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
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