FELIZ NAVIDAD: Quiero Irme Pero Quiero Quedarme A La Vez :/

Dear All,

Merry Christmas! Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas wishes! I wasn't able to reply to everyone so...just know that I love ya. :)

It's so crazy that we are here in the Christmas season again. I say it all the time, but...I just cannot get over how quick time flies. It feels just like yesterday that my best friend Scott was dropping me off at the MTC. And then shortly after...I was spending my Christmas with good mission friends such as Elder Hawkes, Elder Boyd, Elder Mallory, Elder Fanene, etc. Crazy! Oh, and speaking of my best friend Scott...He enters the MTC in two days. :) Good luck, Scott! You'll do great in Mexico.

Well, it's official: I am leaving Olmue. We had transfers in the morning, and I will be transferred to the Quillota Centro ward. It's here in the interior-part of the mission. It's fairly close, so I am not going too far. :) I will be with Elder Repetto. I met him once when he was newer in the mission. He's from Argentina, and he's awesome! He'll be in his fifth change, and we're going to have a lot of fun together. He lived in Utah for a few years, so I hear he actually knows English, too. Haha. :) I'm excited for the next adventure! And I'm not sure, but someone just told me that there were Sister missionaries there this last change. Not sure if it's true. If so...Elder Repetto and I will be pretty lost this first week. ;) But alas! That's the mission.

Elder Zorrilla is staying here in Olmue, and he's going to have a lot of success. I am excited for him. Elder McManamom and I will finally be separated, too. :( He's headed up to La Sarena! Pretty sweet. He'll get to know my first ward a little bit. :)

It was a good week. Marta will be baptized on Christmas. :) She had her interview with President Gillespie yesterday, and she passed! The greatest. And I am excited for Elder Zorrilla. Because he was the one that found Marta in the street, and he's going to baptize her this Saturday. He's really excited. :) She's come a long way in the last nineteen days. It truly is a miracle that she will be baptized this Saturday! It's not very often that we find someone and baptize them three weeks later. :)

Speaking of Marta...We had a funny moment yesterday when I was saying good bye to everyone yesterday after church. When she realized that she probably wouldn't see me again, she gave me a hug and kissed me on a cheek. It happens often here. Especially with the people that don't exactly know all the missionary rules. :) But it was a really awkward moment. We laughed a little bit about it afterward, though. I'll never forget that. :)

In other random news: This last week we A)ate rabbit and B)took Marta's tea away from her. (See pictures.) Haha. Marta hadn't been drinking the tea, but we noticed she still had some in her kitchen, so we asked her to give it to us so that it wouldn't tempt her or anything. Haha. She happily handed it over, and we exchanged it for chocolate milk powder. :) Haha.

Yesterday I had a cool experience. I had to speak in church for the first time in the mission. I don't know how but I somehow was able to avoid speaking in sacrament meeting for almost a whole year! Haha. But I was really nervous for that, and I was scared that none of my Spanish would come out. But I just did it, and a lot of the members enjoyed the talk. :) It really helped me remind myself that the Lord really does love me, and He blesses us with Spiritual Gifts (such as the gift of tongues) as long as if we do our part and seek those gifts.

I really have enjoyed my time here in Olmue. I really wanted to go, but now I kind of want to stay. Haha. I really do love the members here and the investigators that I've worked with. But alas! The mission just works this way, and I'm just going to be obedient. :) I am excited for this week. I'll get to know Quillota the next few days. And then on Friday morning I will be coming back to Villa Alemana for the Christmas Eve conference. And there, I will see old mission friends such as Elder Birchall, Elder Dupre, Elder Sylvanstoke, etc. :) I am really excited to see Elder Dupre and Elder Mann for one last time! They will be my first companions who go home. They are starting their last transfers this week. Wow.

I love you all. I hope everyone is enjoying the true meaning of Christmas! I testify that Christ is our Savior and that we'll receive so many blessings as we follow Him and His example. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

I serve God. I serve Jesus Christ.

I'm His Servant, His Minister.

I know I was called of Him.

I know why I've been called, and I will humbly obey.

¡Mis Zapatos Todavia Están Vivos!

Dear All,

Here we are in the sixth week of the transfer again. Time flies. Chances are I will transfered, and I will be spending my Christmas in a new area. Chances are Elder McManamom and I will finally be separated, too. That makes me a little sad, as we have been together since April (8 months!), but as I told President Gillespie...I am ready for a new area and a new beginning. :) I will keep you posted next week.

We had a pretty good week. We had our interviews with President Gillespie on Wednesday, and they went well. We talked a lot about obedience and unity. I really enjoyed it. I really have been blessed with a great mission President! I told President Gillespie that I was lucky because I still haven't had a companion that doesn't want to be obedient. And he just kind of looked at me and then asked, "Elder, you think that's something that just magically happens by coincidence?" And I didn't know what to say! Haha. And he just told me, "It's you, Elder. You and your example. So thank you for all that you do." We have SO MANY faults and weaknesses as missionaries but President Gillespie always finds the good in each and every one of us. I love it. :)

The Lord really has been blessing us here in Olmue. Things weren't looking good for our "white Christmas." But two weeks ago, we found a lady named Marta. In the first lesson with her, we invited her to be baptized on Christmas. She accepted, and she's gone to church the last two weeks! :) Now, she just needs to attend this week and be interviewed this Saturday so that she can be baptized on Christmas Day.

Marta is a special lady. She is 45, and she is a widow. She also lost her son. :( And she's still having a hard time with that. She told us a few days ago that she's a little bi-polar, too. It's a really sad situation. But yesterday she stayed for all three hours of Church, and she seemed to really enjoy it. :) We are excited for her because the Gospel is going to bless her so much!

We went to the Stake Center yesterday in Villa Alemana to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional via the Internet. It was very good. It was the first time that I've actually heard the First Presidency in Spanish. Haha. And I enjoyed it! It was also cool to see Sister Brunson in the orchestra, too! I thought I saw Brother Brunson, too, but I am not exactly sure. When I saw Sister Brunson, though, I started to look back on all the memories I had babysitting their kids two years ago during the Christmas season when they still lived in Vegas. :) Those were good days! I really love and miss that family a lot.

Speaking of children...I am so grateful for the Primary. The past few years, I have really enjoyed the Primary Programs that we always do in our wards. Yesterday, our ward here in Olmue had a primary program, and wow. Hearing the testimonies of 3-5 year olds really strengthened my testimony. The Primary Children ALWAYS bear such powerful, simple testimony, and hearing them yesterday really helped me realize that the Gospel of Christ is SO simple. Often, we complicate it a little more than we should! Christ showed us the perfect example because He loves us. We follow His example because we love Him. And by doing so, we receive blessings. I know these things are true.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. I hope everyone is thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. :) I love you all. Keep up the good work.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

I serve God. I serve Jesus Christ.

I'm His Servant, His Minister.

I know I was called of Him.

I know why I've been called, and I will humbly obey.

La Mision Quiere Una Blanca Navidad

Dear All,

All is well here. We had a good week. :) We were able to teach 13 lessons with members, and that was a record for me in the mission thus far. Also, we had FOUR investigators in church yesterday! :) We were excited for that.

We had a ward talent show a few days ago, and it was interesting. The morning of the Talent Show, one of the sisters in the ward called me and asked, "Elder, I'm going to bring my dance group to preform. Is that okay?" I told her that it was okay, and I was excited, thinking it was a group of five or six kids. But we were surprised later that night when a group of 20 or so (some with ages of 4-6, others were teens, and other adults) showed up! AND all their families! To make a long story short, there were more non-members there in the church than there were members. HAHA. And because there were SO many people, none of the members wanted to show their talents. And so it basically turned from a talent show into a dance concert. :/ Haha. I felt really bad because it was our activity, and I'm pretty sure we could have planned it a WHOLE lot better. I felt especially bad for the members that came prepared to do something, but then they decided not to when they saw all the unfamiliar faces. But...I think everyone enjoyed it.

The mission wants a white Christmas! And so we've been inviting people to be baptized on the 25th of December. In order to be baptized, you need to attend church three times at least. Well, we have three investigators (Carmen, Marta, and Mercedes) who all have a pretty good chance of being baptized on Christmas. :) Ivan, also, has a baptismal date again (and he's doing a lot better), and his is for the 18th of December. So hopefully we can plan everything out really well and coordinate everything really well so that we can end the year off on a good note here in Olmué. :) Basically...I just want to leave this place (chances are: it's my turn to leave when we have transfers in two weeks) better than I found it. (That's the motto/challenge of Sister Gillespie. She wants us to leave our wards, our apartments, etc. better than we find them.)

There's not much else to say. I had another hard week, and Elder Zorrilla and I are just going to give the Lord everything we've got this week. Because I realized a few days ago that I still have a hard time with not thinking in myself. Haha. And the only way to get rid of that selfishness and forget about myself is to go to work and just keep working!

We have interviews with President Gillespie on Wednesday. I am excited. My first interview with him since July. Five months ago! :) I always learn a lot from President during the interviews, and so it'll be a great experience as always.

In a few weeks, I will be talking to my family on the phone. :)

I hope everyone is enjoying the true meaning of the Christmas season. I love my Savior, and I know He lives. I am excited to be here in the mission to share this Gift with others.

I love you all. I hope everyone has a good week! :) I look forward to hearing from you all next week!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

Me Humillé Esta Semana

Dear All,

We just played a little soccer with other Elders from the zone, and it was fun. I scored twice, and I feel like I'm getting a LITTLE better at soccer. But I still prefer volleyball. :)

All is well here. I've really been humbled the last few weeks. I really struggled this transfer thus far, but I know the key to missionary work is just...work. I just need to forget about myself and keep working hard. I did an intercambio with Elder Bellingston a few days ago. He's a brand new missionary that arrived here earlier this month. We were talking about how the Lord truly does humble us. He was telling me about how when he got here, he thought, "Well, this is easy. I can understand the people pretty well, and it's not all that tough." But then he told me about how a few days later, he realized, "Wow. I don't know ANYTHING."

It's been like that for me since the beginning of my mission. Haha. Since my fourth transfer or so, I always asked myself, "How come I'm not a senior companion yet? I could easily do it." Well, as you know, I was finally bumped up, and the first week was great. I just thought, "This is easy. I can do this no problem." And as soon as I thought THAT and got a little "cocky" that was when I realized how hard my asignment really is, and it humbled me a little bit. :) But I'm learning every day, and I love the mission for experiences like these.

With that said...We had a good week. :) We had a lot of lessons with members, which was awesome. We did splits again yesterday, and it was great. It really is a great way to go out with the members--to teach more lessons and to get the members excited to do missionary work. We really have enjoyed doing splits the last two weeks, and we're excited to keep doing them. :)

Elder Zorrilla and I have enjoyed talking in both Spanish and English. He really does speak pretty well. We've been praying in English often, and it's a little weird. My companion actually prays in English better than I do! But I guess that's what happens when you go a whole year without praying in your own language. Haha. We also ate with the Gringo family last week (Tuesday), and during all of lunch, we just spoke English and what not. And Sister Hecker even made us an American meal with pumpkin pie! Haha. My companion enjoyed it. (See pictures.) But wow. It was SO weird talking in English during lunch. I didn't like it all that much. Too hard. :) Haha.

President Gillespie once taught us that our lessons with members are important because they benefit not only us and out investigators, but they also benefit the members themselves. He told us, "The members that teach with you missionaries are going to be better people, better parents, better members, etc. as they leave with the missionaries and teach with them."

Well, we went out with Brother Fernando Arancibia a few days ago, and we taught a few lessons with him. And he said something to us that really confirmed that what President Gillespie told us is true. After teaching, he told us (with a huge smile on his face): "Elders, tonight was worth it." He felt the Spirit, and he was strengthened by leaving with the missionaries. :) And so that is my challenge of the week! That we all make an extra effort to leave with the missionaries to teach with them. Offer your home for a place where the missionaries can do a Family Home Evening with investigators. Or something! Get involved in the work. :) And by doing so, you'll be blessed.

No time left. I love you all. Keep up the good work. I'll talk to you next week.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV