I hope you like this e-mail a little better than last weeks :) I Love You. Have a great week!

       -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, January 12, 2015 8:26 AM
Subject: Booted to KCMO, Belton

 

So I got transferred this week to the Belton area of Kansas City 3rd ward. Elder Spencer Monroe is my new companion. He's from Spanish Fork UT, 18 almost 19 (this week), plays basketball, etc... He was in the same MTC district as Ryan Gewondijan which I thought was pretty cool.

Belton is a pretty interesting place. The ward here is super supportive. We have 2 sets of missionaries in this ward, us in Belton and another set in Grandview. I'm still getting used to the place but it seems like it is going to be a pretty awesome area to serve in.

It seems like sickness is going all over the place. There are tons of sick people here and it seems like everyone at home is sick too. Never a good thing.

It's pretty cool that you were able to see that little news article that I was in. I guess our public affairs lady just set that up out of the blue and we just happened to be visiting with my pal Marco Cruz when they wanted to interview us. But yeah, that was a little bit of a surprise being able to do that.

A Scripture I really liked this week is Mosiah 18:21 which says "And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another." I thought this scripture was awesome because it shows the level of love and unity that our Heavenly Father expects of us as followers of Christ. We should always remember that our Heavenly Father expects our absolute best at every time and we should always give him our absolute best at every moment. If we do then we will never fall.

That's really about it for the week. I Love You!

   -Elder Nyholm

P.S. These are the pictures of our (not-so) band. Elder Monroe is the guy with the harmonica.

 

 

Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 8:06 AM
Subject: Happy New Year!!!!!

 

This week went super awesome. We had a lot of success this week with our investigators. We now have two investigators planning to be baptized this month so we are super excited for them and their desire to follow Christ. We also were able to attend the baptism on Kaylee and Carson Davis in my old area (The Shoal Creek Valley Ward) in North KC/Liberty. It was an awesome service and Kaylee and Carson were suuuuuuuuuper excited. It was also nice being able to see a few of the members from that ward. They are all pretty great people :)

 

Honestly, that's the whole week right there in that little paragraph. Not much else changes out here and it's really hard to put into words the wonderful experiences that we have with those we teach. If you ever want true joy just help one of your friends make a commitment to follow Christ. That's pretty much the most joy you'll ever get (outside of having a baby or something I guess - But I don't really have much experience with that)

 

Our Bishop works at the airport and he was helping to empty the hazardous material vat that was full of confiscated alcohol. Well his coworker didnt screw on the hose well enough so the alcohol kinda sprayed all over him and now his coworkers joke is "Gabe doesnt drink alcohol, he just bathes in it". Well last night we were teaching about the Word of Wisdom and came across a verse that we thought described the situation pretty well. D&C 89:7 "And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies". I hope Bishop Murphy got a good kick out of that when we texted him the reference haha.

 

I heard a quote that I really liked this week from Bishop Murphy. He said that "convenience is not a principle of the Gospel". I really like that because a lot of times we look for easy ways out of hard situations in our lives. What we fail to realize is that nothing good comes easy and everything worth having takes hard work to obtain/achieve.

 

There was a scripture that I read this week that I really liked also. 2 Timothy 1:7 says"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind". Elder Spencer also told me a quote a while back that says "Fear kills dreams". God has given us the Holy Spirit so that each one of us has the guidance that we need to return to live with him. Fear will never get us anywhere in life, but with faith we can work miracles and achieve our highest dreams. 

 

Well that's about it for the week. I hope all is going well for you. Love You!

 

   -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 7:52 AM

 

This week went super well. It was great because we had an awesome Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Day was about 50 degrees and sunny. Can't complain about that. And I found out that Kaylee and Carson Davis who I was teaching about 3 months ago in KCMO/Liberty are being baptized on January 3rd so I’m pretty stoked for that. 

 

It was pretty cool being able to call home and talk to everybody. Definitely the highlight of the week. It looks like everyone is doing great. I didn't realize how big my nieces and nephews are now. They're all super big and different from the last time I saw them. It was fun to be able to see how much they've all changed and grown.

 

So far we haven't had any snow. Everyone was saying during the summer that this winter would be the worst winter Missouri has ever seen. 1) People say that every single year I'm pretty sure. 2) We've only had about 2 inches of snow and very few days with really cold weather. I remember walking in about 8 inches of snow at this time last year. I'm just praying that the rest of the winter goes this smooth. If all goes well we will only have about 2 months of winter left :)

 

I read a scripture I really liked yesterday during my personal study. In 1 Corinthians 4:20 it says "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power". I thought that was pretty awesome because it really goes to show that without action, any "faith" we have doesn’t really mean anything. The Love that we have for our Heavenly Father is shown by the amount that we serve his children and follow his commandments. Matthew 7:21 says basically the same thing when it says "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." NOW is the time that we can show our heavenly Father our true love for him by being obedient to his commandments and serving those around us.

 

I don't really have a lot more to talk about since I just talked to you on Christmas. Thank you everyone for the Christmas cards/gifts that you sent me. I love you all. Make it a great week and (quote from my favorite senior missionary Elder Atwood) "Give 'Em Heaven"!

 

      -Elder Nyholm 

 

Pictures : 1) How to fill up a font with hot water with short time

                2) The Davis Family and me

 

 

Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 8:42 AM

 

Hahaha Erik and Dad were in my area. Well two of them actually. They ate at a McDonald’s about 10 minutes away from our apartment and took a picture at the mission office directly across the street from where I lived for 4.5 months. Yeah I liked the pictures haha. So how did you like my areas?

 

You say that eating is the typical Nyholm thing. It's funny because while I've been on my mission I've come to find that it's "feast or famine" so when there's a feast you better eat good. Elder Lokeni and Elder Spencer always make fun of me because I eat more than them (and they aren't small guys) and I'm still not fat (yet). And you never know if a member has dessert or not so I always make sure to eat until I'm stuffed and then if they do happen to have dessert, well heck, there is always more room for dessert. Eating is one thing I've really come to enjoy while on my mission.

 

I heard that Livermore is getting hammered by rain, which is a good thing right? Everyone here asks me if I think California is going to get washed away and just fall into the ocean. I guess it's possible right. i hope that doesn’t happen though. But it's a good thing we have a boat at home I guess.

 

I'm glad that you and Kaitlin invited the missionaries over for dinner. I remember last Christmas we were opening the area and church got cancelled because of bad weather so we didn’t really know anyone in the ward at all. It was a pretty miserable Christmas looking back. All good though. This one we are set with dinners and we actually know the ward :) Remember to ask those missionaries if they have somewhere to call from as well :)

 

Don't worry Mom I will try my hardest not to break my teeth or my ankle while playing basketball.

 

I was thinking about a few verses in Isaiah 53:2-6ish. Just read them. There is a lot that you can pull from those verses. The Atonement has been on my mind a lot lately and how we can utilize it every single day. It's the most important even that have has or will happen. It's a pretty big deal. I think it's important that we all understand it.

 

That's about it for the week. I'll talk to you on Thursday. I Love You! 

 

     Love

        -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 9:41 AM

We had a pretty awesome week this week. The highlight was definitely the All Mission Conference that we had. We got to see everyone from the mission and we got to see the Faitau Family because they were helping to prepare the lunch that was provided for us. I got to see my best buds Elder Parry and Elder Lokeni and my parents away from home Elder/Sister Flint. And to top it off, Elder and Sister Seaman brought Elder Spencer and I out to Mama Garden's Chinese Buffet (my favorite buffet in Missouri) because they knew we had a long drive back to St. Joe and we didn't have a dinner scheduled for that night. Oh, and did I mention that we get to drive a Chevy Colorado because our normal car is in the shop being repaired. Yeah, this week was pretty awesome.

 

Last week we played basketball in these super ghetto apartments with a less active young man in our ward and his friends, one of whom we are teaching. It was the best P-Day we've had in St. Joe because we got to play with more than 4 people. Well this week we invited them and some of the youth in the ward to bring their friends and play at the church building so we should have even more people and even more fun today than last week.

 

Bro. Perkinson taught our lesson in Elders Quorum this week and said a pretty funny quote. "Christmas isn't when you spend time with those you love. It's when you spend time with family." I was laughing so hard after I heard that. That guy could be a stand up comedian and we get a free show every single week.

 

You said Adelyn is turning 8. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADELYN! I thought she was ~6 years old..... Just goes to show how out of the loop us missionaries are. Or how forgetful we are of stuff that isn't happening near where we live. One of the two.

 

Last week I shared Jacob 3:1... This week I want to share Jacob 3:2 because it is also pretty awesome. It says "O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever." I've been thinking about that and what it means to "receive the pleasing word of God" so that we can "feast upon his love." I think a huge part of it is our scripture study because the scriptures are literally the words of God that are meant for us in our day. As we learn more about God through scripture study or other means we start to realize exactly how loving he really is to us. Once we are able to understand and comprehend the amount of love that he has for us we can begin to feast upon that love and let it be an anchor in our lives. The knowledge that God loves us unconditionally can start to become that one thing that will keep us going through any trials that we have ahead of us.

 

That's about it for the week. We are supposedly looking forward to some really cold weather and a lot of snow. I'm not excited for it. But whatever, we are on the Lord's errand right? I love you! Have a great week!

 

        -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 8:53 AM

So this week went pretty quick and uneventful. Our teaching pool is pretty tiny still because we are had those baptisms a few weeks back so just about all our efforts are going into finding new people to teach. It's hard to because no one is outside anymore because it is getting cold so it's definitely a little harder to find people to talk to. But all is going well so it's all OK!

 

The other day we helped a member to dig a super long trench. It was great fun. 500ft long and 6 inches deep. We finished it in about 2 hours which I thought was pretty good because it was just Elder Spencer and I doing the digging. The member we were helping has cerebral palsy so he wasn't able to do any digging at all. He's an awesome guy though. And we got some good exercise so that is just a bonus.

 

There's a scripture I read this week that has been on my mind a lot lately. Its Jacob 3:1 which says "But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions,and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction." The parts that I put in bold are the parts that really interest me. There is a promise made to us from God that if we do two things 1) Look to God 2) Pray in faith then he will do two things for us 1) Console us 2) Plead our cause. There's a lot that you can take from that but for me I think it's super important to recognize that every time we do something for God he blesses us in return. Every single time. No exceptions. I love that we have a loving God who wants to do everything for us but allows us to grow by letting us stumble through our trials until we truly rely on him for strength.

 

Mom asked about speaking Spanish. I speak Spanish about once a week here. We visit a recent convert, Marco Cruz, and cook lunch with him every Tuesday and then share a message with him. So I get a nice 1.5-2 hours of Spanish in every week. Not much but at least it keeps me from forgetting it completely. And we get good authentic Mexican food as well so you can't beat that. I know how to make Horchata from scratch now too. Marco is teaching me well :)

 

That's about it for the week. Like I said, it wasn't super exciting at all. This week we have a mission-wide conference on Wednesday so that'll be super fun. Every missionary in the mission will be there and each zone will sing a Christmas song and all that good stuff. Should be a blast so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Well I love you all! Have a great week!

 

     -Elder Nyholm

Date: December 1, 2014 at 11:37:31 AM EST
Subject: Re: Hey Buddy

We had transfers this week and Elder Lokeni got booted out to Sedalia (about 2 hours east of Independence). He was super scared of serving in the boondocks but that's the only places he's ever served in his mission hahaha. Funny how that works. So Elder Spencer from Glendale Utah came to replace Elder Lokeni and we are having a good time and working hard.

 

We had an awesome Thanksgiving. We had a lunch with the Crumb/Dinning/Hurt clan in Amazonia where we had the bonfire a few weeks back. They had enough food to fill up every bit of counter space that we have in our kitchen in Livermore plus another full table of desserts. It was wonderful. Then after that we went to a dinner with the Burns family where we ate more food and more pie. I think in total I ate a full pie and a half that day. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, double layer pumpkin pie, brownie fudge pie, etc. It was wonderful. Then I didn't have to eat anything on Friday because I was still full from Thanksgiving.

 

This Sunday I was asked to do a confirmation for the Sister missionaries new convert, Misty Stein. It was the first confirmation that I've ever done and it was a pretty cool experience. I'm glad that Misty trusted me enough to ask me to do her confirmation for her.

 

I've heard of Sister Flink. I know she is in the mission but I've never met her before.

 

Numbers 20 has a pretty good story about exact obedience that I really like. Moses was commanded to speak unto the Rock at Meribah to bring forth water to the Israelites but instead he whacked the thing with a rod two times. The water still came forth, the miracle was still there, but Moses was told that he would never see his people enter the promised land because he didn't follow the commands of the Lord with exactness. You can find it in Numbers 20:2-13.

 

That's about it for the week. It went by quick with transfers and everything. Well I Love You! Have a great week!

 

    -Elder Nyholm 

Sent: Monday, November 24, 2014 8:51 AM

 

We are having a pretty interesting week, well just today actually. All the missionaries who are supposed to go home on Thanksgiving leave today so that they can be with their families ON Thanksgiving which means that Elder Lokeni and I just accepted Elder Hart into our (now awkward tripod) companionship. So we are in Independence now instead of in St. Joseph which I really am kind of happy about because I LOVE Independence (much more than any of my other areas). But yeah, we will have Elder Hart until Thursday when Elder Lokeni and I do not get transferred (fingers crossed).

 

But yeah, the week has gone by well and went by very fast. The Sister Missionaries in our ward had a baptism on Saturday. This time when we filled the font we were smart and ran the sinks in the kitchen on hot water and then siphoned the water our into a big trash can then wheeled that over to the font to dump all the water in. So the water was actually warm and we got the whole font filled in an hour and a half rather than in the 4 hours it would've taken. So that was a fun and good experience.

 

Hermano Cruz in our ward opened up a taqueria a few months ago and he took us out to eat there this week. He got me this plate of chile verde and it was super good. Elder Lokeni tried a bite and almost started crying because it was too spicy for him (then he got mad at me for not warning him hehehe). Actually Brother Cruz didn't get baptized too long ago so we go over and share a message with him every Tuesday and while we are there he teaches us to cook Mexican food and feeds us lunch. It's a pretty sweet deal. This Tuesday we are going to make homemade Horchata and probably gorditas or tostadas. We'll see. But yeah, Bro Cruz makes some really good food :)

 

Something I've been thinking about a lot over the past week. Alma 37:7 says "And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." I think a lot of times we forget that Satan also works by very small and simple means. He doesnt get us with one big earthquake, he weakens us with several small earthquakes until he can give us one last hard push and make us crumble. But those little decisions that we make every single day can make the difference between if we are following the Lord or the Devil by "small and simple means". Like Pres Monson says "Decisions Determine Destiny". It's just so very important to make sure that the small and simple things we do every day help us to follow our Heavenly Father's plan.

 

I think that's about it for the week. Nothing too interesting or out of the ordinary. Have a great week. I Love You!

 

   -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, November 17, 2014 8:17 AM
Subject: Two Baptisms!!!

 

So this week went pretty awesome especially since, per the subject, we had two baptisms this weekend!!!!! It was funny though because our ward mission leader was late to open the font so we had to start filling it with buckets when he finally got there and by the time the baptism started the water was nice and cold. Then we had a baptism an hour later so we were going to drain some water and put some new hot water in but Elder Lokeni didn't notice that the plug chain got stuck under the plug so more water drained than was expected so we had to rush to fill it up again for the next baptism haha. It all worked out great though and both Kaleb Christman and Jennifer Bennett were baptized and confirmed the next day in Sacrament meeting :) They are both super excited to be following in Christ's footsteps and to start a new life of dedication to Christ.

 

This week it also got really cold. The first death (snow) has fallen. Its been down at about 10 degrees which is waaaay to cold for a Californian and a Samoan. I don't know how Elder Lokeni and I will survive the winter, but we will do our best. At least in this area we have a full-time car so we don't have to be outside much. I almost think it is worse though because we never get acclimated to the cold so we are always freezing.

 

Zone Conference was pretty awesome but it was suuuuuuper long. We started at 9am and didn't get out until 4:30. Then from there we started an exchange so we had to drive 2 hours from Platte City up to Maryville (kind of a fart-in-the-wind town, about 5,000 people). So it turned out to be a pretty long day of sitting. Speaking of fart-in-the-wind towns, we went to one called Rosendale, population 143. It looks like a tornado went through the town. I've never been in a town with so many stray dogs and so many broken down houses. If you ever drive North from St. Jo make sure you don't blink... you might miss it. There are lots of little towns here actually but we just don't go to them because there is nothing there.

 

This week I read through 1 Nephi 1-3 and a cool thought came to me. It talks about how Lehi leaves Jerusalem and all his gold, silver, precious things, and takes his journey into the wilderness. The cool part though is in 1 Nephi 2:7 "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God." I thought that was pretty cool because Lehi had not yet seen the blessings which had been promised to him. He had left everything behind, except for his family (also very important subject), gone three days into the wilderness, and the first thing that he did was thank God for his many blessings. I think of our lives and how many times be have trials in our lives and we forget the little blessings that we DO receive and never thank our Heavenly Father for those blessings. I think it's a pretty special subject, especially with Thanksgiving coming up.

 

And about Thanksgiving... It used to be that we gave thanks Thursday for things that we did have and then trampled people for things that we didn't have on Friday. Now I've heard that Black Friday is going to start on Thanksgiving in some stores... I just thought that was pretty ridiculous...

 

So anyways, this week has gone really super great and we are looking forward to another awesome week. Have a good one! I Love You!

 

    -Elder Nyholm

 

P.S. Here are some little funny photos someone sent me. I hope they give you a good laugh :)

 

 

Sent: Monday, November 03, 2014 8:39 AM

 

You're right about the time Mom. A year does go fast but it does still seem like a lifetime haha. I try not to think about how long I've been out but it's pretty hard to do when you are at your year mark. Haha I was in my last area for 3 months and when I got there I was at about 9 months, and I still told people that I was at about 9 months when I left. Then all of the sudden I'm at a year. But I think I liked being at 9 months better. Maybe I will just stick with that ;) 

 

Thanks for giving those missionaries some money for lunch Ma. I guarantee that that was one of the highlights of their day.

 

This week went pretty well. On Halloween we weren't allowed to be out tracting after dinner so we had dinner with a Less-Active family and spent the time after dinner passing out candy to people that came by the door. That family is super funny, they already told me that if I had been a "dud" missionary then they would always be too busy to meet and that if Elder Lokeni leaves and I get a "dud" missionary in his place then I will never be in their home again. It feels good when people people don't think you are a "dud" missionary hahaha :)

 

We also got to carve pumpkins on the day before Halloween. It was a fun little thing that we got to do that just gave us a little stress relief and fun for a little while. I think the pumpkin that I carved turned out to be the best one that I've ever done. I was a little impressed because I just jammed the knife in and started cutting without anything to guide me. But yeah, that was a little fun highlight of our week.

 

We've got two awesome people that we are teaching that should be getting baptized really soon (Nov 15th and Nov 22nd). Hopefully all goes well and I will be able to send you some baptismal pictures soon :) It feels really good to have two solid people to teach who actually enjoy having you teach them and appreciate the fact that you are out on your mission. I don't feel like I've felt that from investigators in quite a while.

 

To answer your question about packages. If it's USPS priority mail then it gets forwarded to me from the mission office Mon-Fri. If it's not USPS priority mail then it takes until someone from Independence makes a trip up here to the boonies, so probably a pretty long time.

 

 I was reading in 2 Nephi 33 this week and verse 3 really stuck out to me. Its says "But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry." I feel like each on of us has several people that we pray for constantly, who mean the world to us and who we want the best for. To me it is super comforting to know that our Heavenly Father hears each and every one of our prayers and that he hears and answers, again, each and every one of our prayers (although we may not recognize those answers). It's also super important that as we pray for those people that we pray for them "in faith", showing God that we have confidence in Him and that we know that he will do what is best for that person who we are praying for. The power of prayer can play and powerful and active role in our lives if we let it. It's so important that we realize that and act on that knowledge so that each one of us can help to bless the lives of those around us.

 

In terms of the question you asked of "why are children so devilish sometimes if Satan doesn't have power over them" (I laughed pretty good when I read that by the way) I kind of look at it from this point of view. If they acted perfect 100% of the time while they were children then as soon as Satan did have power over them to tempt them then they would not know how to resist those temptations and they would not know of the consequences that come from "acting devilish". So when the time came that Satan did have power over them, they would give into just about every temptation that was put in their path and be accountable for those sins, which would definitely not be a good thing. So yeah, those are my thoughts on that.

 

Not much else really interesting happened this week. It got really cold one night, about 20 degrees, but that isn't nearly as cold as it will be this Winter so.... yeah we will see what happens :)

 

Well have a great week. Thanks for all the support you give me. Sure Love Ya!

 

      -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 8:08 AM

 

So I've learned a little more about St. Joe in the past week. #1 we have a full-time car because we cover the towns of Savannah, Amazonia, Troy, Elwood, etc. All of them are little tiny towns like 15-30 mins away by car. If we didn't have a full-time car we wouldnt be able to get to those places sooooo... we have a full-time car. I feel spoiled but I won't complain. #2 St Joseph is the home of Jesse James (I think) a pretty famous robber. So just a interesting fact.

 

This week flew by pretty quick. I'm still learning the area and trying to remember the names of all the members. There are some rough parts of St. Joe but it's nice because I don't think most people want to mess with Elder Lokeni seeing as he is 6'5, and ~250lbs. I know I wouldn't try to bother someone that big. Being with a huge companion definitely has its benefits. Now we can pretty much go wherever we want whenever we want and not have to worry. Our Bishop told us and the Sister missionaries during a correlation meeting that he didn't want us going into a set of apartments at night. Then he looked at Elder Lokeni and said "Mmmm you elders can go". I thought it was pretty funny.

 

Yes Dad I got the cables and they are good. Thank you! And yes my ankle is doing pretty good. I am wearing a brace every other day now. My ankle is super weak now from having a boot/brace so long so I'm trying to help it get a little stronger before I ditch the brace all the way. We'll see how it goes.

 

So I gave a lesson in Gospel Principles yesterday about talents and found a scripture I really like in James 1:17 that says "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." It's pretty cool that we can know that every talent we have comes from a Heavenly Father who loves us. And I think it is always important to understand that we are given gifts and talents to help bless the lives of others, not to keep and treasure up for ourselves. With every talent we are given there is a corresponding way to bless the lives of others with that talent. This life is a life of service. From Hugo Martinez, "El que sirve, sirve; el que no sirve, no sirve" (He who serves in some thing is good for something; he who serves in no thing is good for nothing.). 

 

That's all I got for the week. Here are some pictures of beautiful St. Joe from the biggest hill I've ever seen in Missouri (and it's still tiny...)

 

Have a great week everyone. I love you!

 

      -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, October 20, 2014 8:38 AM
Subject: I got Transferred

 

So today was a super busy exciting fun week. I ended up getting transferred to St. Joseph Missouri to serve as a District Leader with Elder Lokeni. So Tuesday and Wednesday were spent packing, teaching, and visiting ward members. Thursday-Today were spent trying to meet lots of members and investigators and unpacking. So it just ended up being a super busy week all around. 

 

So I'm serving in the St. Joseph 2nd ward. It's a huge area (compared to my other areas) and it is really basically a boonies area. Out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of hunters and fishers. This is my territory haha. The first day here we went to the Crumb's home in the middle of nowhere to watch a HUGE ward bonfire, and I mean huge... Like there were whole trees in there that were soaked with diesel fuel and probably an area 30' x 20' x 10'. It was quite a show haha. They also had two junker cars that they were running through the forest just for fun to smash them up. The next day they used the cars as target practice until they exploded. I also got to hold a ball python and an alligator at their home which was a fun experience. I think I'm in love with this ward :)

 

So Elder Lokeni. He grew up in Samoa until he was 9? and then moved to West Jordan Utah with his family. He plays guitar and ukulele and will be playing college football and basketball somewhere in Montana. As preparation for returning to sports we go to a gym at 5:15 every morning to work out. I think I would rather sleep the extra hour and 15 minutes but oh well. Now I'm really sore all the time... and I think I'm going to have to buy more food.

 

I do miss the people from my last ward a lot. They were super awesome and I really grew to love them all. I got a picture of a lot of the members of the ward so I'll send that. 

 

1 Nephi 20:10 says “For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” I think that this scripture is just an awesome scripture all around. It shows that we are given trials in our lives so that we can become more refined and become more like our father in heaven. But it also shows that God is in control of the refining and that, because he is perfect, he will never put us through more heat than we can withstand. He will always make it possible for us to exit the refiners fire and we will always leave that fire better and stronger than we entered it.

 

So the Giants and KC are playing each other in the World Series this year. Now whenever I tell people that I am from the San Francisco area they have to ask me who I cheer for. It's a good thing that I'm not a baseball fan or I think a lot less people in the ward would like me haha. (But secretly I'm rooting for the Giants).

 

That's pretty much it for the week. Let me know if there's anything you want more info about. Have a great week. Sure Love Ya!

 

    -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 9:25 AM

 

This week has gone really well. It got nice and cool outside which it always a blessing and we were able to get in to teach some really awesome people.

 

We had exchanges this week so I worked in the area that covers the Historic Liberty Jail for a day. It's kind of funny because that area (the Doniphan Ward named after Alexander Doniphan) is also the home to the Liberty Jail, like, the one where people are imprisoned nowadays. And even more interesting, we went into the jail to teach a member of the church who has been in prison since he was 16. So it was a pretty interesting experience all around and it was my very first time ever in a jail.

 

Anyways, our exchange went really well and I found out really quickly that tracting actually does work in some areas, just not the one that I am in right now. We found a lot of people who were pretty interested in learning about the church. I also was with Elder Romney who, yes, is the nephew of good old Mitt Romney. I think Elder Romney gets asked that every single day. They've actually tried to use that as an approach so that people will be more interested in talking with them hahaha. But yeah, exchanges went super well like always.

 

We had dinner with an awesome family in our ward, the Savea family. They decided to roast hot dogs over a fire for dinner so we had a pretty good time doing that. It's the first time I've roasted food over an open fire since I was at home so it was extra fun. So we had hot dogs and smores and... A hot dog marshmallow kabob, which actually turned out to be pretty yummy despite the fact that it sounds absolutely disgusting. I'll attach some pictures.

 

This Thursday is Transfers so it's an exciting time. I'm praying to get moved over to downtown KCMO so that I can speak some Spanish and be able to talk to more people (since the population in so much more dense). We'll see what happens. I haven't really spoken Spanish much at all here in this area. I speak it about once or twice a week. So I would really love to be able to use the language a little more.

 

3 Nephi 11:29 says "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another". I think that there are always times in our lives when we feel contentious towards those around us. It's important to realize that any time that we act on those feelings of contention we are giving in to Satan and allowing him to overcome us. Once we do that we lose our free agency, something that God has given to us as a divine gift. It's just always so important to remember that to give into contention is to give into the Devil. If we remember that then it will be so much easier to choose to do what God would have us do. 

 

That's about all I got for the week. I love you all. Have a great week!

 

 Love

    -Elder Nyholm

 

 

Sent: Monday, October 06, 2014 10:23 AM

 

So we had a really really great week. We found some more people to teach and had some investigators listen to General Conference with one of the families in our ward so that was pretty awesome. Also, General Conference weekend is awesome because we get to eat food between sessions with members since they are all home anyways. We had some awesome overnight french toast, pizza, spaghetti, Nigerian food of some sort, etc... I love food. My problem is that I keep gaining weight but I just keep eating. I guess I need to exercise more. General Conference was also super awesome because 1)I actually stayed awake for most of it 2)The talks were pretty amazing 3)We watched it at the chapel with no loud kids around so we actually got to pay attention ;)

 

As for my ankle, I rode my bike for just one day with the boot on and then I got a brace so I could ride it with that no problem. And I can climb with it now as long as I dont fall on it. It's almost 100% now. I just have to use the brace when I "play" sports on P-Day now. But yeah, it's doing really good now.

 

The Elder here that had stomach problems ended up just having some sort of bacterial infection so no Crohn's or ulcerative colitis luckily. He was well enough today to play sports this morning. As for me, I still have about 4 bottles of meds still so I should be good for a while. I'll let you know when I need more.

 

It looks like you had a pretty awesome hike at the Grand Canyon. I miss getting to go on hikes but it's OK. Some day I will get to go again haha.

 

Heleman 5:10-11 says "And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls." I really like this scripture mostly because of the parts that I put in Bold. Each one of us has a wonderful opportunity to repent (change) of past mistakes in our lives. And that opportunity is brought about in and through the Atonement of Christ. I just think it's so awesome that our Heavenly Father has provided such a perfect plan for us to be able to return to him one day. I'm so thankful for the opportunity that we have to repent and be cleansed of sins in order to become clean and be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

 

That's about it for the week. I love you!

 

  -Elder Nyholm

 Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 11:01 AM

 

Well... I wasn't going to tell you about my ankle until AFTER it was done healing but I guess Amanda kinda blew that one haha. It's doing really well right now. I had a medical boot on for two weeks but as of Tuesday I just have a small ankle brace on. Thursday was my first day that I could actually walk normal (with the brace). But it feels really good right now. Luckily I didn't break it (although the Doc thought I did before he took X-Rays) but I got a nice high ankle sprain (which everyone says is worse than just breaking the ankle. A break would've been faster to heal). But yeah. It's good now :)

 

Cool thing that happened this week. We got to preview "Meet the Mormons" so now I can tell you all that it is an awesome movie and that it is definitely worth watching. I just wish I could watch it in Spanish so that I could get some practice in. But yeah, go watch it, it's awesome.

 

We did some cool service projects. We started volunteering at a food pantry that has been in operation since 1947. It's a pretty cool place. It's fun because it is run completely by Volunteers, more elderly volunteers I might add. They are super fun to work around and they are all super nice and friendly, and very excited to have two young people volunteering there. Now someone under 70 is there to move heavy stuff haha. But yeah, I love working around those people there. They are great fun. One of them also taught us that the letters in Bible can stand for "Basic Instruction Before Life Ends". I like that. Then we taught him that BoM stands for Book of Mormon and that he should read it haha. He's a fun guy.

 

One of the missionaries here has been sick the past few days and he finally went to the Doctor and they told him that he probably has Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis... so now I have a twin here. Not a great thing to learn this week but something interesting I guess.

 

I love the words that Alma speaks in Alma 29:1 "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" I really like this scripture for two reasons. 1) Alma's wish is fulfilled by the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is translated into 77? languages and is literally all over the world. Everyone has the opportunity to read the words that Alma has written. So I just think that it is awesome that God granted this wish and desire to Alma, although he did not see that answer to his prayer during his lifetime. 2) I think that this is really the desire that every Christian has, the desire to lead others unto Christ. And sometimes it's pretty difficult, even scary, walking up to a friend or co-worker and sharing the Gospel with them. But what do you have to lose? The worst that can happen is that they say "no". But we can walk away from that knowing that we have tried our best to fulfill our role as disciples of Christ. And more than that, I know as we do our best to bring others unto Christ that God will bless us with success and with happiness because we have done the think that he has commanded us to do.

 

Anyways, this week can gone really well for us. We found a lot of new people who are interested in our message and want us to come back and teach them more. The most promising of these new "investigators" is a Nigerian family that already has fellowship with about 3 or 4 of the families in the ward. The family is super nice and friendly. We are pretty excited to go back and teach them.

 

Oh and another super exciting thing that happened. We have a member who has a climbing wall in their garage and really wanted us to use it. So we called up President Vest to ask him if we could go bouldering and he said YES! So now we wake up extra early so that we can go climbing in the Lingard's garage at 6:00-7:00am. It's pretty fun and I actually get some good exercise out of it which is a nice change. So we are pretty excited about that.

 

Well that's about it for the week. I finally got my blankets. Thanks Ma and Pa! Have a great week. I love you!

 

 -Elder Nyholm

Date: September 22, 2014 at 10:31:11 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Hey Buddy

Mmmmm to answer your questions Mom, Sunday's are our busiest day of the week. Lot's of meetings to go to and everyone is home. That means we never stop, even during Sacrament meeting we are trying to find out who's there who hasn't been in a while that we need to go meet or whatever. Or trying to get Bishop's attention so he will come meet them as soon as the meeting ends. So yeah, Sunday's are busy.

 

We have the car two weeks and then lose it for a week. So 2/3 time car. much better than 1/2 I'd say. But this is our bike week. I hope I get through it fine :)

 

Everything has been going well here. We have found some people to teach who are very promising. Actually, one of the Less-Active families in our ward has asked us to start teaching their children so that will be an awesome and fun experience. I love teaching the kids because they ask super great questions and actually remember quite a bit, maybe even more than a grown adult. And they make you think of simple ways to explain things which really helps us to improve in our teaching. If we don't teach clearly, simply, and boldly then people don't understand what we tell them and they never progress. So even when you teach adults, you try to teach them at a level where a young person would understand because then you know that there is no confusion about anything. So yeah, we are pretty excited to start teaching that family.

 

We had a pretty awesome Sunday yesterday. We had lot's of people come to church who 1)Had never been to church before and 2)Hadn't been to church in decades... So that was pretty exciting for us. We also had a member ask us to participate in a baby blessing for his son Noah, so that was an awesome experience. I think it also shows the amount of trust and confidence that our members have for us now. So that was a really happy moment for us also.

 

A cool scripture that I read this week, Ether 12:4 says “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast.” I really like this scripture because it shows how important hope is in our everyday lives. People without hope don't see the future, they don't see the eternal perspective, and they rarely have happiness. But once someone has hope great things can happen. Moroni says in Moroni 7:41 "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal , and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." Every single person who lives on the Earth has access to the Atonement. Every single person on the Earth has the potential to live with their Heavenly Father again. Sometimes we lose sight of that and think that everything is just crashing down on us all at once. But when we see the light that Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ bring into our lives, those trials become of such little importance and Hope and Faith take a leading role in our lives, allowing us to rise up and find happiness and become better each and every day. I'm truly grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity and hope that it gives me in my life, and I know that through the Atonement each and every one of us can live with our Heavenly father again.

 

Well, not much else exciting really happened this week but all is well. Have a great week everyone. I love you!

 

    -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 9:38 AM

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my handwritten letter. I think that was the first one huh? Well my excuse is that we are too busy for me to write you letters more than once a year haha. I guess I'll try to do better in the future. Dad had the right idea of scanning it as proof that I actually sent you a letter. Now you'll never be able to say that I didn't send a handwritten one.

 

Yeah, the weather cooled down a ton. It feels wonderful outside now. You can actually walk around for more than 5 minutes without being covered with sweat so it's definitely a nice improvement. I haven't gotten the package you sent yet. Hopefully I will get it sometime this week.

 

We still didn't get many service opportunities this week which was a super bummer. We had one good one on Saturday where we helped someone caulk and seal his windows. He fell off a roof a while back so he was kind of terrified to climb a ladder and caulk the second story windows. But we helped him out AND we didn't fall off the ladder. He was pretty excited that we were willing to come help him.

 

We taught a seminary class a few weeks ago. I always thought that sleeping in Seminary was such a great idea because then I wouldn't talk and be a distraction. Now I realize that it's almost worse because if the kids don't talk then the class is super boring and you feel like you're giving a speech to a set of stuffed animals instead of actually teaching a class. The things you learn when you become a missionary haha. I really like the encouraging advice that Erin gave you though.  "Don't worry mom, as the kids come to know you their respect level will go down and their talking will increase". My sister is so wise and correct in every way. Sorry about that ma. That's just the way it is. The trick is just to shut them up with cookies.

 

Speaking of cookies, there is a Sister in our ward who has a sign in her kitchen that says "There is a skinny girl instead of me that is screaming to get out, but I just shut her up with cookies". I thought it was a pretty amusing sign.

 

You were saying that Kelsey and Jeremy are helping you to work on your technology deficiency. Yesterday while at church one of the sisters in our ward (probably in her 30's) was trying to look up scriptures on her phone during class. Finally she gave up and took her husbands scriptures and used those instead because she didn't know how to work the phone too well. Then her husband left and took his scriptures with him and left her with the phone and so she got stuck not being able to find scriptures again. I was just kind of amazed that there are even people of that generation that don't know how to work the technology. So don't worry mom.... you're not tooo far behind :)

 

Just a cool scripture I read this week. D&C 6:35-37 says "Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more;perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven". I think this scripture is so wonderful because every single one of us has times in our lives when we make mistakes and have "come short of the glory of God". But the most amazing part is that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, each and every one of us has the opportunity to repent and change our ways, to look unto the Lord in every thought and to cast away all doubt and fear. I think it's just a huge comfort that we have to know that every single one of us has the ability and capacity to return to live with our Heavenly Father, through Christ.

 

Well that's about it for the week. I hope all is going well for everyone at home. You are all in my prayers. Love You!

 

  -Elder Nyholm

Sent: Monday, September 08, 2014 9:14 AM

 

Well this week went great and fast as usual. We were on bikes, which just make the time seem to go by even faster for some reason. Maybe because there is no time sitting at stoplights and such. The weather also cooled down a ton so it is really nice to ride bikes right now. The only reason I hate riding bikes is because I feel like we can't be as effective since travel is so much slower. But at least we get some real exercise so that's good.

 

This week we decided that we are going to try a new finding project. We got approved by President Vest to do as much planned/unplanned service as possible and asked all members of the ward to call/text us whenever they hear of service opportunities, especially service opportunities for non-members. Hopefully we will be able to meet lots of new people in a much less threatening way. I really think that it will work because the people will be able to see that we really want to help them and that we really do love them rather than that we just want to shove church down their throat. So yeah, we are praying for success in our new finding activity. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

 

Transfer calls also happened this week. I'm super excited because Elder Parry, my last companion who I really enjoyed serving with, is now my District Leader here. I really respect Elder Parry and think that he will do a great job as a District Leader so I'm excited to see how the rest of this transfer turns out. I've got high hopes.

 

I just finished reading all the way through Doctrine and Covenants this last week and realized how awesome Sections 121-123 are... the sections written while Joseph Smith was imprisoned in the Liberty Jail. There is one part of Section 121 that I really enjoy and that probably everyone recognizes that says, in verses 7-10, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job". I really like this section of scripture because it shows how infinitely small our trials are but how infinitely big of an impact it makes on our lives whether we endure them well or not. No trial that we have exceeds that which Christ experienced during the Atonement... "Art [we] greater than He?". I think it is in the times of trials that we do have that we need to look back and really count all the wonderful blessings that God has given us and to remember that he is always there striving with us and that he will never leave us alone.

 

Well that is about it for the week. Hope you all have a fantastic week. I love you all!

 

          -Elder Nyholm