Jul13
7 Months Down
Good morning everyone. I love you all.
This past week was a good one. A little long, but good. It was
transfer week and it always seems to get a little tough around the
time of transfers. It usually takes a day or two to get back into the
groove of things. All is well now and I am loving it here in Napoli.
Napoli is definitely different than any other place that I have ever
been in. For example.....My first day here I saw a man taking a pee in
the middle of the busiest road in Napoli. My second day here we walked
by some lady that was just breast feeding her child as she was
walking. Yesterday we were walking down the street and there was some
lady that was yelling, well more so screaming, blasphemy. When we
walked by she was screaming all sorts of nice things right into my
ear. Those things she was yelling, I would rather not send home. Last
night there were big fireworks going off literally right outside of
our apartment window. The fireworks were cool, except they were
lighting them off at 1 am in the morning. Napoli is crazy. To me,
Napoli is the city that never sleeps. Even though there are lots of
negative and evil things here, I love it. Napoli is incredible. The
building. The architecture. The food. The Pizza. The clothes. Our
Branch Here. In the midst of all these dark things, there are so many
beautiful and wonderful things. I am really going to enjoy my time
here in Napoli. I am going to do my best to shed some light in this
trodden down city.
Last week I had to say some Goodbyes to some pretty wonderful people
that I was only able to know for a short time. That being six weeks.
My first hard goodbye was The Hubbard Family. For my last visit with
them, I wanted to make it special. I wanted to make it powerful. So I
kind of decided to take it over and tell my story. When we go over to
their home, they like us to teach their little kids. Hannah who is 7,
Russell who is 5 and Amzy who is 2. We usually teach the little ones
while the parents sit off to the side. I told my story about why I am
out here serving my mission and what happened to me when I was a
little boy. I told them about the car accident and how I know that the
blessing ps we receive in the temple are eternal. Afterwards the dad,
the former marine, told us his story. He told us about his trials and
struggles... He broke down. It was so powerful. He shed a tear and I
shed a tear as well. I challenged them to always keep their eyes
towards the temple. They agreed that they need to make that a
priority. As we were leaving and I was saying my goodbyes.....It was
tough. I was fighting back tears pretty hard, because this family had
become so special to me in just a short amount of time. I said my
goodbyes and began walking down the street when all of a sudden
Russell came running out the front door and he yelled...."Goodbye
Missionary.....I love you." I turned around as a tear fell down my
face and said...."Goodbye buddy. I love you too!" When they took is to
the Fourth of July, Russell and Hannah were begging me to sit by them
in the car. When we got to the party and got out of the car they both
grabbed my hands and held on tight. I loved those little kids and for
some strange reason they were drawn to me. I will never forget the
Hubbard family. I hope and pray that they will someday make it to the
temple....The blessings of the temple are eternal.
My other goodbye was the little old man named Jerry that we were
working with. We would go and share little spiritual thoughts with him
and speak with his friends. This last week we had a pretty rough
experience and it left me kind of upset for a minute. So Jerry is a
really popular guy. He is kind. He is smart. He loves Jesus. And he
loved us. Lots of people know and love Jerry. While we were trying to
share a spiritual thought his friends kept on coming over and
questioning us. We were getting battered with questions from the bible
and about our beliefs. Some of the questions we ridiculous. We stayed
patient and simply just bore testimony to them. People cannot argue
testimony. I was really trying to be patient and then this one guy
came over. When he started talking, all of my patience went flying out
of the window. He went on telling me how he has studied the bible for
25 years and how he knew it like the back of his hand. He than said
this...."There is no resurrection. Christ is still in the tomb. He
never rose. When we stay die our spirit and our body will never be
reunited. Death is the end." Now this man was crazy and I was just
annoyed....So I asked him if he had his bible on him. He said yes. I
asked him if he believed the bible to be true. He said yes. I asked
him to them turn to Luke 24:6. When it says...."He is not here, for He
is risen." Then I bore testimony on the plan of salvation and the
atonement. He shut his mouth and walked away. I felt bad for kind of
bible bashing with him....I just had enough with the interruptions. We
were able to finally give Jerry the spiritual though and say our
goodbyes. Jerry is a good guy and I wish him the best.
My new companion is Anziano Just. He is two transfers younger than me
in the mission. He is a good guy and a really good missionary. We are
going to have a lot of fun and do a lot of good work. I am excited to
see what we can do together. The branch here in Napoli is really nice.
There are about 75-80 active members. The branch is very strong with
some strong youth. There is one American guy here named Sam. He is
awesome. I translated all 3 hours for him yesterday. He asked me where
I was from and I said northern Utah. He said..."Tremonton?" I almost
fell over. It was awesome to finally meet someone that knows
Tremonton. Here in Napoli at the moment we do not have any
investigators whatsoever. That kind of sucked to walk into....but it
is okay. That just means that it is time to hit the streets and find
those who are willing to listen. We have some new converts so we will
work a lot with them and strengthen them. I am excited to see what we
can do because we are starting from Scratch. The Lord works
miracles....If we simply believe.
This week I want to talk about 3 scriptures that I love from 3rd Nephi
Chapter 13.
"19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
My challenge this week is simple. Take a look at the things in your
life that are most important to you. If the things that are most
important to us in this life can rust or wither away....Then we need
to change something. We need to see things in an eternal sense. The
things that don't fade away are the most important things, and often
times the biggest blessings that we have been blessed with. Clothes
come in and out of style and cars get old and break down.....but time
well spent with family is a treasure. This week My challenge is to see
things as they really are. It is to make the things that matter most,
the most important things in our lives. To put the cell phone down
every once in awhile and pull out a board game. To turn down the radio
in the car and have a good conversation. To sacrifice a little bit of
TV to have family prayer.... Let us see the things that bring us true
and everlasting happiness and joy. Let our hearts be turned towards
our family members and to our Lord.
I love you guys all so much. I am so grateful for you and for
everything that you do for me. I am grateful for your prayers, your
support and your love. Thanks for it all. Have an amazing week. Take
care of yourselves and know that I love you!! I will talk to you soon.
Peace be the Journey,
Anziano JarDee Nessen
This past week was a good one. A little long, but good. It was
transfer week and it always seems to get a little tough around the
time of transfers. It usually takes a day or two to get back into the
groove of things. All is well now and I am loving it here in Napoli.
Napoli is definitely different than any other place that I have ever
been in. For example.....My first day here I saw a man taking a pee in
the middle of the busiest road in Napoli. My second day here we walked
by some lady that was just breast feeding her child as she was
walking. Yesterday we were walking down the street and there was some
lady that was yelling, well more so screaming, blasphemy. When we
walked by she was screaming all sorts of nice things right into my
ear. Those things she was yelling, I would rather not send home. Last
night there were big fireworks going off literally right outside of
our apartment window. The fireworks were cool, except they were
lighting them off at 1 am in the morning. Napoli is crazy. To me,
Napoli is the city that never sleeps. Even though there are lots of
negative and evil things here, I love it. Napoli is incredible. The
building. The architecture. The food. The Pizza. The clothes. Our
Branch Here. In the midst of all these dark things, there are so many
beautiful and wonderful things. I am really going to enjoy my time
here in Napoli. I am going to do my best to shed some light in this
trodden down city.
Last week I had to say some Goodbyes to some pretty wonderful people
that I was only able to know for a short time. That being six weeks.
My first hard goodbye was The Hubbard Family. For my last visit with
them, I wanted to make it special. I wanted to make it powerful. So I
kind of decided to take it over and tell my story. When we go over to
their home, they like us to teach their little kids. Hannah who is 7,
Russell who is 5 and Amzy who is 2. We usually teach the little ones
while the parents sit off to the side. I told my story about why I am
out here serving my mission and what happened to me when I was a
little boy. I told them about the car accident and how I know that the
blessing ps we receive in the temple are eternal. Afterwards the dad,
the former marine, told us his story. He told us about his trials and
struggles... He broke down. It was so powerful. He shed a tear and I
shed a tear as well. I challenged them to always keep their eyes
towards the temple. They agreed that they need to make that a
priority. As we were leaving and I was saying my goodbyes.....It was
tough. I was fighting back tears pretty hard, because this family had
become so special to me in just a short amount of time. I said my
goodbyes and began walking down the street when all of a sudden
Russell came running out the front door and he yelled...."Goodbye
Missionary.....I love you." I turned around as a tear fell down my
face and said...."Goodbye buddy. I love you too!" When they took is to
the Fourth of July, Russell and Hannah were begging me to sit by them
in the car. When we got to the party and got out of the car they both
grabbed my hands and held on tight. I loved those little kids and for
some strange reason they were drawn to me. I will never forget the
Hubbard family. I hope and pray that they will someday make it to the
temple....The blessings of the temple are eternal.
My other goodbye was the little old man named Jerry that we were
working with. We would go and share little spiritual thoughts with him
and speak with his friends. This last week we had a pretty rough
experience and it left me kind of upset for a minute. So Jerry is a
really popular guy. He is kind. He is smart. He loves Jesus. And he
loved us. Lots of people know and love Jerry. While we were trying to
share a spiritual thought his friends kept on coming over and
questioning us. We were getting battered with questions from the bible
and about our beliefs. Some of the questions we ridiculous. We stayed
patient and simply just bore testimony to them. People cannot argue
testimony. I was really trying to be patient and then this one guy
came over. When he started talking, all of my patience went flying out
of the window. He went on telling me how he has studied the bible for
25 years and how he knew it like the back of his hand. He than said
this...."There is no resurrection. Christ is still in the tomb. He
never rose. When we stay die our spirit and our body will never be
reunited. Death is the end." Now this man was crazy and I was just
annoyed....So I asked him if he had his bible on him. He said yes. I
asked him if he believed the bible to be true. He said yes. I asked
him to them turn to Luke 24:6. When it says...."He is not here, for He
is risen." Then I bore testimony on the plan of salvation and the
atonement. He shut his mouth and walked away. I felt bad for kind of
bible bashing with him....I just had enough with the interruptions. We
were able to finally give Jerry the spiritual though and say our
goodbyes. Jerry is a good guy and I wish him the best.
My new companion is Anziano Just. He is two transfers younger than me
in the mission. He is a good guy and a really good missionary. We are
going to have a lot of fun and do a lot of good work. I am excited to
see what we can do together. The branch here in Napoli is really nice.
There are about 75-80 active members. The branch is very strong with
some strong youth. There is one American guy here named Sam. He is
awesome. I translated all 3 hours for him yesterday. He asked me where
I was from and I said northern Utah. He said..."Tremonton?" I almost
fell over. It was awesome to finally meet someone that knows
Tremonton. Here in Napoli at the moment we do not have any
investigators whatsoever. That kind of sucked to walk into....but it
is okay. That just means that it is time to hit the streets and find
those who are willing to listen. We have some new converts so we will
work a lot with them and strengthen them. I am excited to see what we
can do because we are starting from Scratch. The Lord works
miracles....If we simply believe.
This week I want to talk about 3 scriptures that I love from 3rd Nephi
Chapter 13.
"19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
My challenge this week is simple. Take a look at the things in your
life that are most important to you. If the things that are most
important to us in this life can rust or wither away....Then we need
to change something. We need to see things in an eternal sense. The
things that don't fade away are the most important things, and often
times the biggest blessings that we have been blessed with. Clothes
come in and out of style and cars get old and break down.....but time
well spent with family is a treasure. This week My challenge is to see
things as they really are. It is to make the things that matter most,
the most important things in our lives. To put the cell phone down
every once in awhile and pull out a board game. To turn down the radio
in the car and have a good conversation. To sacrifice a little bit of
TV to have family prayer.... Let us see the things that bring us true
and everlasting happiness and joy. Let our hearts be turned towards
our family members and to our Lord.
I love you guys all so much. I am so grateful for you and for
everything that you do for me. I am grateful for your prayers, your
support and your love. Thanks for it all. Have an amazing week. Take
care of yourselves and know that I love you!! I will talk to you soon.
Peace be the Journey,
Anziano JarDee Nessen
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