Monday, March 31, 2014

Doubting My Doubts...

I am staying in Darmstadt with Elder Emery (god ANSWERS prayers).  I am PUMPED! If any of you don't know Darmstadt is a super cool place! It is Pres. Uchtdorf's home ward, So along with all of his childhood friends (including his best friend, who is this hilarious old man, who doesn't like Americans because We think that Henry Ford made the first car, which he will tell you repeatedly is false, and that is was in fact Mercedes. But I digress) it is also home to the "Lift Where You Stand" Piano (Which I have totally played...) also if you can't remember "Lift Where You Stand" is this fantastic talk that Pres. Ucthdorf gave a few years ago.  Also this ward is HUGE!!! (for Deutschland) We have 250 members with about 237 inactive... SO lots of inactive work which is fantastic!  I am so grateful for our ward back at home and how Bishop P and Brother Kelly made us, The Priest Quorum, really look out for eachother.  Everyone NEEDS a friend in the church! The ward is realizing this and since they have realized we have had about 4 reactivation in the past transfer! and almost 2 or 3 more!! MIRACLES!!!!! 

One of the people we have been working with is an inactive Felipe, He thinks I am the coolest because I had a friend that went to South America and did service (Shout out to Cameryn!) and I love him because he is Uncle Todd, if he was from Ecuador! It is hilarious!!! HE is my favorite person!! He has all of the same mannerisms and voice inflection as Todd and is always cracking jokes.  So we have been working alot with Felipe and he is really warming up to us.  His only problems is that he literally knows NOTHING about the gospel! He had never heard the Joseph Smith story and had never heard of the Doctrine and Covenants, So we are getting him those in spanish and praying that he realizes he needs to come back.

We have also been doing a TON of finding this past week. Which is super fun! But also the hardest thing in the world, because German People DON'T like when people talk to them on the bus, but whatever we are missionaries we don't follow social-norms.  One of the cool things though about finding, is that we are the Uni Elders. This means we work with all the YSA's and University Students! It is so fun!!! So we talk to a lot of students, which is pretty hard because they believe they are super intelligent and sophisticated. SO DUMB!!! But is cool to see how the spirit works on these young kids the same way I have seen it work on me! And maybe for every 50 we talk to one actually wants to listen but that 1 is SO prepared for the gospel.
Also quick stories about the YSA's we get to do FHE every week with them, and this past week we were in charge of the lesson and acitivity. Two words. DANCE CONTEST!! It was incredible we filmed them all and showed them the music video we made to the same song. Pretty much the coolest night ever.
One more quick story, about how bad things become good. This past a week on super I dumped about 1/2 a gallon of Apfel Schorle (carbonated apple juice, its pretty great) on my suit.  Well that was terrible well this turned into a big fiasco because I had to take it to the dry cleaners and then I realized I had forgot my suit pants at home.  Also I thought my suit pants were my slacks so yes... I did put them in to washer machine... BUT everything is ok! HALLELUJAR! Back to the story. I went to go pick up my suit and tie and they were PERFECT so I thanked the lady and she turned and looked at me and said, "Du sieht wie Engel."  Which means "You look like Angels."  I was caught off gaurd because first off I understood it and it isn't everyday that someone says you look like Angels especially a muslim lady.  Well we started talking to hear and found out she was a Muslim and didn't want to hear about the church but she saw that we were different.  She kept saying "Your Glowing." It was one of the single greatest experiences of my life.  I had always heard about this special glow that we, as Latterday Saints, have but I had never really experienced it.  We Are different from the rest of this world. I know that.  THis gospel is the true gospel and we will all have our doubts and questions, but I have really found out that if you just let God's plan and the Holy Ghost guide you everything will turn out fine.  Trust in the Lord, and if or when those doubts arise think of what you know to be true, because if one thing is true then the rest is too.  I know this with my whole heart.  I love Y'all! Hope your having an awesome week! Mac sorry about Duke, Never pick them in the tournie, Train you look like your father with those glasses! Dude your getting to old! Beans, South Pacific looked great! Live it up!  We will watch them when I get home!

Y'all the best!

Elder Nilson 





Singing in the Rain…...


Golden Splits. The simple definition is putting together two missionaries, whom have both been out for less then two transfers and sending them out together. On paper that sounds like a good experience BUT in real life it is one of the single greatest things I have ever done.  So this past week I had to of these "Golden Splits" with an Elder in my district, which came out the transfer before.  Well the first was on Tuesday, and as that old saying goes about throwing children into the deep end to teach them how to swim, WE learned how to swim.  

First, this lovely Tuesday we had to go to Wixhausen a small town about thirty minutes to visit a less active. His name is King David (yes he is a legit King from Nigeria, You can look him up on YouTube. Look up "King David, Africa is My Land" Yes he is a singer... ;)).  So unbeknownst to us is that the Train line we were on was completely broken.  So we travel about five minutes from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof and then we were herded from the train to buses that went who knows where! I felt like we were cattle be lead to the slaughter... BUT as always the Lord watches after his missionaries and after about a solid 30 minutes of prayer (I felt like Enos) we arrived safely in Wixhausen.  We had an awesome Lesson with King David and we got two referrals, one of which is his girlfriend whom we are teaching now!!! Well as luck and this crazy world would have it, The Bus and Straßenbahn drivers decided to go on strike. Which means.... WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!! Yes we walked and it rained, and we walked some more and it RAINED some more! 
But cool side note, We had Zone Conference this week it was great to see all my MTC buddies and to meet all of Josie's MTC friends! So After being spiritual fed, We returned with the Challenge to hand out a Book of Mormon by the time we got back home... and So in the hour and a half we had, we handed out 7!!! It was insane!!! When we have the desire to serve god, He ALWAYS provides a way.

Well As I was telling you I went on two splits so here is the Second Part.

It actually started off the same way with us returning to King David's house, this time the train was not broken so we got there with plenty of time.  Well we began teaching his girlfriend Cathy, and what do you know like all Germans she was being ridiculously stubborn. And we are just baring our hearts and souls to this lady and NOTHING. So she getting a little upset because she says our Church asks to much of people like going to church on Sunday and paying tithing.  Well finally through Inspiration of the Golden Power! We were able to get through to this lady and start making progress. Next I got to introduce Elder Lee to the Man, the Myth, and The Legend... Brüder Flörig. But as we are both Golden's we got off at the wrong bus stop right as it started POURING rain. This rain was so intense it made South Carolina rain look like one of those small children squirt guns...  And as any respectable theater participant would do, I started to feel like Jean Kelly and broke out into both singing and dancing much to the astonishment of Elder Lee. Needless to say, when we got to Brüder Flörig's house, it looked as if both of us had just jumped in the deep end of a pool... 

So we talked to our awesome friend about his beliefs and why he is not coming to church and we found out that he doesn't even believe that God has a body it is super sad to see people get baptized even when they have no clue what the gospel is about!  So now we basically have to start all over with him because he is Like 100000000000 years old, drinks (and tries to get us to drink with him), lives alone, no family, and watches Catholic TV all day (hence, he is basically Catholic).  But I love that man ear hair and all in his alcohol and cat infested house (which he reminds us every time that we are over there) is freshly painted Gold Yellow unlike his little shed which is GREEN Yellow.  He is a Son of God.

So what did I learn this week, That as missionaries we are not here to convince people that we have the right church on the earth but We are simply here to INVITE and HELP people find the truth.  I was reminded of this purpose while I was with Elder Lee. I am so grateful that I could be here in this incredible time!

Family I love you and miss you like crazy!!! Keep up the good work! LOVE Y'ALL

Love,
Elder Nilson

Monday, March 17, 2014

To my Cousin James...

At the beginning of this past summer, I began working for Aloha Pools and rapidly discovered that for my age I was not very strong... It became a source of mockery at my job. Well after about a week of that I decided it was time to GET BIG.  So I called my cousin James (who is the largest person I know) and asked him simply, "James, How do I get big?"  His reply was simple. "I lift heavy things over my head." So James came over and taught me something that truly changed my life...  

It was a simple statement. "Why Not?"

"James, How many reps should I do?" "200." "WHAT???" "WHY NOT?"
"James, What dumbells should I use?" "The biggest ones." "WHAT???" "WHY NOT?"

Well I listened to him and I got stronger...

This week I realized I wasn't as strong as I wanted to be. Well the voice of my beloved cousin came to me and asked me, "Why Not?"
Why Not- Do a good morning exercise everyday?
Why Not- Talk to more people (even the scary ones).
Why Not- Work harder and Trust in the Lord more than I have ever before.

This was only amplified by an EPIC first Zone Training in which, I gave a lesson and SANG! haha it felt so good to sing again even if it was awful!!! but it was super fun!  But this Zone Training was all about being more effective finders and it WORKED!

It was incredible we began finding new people, handing out tons of copies of the Book of Mormon, and really learning to love the people here.  
Our District is really working hard and becoming stronger.  I went on another split this past week with Elder Bruneel (A good old Idaho Farm boy as pops would say) and we passed out 6 copies of the Book of Mormon! That is unheard of!!!!!!!!!!! IT was awesome! When we truly put forth the effort and trusting and believe that the Lord was willing to work along side of us, WE GOT WORK DONE! 
Funny story about getting work done.  Elder Bruneel's comp last transfer was named Elder Bonzo and Elder Bonzo had a belief that if you walked to an Asian person with a chinese Book of Mormon they will be chinese and they WILL take a Book of Mormon (As racist as this sounds it is highly effective) well we saw a asian person and we thought "Why Not" and... IT WORKED HAHAHA THREE TIMES HAHA!!! (because Darmstadt is a Uni-city a lot of Chinese come to study for super cheap, tuition is 200 euro a semester).  It was glorious we got an appointment and everything even if the appointment fell out it was still cool.

Well We wanted to see some more miracles and so we started walking back to LuisenPlatz (the city center)  and we were praying the whole way. Well we saw this guy and walked up to him and asked "Kennen Sie deises Buch?" (DO you know this book) and guess what he ONLY spoke french and Spanish and THEN out of no where Elder Bruneel starts speaking Spanish! 
GIFT OF TONGUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome so in broken spanish we gave him an a quick intro to the book of mormon and had him call a spanish member in our ward and set up an appointment!! WOOT MIRACLES!

Well Elder Bruneel and I had basically all of our appointments fall out on Thursday so we did a lot of contacting. Well when our appointment at 8:30 fell out we decided that instead of going home a little early we were going to try for our 7th Book of Mormon pass out. Well as luck would have it, We ran into the only practicing Muslim teenagers in the city that night and BOY O' BOY were they ACTIVE Muslims.  Well I couldn't understand a word they were saying because I can't understand Deutsch much less Deutsch with a THICK Turkish accent so I was sitting there nodding my head in agreement with Elder Bruneel and shaking my head when the Muslims would talk (this was not effective and advise no one to try this as it is rather offensive telling people straight that they are wrong).  Well as time goes on I was continuing shaking my head until the moment this young Muslim looked me in the eye and said, "Forget the other Elder he is ignorant, but YOU, YOU are an ANTI-CHRIST."  Well the first thought that went to my head was, "He thinks I am Nehor..." but after I realized how comical the situation was.  If you know anything about Muslim beliefs they do not believe in Christ but some in his mind he believed in him just enough to know that I was his opposite.  Well luckily, I had Elder Bruneel to back me up and He just lot started quoting Revalations  you know real "Fire and Brimstone" type of stuff. He was talking about how the Earth would roll up like a scroll and what not! IT WAS EPIC! Yes the whole anti-christ thing was a little rough... BUT I am stronger because of it...

Well the week ended with a fantastic ward event. A PINEWOOD DERBY!!! In which I took 6th out of 62 (Why Not). Thank You Very Much. These pinewood derbys are insane though! they have an Adult category which is just ridiculously competitive.

Well family, I love you and miss you!  

Well I just want to quickly finish the story about James and I. So after James inspiring two word sermon he sat me down on the weight bench, and gave me dumbbells the likes of which I could not lift to save my life. I looked at him knowing if I complained I would get another two word sermon... James could obviously sense my distress so he looked at me a said, "If you try, I will spot you."  As I went through this pass week with these words the two word sermon in my head, I reflected upon the promise that came along with the challenge.  "If you try, I will spot you." God knows us and will help us, When and If we'll simply try to "lift heavy things over our heads."

I Love Y'all!!! and miss you like crazy!!!

I am praying for all of you!!!

Elder Nilson

PS this rock is massive

Monday, March 10, 2014

Es Kommt... Pt. 2 "Trusting The Lord"‏‎ - 10 March 2013

This week just flew by! Can you believe that I have already been gone for two whole months crazy sauce!  Well started this week off real quality-like with a sinus infection that would have killed an elephant (nose humor). But NOT me!!! First because over the years I have been building an immune to these sinus infections (Shout Out to my main man PETE SUNDWALL!!) and Second I had the Lord and HE is just a champion with that whole healing thing (read the Bible he heals A LOT).  On top of this all of our investigators decided to stop progressing and avoid like the plague (which honestly, I might have had). So yes this was tough... The world seemed to be against and I found myself questioning, "Umm... We are trying to do YOUR work! Could we get a little Help!!!!" Well what I didn't know was one of the greatest "HUMILITY PUNCHES" the Lord has ever dealt was headed my way... So the first thing the Lord did was SERVICE!!!! It reminded me of the good old days, Pick axing with the Ginger (Austin) and the Aloha Pools crew.  SO yes my hand didn't work for the rest of the week.  We had to remove about 10 tons of cobblestones from this path in a member’s back yard and that was fun! And then we had to dig a hole for an in-ground Trampoline... BY HAND... SO FUN! And guess what we found when we were doing this A TREE STUMP!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT! So with a hatchet (yes a hatchet like the one small children use for Indian Halloween costumes) and a Pickaxe we proceeded to remove this stump. For a little perspective this tree stump was roughly a 2.5 feet in diameter and had three enormous roots ranging from 1.5 to 2 feet in diameter.  Ahh Manual Labor... I loved it so much TRULY it was the best!!  Loved it so much!!! Well next we met with this old In-Active man by the name of Brüder Florig... The only way I describe is an old, chubby, happy, friendly, troll.  I know it sounds rude but that is truly what he is.  So we sat there for an hour hearing the most obscure random nonsense because he talks nonstop! It is ridiculous! WELL we were meeting and of course he just began to sing this random song (which we sang on Sunday, Elder Emery lost it and yes I was uncontrollably laughing on the stand). It was hilarious so we had to match of course (our competitive spirits are to strong). SO Elder Emery and I sang "Nearer My God to Thee" it was kind of the coolest thing ever! I mean who can say "Oh yea I totally harmonized on a Hymn with that BYU superstar!"  Yes I am a tad star-struck but that’s good it keeps me humble.  Well while were trying to teach him (he did not want to listen and literally would talk over what we were saying) I received this prompting. "This man, Is my son and your brüder." wow intense RIGHT!!! From that moment my attitude changed and I really began to love this hilarious old man with suspenders that were holding up his unbuttoned pants (If you can't tell this man is ONE of a KIND).  So I was having all of these cool experiences and my faith was growing but something was lacking; something I could put my finger on... It was trust.  

Well weekly planning came along and we were having comp inventory and talking about the interviews we had with President Schwarz.  I was telling Elder Emery how the questions that Pres. asks are SO inspired.  Well we got to talking about what these questions were, and the thing about these questions is they pull answers out of you and while I was telling Elder Emery this I started to realize that thing I was lacking... Trust. My inspired companion asked me, "Elder Nilson, Do you trust the Lord..." It was hard to answer but I looked at him and responded, meekly "no." Now trust is kind of a big thing that is necessary to be a good missionary and I knew it.  But completely trusting the Lord has always been hard for me.  I always thought that I was going to be an MDT major at BYU; I thought I was going to win that Opera Scholarship and Performing trip to New York... I put a lot of faith in the Lord to give me what I WANTED with not a whole lot in return. Originally I was not planning on a mission I didn't want to serve and lose two years of performing. I always imagined that I would have music and performing be my mission and that if a big name actor was LDS it would mean more then 2 years of knocking on doors and telling people to read the Book of Mormon.  But this was apparently not part of Gods plan for me.  He knew I needed a mission, even if I didn't want it.  So yes at the end of my senior year I lost all Trust in God...  I am ashamed to say it and now I wish I could take every second of it back.  

SO this is an apology for everything that I did from about April until June 3rd of last year.  I am so sorry. I have hurt a lot of people and I am sorry. Mom and Pops I am sorry! I am sorry for what I have said and what I did.  I was really lost! Thank you for not losing hope and making me go on HT that means the world to me. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  I am sorry for everything... 

SO continuing the story while I was talking with my comp (and crying, embarrassing right;)) He said something... He quoted scripture and not only did he quote scripture but he quoted my FAVORITE scripture that I have had since I was little when I read the Book of Mormon the first time with just me and my dad.  And that is "And I was lead by the Spirit not knowing before hand the things that may come. Nevertheless I went forth..." 1 Ne. 6-7 However, He changed the the words a little... He said, (speaking of how he got on a mission) "And I was lead by the Spirit not knowing before hand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I TRUSTED IN THE LORD..."  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My comp is so sick!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nephi did not go forth on blind faith! NO he trusted God and he knew he would deliver him! It was unreal and as I continued to cry and was engulfed in the love of the Savior and could feel his arms wrapped around me as my companion began to tell me story after story to boost my trust... I am not perfect yet and I think all I have right now is about the size of a mustard seed but with that the savior said, we can move mountains (somewhere in the bible).  ;) Es KOMMT! It will come! When we TRUST!!!

Well I had a perfect opportunity to try out my new found trust and Yes I gave a Talk in sacrament meeting yesterday!!!  It was so fun! That is the reason I was sitting on the stand behind the bishop who already isn't to crazy about missionaries and was laughing uncontrollably! Because while I heard the song I was picturing my old troll friend jamming by himself with Elder Emery and I sitting awkwardly in his cat infested home (yes pops he has a cat). BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was able to speak with semi good German! It was so fun. And all I talked about was Es Kommt, and Trusting the lord...  

So what have I learned..? Faith is important... BUT it is TRUST that leads us to act. WE " Go forth" when we trust the lord.  Trust Him, He will NOT fail us...

Love,
Elder Nilson







Monday, March 3, 2014

Es Kommt... 3 March 2014


Es Kommt.  Or it comes is what it means in German.  I feel like that is how this week has gone all in all it has been rather lousy but for some odd reason I feel good about it.  So it started off with a split yes I had been here for 5 days and had a split with my Zone Leader.  It was really cool he was actually in the MTC with Josie his name is elder Henderson.  He is way cool and we did a ton of contacting but here comes the story we went to bed that night after doing planning for the next day and everything was good.  All of the sudden in the middle of the night I hear this "Elder Nilson..." I wake up and Elder Henderson (or what was left of him) is lying on the floor as pale as a ghost calling out my name. Yes he was also convulsing. So apparently he had gotten up to use the bathroom when all of the sudden he was attack by the demons hoards, which decided to take up residence in his large and small intestines.  He was just laying on the ground dying.  SO was I slightly frightened? NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT! I swiftly recalled all of my medical training (thanks Mom) and like an African witch doctor created a potion and healed him! BAM! So in short I would like to take a little bit of time to tell my mother thank you! Mom when you thought I was just laying there sick I was actually learning how to tenderly heal sick young lads.  Who knows maybe I will be a doctor!  So after miraculously healing Elder Henderson with pepto, ibuprofen, and Gatorade! (Electrolytes, always use electrolytes.)  I returned with him to Heidelberg where I met up again with Elder Emery! Way pumped! 

Well most people would say wow that would be a hard week... NOT FOR A MISSIONARY!!!! Some how my German has gotten worse, literally can't understand a single word its rough but we press on. WEITER! (onward) Es kommt.  So as I said we have been doing a lot of contacting and literally No one wants to listen and all the people that do want to listen are INSANE.  They are atheist or straight anti! And they are crazy but it is rather comical. We got approach by Zeuge Jehovah (Jehovah Witness) and Elder Emery just lit this dude up! IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!! I FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING JESUS TAKE ON THE PHARISEES!!!!! so tight! He just walked away like a wounded dog, tail between his leg and everything. I felt like a champion. EVEN though I didn't say a word (because i literally didn't understand anything only that Elder Emery was raging! I have the best comp Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) haha the Gospel is so cool.  So last but not least we met with this kid named Samuel. Well Samuel he is a cool dude BUT he is a 7th day Adventist, a religion I had never even heard about before I came to Germany and he lives the and KNOWS the bible. So yes we had fun bible bashing and finally it got to the point where we couldn't take it anymore and the BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

1st Vision. nuff said.  There is something about quoting the prophet that will literally cast out any bad feeling it is truly incredible! I challenge everyone to memorize the passage and quote it often!  Well I love you family and miss you like crazy!!!! VIEL SPAß! Ich Liebe Dich!!! 

Tchüss
ELDER NILSON

Monday, February 24, 2014

Broadway and Basketball... Immer- 24 Feb 2014

So if you have not heard, Yes Elder Emery is my trainer. It was rather funny arrangement.  I got to Deutschland and his trainer (who is now an AP) was talking about how awesome the Trainers were and so I asked them well who are the trainers and the moment he said Elder Emery I was like "That is my trainer." hahaha so when thursday and the pairing meeting rolled around when Elder Emery's picture and mine came up one the screen paired together, we just started laughing because we both just knew we were going to get paired together.  Elder Emery actually called the other Elders in our district and told them he was going to train me.  So when we saw it, we were so begeistert! (excited)   

Well we are at the University which we work with all the JAE (YSA), as well as chillling with all of the students from one of Darmstadts many universities. I couldn't ask for a better place to start out. There is also another Elder who is being trained here he has been out for 6 weeks longer then I have.  It is so surreal.

Who would have ever thought that the weird singer kid would be chilling with Mr. Basketball himself, and listening to broadway showtunes... Yes Elder Emery loves broadway. I was flabbergasted!  So yes at night we sit and belt Lion king at the top of our voices! oh and Anastasia for days! We will possibly be making our own band!

SO Experience time...
So my first day I was on the train and there was kid who had a guitar and he was practicing chords on one of the hand rails and of course I was like MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to speak!!!!!! So in my little German I began to speak... He looked at me really weird and said, "You can speak english." yes he spoke fluent english probably better then I do... So we began to talk and it was so exciting!!!!!!!!! haha his name is Marvin and we are trying to get an appointment with him and Jam on the guitar and teach the Gospel. haha that is how we missionaries work. ;)  
Nächste! So yesterday I got on this train and we saw these 4 girls.  Well I immediately thought "we Have to speak with them!" and why you ask? BECAUSE THEY HAD A UKULELE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so cool so yea I ended up just jamming on the Uke with these girls from Madrid, Spain! It was cool! we got to talk them a little bit about the gospel before they got off! So cool!
Nächste! David... So we were waiting at this train stop and we are there with another lady and a 17 year old boy.  Well the boy goes and asks the lady for a cigarette and they start smoking together. Well I was absolutely in shock because he was smoking and It was just so sad! but then out of the blue this kid walks up to us and says "Your mormons, good I am interested." We were floored! he was like I need the truth and I think you have it!  So right there with him smoking and everything we taught him most of the first lesson! Es war so TOLL!!!!! Missionary Work is so flipping awesome! I have never felt so good just speaking to people!!  SO we gave this kid David a book of mormon and told him to call. we couldn't get his number because We had to make our bus so we are praying he calls!

Lezte! We were talking to this guy from Greece! and he mentioned I play basketball... hahaha I have never seen a person get more excited then Elder Emery at this moment! haha Elder Emery told him all about his basketball experiences and I filled in the holes when Elder Emery's humility got in the way of the truth ;) (Elder Emery is so incredible! and Humility is something he was sent here to teach me.)  
SO yes this week was way exciting I wish I could tell you everything but alas Ich habe kein zeit. So Ich muss dich verlassen!  I love you all and hope you are doing fantastic! Keep me up to date love you all!

Keine Angst.
Elder Nilson




For those who have asked…
Jacob's Address: This is where you can send letters.

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Elder Jacob Nilson
breslauer Platz 4a
64287 Darmstadt
Germany/Deutschland

Packages: To the mission home
Kirche Jesu Christi
Elder Jacob Nilson
Corneliusstraße 18
60325 Frankfurt a. Main
Germany/Deutschland



Lezte Woche- 17 Feb. 2014

Wow... Sechs Woche.... I cannot believe I am going to Germany... Wow Ja Ich habe anbischonn Angst aber Ich weiter gehe. So quick story last night we had this awesome devotional and with none other then... HOLLANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes plural, elder holland and his son Matthew Holland was there) so yes what a way to go out! and of course the Whole meeting was on Joseph Smith intermingled with several Choral numbers sung by the UVU choir which was just Unbelievable.  So yes I would say he kind of went out with a BANG! I was so happy that I could be there! Loved it!  I have never had my testimony grow so much in all of my life.  So yes before that devotional, I had a petrifying fear but after not so much. I am still scared and I know that Liza speaks better English then my german right now... But I know I have the lord on my side and I can do anything with him.  That is what the MTC teaches you... it has really been My Time with Christ (MTC).  I have a testimony of this restored gospel. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of god and thru him the book of Mormon was brought to pass which is the word of God.  I know Families can be together for eternity. And by the time I leave Germany In two years, All of Germany Will know that even if I have to sing at the Top of my lungs every day to tell them (which I was planning on doing anyways ;)) I Love this work. I love my family.  I love This Gospel. and I can't wait to teach This in Germany.

Ich weiß, dass Joseph ein Propheten Gottes ist. Ich weiß, dass Ich mit meiner Familie für ewigkeit Leben kann.  Ich weiß, dass Gott mit uns spricht Heute. Ich weiß, dass Wir rein sein können durch das Sühnopfer.  Ich liebe dieses Evangelium. Ich bin ein Missionar Der Kirche Jesu Christi Der Heiligen Der Letzten Tage.

Elder Beaca Nilson