Ode to the Family Nielsen

What a great week it has been! It seems like so much has happened in so little time but then I realized that it was kind of a longer week. But when thinking of how many days there has been since my last email it doesn't seem as if everything should have fit in 10 days!

So the big news of the week....There are multiple big news items but first on the list. I will still be serving the people of Waukee for 6 more weeks at least! That makes me really happy because I am not ready to go yet. We have way too much work going on right now to just take off and miss the end result of it all. I really love Waukee. It's home really. They say home is where the heart is so I've thought during this last couple weeks that I supposedly have multiple homes. Pocatello, Knoxville, Ponte Nova, Rigby....there's a little piece of me in all of those places. I guess I've grown a lot in the past 4 years. Anyway...I am in Waukee and could not be more happy. With baptisms coming up soon I did not want to miss them and would've been a little sad to have missed them.

The other big news item is where we are currently living. We are no longer in the Nielsen's home. I want to take a minute tho to say how much I have learned in that home. I will never be able to repay the Nielsen's for the hospitality, kindness, and love they have showed me. I have been in their basement now for over 4 months and I will never forget them. They will be a huge building block of who I am in the future. I love them so much and will always remember the good times we had there. It's weird because we will still be in the area and so are they but their house is going on the market this Friday so they can move into the house they have been building. So we'll see them around but it just won't be the same. We are temporarily living in the assistant's apartment for about a month until this apartment in Waukee opens up for us. It's been tiring moving stuff around and getting resituated. I will never leave the stuff that I don’t want for the next missionary because it just happens and happens til the poor companionship that has to move out of the place has to deal with it all. It's amazing how much stuff I have collected in 9 months. I don't know where it all came from but it's there.

The Meier's are the family that is set to be baptized on the 24th. It's just a cool story all around for everyone. They are going to be getting tickets to the Kansas City temple open house and go as a family. The dad was able to get off work this week so he set foot into a church for the first time in 30 years nearly. The mom and dad both quit smoking and drinking before we ever even invited them because they felt it was the right thing to do. The girls are just the best! They are eating it all up and they are so excited every week to go to church. It makes me really step back and realize that I should still be that excited about the gospel. Converts teach members so much. I love that family. The father of the family, his mother is coming to see the service as well. She served a mission back in her day and is not quite elderly but told the family she could not miss this day. It's so awesome to watch them grow in the gospel of Jesus the Christ. I will never forget some of the most powerful moments on my mission have come from that family. They are just awesome. They all asked if I will baptize them and Elder Fenn confirms them in sacrament meeting. It's going to be a great picture!

The Ray's are also growing so much and are going to be baptized that same day. It's fun to teach them because they have been taught before and have seen the blessings of the gospel. But on the other hand we are teaching a girl named Tasha who is also set to be baptized on that day and she has never been taught anything let alone even believe in God. It is so awesome to watch people learn that they have a father in heaven that loves them. In fact today we got some messages from her that just make any missionary's day. We met with her yesterday and gave her 7 chapters to read for 7 days. Well this morning she not only had read all that but started in the Book of Mormon and is reading fast. I love teaching her because all of our lessons are is just her asking questions and we answer. It's so awesome. She has made a lot of sacrifices already to become a member of the church and she continues to make them. It's the most rewarding thing in the world to see.

We had stake coordination this week. It's my favorite meeting I have. I just love being surrounded by spiritual giants that have gathered to help us out in our efforts. It's so awesome. And I like writing up the reports too. I feel really cool when I show up to the meeting with stats for everyone on the work and graph it out for them. It's funny because they are all usually really impressed. Maybe I should be a business analyst instead of a doctor. =)

It's funny to kind of read over my emails from the past however long and see what's important to me. I look back and the things that were important to me are just different than now. I used to outline my emails by days...now I do it more by people. My mission has just become so much more meaningful lately and I’m not sure why. I do not hesitate to say that for about three months I was in just this funk that I could not get out of. I loved being here and I loved the people but it didn't amount to anything more than trying to have a good time. My focus has shifted tho thank goodness. I quit comparing myself with others and tried to focus on who I was. I started measuring myself not by what I had done but more by who I was. I think heavenly father doesn't care so much about what we have accomplished. He just cares about us and who we are. I love Him and his plan. It's so perfect. It's really the most important thing to me now. His plan and my savior mean everything to me. I love them.

Things I learned this week:
-Eyes are the coolest thing ever. I love looking at people's eyes. That's not new but reaffirmed to me very often.
-The most pleasing sound to any person is their own name.
-Charity and compliments can change people's opinion.

So...I’m not sure if anyone else does this but when you have some free time on your brain you always have a thought or question that always come back to you time and time again. Well for me for the past 2 years it has been the same question. I always ask myself what is the purpose of what I am doing? What is the purpose to my life? I guess in all regards it's just an expanded way to say "why?” well I've lately been finding myself trying to answer that with this question...what evidence is there that I am accomplishing my purpose? As I have asked myself that I have been able to measure how I am doing. I'm not too great getting my feelings out in words a lot of time and I wish I could really say what's in my heart. I am so grateful that I know my purpose. I know my purpose in life. I know my purpose in my mission. That is such a peaceful calming feeling and it comes from the gospel of Jesus the Christ. I do not mean to suppose that life has heretofore been stress free but it is peaceful. I am so grateful for that knowledge and testimony. I love Christ. I love my father in heaven. I am trying to build a relationship with them and with my family because it really matters most.

I love you all and can’t thank you enough. You're all the best!

Hugs and Kisses,
Elder Excell!