June 20th, 2016 // #25 of 2016

June 20th, 2016 // #25 of 2016

Good Morning Everybody!
   What a week. Goodness sakes this week has been a rough one. It seemed
that every single thing that could have gone our way, went the
complete other direction. It got to the point that I just started
laughing. It's been a roller coaster, but still I'm happy. Things
couldn't get any worse, but I wouldn't rather be in any other place.
It seems like I've never had more adversity, but at the same time I
feel like this is the happiest that I've been throughout my entire
mission. Things will come around. I would like to seriously thank
everyone back home for the thoughts and prayers that have been sent my
way. I could feel them.
   We had an interesting lesson this past week with our investigator
named Eugenio. We brought him to a members home and we decided to
teach the Restoration. We got into the lesson, but we didn't have very
much time to work with, and moved through it as powerfully and quickly
as possible. We got to the point that we really wanted to emphasize,
and our lovely member decided to go off on a 10 minute rant about
practically nothing. In those situations it is pretty difficult to
interrupt but still maintain the spirit of the less, but it is also
pretty difficult to maintain the spirit while we aren't teaching what
needs to be taught. Anyways we got the lesson back on track and closed
it up. Anziano Stanley and I will be starting up our very own Member
Missionary Training Center. We truly appreciate our members and their
willingness to open up their homes to our investigators, but we need
to be on the same page. It reminded me of the one time in Mistretta
when we were getting ready to invite a lady to be baptized and we
asked Nino to bare his testimony on the prophet Joseph Smith. If you
don't remember that story, he bore his testimony and closed the lesson
right on up himself. After the lesson we went straight to his house
and rushed into the bathroom.
   This week we went back to Crotone to go on exchanges with the Elders
there. I went with an Italian named, Elder Dragons. Elder Dragons is a
champion. Super good missionary. We got after it and had a good time.
It felt good being in my old stomping grounds once again. Not a lot
has changed in old Crotone over the past year, but it sure felt good
to go back another time. I was able to see Antonella and Gianluca
along with their boys once again and that was truly a blessing. They
are such good people and I truly love them. Coming out of their house,
I totally biffed it off of the crb and tore up my wrist. I could only
laugh and that was the real cherry on top of the week. On the bus ride
home the following afternoon the bus was super crowded. There was one
seat left and so I stood for a good majority of the ride and it was
hotter than the Sahara desert in that bus. I was sweating like a pig
at the county fair on auction day. Goodness sakes... Finally a seat
freed up and I was able to sit down. The girl next to me was truly
heaven sent. She hooked me up with a tissue to wipe my face and a few
more to dry myself off with. She was a huge tender mercy and was truly
sent from the Lord. She talked to me for a little bit, and honestly
she have not had lots of interest...but she treated me like I was one
of her long lost friends. I said a little prayer in my heart for that
lady when she got off of the bus because she truly helped me out more
than she will ever know. This world is full of good hearted people and
The Lord truly watches out for his missionaries.
   Before I forget...INFORMATION ABOUT MY SKYPE CALL. I will be skyping
home this Saturday at 11 am {your time back home}. I will be calling
home to Elwood and you are all invited to attend. I will call right at
11 sharp and we will have about one hour and a half to talk. Everyone
please bring questions about experiences I've had, things that I like
or don't like. Let's make this last skype call a good one!
   Here in Cosenza I've had more than a few opportunities to really take
a good look deep down inside of myself. Cosenza has been a "Refiner's
Fire" for me, and it continues to be a challenge. I've never been to a
place where it is so difficult to get something going. This place has
beaten me to my knees many, many times and has required everything
that I have. Any missionary can be positive and have a higher vision
when everything is going well, when investigators are falling into
your lap and when investigators are making progress....but the real
challenge of growth (mentally, emotionally and spiritually) comes when
you get knocked down. Never before have I spoke the language so well.
Never before have I worked so efficiently. Never before have I been so
obedient to the mission rules...and seen absolutely nothing from those
efforts. It's tough...but I'm grateful to be here. I'll continue to be
on these praying knees of mine and I'll keep working. Something good
will happen. I've read D&C 121 about 9,000 times this week and each
time it makes me think that the Lord is speaking directly to me. "7 My
son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment; 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God
shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." I
keep telling myself... "Be strong." "Keep moving forward." I am going
to do my best to do just that. I'm going to try my best to continue to
serve with some passion and with some drive. The last chapter of my
mission has not been written yet, and it doesn't matter what has
happened yesterday, last transfer or last year...what matters is how I
serve right now. My invite this week to everyone back home is to never
give up, never give in no matter how bad things may seem. Trust hat
everything will work out and that the dots will connect own the road.
Live life with passion. Live life with love. Keep moving forward.
Perseverance is important in everything. There is always answer. I
love you and I am praying for you.
   In closing I would like to pay a tribute to all of the Fathers out
there in honor of Fathers Day yesterday. I've been remarkably blessed
to have grown up with so many "Fathers" around me throughout my life.
I've been blessed with Grandpa's to Great Grandpa's and even
Great-Great Grandpa's who are some of the most loyal, trustworthy and
pure men I have ever met. I've been blessed with Uncles and Cousins
who I will forever be grateful for because of their courage,
dedication and strength. I've been blessed with a brother, who will
one day be a Father, that I love more than words can properly explain
and who, through my absence these past 18 months, has become my best
and most cherished friend. I've also been blessed with a pretty neat
feller who I call, "Papa Jon," "Doughboy," and "Dad." Out of all of
the things that I have received in this life, I consider this "Papa
Jon" to be one of my biggest and greatest blessings. He is my Hero; my
right hand man; my cement boogers buddy; my fellow Packer fan; my
golfing pal; my strength; my motivation; my inspiration. He's taught
me a lot: how to toss a football; how to field a ground ball; how to
change a tire; how to shoot a gun; how to ride my bike; how to work
hard; how to be strong; how to pick myself up and dust myself off; how
to say a prayer; how to sacrifice for the ones I love; how to push
through adversity; how to rise above trials; how to accept what comes
and love it. I could go on forever about the lessons my dad has taught
me. Nothing makes him happier than 9 holes at SkyWay with the boys or
a good ole fashioned game of "HORSE" in the driveway after a long day
at work. Nothing makes him happier than a night at the Movie Theatre
with the family or a Sunday afternoonbarbecue. Nothing makes him
happier than watching his kids work hard and give their all. My dad is
a special person. He is not perfect and has made some mistakes...but
I've never met someone so willing to say "I'm sorry pal.." Or "I
messed up." He fixes problems, instead of starting them. He is the
strongest man I have ever met. I cannot even begin to imagine the
depth of pain he has felt, experienced, endured and overcome in his
life, but I've never met a person who approaches each day with a smile
as does my Old Man. He likes to make you think that he is big and
tough, but inside he's got himself a heart of gold. He would give you
the shirt off of his back, as well as the food from his plate. I
couldn't count the amount of times I've seen him take a crisp $5 bill
and hand it to a homeless person in need. There are few things that I
miss more than being with Dad. He is someone that brings out the best
in everyone around him. I've been blessed to be around him for 20
years and since day one he has been the person that I aspire to be. He
has been on the front porch for hours watching me ride my bike. He's
worn threw more than a couple baseball gloves from playing catch some
much in the back yard. He probably will need a shoulder surgery in the
near future because he has been tasked to through hundreds of
thousands of passes to Tyke and I out on the front lawn. He was in the
stands every Friday Night; in the bleachers during every single
basketball game; and behind home plate each time I stepped onto the
diamond. He has given me so much, more than I could ever fully
comprehend. He has sacrificed for me. I could never repay this "Papa
Jon" for everything that he has done for me. He is my friend. He is my
Hero. He is my Dad. To you Dad... I say Thank You. Thank you for
giving me the best life that you could provide. Thank you for
sacrificing so much; for giving me so much; for loving me so much.
Happy Fathers Day. I love you man.
I thank all you Fathers that have blessed my life in so many ways. I
love each of you and hope it was a day to remember. I love you all. I
thank you all. I hope that everyone is having a great summer. I'll see
everyone on Saturday at 11.

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

June 13th, 2016 // #24 of 2016

June 13th, 2016 // #24 of 2016

Hi Everyone.
   Here we are again. I love you all! We have officially hit 18 months.
I thought that I would have died of old age before I hit this point of
my mission, but now everything is starting to become real. There is so
much I want to do, but now time is working against me. I love this
country. I love these people. All is well, for the most part.
Unfortunately we are having some wifi problems at our church, and we
have had them ever since I arrived here in Cosenza. We have tried
really hard to get some of the ward members to help us out with this
problem, but we aren't getting a lot of help. SO...I will have to
postpone my Skype call from this Saturday June 18, to the following
Saturday on June 25th. I will be calling from Italy, my time at 7pm,
and so that would make it 11 am for you all back home. I will be
calling down to Elwood and to make sure that there is enough space for
everyone...I was thinking that we could do it outside on the front
lawn. Let me know if you have any questions or any suggestions or if
you cannot make it and we will see what we can do. SO EVERYONE PLAN on
Saturday June 25th at 11am. I cannot wait!!!
   We have had one wild week. It started off last Monday morning when
we woke up at 3:45 in the morning to catch a bus that was heading to a
city called Taranto. Taranto is where we hold our zone conferences.
Monday Morning we played soccer and had a good time. That evening
Anziano Stanley and I, along with our Sister that is over the sisters
in our zone, prepared for the conference on Tuesday. Tuesday as you
can probably imagine, we held our zone conference. It was a
bitter-sweet. Sweet because we were able to be lifted and strengthened
spiritually and Bitter because it was the last conference that we will
have with President Waddoups. He and Sister Waddoups will finish their
mission here in about two weeks and our new Mission President will
arrive at the end of this month. I have really grown to love our
Mission President. He is a powerful guy and would give you the shirt
off of his back. The conference went well and we have a good time.
Also at the conference we received our mail and I got a big ole
birthday package as well as some birthday cards. I would like to say
thank you for all of the birthday wishes, prayers, cards, letters and
everything else. I have felt so much love from home these past few
weeks and I am grateful for that. I love you all.
   Anziano Stanely is the MAN. I love the kid to death. We have clicked
so well right from the beginning and it has been the biggest blessing.
We both work in the same way and we have been on the same page from
day one. He comes from Kamas, Utah and I played football with a few
kids that he went to school with. He is a champ and I am lucky to be
serving with him.
   As for our work, things are going a little bit rough at the moment.
We have our investigator named Eugenio who is doing alright. He is a
good kid, just doesn't have a lot of desire at the moment. We are
going to be hitting the streets, knocking on some doors and working
with our members. We need to find ourselves some new people to teach
and some new people to work with. At the moment we are working a lot
with some less actives and trying to get them back into the groove of
things. I will give a better update on that next week.
   This week we will have District Meeting in Crotone, which means that
I will be able to see The Bullocks one last time before they finish
their mission. They arrived in Crotone when I arrived in Crotone and
they quickly became another set of grandparents for me. We served in
Crotone for 3 transfers together and we have kept in touch ever since.
Also we will be going on Exchanges with the Elders, so I will have the
chance to see lots of the people that I used to work with back when I
started my mission. I am pretty excited.
   In closing, I would like to share my testimony of the unfailing and
unwavering love that our Savior has for each and every one of us. It
has always struck me that a Man without sin, without blemish of any
kind, would voluntarily take upon Himself the heavy burden of all of
our weaknesses, pains and sins. There is a line from a Hymn that I
love and it says...
"Never can I repay thee, Lord,
But I can love thee.."
We love Him, because first He loved us and He loved us enough to walk
out into a garden alone, suffer for our sins, fall upon His face and
bleed from every pore. He loved us enough to take a beating across His
back, to carry His own cross until He no longer could, and He allowed
nails to be driven through His hands, wrists and feet. We will never
be able to fully repay Him for that infinite and atoning sacrifice,
but as the hymn says...We can love Him. We can become like Him. That
is the purpose of this life, to become like Him; to love like Him; to
live as He lived. I love Him and I am grateful for His perfection. He
is my King, my Savior and my Friend. I often think about what it will
be like to one day stand before the Redeemer of all Mankind. In that
moment, I believe that we will be surprised at just how great and deep
His love truly is for each and everyone one of us. Let us Love the
Lord and strive to become more like Him, for with Him and only because
of Him and His unfailing love...we shall be eternally happy.
   I love you all!! I am grateful for you all and I would like to wish
you a great week. Remember, Saturday June 25th at 11am. It's going to
be a blast. I love you!

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

June 6th, 2016 // #23 of 2016

June 6th, 2016 // #23 of 2016

Good Morning Everyone.
It's been a solid week out here in the Mission Field. I feel like I'm
finally starting to get adjusted to Cosenza and how things work in
this city. I said Goodbye to Anziano Garrett last week and said hello
to Anziano Stanley. Anziano Stanley is a champion of all champions and
I am so PUMPED to be with him this transfer. I feel like we are
already on the same page and things just seem to click. I am pumped.
He is from Kamas, Utah and I best friends with a kid that I played
baseball with when I was really young. I'm super excited for this
transfer with Anziano Stanley and I hope that we will see some good
things. He is one transfer older than me and will finish his mission
in October.
As for our week, we had a good one. It was a little bit slower, but we
are starting to see the members come out a little bit more and they
are a little more willing to help us out. It wasn't like that a few
weeks ago. Here we have some serious unity problems and Cosenza has
been like that ever since I arrived in the mission. Anziano Stanley
and I have decided that we are going to try our best to pull this
little branch together, because it needs just that. We had 10
missionaries in Cosenza this weekend for a MultiStake Broadcast for
the Europe Area. It was pretty powerful and they spoke a lot on
becoming good at the small and simple things, because in the
end...those small and simple things make the difference.
On Friday, I turned the big 20. To be honest it didn't really feel to
much like a birthday, just felt like another day and I'm grateful for
that. The Portera Family sent me another little gift up and I opened
that on my birthday. I love that family... They've become my Italian
family.
Honestly..I don't have a lot to write home and I apologize. Like I
said before, we are seeing good things happen all around us. Little by
little, things are starting to change. I love serving the Lord. He is
a friend of mine. I love all of you. I thank you for all of the
birthday wishes, the prayers and the love. I thank you for the
support. I hope that you all have a great week and please take care.
Schools out and I wish you all a good summer.
PS>...I would like to wish my Mamma Kelli a HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
I love you all. Here are some pics and a video that I found from over
a year ago.

We played Soccer this morning. I love these boys!! 

Our District last transfer.

We met some really cool people on the street last night, they wanted a selfie with us.

Anziano Stanley is the one who took the picture.

Anziano Stanley andSorella Spadafora sang to me on Friday!