Hello everyone! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day. haha Hope everything is going well as usual back home. Things are going really good here. This past week has been pretty crazy. It has included tons of driving... Lets just say over the past week, I have driven about 1000 miles. And total driving time... over 24 hours. Intense I know. The reason being is that on Wednesday, we had a zone meeting in Savana-Lamar so we had to pick up missionaries to go there, and then, we had a mission Christmas party in Kingston, so we had a ton of driving to get there, and then we had to drive the missionaries back to their areas, the furthest of which was Negril, and Montego bay, and then we had to drive back to our area, and then we had to drive to may pen and back. But this week has been really good though. I am happy to be serving here in Santa Cruz. The branch is awesome, and I feel like it is going to grow really fast. On Thursday, we had the Mission Christmas devotional. For the devotional, different missionaries read a script for all of the messengers of Christ's birth, such as the angels, and shepherds, and marry, and joseph, etc. It was a very spiritual devotional, and I felt the Spirit very strongly there. I felt what a privilege and honor and blessing it is to be chosen to also be a messenger of Jesus Christ's birth and of His special mission here in Jamaica. I was overwhelmed. As members of His church, we have the sacred honor and privilege and blessing and responsibility of standing as witnesses of Christ at all times and in all things and in all places. May we all hold up the light of Christ who is the light and the life of the world, who has ransomed us from death and sin, and who has shown us the way back to our Eternal Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hey everyone! hope everyone is having a good Christmas break. Things are going really well here. I am loving my new area Santa Cruz. The branch is small, but I know that wont be that way for long. I have truly seen the Lords hand here already, and I know that He is in charge of things. We are currently teaching some pretty cool people, and we should see some baptisms really soon. This past week, I have learned a very valuable lesson on relying on the Lord/humility. On Thursday or Friday, we taught two different people at different times. In each lesson, the investigators had different concerns which rooted in fears that they had. One investigator thought they could not be ready for baptism in a month, and one investigator did not think they could be baptized again because they were already baptized in a different church. My companion and I would try to prove our points to them, but they would not budge, no matter how hard we tried. Eventually, in both of the different lessons, I felt an impression to invite the investigators then and there to kneel down in prayer and to ask if what we taught them was true. For one investigator we asked her to pray and ask if she could be ready for baptism. For the other investigator we asked him to pray and ask if he needed to be baptized again. We then told them to pause and pay attention to how they felt as they closed their prayers. In both cases God answered their prayers through the Spirit. It was incredible. As they prayed I could feel the Spirit and they could feel the Spirit. Their concerns were then resolved. The Lord is in charge of His work. No matter how much we previously tried to convince them with our own efforts, they would not move. Then, as they turned to the Lord in prayer He was able to answer the concerns and questions they had. It was a very awesome and humbling experience. This has happened several times as ive been on my mission. And each time the Lord has answered my investigators prayers. I know this Church is true. I know that God lives and that He does answer sincere prayer. I love you all

 

Elder Nugent

Hey everyone! hows it going? hope everything is going well. Things are going well with me. This past week has been pretty crazy, but I am doing very well. We have several investigators who are progressing really well and really want to be baptized. It is awesome to see the changes that occur in their lives as they accept and live the gospel. One investigator in particular has made a total change as she has been living the commandments of God. It is just awesome to see. The investigator is actually illiterate, but she has felt the Spirit many times in our lessons and in her prayers and at church. And she has a testimony of the truthfulness of the restoration of the gospel. On Saturday, however, I received a call that I am being transferred to be a zone leader in Santa Cruz which is located in the parish of Saint Elizabeth. The zone covers from Montego Bay to Mandeville. I am excited to go to Santa Cruz, but I am sad to leave Kingston. Over the past 6 months I have been here, I have truly grown to love the people. And I will be sad to leave them. I know that the Lord has other plans for me in Santa Cruz though. When we align our will with the Lord's will, we are able to do the Lord's work. The Lord knows what is best, and so I am very glad and excited to do whatever he wants me to do. I am excited to get to work in Santa Cruz and help the people there know the blessings of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am loving my mission, and wouldn't rather be doing anything else. Love you all back home,

Elder Nugent

Hey everyone! hope things are going excellent. Things are going great here in Jamaica. I love my mission. I have really learned a lot, and I am changing. It is crazy how small acts of willing obedience and service change us over time. We may not see the change immediately, because we change in degrees. But we do change all the time. And as we pause and look back on our life we can see the change. Well this past week I have been pondering about living our lives and prioritizing our time for the things that matter most. One thing that I have funnily enough grown to hate on my mission is television. I cringe at the thought of how much time I wasted on the television and on facebook etc. when I was at home. On my mission, I have met many, many people, and when I get to know them one of the questions I ask is, "what do you like to do for fun?" The majority of the responses I get, sadly, is "I like to watch t.v. for fun". There are lives to bless, there is growth and progression that we need to make, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. Are we using our God given time for things that have little or no value? As disciples of Jesus Christ, we covenanted to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. We promised to do the things that Christ would do. We promised to serve our brothers and sisters. In Omni 1:26 i think (forgive me if im wrong) it says we need to offer up our whole souls to God. When we offer up our whole souls to God and place ourselves in His hands, we become like Him. He turns us from the worn, sin stained, mortal beings that we are into gods. We can never allow ourselves to allow t.v. and anything else for that matter, to detract, and distract us from our duty to God. We must never allow ourselves to sell our souls for the television or anything else. Now im not saying that watching some t.v. is bad. We just cannot let it get in the way of us fulfilling our duty to God, and loving and serving all of mankind. We must never let anything get in the way of scripture study, family prayer, family scripture study, family home evenings, and everything else that we are commanded to do. I love this gospel with all my heart. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I love all of you back home and here. May we all dedicate all of our lives to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.