September 21, 2014

What is a miracle? Well, according to Google Translate (the only so-called "dictionary" that I have access to at the moment) a miracle is defined as: "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency." This is probably the first time that Google Translate hasn't let me down! I really like that description! The miracles that I witnessed this week were definitely "surprising," and more than just "welcome." 

At the beginning of the week, we had SO MUCH planned. We were so excited to carry out the plan this week and help all the people whom we had set up with. We had two baptisms planned for Saturday and Sunday night, we had members set up to come with us to almost every lesson, and we had many activities planned out for our investigators and friends. By Wednesday night, almost every plan for the week had cancelled on us. Something came up in everyone's schedule that made it impossible to come and meet with us. Even the baptisms on Saturday and Sunday were BOTH cancelled because of different circumstances. To put it simply, Elder P and I were extremely disappointed. 

We were working harder than ever before, yet we were only having a fraction of the amount of success that we were having earlier in the transfer. What was going on? Why were we not getting the results which we righteously desired? 

I went on an exchange over to Donghai on Friday and Saturday to spend some time with Elder W. He's a great missionary. Still pretty new on island, just hit his year mark as a missionary and he's as full as fire as you could possibly be. The plan for Friday night was pretty simple. Contact for 3 hours straight. Seeing as that's what Elder P and I had been doing for the past 3 days, I'm ashamed to admit that I was a little less than excited to go out and do that for another 3 hours. Elder W and I started contacting and my spirits were raised with the joy that comes with sharing the Gospel. I stopped worrying about how many people I talked to and how many of them rejected me and I started worrying about the quality of my contacting. I made a goal to let the Spirit guide every contact so that I could influence every person that I came across in a personal manner. Not an easy thing to do! After doing this for 3 hours, we were getting ready to go back for the night. I went to contact somebody walking on the street and just got the hand that says, "No, I don't want to talk to you..." So I turned away and saw somebody who was walking by and had just witnessed my embarrassing rejection. I knew that I had to talk to him. We connected right away and I ended up sharing a heart-felt testimony with him about how this message was prepared especially for him and that all he had to do was accept the invitation. He told me that he didn't have time that night, but he wanted to meet first thing the next morning.

I can honestly say that that lesson is the most spiritual lesson that I've had on my mission up to this point. Wow. I've never met somebody looking for truth more earnestly than this man! The first thing he said after we showed him the chapel and sat down with him went something like this: "Last night, right before you talked to me, I was thinking about what my purpose in life is. This question has bothered me more and more over the past year, and I'm to the point where I can hardly handle it now! I was so surprised to see you there when I was thinking about these things... can you answer this question for me?" I felt a little like Alma when he's preaching to the Zoramites and they continue to deny and reject him until one day he hears a voice humbly pleading for his teachings from behind him. He immediately turns and teaches them. That lesson was incredible. I felt like the Lord truly used me as a tool in His hands as He welcomed this man, His beloved child, back into His arms. It was by far one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever witnessed.

Once I got back to my area, my faith had not only been recharged, but it's like it had been energized by a bolt of lightening! We finished out the week as strong as we have every week. I'm proud to say that I'm even more exhausted this week than I was last week, but I still have a fire burning in my heart telling me that it's not time to quit yet. 

      20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

 21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my  flesh.

 22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to  quake before me.

23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me  knowledge by visions in the night-time.

These words, written so long ago by the Prophet Nephi, ring true and touch my heart today. What depths of grief have I visited as I've been here, but oh, what heights of joy has the Lord so lovingly let me experience.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and constant guidance and examples. You all mean a lot to me! Know that you're in my prayers! 

Love, Elder Noll (Sr.)

p.s. Pray that Elder Noll Jr. doesn't run into any more visitors in his shower... (in reference to a giant cricket that attacked Jessi in the shower at the MTC)

September 14, 2014

What's up?? I'm gonna keep this letter pretty short this week... sorry, I honestly just don't have the patience to write too much today! Is that bad? Sorry guys!

We've had an incredible week! Some rockin' lessons with investigators, some truly inspiring experiences on companion exchanges, and some miracles of course!! One of my favorite miracles of the week was watching our investigator pass his baptismal interview! He's on course to be baptized this week, but still needs an even bigger miracle at this time. He really wants his dad to support his decision to be baptized, so he's in the middle of talking to him over the course of this week. So far, the dad hasn't said anything to him, so that's not really a bad or good sign, it's just a thing... please keep him in your prayers! We've been praying and fasting for him throughout the past couple of weeks, I know that the Lord can and will work miracles in order to bring about His righteous purposes. 

Elder P and I are getting along great. We have a lot of fun together... well, most of the time we're both too exhausted to do anything too crazy by the time we get home, but it's still a blast! I love that he's a hard worker. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about dragging him around or anything, he keeps up like a champ! He's such a great help in all that we do as a companionship! 

My spiritual share is centered on a famous movie line. "Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves back-up." Have you ever felt forsaken before? How did that feel? To be so utterly alone, covered in bruises and lying on the dirt... what was going through your mind? The most moving account of a forsaken man that I've ever seen is that of the Savior of mankind hanging on the cross. After suffering fathomless amounts of physical pain and public humiliation, He didn't open His mouth in pain / complaint until the final moment when He cried: "Abba, Father! Why hast thou forsaken me?" The words chill me to the bone each time I read them. So I ask you the same question that Bruce Wayne was asked by his father and Alfred... "Why do we fall?" Why was it necessary for the Savior to be forsaken by God? Why is it that we must fall and feel forsaken by God at times? "So we can learn to pick ourselves back-up." I've fallen so many times, brothers and sisters. I've fallen and I've fallen pretty hard at times, but I promise that these times, although they took me to my breaking point and beyond, are the times when I grew closest to the Lord and realized how I could pick myself up. When you fall, get up. I echo the grand voice of President Uchtdorf in saying, "You can do it NOW." 

Rock on. Keep on keepin' on!

Elder Noll

September 8, 2014

This week goes to the Moon Festival... a holiday dedicated to BBQ-ing for the whole weekend! I'm lovin' life at the moment... we went to two all you can eat BBQ's at member's houses last night, and we've got two more scheduled today with a few more scattered out throughout the rest of the week... life is good! The best part, well one of the awesome parts, is that we have a few investigators coming and joining the party tonight! That'll give them an awesome chance to meet some of the coolest people in the ward and eat a bunch of meat! 

I'll tell you really quick about two miracles this week! 

Miracle # 1:

We have this way cool investigator who has met with missionaries on and off for over a year... I met him when I first came to Daya back in 2013 and we started meeting with him over the past couple weeks... we had a member come to the lesson with us this last week as we extended a Baptismal invitation. It was incredible. Honestly, the Spirit was so strong. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and about what it means in our lives, and how we could be affected by it. In the end, we asked him when he wanted to be baptized. He said he wants to be baptized later in September! We were so happy to see him so excited about the Gospel! It might have helped that the member we brought was a 19 year old girl, so it may have got him a little more excited to come to church ;)... that mixed with the Spirit and there's no way he could have said "No!"

Miracle # 2:

We set up with with a referral from a member on Thursday... turns out that he used to meet with missionaries over a year or so ago and he stopped because he got in a car accident and lost contact. The first thing he did when we sat down in the chapel was breathe out a huge sigh and say: "wow! I haven't felt this in so long!!" as he grabbed his chest and explained to us that something was burning inside his heart and he just wanted to stay in the church all the time! We were a little shocked, but adapted pretty quick and came to find out that he wants nothing more than to be baptized and have the gift of the Holy Ghost! He does have a few hurdles to overcome...but God worked a miracle to help us meet him, He'll definitely work some more miracles to get him baptized! 

So it's been quite the week! I'm grateful to be here. I want to share a story with you that influenced my life quite a bit. My first football coach was a guy named Coach Smith. I remember being absolutely terrified of that guy. I was only a freshman in high school, 90 pounds and not yet 5 feet tall with pads 2 times too big and football skills nowhere near as good as anyone else. I remember just trying to give it all I had every practice. I didn't want anyone to think that they could take advantage of me just because of my height, so I tried to make up for my lack of mass and skill with just pure heart. It didn't matter how hard I got hit, I'd always try my best to get up before the other guy and run out of there while he was still on the ground. It got to where I was just totally beat up. Completely exhausted and running on empty. My heart told me I had to keep going, but my brain was telling me to stop! It was exhausting me both mentally and physically... until one day, we had a team dinner at one of my teammates houses. After dinner, Coach Smith told us all to gather around. He pulled a red shirt out of a cardboard box at his feet. He said a lot of stuff about what it meant to be a "Mighty Red Devil" and how we ought to give our all, but I don't remember much about that. He said one line that I'll never forget, and luckily enough that one line was written on the back of that shirt.

 "Every Second, Every Play." 

That one line will forever shape my life. It's shaped my mission up to this point, and I will continue to live by it every day. At that time, when I was totally ready to give up and lay down, this line strengthened me and let me know that I could continue on. God will not carry us through life! He definitely can, but if He were to do that, then nothing we do would ever mean anything to us! Brothers and Sisters, when it gets hard and you feel like you can't get back up... when you feel like you just got rocked and your head is spinning... get up. Keep going. Don't think for a second that you're done. DON'T CUT YOURSELF SHORT. Don't settle for mediocrity, because YOU were never meant to be only mediocre. 

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Noll

August 31, 2014

 ( The subject line of Ryan's email this week was:Takin' a ride down the Bap Slizzl)

If you don't understand what the subject line of this email means, it's alright because I'm not totally sure either! Elder P and I are pretty exhausted some nights and say some pretty weird things! haha! 

What a week! I feel like this has to be the hundredth time that you've read that line at the beginning of one of my emails, but I can't help it! Each new week never ceases to amaze me with the new turn of events that it brings! I had some seriously special experiences this week, which I'll tell you about in a bit. But before that, I need some help from everyone back home. We've got a couple investigators on their way to baptism right now, but this last week each one hit some pretty big challenges which will keep them from making this sacred covenant and moving forward. Could you please help me pray for them? I can't give you any names, but if you could just keep those investigators in your prayers, I know that God knows who they are and He'll be able to bless them. 

We had one of the busiest weeks of my mission. A few days literally had MULTIPLE lessons scheduled every hour of the day. 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and so on until 9:30 at night! We basically just made up our meal times once we got home for the night! It was absolutely crazy, but so fulfilling. I've never wanted to work harder in my life. Not for football, wrestling, not for the school musical or a student council campaign, not for a job or anything! It's because all of those things were and are for my own personal gain. Sure, someone may or may not have benefited by me participating in those things, but I did them for myself because I enjoyed it or because I physically received some form of reward for it. Now, the only reward I receive is a nice cold room full of air conditioning at night, yet I've never felt more satisfied with a days work than I do now. The sweat, blood, tears, bug bites and aches and pains have all been soothed over as I've strived to listen to my fathers quoted advice: "Forget yourself, and go to work." Those words must have been quoted by a prophet or something, because they ring true in my mind every second of every day.;)

We had a blast going on exchanges with the Assistants to the President on Tuesday. It's fun to be with them now! I used to be a little intimidated by them because they were so awesome, but now I feel like we're just best buddies! We worked super hard and tired them out for the day! On Thursday, Elder P and I were to go down to the Mission Office to go the the monthly council for the leaders in the mission. I was so touched as I listened to the revelation and the maturity in that meeting. I remember watching many of the leaders now being trained when they first came on island. Quite a few of them were even in my zone when I was a zone leader over in Zhongxing! At the end of the meeting, we sing the mission song. As we stood and grouped together to sing the song, I felt no different than any other time. I looked around at the unbroken line of my best friends and couldn't hold back a few silent tears of love, respect and have gratitude that I've had this chance to serve around such admirable people. Once I realized that it was the last time I'd see a few of them, the tears ran a little more freely. 

I want to share a little comparison with you this week. The plan that God has created for us and this life are comparable to a large bodied, empty bottle with a thin bottle neck. Can you picture it? It looks kind of like this:

                    

                  |    |

                  |    |

                 /      \

               /          \

             /              \

           /                  \

         /                      \ 

     --------------------------

So here we have our lives. We've been placed inside this little bottle to experience the world and learn to overcome it. It's honestly the ONLY way that we'll be able to TRULY know and understand how to master ourselves and all our passions. The purpose is to get out of the bottle and back to God. The way? Look to Him and always be moving towards him. Now, this is not a perfect comparison, so bare with me! The bottom of the bottle seems so wide and it looks like our choices and freedom are pretty vast! It seems pretty nice down there, doesn't it? The closer we get to leaving the bottle, the way seems so much more narrow and our choices and freedom seem to be restricted to an almost unbearable level. The thing is, most people don't realize the most important aspect! Although you think that your choices and opportunities are so vast and comfortable, you still live inside a bottle!!! Isn't that absolutely pathetic? Let's go! Man up, deal with a little bit of discomfort and squeeze your way out into the real world! Of course, we won't be able to fully free ourselves from this bottle until the next life, but unless we start making progress now, we'll end up stuck inside this pathetic bottle for the rest of eternity. Brothers and Sisters, fight hard. DO NOT THINK THAT YOU CAN LIVE IN A BOTTLE THE REST OF ETERNITY AND STILL RETURN TO LIVE WITH THE ALMIGHTY GOD. You are expected to MOVE and to WORK. I promise that the Savior has provided a way, a rope if you will, and if we will but stick to that way, hold to that rope, we will always know where we are going and how to get there. Don't let go. No matter how sore your arms may be, no matter how much it hurts or how claustrophobic you might be getting... hold on there. There is brightness and open air ahead.

Love you all. The influence you've had on me throughout my life continues to play a role in my mind everyday. I remember things at the most random times, and those memories bring strength and smiles every time!

Love, Elder Noll (Sr.) ;)