25 November 2013

Thank you so much for sharing your testimony with me. I love yall so much. This week has been a crazy, sad, loving, bittersweet, stress-filled, joyful one. I can't really describe it in any way other than that. It was all over the place. I'm not even sure where to begin in explaining everything that's happened but I'll give it a shot. Firstly, a wonderful missionary from Ithaca New York has finished his two years and is going home. I got to go on an exchange with him this past Saturday. I love Elder Warnick. He's a great example and has been such a diligent missionary. I've never served around a missionary who went home while I was serving around him. It was weird to see. I wish I could stay out here forever sometimes. Missions are amazing. I'm glad I have so much time left but I just hope time starts to slow down soon. It's flying by so fast that it scares me. It scares me a lot. But we had an opportunity to watch him bear testimony at the baptism of my old Ward Mission Leader's daughter's baptism. It was a cool experience. I love what missions do to people who put their heart into it. It's blessed me so much and I know it will continue to bless me. But please pray for this family that we're working with. Tameeka, and her children, Warren (16), Nikki (14), Amir (11), Emoni (9), Jordan (4), and Forever (20 months). Their father just passed away in a car accident at 32. It's been such a sad experience but it's also been such a blessing how the gospel is helping us all cope with it. Amir is already a member but the other children that are old enough are preparing to be baptized. God definitely has this all in His hands though. It's going to be tough to continue to deal with throughout the rest of their lives but it's brought their extended family all together. Four sisters, Jazmine (member), Tiffany (member), Tameeka (nonmember) and Tabitha (nonmember). Jazmine hasn't been talking to them for a long time but yesterday she came over and we all were able to reminisce and think of the good times. This experience has also helped Tameeka in her own words, have a wake up call. They've all been putting off coming to church and making steps towards baptism but the day after they found out this news the whole family came. It really helped in the healing process and I know that God is blessing them for their diligence. A lot of tears were shed Saturday when we all prayed together. The four oldest kids were having a tough time on Saturday but the ward has been amazing in stepping up and helping them with meals and just being there for them. The bishop came over on Saturday too and his counselors came over in the evening as well just to talk to them and let Tameeka especially know that the church is full of good male role models. I'm grateful for the priesthood and the opportunity for men to serve in it. It really helps us be noble and good members of society. The world needs more virtuous men. I hope to be a good example of that in my future. Yesterday was a really good day. Everyone's spirits were looking up and it was so much fun having the extended family all together. They're such great people and they're so funny! I love them so much. It's cool getting to be a part of their lives again after meeting them last year. They're such a wonderful family and I can't wait to help Tameeka and her kids be blessed with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I can't really picture life without it. I don't really remember not having it but Mom and Dad, what differences do you remember from before you received the gift of the Holy Ghost and after? I can't really speak from experience on this one so if yall could each try to describe it, it would help me out a lot. I love yall. But that's been the main thing this week. It's been a crazy crazy situation but I'm so glad God is with us. The work is really picking up over here and we're excited to have some wonderful baptisms in December. It's going to be a great month. Keep up the great work on the home-front and continue to do all you can to invite invite invite. I promise you that as you trust God in opening your mouth, He will fill it. He doesn't need someone with all the knowledge and experience in the world. He just needs someone with a willing heart. This work isn't ours, it's His. And that's something that I can have confidence in. After Elder Bednar I think I've truly begun to grasp the concept of having confidence in the Lord. As I've gained experience I've just grown more comfortable. But as I've looked to God and actively recognized His will and His way in this work, it's changed everything. I know that through Him I can take on anything. I love that. Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Elder Nair

18 November 2013

Dear parents and everyone who this email gets forwarded out to, So BIG news this week! Lightning has struck twice here in the SCCM and Elder Bednar came to visit us once again! He just came this past Saturday I don't know if I mentioned that he was coming. It was an amazing experience. I love Elder Bednar. He let us know that he has never ever, visited the same mission a year after he came. I felt so blessed! It was a lot of fun too. Elder Bednar is way funny! It's so cool to see an apostle as a real person :D he was fun and real with us but at the same time he invited the Spirit so much. He didn't have an agenda, he didn't have a speech, he just simply talked with us and allowed the Holy Spirit to teach us. This is basically how the course of the meeting went: He first asked, so if you were here last year stand up. All us 'seasoned vets' stood up, it was crazy having the whole mission there and seeing that a little under 30% of the missionaries were here last year. There are so many new missionaries in the field! Out of 100 sister missionaries only 10 stood up. But he then asked us, so what did you learn? And we shared things that stuck out to us for a while and he would expound on things when he felt prompted to. Then he asked us what we learned from reading the three of his talks that we were asked to read in preparation for the meeting. Basically talking about the talks led us into learning about how we follow the Spirit and he used this analogy. So our plans in life, in lessons, in things are this little boat. We're Peter riding along in a boat. We need to be willing to jump out of the boat whenever we feel prompted and rely on the Spirit to fulfill the promises contained in the scriptures. Then for the last two hours of the meeting we asked questions. It was amazing. This year I got to ask him a question and simply asking a question was such a beautiful learning experience for me. I'll try to explain what happened. Before he opened it up to questions he said, so many of you have probably prepared questions to ask me. Whatever those questions are, bag em. Throw em out. An inspired question has all to do about the right person, at the right place, at the right time. So all of our questions ended up being about jumping out of the boat or following our spiritual promptings. So the Spirit promises that our mouths will be filled and I felt really prompted to ask a question. When I got that prompting I started thinking about what are some things that I could ask him. I thought on different things for a couple minutes and then I realized that I needed to jump out of the boat. I was so nervous. I raised my hand and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. Not a clue. I simply felt very strongly that I needed to ask something and that's all I had. He looked straight at me for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was only about 2 seconds before he pointed at me and said Elder, what's your question. I stood up, I was so nervous! I had nothing! Here I was standing up in front of 270 missionaries, all the stake presidents in South Carolina, President and Sister Holm, and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and I had nothing! But I regardless relied on the very strong prompting that I felt and prayed that the Spirit would give me utterance. After I stood up I paused for a moment which also felt like an eternity when in reality it was only about 4 seconds, but then I just started talking. My question ended up being, "How can I gain confidence in jumping out of the boat?" -Me "That is a great question" -Elder Bednar (I'll never forget the way that he said that) "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" -Elder Bednar "No...go ahead" -Me "So I can get a feel of where you are at what do you understand about jumping out of the boat?" -Elder Bednar "...well, so far..I know that on paper, if you jump of the boat, the spirit will support you......that's it" -me (In my head at this time I was thinking to myself, what a silly question to ask. I already know that if I want to get better at something or gain more confidence in something then I just ought to do it until I gain that confidence, I already saw that I was gaining confidence by standing up and asking a question despite the fact that I had nothing on my brain) "So you have a theory here, you seen stories where it's worked out with other people in the scriptures and things is that correct?" -Elder Bednar "Yes, that's right" -me I don't know verbatim what was said at this point but some very simple eternal truths were presented to me and my Spirit was touched. Elder Bednar said, God is going to let you struggle. He let the Savior struggle when He performed the Atonement. But He will never let you falter. I love that so much. I was putting my trust in myself thinking that all it took was practice to do something right. But if I hadn't received that insight I would've gotten discouraged in myself when I did struggle. Now I know that everything needs to be focused on the Savior and relying on Him to fill our mouths and give us the confidence that I need. It's so much better that way too. I can instantly feel that strength with literally little to no practice at all. I love that God qualifies whom he calls and doesn't just call who He feels like they've proven themselves by experience or anything like that. He just needs a to rely on the little spiritual nudges that He gives us. I love that phrase that Elder Bednar used about spiritual nudges. I've been able to recognize those so much now as a prompting to jump out the boat that you have and trust the Spirit to fill your mouth. It especially comes for me in the feeling that I know I need to ask someone a question but I don't know what. I used to start thinking about what question I would ask them and often times just miss the opportunity. I now know that I just need to take that leap of faith over the side of the boat and trust the Savior, not my past good experiences, to guide me in the right direction. As I do all that I can do to "be a good boy" as Elder Bednar says in one of his addresses, by doing all in my power to be the best missionary that I can be and the Spirit will be there to guide me. I love that promise. When we sang the closing hymn, We Are All Enlisted, the last verse where it says, Dangers may gather, why should we fear? Jesus our leader ever is near, He will protect us comfort and cheer We're joyfully, joyfully marching to our home. It took on a whole new meaning to me. I'm struggling to hold back tears as I think about that. I love our Savior so much. He will never let us down. This is His work. And if we do it in His way by following the Spirit and doing all that we can to be good boys and girls He will take over if we get out of the way and let the Spirit do the teaching. This mission has meant so much to me. I'm so grateful that Elder Bednar came back. I needed it so much. Last time I feel like I learned a lot about teaching others, but this time I learned a lot about teaching myself. I basically need to apply the same basic principles of teaching others to myself. I can ask myself inspired questions! It's so simple but it took me twice to finally catch it. I love this church. There is no doubt in my mind that Elder Bednar is literally a special witness and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking into his face and speaking directly with him is one of the most cherished experiences I've had in my life thus far. The gospel is true. Missions are the best. Love, Elder Nair

11 November 2013

Hey yall! Good to hear from yall, Happy Veteran's day. A member is letting us use their computers. They have a mission in the field right now as well. It's crazy how many missionaries are out now! It's pretty exciting. Also what's exciting is Elder Bednar is coming to the mission this Saturday! I'm definitely excited to hear from him again. There's been such a huge change in the mission as far as older vs younger missionaries. Only like 20% of the missionaries in our mission were here for him last time 0_o. It's crazy how things have changed. It's cool though. There are many more changes underway as well. I feel like I get to somewhat usher in this new generation haha. We'll be getting iPads, and iPhones and all this other craziness in our mission within the next few months. I don't know much more about it but I'm excited that I will probably get to Skype some of my nonmember friends from back home and teach them. At least, that's what they're doing in other missions. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'm glad to hear your success stories. I got the watch and I'm wearing it right now in fact. I like it a lot! Thanks :D. And the books are great too. I've been studying mine up and have actually learned a lot of beneficial things for myself as well as the members. President Holm already had a copy so I did as you said and gave it our Ward Mission Leader. He really appreciated it. I'm very excited for December. We have a lot of wonderful people that will hopefully be baptized that month. We honestly have so many people that are potentials for that month. We're going to work as hard as we can and see a lot of success next month. I'm excited :D. Other than that, we've had to do a lot of tedious things because we're moving apartments. We should finally have everything moved out by tomorrow. I'll be sure to pray for those people. I hope the best in their search for the truth as well. Thank you so much for all the help and support that yall have given me. I can really feel yall's prayers. I'm so grateful for such a good family. I couldn't have been blessed with a better one. I'm glad for my awesome ward family too. Give the 4th ward my love for me. They're fantastic. My doctor friend Dr. Collins is traveling the world right now. He's doing a bunch of research things and I think he's in Belgium right now. I think he's going to be gone for the next few months so I may or may not get a chance to see him. But reconnecting with everyone else has still been so fun. Thanks for trying to track down some of those things for me. Hopefully we'll be able to work all this out soon enough. They started sending our mission newsletter thing again. I hope yall enjoy reading this one especially :D you'll see why when you open it :P Love yall, Elder Nair

4 November 2013

It's so good to hear your wonderful success stories. That's exciting about a new addition to the family! Keep me posted as yall hear more. Missionary work brings such great happiness that I can't even begin to describe. There's no more rewarding work on this Earth whether or not we see the fruits of our effort. Each opportunity to testify is a blessing in itself. This week has been amazing. There were some wonderful miracles yesterday :) One of our investigators, Patricia made the firm commitment to stop smoking. She gave us her cigarettes and said she's not buying anymore. We're so happy for her! Also another investigator Tameeka has just found the courage to move out of her current living situation and leave her abusive boyfriend behind. We're happy that she's making steps in the best direction possible. Please pray for them and their continued faith in preparation for their baptisms in the coming months. We're excited for them. So many missionaries. The world is just getting flooded. We'll be at over 100,000 missionaries before long according to recent estimates. It's amazing the things that missionaries will do with the age of technology as well. President Holm has finally come out and told us that our missionaries will have iPads and such in the next few months. Most likely by February but we're still not sure. It's crazy nonetheless. President told us that with one mission using iPads and Facebook to contact and teach people for just 1 hour everyday of the week, in that one mission they contacted over 25,000 people in 20 different countries in like a month. It's crazy how this work is going to hasten. God knows what He's doing. I just want to bear my testimony about this gospel and this work. It is so true. It's the most true thing that I've ever experienced in my life. God lives. I have no doubt in my heart about that. Every amazing thing around us let's us know that there is a God and that He loves us. The gospel brings so much understanding to life. Without it, what's the point of even being here? I love the knowledge that this church brings. This church stands separate from all other churches. Nowhere else can you find the peace and assurance of everlasting families and eternal progression. What great potential that we have. It's such a marvel to think that we are literally spirit children of Heavenly Father and joint-heirs with our Savior Jesus Christ. Whenever I stop and think about it, I just marvel. I'm so grateful for yall in supporting me throughout my life and continuing to support me here. I love yall so much. I can't imagine where I'd be without your loving guidance. I know that keeping the commandments and uttermost obedience brings the blessings of heaven. I've lived and experienced that. I've seen in the lives of others the sadness that comes from breaking the commandments. I never ever ever want to walk down that road. I pray for strength daily to remain steadfast and I have the strongest desire that I've ever had in my life to stay on the straight and narrow for the rest of my life. I'm not risking for a second the chance to spend an eternity with you. Without coming out here I have no idea how long it would've taken to be as converted to the gospel as I am now. I just love it. Keep up the great work at home. I'm glad yall got to go to the temple with our dear old friends. I love the friendships that I've made out here and look forward to them lasting throughout eternity. Love yall, Elder Nair

28 October 2013

Hey yall! I'm so excited to hear the good news about your member missionary work! The more you do it the more natural it feels. Thanks for keeping me updated in the work over there. I'm so glad that it's going well! Elder Christensen is so correct. We have complete control over our agency i.e extending the invitation, but we don't have control over others agency. That's a principle that you definitely learn out here. It can be quite frustrating at times when people you're working with choose to go against the light and truth that they've felt but just remember that it was God's plan to give us agency and Satan's plan to take it away from us. We have to experience the bitter to enjoy the sweet. I'm glad that I'm back by Airport Family Dentistry. I'll be having my teeth cleaned there this week. It's quite convenient because I realized my Dental insurance card was lost with my wallet way back when but since they have everything on file at Airport Family Dentistry, I'll be good to go. I'm glad God's helping me out and getting me through each day even throughout the stresses of trying to get all my things back in order. The work here is going well. It's a lot of planning for a lot of different people. Everyone has a different issue that they're going through, but they're all loving the gospel. Firstly is M&B: M is on probation and once she is off, her and her husband want to be baptized together. She might get off early in November for being good her first year. Please pray that things will work out for her. Then we have D&P: P is trying to overcome smoking. She has short term memory loss so it's difficult for her but she is a very sweet lady and her and her boyfriend D will work out either moving out until they get married or getting married once she has overcome this addiction. Warren: He's waiting for his mom Tomeeka to be baptized before he is. She works third shift so she is often sleeping so it's hard for us to meet with her. Pray that we'll be able to help her have the energy to meet with us and come to church on Sunday. Kruehto (Crew-too): He's from Burma. He's doing great there's just a small language barrier. He's been in the states for a little over a year but loves the gospel. There isn't a Book of Mormon available in the two languages that he speaks besides English but he is really striving to learn. There's a lot of good going on here. The members are fantastic and really have a strong desire to help us out. President Holm just gave me the okay to read it so please send it! I'm excited to get some great tips for helping out the members even more! I'm glad yall are planning with the missionaries and seeing success in that effort. Do yall remember an Elder Watson from like 6ish years ago? I may have already mentioned him but I met him in Spartanburg. He served in the Naperville 4th ward back then. It was pretty cool reminiscing with him. Keep up the great work! I love yall and I love this work. It's definitely the best thing I've ever done in my life! Love yall Elder Nair

21 October 2013

Big news for yall today! I arrived in WEST COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA this past Wednesday. If you notice on your map of South Carolina you'll see that West Columbia is rather close to Gaston. So close in fact that we meet in the same building of the Congaree ward! (that's the name of the ward that I was in in Gaston :D) I was excited beyond belief. I'm serving up here as a zone leader in what is now the West Columbia South zone. It used to just be the West Columbia zone until all the sisters came and the mission split. But the areas in my zone are Gaston (sister's area now) & Cayce (both Congaree ward), West Columbia Elders (us) West Columbia Sisters (both in the West Columbia ward), Columbia YSA (sisters), Orangeburg Elders & Sisters, Traveling Spanish Elders and Columbia Spanish Elders. My new companion is my first companion that's not from Utah! Elder Saunders, who came out with me. It's so much fun getting to spend time together serving with him and also being back in the West Columbia area. Elder Saunders and I, our first day in the mission field, the West Columbia zone leaders took us out to go tracting in their area. After tracting for a bit, we stopped in to see these two recent converts of theirs Jazmine and her sister. It's so cool now because they give us a ton of referrals and they remember meeting us day one of the missions. It's so much fun being back here! We're also teaching this family that Elder Saunders tracted into that day last year. It's awesome! It just feels like home being back here. Apparently people have been talking about Elder Memmott and I's Halloween costumes with the trunk-or-treat coming up so soon. It looks like I got back into the area just in time haha. I'm not sure if you remember our old costume but I'll try to include a picture in this email. This ward is fantastic. It was so tough leaving Spartanburg because of all the wonderful Micronesian families that Elder Lee and I were working with. They're so cool and I'm going to miss them so much. Fortunately though, I've come into this area where just as much success is happening. It's making the transfer a little bit easier. This ward is so missionary minded. It's awesome. This past Sunday we were invited into the Primary to talk to the kids about being member missionaries and inviting their friends to the upcoming Trunk-or-Treat. It was so adorable. Those kids just make me smile :) Elder Saunders and I are super blessed here and I'm just excited beyond belief to be back here. A couple of the people we're working with here in the SCCM (we abbreviate it the South Carolina Columbia Mission :P) and more specifically in West Columbia are Warren and Cru Tu (pronounced Crew Two, he's from Burma). I'm going to meet all the other solid investigators here this week so I'm pretty excited about that. Things are just stellar :D. I love being a missionary so much. We're living with the Columbia Spanish Elders, Elder Judd, and Elder Silva. Elder Judd was serving in Charleston where he met a Brother Bankey. Apparently Brother Bankey was up in Syracuse, New York a few years ago where he met his favorite missionary, a black elder, who served in the army, and is now preparing to be a dentist and also happened to be named Elder Nair. Small, small world. But yeah let Solomon know that one of the Elders I'm living with was just serving in Brother Bankey's home ward. I love how cool stuff happens like that. I love yall. Hope everything continues to go well. I'm sure I'll get many more ideas about member missionary work here in this missionary-minded ward. They have so many cool ones that I'm looking forward to learning more and more about. Keep up the great work and keep being great examples! Just remember that no effort is wasted. You never know what's going to happen a year down the road. Cru Tu, decided to stop meeting with the missionaries after Elder Saunders tracted into him a year ago but just a few weeks ago he got online and requested that the missionaries come back and visit him. Not in a million years could we have guessed that that would happen. God's hand is truly in this work. I love it :D Love yall, Elder Nair

14 October 2013

I'm getting transferred!!!!!!!!!! Sad day, sad day. There's so much great work going on here. Elder Lee and I have been having a blast in Spartanburg. I'm going to miss this place so much! I'll be serving as a zone leader again in a new area so I will let you know next week when I find out where I go. As usual I'll be heading to the big transfer meeting this Wednesday and I'll find out my new companion and the new area that I'm serving in that day as well. I'm going to miss everyone here! I'm definitely leaving this area with lots of momentum built up. The new missionary that replaces me will surely have a fun time. We have 6 wonderful people being prepared for baptism in these next two months. It's sad that I won't be able to attend their baptisms but I know they'll be in good hands. This ward has grown on me so much. It's changed so much since I've been here. We went from about 75 active members at church every Sunday to about 120. It's grown and thrived and just been wonderful and really fast paced here. As much as I'm going to miss it, I know that I'll love my new area and the new people that I'm serving around. Transfers are always such a bittersweet moment. Especially when there are so many wonderful people preparing to be baptized. The temple was amazing! My goodness gracious. I just love going there. I hope to go with the Nguyen's soon. I love that family! They're my favorite. We're definitely going to be lifelong friends :) They're hoping to go to the temple before I get off my mission. I hope it happens so I can go with them :) I remember Brandon. I hope he does make it back around. I wish I had been more involved with him. Knowing what I know now, I could've done so much more in my youth to help everyone. I didn't have the direction that I now have in helping a new member/investigator get involved in the church. I'm going to make helping new people a priority in my life. They really need all the support that they can get. It's such a crazy life change that can be really scary. It's like a completely new lifestyle. It takes a lot of dedication and courage to make it through that first year. And Satan is really working his hardest then too. It sounds like the work is going great over there too. How soon will Riley be leaving on his mission? I forget how old these kids are getting. With the new mission age it just seems like they're aging way faster than they should be haha. Who's the next group that will be coming out into the field? Spartanburg is definitely somewhere I have to come back and visit. There's just been so many fond memories here. 4 months was not enough time to spend here. It just flew by in the blink of an eye. I could basically serve in one of 11 different areas at this point. There are 6 stakes in our mission and each one has 2 zones in it, leaving two zone leader areas. Greenville East, Greenville, West Columbia, Columbia, Charleston, and Florence. So I could literally be anywhere in the state. I'm pretty excited about the future but will still miss everyone here. Hope all continues to go well with yall. I love yall with all my heart. Love, Elder Nair

9 October 2013

Hey! Since we have our temple trip tomorrow, we're having our P-day tomorrow. But the assistants decided that we should do our emailing before we go since it will take awhile to get to the temple and back so we're taking care of it today. Sorry if you were expecting an email back on Monday! Don't worry I haven't forgotten about yall :P This week has been really cool. Conference is always spectacular. My favorite talk was Elder Uchtdorf's in the priesthood session. That was a really good one. I just love the focus on missionary work right now. We can really use it with members in our efforts to find those who are ready for the gospel. There's a lot of intense changes going on in the mission field. Here in the SCCM we're staying pretty traditional but some other missions have been getting the iPads and all that incorporated into the work. I don't know when we're going to start doing that but for now it's been great doing things the old-fashioned way. I'm so excited to go to the temple tomorrow! I've been looking forward to it for so long. It's crazy that it's already here! Time is just flying, flying, flying. It's so crazy. But time always flies when you're having fun. I really love being out here so much. It's amazing to see myself change. I know I've probably said this before but I was just thinking about the change that's taken place in me and I could've never seen myself with this much desire to do what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I love how Preach My Gospel emphasizes changing the missionary. I really want to become Christlike in every way that I can. I love the confidence that the gospel brings. Things that used to seem scary to me, I feel like I can face with no fears. I feel like I can be successful in anything that I put my mind to. The self-discipline that I've gained out here is amazing. It seems that I've accomplished so little in my life before my mission. There's so much more that I could've done. But I'm looking forward now. Having the gospel in your heart just changes your perspective on everything for the better. I'm proud of Solomon! Congratulate him for me please. I'm glad things are going so well in his life. Having your priorities straight makes so much difference. It's sad seeing my brothers and sisters who don't have their priorities straight. I want to help them so much. There's no better way to have peace in this life than by living the gospel. There's strength there that no one can give you but the Savior. Keep being a light to your friends and our family. I'm glad progress is being made there. I've really grown to desire the welfare of those around me. I want to help them. There's so much more that I wish I could do for them. But I understand that I am where I am and God sees fit for me to do what he's allotted to me. I hope to do the best that I can with it. Love yall so much, Elder Nair

30 September 2013

Hey yall! So good to hear from you as always! I have to share a huge miracle that happened this week first off. Saturday we were out with some youth members of our ward Byron (17) and Daniel (13) to help fellowship our recent converts Rozay (17) and Ques (14). We started off going to Ques' house and had a nice visit with him there but when we texted Rozay and asked if he was home he said he wasn't. For some reason we just felt like going over there anyway despite the fact that he said he wasn't home. They live right next to a McDonalds so we always park in the McDonald's parking lot to go to their house. So Rozay didn't answer when we knocked so we went back to the car and as we were pulling out of the parking lot another car started honking at us and shouted "hey! Where is the church?!" Upon hearing that we got out of the car and started talking to them. It was this little member Micronesian family. They had recently moved to Spartanburg from Tennessee 3 months ago and have been looking for the church ever since. Norma (the mom) and her son Dursten (17) and their littlest one Oliver (3) were all in the car. We got their information and scheduled to see them that night. When we went over there that night we met Norma's soon to be sister-in-law Brenda who is not a member of the church. We taught her the Restoration and Norma bore a very powerful testimony of how much the gospel has blessed her life from her baptism at 8 years old and her husbands baptism just a few years ago in Tennessee and how she just wants to come to church every week. Brenda is now preparing herself to be baptized on the 26th of October. Dursten, Brenda, Norma, and Oliver all came to church and had a wonderful time. Brenda was so excited to be at the church and said she felt so happy the whole time. I'm so excited for her and her family to add to our membership here every week! The ward continues to thrive with a lot of members returning to activity, move-ins, and baptisms. I'm enjoying it so much. Things are going so well out here. As for helping your friend and to answer your question let me give a resounding YES to using Preach My Gospel! Preach My Gospel as come to be one of my favorite "books of scripture". It truly is completely inspired writings of the apostles and prophets and is the best go to source for missionary work. Chapter 3 Lesson 2 outlines the Plan of Salvation and the basic principles of it that nonmembers need to know. It offers great council like making sure to be very simple and basic when sharing the story of Adam and Eve. It also offers great scriptures that outline it as well. The pamphlets are fantastic too and I think the Plan of Salvation one would be great to give to your friend. I'm sure the missionaries will give you one. Maybe consider giving it to her with a few of the Plan of Salvation scriptures out of the BofM written in like 2 Nephi ch 2 with the invitation to meet with the missionaries again. Simply say something along the lines of "the first time we talked with the missionaries they basically outlined where our church came from. They'd love to share with you some of the basic restored truths of the church that are outlined in this pamphlet as well." Basically let her know that there is much more that the missionaries share with people and their whole purpose is to be spiritual guides for people in helping them study and learn more. Continue in prayer as you study Preach My Gospel. I'd also turn to chapter 11 on Helping others make and Keep Commitments. Pretty much everything that applies to missionaries applies to members as well :) Every member a missionary! Haha it's funny that you mention that about getting old because I'm starting to become an old man over here myself! We saw someone moving in a bunch of furniture by themselves and we offered to help him out. It was a lot of large heavy things that he had left and just Elder Lee and I and him. Up to this point in my life I don't think I've ever had my back be sore haha. I slept with a heat pad on it that night and felt completely fine the next day but I've gotta start being more careful as I get old and grey. I have a few white hairs coming in and I feel like my hair is thinning haha. I'm not quite sure if I'm just imagining it because my hair has never been this short before but I hope yall still love me if I come home bald :P haha I'm glad Dad's getting involved with his side of genealogical line. Genealogy is something that I've just been so drawn to lately. We'll be going to the temple next Thursday on the 10th so we're getting really excited for that new experience! Things are just going really well overall here. I'm getting so excited for conference. Every year Conference is just so amazing. Sister Krieser was telling me that her son Seth put it in a funny/ completely accurate way. Conference is like the super bowl for missionaries haha. It's true. It's been my favorite weekends of the year. I hope Uncle Junie and Aunt Peachy enjoy it :) Love yall keep up the amazing work! Elder Nair

23 September 2013

Hey yall! So good to hear from ya. Sorry that you're not feeling so well...Elder Lee has been sick as well. It's just that time of the year where things start going around. I learned a little trick that may or may not work but it's been working so far to help me not get whatever it is that Elder Lee has. It's simply that whenever someone in your vicinity (doesn't matter where at just in the surrounding area) coughs or sneezes, just hold your breath for a few seconds. The germs die in a matter of brief seconds so I guess it helps you to not catch colds from that. It's secondhand info from a pediatric doctor so it may or may not be true, but I figure it couldn't hurt. Definitely something I've already gotten into the habit of doing and will probably do for the rest of my life haha. Matt was baptized and confirmed this past weekend :) It was great. Things went so smoothly for that. We are for sure, for sure going to the temple now. I'm so excited about that! We'll figure out when exactly we go soon. I love the temple! It's been a very crazy month with all the success we've been having but it has ultimately all worked out great. The craziest times in life are the best times in life. Brandon is doing well, he's decided to get married! We're excited for him and looking forward to helping him work out all the details. He's working on living the Word of Wisdom still so we're pushing his baptism back to the 12th of October. He's going through a lot right now with his family but his dedication to the gospel will bless him so much. I'm excited to see how the gospel will continue to bless him. Keep it up with the missionary work back on the home-front. I'm excited for yalls success and perseverance to share the gospel. I know how many great and eternal blessings it will bring you. Zone Conference was fun. It's interesting to see some of the signs of becoming an older missionary....I can basically quote all of President Holm's little "catch-phrases" and his favorite topics of discussion haha. It's kind of funny. I'm just glad I still have so much time left out here. It's such rewarding work. That sounds like fun to have some of the family together for conference. I hope Aunt Peachy really enjoys it. Last conference we invited a member to invite one of her friends that lived in Alabama to watch conference. That was his first experience with the church. He really felt the Spirit, loved it, started meeting with the missionaries and was baptized 3 weeks later. So I definitely have a strong testimony of the power of general conference. I hope things keep going great for yall. Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement you give me! I appreciate it so much from the bottom of my heart. Knowing that yall are there to love and support me makes this so much better. I couldn't imagine doing this without yall. Love ya

16 September 2013

Hello from South Carolina! That sounds like a pretty cool meeting. I like when other religions can at least accept each other and get along. It's always a shame when you see people from another faith with so much anti-Mormon stuff instilled in their hearts. Our core doctrines are all pretty much the same but people get so anti'd that they think we worship Satan or something. It's a pretty weird part of being in the South but as we break down those barriers and keep sending missionaries out into the field, the stereotypes will be broken down little by little. It's cool though seeing that most people realize that the stereotypes aren't true. It depends on which area you serve in. On that note, I'm still here in Spartanburg with Elder Lee. Things are going great. We've been together for about 8 weeks now. It's a blast. There's so much success continuing to go on. We're working with this golden investigator Brandon who's really intent on changing his life. He came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it. His four year old niece that he babysits loves it too. She's so adorable haha. Babies and little kids are awesome. This work is still moving forward with great speed. This weekend Matt, the husband in a part member family is getting baptized. Brandon is on date to be baptized next weekend. He has some things to overcome but he's going to do it. He's being really strong and progressing greatly. The ward still seems pretty excited here. We're helping this awesome member family that just moved in a few months ago. The Leggitts. He served a mission in Canada. They're a great missionary-minded young couple and even brought a friend to church last week. He's going to a medical school in this area which is awesome because there's a lot of people that come from different parts of the country attending there and since most other churches aren't worldwide, a lot of them are looking for a church to go to. There's a good little group of Mormons going up there so it's quite exciting for the work. I'll for sure let you know about the temple trip. I'm so excited to go soon. We'll probably go the last week of the month. We have zone conference coming up this week so we get to travel to Greenville for that. Zone Conferences always pumps me up. Being a missionary is sweet. It's tough at times but I've never done anything in my life that has been so rewarding. I'm so happy to be out here. Love yall, Elder Nair

9 September 2013

I'm so glad to hear all is going well with your friends :) I love that yall are speaking up and having the courage to continue to take steps to help your friends along in the gospel. It's amazing the sweet miracles that God provides when we simply have a desire to serve him. I love that every single word in the Book of Mormon is so inspired. I love how universal the church is too. It makes me so happy seeing people of all races and backgrounds reading the Book of Mormon in their respective languages. We met this wonderful member from Laos the other day who hasn't been to church in awhile. After talking with her she made a resolve to ask for Sundays off. She loves church and the Book of Mormon and has a copy in Laotian that she reads from everyday. She's just been having to work a lot. She made us some really good sticky rice :) It was so tasty! I'm excited for her to return to activity. I'm sure she'll love talking to the Sister Nguyen in their native tongues! Things are continuing to go great out here. We're still on track to hit our zone goal this month :D I've heard amazing things about the new temple experience so I'm incredibly excited to go. I venture that we will attend later the last week of this month. I love the temple :) It's amazing how the time flies out here. Spartanburg has been quite a blast to serve in. The ward here is great and continuing to grow. We're helping some members get excited about missionary work and building solid relationships with them. They're very excited about the sisters coming in. They arrived last Wednesday. They'll be covering the south side of the area which is really convenient because we don't get down there very much due to our limited miles. There are some great families in Woodruff (a city about 20 miles south of our apartment) that I'm excited for the sisters to start working with. The work is really hastening. We're looking forward to finding and preparing people for October and helping the people we have that are currently on date for September still. I love this work! There's just an amazing Spirit in missionary work that you just can't get anywhere else. I hope yall continue to feel the excitement as you keep finding wonderful people to bring into the gospel. And continue to have fun with it! If you're not having fun in missionary work you gotta change something haha. It's awesome! Thanks for all that yall do I love yall with all my heart, -Elder Nair

2 September 2013

Hey! That's so awesome to hear about your missionary experience! I'm really excited about it so I'll talk about that first. As far as following up with them, I would suggest first asking God for direction in what to do and secondly, share something interesting that you read or learned about in the Book of Mormon when they ask you how your weekend was. Now that they know a little bit more about the church, you can let them know something that you learned from Sunday that helped or strengthened you that week and what the Book of Mormon had to say about it. Bringing it up like that can hopefully spur some further discussion on the matter. Just continue to remain their friends and seek the Lord's will in your decisions with them. It's so great to hear that the work is going great back home and out here as well. This weekend was really excited. I'm so happy for the excitement that is growing with this ward about missionary work. Rozay and Ques (Quay's younger brother) were baptized this past Saturday and confirmed yesterday. I'm so happy to see how the gospel will continue to change their lives and give them much needed direction in life. I hope to see both of those young men serve missions. Donovan, the cousin of some less-active members, was baptized after church yesterday. He's really involved in marching band so his weekdays and weekends are completely booked except for Sunday, so we had a wonderful Sunday baptism. He'll be confirmed next week. We're having a lot of success with less-active members as well. It was excited to have two people who hadn't been to church in years come back and feel the joy of a very powerful testimony meeting. We hope to continue to help them see how the gospel will bless them and help them have peace amidst lifes greatest challenges. I love this gospel. We met some fantastic people last night. AND I have a miracle to share with yall too. I'll start with the people we met last night. It was about 7 o'clock Sunday evening and we had just tried to contact a less-active in this apartment complex. It didn't look like anyone was home so we started to drive out of the complex. Both Elder Lee and I felt pretty impressed to go back and knock a few doors before heading to the next person on our plans so we did so. There were lots of different buildings in the complex but ultimately we decided to start with building J. after 3 doors of noone answering and 1 door of someone who was busy and told us to come back later, we met this awesome guy named Keenan. Keenan just moved in a week ago and he's playing basketball for a local college. He said he used to attend a baptist church up in Charleston but hasn't found a church to attend here. While we were learning more about him his roommate Riley comes in. He's also playing basketball for the same college. He however comes from a Methodist background. They both have been childhood friends but have had a lot of questions about religion like, "why are there so many different churches when there's only one God?". We explained how God has worked with his children in the past through prophets and how Christ church was established and then there was a falling away and everything was just clicking with them. Riley even said, "in my history class we were learning how there just used to be one Christian church (the Catholics) awhile after Christ died. How'd that get started up?". When we explained the apostasy they understood it completely and started saying that there should be another prophet on the Earth, like how God did it in the past. Perfect segway into the Restoration :) They felt the Spirit as they listened intently to the First Vision and accepted the invitation to act on the promptings that they felt and first pray and confirm the witness that they felt and then act on it and prepare for baptism. It's amazing to see how the Spirit supports our boldness as missionaries. In an hour a heart was changed to decide to take the first steps into the celestial kingdom. Nothing but the truth could lead people to desire to do this in such a short time. I love it :) Miracle 2: Brandon, one of our investigators that we met last week, is a self-defined "truthseeker". He wants the truth, nothing but the truth and has recognized all throughout his life the different flaws in many of the religions today. He said it makes no sense that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are literally one being. They just had to be seperate. We've taught him the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation this past week and he really has felt the Spirit as we've taught him and even accepted to prepare for baptism on the 21st. He was out of town this weekend but yesterday we decided that we needed to reschedule our appointment that we have tonight with him to a later time. After we texted him this is the text message that he sent back to us. "yes. its funny u called. I just got done reading THE RESTORATION. And i was praying for somthing like a sight to know this ministry was true and after I said amen i began to read and then you called. that must mean the things I have read to be true." God is literally a God of miracles. We can choose to take miracles and brush them off as coincidences or we can take time to see the hand of God in our lives. It's amazing getting to do this work and experiences these blessings 24/7. I love being a missionary with all my heart. I'm so grateful for the constant support of yall and for everything that yall do to help me be out here. Yall are the best :D Love, Elder Nair

25 August 2013

Hey hope all is going well. I love yall so much. I hope everything is going well with getting Joshua all set for school and preparing for summers end. I know this can be a busy time of the year. I just want yall to know everything is going super well out here. This wonderful guy named Rozay is getting baptized this Saturday and the Lord has just been blessing Elder Lee and I with lots of success. But we're having so much success this month! A cool thing that we do as a mission is that anytime your zone hits it's baptismal goal for the month, we get to go to the temple and do an Endowment session. Our zone's really excited because we're looking really good for hitting our goal in September. I'm excited. It's going to take a lot of hard work and extra effort but we're going to do it! It's amazing how many people prepare themselves for baptism and confirmation by proper authority every year. It's such a blessing to have all these missionaries and members participating together in this work of salvation. I look forward to hearing how those dinners went for yall. Keep up the awesome work! Love, Elder Nair

19 August 2013

Thanks for sending me that stuff! Really appreciate it. I hope it all gets worked out soon. But the work here is thriving! Quay's baptism went really well. It all came together swimmingly. The ward was really excited. We're really working in unity with them, especially the ward council. It's awesome. Elder Lee and I have been doing so much great work. I'm incredibly excited for the future here in this area. Right now we're teaching quite a few great people. Donovan, Betty, Rozay, and Rick, are all preparing/on track to be baptized on the 31st right now. They're all such great people. I'm excited about strengthening the priesthood here in Spartanburg. Donovan and Rozay are great 17 year olds who are ready to strengthen the priesthood here. Donovan moved in with some members awhile ago and he's a really great kid. The gospel is going to do so much for him. Rozay is acting as a forerunner for his family. He's definitely going to baptize his mom Belinda soon. She works a lot so we haven't gotten to meet with her as much but we've finally started catching her and clearing up her concerns and helping her find this truth that she's been searching for all her life. We're also teaching this lady named Jenna who has a lot of health problems, but we gave her a blessing and it's helped her out so much. She recognizes it too. She used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep and the first night after we gave her a blessing, she fell right asleep that night. She was amazed the next time we went over. The priesthood is so real. It's such a blessing and great responsibility that we have in this life to take care of everyone. The priesthood really needs to be in as many homes as possible. How different would the world be if every man in the world was a worthy priesthood holder? I can't even imagine it. It would literally be heaven. I'm glad to hear that everything is going well for the missionary work out there! I'm excited for your appointments and I'm praying that they will go well. Make sure to help the missionaries follow-up with them. Capitalize on the good experience and the feelings that they will feel and help them continue to learn more, read the Book of Mormon and most importantly, meet with the missionaries again. As we extend the invitations we do our part regardless of the immediate success that we see. It's amazing to see how God softens hearts and prepares people though. And whatever happens your friendship will be strengthened. I have no doubts in my mind. And don't be surprised if they're invited to be baptized :P. Add your testimony that you know the church is true and baptism will be the best decision that they've ever made in their life. Feel free to invite the missionaries over before the appointment and discuss with them the role that they want you to play in their teaching. God will bless yall for the preparation. The gospel is so amazing. It truly is the answer that is right for everyone. In the South with all the different churches around, it's sad to see that many people have just had to come to the conclusion that there isn't one true church and that they are just left to pick whatever they feel is right for them. God truly isn't the author of all this confusion. It's amazing however to see the scriptures fulfilled as we're led to many people who are simply kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. I love this truth and I hope everyone can become the person that their Heavenly Father expects them to be, especially me. Being out here, I've learned that God expects a lot from us simply because He knows our divine potential and that through faithfulness and diligence we can accomplish all that He has in store for us. This mission has changed me so much and it's continuing to change me each and every day. My resolve to live the gospel and be all that I can be has improved so much. My mission means everything to me. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Love always, Elder Nair

11 August 2013

Hey yall! That's so exciting! I'm so glad to hear things are going well! This week has been so much fun! It's been crazy tons of work but incredibly exciting and incredibly fruitful. We definitely go through some of our biggest trials in life right before miracles happen it seems. So let me give you some details of all the events that occurred this week. So firstly as I think I explained in my last letter, I'm now serving with Elder Lee. Elder Thompson and Seaver were needed elsewhere due to an exciting emergency transfer that happened because the visa waiters got their visas. So what that entailed is that the Spartanburg 1st ward, which used to be split into two separate areas covered by two sets of missionaries, has condensed to one bigger area covered by just the two of us. It's been total craziness having to merge two teaching pools into one and learning a new area and just organizing all of our efforts but it has been a blast! I've had one of the most fruitful weeks of my mission. We had 5 of our investigators come to church this Sunday and a ton of less actives. The sacrament room was PACKED. It was so great! I just remember the sparseness that was there when I first got to this area and seeing this Sunday every seat being filled. The ward is really taking notice of our efforts and it's getting them excited about missionary work. People who used to be skeptical about the field being white and ready to harvest now see that God has truly prepared so many people to receive his gospel. We're having a baptism this Saturday of a teenager named Quay. She's really cool and is being a forerunner for her brother and mom who are preparing to be baptized on the 31st this month. Quez and Marquesha. Pray for them please :). The Nguyen family is doing great still :) I love seeing their progression in the gospel and the six of them really help fill up the chapel as well. There's such a great Spirit knowing that there are so many people around you striving to follow the same gospel standards. It helps you truly feel that there are people to rely on in this world of shifting values. Elder Lee is a blast to have as a companion. He's incredibly outgoing and just way fun to be around. There's never a dull moment with him! It's fun being blessed with companions that you instantly know and love and have a lot to learn from. It's just so obvious that God's hand is deeply embedded into this work. I love seeing the many miracles that occur each day in our lives :) Thanks for letting me know about the status of my bank info, just open the letter and email me that info when you get the chance. It can be so strenuous sometimes having to deal with all these worldly issues so thanks for making it easy for me. Thanks, sorry we have to deal with all this but yall are the best :) This should be the last piece of info I need for my license. I'll try to get some pictures soon, keep reminding me. The ones I sent Mandy were old ones that I think I sent yall copies of already. Love yall, Elder Nair

4 August 2013

Hey! Things are going great. Satan definitely always brings us lowest before huge miracles. That thought made it much easier to endure through the week. It was a tough one but I was incredibly grateful for all of God's blessings and having the opportunity to rely on Him for my strength. Last week we got to go to the temple on Tuesday and do baptisms for the dead as mission leaders. It was a sweet experience. I really feel the presence of my ancestors while I'm at the temple. It gives me such peace knowing that I have great work to do for their salvation soon. I've experienced many bittersweet thoughts as I approach this point of my mission. Time is flying so fast. It makes me cry. I love being a missionary with all my heart. It's scary knowing how fast this year will fly by. I love this calling and I know while I will get to continue to share the gospel and continue to serve my Heavenly Father, there just isn't any other experience compared to that of being a missionary. It fills my soul with such peace and joy. I love spending so much time with other sons and daughters of God who are dedicating 100% of their time to serving the Lord. Nothing I've experienced in my life can compare to this work. Coming out here has been the best decision of my life. I'm so glad God has provided so many ways to serve Him and experience a small portion of the joy that He feels for His children. Family History work will be really exciting, and being the best member missionary that I can will be too. We had some surprise changes this week. There have been a few missionaries here waiting for their visas to go to the West Indes mission. They got their visas and because of that some missionaries would have been left without a companion. To fix that problem Elder Seaver has been surprise transferred to Lexington and the companion of the other set of Elders we live with is going to North Charleston. So my new companion is Elder Lee. He's an awesome missionary that came out just a few months before I did. It's been a blast working with him and also having two areas to cover now. We've been really busy and are going to see many sweet miracles this month. I'm excited to now be able to work the entire Spartanburg 1st ward. Prior to this Elder Seaver and I would work the north side and they would work the south side. It's a blast. We have a whole new world ahead of us this month until we get Sisters in the area which should happen in about 4 weeks. I say should because with the new flood of missionaries things are crazy and always, always, always subject to change haha :) It's really fun though. Every day is something new and exciting it seems. We have a lot more members feeding us now that we have the entire ward to cover so that will be fun. I love yall so much. make sure the missionaries in our ward are still getting fed! And have some people for them to see when you invite them over! :) They will definitely appreciate it :D Love, Elder Nair

28 July 2013

Hey yall! I don't really have much to say about this week. There was quite a bit of crazy comotion. Satan's working really hard on some of the people we're working with. This guy Matt who was preparing to be baptized last Saturday had some family emergencies he had to attend to so we had to push things back for him. It's been a bit of a trial but I know everything's going to work out. I've been learning a lot in my studies out here. I love reading conference talks. It's amazing that despite the fact that God has to work with imperfect people, He always gets the job done. It's reassuring to know that there are so many inspired people that God calls to help lift us up and strengthen us when we need it. The doctrines of the gospel are very inspiring too. I love that we know that there is more than just this little human existence that we experience. We've had a lot of experiences this week with people trying to shake our testimonies of truth. It makes me so sad seeing people who once knew the truth and have rejected the light and truth of the gospel. They say they're so much happier without it but it's abundantly clear the lack of joy in their eyes. It's sad to see such masked hatred and bitterness behind every attempt to pick apart the Church and the inspired leaders that God has blessed us with. I know God lives. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God called to restore these truths to the Earth. I know we're led today by a prophet and apostles. The priesthood authority is real. I know these things with every fiber of my being and nothing in the world can change that. There is truly no greater witness than from God. These eternal truths give us so much purpose and direction in life. How could you possibly accept the passing of loved ones without the calm reassurance that you will see them again? It can't be done. Only the Atonement can completely heal the things that we go through in life. Without the Atonement, without Christ, we truly are nothing. I'm so grateful for the gospel in my life. I'm so grateful to be able to share it every single day with these wonderful people. I hope everyone accepts the gospel. It makes me sad to think that there are people out there who won't. I wish people would just have desire in their hearts. But this is how it has to be. I'm grateful that our loving Savior will take care of us in the end. I love Him so much. I'm grateful for this wonderful family I've been placed in. I love you all. Thank yall so much for helping me choose to come out on a mission and supporting me while I'm here. There's no more blessed opportunity than to serve Him full-time. Love yall Elder Nair

22 July 2013

Good to hear that yall enjoyed the Dad's birthday! Let me just say that yall are going to make a fantastic set of senior missionaries. The service of senior missionaries helps so much especially in a lot of these little branches. There are so many opporutunities to serve as a senior missionary so that's good that you're prepared to do whatever it is that the Lord requires of yall. The Nguyens were baptized Sat and then confirmed yesterday! I'm so excited for that family. They'll definitely be people that yall will have to meet. They're going to be such great lifelong friends and I'll be excited to see them at the temple soon. They are for sure going to be sealed which is awesome :) They have been loving being back in the church and it's changed and helped them out so much. You can just see that light back in their lives. It's amazing. Do we still have two missionaries serving full-time in our ward? Things are blowing up here in South Carolina. The ward I'm in which already has two sets of Elders will have a set of sisters coming in soon too! Six missionaries in one ward is going to be awesome. I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's exciting all the changes that are happening in the field. I'm glad Solomon has that open opportunity and that they'll be close to home for a good bit. Life is so exciting. New opportunities are everywhere. My mission has changed my outlook on everything. I've finally gotten to see what real hard work is like haha :P and I'm loving it :D I'm glad Massah and Aken are doing so well. Solid converts are so exciting to have. Their lives just continually improve. It's such a blessing that the gospel is the solution for everything. I'm learning so much about it out here. I couldn't ask for any better experience in my entire life. The gospel has become so engrained in who I am. Nothing but a mission could have given me this experience and changed me this much. I'm starting to catch a glimpse of the true meaning of the phrase "with God all things are possible". It's amazing to see my faith increasing unceasingly in God and His wonderful miracles. The time is really flying. It really doesn't feel like it's almost been a year. I just want to keep living every moment day by day and loving it. I'm sticking around here with Elder Seaver for one more transfer which I'm excited about. He's awesome to be with. We're having tons of fun and lots of success. As far as things that I'd like, we don't have a Ryan's in this area so that gift card wouldn't be of too much use here. But Elder Seaver and I we're working on eating better in general and since healthy foods are a little bit more expensive than the cheap stuff, some extra money would be helpful haha. That's all I can think of, yall stocked me up well before I came out here fortunately :) Love yall, Elder Nair

15 July 2013

Hey yall! Good to hear Gideon's doing well. He sounds like a lot of fun. Lots of things are going on this week. Mainly the Nguyen's (new-win) baptisms this Saturday! We're also having our tri-ward activity for pioneer day after that as well. It's going to be a fun day for sure. Transfers are coming up next Wednesday. This transfer cycle flewwww by. I feel like I've only been in Spartanburg for a week haha. You just lose track of time in this work. It's an unreal experience. I love it so much. This is the most rewarding experience of my life. There's nothing else that I've done that has really amounted to anything except come out here haha. I feel like I've wasted away a good bit of my life just going through school and things. I wish I would've gone out with the missionaries more when I was back home. I had a LOT of spare time on my hands. It's been great getting youth involvement here. This priest age young man Steffan is pretty cool and comes out with us a good bit. We quite often see awesome miracles when we go out teaching with him so I think God is doing all He can to get him excited about going. I'm glad. Every young man needs to serve a mission. I've spent a lot of time in quiet reflection of the gospel right before I go to bed each night. It's amazing to think of all the wonderful things God has done for me. The fact that we're alive and working the way that we do is a miracle. I love being a part of this plan. I'm so glad that I chose to come to this Earth. With all the blessings God has provided for me it drives me to work my hardest while being out here. I don't think it's possible to truly grasp the concept of the Atonement and not want to do every thing in your power to serve God and follow Jesus Christ. To think that Jesus Christ suffered for the pains of many children who he knew would not choose to follow Him blows my mind sometimes. Jesus Christ simply performing the Atonement alone would have made Him the most selfless person to ever live but to add unto it, He lived a perfect, sinless life. I can hardly walk out the door in the morning without messing up something and here Jesus is ever diligent in following the things His Father taught him. Not once did Jesus Christ even consider being slow to action even when things got tough. Just when I start to think that being out here is tough, I consider what Jesus went through, what the Apostles went through, what Joseph Smith went through. This work here is just no comparison to what they went through. How dare I display any degree of slack in this work. It makes me want to be so much better and truly give it my all out here. I know these things are going to bless me throughout my life. A mission is like an entire life in the pressure cooker. I've changed so much and I love being able to keep changing and bettering myself everyday. I wouldn't give up this opportunity to serve for anything. I love yall so much. Thanks for supporting me all throughout my life. I know I've come up short with so many things more often than not, but thanks for always being there for me. Your support has meant everything to me throughout my youth. I couldn't have asked for a better family :) Love, Elder Nair

7 July 2013

Hey! The work is going SO well right now. I love being out here. Spartanburg is great! I love being a missionary so much! Give Alex my regards! Missionary work is awesome. We've been having a lot of success here with part-member families. And like everyone wants to feed us for some reason haha. We're having dinner with these new investigators who we met the Saturday before the 4th of July. Nicole has a lot of Mormon family but never joined the church and Danny her husband is just a cool really nice guy that's well versed in many religions. I'm excited to teach them tonight! The Nguyen's are doing great. They're all set to be baptized on the 20th. I'm excited about that. Yesterday we met this family where the dad is a less-active guy that used to be in a bishopric back in the day. His wife isn't a member. For now at least haha. She originally felt that she didn't need to read the Book of Mormon because she wasn't interested but after we testified to her of how amazing it is she agreed to read the intro before we come back and teach her tomorrow! Also their son who is just starting out his family is interested :D They're such great sweet people. I'm so excited for all of them! We're still working well with Bill and Timberly. They're awesome and are feeding us again on Wednesday. I've been eating a lot of deer recently haha. They like deer up here in Spartanburg I guess. I like it too! It's tasty! I'm so happy to be out here. And I'm just loving the work. Elder Seaver and I are having tons of fun and working hard and helping so many people repent. I'm having the time of my life now and time is just flying. I feel like I haven't been out for more than 3 months haha. It's such a great work. The gospel is so true! I love it with all my heart. The church is amazing in every way shape and form. It's such a pleasant environment and the people are such good people. It's amazing what truth does for people :) Life is good. I haven't had a slow day here in Spartanburg. There's so many good things going on and so much faith in the zone. I'm just excited about everything. I love yall so much. It's good to hear things are continually going well. Love yall, Elder Nair

1 July 2013

Good to hear from yall as always! That's such a cool miracle about those Elders. That would be awesome to hear about a former investigator from way back when getting baptized and married. That's sweet! God is definitely working miracles all throughout the world. I'm so excited for all the wonderful new things happening in the field. It's all going to be pretty cool continuing to see what unfolds. Things are going awesome here. I love Elder Seaver. It's so much fun working with him. I'm having the time of my life and we're having tons of success. Pray for the Nguyen family. I think I've mentioned this before but they're such a cool family. They're kids are getting baptized for sure this month. They love church and it's so good seeing them get back into it. Kids are so spiritual. They're so in tune with their Pre-Earth life that all these truths that they hear stick with them. Watching their example to their parents is awesome. Also pray for Timberly. She's the wife of a less active member Bill. She's really interested in religion and has studied quite a bit. She's incredibly knowledgeable about the scriptures and they're just really nice in general. They're feeding us this Wednesday and we've already shared the Restoration and Plan of Salvation with her. She's such a great lady and definitely going to be baptized. I can't wait until she gains that witness from the Spirit. It's going to be awesome seeing how much more she learns through this gospel. This week we just met a lady named Nicole whose whole family are members of the church and she's just grown away from it over the years and her husband Danny. We knocked into them on Saturday and they're feeding us next week too so we can share the Restoration with them! I'm excited. They're really knowledgeable about religion and have studied lots and lots and just settled on non-denominational for now, but I know the message of forever families will ring true to them and help them have a desire to want that. There are so many miracles here in the field. It's like a never ending supply of awesome things. Serving as a zone leader has been fun. It's nice being able to have awesome missionaries that you can love and support. We're having our first ZTM this week which is just a meeting with all the missionaries in your zone that the zone leaders run. Elder Seaver and I have some awesome ideas and we're going to have such a fun time. I'm excited for that on the 4th of July. There's just so much to be happy about out here. Missions are amazing. I'm so glad so many more people will get the opportunity to serve. They're a lifechanging experience for real. I'm learning so much and growing as a person in ways I could have never imagined without this. I love yall so much and I love the gospel so much! It's something I could never turn against. I'm starting to learn what it truly means to consecrate yourself to the Lord. I like where this is going :D Love, Elder Nair

23 June 2013

Dearest mommy and daddy, I love yall :) This week has been SWEET. yes in all caps. It's been SWEET. I'm loving being out here in Spartanburg with Elder Seaver. He's a great missionary and has lots of experience. We're having so much success right now. It's awesome. There's this less active family that he's been working with for awhile who they've never quite gotten around to teaching or helping them progress in the gospel. They have two unbaptized kids Taylor (15 year old male) and Ava (10 year old female). I met them a few days after I got in the area and we got a chance to teach them and start making some progress with them. Then last week the mother Ladda told us that when she saw me that first day apparently there was something about my smile and she just knew in her heart that her kids were going to be baptized with us two. It was awesome! They came to church as a family for the first time in 10 years yesterday! We're so excited for them. Also we're just finding tons of people that are preparing to be baptized. July is going to be a busy and awesome month! I'm so excited for it. Miracles on miracles are happening here! Thank yall so much for your support and prayers :) Exciting things are happening in the mission-field. I know they've been using some Facebook missionaries for awhile so I'm not quite sure what all this talk of new technology is entailing exactly but I know it'll all work out for good. There was a video clip of Christina or Sister Rosa in that meeting which was kinda cool. I love this wave of missionary work and being apart of it. It's fun stuff. Those are some awesome stories that you've shared. I appreciate all of them. I'm going to keep this email short so I can send you some pictures so I can finally send you some pictures! Love ya, Elder Nair

17 June 2013

Thanks Mom and Dad! Firstly I appreciate you bearing with me. I have lots of pictures that I'll have to show you eventually. I've just been a little slack with getting them sent cuz of the limited computer time that we have and with library computers it's pretty hard to work your stuff on them. But yeah things have been pretty busy with the new move and all. I'm in Spartanburg now serving in the Spartanburg 1st ward in the upstate. I'm kinda moving all over the state which is awesome. It's great being up here. They've asked me to be a zone leader up here and I'm pretty excited. This is awesome. I love being up here. My companion is Elder Seaver and I'm in an apartment with four missionaries. It's a lot of fun for sure. I'm so excited about the work here. They've been in what's called a three pack for the last few weeks and were working solely in the other Elders area so I'm getting another fresh start here. We've met some great people already and we're going to do some fantastic work here. Happy Birthday Mom, Happy Fathers Day Dad, and Happy Birthday/Father's Day Solomon! I love yall so much. I hope you can feel that. I know I don't always show my love to yall by writing letters and things but always always always know that I love yall so much. That's good to hear that despite all of those trials yall had a great experience with the tabernacle chior. I remember you telling me about that a little bit ago so I'm excited it went well. Miracles abound out here. It's awesome that so many people are coming out on missions. I love that. I didn't think I'd be out here with more than Elder Laplant and Elder Whipple at this point but with that annoucement everyone is joining us! That's amazing. Elder Stephen Brown is going to the Arizone Tempe mission while he waits for his visa. It was good hearing from him again. I can tell Spartanburg's going to be lots of fun. I'll let you know how things pick up as we get the work rolling here but I'm feeling lots of miracles coming. I love this gospel so much. It's amazing getting to do this all day every day for so long :) There aint nothing better than being a missionary. That's for sure. Love yall! Elder Nair

9 June 2013

Hahaha your comment about yall officially being old made me laugh. Yall are fantastic and age is just a number :P I know that yall will continue to serve the Lord with all your heart might mind and strength. Speaking of opportunities to serve, I'm getting transferred to a new area tomorrow. I'm not quite sure where I'm going as usual but I'm officially leaving Marion. It's always tough leaving an area because of all these wonderful people that you love but I know with all my heart that the Lord's hand is in this work directing me where to go, what to do, and what to say. I hope to be an example to others and do my absolute best work. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple yesterday with Jessica, a recent convert that we've been working with. It was her first time going and since we've been working with her and helping her, she wanted us to go with to do baptisms. It also was the stake temple day so President Harvey had us do some initiatories and an endowment session as well before we left. It was fantastic. I don't know if I made it apparent enough in my past emails about how much I missed the temple, but I had a fabulous time and it was incredibly refreshing. This gospel is so true. I can't even begin to describe how I feel about it. To answer some of your questions, I pretty much get to play the piano at every fireside and district/zone meetings and I also got to play a special musical number of Come Thou Fount this past Sunday. I don't have too much time to practice the piano unless I'm doing a special musical number, in which case I get a little bit of practice, but my skills have kept up as far as I can tell. My exercise is going terribly, i've gain 50 lbs!...haha just kidding. Morning workouts are fantastic. I love getting up and getting straight to work first thing in the morning (next to morning prayers that is). It helps your energy throughout the day and keeps my strength up. I'm still the exact same size for the most part. My personal studies are always fantastic. I learn a lot about the scriptures and I've been lately studying some church history in Our Heritage. I haven't gotten too in depth with that book yet but I'll start soon. I love the Ensign and have been enjoying our modern day scriptures so much. Service opportunities are great. I love helping people out so much. We cut ragweeds out of a corn field to help the Weatherfords out. If you want to learn more about Brother Weatherford, he played for University of Tennessee back in the sixties I believe. Dad will probably love it. That's fantastic to hear about all the missionaries to be/ missionaries in the field already. I'm glad this work has blown up so much. It's good knowing that the work is truly hastening. I hope Alex is doing well. Got some pictures from that that look rough but I know he's going to endure it happily cuz he's one tough cookie. Haha I can't believe Brother Clark did that challenge! That's awesome haha. Wow I have to figure out what his secret is when I get back :P just kidding...that's ridiculous. Let him know that out here in Myrtle Beach there's a place with an 80 oz steak challenge so if he's ever in South Carolina and wants $90 worth of free steak, the place is called Thorny's. I don't intend on trying that challenge anytime soon. I'm excited about serving in a new area. Nervous but excited as always. It's been great serving with Elder Esplin. I've learned a lot and I hope to be able to leave this area with good things going and get to work in a new area. Missions truly shape your life. Love yall so much Elder Nair

3 June 2013

Hey yall!
It was so nice to hear and see Gideon in action and a little bit of Solomon and Amanda as well. I love them so much :D I'm so glad that things are going so well for them :)

I'm grateful for the examples that yall have set before me. I can't thank yall enough for that. It's so great being out here and making the changes that I need to to be a great contribution to society and to the Lord's kingdom. I love being out here.

Things are going good. I'm guessing that my time in Marion is coming to a close soon but I'll find out for sure this Saturday night. I'm excited that Myeshia is doing so well. She sticks to her guns for sure. She's going to be a great example to Audrey and the rest of her family as she continues strong in the gospel and comes to the temple. We're making some great progress with a less active lady that has had her feelings hurt in church in the past but she's finally getting over it so that she can have the promises that God has already blessed her with. Leaving areas is always sad but I know that I'm going to love my next area and trust that I'll be wherever the Lord needs me to be.

Today has been pretty fun so far, we got to help the Weatherfords (The people that yall almost got to see at the temple) harvest some potatoes this morning. It was great! It's been raining really hard all morning so I'm like soaked but I enjoyed it all the more because of the rain :) We're okay over here in the beach area with the tornadoes. They're staying clear of the East coast from what I can tell. But hurricane season is starting up earlier than usual and apparently it's going to be longer than usual. I'm not worried though, God's going to take care of me as he sees fit. I don't get to see much media but from what people have said, it sounds like the tornadoes are tearing through the lower part of the midwest as usual. I hope everyone is okay. The weather is really getting worse and worse just as God's prophets have testified. It's crazy that some people don't see this weather as signs of the times cuz it's gradually gotten up to this point.

I'm not worried though. I know what I need to do to be safe. I just hope that people will accept the gospel message so they can be safe as well. I love these people so much. It's tough having so much love for these people because it makes you sad when they use their agency to choose the wrong way. But I find great peace in a conference talk by Elder Holland called the Grandeur of God. It is impossible to have so much love for someone or something, without feeling the pain of disappointment sometimes. I find it hard to comprehend that God, a perfect being with everlasting joy and happiness, can weep with and for us. It really displays his true nature. I see the little things that I have to go through with seeing people reject the message of the gospel for now, but I can't imagine how God feels when one of his sons or daughters never accept the fullness of the gospel. I can't picture how much it would hurt to watch one of my children stray away and choose to be out of my presence for time and all eternity. That would be heartbreaking.

But it's all a part of life. Without experiencing some form of sadness we would have no idea what true joy would feel like. It's amazing to know that eternal life is a continuation of the life that we now experience on so many levels. The more that I see the correlation between this Earth and the eternal, the more I feel like I can do to prepare for the eternities. I don't know how people can be so complacent with what they have and think they know everything that they need to know about God and the heavens. Even the great prophets who have seen into the heavens learn more and more each day. No matter where we've been blessed to start or what we've been blessed to experience, we can build on that. No other religion or set of doctrines can compare to the doctrines that God has created. I love this gospel and this church so much.

That's awesome that yall got to see church family from Michigan City! My memory of them is limited but I do have very fond memories of them.

Hope everything continues to go well back home

Love yall,

Elder Nair

28 May 2013

Hey surprise surprise! I actually get to email today since the library was closed for Memorial Day so I get another added birthday present right here :D

Yeah I did all the celebrating yesterday/ kinda throughout last week. I splurged a little bit too much but I really really enjoyed my birthday present. I didn't quite know what you meant when you said the extra was for cushion so I'll just let yall know what I did with it. I got myself a sweet watch from Walmart that I was in dire need of. My ol snap band watch fell apart in my last area, so I've been watchless for quite some time now. I really like the watch I got and I will forever remain in thanks to yall for it.  Then yesterday Brother Putich, the young men's president in the branch gave us a ride up to North Myrtle Beach where we went to this place called Alligator Adventure and got to see lots of live alligators, and some snakes and birds and things. But the alligators were the best part.  Then we ate at this buffet called Ryan's. It's basically like a Golden Corral so that was good. And then we went to a gift shop where I bought some cool stuff. I had a great birthday! Honestly, it is so nice because I'm in an area where I'm not too far from Myrtle Beach so there are so many cool things to do! But with no income coming in at the moment, I'm a little shorthanded as far as going and enjoying some of the attractions out there. So basically I couldn't have asked for a better gift :) Yesterday was so much fun!

The temple trip is two Mondays from now so I'll let you know all about that when that happens.

And Brother and Sister Weatherford (the lady you almost got to meet at the temple) invited us over for lunch and we watched Sister Monson's funeral as we ate. That was a really good service.

There really isn't anything better than being a missionary. We're meeting some great people and having a lot of fun so things are going so well. I'm just a little sad that I'll be most likely leaving the area here soon. You never really know but it's looking like that's what will happen. But I'm content with wherever God needs me. I know I'm going to love wherever I am because no matter where I go, I'll still get to be a missionary :) I think the love for these area's just comes more from the fact that I'm a missionary here. I'm so excited to hear about all the great missionaries that are being sent out. They're going to be so great! I love the hastening of this work! There's so much happening in the world and God's work is rolling forward unceasingly. I feel honored to be able to be a part of it.

I'm learning so much out here I can't even believe it. My testimony is growing so much. I just love the gospel with all my heart. It's pure happiness. Even when my situations tough, the Savior's pulling me through it. I know there isn't anything that will happen to me that God won't help me endure in happiness. I love that about these precious truths.

 

Love yall! Thanks again so much for everything that made my birthday special :D

Elder Nair

19 May 2013

Hey yall!

Thanks for everything this past week! Especially the letters. I accidently started opening the birthday card, I'll have to admit I was surprised to see it as early as it came haha. But once I figured out what it was I put it back in the envelope and set it away for the 28th. Thanks for the love and support that yall give me. It makes things so much easier to know there are people who care about you back home.

 I really appreciate that story from your childhood. I always really like hearing stories like that. It makes it seem like the world was so much more interesting before all this technology and stuff hit the market. It's sad to see families splitting up all over the world. There just isn't that same love that once used to be there. It brings me a lot of heartache seeing what people have to go through but I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to impact people's lives for good and help them see the joy of the gospel. 

Audrey was baptized and confirmed this past weekend :) She's great. Pray for her mother and step father. They are being a big source of opposition at the moment. They used to be so great but they've been having their faith tried quite a bit right now. They've been having struggles with anti-Mormon material and don't want to meet with us. But I hope Audrey and Myeshia's examples will eventually bring a mighty change in their hearts. I truly want the best for them.

On a lighter note, I'm excited to go to the temple and do baptisms on June 10th with Audrey and Myeshia! President gave us permission to be a part of that so that's going to be very exciting. Our stake is having a temple day which is great. I know that Myeshia and Audrey are going to love the spirit that they feel at the temple :)

I love how you can keep improving. I would hate to be at a total standstill in my life. There's so much more that you can be, always. I see myself becoming a better missionary day by day and week by week. When I think of where I was at when I got to the MTC until now, there's so much that has changed about me. I love the scriptures so much. You can read the same scripture over and over again and bring something new out of it each time.

I love people. All of my brothers and sisters on this Earth need this message. It makes me so sad to see agency used to go against the will of God. I know how much pain it brings these people even when they don't realize it. It makes me want to work so much harder and be so much better. But as I look at this work and marvel in all of the beauties of God I recognize my nothingness before him. Of myself I am literally nothing. It's amazing to me how personally invested God is in each one of our lives. Every breath we take is a gift from him and it makes my heart swell with joy at the thought that I'm important enough to God to receive a new day of my life. I truly long to be in his presence with all of my brothers and sisters someday. I know that this takes work on my part however. I hope to continue to live worthy of God's love until I too can receive the personal assurance that I am a friend of God. This gospel just isn't like anything else. The joy that I feel just isn't a figment of my imagination. It's as real as sun shines. I know that no man could have all these fruits brought forth unless he was directly inspired by God. Out here you hear a lot about these "prophets" that go around healing people and starting up churches, but there's so much more to being a prophet than being able to heal. True prophets bring the gospel, they bring the ordinances of salvation to those around him. They are the means that God uses to heal the spirit. Having a broken leg fixed will not help you return to God's presence. But the authority of God to baptize will. I feel so blessed to have a knowledge of this since my youth. 

I love the temple. I love being close to God. It makes me so happy. I know that through Christ, this happiness will continue throughout the rest of my life.

Thanks again for the birthday gift! It's exactly what I had hoped for :) There are some great places to eat up in Tabor City and apparently there's a place that claims to serve Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I'll have to be the judge of that :P So I'll get to go test it out with my currently district leader Elder Memmott (who as you know has been my trainer and zone leader in the past). I love yall so much. Thank you for your prayers and everything that yall do.

Love,

Elder Nair

1 May 2013

Hey! It was great talking to yall yesterday. I love yall so much. Things are just as good as they were yesterday :) Missions are awesome :D I love the gospel.

 

Love,

Elder Nair

On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 10:56 AM, Ezra Nair <ezra.nair@myldsmail.net> wrote:

O yeah! Good stuff!

That's so great to hear that Solomon and Amanda were able to be a light like that for someone. I know how much an eternal difference that will make when they are sealed in the temple in a year's time. I was thinking about eternal families the other day after talking with Rodney (the husband of Audrey's mom) yesterday. He was talking about how he asked his preacher about heaven and how he said we'll all be just brothers and sisters but won't be in our families. Rodney said "I never felt right about that, for some reason I just always figured we'd be with our families" it was a great opportunity to testify of restored priesthood authority and how families can truly be together forever, but that the restored gospel of Christ is the only way that that is possible. I love this gospel. It truly brings so much hope where there is none. Myeshia (Audrey's sister) is for sure being baptized this weekend! I'm so excited for that. She's doing so well and living all the commandments and is excited about everything. Audrey had a little trial of her faith this week but after meeting with us, we had the opportunity to testify of truth to her and help her resolve all her concerns. We're seeing her again tonight and we have this 15 step program to help people stop smoking. I'm excited to try it out with her because I really think it will work. That's the only thing Audrey needs to give up for baptism. We're going to help them all get to the temple to do baptisms in early June. It's going to be such a blessing for them. Many more converts stay active when they take their own names to the temple to do baptisms for them. That's our goal right now.

Transfers were this past Wednesday. I'm still here in Marion now but with Elder Esplin. I'm going to miss Elder James. He was a great guy and I loved working with him. I'm always excited about the future though. Elder Esplin's great, He's been out 4 months. Elder Memmott (my trainer/old zone leader) is now my district leader. Our district which used to consist of us and Conway, is now us and Tabor City, NC. It's going to be fun working with Elder Memmott again. It's already been nice. But I'll get an opportunity to go on exchanges in Tabor City which will be cool as well. Elder Memmott's also training a new missionary up there for his last two transfers. I'm going to miss him a lot. He's taught me so much and helped me greatly in this work.

We had stake conference a couple weeks ago. One talk I really liked was about how Satan works in secret places. It gave an analogy of this man who was tending to his yard. It was beautiful green and lucious and as he was talking to his neighbor one day, his neighbor saw a mole cricket walk out of this man's yard. The neighbor cautioned the man and told him he needed to spray his yard for the mole crickets, but the man thought "I can't see anything wrong, i'll be alright. Everyday the man came out and his yard was just as lucious as the day before for awhile. He never saw any mole crickets and so he didn't worry about it. But one day he came out and noticed all these dead patches of grass in his yard. Mole crickets feed at night and they feed on the roots of the grass. So while you're under attack you don't even realize it before it's too late. You have to take constant inventory on things to make sure you never let your guard down without realizing it. This lady Sister Cabaniss in the branch gave a really good talk on that talk about protecting her family.

Yesterday I also got to baptize the daughter of this recent convert we've been helping out. She just turned eight on Friday and she wanted me to baptize her. It was a great experience. I love that family. Lafayette and her kids Janiah (almost 12), Synodia(10), and Kamonie (8).

I almost forgot about Mother's Day haha time is flying. I'll probably get to give you a brief call when I figure out a good time, but I'd expect it to be around 3ish our time.

Thanks for all the help.

The CD's are great, the more the merrier. If Enoch Train came out with another CD that'd be awesome if yall could get your hands on that and get me a copy of it. But yeah I'm good to go on MoTab. I have more than enough haha. The Joseph Smith CD was really good.

But how're yall enjoying working in the temple together? I miss the temple. We hope to hit our zone goal this month. Our zone is now the Conway zone instead of the Florence zone. Two new zones were made in the mission. Lots of great things happening with the change in age for missionaries. By July or June the Georgia Macan mission will be created and another one in North Carolina I believe. The work is definitely hastening. It's awesome being a part of this. There's no greater joy that I've experienced than spreading the gospel. I love being out here more than anything.

 

Love,

Elder Nair