"Come What May And Love It"

Dear All,

Last night, my companion Elder Judd said, "You should really clean off the jam on this thing" referring to the mess I made in our sandwhich griller. The thing was burning hot, and I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I decided it would be cool to try and clean off the jam while the thing was still burning hot. To make a short story short...It hurts a little bit to type with my left hand because it got burnt pretty good. :)

Which brings me to another subject: We all have trials and problems in this life. We're not perfect, and we'll never be able to avoid that. This last week I was thinking a little bit about that as I listened to Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk from 2008 entitled "Come What May And Love It." I've decided that this phrase has basically been the moto of my life, and it will continue to be my moto for the rest of my life. I would try and explain it all in my own words, but Joseph B. Wirthlin explained it much better. So I suggest you find that talk and listen to it. And then do something to apply it to your life.

Haha. Something always comes to mind when I listen to it: The dumpster in front of our house there in Henderson. Dad and JoAnn used to have us fill it up twice every week! :) And at first, I just thought, "Why us? Why do we have to do this now? It's so hot outside!" Well, one day I told myself, "Why am I complaining? Let's just turn it into something fun and just do it." And so every Tuesday or Wednesday (can't remember which) for about a month or so, Logan and I would go outside around noon, fill up the dumpster, SWEAT UP A STORM, and then afterwards....Jump into the pool and go for a swim! :) And it was a BLAST! I loved it after doing it a few times. (Ask Logan about it; he had a blast, too. Haha.)

Anyways! I am sorry. I like to go off on random things sometimes. All is well here. It was a good week. We had a lot of success, and we were really happy about that. We completed with almost all of our metas. In fact...As far as completing with metas goes, I am pretty sure it was the best week of my mission. :) And we should have two baptisms before this transfer ends. One on February 26 and the other on March 5. :) Their names are Susana and Olfa. Olfa is awesome! She was at church yesterday, and we taught her last night about tithing. She accepted everything without any problems, and she's really excited to be baptized on March 5. She's a really positive lady. Despite having cancer and not having any hair, she is SO positive and it really made me happy yesterday as we taught her--knowing that there are such people in the world today. She's a great example to me. She's one of those people that I think I'll never forget.

The ward is awesome, although the zone leaders were telling us last night that a lot of the members have lost trust in the missionaries here. And they were suggesting that we work really hard and show the members that we are excited to be here. It was something I didn't realize under last night--the members here are great but something just seemed...different. So this week we're really going to work hard with the members and show them that we love the mission and that we're excited to be here. :)

I don't know what else to say. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. A lot of them are just from my area so you have a good idea of where I am at now. I also included another picture of me and Elder Hawkes, and the package I received from my convert's (Valeska) family from Quillota. I also included a picture of me eating my empanada and my melon. The zone leaders, my companion, and I had a little feast a few nights ago. I supplied the empanadas and Olfa (our investigator) provided the melon. It was awesome. Haha. (And I think that's it for the pictures.)

I love you all. I love the mission! It's the best. I'm still here working hard because I have a testimony of these things! I know the Book of Mormon is true. And because of this testimony, I know that Christ is our Savior, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and we have a prophet to lead us and guide us today, and I KNOW the church is the only true church of Christ. The Book of Mormon really is the keystone to our religion. I challenge each of you to make a special effort to read it personally or as a family this year. By doing so, we will all be blessed. I promise you all that.

Until next week!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV