allow the spirit to enter in - December 21

This past week has been a great week! On Monday, we spent the day
cleaning up the apartment, as well as doing some emails and getting
Elder Russell a haircut. It was a good Pday, little more relaxing than
the last one, so that is always good. On Tuesday we spent our day
trying to contact some people to set up lessons with. It was a good
day, and we were able to accomplish what we needed to accomplish. on
Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go to a zone conference! We got
to hear from our Mission President, as well as the Assistants to the
President. It was a really good conference, and I was able to learn a
lot. One thing that I was reminded of, was the scripture found in 2
Nephi 33:1-2. It talks about how the Spirit is often brought unto our
hearts, but how often do we allow it into our hearts? Have we hardened
our heart to what the Lord wishes to share with us, or our willing and
open to allow the spirit into our hearts, to become an instrument in
the Lords hand. We must always soften our heart and allow the spirit
into our hearts. Now the big question is, how do we accomplish that?
How can we soften our heart to the spirit? It begins with Faith. Faith
is a belief in something that is not seen which motivates a person to
act. That second part where it talks about acting is key. If we are
willing to act by reading our scriptures, praying often, and going to
church, then we can have our heart softened. As we have our heart
softened, the Holy Ghost is then able to enter into our heart and not
just unto. No what do we have faith in? Well we have faith in the
atonement of Jesus Christ. We know that through the atonement all
things are made possible. Through his mercy we can be forgiven of our
sins, as well as those mistakes that we make in our life. Through his
grace, we are able to become. The Lord enables us and bridges that gap
that we may have between us and our Father in Heaven. For us to truly
have faith in his atoning sacrifice, we must do as he has taught us
and showed us. As we know, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ prayed to
his father in heaven, he also used scriptures or being tempted upon
the mount, and lastly he instituted the sacrament to allow us to
always remember him, and to fully partake of what she has to offer us.
To the Lord all things are possible, but it begins with faith that
then allows the spirit into our hearts, which strengthens us and
sanctifies us. It was an amazing conference, and I was able to learn a
lot about myself and about how I could become a better missionary for
the Lord. As a missionary, we hold the same commission as the apostles
of old carried. Just as it says in Matthew 28: 19-20, we have been
called to proclaim His Gospel in His name. As well we are to baptize
them in His name. We have been given a great responsibility, but the
Lord qualifies us according to our desires and diligence. The rest of
the week, we spent contacting and teaching lessons. We had a pretty
good week for total lessons, and they were some really good lessons.
We are continuing to build this area to point where we can reach out
to as many people as we can. It has been a good week. We also had a
lesson this week with someone who had very negative feelings towards
the church. Who's amazing to see the difference between when he spoke
and when we spoke. When he spoke, you could just feel the spirit leave
the room, but when we spoke in the name of Jesus Christ, the spirit
was very strong. What a testimony to me that this truly is the Lords
work. That the Lord truly has blessed us with the knowledge of how we
can know if this is the Lords to work. Yesterday, we had the
opportunity to go to church. I love going to church and partaking of
the sacrament that offers us that renewing, and sanctifying power
through the reception of the Holy Ghost. The Power of Godliness is
truly manifest in the Ordinances performed. We got to about 3:00
yesterday and I, for some odd reason, started to not feel to good. So
we continued on doing the work and then I really did not feel to good.
Turns out I got food poisoning! So we had to spend all last night from
6-9 back at the apartment. It was terrible. We had a dinner at 5-6
which it was to late to cancel on, so we went and ate there, mainly so
that my companion could eat. Not going to lie, that was one of my
dumber ideas. After 4 long years of not throwing up that streak was
then ruined last night. It was terrible. So I am still just getting
over the effects of it and hopefully will be good for the rest of the
week! Great time to be sick! So that was my week. It was a rough night
last night, but the rest of the week was great! Thank you for all you
do to support me in the work and may the Lord bless you all with good
health and a wonderful Christmas where the spirit of Christ is felt.
Love you all! Merry Christmas!!

Elder Noad
Utah Orem Mission

Things are picking up! Dec. 14

Things here in this area are really picking up! This last week we were
able to double the lessons we had last week, and we were able to reach
out to a lot of people. Is was A really good week in the sense that we
were really able to help people feel the spirit. The quality of the
lessons that we shared with them, and the spirit that was felt, was so
amazing this week. It truly is been a really good week, and we are
looking forward to this upcoming week. Elder Russell is doing great!
He is learning fast, And has a lot of intelligence. He is also a
really good artist! He's super good at drawing, and has a real talent
for being able to reach out to people. I am super excited for the
Christmas season! This is most definitely my favorite time of year! I
love Christmas in the spirit of Christ that is felt. Hearts are
softened, and people are so willing to remember their Savior. I love
the Christmas season!One thing that I really love about the Christmas
season, is how close we are able to draw to one another as families.
The Christmas season truly does bring families closer together. That
is one thing that I most definitely miss being out here in the
mission, is being away from my family and the traditions that we have
on Christmas. But it is amazing because I get to help others to draw
closer as families through helping them know that they do have a
Savior. I know that the gospel truly does bring families closer
together, and the peace and joy and love that we feel during the
Christmas season, is all because Christ was born in Bethlehem. What a
magnificent time of year to celebrate the birth of Christ, and to
remember the spirit that he offers us each and every day. Again, I
love the Christmas season! I love the opportunity we all have to give
and to serve others. Let us all celebrate the one gift that was given
2000 years ago, the greatest gift of all, the gift of the Savior. I am
so excited for this upcoming week, and I know that the Lord is always
with us here in the work. This last week we so many miracles, we were
able to contact some people that we struggle to get in contact with
for a while now. I feel so blessed to be able to have the spirit with
me always. The spirit truly does guide and direct what I say according
to what the Lord wants me to say. I have found so much knowledge in
the past couple months from the Scriptures, as well as from the
Prophets. It truly is a blessing to know that the Lord gave his life
for us. To be able to know of a surety that Joseph Smith saw heavenly
father and Jesus Christ, and that he translated the Book of Mormon in
less than 65 days are truly miracles and is such a blessing to me to
know. I know that the Book of Mormon is a Book from God. I know that
through his prophets, he has taught us what we need to know in these
latter days. As we follow the council that we learn from the Bible
together with the Book of Mormon, we can know of the things that we
must do to live with our Heavenly Father again. I have found so much
peace and solace in the plan of salvation. I know that this is the
Lords plan for all of us here upon the earth. I know that exaltation
and eternal life is available to all of us who are willing to follow
the example of Jesus Christ. As we follow Christ's example, he is able
to help bridge that gap between us and our Father in Heaven. Through
his atoning sacrifice, we can all receive of his grace. The enabling
power that helps us to continually become. I thank you all for your
support and love, and I bless you all that during this Christmas
season, you may feel the fullness of the Spirit of Christ. Let us
follow Christ who has given us the path to Salvation. I love you all,
and hope you all have a wonderful week!

Elder Noad
Utah Orem Mission

our zone

New Companion - Dec. 7

This past week I received a new companion who I am training. His name
is Elder Russell! Second Elder Russell I have had as a companion on
the mission! Haha He is awesome and so willing to work! It is going to
be a fun transfer with lots of miracles. I am already seeing them! On
the first day being in this area after Elder Mortensen left, I was
able to find where I needed to go, I wasn't lost!! What a miracle that
truly was!! I thought I would have so many troubles with directions,
but now I am doing pretty well with it all. Elder Russell is from New
Jersey and loves to draw! Super excited to be working with him! It has
been a slower week, we had about 25 lessons planned and ended with 9
:/ lots of cancellations! It is all good though! Sometimes we have to
have bad weeks to appreciate the good! Also, this week everyone was
busy with the end of school semester, and we had transfers. Transfer
week always seems to be a week where you transition and then the week
after your usually back into it. It was a good week though for the
quality of the lessons. So the first evening my companion was here in
the field, he had to go teach a lesson on his own with a member. I was
so proud of him! He did such a good job and really was able to reach
out to the girl he visited. To go through the week, on Monday we
received a call telling me I was go into be district leader and
training, and my companion, Elder Mortensen, was told that he was
going back to speaking Spanish and is now in Orem! Definitely a
surprise to him! Haha So on Tuesday we went out and did as much work
as we could together and got some lessons in that we're really good.
We had a great trainers meeting on Tuesday. The spirit was so strong.
I love President Killpack and his wife. They truly are so
inspirational and I have learned so much from them. Wednesday was
transfer day! So we packed up the car and headed down to the mission
office. We had the opportunity to have another trainers meeting. It
was again so good. I love the analogy of the Liahona with the spirit
and revelation. I know that the Holy Ghost can be like our Liahona. So
we entered into the transfer meeting and I found out that Elder
Russell was going to be my companion. It was awesome! We then went out
and did some work in the afternoon and tried to reach out to as many
people as possible. We had almost all our lessons drop through that
day though, so that was a little upsetting, but in the end the Lord
has a plan! So on Thursday we did a lot of contacting again, as well
as Friday. We had our District Meeting on Friday and that went pretty
good. I am super excited to be over this new District. They are such
good Elders and Sisters in the District and I'm really excited to be
working with them. On Saturday evening we had our first session of the
YSA Stake Conference. It was a really good session and I was able to
learn and apply some of those things that I needed to hear most.
Sunday morning we then had a leadership training as a Stake and we had
the opportunity to attend that. Talked a lot about he Sabbath Day
observance and how it can truly strengthen the spirit in our homes and
hearts as we observe the Sabbath. What a blessing that the Lord gave
us a day that we could truly be refreshed. We then had the afternoon
session of Stake Conference and we got to hear from President Killpack
and his wife, as well as the stake presidency. It was a really good
sessions n and again I received some really strengthening impressions
and ideas on how I can improve. I had the opportunity to fast as well,
and what joy and faith I have in the Law of the Fast. I know it works!
I have faith it does! I was able to fast for an investigator we were
teaching this week and it was such a wonderful opportunity. I fasted
that I would be able to teach all that this girl needed to hear. When
it came to the lesson we were able to share powerful testimony and I
know that I received strength from the Lord on what we should say. It
went really good and I am so blessed that the Lord provides. I am so
thankful for everything I have been able to receive because of the
mission. I love you all! Have a great week!!

pictures with a random helicopter in the church parking lot

pictures!

Elder Noad and Elder Mortensen

Thanksgiving dinner with the stake president and his family

working hard!

a dose of humility

Increase of humility November 30

This week has definitely been an interesting week. Lots of things happen this week that were very interesting and cool at the same time. This last Monday, we had our zone activity, so we decided to play some football to practice for the turkey bowl on Thursday. It went well and it was a ton of fun! I got to know some of the Elders better in our zone it was really good. Before I jump into the letter to far, transfers or this week, I received a phone call from President telling me I was going to be a District Leader, and training! I'm super excited, as well as a little nervous. It will be a great experience though I'm looking forward to this upcoming transfer! It's been a lot of fun serving with Elder Mortensen here in this area, and now I will be taking over the area, while still learning it. This past week was a little slower for lessons, due to Thanksgiving day on Thursday. We were unable to set up any lessons on Thursday, so it was a little slow. We were still able to get a pretty good number of lessons in though and it went well. On Thursday, it was my first American Thanksgiving! We started the day off by playing turkey bowl as a mission. Our zone played another zone and it was a ton of fun! I was team Captain on one of the teams, and our team did pretty good. After that we then went to another turkey bowl with our Stake President and his family. It was super fun and definitely something I would consider making a tradition in my own life and family. After that, we then ate dinner with President and Sister Woahn's family. It was super good and to see the traditions that they have is a family was really cool. I love that as families, we are able to make traditions, and bond ourselves closer together. It was a really fun day on Thanksgiving and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sadly, then next couple days I was pretty darn sore! Haha It was worth it. on Friday, we did our weekly planning and have the opportunity to visit some more people. Being a district leader in this area there's definitely a lot of work, but super fun! I am looking forward to this upcoming transfer. On Saturday, we received a phone call in the morning from one of our ward missionaries asking if we could help them with some service. We decided to say yes, and we headed over to help them move things. Before I go on, I would like to point out that prayers are answered! Earlier that morning my companion Elder Mortensen decided it would be a grand idea to pray for me to have an increase of humility. While we were moving some things, I was given a small little dresser to carry in. As I took it in and set it down, I heard a large pop. Turns out my pants weren't as strong as I thought they were, as A huge hole ripped right into the bottom of my pants. Definitely received an increase of humility! I still have not been able to fix them yet, but I am hoping to fix them soon since they are the only pants to that suit jacket. I am just super grateful that I have another suit that I can wear in the meantime. So that was my adventure on Saturday! Pictures are below. I thank you all for all the support that you send my way, keep up the good work, increase your scripture study, and always remember to say your prayers! May the Lord bless you and all of your lives! Love you all! have a great week!

Ps. I will be reading this upcoming week in 2Nephi 13-17. What I learned this past week is the importance of the Savior in the Plan of Salvation. The plan is flawless, and as we rely on or Redeemer Jesus Christ and Follow Him, we can return back to our Heavenly home, happily as families. I love Jesus Christ and know that he lives!

Also! Check out this website please!!  http://christmas.mormon.org

Wonderful highlights November 23

Hey! So not much time to write this week but here it goes! The
highlights of the week were our Mission fireside, talked on Sunday,
and greatest of all got to attend a Sealing in the Temple!

The mission fireside was amazing! It was a musical fireside, and I
really gained a testimony of the importance and power that music has
it inviting the spirit into our lives. Get the opportunity to listen
to President Holland, Elder Holland's son. He did a wonderful job of
talking and testifying of the restoration of the Gospel. He talked
about Joseph Smith, and how he is a prophet of God. I was able to get
a lot out of what he said, as he talked about how we need to
strengthen our testimony in the Prophet Joseph Smith and what he did
for all mankind. He Julie did usher in the dispensation of the
fullness of times. My thanks goes to Joseph Smith for enduring to the
end, and giving his life for what he knew to be true. He also talked
about how important the book Mormon is in our life. He talked about
how if we want to know if things are true or not in the Gospel, we
first need to look at if the book of Mormon was written by God or man.
If it was written of God, it is of God. If it is of God, then we know
that all that he tells his profits and what we read in the Book of
Mormon are true. It was a wonderful fireside in the spirit was so
strong. What a wonderful evening.

So on Sunday, I had the opportunity to talk in church about gratitude
and how it can relate to missionary work. It was a great topic and
really opened my eyes to all that heavenly father has blessed me with.
I am grateful for my family, and this wonderful gospel that I've been
given, that brings me peace and comfort in the knowledge that I can be
with my family forever. I am also grateful for all the blessings that
I have received in my life, and all the people I have had the
opportunity to meet. If touched my life in such a significant way, and
I am thankful for all of them. I am also thankful for the opportunity
that we have to be sealed as families for time and all eternity. I
know that this is possible through the temples, and through the
priesthood authority that is used with him. What a blessing that we
have the opportunity to live with her father in heaven again through
the atonement of Jesus Christ. We can be forgiven, but also receive
his grace and strength as we go throughout life. It was a wonderful
opportunity to be able to talk.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to accompany my companion to a ceiling.
What a blessing it was to be able to see the spirit and the power of
Godliness manifest as two people were able to be sealed for all
attorney. That is most certainly what I want and desire for all of the
people that I meet. The ceiling power in the temple is so strong, and
I know through this experience at this church is most certainly true.
The spirit that I felt was undeniable, and I knowthat our heavenly
father loves us enough that he blesses us with eternal families in
this life and the life to come.

Well I thank you all for your wonderful support and I love you all!
Have a wonderful week and enjoy your Thanksgiving if you are American!

Elder Noad
Utah Orem Mission

Adventure!

Hey! This week has been a week full of adventure! On Monday, we took
the day and cleaned up the apartment, and bought some sweaters. It was
a good day. On Tuesday, we went on exchanges with some of the Elders
in the District. I went with Elder Riddle and we spent the day doing
work in his area. One thing I really noticed this week was the
importance of following spiritual promptings, and how much we are led
by the spirit. It was a good exchange and I was able to teach, as well
as learn. On Wednesday, Elder Mortensen and I had the opportunity to
go and to meet with President, as well as with all the other District
Leaders, and talk about how we can improve in our District meetings
and how we can help our District even more. It was really good and
very revelatory. I was able to learn a lot on how I can improve as a
leader in the Lord's vineyard. I love my District and it is such a
privilege to be in the position of influence I am in. I love my Savior
Jesus Christ and his atonement for me. On Thursday, we went on
exchanges with another set of Elders. It was a good exchange as well.
There were things that occurred that we needed to take care of, so
this week has been packed full of applying, and learning leadership
skills. I have learned a lot and I am thankful that the Lord shapes me
in some way, each and every week. On Friday, we then had a District
training meeting where I had to let the District know what they could
improve on, as well as what needed to be changed. It went really well,
and we had the opportunity to accomplish lots and learn a lot from one
another. I am slowly starting to see what I can improve on, and as I
improve, I can see a difference in how productive our District
training meetings are and how much we all are edified. I love my dear
Savior who has given me all, and has taught me those things that I
need to know. On Saturday, we spent the day teaching lessons which
went really good! We have been trying to apply the principle of
teaching to understanding. It is so important to teach in such a
simple way that it makes sense. On Sunday we went to sacrament
meetings and taught some more lessons. We are staying busy, but
ultimately want to try and split our area. We are working hard and
seeing miracles! I thank you all for the support you offer and have a
great week! Love you all! And I will be reading in 2 Nephi 5-8 this
week. I love how in the chapters of 2Nephi 1-4, we learn that Joseph
Smith would be called to restore the Gospel. I find it amazing that if
Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, how could he have known that
many of the prophesies spoken of him would come to pass? I know that
the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith, and that we have
the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel. We also learn in these
chapters about the creation and the fall. We also come to know that we
are here to have joy. I know that we can have an increased joy here in
this life, and it can come through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
through his words, namely the Bible and the Book of Mormon working
together in our hands. I know that these things are true. I know that
these are some powerful lessons from a Father, a Prophet, to his sons.
I love my missions and I love you all and your support. Have a great
week!

Elder Noad

p day fun!

Utah Orem Mission

Doing great