November 26, 2012

Hey it's so good to hear from y'all again!

       I'm glad there's a lot of good missionary work going on back home. That's so cool that so many more people are serving. Our mission right now is sitting at about 170 missionaries with 20 of them being sisters. Early next year we're anticipated to have 250 missionaries in the mission with about 80 of them being sisters. It's so crazy how much the work is hastening. Membership is going to skyrocket once they all get out here and going. This week has been pretty great. Lily got baptized which was awesome. She's a really cool little girl. Things are just going so well here and I've been so blessed to see so much success. Since most of the questions cover my week I'll just move onto those now haha

1. How was Thanksgiving?  Where did you go? What did you eat?
 Thanksgiving was great. We went to the Pounds home and had all the good stuff. Turkey, Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, etc. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have collard greens but when we went to Rebekah's last night she offered me some. They were way good. Apparently collard greens are more of a New Year's thing out here but I still like 'em all the same.

2. Who is your new companion?  Is he a worker bee like you?  Where is Elder Memmott serving?
  My new companion is Elder Holley. Pronounced like holly, just in time for Christmas haha. He's a great worker. He's really excited to be out here serving. Being a trainer is crazy. I feel like I just got here and I'm the one that should be getting trained haha. But I know the Lord does everything for a reason and I'm prepared to learn a lot in these next twelve weeks. Elder Memmott is serving as a zone leader up in Florence now.

3. Dad says, "Do you have any new ways to introduce the gospel in the field?" 

    That's really cool that you're using the Book of Mormon musical as a way to introduce people to the gospel. Right now we've really been focusing on Christmas coming up. Mormon.org has been changing the website to focus on Christmas right now and have put a lot of money into new adds on Facebook Google Twitter, all that stuff. There will be an excess of adds running until Christmas so I'd encourage people to check that website out.

4. How's the weather?  Are you still exercising, playing basketball or something?  (Dad's questions)
      The weather's good. It's getting chilly when the sun isn't out. But I'm holding up alright since we're in a driving area. We excercise 30 minutes every morning and usually play basketball on P-days with the Zone Leaders, the other Elders in our ward and the Spanish Elders. It's pretty fun and we've been budgeting our miles well so we can make it up to the church.

Missionary Questions

1. How are Rebekkah and William holding up in the gospel?
   Rebekah and William are doing great. William's working on getting a job and getting ready to move out of his parents house which is real good for him. He's loving the Book of Mormon and really sees the blessings of reading it and applying the principles of it to his life. He's looking forward to getting to 3 Nephi around Christmas time. And Rebekah is doing well. She was sick all last week so we didn't get to see her until Sunday night. She's been enjoying having Paul read scriptures to her and their family is holding up well.

2. How is P?  How is Sis. Frye?  They are both on my mind.

   We're still working with P. He's doing good reading but he's really having trouble giving up smoking. We have a lot planned to help him out with that this week but for now we're really praying for him. Sister Frye is doing great. We saw her Thanksgiving evening and brought her a Book of Mormon study manual to help her reading. We've more recently been teaching her grandkids who have lately been interested in the gospel. I hope their example will motivate her to progress forward and help her start getting back to church. I'm really excited for them.
3. How is the work going?  What blessings are you bringing to others?

    The work is going well. We're focusing on Jeletha and this wonderful lady Kristen. Kristen is really good about keeping appointments and has a strong desire to come to church. The gospel will help her have a lot of direction in her life I think. At the moment she's kind of just floating and taking care of her kids and things. The gospel will definitely give her the direction she needs. Jeletha's great. We're seeing her tonight and we're praying that she doesn't have any pregnancy complications in these next few weeks while she prepares to be baptized on December 15th. I'm hoping that goes well.

I hope everything's going well back home and y'all are excited for the holidays. Christmas is a wonderful time to share the gospel and focus on Jesus Christ. I'm excited for all the media we have available to use and the people we're currently working with. The mission is going great as usual.

Love you guys,

Elder Nair

November 19, 2012

Hey things are going good here as usual!

This week has been kind of crazy but really good. Firstly I had the wonderful opportunity to get in the water with William on Saturday. He told me he just felt really great when we were changing. His mom and two sisters came to the baptism too. He's a really good hearted guy.

November 19, 2012

Hey things are going good here as usual!

This week has been kind of crazy but really good. Firstly I had the wonderful opportunity to get in the water with William on Saturday. He told me he just felt really great when we were changing. His mom and two sisters came to the baptism too. He's a really good hearted guy.

We had to push {the other} baptism back. We really want him to get solid on the Word of Wisdom first. He told us he picked up cigarettes again so we're really working with him to help him gain a desire to stop. It's such a horrible vice that Satan uses. We're praying for him and helping him in any way we can to stop. Later today we're going to fix up his car with pictures of Jesus and his family to help him stop because when he's driving is when he's tempted most. I have high hopes for him and he will probably make the change by December.

On the brighter side L this 9 year old girl we've been teaching is getting baptized which I'm really excited about! That will go down this Friday. Her mom's been working on every Saturday so we just decided to go for Friday and she was okay with it. We're seeing them tomorrow and I'm super excited to get everything squared away for that!

My training is coming to a close. Technically it ended today actually. But transfers are coming up on Wednesday. How that works, if you're getting transferred, you get a call on Saturday night and they tell you to have your bags ready and meet at the church building in Irmo the following Wednesday. However, if you are serving in leadership President Holm will call you during the day on Saturday and let you know and ask if you're willing to accept. So that leads me to the craziest/most exciting part of my week. Saturday we got a call from president and I'll be training a new missionary. I'm pretty nervous but I'm very excited. Elder Memmott's off to be a zone leader somewhere so I'll be here still in Gaston. Just thinking about it gets me shaking a little bit haha. I know things will work out the way they're meant to and I'm excited to serve my Heavenly Father in this capacity.

That's pretty much it for the week so I'll move onto questions.

 

Thanks again for the warm clothes. It's getting unseasonably cold here so they came just in time.

 

My shoes are doing just fine. The heel guards are wearing off of them but they're still looking great and getting the job done.....

I won't actually get to go with him to the temple but he'll still go next week. I'm hoping our zone will hit our goal soon but I won't be horribly depressed if I don't get to go the temple until next year. The Lord needs me where I'm at.

 

Everything's going well with you accessing the pictures I send to Abra right? There aren't any places to print photos in my area so we don't have much time to go out and print them so I hope this is working out well.

 

So I'm officially an Uncle now? That's pretty freaking cool. I'd love to see some pictures of this little guy when you get the chance. It's always good to hear that Solomon and Amanda are doing well. Let me know what school he ends up going to!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to y'all too! It's crept up so fast I can't even believe it's this week. It'll be fun taking the new guy to all these cool members who are willing to feed us. We'll probably just end up stocking up our fridge because so many people want to give us their leftovers haha. I love you guys! I hope everything is still going well back home and don't get trunky dad! No matter where you're at in your service you're right in the middle of it :P

 

Love,

Elder Nair

November 13, 2012

Hey it's always good to hear from y'all!

Yesterday was Veteran's day so we weren't able to get on the computers cuz the library was closed......

Things are going so great this week. I just want y'all to know that I am so grateful for your prayers. You've definitely taught me something this week. Never ever give up on people. When I first got out here I had a rough time adjusting to the fact that we'd have to stop seeing people if they weren't progressing and basically know when to move on. It really bummed me out having to stop seeing some people but I've gotten better with dealing with that. What you've taught me this week though is that while we may have to stop seeing someone for awhile, I should never give up on them. Always keep them in my prayers and be anxiously awaiting the day when they are ready to hear the gospel whether in this life or the next life. That said, the reason why I'm bringing this up is because {a man we've been working with} is going to be baptized this Saturday! I'm incredibly excited and so grateful for your prayers. Basically, jail was a very humbling experience. He really saw where his life could end up by seeing and interacting with people who have totally ruined thier lives. He basically experienced a small portion of eternal torment knowing that he could be better and that he had a loving family outside of those prison walls. He spent a lot of time in deep contemplation and knew where to go to change. He called us as soon as he got out of jail and told us he wanted to be baptized. He's been following all the commandments since getting out of jail last week so he's good to go. We've been teaching him and he's really excited to be baptized. I'm so excited for that little family. He's an awesome guy and I definitely see lasting conversion in him. Thank you so much for your continued prayers.

Also, I wanted to tell you about William who's being baptized this Saturday as well. He's a really sincere guy who's just super geniune in everything he does. He suffers with anxiety sometimes but the gospel has really helped him experience change and have a calmer life. He's loving the Book of Mormon and he's really interested in the Civil War and stuff so the war chapters of Alma are really speaking to him. He just got interviewed for baptism today and I'm super excited for him.

To answer your question, L's been dying to be baptized but we're just having trouble working things out with her mom's schedule. She works a lot and L's brother got really sick but is doing better now. We're hoping to help her be baptized soon. L was at church this Sunday but her mom wasn't. She's a fantastic little girl with such a bright outlook on the future. 

That's pretty much summed up the week. I'm super excited for this weekend and am so grateful to the Lord for all the success that I've been able to experience. I'll move onto questions.

 

Dad wanted to know if you've had a chance to write to Joshua?  If so, how did that go?

I haven't gotten a chance to write Joshua yet. P-days have been kind of crazy up here and I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit down and get all my thoughts together. I'm really praying for him though and I hope he'll go on a mission soon. This has already been a lifechanging experience and I have no doubt in my mind that it will keep getting better.

 

Are you able to exercise regularly and keep fit?  

Yeah, we have thirty minutes every morning to exercise. Because I've been in a driving area I haven't been biking much, but I'm not getting obese or anything haha. I've always held my weight pretty well so I'm not worried about it. It's hard to eat well up here but I'm taking vitamins and stuff.

 

No cavities? NOPE :)

How's the trailer holding up in the weather there? It's been good. The weather's actually been alright. It's gotten a bit cloudy and rainy here but nothing bad. We're pretty blessed to not be seeing the effects of the hurricane.

How has it been, using Elder Bednar's teaching method? His teaching method has been working really well. It's really increasing our investigators' understanding and helping us travel at their pace by really knowing what they understand. It's helping them keep commitments too because having them feel the Spirit is increasing their desire to change on their own. They feel the truths and want to live them more.

Temple visits upcoming? I'm super blessed. One of Elder Memmott's recent converts is going to the temple. Her year mark from being baptized is next Monday so we get to go to the temple next Tuesday! :D I'm so excited. I've missed it so much. It's going to be a super great experience as always.

What's your biggest challenge(s), if any, and how are you overcoming it/them? My biggest challenges, hmmmm... it's hard to say. A mission is tough stuff no doubt. There's so many things that you can always work on. It's disappointing when people don't keep appointments. We had a pretty 'dry spell' last week. A lot of people didn't keep appointments and we didn't have really high numbers. But again the numbers aren't everything. Working hard and truly doing your best really helps. I'm just grateful for the success Elder Memmott and I have been able to have and I'm a little bummed that he's probably getting transferred on the 21st. I've just been really blessed so far to have such a great companion and have such great people to work with. Apparently the amount of success we've been having is out of the ordinary but I hope it continues. My expectations are high and there are just so many wonderful people here that need the gospel in their lives. I just want to keep trying my best and be a worthy conduit for the Spirit to work through. I love Heavenly Father and I'm so grateful for him letting me experience so much success and see these awesome people's lives be changed through the restored gospel. Being out here has sincerely deepened my conversion and I've never felt so close to God in my life. I know these two years are going to be awesome but I also know that this work is continuing after my mission. There's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to live the gospel forever. No challenge is impossible to conquer and this testifying truth to people just helps me strengthen my testimony. I feel so blessed to be born into this church and not have to deal with so many of the whack situations and worldly influences that people deal with alone. I love the gospel, I love Jesus Christ, and I'm prepared to serve him for the rest of my days. I love you guys and I'm so happy that you've been such great examples to me and that we're an eternal family. Thanks for everything :)

 

-Elder Nair

Gaston 1st Photos

November 5, 2012

Hi!

I'm so excited to tell you about this. I definitely wouldn't leave you in the dark about what I learned from Elder Bednar. The reason I didn't write about it before is because he came yesterday and the day before that :) So Saturday was the first day we got to hear from him. It was a mission-wide thing where all the missionaries came up to our chapel and he spoke to us. It was for missionaries only. It was an amazing experience. We were given talks to study, which I'll send you as well. Basically we discussed the talks and shared what we learned from them. We did that for an hour and then had the opportunity to ask questions for two hours. It was an amazing experience. The main thing that he really emphasized is that the Holy Ghost is the only teacher. All he did was ask us inspired questions and the Spirit worked within us to teach us truth. It was really cool. He really helped us to ask good questions too. Before the question portion of our meeting he said something along these lines, "This is probably going to be your only chance to ask an apostle of God a question. Don't ask me where is the sword of Laban. Will that question help you at all in your progression towards God? Wouldn't it be much more spiritually beneficially to you to ask an apostle of God who receives direct revelation for the church with 14 other men in the upper room, Elder Bednar, what can you tell me about receiving revelation?" It really helped everyone to ask good questions and feel the Spirit work within us to answer our questions. He'd always let us ask a question, clarify what we asked to make sure he was understanding correctly, explain a small part of a principle and ask if he could ask us a question, and then let the Spirit answer our question. He'd then leave us with an invitation and some direction to study more so the Spirit could answer our question more fully.

He basically said, if I can get you to understand that you don't need me to answer your questions, then I'll have accomplished my job as a teacher. The best compliment you can have from an investigator is after you've baptized them, "Elders good job, I have the Holy Spirit to teach me now and have fellowship from the ward to help me with everything else, go away and never come back. There are more people that need to be helped." Haha he was such a loving man and really felt like one of us. He was making us laugh and inviting the Spirit. He's a real person and we all got to shake his hand at the end.

One of the biggest invitations he extended was that he told us to get those inexpensive copies of the Book of Mormon, and to pick a topic you wanted to know more about, so for example if you wanted to know more about charity you think of all the words that are like charity, and read through and highlight each time it mentions the word or something related to it and then write one page of what you learned. It can even work with something as simple as trees. Go through and look up everytime it mentions trees. He mentioned that Alma knew about Lehi's dream when he was giving the analogy of faith being a seed and growing into a tree just to give us a little bit. Elder Bednar said he has a whole bookshelf full of those inexpensive copies with the one page summary. "Now go get your own" he said. It's really inspiring to know that as far as personal revelation goes, we're entitled to know everything that these great people in the church know. We have the same gift of the Holy Ghost and if we excercise the action of faith and study as much as we can, we're entitled to know the same things in our own life.

I was one of the lucky missionaries who got to hear Elder Bednar twice in fact because he came to the wards that met at our building. So the next day he spoke in church. In church he spoke of the growing media attention that the church is receiving and how to more effectively share the gospel. Basically he said, when someone asks you a question about a practice of the gospel, explain the doctrine behind it, and ask inspired questions and the Holy Ghost will manifest the truth of it unto them.

His testimony is what really struck me the most. He truly is a witness of Jesus Christ. At one point when he was sharing his testimony he started to say I know but then corrected himself and said I witness of the reality of Jesus Christ. Learning about the Second Comforter has changed my entire perspective whenever the apostles specifically say that they are special witnesses of Jesus Christ. The Spirit just swelled in my heart hearing an apostle of God saying that ten feet in front of you face. It was awesome.

That was easily the highlight of my week. It was really good getting a boost from that because we had two people scheduled to be baptized on the 3rd but both of them got really sick. I'm really hoping and praying that they'll all get better and will all be able to be baptized this month.

Thanks for everything.  I discovered that the more technical name is the Holy Scriptures: Inspired Version that I'm wanting, but they might be incredibly expensive. If they are don't worry about it too much.

 It's so great to hear that y'all are doing well and I'm really excited for your continued preparation to serve a mission. There's nothing that I especially need. The Lord's definitely been providing for me. Thanks for everything :)

Love y'all,

Elder Nair

October 29, 2012

Hey! So good to here from ya again

I'll start with questions.

1.  How's the weather there?  Did Hurricane Sandy have an impact in Gaston?

The weather's fine it's actually getting a little chilly. The hurricane hasn't been affecting us. It seems to be doing some damage up north though. I tried calling Delta Dental to get a list of dentist's in my area but their office was closed today because of storming.

2.  How did trunk or treat turn out?  Did you have other activities with it?  How many new guests?

The Trunk or Treat was great. Everyone loved our costumes. Ozzie (the guy who painted our faces) and his misses and kids were there. (Sister Frye's grandkids) We should be teaching them this week.

 

3.  Is your zone on target for the temple this time around?  (Keep trusting and working and it will happen.)We won't be hitting our zone goal this month but Elder Memmott and I are doing great still. I'm just going to keep working my hardest to try and help our zone out as much as I can.

4.  Have you noticed that more people are looking for the church? 

Yeah, we're really having a lot of success right now. We've got some great people we're teaching at the moment and I'm incredibly excited for November. We have a pool of about 15 really solid people right now and we're just doing our best to try and keep up with them. The end of the month has been pretty rough because we're only alotted 1200 miles to drive and people are so spread out down here in Gaston. We haven't been able to see as many people as we've liked to this week but I'm super excited about getting more miles on the 1st and we've been calling/texting them and keeping in touch.

 

As for a chain fast for {the man we've been teaching}, he's not going to be baptized anytime soon at the moment unfortunately. Our white handbooks also counsel us to not invite people back home to fast for our causes out here, but I definitely appreciate your faith and excitement and prayers........ It's sad to see people not reach their full potential but everyone has their agency.

 

Michael was baptized on the 13th of October so I'm excited for them to be able to work through their struggles and make it to the temple that time next year. I'm hoping they'll be able to press forward and stay strong.

 

But yes this week has been great. Like I said before, we're strapped on miles so the work has been different this week, but God is continuing to bless us for our diligence and continued faith. I'm really, really excited for next month. Things should be very good. We handed Tammie and Jasmine to the other Elders in our ward because we have so many different people we're teaching and they live the closest to them as far as all of our investigators go. We'll be able to see everyone else later this week so I'll let you know how they're doing as they progress towards the gospel.

 

L & W are doing well for now. W's having a few struggles at the moment so keep praying for him to be baptized this weekend. He's really pure in heart and has such a strong desire to do what Heavenly Father wants him to do. L's super excited and we're excited to see her be baptized this week.

 

It's good to hear everything is going well for y'all back home.

 

Yesterday we had a stake priesthood meeting and it was really great. We basically heard a lot about the hastening of this work and how important our role as members and missionaries is to help less actives come back into activity. Families need the gospel. It really inspired me and got my fire reignited to see some less active families that need to come back. The Saracenis are a wonderful family that comes to mind and Sister Frye as well. I was on exchanges this week with Elder Staker one of the zone leaders and was able to commit Sister Frye to read her Book of Mormon everyday. I really hope she does that. There is such great power in that book. I know that it's true. I just finished reading it for the first time while I've been on my mission last week. It's nice being able to have so much time to study out of it and get so many more new and interesting details and life applications that come from rereading the Book of Mormon.

 

That's all for this week. I'll hopefully have a lot more to write about next week. This month is going to be really exciting for sure. Love y'all! -Elder Nair

 

P.S. If anyone could find me what's called an Inspired Bible, I'd really, really like one. I know they sell them at the BYU bookstore but they should be online somewhere cheaper too. It's a Bible with all the Joseph Smith Translations written into it, not to be confused with the new inspired king james bible. I'd get it myself if they sold them here. Love y'all :)