Neil, Nathan

I'm sorry for another quick email today! My favorite part of this week were all of the small miracles God blessed us with each day. I took time each day to write them down and I want to share a few: -A total chain of "coincidences" involving a referall from Elder Mouritsen in Rijeka led to us meeting with a member we have been trying to get in contact with for months! And then he came to church on Sunday and we've become friends with him! -A prompting to turn around and go talk to a disabled girl sitting with her mom which led to a great experience with the Spirit -feeling like we should stay at the college for a few extra minutes which led to us meeting another active Christian group here in Podgorica who we will be working with in the future! -Planning and teaching a lesson on covenants and letting the Spirit teach the doctrine of baptism and God's promises to a couple of our progressing friends Spiritual thought: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experi...

On Saturday we got a call from an American we'd never met asking to meet us at the church. We ran over and it turns out he has 20 employees here who fled Ukraine and are now living here in Podgorica. He is a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from Utah, and so he had flown out to help them and thought to contact us to get involved. We had dinner with them all that night, got to know them, and heard so many awe-inspiring stories of courage and bravery as these people fled their war-torn country. Just absolutely amazing people. And THEN they all coordinated and came to church the next day!!! We had planned a sacrament meeting with the theme of how God makes all things come together for our good, and the music numbers, talks, and lesson were perfectly suited for the situation. The Spirit was so strong as Elder Draper bore witness that God is aware of us and loves His children.  God lives, and He works miracles in our day. I am sure of that truth.  Spiritual...

Only time for a spiritual thought today! It's been a good week and this week is transfers so next email will have the news for next transfer!  I was trying to decide what to share, and I felt like speaking to a simple beautiful truth I learned again this week. We recently taught a family here about having a relationship with Heavenly Father. As we taught, I was amazed once again by the importance of this pure doctrine. We were taught in a training to never skip or underestimate the principle, "God is our loving Heavenly Father". And for good reason; knowing we have a Father who loves us perfectly and knows us by name is life-changing! He provides for us, speaks to us, and works through us to bless His children. We can and should trust in Him in in all things. I know He hears and answers our prayers, and loves us unconditionally. And coming to know and love Him changes everything! Elder Neil Pictures: -Trying a little Turkish diner we found  -Pday exploring (not swimming:)...

We had a great branch conference with the Fields and our district president! 30 members and non-members came, and the spirit was powerful all throughout the meeting. We also had an awesome pday with the Fields today (see pictures)  So many tender mercies and miracles today, but unfortunately I don't have time to mention many of them. We taught all of the new converts here this week and had some amazing discussions as we reviewed the principles of the gospel. It is amazing how much we learn each time we teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. These new members inspired us with their questions and all of our testimonies were strengthened.  Many of the miracles involved meeting new people; whether it was a waiter at the restaurant, a mom waiting for her kids to finish music school, a baker wanting to do something more with her life, or a freak athlete 16-year old playing basketball with us, we were blessed with opportunities and promptings from the Holy Ghost that allowed us to "preach...