Monday, January 29, 2018

Mesa Week #77

Hi!
Yeah I can't believe January is coming to a close, January normally seems really long but not this year. That’s really cool that President sent you a letter about me becoming a trainer, I didn’t know that he did that. It makes me feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to and that’s a blessing. Where do I even start? This week me and Elder Burningham had a BLAST. We were pretty busy and had some really powerful lessons. The Lords hand is continually in the work here in Mesa, even if it’s frustrating sometimes😂

We had Zone Conference all day Wednesday which was super good. The trainers got to introduce their greenies so I was able to introduce Elder Burningham to everyone. The biggest focus of the conference was the Spirit. It was a good reminder about the “why” behind our obedience to mission rules/preach my gospel/scriptures/etc. Everything we do either invites the spirit or pushes away the spirit. Every time we obey, God blesses us with His spirit. The main focus of the meeting was how we can obey with more exactness so we can have the spirit more with us in our missionary work. It was a super long meeting but full of the spirit :)

Jack looks so much older haha, what a guy. I remember when I got my braces off, I think I was in 7th or 8th grade, I was so happy😂 I was sad to hear about another death in the family, I remember uncle Kevin a little bit. I remember him from our Nielsen Christmas parties. It’s been a hard year or so for the Nielsen clan, luckily we are a strong family and have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation to comfort us. 

We met with one of our investigators named Wanda this week. We’ve been trying to contact her for a while and were finally able to. We sat down with her and recently some tragic events have occurred in her life and she feels like she is at an all time low right now. She says she is 100 percent committed to this now, so we hope to meet with her this week and start her off. She wants to be baptized, she will need be fully committed in order to prepare for that day. When it does happen, it will be a miracle for her and for her life :)

We also met with the Carrazcos this week again, we’ve really gotten close with them. The goal that Heavenly Father wants for them is to be sealed in the temple as a family. We sat down and talked about the temple and preparing themselves to go there. We had a great discussion of how they can and will prepare to receive the blessings in the temple. They are very excited and we are too. They have changed so much since we first ran into, even the slightest desire of change can bring enormous change into someones heart. 

Saturday night was a treat! We took our investigator Bill to an event that they were doing at the Mesa Arts Center in downtown Mesa. It’s kind of funny, but the event was called BYU Summit Finding Your Strength. It was a big devotional from BYU and it was very cool. President Townsend had 30 tickets to it for those who could bring investigators and we were all over it so we brought Bill! They had several speakers, Cheri Dew(Former general relief society presidency member, CEO of Deseret Book), Robbie Bosco(former quarterback for the Cougars & Packers), and then Mathew O. Richardson(former General Sunday school presidency member). They had some very inspirational words and ideas about courage and strength, something that Bill needs. Oh and not to mention Vocal Point was there😝 They were sooo good, Bill soaked them up haha. He absolutely loved them. The beat boxer dude was way cool, he did like a solo with a bunch of different beats and noises. Crazy stuff. It was a great night and was really one that I wasn’t expecting to have on my mission😂 I felt like I was in Utah surrounded by BYU people, and Cosmo😂

Yeah about the sardines, not my thing😂 I’ve definitely become less picky, but I still can’t handle onions. 
(Sister Garner sent us a funny video of Elder Findlay trying sardines for the first time in his life.  She's working on helping him become less picky about food. I told her good luck with onions ;)

Well I think that’s about it for the week. I love being a missionary, there is no greater joy. I love helping people find their way back to the Savior. Thanks for all of the support Momma! I love you so much, have a great week!
Love, Elder Findlay
Making some grapefruit juice

One of my favorite foods to buy here.
 People sell them everywhere.

Us with  BYU's Cosmo!

It was such a beautiful night!

Getting ready for the BYU Summit to start

Sister Garner drew my car on my Sunday lunch sack!

Zone Conference lunch

Monday, January 22, 2018

Training Week #76

Hey Momma!

This week has been super enjoyable for me and my new comp, it was really busy with all of the meetings that we were required to go to. Thankfully they were all pretty good! And not to mention all of the miracles we had! Transfers were on Tuesday at 3 but the new missionaries didn’t get to Mesa until 7:30 so me and Elder Orse(who is also training) went on splits until then. We had two dinners just before we got our new companions and that wasn’t a good idea😂 I almost lost my stomach but kept it down haha. That night President announced who our companions would be and my new companion is Elder Burningham! When we met each other he said that he knew I would be his trainer because when he searched Mesa Arizona Mission in google my blog came up😂 He had read some of it. Literally we connected instantly and we are good friends now. He is from Kaysville Utah, and is my second companion from Utah! He went to Davis High School so we are pretty aware of each other. He is actually a reassignment missionary from Brazil. He served in Brazil for almost two months but needed to come home for medical reasons. He was home for 9 months and then came straight out to Mesa. He’s fresh from the real world! He loves Mesa though, compared to Brazil this is paradise. He loves rugby and football and Hammocking!😱 So you could say we are bros!😂

We had a bunch of training meetings that took up a big chunk of time during the week. Our first day together we basically got him settled in, introduced to the area, got him a bike, and attempted to go shopping although his card wasn’t working. After some trial and error we got that working too. Elder Burningham’s group are the first missionaries to come out with smartphones, so we are figuring out the bugs in that as well. It’s pretty nice already. 

The first couple of nights I was nervous to be training 😂 But now I’m fine, it’s still the same missionary work. If anything having a trainee has motivated me to work harder and longer. It’s been really good for me. We do a 12 week training program for new missionaries and doing it has actually helped me a lot as well. It’s helped me refocus on my missionary purpose and why we do what we do. It’s kind of hard to keep up with because there is never enough time haha, but it will be solid in the end. It’s fun having a son😂

We had a few miracles this week, we found a new investigator named Melanie! She is super open and came to church this week! We actually had a lot of people come to church this week, mostly less actives. It’s been good to see them at church, a big portion of our work is with these less actives. Another miracle this week was that we had good contact with all of our investigators throughout the whole week! That’s really a miracle because a lot of people here are kind of flakey on keeping contact.

Being on bike again has actually been super fun, I love it. But it got really cold😂 We hiked to the church this morning and it was 40 degrees, I felt like I was in Utah again. I’ve been double layering when we bike at night, it gets kind of nippy. It even rained for a while. Sure it never rains while I’m in a car for 7 months, the minute I go back to bike it rains....soaking wet😂 

I can’t really thing of much else that happen except this one last experience. We were biking home and it was windy and cold when I saw two homeless guys working on some bikes. We stopped and talked to them, one guy had chained his bike up against a post earlier that day so he could walk to the walmart up the street. When he came back his tires were slashed and the seat was stolen. You could see that this bike was all this guy had, and someone had basically destroyed it. The other homeless gentlemen saw what happened and actually walked to the walmart, bough new tires, found a new bike seat, and brought them back to this poor mans bike. When we arrived they were about finished fixing up and putting it back in order. I could tell that the man who bought the new stuff didn’t have much either, he was just as helpless as the other guy. I was so touched by this experience, I saw the Savior in that man who helped another struggling man even when he didn’t have enough to provide for himself. There are still good people in this world. There are Good Samaritans all around us. We can all contribute to helping others a little more willingly, if that man could help, we can all help. We take upon ourselves the name of Christ and follow his example, I know that this is the way to share the light of Christ in the world today. 

I love my mission, I love the people, I love the Gospel, and I love Jesus Christ. His light is real and will always be shining on us if we let it. Have a great week Momma! I love you soooo much! You're amazing!

Sorry I didn’t take too many pictures, I will get more this week. 

love, Elder Findlay
My "son" Elder Burningham and I

Actual clouds.  Rarely seen in Mesa ;)

Monday, January 15, 2018

TRANSFERS! Week #75


Hey Mom!

First off... Happy Birthday!! I sent you a letter on Saturday so I’m not sure when it will get there. Hopefully today or tomorrow :) Anyways how was it? I’m sure it was super good considering that it was on a Sunday! 

Yeah Sister Kenney emailed me about her postponing her trip to Mesa, so I will look for your packages :) And I’m glad Jack is balling a lot, I loved having multiple games a day. I could seriously play all day long. 

This week was super crazy as usual, there is seriously never a dull moment here in Mesa surprisingly. I guess to start, we had to turn our car in because it needed to go to the auto body shop. So this whole week we’ve been on foot and I actually really enjoyed it! I mean it got a little hot but it was worth it. It did take a lot longer to get places, planning had to be more precise but that was fine. It gave us a lot of opportunities to talk to people on the streets....and get yelled at😂 Part of our area is in the hood and so it’s kind of dangerous to walk through it. Well one day we didn’t have time to go around it so we had to walk through it. As we were walking a guy in a car pulled up next to us and he says “You Mormons have a lot of guts walking in here”. He stopped the car and looked super mad, I thought he was going to get out and beat us, I thought I was a dead man😂 He goes on to say “I respect you fellas, God Bless and BE CAREFUL”. I was so relieved haha, we then quickly walked out of the area. I guess you could call that a tender mercy.

We were able to go to the temple on Friday, we went with a recent convert in one of our wards. She was getting her Endowments and it was a special experience. She felt the spirit so strong and was in awe. It strengthens my testimony of the temple even more, I love the temple. There is no place on earth closer to God than the Temple of the Lord. 

I have some cool news about our district! We have s senior couple now! I’m so hyped for that. Their names are Elder and Sister Wilkes and they are saints. This was their first week and they had a great time. It’s really nice, Sister Wilkes acts like our mother and takes good care of us. They’ve been helping us out with rides and other things. There are only 3 sets in the whole mission, we are blessed to have one in our district. 

So as you know by the title of my email it’s that time again, transfers! This transfer flew by, not sure what happened. Anyways I was expecting Elder Draper to leave and I would get a new companion, well I was right! Elder Draper is going out east to Apache Junction, he will be in a trio😂 As for me, well it’s not what I expected at all. Two nights before transfer news I received a call from President Townsend and he asked me to be a Trainer! I didn’t expect that at all....I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. But I'm also excited at the same time, these wards are soooo good, a perfect place for a new missionary. There are only 4 new missionaries coming in this transfer so I guess I got lucky! I will be picking him up on Tuesday night, and we will be biking so that will be fun. I’m excited to bike again, except for the fact that it’s warming up in Mesa. Anyways I'm definitely going to have to rely on the Lord and the Spirit for help. I feel super unqualified and unprepared but I know that the Lord qualifies who he calls! That’s been keeping me pumped! I’m officially going to be a Dad😅

The Carrazcos came to church again! They are doing so great, especially Brother Carrazco, he is opening up a lot more. They are really seeing a change in their lives as they continue to come to church and read from the Book of Mormon. We met with them yesterday and had a solid lesson with them. We read about the 2000 stripling warriors and they loved it. Then we got talking and it turns out that Brother Carrazcos Little Brother who is 15 isn’t baptized! He’s expressed interest in being baptized as well! That is a new good lead that we have,  so we want to help Brother Carrazco get the priesthood and then baptize his Brother. That would be a miracle. I’ve seen miraculous things happen and I know that this is possible. 

To answer your question yes there is a nice park across the street from the temple.  It just spent the last 6 months under construction and now it’s finished. They wanted to clean it up because that’s where all the homeless people live.

I will watch for your packages this week:) I love you so much Momma! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Findlay
This is the new park across from the temple

Our last district meeting

I could send a picture of my Sunday lunch sack every week!
 Sister Garner is the best.
 Jakey and Mae Mae colored this one



Here is a video of some p-day business...haha
I've tried to catch an actual dunk on
video but it wears me out!

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Miracles 2K18 :) Week #74

Hey Mom!

Sorry I forgot that this week was our temple week, so we we got to go to the temple today. That’s why I didn’t email you yesterday. Week one of 2018 is gone just like that. Honestly it was a little slow but it still flew by. The days were long but the week was not, that's part of the missionary life. With President Monson’s passing and then running into crazy people all week, it was a roller coaster. But it was one of the most unforgettable weeks I’ve had here. Again I saw the hand of God in this work, and He did what He does best, work miracles. 

There is a couple in our ward, The Montgomery’s, who we have been working with. We’ve been helping them prepare to go to the temple for a while now so that they can be sealed as a family. I’m excited to say that this week they were able to do that! We were allowed to attend and it was such a special experience for them and for me. It was the first sealing that I had ever been to. Sitting in that room I felt the spirit so strongly testify to me that this is why you are out teaching people about the Book of Mormon and the Restored Gospel, so they can eventually partake in the blessings of the Holy Temple. It helped me understand my purpose more deeply than I had before. It makes me that much more eager to share this with people. It also makes me so grateful that my parents chose to be sealed in the House of the Lord. Because of them and their decision, I am sealed with them for all eternity and I want that for my future family as well. 

We finally got to meet with our investigator Bill this week! He got back from his trip and still wanted to meet with us, that was a good sign. We met at the Visitors Center and had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation. It helped answer a lot of the questions he had been bringing up. Plus he’s already read 40 pages of the Book of Mormon😂 This guy is the man! I’ve never seen someone more excited than him about coming to church. And that’s exactly what he did! He came all dressed up in his white shirt and jeans, he was looking slick. I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of scary having a fairly new investigator come to church for the first time on a fast Sunday. You never know what people might say....one time a guy started talking about Kolob....oh boy....that really took our investigator for a spin😅 Anyways I was nervous the whole time and was praying so hard that Bill would feel the spirit and enjoy it. I don’t even know why I worried about it, he had an amazing experience. He loved church and especially the people there. He says he feels like he has a lot of support here. He already acts like a member haha, he was participating in the classes more than anyone else😂 In Elders Quorum he said that the Book of Mormon was true and how could it not be? Everyone chuckled and agreed with him and it was a good time. In our next lesson with we are going to invite him to be baptized and I hope it goes well:) I’ve never taught someone more open in my life, he is an elect son of God who is ready to hear the Gospel. Bill is the kind of investigators missionaries dream about.

Ready for another one?😂 We have been working with an inactive couple, the Carrazcos. They have been coming to church every week now and today they stayed the whole three hours! They loved it. It was really cool because Sister Carrazco got up in sacrament and shared her testimony. She talked about how she was praying one night because they had been struggling so much that she couldn’t handle it anymore. She prayed that God would help her find her way back. She said after she had finished praying she heard a knock on the door and it was Me and Elder Draper. She knew that this was Heavenly Father showing her that He was still there for her, and and that He would help them get back on the path. On my end of the story, that night I felt prompted to go by there and see how they were doing, we ended up actually teaching them a lesson but we didn’t think too much about it. It was cool to hear that we were an answer to someone’s prayer. I know that God answers prayers through people around us. I have been able to experience that time and time again. 

Another exciting thing that happened this week was that we were in a car accident :( it wasn’t bad at all. We pulled up behind a car at a stop sign. He was turning left and started to go but then changed his mind and backed up without thinking about it and bumped into our car. His car was fine considering that it was a beater, ours got a few cracks in the front bumper. And I was driving uhhhggg, that’s the second wreck I’ve been in on my mission that HASN'T been my fault. The only two wrecks of my life, people in Mesa are crazy drivers. I’m not a bad driver, I’m actually really good😜 I take after my Dad😁 Anyways the guy was super kind and basically said that because he is military that they will pay for all of the damages. It was pretty simple. But man I was so upset for like 3 days. Now I feel better though haha😂 

And yeah thanks,  I really like the new headboard for my bed! Looks super good. I forgot how good my room looks. Yep I would like it to be the same when I get home, especially my sports memorabilia😜 a lot of things have changed while on my mission, but the way I feel about sports has not😂 

Alright I’m done writing my novel again, I’m so happy here. I learn so much everyday and get to see miracles left and right. Thanks for all you do Mom! I love you more than you will ever know, have a good week! 
Love, Elder Findlay
We played this game called "Who's the Dude?"
This was the dude 😆

Yep, I'm definitely spoiled.
(a member's Lamborghini)

Waiting for investigators got me like....

Part of our area. It was a perfect day


Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy 2018 from Mesa! Week #73

Happy New Year Mom! :) 
The year is over already and I can’t wrap my head around how that happened. Time goes fast when you are doing the Lord's work. Reflecting back on 2017 makes me so grateful. I’ve never changed more than I have in the last year of my life. I have reason to be grateful for so many experiences that I’ve had. I know that Heavenly Father knows me because looking back on the different areas, companions, investigators, and leaders that I’ve been involved with, I have grown more than ever before. I will admit that it was the hardest year of my life, there were times when I flat out hated it. I struggle just as anyone does and being a missionary doesn’t change that. But what it does change is how you deal with those struggles and overcome them. I have come to love the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and through that I can become better than I was before. I am still very innocent in the Gospel but I’ve received so much knowledge and understanding, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Missions are a HUGE life changing experience. If you EVER have the opportunity to go, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO! 

I’m super glad you guys had a good Christmas. I know I did! I will always remember the Christmas experiences I had on my mission. I just can’t believe it’s gone already, I don’t want to stop listening to Christmas music yet😂 And I didn’t know they don’t sell eggnog anymore after Christmas!!!😱 I’ve avoided it for 19 years and now that I like it they stop selling it! What the.....not cool.

Way to go on the new church calling Mom! That’s so cool. I’ve learned a lot more about the church and how it works and I LOVE the relief society! Man they help out in missionary work soooo much. They really know how to make people feel welcome in the ward. Your going to love it, and your going to be an amazing teacher. I know you will :)

That’s cool that Brother Clark spoke at church. I can’t really picture his face, but I actually have heard about the 50% assigned to a mission, and the other to a mission President. Honestly I know for a FACT that I was supposed to come to Mesa. There couldn’t have been a more perfect place for me to go. There are certain people that I’ve met here that I know I was supposed to befriend them and help them come unto Christ. As far as how I feel about President Townsend. I honestly feel like a huge part of my assignment as a missionary was geared toward being specifically with President Townsend. If it weren’t for him I probably wouldn’t still be in Mesa. He has helped me so much. He really understands how the Atonement works and he’s helped me apply it more fully in my life. So to answer your question, I feel like a huge part of my assignment was to President Townsend. But I also know that it needed to be Mesa.

I loved talking to you guys on Christmas too! It was really exciting to see everyone. I’m glad things haven’t changed too much, except my little bro getting bigger than me!

We met a young women this week named Nikki. We’ve been trying to meet her for WEEKS. I received a prompting to visit her one afternoon and she was finally there! She is 17 years old and she was baptized when she was 12, but hasn’t been to church since. She invited us in and we had a good 2 hour question and answer lesson with her. She had sooo many good questions about the Plan of Salvation and the commandments, all sorts of things. She is looking for more in life and wants to understand it more. We taught as best as we could to her needs and then committed her to come to church and she came! Woot woot! It was so good because the YW president and some young women basically just pulled her into the ward. That’s exactly what people need when they come into the church for the first time, or they are returning. Anyways it was a great experience, we are meeting with her again tomorrow night! 😁

We also found a new investigator this week, he’s name is Eli! He’s 17 years old and he’s such a homie. Me and him connected pretty well, he’s actually living alone in an apartment and wanted us to come by and teach him. So we taught him the restoration and he had never heard about any of it before. We gave him a Book of Mormon and committed him to read and pray about it. Lately I’ve been noticing the love that I feel towards people that I am teaching, it’s growing. And I attribute every bit of that to my study of the Atonement.  

Last night for New Years Eve we spent it with the Garners and their family. It was a party as usual, we had a ton of good food and played a bunch of fun games😂 We played the game where you have a card on your head and you have to guess what it is, haha it got pretty real. I forgot how much fun playing games can be. Then at 8:45 we had a toast for the new year because we have to be home by 9:00😂

Today we had a big mission game day at Cooley park. It was a lot of fun. We played football for a few hours and then some street ball on the outside court. It was awesome. It’s always a party to see everyone. Then afterward we had a big BBQ lunch together and it was a good time. It made me realize how many friends I have made on my mission and how close I am to a bunch of them. I just wish some of them didn’t live so far away😂

I’m super excited for the new year ahead! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and that it’s my job to follow that plan. That is one of my goals this year, to follow the will of God more closely so I can become who he needs me to become :) I love you so much Momma, and I miss you but am always praying for you and everyone else. Have a happy new year!😁❤️❤️
Love, Elder Findlay

December in Mesa ☼

Sister Garner drew this on my Sunday
lunch and I think she nailed it!
She's so nice😂

Mesa Missionary sports p-day.
Elder Findlay is just right of center in a blue
Arizona sweatshirt.

Good ole Elder Draper :)