"Being Trusted Is Better Than Being Loved"

Dear All,

It´s a hot winter day here in Valparaiso as the whole country of Chile sits here and watches/listens to the pre-game show of the Chile vs. Brazil fútbol game. The United States lost a few nights ago, so by default, my new loyalty falls upon Chile. I actually have a big screen TV right in front of me, and I am listening to the pre-game show a little bit. It´ll be fun to watch a little bit of the game. Go Chilé! :)

It was a good week. It´s always a good feeling to get in normal clothes and have a little fun. A few days ago, I put on jeans and a t-shirt for the first time in a LONG time, and we did some service for this guy named Marco. He bacially just had us help him destroy a wall of dirt. It was sweet! Haha. Afterwards, we had lunch in jeans and a t-shirt. And then we even taught him a lesson (he´s not a member) in jeans and a t-shirt! It was really exciting. And then this morning, we played some soccer with two other elders and their ward. And even though we, as gringos (foreigners), got destroyed because we don´t know how to play football...it was still really fun being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt. (You know you´ve been on the mission for a while once you start getting really excited about wearing jeans, shorts, and a t-shirt. :))

We had another zone conference this last week, and it was sweet as always! I was able to see old missionary friends (as always), and I learned a lot. The zone leaders and President Gillespie, focused on how we can establish a better relationship with the members. One thing they challenged us to do was to stop by one organization of the ward every week to talk to them for just 3-4 minutes to get to know them, thank them for all they do, etc. Haha. Well, Elder Mann and I decided to stop by the young women yesterday. We thanked them for living God´s standards, told them how much we respect and love our own sisters. And then we read them a quote and gave them queen crowns. Haha. It was really cool! I think it´s going to help us establish the trust we need with every organization. Oh, and wow--I was amazed by how similiar the YW here are compared to the YW back home in our ward. They sure do talk a lot about the weirdest things! HAHA. Not saying that out of disrespect! It was just really funny to me that the Chilean girls are so similiar!

Chilé scored a goal in their other game a few days ago during one of our lessons, and the streets went wild! HAHA. All the excitement actually reminds me of all the times Brent Nelson and I got excited for similiar events such as BYU football. ;) When BYU scored a touchdown, though, I don´t think we ever ran through the streets. Just through Brent Nelson´s house. ;)

We had another powerful moment with the hymns. We were teaching this lady named Maria. She was telling us about all her problems. We let her just talk to us for a good 10-15 minutes non-stop about all her problems. Haha. And then Elder Mann taught her a little about prayer and the love that God has for each of His children. Well, out of nowhere, I had the strongest impression that we should sing her a hymn to make her feel better. So I pulled out my hymn book and asked her if we could sing her a song. She got really excited and accepted the offer. We sang her "Señor, Te Necesito" ("I Need Thee Every Hour"), and WOW! It was so cool! The Spirit was really strong. And when we were done, she was so funny. She said, "What is this that I am feeling? Now I just want to get up and clean my whole house!!" HAHA. (She was earlier complaining about how her house was a mess and how she had no desire/energy to clean it.) Like the lady I talked about last week...Maria heard this song, she felt the Spirit, and I, as the Lord´s servant, saw with my own two eyes the most magnificent change in that sweet lady. :)

The mission is the greatest. This is the last week of the change--my last change with Elder Mann! (President basically told me that I wouldn´t be with him next change.) We are going to make it a good one. :) I love you all, and I am grateful for each and every one of you. I am honored to know so many great examples. Remember the simple advice from Psalms 3:5-6. If we trust in the Lord with all our heart, He WILL direct our paths. I am a witness of that.

I love you all.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

La Clave De La Obra Misional

Dear All,

It´s an exciting time here in South America. The World Cup has begun, and that is all everyone talks about down here. My guess is: No one has heard very much up there in the States. Soccer´s just not as popular up there. :) And from what the people of Chile tell me, the USA is in trouble. They´ve tied twice, and they NEED to win their next game. (Something like that.) Chile played this morning, and it was very obvious that they won. We were walking down the streets this morning, and people were going NUTS. It was pretty wild.

I have found the key to missionary work. Well, it´s nothing new, really. My Dad told me before coming on my mission (in my fathers blessing) that I would need charity if I wanted to teach the people here. As my Dad said, "Because you can´t teach the people unless you love them." Also, in the MTC, President Nelson talked about charity EVERY week.

I now know that charity is indeed very important as a missionary. (Heck, as members of Christ´s church.) I have struggled a little bit here in the mission with that! There were many days where I was putting myself BEFORE these people. But it´s something I´ve been working on. And this week, I was really amazed. I was putting the people BEFORE myself. Every time we taught a lesson, I would look into the people´s eyes and then tell myself, "You are looking at a child of God. God loves this person, and He needs YOUR help to get them home to Him that created them. Love this person and teach/testify what you know about the Gospel of Jesus Christ." I felt the Spirit very strong during a lot of lessons this week as I started each lesson off with those thoughts.

I learned a lot about charity from my good friend Elder Yost, too. On Friday, we had an activity in the church. At the end of activity, we made completos for every one that attended. Well, as you know, Elder Yost and I LOVE completos. And so I was looking forward to this activity all week because we were going to eat completos! Haha. But I was surprised when Elder Yost refused to eat a completo. We were running low (more people showed up then we had thought), and he was making them and handing them out as quick as he could. We asked him, "Elder Yost, don´t you want one?" And all he said was, "I don´t need one. Just make sure every one else has one." I was blown away. I, for one, couldn´t avoid the temptation, and I ate two! Haha. But Elder Yost was putting OTHERS before Himself. And I learned a lot about charity and self-less service from him then.

We had a cool experience with this lady named Sariah. We´ve stopped by her house a bunch of times, but she was never there! And when she was there, she would give us excuses to not let us in. However, we showed up on Saturday, and she had changed. She was a much happier person, and she let us in. We taught a good lesson with them and set up another appointment. And right before we left she said, "Can I ask you all a favor?" My first thought was, "Dangit. The husband doesn´t want us to come back and teach them." (Earlier on in the lesson she had told us that her husband doesn´t like the missionaries very much.) Her favor really surprised me, though! She said, "Can you sing that song to us again? I Am A Child Of God." We then remembered that we had sang that song to her and her family at the doorstep one day. As we sang that song to them again, I felt the Spirit really strong. I had to fight back the tears. That song was what changed that that woman and her willingness to finally invite us into her home. That hymn invited the Spirit, and she and her kids felt the Spirit. As I´ve said before, I KNOW music is something powerful that DOES invite the Spirit. My testimony of the power of hymns is something that was planted in the MTC and is something that continues to grow as I have experiences like that here in the mission field. :)

I am now a big fan of President Uchtdorf. We got Liahonas last week, and I´ve been reading a lot of the talks. Wow. Uchtdorf´s talk "You Are My Hands" was just powerful, wasn´t it? I recommend it! Also, President Uchtdorf gave a really good talk called "Happily Ever After" in the Relief Society session, and I absolutely loved that one. Haha! His little romantic story sounds (see the talk) reminds me of similiar efforts I had attempted with girls before my mission. It really gave me a good laugh. President Uchtdorf is sweet!

Satan is real. Manuela (my convert that was baptized in May) hasn´t attended church in a long time. She now has a lot of doubts about the church and does not believe it´s true anymore. We are going to keep working with her, but wow--when I heard that from her, I was just heart-broken. It is definitely the sadest tale of my mission thus far. But...she still has the desire to clear up her doubt, so we are going to keep working with her!

I want to close my e-mail with the following story. We contacted this guy a few days ago, and when we told him we were respresentatives of Jesus Christ, he said, "Jesus? That guy died a long time ago? Can we forget about him already?" And then he closed the door on us. I was sad that he said something like that. But...I felt the Spirit strongly afterward as I thought about that. The answer is: No. We CANNOT forget about our Savior and Redeemer. He will FOREVER be remembered for the Atoning sacrifice that He made for each and every one of us. That sacrifice was infinite times greater than that charitable act that Elder Yost made a few days ago. Through His Sacrifice, through His Gospel, we can live with God and our families forever. NO, we CANNOT forget about Jesus Christ, and we NEVER will! I testify that Christ is our Savior, our King. I love Him and the blessings His Gospel has brought to my life.

I love you all. I am always praying for you.

Yours Truly,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

Rusty Nails: Not for Stepping On

Dear All,

It was an interesting week. :) I am not quite sure this e-mail will be able to do it justice. But I will do my best. ;)

Okay, so last Monday, after writing you all, we went to a member´s house and watched the movie Emma Smith. It was pretty good! She sure did go through a lot. And as I watched it, I felt the Spirit strongly. Joseph Smith WAS a prophet of God. My testimony always has room for a little bit more growth, and it grew a little bit more while watching that film.

We did intercambios on Wednesday. I was with one of our zone leaders, Elder Pitcher. While we were running down a hill, I kind of skipped and landed on a rust nail. It went through my shoe, and got my foot pretty good. I bled quite a bit, and it was way too painful for my liking. And so I spent the next few days working with a limp. :) But...it´s almost back to full health, which is great. Funny thing is: Elder Pitcher said, "Elder Nelson, it´s always you that hurts yourself!" Haha. Dog bites...Rusty Nails...I´ll take them all! :)

But I had a tender moment later that day with Elder Pitcher. We taught one of their investigators that will be baptized. His name is Enrique. He is 75 years old, and he is really excited to learn more and to be baptized. Before we ending our lesson with him, he looked at me and said, "I want to tell you something. I´ve had a lot of LDS friends in my life. But you know what? They never invited me to church! I always looked up to them and respected them, but they never invited me!" And the Spirit was really strong as he told me about how the missionaries were the first to invite him. The Spirit taught me something that day. I learned that we as members need to open our mouths and share the Gospel with others. They are waiting for us to open our mouths! We don´t need to be missionaries to do it. :)

Pedro dropped us. After watching the Thomas S. Monson biography, Elder Mann went by his house again (I wasn´t there; it was the same day we did intercambios so he was with the other Zone Leader), and he said, "After watching that video, I know that your prophet isn´t a prophet of God. And I don´t want to study with you guys anymore." When Elder Mann told me the news, I was heart-broken. But then I remembered a line from Preach My Gospel. It says something like, "You will be sad. But you should not be discouraged! Discouragement weakens your faith and your ability to feel the Spirit. And if you don´t have the Spirit, you can´t teach." And I remembered that line and realized that it is true. Even though Pedro dropped us, the Lord hasn´t. And we haven´t dropped the Lord! We are here to do a great work, a work that cannot be stopped.

I like the conversion story of Bill Carpenter. He used to be a Catholic. I also felt the Spirit really stong as we listened to his conversion story a few days ago. I recommend that every one listens to it. You will feel the Spirit; it truly is a remarkable story he has!

Yesterday, it was pouring rain. Elder Mann and I sought shelter for a few minutes in an Evangelica Church (kind of like the Baptist, I think), and it was interesting. It really is interesting how we all worship the same God in different ways. I was thinking, "We are not leaving this church until they mention the two Mormons sitting in the back." HAHA. Well, finally, the preacher said, "Remember the other day when I told you all that the Spirit whispered to me that more people would fill our chapel? Well, look! We have two Mormons here with us tonight. God bless them! Hopefully more follow." And then everyone shouted, AMEN!! HAHA. We got a great laugh out of it.

It was a good week. More exciting things happened, but I am out of time. I love you all, and I am grateful for your examples, your prayers, and your support. As always. Christ lives, and He is our Savior. He is the reason I am here--the reason I am still here, despite all the trials I have faced.

Con Mucho Amore,

Elder Nelson IV

No Tengo Mucho Tiempo

Dear All,

Well, I took too much time e-mailing people toward the beginning, and now I am left with a small amount of time. I will do my best to write up a good e-mail, though, in the next 16 minutes. :) If you wrote me and got a short reply or no reply at all, just know that I got your e-mail, and I am grateful for your love and support. :) As always.

First of all, wow! Congrats KT! I am excited for Baby Levi. :) I also heard that Erin Kiffe is getting married...?? Dang! Haha. I sure do enjoy getting news about weddings and new nieces and nephews. :)

We had interviews last Wednesday. They went well. President Gillespie is a great guy. His advice and wisdom always makes me want to be a better missionary! In our interview, he asked me about my family (as he always does), and I told him how we have truly been blessed for having consistent scripture study and prayer back home. He was really happy to hear that. But he also added, "Always remember that your family is receiving blessings for your service, too, Elder Nelson." He concluded the interview by saying that the missionaries really enjoy working with me, which was very good to hear. Haha. It was probably my best interview with President Gillespie so far. It was probably the first one that he didn´t have to tell me to stop being selfish. HAHA.

Anyways! We are now--again--struggling to get good, solid investigators. And so we decided to do a 40 day fast with our branch like the one we do in our ward back home. You know, when we have a family fast every day for forty consecutive days. I think it´ll be grand! We are excited to do it with them. :)

You see, our best investigator´s name is Pedro. We watched the Testaments with him last week, and he LOVED it. And so we decided to watch another DVD with him. We watched "On The Lord´s Errand" (Thomas S. Monson biography) with him, and...well...the results are not what we wanted. He said he enjoyed it, but then he said, "He´s a good, inspired man. But he is not a prophet." It was hard for me to actually HEAR someone say that, especially after such a powerful DVD like that one. But we are going to keep working with him, and we are going to help him feel the Spirit comfirming the truthfulness of the Gospel.

Elder Mann got sick a few nights ago, and so for the first time in the field, we retired to the pension a few hours earlier and got to bed a good two hours earlier than usual. It was good to get 10 hours of sleep. :) Haha. And Elder Mann is doing a whole lot better now, so that´s good. We are both to 100% right now, and we are excited for another week. :)

With my final four minutes, I want to end by bearing my testimony. I know that if we live our lives in a way where we can ALWAYS feel the Spirit, we can receive guidance and direction from the Spirit. What a powerful, wonderful gift we have! I know it´s hard sometimes--especially during the summer--but I know that if we put the Gospel FIRST in our lives and always remember to pray and study the scriptures, we WILL feel the Spirit leading and guiding us in our every day lives. Always remember that. Always remember that we have a Savior who Atoned for all of us. We have our weaknesses; but for that reason, we have a Savior who has provided the way for us. God lives and loves ALL of His Children. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and we have it thanks to a prophet of God, Joseph Smith. Thomas S. Monson IS a prophet of God, and he leads and guides us today.

I am grateful for the Gospel, for this opportunity to share it with others. We are blessed to have this knowledge in our lives. I challenge you all to hold an FHE where you just simply bear your testimonies to one another. Testimony truly is a powerful thing.

I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from you all next week.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

P.S.

Sorry! No photos. Next week, though. I promise. :)

Pues, Nos Quedamos Juntos

Dear All,

Well, the legend continues! Elder Mann and I stayed together for another change. Not only that, but...Elder Yost and Elder McManamom stayed together, too. So our pension is the exact same group for another five weeks. It should be fun; we were all excited to stay together. Although, I was hoping the week would have gone by a little quicker. The first week of the change is always the slowest because of the new people, the new place, etc. But...everything stayed exactly the same and it was still REALLY slow. Haha. Oh well.

Random Fact: Rootbeer basically doesn´t exist here. You can find it, but it´s rare. My companion pointed that out a few days ago, and it made me think of Logan. Haha. He likes root beer a lot. Heck, we all do! One day, Elder Nelson, one day.

Okay, so this last Thursday was the greatest. We had a special conference in the morning! Elder Jensen from the Seventy came and spoke to us. He knows Spanish, which was way cool! Haha. He talked to us about the Spirit and how it´s the Spirit that teaches the people. As missionaries--we don´t teach, we preach the Gospel and the SPIRIT teaches the people. It was a really good discurso. He talked about how we can start our lessons off with a hymn, and the hymn will invite the Spirit right away. And I, too, testify that that is true. When I was with Elder Birchall, we sang hymns to a few people, and you can just feel/see a change within the people. But yeah--it was an awesome conference, and it´s gotten me to think of ways that I can better myself and my methods so that these people can feel the Spirit and be taught by the Spirit. :) Because we really can only obtain a testimony through the power of the Spirit. Us--as missionaries--can´t teach these people and say, "Believe us. Our church is the right church." Rather, we INVITE people to believe God and to ask HIM if these things are true. There is no other way. :)

But yeah! The conference was also great because I got to see old missionary buddies. :) Like always, it was awesome seeing Elder Hawkes again! He told me that he has a new goal for the mission--to "get ripped." HAHA. He then told me that he works out every morning. It was awesome! He´s such a good guy, and I love him.

As I predicted last week, Elder Birchall was moved up to Zone Leader, and he is being trained by the former-AP Elder Reid. I can´t believe it! They are both way good missionaries, and it was the greatest talking to Elder Birchall about all our good times together up in La Sarena. We had a lot of laughs. :) I also saw Elder Wallentine, and THAT made me really happy because he goes home in two months, and I was afraid I wouldn´t see him again. He was really excited to see me, haha, and he and I are going to try and talk President Gillespie into letting me his last companion in the mission. ;) Haha.

All is well here. I´ve really gained a testimony of the importance of developing Christ-like attributes. In Preach My Gospel, it talks about how we need to BECOME the missionary Christ wants us to be, opposed to just DOING missionary things. As I´ve striven to develop these Christ-like attributes, I´ve noticed a huge change in my life. And so I challenge each of you to choose an attribute every week and to work on it for that week. I know as we strive to follow in the example of our Savior, our Heavenly Father will be happy for us and will bless us for our willingness to follow in the Savior´s footsteps. None of us our perfect, but I KNOW as we develop these Christ-like attributes, we will be blessed, we will be happier.

I am grateful for the opportunity I´ve been given to be here in the mission. I´m grateful for the support and prayers I receive from you all. I KNOW this Gospel is true, and I know we will receive more blessings than we can even imagine as we continue to endure to the end. I love my Savior, and I know He lives and loves each and every one of us.

I love you all, and I hope all is well. I look forward to hearing from every one next week! :)

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

Pues, Nos Quedamos Juntos

Dear All,

Well, the legend continues! Elder Mann and I stayed together for another change. Not only that, but...Elder Yost and Elder McManamom stayed together, too. So our pension is the exact same group for another five weeks. It should be fun; we were all excited to stay together. Although, I was hoping the week would have gone by a little quicker. The first week of the change is always the slowest because of the new people, the new place, etc. But...everything stayed exactly the same and it was still REALLY slow. Haha. Oh well.

Random Fact: Rootbeer basically doesn´t exist here. You can find it, but it´s rare. My companion pointed that out a few days ago, and it made me think of Logan. Haha. He likes root beer a lot. Heck, we all do! One day, Elder Nelson, one day.

Okay, so this last Thursday was the greatest. We had a special conference in the morning! Elder Jensen from the Seventy came and spoke to us. He knows Spanish, which was way cool! Haha. He talked to us about the Spirit and how it´s the Spirit that teaches the people. As missionaries--we don´t teach, we preach the Gospel and the SPIRIT teaches the people. It was a really good discurso. He talked about how we can start our lessons off with a hymn, and the hymn will invite the Spirit right away. And I, too, testify that that is true. When I was with Elder Birchall, we sang hymns to a few people, and you can just feel/see a change within the people. But yeah--it was an awesome conference, and it´s gotten me to think of ways that I can better myself and my methods so that these people can feel the Spirit and be taught by the Spirit. :) Because we really can only obtain a testimony through the power of the Spirit. Us--as missionaries--can´t teach these people and say, "Believe us. Our church is the right church." Rather, we INVITE people to believe God and to ask HIM if these things are true. There is no other way. :)

But yeah! The conference was also great because I got to see old missionary buddies. :) Like always, it was awesome seeing Elder Hawkes again! He told me that he has a new goal for the mission--to "get ripped." HAHA. He then told me that he works out every morning. It was awesome! He´s such a good guy, and I love him.

As I predicted last week, Elder Birchall was moved up to Zone Leader, and he is being trained by the former-AP Elder Reid. I can´t believe it! They are both way good missionaries, and it was the greatest talking to Elder Birchall about all our good times together up in La Sarena. We had a lot of laughs. :) I also saw Elder Wallentine, and THAT made me really happy because he goes home in two months, and I was afraid I wouldn´t see him again. He was really excited to see me, haha, and he and I are going to try and talk President Gillespie into letting me his last companion in the mission. ;) Haha.

All is well here. I´ve really gained a testimony of the importance of developing Christ-like attributes. In Preach My Gospel, it talks about how we need to BECOME the missionary Christ wants us to be, opposed to just DOING missionary things. As I´ve striven to develop these Christ-like attributes, I´ve noticed a huge change in my life. And so I challenge each of you to choose an attribute every week and to work on it for that week. I know as we strive to follow in the example of our Savior, our Heavenly Father will be happy for us and will bless us for our willingness to follow in the Savior´s footsteps. None of us our perfect, but I KNOW as we develop these Christ-like attributes, we will be blessed, we will be happier.

I am grateful for the opportunity I´ve been given to be here in the mission. I´m grateful for the support and prayers I receive from you all. I KNOW this Gospel is true, and I know we will receive more blessings than we can even imagine as we continue to endure to the end. I love my Savior, and I know He lives and loves each and every one of us.

I love you all, and I hope all is well. I look forward to hearing from every one next week! :)

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7