Getting the Rug Pulled Out...

Hi Familia,

Elder Toth and our turtle

This won´t be my last letter! Next week I will still go into internet to write the reports of the zone and then afterwards I´ll write you guys. I´m going to have to write this afternoon quickly because I spent all of my time in internet today saving my USB drive from a virus attack. I also have to get on to send pictures to the personal secretary and he wants pictures of the family that I am in...could you send me 5 family or personal pictures from before the mission to send to him for a memory video before let’s say 5 this afternoon? If not that´s cool, I can look for a couple in my USB drive. Love you guys have a good day and I´ll write later!

Love,

Elder Nelson

Dear Familia,

Ya okay so sorry for the difficulties earlier on today. What happened is that I plugged my USB in to get a few photos from another elder and his USB was full of viruses. Who knows how to get rid of viruses? This kid, so I spent the next hour battling this virus and couldn’t write you guys. Just know that now I don`t have a virus and bonus, because the personal secretary needs those photos I can write while they are uploading, cause they weigh a ton in computer terms.

This week went by really fast, and sometimes I feel a little like a dog when you are pulling the rug out from under it. I claw and I claw, but the time just slips away and I wish it could be a treadmill in reverse. That said, I feel like we are doing a great work in Trapiche, such a great work that it can be hard to think about going on work visits to other areas in the zone to help the missionaries in their areas. In spite of that, this week, we went on 3 different work visits, two of which I was out of the area and Elder N stayed and one where I stayed. One of those was with Elder L and the two where I left was with Elder F from Utah and the Sisters from San Carlos. What’s been happening in the zone is that our area is really really strong, but the other areas not so much, so we are trying to visit more often to give an example of strong work to the other missionaries and hopefully help them to get things going in their areas.

In the first visit with Elder L, well, he is an Elder that is finishing as well, and we can see that he knows so so much. I was really surprised in the morning studies when he told me that he wanted to finish the Book of Mormon before going home. What was surprising wasn’t that he wanted to read it, it was that he had read the book 11 times in the mission. I was shocked by the sheer amount of effort he had put into the study of it and it made me want to read it more. Every time I read it and finish I feel empowered to go out and ask someone else to read it as well, and I think for Elder L, it could be one of the reasons he asked President Erickson to let him stay in the mission one change longer.

Then with the sisters, we had a short visit in the afternoon with a member accompanying me and really could see the knowledge of a member that had as well studied the Book of Mormon since a very early age. He was an RM maybe 45 years old, and he hadn`t stopped studying, in fact, he had read several books additional to the standard works that helped him to reach a Filosopher investigator that we visited. The sisters teach differently than elders do. Both have very different styles and both are very successful only because both styles depend on teaching with the spirit and helping the person not necessarily the situation.

With Elder F, I was mostly there because in their area, the ward is suffering a little of a down time, but we are helping to put a better focus on retaining the recent converts and helping new members to feel like they are part of the ward. Part of that is helping them to understand doctrine that they didn’t understand when they were baptized. I hope the work there continues to progress like it did when I visited. Elder F will be a great missionary; he really focuses on how to help the people understand. He is from Kolby`s group, but I don`t know if he ever met Kolby. That whole group seems really preparado and spiritually sensitive to the needs of the people that they teach. I am continually surprised by the way he (Kolby) is developing as a missionary and I hope that this new opportunity as a district leader helps him to grow and develop in ways that the Lord would desire. Every assignment has a great purpose in the lifelong scheme of how our mission affects our lives.

I love all of you and I hope this week goes well for you. Any last details you should ask me before this coming Monday as that will be the last day that I will sign in and be able to work things from inside the mission.

Love,

Elder Nelson

What is in your hands?

that may or may not be a turtle shell...that had been gutted by the nice lady that made us lunch

A Shining Offering to the Lord

An apple I bought last Pday...it came from Yakima all the way to Perú to be eaten by an Elder from the TriCities. What a ways for such a strangely familiar end.

Dear familia,    

This week I had an experience that was both journal-worthy as well as letter home worthy. It was an experience that to me will be historical in the future, one that I think may be of great significance in the years to come. Remember that in the offices, the sisters had taught and baptized W, and that he had understood the gospel through an interpreter? Well, the interpreter, A, leaves for her mission in Chile on Wednesday, something that will be very difficult for W, because he is deaf and mute. He won´t have the interaction that he had before and it will become increasingly difficult for him to participate in the church. Why do I mention all of this story if I am in Trapiche though?

D was baptized 3 weeks ago. That´s when President Costa decided to start helping D to get technical training and get a job. He called on the branch council to pull together their resources to find out about what opportunities there are for a deaf person in Lima. D works as a solderer in his dad´s shop, but we want him to get out of the house so that he can leave behind an addiction to internet gaming that he has. If he spends the majority of the day out working or studying, it won´t be that hard to get rid of the distraction. Two weeks ago, I got permission from the zone leaders in Tahuantinsuyo to call the missionaries there and get a hold of A before she goes on her mission. Yesterday, A and W traveled the 45 minutes out to Trapiche to meet D. The emotion in the room was high when A started to ask about D´s story, whether he was deaf at birth or later, where he studied, how much he knows, whether he would be willing to come to Tahuantinsuyo to go to sacrament meeting with W so they can strengthen each other. He was the most attentive I had ever seen him and he responded that he could try it. 

A has a plan to present to the area presidency tomorrow, the day before leaving for the mission. She wants to help the deaf members of the church to learn and understand the doctrines better so that they can stay active in the church. There’s a lot of deaf members like D, who haven´t been baptized or were baptized and fell away because they didn’t have the resources to continue learning without so much frustration. She said it would mean having a meeting in one of the stake centers of the north part of Lima to see how many deaf members are willing to participate and then teach them to work with the missionaries to find and activate the others. There would be training for ecclesiastical leaders and then there would be a solicitud (a request) to create a deaf branch for the north part of Lima. She estimates that currently there could be as many as 25 or 30 deaf members or family members in the several stakes here and she recognizes that if the plan is accepted, the area presidency might ask her to come back from her mission to spearhead the project. It´s so exciting to hear that something will be done soon to help them. I think one of the most exciting things is that I felt at peace about whether or not D would receive the help he needs to continue active in the church after the elders don´t visit three times a week. 

I haven´t really accepted that the mission will end yet. I don´t cry or stay up late thinking about it. I understand that it will, and the thought comes to me a lot, but I don´t dwell on it. I know time is short and I am giving absolutely everything, more than anything, I want the missionaries to understand why they are here. I want everyone to have an eternal perspective of the work that they are doing and to see that though the down times (the few that there are) can be fun, but only when contrasted with many days spent working very very hard. In order to really feel like the mission that we serve has been accepted, when we pronounce that prayer, we have to have given it all, we have to have put it all aside for the 2 years and really put our whole heart, mind, might and soul into the work. Only then is it a worthy sacrifice, even though it isn´t when it leaves our hands. When it leaves our hands, it´s a bundle of sweaty white shirts, and dirty tracting shoes, agendas filled up and hours under the sun. When it leaves His hands though, it´s a shining offering of people changed, lives transformed, repentance made, and souls touched. We can´t do it on our own, and until my last day in the mission, I can´t stop thanking Him for changing my sacrifice for His. 

I love you all, I know that time is short, but that doesn´t stop me from doing everything I can to take advantage of every last second.

Love,

Elder Nelson

Let the Lord take the Wheel...

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                                   

So this week went by really fast. Now I fight the urge a little to just read your letters and not respond because it´s easier that way, but that’s a total taker and not a giver attitude. I think one of the things that I learned this week is that I can´t force the spiritual things, but when I just let go and trust in what the Lord has planned for me then the spirit just comes naturally.

One example of that is that we have R and L. They got married last month more or less this week and they have been really enthusiastically listening to us and we are super sure they will get baptized eventually. The only problem is that we had a date set and they still don´t feel comfortable taking that big of a decision. That has two consequences: first, they will be much better prepared when they decide to be baptized and will stay active in the church longer, hopefully even getting married eventually. Second, the date we set (the 10th) will probably pass without them being baptized. That´s hard because we have goals and plans set, but we understand that at the end of the day, what is most important is that repentance occurs, justice is satisfied, and mercy takes effect. They will likely get baptized either the following week or the week of the 24th. That´s just fine by me, and I think it´s given me the opportunity to reflect on how things have changed since I entered the offices.

When I entered the offices, we had a focus on prophesying the baptismal date to the people and making it a firm date and getting them to the font in the way that was possible. Now, however, obviously we set goals with the investigators, but it´s all more based on Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, helping the investigators realize the need to be baptized and actually experimenting faith, repentance, baptism, knowing how the Holy Ghost communicates with them and having that determination to endure to the end and not just do it because the elders are insisting. I won´t say that there weren't real converts beforehand, but now we are more focused on making sure that the people we baptize are prepared to accept the full responsibility of being an active member of the church.

Another miracle that happened this week is that a young adult that´s a recent convert´s sister came to church for the second time in a row. We had already planned to pass by their house on Sunday, but we made extra sure to pass because we had taught her and her boyfriend a few times, but they couldn’t progress because he didn’t have any interest. Well, when we set the appointment to go by I asked her what her boyfriend’s name was and she said that he doesn´t live there anymore, he went back home to his own apartment and that´s why she could come to church now. Her name is J and she´s absolutely golden, without us asking her, she got a copy of the Book of Mormon from her brother and started to read from the start. We taught lesson 1 about the restoration and at the end of the lesson she said she wouldn´t need to pray because she already knew that the church is true. She asked us to visit them daily if possible, and it works really well because she is renting the apartment next to her brother and sister-in-law’s. She has a goal to be baptized the first week of February. I guess more than anyone, she was the answer to leaving things to the Lord. We had talked to them about the need to be married something like three weeks ago, but didn’t come to any conclusions, but she took it to the Lord and came up with a decision on her own time.  So So inspiring!

I love you all and hope you are letting the Lord work in your lives. Sometimes we just have to let go and let Him take control for a little bit to verify that we are on the right path. Have a great week and I'll write again Monday!

Love,

Elder Nelson

 An excerpt from my letter to president and pictures of me with a couple of mission friends at the end of mission council:

As for my personal growth, I am seeing more and more the ways in which I have changed throughout these two years. I have spent some time seriously reflecting on the things that have happened and changed me and more than anything, thanking the Lord for the changes He has made in my personality and character. I know it wouldn´t have been possible to develop the strength that I have now on my own, and that being in the mission is what made the difference. Now my goal is to leave this area prepared to receive whoever comes, ready to work with the members, to move the work forward and really just to enjoy helping others to come to Christ. I don´t want to be a missionary that finishes "trunky", so I´ve taken the conscious decision to work til the very last day that I have, and give everything I can back to the Lord because I truly am indebted, with a debt that I will never be able to repay.

Elder Underwood

There´s me with Elder L(tall brown hair) me with Elder D (redhead all the way from my first zone, one of my best friends) me with Elder P (he´s from Guayaquil, from Elder G´s ward and in Kolby´s mission) and me with Elder U, also one of my best friends here.

Elder Dansie

Elder Piguave

Elder Lee

Dani's baptism

Hola familia,

I think this may be one of the first weeks where I don´t really know what to write. The call was good, it was great to see you all, just kind of don´t know what to say, I´m working hard and helping people realize some pretty big changes in their lives. Fighting the disobedience that always seems to creep into the mission and consequently in the zone. But you now I don´t like to talk about that. I think one of the easiest things to do in this month I have left is to study every day. It´s been a solid part of my morning and one of the other things I have really stepped into as well is daily exercise. Maybe the hardest for me is to demonstrate patience with investigators or missionaries that just don´t get it. I don´t mean that I blow up or anything, but it´s been a little easier to just be very direct and tell people how things are and how they have to be.

For example, I think I told you about O. He is the recent convert that fell from the 4th floor of a building he was working on building to the 2nd floor. Well he spent probably around a month unconscious and when he woke up he couldn´t move due to have crushed his ankle and broken his hip falling laterally. Now that we are removed from that a little, he has started to walk with a lot of difficulty. We are ecstatic for his physical process. For the majority of his recuperation, he has be even stronger spiritually, relying on his testimony of the priesthood to be able to recover, but last week we didn’t visit him. In fact, we hadn’t visited him for a week and a half or so. During that lapse of time, the members from the (another church) (yep it exists here too, under a different name) where he had gone before, visited him and stuffed his head full of falsehoods about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was so hard to head into the lesson thinking would work on his faith and see that he wanted to return to his other church and that he hadn´t even prayed before making the decision.

We taught a little bit, clarifying the false doctrine that they had fed him and got a lesson set for the next day. When we went back the next day, he was still pretty set on not coming back and he still hadn´t really prayed to know the truth, but we taught lesson 1 about the restoration so clearly there wasn´t room for error and the spirit filled the room. I felt like some kind of old-time prophet giving testimony before the judgment of the Sanhedrin and we finished with a rock solid testimony. He committed to come to church on Sunday and take the sacrament in an attitude of prayer.

He didn´t come to church on Sunday, which was really disappointing, but we are going back to his house today to see what happened.

D was baptized and confirmed, no problems. He says that he felt really forgiven and that after a long time it was good to be forgiven of his sins. The elders quorum president called for everyone to focus on making him feel welcome. I sent pictures of him with his family as well as of me, Elder N and D

.

I love you all, sorry for the weird, wandering letter. Hold on even tighter to the rod this week, "no sea que el diablo viene y les prende con las cadenas del pecado (o mal información)" That it might not be that the devil comes and confuses us with his wild ideas and twisted plans. Take care until next week!

Love,

Elder Nelson

Qué necesito hacer para prepararme para un bautismo?

Dear Familia,                                                                                                      

Things are going great this week, not much really to report that I can’t tell you in the call this week. I have been thinking and even though I love Kolby a ton and can´t wait to see him, If we can´t organize having a little bit of our calls this Thursday together then it doesn´t bother me too much, it is looking like it would take a ton of coordinating, and I don´t want it to be a stressful occasion.  I will probably be calling more around 5:45 Lima time, just to be sure. We are going to the Branch President´s house to do the call, but we are going at the same time as the other two elders, and so I’m not sure exactly in what order we will be calling. I figure I´ll give the priority to Elder T (this is his first call...after 5 months). 

As for Lima Christmas traditions, there’s turkey for dinner, and hot chocolate to drink, with Fruitcake (panetón), they sing Christmas carols in church, but there´s only like two songs that they sing outside of the Christmas hymns, so Christmas radio gets a little stale. They sing "Navidad, Navidad, Hoy es Navidad" to the tune of jingle bells, and they also sing feliz navidad. There´s a lot of versions of the two of them but that´s about all there is. I am so grateful for the English language and the many many songwriters that help us enjoy a variety of secular and religious Christmas melodies!

R and L are starting to take a greater interest in the baptism we have planned for the 10th of January. When we first put the date, they were a little skeptical. They didn’t want to say no, because they really do see themselves in the church in the future, but they didn’t want to say yes either because they aren´t sure about entering so soon. This last week, we had a family night with them and after watching the Finding Faith in Christ video, Hermana R started to ask questions about baptism, the first real interest she´s shown in a few weeks. She asked about if baptism has to be done laying back into the water and then if they were to get baptized if it would be the three of them on the same day. The last question she asked is what has us all excited. She asked "Qué necesito hacer para prepararme para un bautismo?" AHHH! It was so exciting to see that she is starting to accept the idea and try to prepare herself. She is really the key in this family because she had the most doubts due to her heavy Catholic background.

This week is D´s baptism. He has come a long way since having just a simple desire to be baptized without any real understanding of the ordinance to now when he understands why and a lot of the requirements to get to that point. His mom went to the mountain region this last week because his grandma is sick, and usually that would have meant that he wouldn´t go to church because being deaf it´s not really that much of a draw to him without his mom who can explain things without him having to read lips. We passed by his house in the morning and asked him to come to church with his brother and at first he said no, but then he said he would come to show that he wants to be baptized. He came and even stayed after his brother left after the second hour. Hopefully the branch members catch on that they need to help him become an independent church member to keep him active.

Tell dad that when I read about Cuba it reminded me of the conference we had with Elder Christiansen a year and a half ago. He talked about organizing the first branch in Cuba and visiting the first time with the Book of Mormon to tell them that it was their manual, the second time he came, they were all in suits and ties. He asked what made the difference from the first to the second visit, and they said that in the first visit they saw that a general authority wears a suit and tie, so when he came again, they already knew that that is what the Lord expects in His church. We have so much to learn from the general authorities, and sometimes we take for granted to lessons we can learn in how they interact with people when they visit different parts of the church in the world.

I love you all, can´t wait to talk on Thursday and I hope that everything is going well on Christmas prep. Try not to spoil Melissa before I get home, I´ve got to do my share as well :).

Love,

Elder Nelson

Perseverance and Signs

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                                              

I might go to the temple before Christmas, but I doubt it. The thing is that the temple here in Lima will be closing in the new year, but we don´t know exactly when, probably sometime in January. I hope to go, but if I don´t, I went during my last few weeks in the offices as well.

As for Elder H, well of course he remembers Kolby, so do Elder T (lived in the same house I think he said) and Elder F. Elder T says that his parents want to contact you just to say hi and swap stories; they´re from Spokane Valley. I´d say that if Kolby is making as few errors as he says then maybe he could be even more advanced than them.  The three of them are still with their trainers except Elder F. They speak rapidly but make mistakes, which really is a good combination, because you can´t really teach speed, but you can correct errors. Elder H says that Kolby and him always played against the Latin districts in soccer and usually won haha, he also said about some plans to go to a Sounders game in 2016/2017 (he´s from Bothell), sounds like he made a lasting friendship.

Wow, Colin is already home, I think S P should probably be pretty close too, if not already home. I think the wave of my friends should already be starting to come home, and maybe come April/May it'll be at the height of the movement. There´s a lot to think about between now and then, but I´m staying focused during the week.

You shouldn´t need shots or water purifying tablets to come to Perú. Water obviously is only safe when it´s bottled or boiled, but it´s about 1 sol (30 cents) for a bottle, and theirs stores on every block to buy from. Shots...well there´s not really mosquitos in Lima, there are...but very few and according to the doctors before the mission, it´s well outside the malaria zone.

Well this week we had a great experience and a frustrating one, but determination to fix things up. The great experience was that R and L got married. Wahoo! We left the area at 9:30 to get to center of Lima at 11:00 for the wedding. They went through the line to get to the register clerk and signed their papers, Elder N and I were the witnesses so we signed next and then the ceremony of the actual wedding happened. The frustrating experience happened later that night when we passed by their house to pick up a piece of cake to go...their family members, whom they had told that they don´t drink, brought alcohol, and they were already a little tipsy by the time we got there. It was so disappointing to know that they willingly, albeit with pressure, chose to disobey a commandment they had just learned. So no baptism this week, or next. We are hoping for maybe the 27th or in January. We have a plan this week to visit them frequently and help them to see the error and get ready for a different baptismal date. They got over one hump and baptism is next!

We are also teaching D. He´s Deaf, but learned to speak through 13 years of therapy. He´s also 22 years old and the son of a member. His dad isn´t a member, but his brother and sister are, and they have been really supportive in being able to help him come to church and listen to us. I don´t know if I told you about W in Tahuantinsuyo, but the sisters there taught and baptized a deaf/mute there too and I ended up learning a few signs related to gospel things. Well, for a good reason, because now I am learning more signs than ever! D is also preparing for the 27th of this month and he understands everything soooo well. About 4 years ago he decided to start reading the bible and studying "how to be good" as he terms it, and now we have him reading the Book of Mormon and watching videos online. The good thing is that he reads lips incredibly well and while he isn´t the most patient of investigators, he catches all of what we teach. He´s awesome and it´s so cool to see someone that hasn´t understood the gospel before outside of a few basic explanations or videos from Easter week come to understand the great plan that´s been prepared for us!

I love you all, I am super happy to be here and to be helping people realize their goals to have happy families and to recognize the help they receive from their Father in Heaven.

Love,

Elder Nelson

Also, I set up the Christmas tree you sent and took some pictures :) Enjoy

Obedience Brings Happiness...It's the Only Way!

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                                                     

We too got to see the Christmas devotional, however, we were out teaching just before and got to the stake center late (we are the furthest except for one companionship) just in time to catch from 8:30 forward. It was inspiring and definitely a golden opportunity to bring investigators and less actives to see it.

This week we did a work visit for the afternoon on Friday and Elder H came to my area. Yes, Elder Hthat Kolby knew in the CCM in Mexico. He as well as Elder F and Elder T are in my zone and well, with three of us from Washington, there´s quite a bit to joke about. Elder H has the same time as Kolby does obviously, and it was a good visit to have with the branch council and also a couple of lessons to people that we haven´t been able to teach in a while. We taught this lady that we have been teaching for a while, but she just doesn´t seem to want to make decisions. She has a boyfriend who is a trucker, and he comes into town maybe once a week or every two weeks, and obviously she can´t get baptized if that´s happening. She has a super strong desire to be baptized, she´s reading the book of Mormon actively, she hasn´t come to church in a couple of weeks because he has been in town on Sunday for some weeks. He´s from a different church and honestly I don´t think I´ve met another adult as childish as him. He says that he can´t get married with her because that´s a lot of work, he sometimes makes up sicknesses while he´s on the road so she will send him money and worry about him, when she calls about what we are teaching her, he says that she´s only doing it because we are two young men (she’s around 55). Well, they fought over the phone again the other day and on top of that, her daughter who is 19 ran away leaving her two year old son behind so that she could do what she wants, drinking and hanging out with a bunch of questionable men. We testified strongly that all of these things come from not keeping the law of chastity in the first place, but it still doesn´t seem to have gotten to her. I just don´t know why people don´t understand that keeping the commandments is the only way that they are ever going to find happiness. Well, that´s kind of been the theme for this week, admonishing and warning people of the consequences of sin. We are still working with R and L, they should be getting married this weekend and then baptized the next week hopefully.

I love you all, sorry for the short week, but I had to devirus my companions USB and do a few other informes for the #HeistheGift campaign. Hopefully next week it´ll calm down a bit. Next week, I´ll try to tell you when I will be calling so we can coordinate with Kolby.

Love,

Elder Nelson

#ÉleslaDádiva (#HeistheGift)

Dear Familia,                            

There´ll be 45 minutes to Skype for Christmas, and I´d love to Skype at the same time with Kolby, I think that it´s just as easy as the the Mother´s day call, when I connected with Braden and Ashley, Darci and Joe. I think I just sign in and then start a call to the two different lines. Hopefully that should work out. Skype doesn´t really have problems going over foreign lines, just with slow connections. The package I sent isn´t necessarily a Christmas package, it´s all of the recuerdos (souvenirs) that I´ve received or bought over the time I´ve been here, so sure you can open it when it gets there. I haven´t decided to whom everything will go yet, but there’s a present for Mom that should match the great room furniture well...I think haha now that I think about it, I really don´t know if the house is still standing anymore what with Melissa home alone sometimes. I already opened the Christmas package here, so I can´t really stop ya´ll from opening it there right? Just don´t go distributing stuff yet, I think I´ll have to explain a few things first. I have a full list of what was in the package, so there shouldn´t be anything lost in shipping.

Elder S (in the offices, who we are corresponding with over travel plans) studied in an English institute before the mission. He´s self-conscious about his English, but he defends himself just fine. I don´t know how I could get you from the offices. I know that if I were to meet you in the airport, I would go as if I were leaving the country, but just to meet you there. It would depend on the time your flight gets in. The dinner with President usually ends at 6 pm, and then the missionaries come back to the offices and the North Americans wait an hour before going to the airport. If that´s how we do it, I could come to the airport and pick you up then I could hail a taxi to get us where ever we are staying. If not, I don´t know how I could send a taxi unless I send a member to the airport to pick you up and bring you to the offices. It all depends on timing. I have a mountain of plans for Lima, some like visiting converts and others like going to the center to a marketplace. I´ll be prepared to fill whatever time you give me! Will it just be you and Dad or Melissa too? I have a ward in mind to attend on Sunday that could go well. That way we don´t miss the sacrament.

This week went by flying, it seems like there´s more to do than ever, and the area is so big that we have to plan well every day to keep from spending too much time walking from one appointment to another. We have a few families that we are teaching and starting to integrate into the ward. R and L are doing great, they have been to church 3 times now, and their daughter F keeps asking them every Saturday night to get everything ready to go to church. We love this family and right now they are taking care of some of the paperwork for their wedding. If all goes well, they should be getting married on the 12th and baptized on the 20th. We hope that before then, they get a stronger desire to be baptized, obviously that’s one of the keys to helping them join the church. Right now, they want to be members, but they don´t know about just yet, they say that the church is in their plans but they want it to "Nacer de ellos" basically let it be born of them the desire to go and join the church. We are helping them along the way with experiences that should help them to realize the huge change that´s already happened in their lives.

As for everything else, there was a multizone conference this week with president and I didn´t have to prepare a talk...until the end when he announced that it was the last multizone until February and that those who are finishing in the next two changes were invited to give their testimonies. I got up and it was like all of the changes that I have gone through in the mission just hit me, I didn´t realize and still don´t recognize fully what Heavenly Father has done to change me in these last two years, but for a moment, He made me see, and I bore testimony of it. I felt moved by the mercy that He has for me and for the many, many plans that He had in mind that I didn´t even comprehend. I´ve felt more purpose in these last two years than in the 18 years before, and for that purpose I give thanks. Now I just hope that I can figure out what kind of purpose I am supposed to have afterwards. According to my conference questions, I just need to wait and see, because He reveals everything in His own time and according to his own purposes.

I love you all, and I know that He as well has many many purposes  to share with you. Pray to know in what way you can serve and it will be revealed what purpose you have at this specific time in life.

Love,

Elder Nelson

P.S. the church bought the Youtube channel on the 7th of December, go support He is the Gift on all of the social media you can! #HeistheGift    #ÉleslaDádiva the video is in English and Spanish at christmas.mormon.org and at navidad.mormon.org. Go watch it!

Stretching after eating rice....silly boy with a silly camera!

Family: That's what it's all about!

With my companion, Elder N

Zona San Felipe

With Elder P

Centro de Lima

Before and after "sweeping" the shoes

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                                    

So this time, I was a good American and remembered about Thanksgiving the day of the holiday! Sad to say, but the 4th of July passed me by these last couple of years and I remembered halfway through the day. I was thankful to be here. Sometimes members mention (I hope exaggerating) some of the strange and worrisome changes that are happening in the states, and it makes me grateful to have that anchor, to be able to look to the gospel plan and know that all of the other "afanes" en esta vida are temporary, passing, and that they won´t affect the big picture if we are faithful to the covenants we have made.

I don´t think I can accurately describe the levels of poverty that I´ve seen here, but yes, that´s the well off part of my area in the pictures. Some of the people we teach hardly have what you could call a house, but they are willing to set aside a part of their day to listen to us. We are so incredibly grateful for them. Our apartment by comparison is middle of the road in terms of the people that go to church with us. The owner wanted to charge us more for the hot water heater we have and so we disconnected it...summer is coming (we hope). Just one more motivation to do exercises in the mornings. haha. Our apartment is large, but like you said, unfinished. It´s very normal not to have more than just a concrete floor. If it´s your own house, you might save up and put in tile, but if you are just renting it out, no. The last assistant to finish out in the field actually came here to finish, and he ended up buying an electric pan like the one you use for chicken patties, so we use that to cook just about everything.

Before I forget, thank Grandma A for the birthday card, they are so great and I´m glad they are in good spirits!

I haven´t received a Christmas package yet, but that doesn´t mean that it isn´t in the offices right now waiting for delivery. I sent a package the day of changes, November 4th. I sent it with the contact that you sent to me, I think his name is Pedro? Yeah, I paid the shipping and everything, so it shouldn´t require any extra charges. Go ahead and ask Vanessa if she sent it on after getting to SLC.

This week we kept going with Hermano L and Hermana R. I don´t know if I´ve told you about them. Elder N found them with his other companion and they have a big family that lives nearby. They are a young couple and all of L´s family lives close, all young families. R and L listen really well to all the things we teach them and have been slowly getting ready to get married in December. They are fun and different and have two little daughters, F and M (10 and 3).

This week we taught them all about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we started working on helping them to recognize the spirit. One of the things that has been most emphasized recently is that the investigators should be truly ready for their baptisms, not just have a more or less desire, but to understand the doctrine and be willing to take that step to follow Christ not for the next 3 months, not until I lose my job, not until there is some sort of crisis, but until the end of my life. We have been preparing them for that kind of covenant, and they are gaining a little bit of an understanding. They aren´t 100% ready yet, but they say that they want to continue listening, and they came to church again yesterday without us passing by to pick them up, so I´d say they are taking a liking. We are so excited and happy to have a family coming to the branch and to prepare them for this decision! I think if more missionaries knew what it was like to prepare an entire family, there would be a lot more families joining the church.

I love you all, I know that the family is the center of this plan and that if we dedicate the time to make our family celestial here on earth, then eventually we´ll get to the other side of the vale in family again. Have a great week, and look for ways to strengthen the family!

Love,

Elder Nelson

Strengthening the branch...

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                    

I´ll start with the urgent things first, many of the missionaries who went home while I was in the offices had their parents pick them up. That´s absolutely fine with President and Sister Erickson. The email you are using is the office elders´ email I think (I never memorized the number) but they should be able to help you. The pick up would be on Monday evening or Tuesday morning and you can come to the offices from the airport to pick me up. From there, President basically tells the missionaries that they are free to go, but not to break any commandments on the way home. I would need you to bring a couple of pairs of cargo shorts if you could fit them in. The only shorts I have are basketball shorts haha. You will need to coordinate with the personal secretary, about the return flight. Would it be possible to stay in Lima 2 days and 1 night? I promise I can entertain you the whole time!

Now for the questions, I think Elder N has something like 17 months in the mission, so we both have a lot of experience between the two of us. The challenge is not letting our knowledge get in the way of revelation. I know that that is one of the things I am working on a lot lately, trying to feel for specific revelation that will help the branch grow. Trapiche is a branch, we are missing 5 Melchezidek priesthood holders to be able to become a ward, and the four elders here are working super hard to be able to make that happen by the end of the year. That´s either baptized or activated so we are working hard on both sides of the court. We attend a church building about 10 minutes away by combi/bus and then 5 to 10 minutes walking. I have been blessed to live close to the church all my mission and now it´s my turn to pay to go to church! The branch is going through some transformative steps to revitalize the member work, but we do have some good support in the form of regular members who band together to help each other.

This week a family of recent converts, familia L was evicted illegally from their adobe house. It´s really tiny, but there´s a land dispute between her formal in-laws and the mom. She has two early teenage kids and you can tell that they don´t eat enough in the first place, and on top of it all, the president of the housing association sends robbers in the night to throw rocks at their house and steal the water pipes that extrude from the wall. They got to the end of their rope and now the sister doesn't even want to leave the house because that would leave it open to the robbers. The branch president got together a huge group of the members and they all went to help her move, but then the new apartment owner said no....after she had moved all of her belongings in and at 8 o clock at night. Now they are back in the house, the branch president is trying to find legal support and also is sending members with carpentry skills to go secure her house so she can come to church. That´s how a ward council works.  It´s incredible to see the members sticking up for one another just months after the family has started to come to church.

We cook for ourselves, but that Costco style store is in our area now, so we can go out there to get bulk foods every Pday. We have an electric skillet, an electric kettle and the fridge, so this last week I bought chicken nuggets and a big bag of frozen peas and carrots.  That topped with the fact that we get up every morning at 6 to go play basketball with some youth and the other elders and I think that I might be able to get pretty fit here in Trapiche.

Elder N´s family is super supportive. He has been a member practically since he was 5 though he went through an active but mentally and spiritually turned off phase, and now he´s really really awesome. There´s 10 sisters and 8 elders in the zone. The elders are the three district leaders and their companions and then me and my companion. Therefore, there’s a lot of diplomacy going on. I am working hard to unify the zone with Elder N.

I love you all, I am working hard and more focused than ever, I love the work, I love the branch and I know we have more than just a few people praying for us!

Love,

Elder Nelson

Office Missionaries

San Felipe Stake

The "Rich" area of San Felipe

Happy 21st Birthday!

My Companion, Elder N

Hitting the dirt...

Hola Familia,                                                                                                                                         

Yeah, so I think I may have all of 30 minutes to write today. President gave me my change on Sunday afternoon and since then I have been super busy. I am in Trapiche Branch, in the San Felipe Stake as a zone leader. Elder N is my companion, he´s 19 years old I think, and he´s from Piura, Peru. Ummm, yeah basically that´s all I can think of to tell you about him haha. We get a long really well, and I´m glad that the zona doesn´t seem to look at me as the big scary asistente. This week has been a ton of fun, getting to know the area, and the zona, trainings, and just jumping in headfirst with the work.

We met a 27 year old man named J this week and started teaching him. He is a member’s nephew and lives in the same house. He has had such a dark difficult past, but he says that he has tried a lot of times to pull himself out of it. He battles with depression and at the same time, he has been unemployed for a few weeks. We started our first lesson with him talking about the plan of salvation and especially what our purpose is in life, and why we have trials. He is really quiet and really thoughtful. He listens to us teach, and when we ask a question he ponders it and then responds after 10 or 20 seconds of silence. It´s such a spiritual experience to teach him. Well, we challenged him to be baptized in the first lesson and he accepted for the 29th of this month, then we invited him to church and said that maybe this is the time when he really will change. This Sunday, we passed by a couple of investigators houses before church and while we were walking about an hour before the first meeting (2 pm sacrament meeting) he passed in the street with a couple of friends...in soccer clothes. We reminded him about the church and that we would pass by his house, but he wasn´t there when we got there. We passed him again in the street after the church meetings and he just kind of hung his head while we passed. He wants to do better, but he feels a lot of pressure to fit in with his friends and he doesn´t have a good connection with the branch members yet. We´ll be working with him a lot this week.

There are so many experiences I can´t even begin to tell them all, but that´s why I have thrown a little bit more effort into writing in my journal, I was able to write at least once this week, and it felt great. I´ll be writing more this next week so that I can remember all of these experiences. The branch is out on a corner of the mission and goes out to a river that’s called Rio Chiyán. I haven´t seen it yet, but my area definitely has a small town feel. We run into our investigators and the members practically every day in the street, and it seems like everyone knows everyone. The streets are all dirt and so we get back to the room with white shoes from all of the dust. Also...there´s got to be more dogs than people out here haha.

Well, I´ve gotta go, but I love you all, I hope it´s been a great week, and I´ll try to write more next week. Anybody I didn´t respond to know that I´ll try next week, but no guarantees!

Love,

Elder Nelson

I Love the Temple!

Hola Familia,                                                                                                                           

Elder Y has a really awesome camera, so we typically take pictures with his, and since they are such awesome pictures, they would take absolutely forever to load, so that´s why I don´t send many. I did play in the second biannual world cup of the MPLN but I played defense, so maybe I didn´t get a ton of action shots. No worries, still the "Boot it" kind of defensive player, just like Coach Boring always told us to do. Also, I find that when I play a lot, my foot hurts, and that would affect my ability to go out and teach, so I prefer to enjoy the defensive line and try not to get too tangled in the game.

I know Kolby will do great training. He has such a good focus on being able to help families and dedicating all of his time to the work that I can´t imagine that he would have difficulties outside of what´s normal. He is a missionary full of power because of the way he chooses to live and I couldn´t be more proud. We could actually use a few more missionaries like him in Lima, I wouldn´t mind anyway!

Halloween in Perú is a mixed holiday. On one part, you have a couple of the Christian denominations handing out leaflets in the streets and putting up posters that say how it´s a pagan holiday centered on devil worship and that those who participate end up terrorizing their children to a psychologically damaging point. On the other there´s the church that has a Halloween dance and the general population that goes passing by the business sector to do a trick or treat type thing. There were definitely a lot more costumes this year, and a lot of assimilated costumes as well: headbands with the knife on either side or cat ears, a witches hat, or a little face paint. Most of the full costumes were for the little kids, but as well there were some adults roaming the street. A lot of drinking happened, like any major holiday, and this morning when we went to do the move-in for the areas that are opening this change we lost one of the truck drivers because he had spent the night drinking. We went down to the area where a fleet of them hang out waiting for work and got a different one in no time though.

This week I got to go to the temple! Yesterday after a very busy week, Elder U, Elder Y, Elder M and I got to go to the temple. I think President let us go because three of the four of us aren´t going to be in the offices anymore and likely this will be the last chance to go before the temple gets even busier leading up to Christmas. We got up early and headed out on the Metropolitano, arriving at the station closest to the temple around 8:45. After, we hopped on another bus that took us to the same block as the temple by around 9:20 (morning traffic). One of the wards close to the offices had a ward temple trip, so one of the members treated us to breakfast in the temple cafeteria, then we headed into the session. I had prayed before to know some things and just really felt that I was answered immediately. I noticed this time several phrases in the presentation that lead me to exactly what will be my teaching focus for the last few months of my mission. I felt answered, and loved and a huge desire to go back and soon, but that won´t be as possible as I would hope. 

As for the rest of the week, we had the mission council and started to get ready for changes. I know a little, but honestly not much at all about what will happen, but I am ready for the challenge and especially for the other rhythm. I know that using my faith to confront the unknown will strengthen my character, and I am ready to work more closely with Peruvians, and not just missionaries. I am happy and willing to accept whatever assignment President Erickson sends my way, I just want to know what it is!

I love you all, I am sending a package home with Inka Envíos on Monday. They said the price went up to $7 a pound due to demand, but I am talking to them on Monday to see if paying for it here or there is cheaper. Either way, I pulled out 150 nuevos soles today to cover the cost of sending it if I end up paying here. It should get there in time for Thanksgiving. When it gets there, you can open it, but I haven´t exactly figured out what is for whom. If you keep it shut, I think I may use them as late Christmas gifts haha.

Love,

Elder Nelson

Lima Peru Temple

Lima Peru Temple

Spanish Inquisition Museum

18 Wheelers and Goatheads

Dear Familia,                                                                                                                                 

I just got the package from Vanessa yesterday, though with permission, I might open it before leaving the offices because changes are coming up and I may have to pack it into a suitcase. It might fit better once opened. I´ll wait for permission from you first though. I think I will call Vanessa this week to see about sending instructions and when she would be able to take it. I´m going into center of Lima today to buy a few things to put into it, so if there´s a charge on my card, then you´ll know why.  

I will likely go one, possibly two more times to the temple before leaving. I plan on trying to go sometime next week (before leaving the offices) and then maybe once more in January before finishing. I love going to the temple. Here, I have been able to put more emphasis on what´s said in the presentation because of the language, and being able to focus on the dialogue helps me to recognize some little things. I think of all the things that could happen in life, establishing a habit of going to the temple often is what stands out as the number one indicator of a strong church member.

I think that I actually prefer being in the field. Administering for the mission is good, and I can definitely feel that I have grown tremendously as a person since coming to the office. I know that I have tried to help a lot of missionaries and more than anyone President and Sister Erickson, but being in the field can´t be matched. I have been able to see that I am happiest out of the spotlight haha. If there is a mission assignment that is all of the analytics and the work visits and the responsibility of being an assistant without the trainings, I´m there. I feel a lot of the time like mom. I love learning and studying, and even the person to person interactions, but the actual training or the actual giving of the class "me es dificil". I know that God gives each of us weaknesses and talents and sometimes I feel like He wants me to develop some that I feel don´t come as naturally as to others. I will welcome the challenge of being back in the field and being able to work more seguidamente (subsequently) with investigators and members. That´s where I want to be, helping people to reach the spiritual progress that they need.

Congrats to David and Rylan. What´s Kenny think of the marriage? He must be ecstatic that they´ll probably stick around the Tri-Cities. Congrats as well to Josh and Tyler. The mission is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone, and I know that it comes to be a part of you. There´s things that I have learned here I will never forget and people I have taught here that I´ll never forget either.

I did a work visit with Elder D and Elder M this week, waaaaayy out in Los Angeles Zone. It was so great to spend some time with a couple of missionaries that I have known practically my whole mission and to go out and teach with power to a humble people. At one point, we stopped to buy some Gatorade knockoff at a tienda because it was actually a pretty hot day. We walked down the street talking about patriarchal blessings and the next lesson we were going to teach when from out of nowhere a glass bottle hit the street a couple of feet from Elder D´s foot. We kept walking but I could tell that a young man from the park had thrown it at us. We weren´t in any real danger, but it was a very real reminder that we are constantly in opposition. The gospel moves forward like a giant 18 wheeler, and the devil is doing his best to stop it. His problem is that the most he can put out there are a couple of goat heads before we pass him up and keep on down the highway. 

I love you all, I know that everyone is anxiously engaged in a good cause, but this week, try to think if all of the causes we engage ourselves in are as good as others. There´s a really great article about the science of happiness on the church website. Go and read it!

Love,

Elder Nelson

The other picture is of me and Elders C y W on a work visit in Canto Chico. That happened last week, but I wanted to send some photos :)