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