Whats up everyone?! how is everyone doing? i am doing great here in my new area. I love being here in Mandeville. Mandeville has the perfect climate it is pretty much like spring time 24/7. The people here a really friendly and the roads here are very hilly... but that just makes riding bikes here even more fun. My companion and I are getting along very well. We have been working hard to try to get the members of the Branch to help us even more in our missionary efforts. Members really are one of the biggest contributing factors in helping people come into the church. Im sorry to say but i probably wont have as many crazy stories here in mandeville as i had in May Pen... Maybe thats a good thing though haha. But i am very excited to be serving here. I love the area, I love the branch, I love my companion so I am excited to see the things that will happen here in Mandeville. 

         This past week, I have been reading in the Book of Mormon in the book of Alma. In Chapter 49, the Lamanites go to war against the Nephites. The Nephites, under the inspired direction of Captain Moroni, are able to fortify their cities so that when the Lamanites came to battle against them they were able to defeat the Lamanites and not one soul was lost amongst the Nephites. Due to lack of time, I wont go in very deeply into the details of the chapter, but i would like to encourage everyone to read the chapter, and i will provide some insights. Just as the Nephites were able to fortify their cities, we need to fortify our lives and our homes. We need to build up boundaries and fortifications that will keep us safe from temptation and sin. Just as the Nephites placed their strongest forces at the entrances of their fortifications, we need to place our strongest forces in our minds. We need to protect ourselves from the temptations of satan, who desires all of us to be miserable. There are many ways to do these things. We need to purify our thoughts, read the scriptures, pray often, attend Church to name a few. We need to set up our fortifications and boundaries now before the enemy tries to come and destroy our soul. If we wait, it will be too late. Again I would like everyone to read that chapter and apply the principles to our own individual lives in the fight against sin. I love being here in Mandeville, I love serving my mission. I would not trade it for anything else. I know that this gospel is true, I know that Jesus is the Christ, and I know that this is his work. I still love and miss you all back home. You are in my thoughts and prayers. 

Love,

Elder Nugent

Wahta go wahn everyone!? things are going very good here in Jamaica!
There have been a couple of big changes that have happened this past
week. On Saturday I got a transfer call and I will be leaving on
wednesday to serve in Mandeville where dad grew up! my address for
letters and packages will still be the same because they just get sent
to the mission office. I am very excited to go and serve there! I will
miss May Pen a lot though. I never realized how sad I would be leaving
until I had to say goodbye. I have had a great time getting to know
and work with the members of the branch as well as investigators that
I have been teaching here. I will also be sad to be leaving Elder
Montgomery. He has been a great example for me and has helped me to
become a better missionary. My new companion's name is elder Deahl. I
have met him once before and I can tell he is an awesome missionary so
I am excited to be serving with him as well.

On Saturday, we had a district conference for all the branches in
the mandeville district that i was able to attend. Elder Anderson from
the Quarm of the Seventy came and gave a really good talk. He talked
about how we as members of the Church need to make sure that as we go
to church and do the things that we are supposed to do, we need to
feel the Spirit. He said that when people go to church and just go
through the motions without feeling the Spirit, one of two things may
happen: 1. the person may stop going to Church and stop going through
the motions, or 2. the person may continue to go through the motions
without feeling the Spirit. Both cases are sad. We need to make sure
that as we go to Church and do the things we are supposed to be doing,
we are not merely going through the motions. We must always strive to
have the spirit to be with us, and be worthy to always have the spirit
to be with us.

I have truly gained an appreciation for the Spirit especially as
a missionary. When we teach lessons, and the Spirit is present, the
people we are teaching make a firm resolve to change and become
better. When we teach lessons and the Spirit is not present, the
people who we teach dont have as great of a desire to change, and many
times they dont make a true resolve to change. I know that this gospel
is true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the
world. I know that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet. And I know that
the Book of Mormon is true. I know these things not because I am a
missionary, but because the Holy Ghost has borne witness to my heart.
I love and miss you all. I love serving the Lord here in Jamaica.
Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Love,
Elder Nugent

Hello everyone! whats up? hows it going out there? Things are going good here in JA. My companion Elder Montgomery and I are continuing to be hard at work here in Jamaica. I have been learning a lot from him. He is an awesome missionary. I hope I will continue to serve with him next transfer. We have been working with some pretty cool people lately, and i have faith that they will become converted to the gospel and go into the waters of baptism very soon. Hopefully I will be here when they do. The work is going great though. I love being out here... and speaking of love, valentines day is just around the corner so i think this calls for a special edition email.  The following is a list of the top 10 things i love about Jamaica and serving a mission:

10. Banana Chips.... mmmm so delicious

9. The Tropical climate... everywhere is so green and luscious. there is fruit on almost every tree. it is so beautiful, especially after a heavy rain storm.

8. Riding my Bike.... sounds weird i know, but bike riding is cool in jamaica. It is especially cool because whenever i ride my bike it feels like i am mountain biking because of the rough roads and rain foresty bush that grows everywhere.

7. There are little shacks pretty much everywhere you go on every road where  you can buy almost any necessity like toilet paper, food, etc.

6. Cook shops.... delicious food at a delicious price. Some of the best tasting food and it is very very inexpensive

5. Teaching people the gospel at night while sitting on their veranda. It is quite relaxing and very spiritual.

4. having daily studies for 2 hours. I thought i would hate having to study the gospel for 2 hours a day, but i love it so much now. I am able to learn and feel the spirit and improve and learn to help others improve it is great.

3. Always being busy... I do something every hour of every day. there is really no time for idleness. I am constantly busy. It is exhausting but i love it.

2.  Growing my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love learning about the gospel and strengthening my testimony. I love feeling and learning from the spirit.

1. Seeing people become happier and see there lives change as they apply and live the principles of the gospel. This is what makes it all worth it. Seeing someone before knowing about the gospel, and then watching them improve their lives and become happy is one of the greatest things in the world.

bonus. receiving letters from everyone at home i love that too haha.

As you can all tell i love my mission. i have had many great experiences while here in Jamaica. I wouldnt trade it for anything. i love serving the Lord. I know that this is his Church and I KNOW that he leads and guides and directs this work. I also love all of you back home. And I love hearing from all of you. Feel free to write me a valentines letter... maybe even 10 things you love about me. hahahaha just kidding about that last part. but i would love to hear from everyone. well i miss and love you all... until next week. Likkle more

Love,
Elder Nugent

Whats up everyone?! hows everything going? things are going good in may pen still. This transfer has been flying by sooo fast. not too much crazy has happened this past week. it has for the most part been a pretty calm week. We are still working hard on trying to get our investigators to get baptized. Whenever we get really close, something always comes up though so we have to delay the date. Its kind of rough but it just goes to show how important baptism really is. Whenever someone gets close to baptism, the adversary does all that he can to prevent it from happening. i have seen that so many times on my mission. I guess its a good thing though because when we are tried, and tested, we can truly prove ourselves and grow and become stronger.

Things are truly going well though. I am getting along very well with my companion elder Montgomery, we are working hard all day every day. its crazy that this transfer is almost over already. it has gone by way too fast. I love working with the May Pen branch. Its really cool to see how many of them associate with each other kind of like a family does.

Well not too much different has been happening. we are working with our investigators through all their trials. it is definitely tough, but when we see them make changes and see how much happier they become, I realize that it is definitely worth it. One thing we have been trying to improve with our investigators is their prayer relationship with God. Too many times we take prayer too lightly. We have to realize that we are truly engaging in a two way communication with our Heavenly Father. When we realize this our prayers will be transformed. We will get answers to our prayers 100% of the time. I encourage everyone to read in the bible dictionary about prayer, and evaluate their prayers and make necessary changes. Prayer is definitely a great blessing. How blessed are we to know that we have a loving Father in Heaven who communicates with us.

I know that this gospel is true, I know this Church is led by a true and living prophet of God, I know that Jesus Christ died and atoned for our sins, and for that I am eternally grateful and indebted. I love this Gospel and missionary work. I hope you all have a fun, safe week. I love you all and miss you all. Forget me not haha.

Love,
Elder Nugent

Whats up everyone?! how is everyone doing? I am doing good here in May Pen still. This week has been really good. We have still been teaching lots of people and we have been finding some new investigators, I also had my first zone conference this week so it was cool to see the other missionaries and learn from my mission president, we also had a zone p-day so i was able to play football both american football and soccer football. dang i forgot how terrible i am at those two sports haha. I am getting along very well with my companion Elder Montgomery. He is teaching me the ways and I really feel like i have been learning a lot from him and growing as a missionary. 

This week it really hit me that the reason we do certain things in the church, is so that we can become the person our Heavenly Father wants us to become. This gospel isnt just only about doing, its about becoming. We can go to church every sunday, but unless we go to church with the right intent, the right heart, the right attitude, we wont become the person we are trying to become. The same goes for repentance, If we repent just by not doing the thing bad that we did before, and we dont have a change of heart, or we dont try to become better, it isnt fully repenting. If we read our scriptures without trying to learn and apply the principles that we read about, we arent getting as much as we could out of the scriptures. We arent becoming the kind of person we need to become. With this, I would just like to challenge everyone back home to really think why they do certain things in the church. I would like to challenge all of us to not merely go through the motions for the sake of doing what we are suppose to. But i would like to challenge everyone to do what we are suppose to do so that we can BECOME what we need to become. It is only in this way that we can truly become like our Heavenly Father and live with him some day. 

I love this gospel and I love my Savior I love what they help us to become. I love being out here in Jamaica. It is definitely tough mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, but it is definitely worth it. I love and really do miss and think and pray about you all. Thanks for all of your prayers and support and love. I really do appreciate it. On the humorous side, by the way, the weirdest things that i have eaten here to date are: 

Fish head, goat intestine, chicken foot, turkey neck, cow foot. hahaha and yes i finished them all. 

well till next week. Likkle More

-Elder Nugent