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