Dinner Night

 December 10, 2010

Hello everyone! My companion and I are getting along better! he and I know some old folk songs and are singing them quite often. It's crazy sometimes because he keeps telling people to put me in the choir, but that will never happen. Anyway a cool story happened a couple days ago. During a lesson my companion completely disobeyed the rules about having people at our apartment and invited them to dinner. It was so hectic trying to get everything ready that we found we couldn't heat everything up fast enough! So we used every burner on the stove and the microwave never got a break! It was funny because I wound up with an umpteenth number of sauce burns from everything exploding but nothing too serious. And we got everything set down just in time for them to come over and they never showed up. lol But it was fun because we took the food to their house and caroled and left them with our plates (that way we can return for them later and give them a lesson) and it was so humbling to hear that our new neighbors were so thankful and glad to have such wonderful and nice people like us living next to them. She said she came from  a rough part of town and had to move down here so that she could get away from everything! I think I smell a conversion nearby! Anyway we have some more baptismal dates set so we'll see if I can get my first baptism this transfer! Keep your fingers crossed!!!!

MISSION ADVICE: Pranks are a good way to get sent home. They lead to an endless cycle of revenge.

Happy Birthday to: Eric Kelly, Logan Proksch, and Nolan Amparano

Thanksgiving, the Pennywhistle and Deodorant

 November 29, 2010

0-0 The days are flying by! Well, for thanksgiving this year we went to Two members houses, had P-Day and played horseshoes. It was sooooo hard, but most of the time my points were Leaners so I figure that was pretty good.  =)  If anyone wants or needs to email me my email address is   ian.nessen@myldsmail.net   make sure you get that right or it will send it to a different website! So far the only people I've recieved emails from since I have been out here are: Mom, Dad, Ariel, Houston, Ray Long, Sister Knowles, Elder Meza, Sister Proksch, Alex, and Bishop Brown. If your name isn't up there I haven't gotten anything, which kinda makes me sad =( but hey all it takes is just copying the email address above and correcting whatever went wrong :3 YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!  So anyway, my new companion is Elder Madsen, book worm at heart, but he keeps life exciting. By the way, I am now becoming very good at playing the pennywhistle which I bought for 8 bucks down at Sam Ash  :)  It was worth every penny! (haha knee slapper) anyway dumb jokes aside, mom we have about three recorders (flutes) underneath the game cabinet in the front room. Ariel knows what they are. If you wouldn't mind I would like to be able to play one of those for my Christymas present!  :D love you much! (Oh, and it would be nice to have a list a which notes to play it's kinda different from a whistle) Anyway, my time has run short but I will leave you with some mission advice.

MISSION ADVICE: People like seeing the missionaries only when they put deodorant on. Words to the wise.
Being healthy is essential for a mission, if you eat healthy you feel more energized!

Happy Birthday to: Eric Kelly, Logan Proksch, Nolan Amparano, Mike Kindred, Brittney Dingledine, Julie Ikeda, my good friend Jamie Beckwith, and Zach Giffin-pope (PS Thanks for all you did to make my sister happy!!!!)

Transfers, Tiki Torches and Mission Advice

 November 22, 2010

Hello everyone! For anyone who's wondering, yes I am still in Brooksville, FL I have not been transferred yet. My companion is leaving though and I have a new one coming in. Elder Allan will be replaced by Elder Madsen who will be newer than I am. So I will be a step-trainer. We'll see how that goes for the time being. We spent some time this past week preparing for a members' 18th birthday party which was really fun! Everything was decorated in blue and tiki torches were everywhere! (We set up most of the decorations) And everyone sang songs and we sat around the campfire and got cozy. It was so nice! The young women even came up with a song "Oh us Mormon Girls We're Unforgettable" if any of you want to see it it should be on youtube. I didn't bring my camera today, so I'll just have to send you all pictures next week. So far I have read every letter in my inbox so I don't think I have missed any emails. I do miss the letters from my friends though :( but i understand they're busy! :) By the way, I haven't recieved a letter from Haley yet, is she still there? The weather here is still very nice. I find it weird that the trees are not turning colors. It's still very much green here. It seems as if the plants have no clue that it's Fall. I miss spending time with you all and hope that your ventures are safe and rewarding!

MISSION ADVICE: If you are around someone you don't like, instead of treating them with disrespect and violence, try using compassion and try to understand thing from their point of view. And also, a mission is different than any kind of job out there. The reason being, anyone can give you a textbook or a job and it will pretty much be the same thing anywhere you go (given there may be a change here and there), but with a mission there is no set rule for teaching people and the rubric changes with every place you go. You can't just do what everyone else does, you have to watch constantly and pick out which things you think are good and apply them. That's the only way you can become effective at missionary work.


Happy Birthday to Whitney Montandon and Amanda Blake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Flat Tire

 November  15, 2010

Hello everyone! Guess what? I finally got my first flat tire! Along with three others....... but yeah it's about time! It's cool having the CO2 canisters to inflate your tubes. The are miracle workers! Well, the other day I bought a camera cord just to figure out that my charger doubles as a USB! So I can officially send you guys pictures now! YAY!!!!!! I reeeeaaaally have to keep it short today, but I'll toss in what I can. Thank you mom for all of your letters I still open them and read them and all of them are still here with me! I figure I might get a binder or something to put them in. =D I miss you all and hope the best for all of you!!!! And my best wishes to my greatest buddy Alex who is sick with Typhoid Fever and hope he gets well! I will be holding a mighty prayer for you!!!!

MISSION ADVICE: When buying camera cords, make sure your charger doubles as a USB. C02 Cartridges are great for instantaneously inflating your tires, but they are hard to find. Make sure you use them sparingly. Note books are great! I have three and I use them all the time! And last but not least missionaries LOVE recieving letters especially around the holidays when it can be the most stressful.... try sending one to a missionary these next few holidays! (I'll be waiting  :)  ) The reason being, is email may be convenient for you, but it isn't convenient for the missionary so don't be surprised if he forgets about your email. It can take a while depending on who is in his "friends" list, so letters are a sure fire way to get a response! Love you all and be safe out there!!!

Elder Nessen

P.S. Happy birthday to: Jim Easter and Toshi Shino!!!!!!!!!

Halloween and "Happy Holidays!"

November 1, 2010

 

Hi everyone! everything is going well! Mom, I opened your package yesterday (Halloween). My favorite Holiday and I didn't even get to celebrate it. I made some decorations and some fake blood using miscellaneous items around the house. It was so cool to make everything! But we only got one group of Trick-or-treaters that night.... I had bought 2 bags of candy and everything!!! My companion and I just played cards and dominoes...then I remembered the package and it cheered me up more than anything that night! My companion and I took pictures and ate the candy. I decided if I couldn't celebrate Halloween our way that I could at least spend it in the most cheerful way I could imagine. A Halloween package sent by my loving family! I think it cheered up Elder Allan too since no one sent him anything this Halloween. Thank you so much for all you do!

 

As for me today I feel pretty good. I got to help this past week with an event that people here call "The Fall Festival". My companion and I got to be the judges of the Chili Cook Off, the deserts, and the decorated rooms! It was so cool! They had a room with all the characters from Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland and the Bishopric Dressed up as Wonka and the Oompa Loompas.

 

MISSION ADVICE:

Out here in the mission field I have learned that holidays can be VERY sketchy. I didn't even know that people considered Halloween to be an evil or sacreligious holiday, but down here there are so many politics about it. It just seems purely ridiculous. It's almost as if people want to annoy each other on purpose. Keep this in mind when you are on your mission. "Happy Holidays" is a VERY good term of phrase.

 

Love,  Elder Nessen

Interesting Week 8, and Happy Birthday Dad!

 October 25, 2010

 

Well, think week was a little interesting.....

 

Yesterday we found out that one of our investigators was, in actuality, a psychopath. Apparently a member in the ward was a police officer and had records that the man we taught was mentally ill and for our safety wanted us to stay away from him. Pretty creepy. And another investigator we had to drop because she was determined and hardset that she recieves revelation, and her latest one deemed the Amish as the true faith and that electricity is Gods' light and we are stealing it from him. So we really have fun out here! On the bright side we had an investigator who wanted to be baptised after 3 months of lessons, so it was a good day! There are so many people out there to teach and the work needs to be sped up a lot! Whatever you can do to further the work, make sure you do it! Nothing brings more hope and joy to your soul than helping your fellow man!

 

MISSION ADVICE:

Improve yourself in any way possible before your mission. It greatly affects the way your days will go!

And be sure to buy a blanket to keep you warm at night! (im just using a sheet, but that will change as of tomorrow)

Events are great! Try hosting a few before you leave so you know how to influence people through activities and talks!

 

Happy Birthday to Julie Stanley, Carl Soderpalm, Kyle Wilson, Sara Easter, Nicole Heath, and last but certainly not the most very least,

 

 

 

MY  DAD!!!!!  For always being there for me and showing me how to run!!!! (and ride a bike)  =D

 

LOVE YOU!!!!!

 

Sincerely, Elder Nessen

Happy Birthday to Tess and Emily!

 October 18, 2010

 

Well, to start with......   HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To Tess and Emily!!!! Hurray!!!!!!!

And unfortunately I forgot my birthday cheat sheet so I'll have to congratulate others another day...... But it is so wonderful to hear from all of you! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful cards! Especially Emily, Tess, and Haley for the beautiful cards and pictures they send me! It reminds me of home!

 

Speaking of home there are many Elders out here that have out of this world objects and items when you meet them. For instance, the Elders that we're visiting today to do emails have Halo action figures, Calendars, and BB guns.Ah, brings back memories, time to focus on the work will come at about 5 today when Pday and chores are over. Good news! I get my awesome new Trek bike in two days! Definitely a step up from the rust bucket that I had to ride for 40 miles these past couple of days....  X(  It's not fun to have limited miles (especially when your former companion decided to use all of them up before he left)

 

MISSION ADVICE: You will realize more and more once you come onto your mission, that the church is perfect, but the members aren't. Not by a huge long shot. It's been so stressful this week with members for the sheer fact that many of them don't understand the importance of the work we are doing, and the different processes that we need to take each time a transfer happens. (My old companion did a poor job of training me apparently, so when he left I didn't know squat about the area. Stay in school kids and remember: Always pray for your companion and hope you he's a good one that will TEACH you.) There are so many members who can't do their jobs because of the information that I lack about investigators. It's rough because now my companion doesn't know anyone in the area, but my old companion gave me just the bare bones. It's a sad situation, but I've definitely grown to love the investigators a lot  because of their understanding and compassion. You all will be amazed at how the church works when you get out here on your mission, there are so many more . Anyway, I'm outta time so I'll talk to all of you later!

 

Remember, Preach my Gospel will be your new bible on your mission. Everything you do will come out of that book! I'm regretting not taking notes, but here's a couple of tips:

 

Memorize your purpose as a missionary (page 1 i think it's in a red box)
And Take notes and write down the scriptures you find. It's nice to have a cheat sheet when people have troubles and need comfort! (hint: Try searching on google about bible answers, it might help)

 

Love, Elder Nessen

Blessings, Trials and Change

 October 11, 2010
So today, we recieved word that my companion is now going to be switched with another one. I'm still pretty lost as to what I need to remember. We have a list of about 50 people we need to see and an investigators list of 20.  :S  I'm a stressin Nessen. So, anyway I had an interesting experience yesterday at about 7 PM Atlantic time (for whomever would like to do the math). One of my investigators decided to give me a blessing to rid me of my seizures. So I gladly accepted and it. And after the blessing he 'spoke in tongues' and said that I will never have them again unless I'm not faithful. I sure hope I don't have one in front of him :S   It was really uplifting in a way though to know that someone cared about me enough to bless me with his oil that he cherished so deeply. This man's name is Tommy (he is a Martial Arts master and was trained by the actor of the blue power ranger on Light Speed Rescue), and his mother had given him this oil that she brought from Jerusalem. It was blessed by a priest in the Lord's tomb and he keeps it very sacred to him. So it was a real treasure for me to participate in that. This man Tommy, is a very spiritual man and will go spread the word of god rather than look for work. He also has seizures and has had an amazing life of trials and complications. Throughout all of this he still manages to hang onto his beliefs. He truly is amazing. He even called up the other night and gave me some new insight. When I picked up the phone he couldn't remember who I was, so I told him "this is Elder Nessen". "You're the one with the seizures right?"  "Yes, I told him. Yeah that's right, I remembered your companion's name, but I forgot yours." In my head I laughed and then he said, "I just wanted to add you to my prayer sheet"......... I can testify to all of you, that you stand as beacons on a hill brothers and sisters. Each and every one of you sets an example for everyone who sees you. Know this, that every one of you is writing history for your posterity, that you are influencing others in ways you cannot even imagine!    One other investigator told me this, and it made all the difference in my life, he said: "You cannot deny it! One way or another, there was a sequence of events that led you into MY home this day. And it is MY choice to either accept or give up the things you have, that will change me." -Ozzie   There are so many things that we do to one another without even thinking. Just walking by someone on the street can change a series of events. Our Father in Heaven puts us there to learn, and to have opportunities to change ourselves and others for the better. The way I like to look at it is; a trial is an opportunity from God to learn and to change. Many times we do not because it is simply easier to be ourselves and give into temptation. The way I see it, a trial is God giving us a second chance to change. I leave this blessing with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Onto the less spiritual stuff now.  :P  The other day it hit me, I'm an 8th of my way through my mission.  0.0  And people, I need some Halloween ideas. We have a bunch of clothes that people left here from a while ago so I'm thinking fake blood will be good. Anyone have any ideas on how to make it? Thanks!  (P.S. Here's a cool idea I saw down here! Someone took a broken mower and put it in their front yard. They had fake body parts strewn around it. cool huh?) Anyway, now for some:

MISSION ADVICE: If you're living in an apartment look everywhere for useful items. You'd be surprised what missionaries leave behind. And also, Study up on things to don't know so you can talk with people about them on your mission it really helps to get them to listen to you. Compliments work wonders! Always butter them up! Oh and Alex, One person down here served a mission in El Salvador. Y'know how they always go through your postage and eat the things they find? Ask your mom to make a cake with laxatives. It makes them humble for a while  :)

Anyway, Love ya and miss you all!

Love, Elder Nessen

Building Social Skills and Companionship

Wow not much time today sorry I'll have to cut it short!

 

I'm getting along very well with my companion now! It's almost sad to go on exchanges now. lol Hey, I have a question to ask you guys. How's Parker Krebs doing? Have you done what I asked as well? Anyway, the spiders here are big, I caught a lizard the other day, and I finally got to see some cool bugs here called Ant Lions. If you don't know what they are look them up they're pretty amazing critters! Also, there's alot of squirrels and turtles here. They're pretty huge too! And I love the people they're great! Even though some are more.......interesting.....than others. Learn good social skills now so that later you can become a good missionary! We had one lady threaten to prosecute us the other day and so we left. During the whole time tracting me and my companion were talking about how she couldn't because of the laws set in place in Florida. A member told me though that the best way to respond to that situation though is 'Act Dumb' (boys and girls I wasn't too fond of this idea until he explained why). He said "instead of combating her or just giving up say, 'I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't know, we just want to talk about Christ, we'll leave right away! (in a please don't hurt us tone)" and there's not going to be much contention after that, because of the fact that you gave her the benefit of the doubt. And she will look more kindly to the next missionaries that stop by. You're still planting seeds" And it makes sense in a way. Knowing how to socialize is extremely effective in missionary work!

 

Mission advice: Get a lot of canned or dried food!

 

Canned food stays good for virtually forever, so long as there aren't any acidic juices in there. Canned Tuna is cheap and so are Vienna sausages, they can also be eaten out of the can!

 

A huge reason behind this is because, Our fridge died last week when we got home from P-Day. Yuup, bought all that fridge food for the week, just to eat it in a few hours. Not fun. But had a lot of Vienna Sausages so we're still alive! I tell ya, nothing builds companionship unity like starvation.  =D  Also, don't plan on having meals at members houses everyday. Here in Florida we are forbidden to, unless we bring an investigator, and since we can't drive an investigator, our odds are pretty much shot. So learn how to budget and get enough food to last you at least a week in a half (you can fast the rest of the time).

 

Okay I'm out of time for today so I'll see you all later!

 

Love,  Elder Nessen

 

P.S.Happy Birthday to Brad Blackham and Jordyn Suckoll!!!

380 Miles of Tropical Terrain...and Ninja Spiders

Hello everyone, how are you?

It's amazing here! Although there are no mountains, Florida isn't flat. There are so many steep hills here. It's a wonder to me way the houses don't topple over! We're located about a mile east of Lake Wikee Wachee (i think i spelled that wrong) and around a mile in a half SW from Lake Theresa. I live at the cross streets of Spring Hill and Deltona. It mainly country territory riddled with neighborhoods and marsh land. People say it's a swamp, but it looks more and more like a marsh everyday. The people here are very nice; we (my comp and I) cover an area of over 380 miles, ranging from Hernando County East to Tampa Bay (i think it's called Tampa, it might be Tampico), and from South Royal Highlands to just above Odessa. Yes, It's huge we cover about 3 towns in our area and the closest church/stake center in an hours drive away. We have about 100 members in our congregation.

The humidity is still nice and the members have amazing stories! If any of you meet a man in Henderson named brother Evans (Polynesian) I suggest you meet him. He's got some amazing stories. From being the Luxor's head of security to being head Bouncer, he's done it all. Now onto friends! Yes Houston! I have gotten your emails! I'm sorry about not telling you before, but I had a time limit and they wouldn't let me type longer.  :(  Anyway, It's great to hear from all of you! I'm grateful to have such an awesome family and friends such as you! Oh and do that "Creeper Caroling" thing for Halloween! I wanna know how that goes! Forgive my short letter, but I gotta keep it short today...

I wish I could tell you all of the stories and people I've met and things I've seen here! But there isn't much time, so I will tell you that there are spiders bigger than you hand down here, many are very amazing and exotic and some look like (i kidd you not) ninjas when viewed up close [they even have their alertness and reflexes too]. I've got many pictures to send, but I'll have to find a way to do it later. Right now I don't have the right cord for it. But I will leave you all with some mission advice and my sister with a picture I think she will like. My companion took this picture while we tracted this street (he blew out his ACL too).

Mission Advice: Most healthy things to eat (and cheapest):

1.Fish
2.Whole Grain
3.Eggs

I'll let you know if I find out more!

Happy Birthday to:
Sister Ray Long

Love, Elder Nessen

Florida Critters and Mission Advice

 Hello everyone!!! How are you all doing? Thank you Haley for the wonderful card you sent me I loved it! Well, I still haven't run into any alligators.....darn......but I have seen Cranes out here and even huge squirrels! It's cool to see them run along the power lines, they make them droop and sway a little! One of our investigators, Harley, stopped by the roadside one day because he saw a deer in the road. He said it was hit by a car. He told us: "Well, he was pretty busted up, but he was still twitchin so I picked 'em up an' put em in muh truck!" (If you thought Hillbillie you'd be pretty darn close.) The people here are amazing! So many come from different ways of life and have so many stories to tell! It's incredible who you will run into! Why just the other day a guy told me about how he was on Extreme Makeover and Unsolved Mysteries. The latter is pretty interesting. Billy (that was his name) told us that he believed in god, but only because of one event in his life. Billy told us a story of how his mom was divorced and moved from Redwood, Cali. to LA. Once there, she married and had 15 children. For about 40 years she and her family lived there in LA and then moved back to Redwood. All the while, telling her children of 4 missing daughters she had left behind all those years ago. 20 years later, she got sick from old age and was laying on her deathbed, when her husband came in with a woman. It was one of her lost daughters from 60 years ago. The father explained that he was bored one day, sitting in the barn when he saw an old piece of newspaper that had turned dark brown from old age, sitting under the hay and dirt. Picked it up and started reading (it was the ads section) and he came across an article about a girl looking desperately for her mom. He then proceeded to call this girl from an expired ad from years ago, remembering the story his wife had told him. She picked up and told her story of how 4 little girls, alone in the world, had to find places to stay. Three adopted, and the other still searching for her mother. Had finally been able to find the mother she was so desperately yearning to find.Years after she had abandoned the ad. Day after day of praying. And finnally being able to see her mother, 3 months before she died, had the faith that she would find her again.

I can testify to you, that the Lord works in mysterious ways. And that he loves us and protects us from the dangers of the world. Even Billy, a near homeless man, who rides his bike around trying to find work, knows in his heart that Heavenly Father loves his children and will do anything for them that ask him in good faith.

Now, for some more mission advice...

To anyone within the words of this page or the sound of the voice reading it. DON'T GOSSIP.
We have a very small ward here. probably 2 priests, deacons, and a priest here. This ward is struggling to keep it's head alfoat with people who do not fellowship, come to church, or talk with friends all because someone said a rumor about another person. I have some rules of thumb for people (yes even adults).

1. If you hear something through another person about someone. Don't speak of it.

2.Every thing you hear, that doesn't come directly from the sources' (the person who did it) mouth. It's only partially true. Rumors do start with some amount of truth to them, but everything else gets twisted. If you want to know if something is true, talk to the people involved. And once again. Don't speak of it.

3. If you must speak of it. Keep in mind the consequences. Certain things should only be said if you have a certain calling or jurisdiction attatched to you. (For instance, you wouldn't tell a really bad sin to an enemy to repent. You would go to a Bishop or someone you trust. Which brings me to my last subject.)

4. FRIENDS TRUST YOU! If you wouldn't want someone speaking the same thing of you, DONT SPEAK OF IT. If you feel you WILL speak of it, ask the people involved first if it would be alright, but again, think of the consequences.

There is no better way to destroy trust and friendships and gossip. Trust is everything. Is so important that it's given as a rule in the mission. "Don't destroy trust!"

Anyway, I'm out of time so I'll write to you all next week. Ponder these things in your hearts PLEASE! I know you are all great friends, but I know no one's perfect and some people struggle with this. But it can happen! Don't let your friendships be destroyed while im gone. I love you all and wish you the best!

Elder, Nessen

PS Happy Birthdays:
Sidney Lamb
Corey Wilson
Azilee Moore
Toni Labato
and Nicole Suarez

And yes, I did receive those 50 letters. Whatever address you sent them to, they are still making their way to me. Thank you for all that you do! And it must be pretty rough on stamps! If you need to just toss everything in a box and send it to me at the end of the month or so. I think I have enough letters now to last me that long! lol Thank you so much I miss you and love you all!!! Tell Mike May and Em hi for me!

First week in Tampa, Florida!

Sorry I wasn't able to email last week I was really busy and they didn't let us write home. I have good news now in that I have finally arrived in Florida!!! It's wonderful here! It isn't as hot as Vegas, but the humidity does give you a run for your money at times. All the same, it feels pretty good. We have a lot of animals roaming around out here. Frogs, lizards, snakes, and turtles seem to love to thrive in this environment. And no, sadly I haven't seen any big lizards yet, but I'll let you know when we do! With all of the good stuff though, there has to be opposition. We now have Brown Widows and all the bugs we normally have in Vegas have increased to twice their regular size! Brown Widows are actually very interesting they are a mix of Brown Recluses and Black Widows combined, and since the weather never gets to freezing, they are everywhere. Also they're not afraid of people so it's a nightmare walking around in the dark. A rule of thumb here is to never put your hand into a dark doorway (makes tracting fun). On the bright side they all hate the rain and it's wonderful when it pours!!! Speaking of which, we taught a man by the name of Billy yesterday when it started to rain. It's 20 feet to the car and we were completely dry under the eve. By the time we reached the car I was able to ring out my clothes because I was so wet. If any of you plan on sending me ties in the future, please make sure they are water proof (polyester) LOL!

 

My first day here was an interesting one. Alex I truly wish that I had biked as long as you had. Because on my first day here I had to bike three miles to my appointment (small amount I know, but try it steep uphill with no water)  I can testify that the Lord is our savior and died so we could return again unto him and that the Holy Ghost can speak to us. Never before did these thoughts mean so much to me in my entire life! Because I thought I was going to pass on! It was so bad I could almost hear the Holy Ghost testify  to me that  I was about to be resurrected! I tried so hard to keep up with my companion, but he had been biking so regularly that by the time I realized he reminded me of Elder Proksch, he was already two blocks ahead of me. I prayed 3 times that he would notice I was gone and about 5 minutes after the last prayer he stopped and looked back.

By the time he came back to me I was heaving on the side of the road, unable to stand. He finally told me the trick to the bike. He said that the bike was being borrowed from a member and that the brakes were rubbing, the bearings were bad, and the thing was rusting from the inside out due to the humidity. It was so funny to me that by the time I was done laughing a lady came out of nowhere, holding a huge jug of water. She said that I looked pretty bad as she drove by, so she figured that I needed water and bought me the jug. We offered to give her a lesson, but she casually declined and drove off.

 

TAKE NOTES THIS IS IMPORTANT

Now, for some advice for future missionaries: When out in the mission field buy these items...

 

Save empty containers- They help you out, and (for the reason below) it's a good money saver when it comes to buying drinks, just be sure to purify the water before use.

 

Powdered Gatorade-it helps keep your electrolytes going and anytime you put it in water it turns to gatorade. And it lasts a looooong time.

 

Pasta-Great cheap and most of all, filling.

 

Tuna- VERY cheap and good.

 

Ramen-Cheap and you get a lot of it, but it'll only last a couple hours as oppossed to the 5 you need.

 

Garnola bars-Great for snacking.

 

Vienna Sausage/Spam- Parents, teach your kids how to prepare these, they are very useful for the field. (Can be eaten out of the can)

 

Bread, Cheese- Needed for a variety of foods or just a snack.

 

CapriSuns- Great for popsicles and drinks, plus they're cheap.

 

Personality traits:

 

Before coming out on your mission make sure you make yourself the best person you can be. If there is anything you think you need to work on, do it, NOW! I am so greatful that I worked on these traits when I did because I know if I hadn't before I came out here there would be more trouble with people than there is now. I generally get along with everyone, but a companion and the world is different. People outside of Vegas understand things so differently than others. People can get very easily offended, by what we see as jokes or lines from a movie comedy. Make sure you use choice words, because the people you will be speaking and interacting with come from a whole different world than you. And view things from a VERY different perspective.

 

A good way to talk and get to know people is to ask questions. I invite everyone to also study up on things that you think are boring or that you don't understand. The main principle in a mission is talking to people. You can't be shy here, you have to learn to be outgoing. A good way to talk to people is ask them a question about something they like and do it sincerely. If you can state a fun fact that you learned along the way, it'll help propel the conversation! =D I find that people have six categories they like to talk about: Families, School, Vehicles, Work, Difficulties, and Hobbies. Talk to your parents about how to interact with people I'm sure they'll show you! :) You can also pick up a CD on how to best interact with others.

 

I'm out of time so I'll have to cut it short today. Thank you all for your packages and letters! Love you all!

 

Elder,

Ian Nessen

 

P.S. I'm not allowed to go to websites :P

 

Missionaries in front of the temple

Old friends happen to meet, Elder Ian Nessen and Sister Traci Brown

Some buddies at the temple grounds

Elder Nessen and his companion Elder Thompson

helping the new-bees

Dear mom, dad, and Ariel,

It's lively over here!  Today we were able to be the hosts for new missionaries and it's amazing what people forget.  one misssionary forgot his scriptures, notebooks, and pens! By the way, before I forget I had to go to the doctor today, it seems some sort of sickness has been getting around the M.T.C. as of late. So, you might be getting a bill soon  :(  sorry, I won't have time any other day to do it.  Thank You all sooo much for the letters!  They bring back memories and peace.  Along with this letter I've included some pictures, have fun!

The light saber pictures were done with a highlighter and the super-man-s were done on a bolted down ironing board!  We also had a chance to go to the temple here and the Celestial Room is Gorgeous!  We get to do a Temple walk and take pictures there on Sundays. It's pretty funny cuz one of the Elders here (Meserve you can see him in the pictures) has a couple friends of his (girls) that like to "visit" the Temple on those days the missionaries are out.  XD  ha, ha, ha! 

Speaking of the Temple 08/26/20/10 I sat next to a man who sculpted some bronze statues over at the M.T.C. I didn't get his name but he said that his teacher was Avard Fairbanks (dad's great uncle) maybe you know him?

Oh, and my doctors name was Fairbanks as well. (Grandma's maiden name) He told me that there were only two lines of Fairbanks and that he had been doing geneaology work for years. I then proceeded to tell him about ours and how our name came to be...He said that he would look into it.  It's amazing  how small the world is! 

I'm still waiting to hear about the bike? 

Love You!

 Elder Ian Nessen

(What Ian didn't realize when he wrote this is that the sculpture/artist is Stanley Watts a friend we knew while we were living in S.L.C. when Ian was about 7yrs. old. and the Doctor we believe is a relative of his grandmother's...YES IAN, IT IS A VERY SMALL WORLD! and I don't believe in coincidence.)

2nd e-mail letter

Hello Everyone! I'm glad to hear that everyone's doing okay!  I have so many things to tell you in sooooo little time! Even now I'm sweating bullets trying to figure out what to saw! First off is pictures: I just put some in the mail for you all to see! (and don't worry mom and dad those were taking during P-day!) Sleeping is still interesting here, those pipes are still shaking the whole room. If I could explain it any other way I would compare it to exactly how a roller coaster sounds without any people . The late night conversations are still pretty interesting too! Why,just the other night Elder Olsen said that I was yelling in my sleep to "water the trees!" :P

I guess it's better than my zone leader though, He apparently was threatening someone in his sleep lol his companion said it so weird. He said that Elder Arbon just started saying "I'm gonna punch you!!!!"and he just starting wailing on his pillow!  He said "for a guy with one arm, I wouldn't consider it a weakness.  "So it's very entertaining at night.

And just a couple days ago we had Jeffery R. Holland from the Quorum of the Twelve visit us! It was AMAZING!!! I don't have the notes nor the time to share it with you right now, but I can tell you that there is a second side to him that you don't see at conference.  He's very stern and very funny and everything he talks about is a wake-up call for everyone.  I encourage everyone back home to look up his talk "Don' you Dare Leave",( or something like that)  It's extremely encouraging for missionaries and members alike and he is now my favorite speaker. (sorry Erying and Monson) please don't send a lightening bolt! 

Over here we train for investigators that we might meet in real life.  We had one assigned to us named Bergita, and she was a very stone hard lady. It was a very spiritual experience because even though the conversation started with strong retorts and harsh statements, it ended with all of us nearly in tears because of the Spirit.  Up until this point I can pretty much tell you all that I have had a hard time recognizing it, but knowing how the conversation turned out and the things that were said, I now have a firm testimony in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and everything it does for us.  I know the Lord loves us and guides us to whre we need to be at  any given time to help bring his gosepel to the world.  Thank you all so much for being my friends and family and I wish you all the best of Hope!

love,

Elder Nessen

Friendly Reminders

 08/19/2010

I'm sorry for not being able to write to you sooner. They slapped me with a rule, "write letters only on p-day" (Thursday) I hope I didn't worry any of you. I'm learning so much! I am greatly amazed that a person can change so much in one week! I am surprised as well that you guys kept all those letters! It makes my experience eventful! There's an elder who received almost 20 letters and 4 packages this week already. All the elders joke about beating him up just to receive one of his letters. It's pretty cool though because I bunk with him and he feeds me some of his donuts :)

I've even met a few elders who remind me of friends back home! Elder Fredrickson (Zach Giffin-Pope), Elder Thopson [companion] (Parker Krebs), Elder Havely (Houston), Elder Peterson (me), Elder Goulding (Grey), Sister Ward (Sister Proksch) and Elder Bick (Ryan...except shorter). Love you all and miss you!

Love,

Elder Nessen

Insomniacs

 08/19/2010

Hi everyone. It's Ian. Everything is going well at the MTC I saw Tracy Brown and Elder Mesa today! They seem to be doing alright. Tracy is happy and excited to be leaving on her mission and has a strong Norwegian testimony. Elder Mesa likes company and seemed really happy to see me, though the atmoshpere about him seemed a little sad... Overall he's doing pretty good though.

I'm bunking with three other Elders; Olsen, Meserve, and Thompson (companion). All of them are great and each day I spend here at the MTC I appreciate the fact that I wasn't put with any other districts in my hall. It seems they like to mess around while they should be working, but boys will be boys I guess. I just can't find the time to be able to do what they do, because there are so many things to learn and firgure out before I leave to Tampa Florida. It's pretty funny trying to sleep though. Every night there's this repetitive vibrating that shakes the room. People say it's the pipes, but as far as anyone really knows, our room is the only one with that problem. And when we sleep at night my companion and I sleep talk to each other. Elder Olsen says he can't get to sleep because of our "conversations". lol. Honestly I think it's Elder Meserve's snoring that keeps him up. I know it's woken me up a COUPLE of times.

Even through the partial insomnia we've managed to be able to make it to gym and other fun things around the field during exercise time. I'ts great because my companion loves to work out so we do that often. Our most favorite exercise though is 9 square. It's 4-square but with 9 squares instead of four. You wouldn't think it, but it gets really heated and fun. Rules: The ball can only hit your square once, if it bounces out after a bounce you're out. If the ball bounces into your square, you can do anything to make the ball hit another person's square, as long as you touch it before it hits their square. If you hit your own square, you're out. And everyone moves in a clockwise fashion into the empty square until you enter the center (king square). I think this is a great activity for mutual, everyone loves it!

Anyway, my time is about up so I will leave you all with my warmest wishes and an awesome 9-square game. I love you all and miss you, but don't worry I'm not homesick yet! The MTC is great! there's so much more material here that you can see and it's so spiritual and a big wake up call that, I can assure you, I needed. I encourage everyone to come on a mission. And If not that, just come to the MTC it'll convert you anyway. Happy Birthday to all of those whom I miss: Devon Blake, Tony Teleaga, Devin Cook, Tayler Suckoll, Madi Shino, Destinee Rogers, Austin Pitkin, Julia Payne, and anyone else I might have forgotten. Until next week, Love you all!

ELDER,

Ian Nessen

They Weren't Kidding

 08/12/2010

Hello again!

Things are growing increasingly hard, but we are still managing to pull through. They weren't kidding when they said we'd be busy. I just wish we had some more time to fit in, more time for scripture study and lessons. They give us a lot of curriculum, but very little time to actually do it. I'm not homesick, so don't worry about me, there's plenty of things to keep me busy here! Some things are hard to adapt to. I don't miss games or TV that much...in fact I don't miss it at all. I do miss putting my hands in my pockets, gum, saying "dude," friends, and my nice fridge (it needs a new bulb btw). My companion Elder Thompson is really great though! Get this, he loves lifting weights, video games, and he worked as a cashier at Smith's! He's awesome! (I'm also sharing a room with Elder Olsen and Meserve). I haven't found Elder Meza yet, but I'm still looking. I probably won't be able to write to you guys very much, because they want me to write to a Branch President during this time. But I want you all to know I'm doing well and love you lots!

Love,

Elder Nessen

First day at MTC

 08/11/2010

Hello everyone!

It's been my first day at the MTC and already I love my new companion! Elder Thompson is really cool, he reminds me of Parker Krebs back home. As I looked around it seems to me like there are a lot of people that remind me of friends back home. Just today I already met a guy like Houston. I think "Elder Hevley" is his name. It's been a pretty full day overall. We were taught how to interact with investigators today. We all sat in a group while an actor played the part of an investigator. We had 3 in all. It was really a wake-up call to a lot of us, because teaching looks easy when you're on splits with Elders. They had me really busy today so I couldn't set up my email or talk to Elder Meza, so I'll have to do it another day. I'm so excited to be here! Tell everyone "Hi!"

Love,

Elder Nessen