Neil, Nathan

After 2 years of serving the Lord in the North Adriatic Mission, Nathan Neil is home! He will be speaking at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on June 11th at 9am PST The address is 21720 Northeast 29th Ave  Ridgefield WA 98642 We would love for you to come and welcome Nathan, but if you are unable to come, here is the link (he will be speaking around 9:20am - it might be off during the passing of the Sacrament before he speaks).   Also, here are some pictures of the tour we took of some of Nathan's mission areas after he was released via Zoom in Croatia.  The group included David (Dad) Alisa (Mom), Madison (older sister), Tyler (Maddie's husband), Jacob (older brother), Elle (Jacob's wife) and, of course Nathan.   I'm not including photos of the choice friends we met as I didn't ask permission, but that was definitely the highlights of our trip - meeting the people Nathan loved and who loved him.   1.  Saying our last goodbye...

Hello family, There have been some changes to Nathan's plan we want to share with you.  He was originally going to come home 5/16 and be released and give his Homecoming talk on 5/21.   Now, he will be staying in Croatia.  Jacob and David will get there by 5/18.  He will be released via zoom.  Then they will be there for a special weekend of Elder David A Bednar coming to visit the Saints of the area.  It's been a long time since an Apostle has come and they are excited.  The rest of us (Maddie, Tyler, me and Elle) will be leaving on 5/22 to meet them and tour Nathan's mission and some of Italy.  We return Monday 6/5.   So, Nathan's new date for his homecoming talk will be June 11 at 9am PST.  I will send out a zoom link the week of. Please forward this info to any of your adult children who might be curious as to what's up. Also, if you have questions or want to respond, just do it to my email, instead of "reply all", as there...

I'm a little ashamed how long it's been since the last email considering this is the last week! But here goes anyways.. One thing that has stood out these past few weeks is the progress of our members. We've been meeting with a couple of them regularly since the beginning of the transfer and it's amazing to see how far they've come. I love to see them have experiences with the Spirit, that's probably my favorite part of missionary work. They go study and pray on their own and then call us to tell us about the inspiration they recieved and Spirit they felt!  The other thing that has stood out is the role love and service has played this transfer. I can honestly say that I have real, true friends here in Zadar who I trust and love. I can't really put into words why that is so significant to me, but I can testify that charity really changes lives. Please... Take time to visit people who are struggling. Do something unexpectedly kind like writing a note or buyin...

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" President Field asked us this question a few weeks ago and these past few days have strengthened my answer: There has been a lot of preparation during the past 6 weeks of this transfer; both towards R&R for Elder Saunders and for our goals we want to accomplish here in Zadar. Tuesday and Wednesday saw Elder Saunders and I in Zagreb for R&R and he absolutely crushed it! It wasn't that everything was perfect, but I saw all the hours of study and practice come back to him and he taught clearly and powerfully. It was amazing seeing how far he's come and also seeing all the new missionaries and how much they each care about the people here and one another. The other half of our preparation over the weeks has been focused on building our game night. We wanted to get to know the people here better and invite them to come have an experience at the church. (Backstory) Since we first got here, we have averaged 1 person a week at our ...

I've loved these last couple weeks; the people we've met, places we've visited, seeing growth at our game nights and english classes, and fasting as a mission.  We've gotten to use our talents playing volleyball and piano and have made lots of new friends through that. I love times when I can connect with people through things I love and then just explain why I'm here and the gospel that makes me so happy.  This coming weekend is general conference, a chance to hear from the prophet and recieve inspiration for our own lives! Please take the time to listen and look for answers, I promise they will come. (If you want a link to watch, shoot me an email:) Elder Neil Pictures: -jam sesh on the bridge w our new friend -trip to Ugljan -waterfall tradition:) -Split exchange -krka pday -fit Davor's whole apartment in his car

Highlights: -Service for our landlord Davor, got fed 3 days in a row?! We've become good friends with him and his wife -Elder Saunders and I gave talks on Sunday! We found out Friday night and naturally played volleyball for a couple hours (so fun to be playing again) and scouted out apartments for the senior couple Saturday and wrote them Sunday morning, all went well though -Elder Saunders has been working super hard and his language and teaching is coming along really well -Met a cool guy at volleyball from Hungary who had met the missionaries while doing his geneaology back in Hungary! He loves the Church's beliefs on the family and we've become good friends with him  -Pday evening ferry ride out to the island to visit our branch President and his wife. Some of the most down-to-earth, chill, cool people I've ever met. And so committed to the gospel and their family -Taught Filip how to pray this week and he came to church and had another great experience. Prayers fo...