January 25, 2021

 2 Kings 6:29

This week was alright I guess! Um not much to say beside the work is good. 

Things with Krystal have been less than ideal... we did a lesson on tithing and I guess we accidently offended her so we've been having a hard time with that. She didn't like that we used Malachi as a reason to pay tithing because the scriptures there are apparently used out of context, but I have no idea what "in context" would be... We're not giving up on her tho. 

The Lord however was very aware that we were sad bois so he provided yet another miracle for us! We have been working with a part member family the Simmons. The wife Sister Simmons was baptized maybe 4 years ago while they were living in Utah and the husband Louis just never had the desire to listen to the missionaries or be baptized again. He has been baptized so he doesn't really feel a need to be baptized again. So we really just weren't gonna push it, and we knew in due time the Lord would soften his heart. We just didn't expect that to happen so quickly. So we got a text maybe 2 weeks ago from Sister Simmons and she told us Louis wanted to take the missionary lessons which was AMAZING because we really didn't do anything to even ask him but he just came to it on his own. So before we even got to the lessons we had 2 hour long bible studies with him. We talked about how the Book of Mormon just goes hand in hand with the Bible and how Revelation 22:18 is a very weak argument when you look at Deuteronomy 4:2 and John 21:25 I think it is. If you wanna know more about those scriptures go head and send me an email and I'd love to talk about it! ANYWAY. He realized that what we were saying was true and so that was neat. Well the other day we were out at their house dropping off all the pamphlets for the lessons we teach. We get out there and we're just playin around with his kids. We find Louis and start talking with him, and he started tearing up and told us we've touched his heart in a way no other missionaries have and he thanked us for never giving up on him. He also told us how much it means to him that we just love him and his family and he can tell we really do and he wants that love for his family. He then said "I want you guys to know that I've asked my friend [from Utah] to come out and baptize me on Feb 14. we were just so completely blown away. We hadn't even gone over any of the main lessons with him and here he was putting himself on date! We are so excited for him and his family. 

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I don't think I have anything else worth mentioning..................... thank you for coming to my ted talk

warmest regards,

Elder Nixon

ALSO I would love to hear your thoughts on that scripture! It's a real good one!! 

January 11, 2021

Big Miracle

Well this email just like the title says is all about a SWEET miracle from the week. So I'll get right into it. We do a lot of work on FB obviously, and a lot of that involves joining local facebook groups and then friending people from it and then tryin to send them a message. Yes it's kind of awkward and yes i get left on read a lot, but high school prepared me for that lol. SO. We were sending requests to people and I sent one to a lady and really didn't think twice about it. Well about five minutes later she had sent me a message asking how i found her and why I sent her a friend request. I explained I was a missionary and part of one of the same FB groups that she is, and asked if she wanted to hear a message. Well she goes on to tell me she watched The Chosen which led her to the facebook page where she learned it was filmed in Utah. Somewhere she saw all the hate our church was getting and that intrigued her so she decided to do some looking into the church. And she did some looking. She told me she had always wanted to reach out, but she was never sure if she could just show up or if she needed garments first. Yes she knows about garments already. She also told me how she felt like we were supposed to connect on that day and she would love to talk to us. I couldn't believe what I had just read! My comp and I were just BLOWN away. So naturally we set up a lesson for the next day which was Saturday. It was seriously an awesome lesson. She told us she used to study with the j dubs and how it felt like something was missing but that changed when she learned about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Let me tell ya it is not often that you find someone this prepared. She has watched lots of youtubers to find out about the church and so she knew all about the temple and the ordinances that go on there. She talked about a video of the endowment she came across and she started it, but then told us she turned it off because it "didn't feel right yet." I mean cmon guys you can't make this stuff up! So we had another lesson with her yesterday and put her on date for Feb 14th! I'm so excited and still just SO blown away by how prepared she was for us. It's experiences like these that are just a testament to me that this truly is God's work and this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I wish I was a better writer, but unfortunately those genes went to Courtney :/ I wish I could tell you all more about it, but just now it was flipping awesome! She came to church yesterday too so yeah. that's the miracle for the week.

Happy January 11th! 

Warmest Regards, 

Elder Nixon 

January 4, 2021

 Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok well I'm feeling quite slothful on this wonderful Monday so its gonna be a shorter email. Sorry fans. 

I learned how to reband and add links to watches and I got the tools I need to do it so I'm slightly salty I paid 15 bucks to have a guy do it before I went back to Kansas. 

So we message lots of people on Facebook and needless to say there are some funny interactions. One certain interaction went as follows after he told me he was gay and that's why he isn't too interested in religion. 

Guy: ...idk I don't really have much of an interest in religion. it just isn't for me

Me: ok that's okay! If you change your mind or need someone to talk to let me know!

Guy: well thank you I appreciate that. I know you aren't gay but tbh you are kind of a cutie lol. Not trying to be weird I'm just a super honest person. 

Me:... haha thanks I guess 😂 I'm not gay but I respect the honesty. I think your dog is a real cutie! 

So my pull game is NUTS. Take that Zac. Speaking of Zac it's his birthday next week on January 11th which is an amazing day ;) if you know Zac tell him happy birthday

Well last funny story. We were trying to be good little missionaries and take cookies to members. Well we were going out to some members we had never met. It had just rained and we turned down a dirt road and about 30 yards down we were stuck in mud about 9 inches deep I'd guess. We tried backing out but we had zero luck. We weren't moving at all.  Well unfortunately we didn't have service so we were on our own. Of course we said a quick prayer and we tried again! And GUESS WHAT. We didn't get unstuck. Nope. This isn't one of those stories that end up that way. I realized I was going to have to get out of the car and push that little Corolla while my comp drove. Looking back I should have made him get out but it is what it is. So I took off my shoes and socks and all my nicer clothes till i was left in my white shirt and slacks. After about an hour and a half of pushing and sliding all over we made it out! However I do believe our prayers were still answered because I know I couldn't have pushed that car by myself. I guess the little spiritual lesson is sometimes we are required to put in a little effort to get ourselves out of certain situations. And after we've started putting in effort the Lord will send people or angels to strengthen us and help us through. I'm sure I coulda made that sound a lot nicer but people are waiting on me to go play spikeball 😂 priorities right? I will be sure to attach pictures of the aftermath of our car. 

I hope everyone is doing well! The church is true no doubt! 

Warmest regards, 

Elder Nixon 

December 28, 2020

 Pro Bowler?

Well, I really don't have much to talk about so sorry if you liked last week’s long email 😬 

First thing, my bowling skills are definitely improving! Last Monday I was sitting at 65 in the 8th fame and I ended that game with a 103. But then the next game I bowled a 128! Which I think is the highest I've ever bowled! So, if we have plans to go bowling once I'm home you better watch out! 

Let's see as for main content there ain't too much! But I had a thought earlier this week to message one of my former golden investigators from my first area Great Bend, but I decided not to because I thought it would be kinda weird reaching out after so long so I didn't. Well yesterday I got a message from one of my friends who is in Great Bend right now asking if I could reach out to her because she has their number blocked and won't accept their friend requests on Facebook. So I sent her a simple message just asking how she was doing and how her Christmas was. Well she responded almost immediately and said something along the lines of "never fails that when I think of going back to church someone from the Mormon church messages me. Not a bad thing I guess." I couldn't believe it! I just wished I had reached out when I had the thought earlier in the week, but i was glad the elders in Great Bend had the same thought. So I guess the moral of the story is don't put off thoughts to reach out to someone. It's not going to hurt either one of you! 

Well that's all I got for the week. I hope everyone had a good Christmas! Mine was good! Ummmm yep that's the email. 

Warmest regards, 

Elder Nixon 

December 21, 2020

 Who Wants to Win a Million Dollars?

Well, if going home taught me one thing it was to email more. Not sure how it taught me that, but it did cause here I am writing another email for my devoted fans. Love you all ❤ I'll try my best to give y'all the content you deserve.

A few things I'll mention but not in great detail. 1) I woulda made my momma proud with the 99 I bowled last p day. I think my grandma would have expected more from me. sorry grandma Tekla 2) Judge all you want, but milk is better with ice in it. don't @ me 3) homemade rice heating packs do not have strong seams. See pics for more info. 4) Jesus loves you :) 5) we went to a Methodist church Sunday for kicks and giggles. They had a rock band. It was dope. Too bad they're not the true church.

Okay now for the bulk of the email. Tuesday I got the special opportunity to travel 2 hours outside of my area to go to the Topeka zone conference! I missed the one for our zone and the Christmas zone conferences are always special so my comp and I were allowed to attend the one in Topeka. That was a good time because that was my last zone so I got to see a bunch of pals from there and they were all hyped and excited I was back so that was fun. Big takeaway from zc and I wish I could tell you all about this experience but this isn't the time or place. (mom and dad don't ask about it when I call or I won't call again). But the big thing I took away is that Jesus loves me. And he loves you. Now this was never directly said I don't recall, but it was just one of those things that the spirit told me as I was listening to the conference. And there was not denying what I had felt. I will happily testify of that truth. We also got to watch "It's a wonderful life" but with all the kissing and gross stuff edited out of course. I remember I used to hate that movie because my parents forced us to watch it every new years. Turns out its actually not that bad of a movie! Who woulda thought. Also you know I had to hit bdubs with the pals after. Cripes this email is already long.

I've got the million dollar question. How can someone believe Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, believe in the Doctrine and Covenants, read the Book of Mormon, and then still deny that coffee was an inspired part of the Word of Wisdom? Well that's what I'm experiencing with Patricia who I think I've talked about. pray for her 🙏

We did a little service for the McPherson county Christmas project which provides a Christmas to around 200 families in need in the area. Good times.

Boy if you've made it this far and you're not family give yourself a pat on the back. Y’all are the real ones. Last thing I'll talk about. We were doing some cold calling of previous investigators and we actually had a little family show interest so we set up a lesson and taught them and hopefully we can continue teaching them. Dustin and Ashely are their names in case I write about them in the future.

Cripes well this very well may be the longest email I have ever written in the history of ever so you are all welcome. I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas :) 10 bucks says you won't share the Christ child video with someone this week 🤷‍.

Warmest regards,

Elder Nixon

December 14, 2020

 Was I Ever Really Gone?

Now be honest. Most of you didn't actually realize that I hadn't sent an email in about 3 months... but that's okay. I don't hold it against anyone. Feel free to send me packages and/or letters just so I know my fans are still out there. (1517 East Kansas Ave. McPherson Kansas 67460) But good news I'm back and better than ever. After a short time home, I'm so excited to be back in Kansas serving the Lord! 

So, I'm currently serving in the great town of McPherson Kansas with my old companion Elder Robinson! Most of you will remember I trained Elder Robinson back when we were in Great Bend together so it is SO good to be back together. He is such a good missionary and a hard worker which I'm grateful for. We have done some good work here in McPherson. We're teaching a lady named Patricia who is pretty cool! She loves the Book of Mormon and most of what we teach. She's had a cup of coffee every day for over 70 years so she's not too fond of the idea of giving it up, but we got her a coffee substitute that we're hoping helps. We had a sweet experience with her yesterday. But I need to preface this story with a story. We had a devotional Saturday night from Brother and Sister Swinton who used to preside over a mission in England. Brother Swinton was telling us about the experiences of some of the converts in his mission. In a majority of their stories they all told about how they felt peace when they prayed about the church. We were then counseled to point out that as a feeling from the spirit if our investigators ever said that. So today whilst talking to Patricia she mentioned she felt happy and calm when reading the Book of Mormon and I asked her if she felt peace to which she responded she did. I remembered what we learned the night before and I bore testimony to her that those feelings were all confirmation from the spirit that what we have been teaching her is true. It was a tender experience with the spirit there to once again testify of truth. 

Well, I'd say that's pretty good content for only being in Kansas a few days! Till next time 

Warmest regards,

Elder Nixon

Enjoy this pic I took right before bed last night so I could have a picture to send with the email.