Greetings From Chilé! (For Real This Time)

Dear All,

Sorry again for last week. :)

Wow. A lot has happened! The Lord has tested me with the following:

-I had to take a bus from Viña to La Sarena my first night here (11 PM to 5 AM drive; if you do the math, I didn´t sleep in a bed for two whole days!)...And, well, I left my Spanish Scriptures on the bus! However, Elder Boyd and I are in the same apartment, and he had two pairs of scriptures. So he gave me one of his pairs. It says "Elder Boyd" on them, but that´s ago. It was a huge blessing to get those from him. And maybe I´ll get mine back one day. If not, I´ll just have to endure. It´s sad that I lost those, along with all the stuff that was in my brand new case, but...the Lord gives us challenges. And besides--this work isn´t about me. :)

-Blisters. I have a ton on my feet. My ankle has also been bothering me. However, to me, the pain is simply a reminder of the work I have been putting into this missionary work! My companion and I don´t live in our ward; we are looking for a new apartment and what not, though. But yeah--we have to walk a LONG ways to get over here. But it´s good for me. I´ve already lost a ton of weight, I think. ;)

-The language, obviously. The Chileans speak SO fast. But I love it. I understand more every day, and I can speak a little better every day, too. Diligence and patience. That´s all it takes. Right now, I just have to make due with what I know, and--most importantly--I need to have charity for these people. And I really do. :) (I will tell you more about the Chileans next.)

And I´ve been faced with many other challenges, too. But so far, It´s just been a blast! It´s definitely been an adventure, and I´ve been blessed with a good trainer, Elder Birchall. Allow me to tell you a little bit about him. :) He´s from California, and he is #10 of 11 in his family. He has THIRTY-ONE sobrinos (nieces and nephews), and his brother served here in the Viña mission. (We´ve met a lot of his brother´s converts, and that´s been fun!) He and I also have the same birthday...Entonces, we are exactly a year apart. :)

Wow. The Chilean food is the best. First of all, they don´t really eat dinner here. They have a huge lunch instead. And so we have Almuerzo (Lunch) appointments with the members instead. And so far, every meal has been super good. They put mayo on EVERYTHING, but...their mayo is different here--it´s better. ;) And their mustard is a lot different, too--it´s very good. They also love to drink soda. They LOVE tomatoes and avacados/guacamole. Overall, I think everyone in our family would love the food here except for Timmy and Logan. I know Timmy doesn´t like mayo or cilantro, and they have a ton of both. ;)

The Chileans greet eachother with kisses on the cheek. I knew that beforehand, but it was a surprise to me in my first sacrament meeting when everyone--the YW and YM included--was going around kissing each other and saying hello to each other. It´s just their culture. :) And yesterday...my companion almost got kissed by this lady after we taught her.

The Chileans turn their houses into stores, and their cars into colectivos (taxis), and I absolutely love it. It´s so cool! We ride the collectivos all the time. They are crazy drivers! Basically...they have stop signs and speed limits (very few actually obey), but...other than that, there are no limits. It´s crazy!

There are a TON of stay dogs here. Thousands! One day, my companion and I had ten or so dogs following us around. I´ve seen five or so dog fights, and those are pretty crazy. I´ve seen three dead cats on the sidewalk and one dead dog. :/ It´s pretty gross! And sad.

It´s super hot here, and every one is on their summer break. It´s weird to me because it´s February.

The members here are so cool. They understand that I am still learning, and so they usually don´t say TOO much to me. And some families even talk about me when I am right there, thinking I can´t understand them when I really can. It makes me laugh. But yeah--we have four Elders in our ward, and it´s been fun serving with the other two. They are both Latinos. One (Elder Briones) is getting trained by the other (Elder Trabares). They are both cool; Elder Trabares loves to tease me, and it´s hilarious. He´s from Columbia. Elder Briones is from Santiago, Chile, and we have become the best of friends. He always says: "Mi futuro compañero!" He and I are both pretty convinced that we will be comps in the near future. He´s fun because we teach each other our language. He´s English is already way good! ;)

Our main investigators right now are the Araya familia. They are SO sweet. They are getting baptized this moth! It´s Yasmine, Juan-Carlos, and their son Carlos. The Dad is so cool. He is a Chilean version of Dad. He´s hilarious, and he just reminds me of Dad for some reason! He quit smoking within days after we taught the Word of Wisdom. They are so focused and pumped for their baptism; I love it. :)

I am in the phase right now where I am beginning to forget a lot of English words, and at the same time, I don´t know a TON of Spanish. It´s a weird feeling.

Well, I think that is all for now. There is a TON more I could say, but words cannot suffice. I will share more one day. :) I love you all, and I hope all is well. Keep me in your prayers. Remember: Nothing will make you more happy than living the Gospel. And we have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who live and love us--no matter what.

Yours Truly, Elder Nelson IV

P.S. Enjoy the photos! :)

Basically...I included a picture of the ocean from La Sarena (where I am at)...some pictures from when we went to the Parque Japoneis (went there for you, Dad.) last week for p-day...and then a picture of Elder Briones and I...And a picture of Elder Trabares at the zoo. (Yes, the zoo animals were things such as deer, chickens, etc.)

WOW.

Dear All,

Well, wow. I just wrote a HUGE e-mail telling you about EVERYTHING. But then I accidently hit ´si´ when it asked me if I wanted to restart (dang spanish!) And now I am out of time. :/ Haha. Even the mission has it´s ups and downs! :)

Well, I am sorry this is short, but...I have no time. We have a lunch appointment in a few minutes, but I will send this e-mail, with some pictures, and then I will tell you more next week. :)

-There are a lot of stay dogs here.

-My companion Elder Birchall is the best!

-Chile is the best; I am having a blast!

-I got letters from Skyler Blumenthal and Chelsea Steed. You can send dearelders here, but I only get mail once a month or so.

-We have four investigators with baptismal dates. :)

-And so you know...I am in La Sarena. There is a big story behind this, but I have no time to explain again. :/

And...yeah, wow, I wish I had more time. I love you all, and I promise I will have more to say next week.

I love you all. There will be more pictures and words next week. I promise. :)

Yours Truly,

Elder Nelson IV

Last MTC E-mail

Dear All,

Wow. I can't believe this is it. A week from now, I will be in Chile. Surrounded by the fastest Spanish speakers in the world. :) It's a bit nerve-racking, I will admit. But I've come this far, and I'm ready for the next challenge. I am excited to struggle down in Chile. :)

Last Wednesday/Thursday (I can't remember which--that happens a lot here in the MTC) we got out travel plans, and that was another highlight of the MTC. Our district celebrated, took pictures, and all that stuff. It was a great time. :) We are excited! I fly out to Dallas at 3 PM on Monday; and then I leave Dallas at 9 PM, arriving in Chile around 9 AM or so. ;) Sounds fun, eh?

Just like Hermano Cragun, Hermano Shulca returned from his Christmas trip (to Ecuador, where he is from; he hadn't been there to see his family in SIX years) last Friday. We knew he was coming back, of course, and he was district-hugged/swarmed when he walked in. It was good to finally have our teacher back! He told us all about Ecuador, and now I am really excited to go to South America.

The TRC this last week was a funny one. We were teaching this lady who pretty much would only speak Spanish to us. She said something to me, and I had NO idea what she was saying. So I said, "Lo siento. Mi espanol no es bueno." She then said something about Paraguay and Ecuador, and I still had no idea what she was saying so I said, "Si!" Later...my teacher Hermano Ross told me that he talked to this lady later and she said, "Poor Elder Nelson! He is SO sad to go on his mission to Paraguay. You need to teach him better and get him more excited!" The irony, of course, is that I am super excited to get to Chile. :)

My good friend Jeffrey Johnson got here a week ago, and it's been great to see him around the MTC the last week. :) He is going to Mississippi, and I've told him and his district how much they will love it.

God definitely has a sense of humor. :) Here in the MTC, everyone has to write a talk on a topic that the branch presidency gives you. And then in sacrament meeting, they will just randomly select two elders/sisters and have them speak. Well, before Hermano Nelson got up and said who was going to speak, I turned to my good friend Elder Mallory and said, "If I have to speak today, I am going to beat someone up." Well, the timing was perfect! Right after I said that, I got called up! We laughed, and I gave a pretty decent talk in Espanol. :) I didn't beat anyone up either, for those wondering.

Last night, we had the privledge of hearing from L. Tom Perry again! It was the best. He gave an excellent talk. He is truly an Apostle of the Lord! He talked about what we as missionaries need to have increased testimonies in (The Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, Thomas S. Monson, etc). The BEST, though, was the closing prayer. When the Sister got up to say the closing prayer, everyone had their eyes closed, ready to hear a girl voice, but...nope! It was L. Tom Perry! Not giving the prayer, but he got up to make a quick correction to his talk (he gave the wrong date for when the priesthood was restored). Of course, his wife was the one who corrected him. :) It goes to show us that even Apostles of the Lord make simple mistakes and aren't perfect!

Well, I have about two minutes left, and last week I BARELY got my e-mail sent off with 2 seconds left on the clock. PHEW!

I love and miss you all. I'm going to miss this great country. :) But I am excited to get to my field of labor. Everyone, keep in touch. And rely on the Lord in ALL things. He will bless you!

Yours Truly,

Elder Nelson IV

Helaman 5:12

The Final Countdown :(

Mi Familia y Mis Amigos!

Hola todos personas en mi vida. :) Haha. Como estan?

Happy Birthday Landon! I can't believe you will be five in a few days. Already! Wow. I am proud of you, little guy. Uncle Ben misses you and loves you. :)

It'll be hard to leave this place in twelve days. Hermano Shulca once told us that the MTC was a special place--a place where tears and special memories are shared with your district. Since coming here, I've had many of such experiences. However, one of my favorite MTC memories came last Friday. We were sitting in the hall waiting for what we thought was going to be a sub teacher. I am talking to some members of my district when I hear someone yell, "Hermano Cragun!!" (He was a teacher we thought was leaving and we weren't going to have him again.) Wow. What a reunion! Elder Fanene and I were the first to get to him. And before you knew it, our whole district was in a huge group hug suffocating our beloved teacher. :) It really was a memory that you had to be there for. Words cannot describe how happy we were! But then again...we've also had twelve subs since Christmas time, and it's tough to learn with so many teachers. It was just good to see a familiar face!

And you can tell that most Elders in my district have never been part of a strong group like our district. And it really makes me grateful for my brothers. This district is GREAT. But it will never come close to the bond I share with my five brothers. The last few days, I've just been really grateful for my family--especially my five brothers. I love you all.

I want to thank Brent Nelson especially. I never told him this, but he is the reason I am still here. :) Like I said in a past e-mail, I really questioned myself and my faith when I first got here. However, Brent Nelson was the first one to write me. And there was one thing he said that hit me so hard. He said, "Dad seems to miss you a lot. I do, too. But you have to remember that the people you will touch would miss you a whole lot more if you weren't to go serve them." It's so true. This work isn't about me missing my family; it's not about me! It's the Lord's work. I am an instrument in His hand; I am a mouthpiece! I don't convert anyone; it's the Spirit's job. I've been called to do this, and I must obey.

On Fast Sunday, I bore testimony in Spanish. When I got up there, a few members of my district started laughing because--well--my Spanish is kind of funny, and I--of course--started off trying to make people laugh by saying: "Lo siento. Mi espanol no es....super bueno. Pero! Es bueno....mas o menos." It was a good confidence booster for me. :)

At the Temple walk on Sunday, I ran into Brother Phillipy's niece! It was awesome. It was great to talk to someone who knew Charlie and his family. I loved it. :)

Elder Ringwood of the Seventy came and spoke to us last night. He spoke about "Enduring To The End." What a powerful talk! But--wow--one of the prelude hymns we sang was "Behold! A Royal Army!" THAT song with THIS many missionries singing it will blow you away. The Spirit was so strong. We will all be victorious! But only through Christ, Our Savior. I know that is true.

I have 50 seconds left, and so I am out of time again. :( I love you all! One more e-mail from the MTC next week. That's just crazy. I can't believe it.

Yours Truly,

Elder Nelson IV

Christmas In The MTC

Hello Everyone!

Six weeks. Wow. I can't believe it! We had a district leave this week, and now my distirct is the oldest one in our zone. What happened? Where has time gone? I'm not so sure. :) But it's good to be so close to leaving for Chile. ;) It'll be great! My Spanish...haha!...isn't that great. I am probably the slowest one in my district. But...you know what? I have no problem with that! When I got here, I knew nothing, so...I'm making progress. And I have faith. I'll struggle when I get to Chile, but I'll get the language eventually. Only if I rely on the Lord for help, though!

Christmas in the MTC was great. We had a Christmas Eve fireside, and it was a lot of fun! We sang the "Twelve Days Of Christmas (MTC Edition)", and THAT was a gem to behold. It was the coolest! Afterwards, they let us go back to our rooms early; it was good. :)

Christmas Day was amazing. We woke up and opened presents as a district (we had a little tree in my room), and that was awesome. We did a little Secret Santa, and I got a scripture case for my El Libro de Mormon and my Santa Biblia from my good friend Elder Hardisty. :) It was great.

After opening gifts, we had a Christmas Morning Devotional. L. Tom Perry came and spoke to us, and it was the best! Even better...He stayed at the MTC and ate lunch with us in the MTC cafeteria!! It was pretty crazy seeing him in the Cafeteria just sitting with a bunch of missionaries eating. I wasn't able to talk to him or anything, but...wow! Being THAT close to an Apostle of the Lord! It was truly an amazing thing. :)

The rest of Christmas day was pretty much free time. We were told to just reflect on what Christmas was all about; and we were encouraged to write our families. So I did that before going to the Christmas Talent Show, which was great! There were a lot of good performances by the missionaries who tried out; I loved it. Especially since the MTC Presidency's Wives made a bag of popcorn for EVERY missionary in the Mtc to eat during the show. it was great.

we ended out christmas day with a fireside. greg olsen came and spoke to us. he is an lds artist, and his work is beautiful. i reccomend everyone to check it out. :)

oh yeah. mom, thank you for the package. it's the best. :)

(this computer is really bugging me because the shift key isn't working for some reason...lo siento.)

just so luke, logan, and timmy know...we have blueberry muffin tops at the mtc. they would absolutely love the amount of cereal we have here. :) haha.

on sunday, we had a great district meeting. we all went around and told each other our stories and bore testimony. everyone in my district is so strong, and their stories blew my mind. i haven't been through anything compared to some of these elders. the spirit was so strong, and it was amazing. i, of course, shared mine and tara's story again, and then bore powerful testimony of our savior. it was great. :)

we had a funny moment in the rc. we were making calls in spanish for the first time, and i said, "puedo hablar con juan?" (can i speak with john?) and his daughter says, "he's not here right now." haha. and i continued talking in english. our district was laughing hard, because i was so ready to talk in spanish, but she changed languages on me. :)

well, i have less than two minutes left. i must go. :( i love you all, and i hope everyone had a great christmas. update me with everything going on at home, por favor.

with love,

elder nelson iv

helaman 5:12

P.S.

I forgot to say a little something! Luke and Brent...Happy Birthday!!!! :)

Haha. Sorry I forgot! My good friend Elder Erwin let me borrow his minutes to send this, though, so...thank him. ;) Haha.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Mi Familia y Amigos,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My heart isn't only full this week. My heart grew; and then my heart was filled again. Week by week, I am molded into the missionary my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

I've come along way. To be honest, I was so insecure when I got here that I actually questioned myself and my faith. I didn't think I could leave the world behind! However, I've transformed the last five weeks, and the difference is...amazing. When it is all said and done, I will never be the same person that I was before I came here. No doubt in my mind.

I just heard from Brent that BYU won last night. That makes me happy! How did you like the game, Luke? I am glad you went in my place to cheer for the Cougars! :)

My time is short. My mission president wants my family to send me letters in Chile starting next week so that I will have letters to read when I get there. BUT...you should still send me letters to the MTC. :) Haha. Here is my Chile address:

{check facebook}

Oh yeah! Dad, I got the stocking and the goodies from DearElder.com. Thanks alot! It gives me something to look forward to on Christmas. :)

The Lord answers prayers! The last few days have been really tough because our teachers left, and one of the subs is pretty sticted! Haha. And it was a big change, and Monday was going to be hard for me. But Sunday night, I prayed that I might be strengthened and comforted on Monday to help me get through the day. I got EIGHT letters on Monday from family and friends; I can't think of any other way to be comforted. Monday was a piece of cake. :)

I was in the RC the other day, and we were doing our usual routine of making calls and trying to get referrals and what not. Well, it was the greatest! I called a lady in Hernando, MS, and she didn't sound too happy at first when she picked up the phone. Haha. I told her that I used to live in Southaven, and she got a whole lot more happy. I asked her if she would meet with the missionaries, and...she said she would! And then she told me that she would spread the word as well. Haha. It was sweet! So I hope she meets with the missionaries soon, and I hope something good comes from my phone call. :)

Christ is our Savior! Elder Applegate and I were teaching in the TRC (where we get to teach real people), and while I was teaching about the Atonement, I could feel the Spirit everywhere in my body! Not only the burning in the bosom; rather, a burning in the everywhere! It was such a powerful feeling. I've learned a whole lot about our Savior since coming here; He lives! And through Him, we can return to our Heavenly Father again. There is no other way; none of us are worthy to enter His pressence without our Savior's help. None of us are perfect without Him!

Elder Andersen came last night, and gave a very powerful talk about the condencension (can't spell it) of God. It was awesome!! And all his grandchildren sand us a Christmas medly. It reminded me of home. :)

Well, I am out of time! Lo siento!! I love you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yours Truly,
Elder Nelson IV
D&C 103:36

One Month!

Dear All,

Just when I thought this place couldn't get any better...it does. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with three gifts: His Son, The Holy Ghost, and Eternal Life. Three powerful gifts. My heart is full this Christmas season.

It's already been four weeks. Wow. It seems like it's been much, much longer than that, though. It's just crazy! Thank you everyone for the letters this last week. Scott sent me my SD card, and it was great to have my pictures back. ;) Haha.

I only have 17 more minutes so I will make this fast!

I am excited for Christmas. I got a Twelve Days package from Brent's family--from Baby Brighton and Baby Seth. I love it! Today I opened up the "Connect Four" game for the 4th day! It's great!! I love it. Thank you Brighton and Seth! Uncle Ben loves and misses you.

Last week I got a haircut. My hair looks better now. Haha.

Mom and Grandpa Brunner and Company! Thanks again for the cookies and cinnamon rolls. They were the best. :)

This last week was a week of growth. Elder Applegate and I really noticed that our companionship was really lacking--we weren't exactly doing things the way we should. And so we made some changes, and we went to the TRC to teach a lesson on Saturday, and the Spirit was so strong!! Words would just come out of my mouth; words that I wasn't planning on saying. The Spirit is SO important in this work; The Spirit does the converting! And the guy we taught felt the Spirit and loved our lesson. As we came out of the TRC, my heart was so full. I was so excited, and I just had this urge to go to Chile and convert thousands!!! Saturday night was one to remember!

But Monday was the complete opposite. Monday wasn't a good day. Our district got really frustrated because we were pretty much told that we haven't been doing things the right way the last four weeks! HAHA. And so...We took that as a "Hey, you Elders haven't learned anything since you got here." And so a lot of us were really frustrated, and the Spirit wasn't with us. However, Hermano Cragun came that night to teach us, and the Spirit came back--he told us we were doing great, and he told us what we can do to do better--and the day just ended on such a good note.

And then Tuesday (yesterday) was excellent! We were suppose to SYL (Speak Your Language) all day, but it just didn't work out. Especially when Elder Boyd and I were cleaning toliets. He and I don't know any Spanish bathroom words yet, and it was tough to communicate while cleaning toliets. HAHA. However, we will try again on Thursday!

Last night we heard from Elder Maynes from the Seventy, along with his wife Sister Maynes. Sister Maynes is a convert, and she was introduced to the Gospel via her husband, who also baptized her! It was a cool story. And then Elder Maynes gave us steps on how to make our missiona celestial mission. It was a great talk!

Again, I am excited for Christmas! Brent wrote me and said that he hopes I don't get too homesick during Christmas. And yeah--it's true--I'd like to be there at home for Christmas, but...I'd rather be here in the MTC right now. This experience is the greatest Christmas present I've ever received. This Christmas is going to be special--just like this Thanksgiving was.

Haha. So Elder Fanene and I have gained a few pounds since getting here, so we are both now on a soup/salad/other healthy stuff diet. My district doesn't believe I can do it, but I will prove them wrong. I've already done it two whole days! I've resisted all chicken as well. ;)

Oh yeah! I memorized the first vision in Spanish. It's weird. I am not sure how it happened. One day I woke up, looked at it, and realized that I could say it without looking at it. My district was really surprised. As was I!

Remember: Every member a missionary!

We heard from the BYU's Men choir on Sunday. It was the best!! Great. Christmas. Concert.

I love you all. I know that this Gospel is true. Trust in the Lord, and remember that if you do so...He will direct your paths! We are all blessed to have this Gospel knowledge in our lives. Thank you again, everyone, and Merry Christmas!!

With Love,
Elder Nelson IV
Proverbs 3:5-6