17 de Mayo: El Día Que Cambió Mi Mision (In Memory of Hermana Olfa Cortez)

Dear All,

I always imagined all my converts being here in Chilé when I decide to come back one day to visit them all. I never imagined it any other way. However, I was saddened yesterday when I received a call from Brother Vergara during lunch. He informed me that Hermana Olfa Cortez (my convert that was baptized in March) passed away on Saturday at 4:30 PM. She died from her stomach cancer. And of course, we were shocked, and after lunch I took a few minutes to just sit down and talk about it all with my companion. I'm just really grateful that I had the opportunity to teach her and help her make the greatest decision that she could have ever made by being baptized. The doors to the Celestial Kingdom have been opened for her, and I know she's in a better place. Elder Gasik and I will be attending her funeral today at 2:30 PM.

My mission--and perhaps my whole life--was changed on May 17 in a mission conference. There, Elder Birchall (my trainer) gave his final testimony (he leaves in two weeks), and I really enjoyed seeing him one last time. It was great seeing old faces as always as well. But the moment that REALLY hit me hard and really changed me was a talk that we listened to at the end of the conference. It was a talk by Elder Holland that he gave in the MTC in January. You all know how he speaks. You've all heard some of his powerful sermons in General Conference. (They can be scary sometimes, I will admit.) But all I can say is: Wow.

I want to share a few quotes that Elder Holland said. He talked of how the missionary program must not be working. His reason: Because TOO many returned missionaries are going inactive. That hit me hard. He then added: "Missionaries don't know how to do three things: Study, nor plan, nor teach according to the needs of the people." It was great because he gave us some good advice, and I received personal revelation on what I need to do better.

But the thing that hit me hard. And it hit me HARD was at the end when Elder Holland shared the story of Peter (in John 21) when he swims to the Savior, and then the Savior asks, "Do you love me?" three times. And each time Peter says that he does. And the Savior replies three times, "Feed my sheep." With emotion, Elder Holland said, "YOU CAN'T DO IT UNLESS YOU LOVE HIM." That hit me hard as well. And I'm happy to admit that I've strived MUCH harder to study, to plan, and to teach better now. :)

But there's more. Elder Holland said: "It's not over. IT'S NOT ONLY TWO YEARS. It's a new life, a new time, a new day. This mission is the beginning of a new life. You CANNOT go back! You're going to feed sheep. And you're going to be a Diciple of Christ for time and all eternity."

That hit me harder than anything. And it helped me realize that if I don't learn how to be a diciple of Christ in my mission, I'm obviously not doing something right. And we're not only expected to do it for a year or two. We're expected to let the mission change our lives. Just like Elder Holland let it change his. I want my mission to make the same impact on me. Because if it doesn't, it wouldn't be as worth it.

(I hope I explained that as well as I wanted to. The truth: It's one of those talks that you just can't put into your own words. Especially when most of the learning doesn't come from the words of the speaker but from the Spirit itself.)

We did our shopping earlier today, and I'm excited because I bought some chips and nacho cheese. I'm going to make nachos for lunch. I haven't had nachos since my farewell. I'm looking forward to it.

That's all for this week. Our hearts and prayers are going out to Olfa's sons and to the rest of her family. I'll never forget that sweet, kind woman. I sure do love and miss her a whole lot already.

I love you all.

Con Amor,
Elder Nelson IV

Ya Ha Pasado 18 Meses :/

Dear All,

We had a zone activity this morning. It was my turn to be in charge of it. The plan was to eat pancakes and play ping-pong. The pancakes went well because we have an Elder who's a profesional chef in our zone. However, the ping-pong table was locked up! And so we made our own ping-pong table with what we had--a table, a whiteboard, two forks, and a net. :) (See the pictures.)

It was a good week. Although we were really sad that none of our investigators attended yesterday. :( And we weren't able to find very many new people. But alas! We must keep working hard with an attitude of faith. And it'll all work out. We're confident about that.

We had interviews with President Gillespie last week. It was pretty awesome. President Gillespie gave me a letter that I wrote in the mission office my first day here in Chilé, and it included my vision for my mission and the goals that I set for my mission. He showed it to me, and said, "Elder, these are some goals that you set your first day here. Have you accomplished these?" And it was cool because a lot of my goals were things like "speak Spanish better every day" or "never give up!" And it felt good to tell President that I've done well with those goals that I had set. :)

I did my first intercambio (exchange) in another ward as a District Leader. It went alright. :) I have a long way to go. I have to get better at encouraging and what not. But it was good. I was with an Elder named Elder Diaz. He's from Columbia. It was a good time with him. I had an interesting experience with him whenever we taught a lady the Plan of Salvation. Whenever she figured out that we were going to be judged, she asked, "Does that mean I need to forgive the people that have done wrong to me?" Elder Diaz explained the principle of forgiveness to her, and then she started crying. She told us that she couldn't forgive some person because he did something to ruin her life. She then explained that her mom passed away a while ago, and she was the only person that cared about her. Both her husband and her son had abandoned her, etc. She told us that she tried to commit suicide twice, and it was just a really sad story. I just sat there in unbelief. I had NO idea what to say to her. And after we left, I was really discouraged because I felt like I should have said something to the poor lady to help her out. It really bothered me for the rest of the week.

But then I was studying a few days ago, and I read something in Preach My Gospel that really helped me out. In Chapter 2, it talks about how we should study WITH the Spirit. There's a part that says: "This kind of study prepares you for service, offers solace, resolves problems, and gives you the strength to endure to the end" (page 18). Then there's the famous scripture that says: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. (D&C 11:21)." Those two scriptures helped me realize that I need to study the scriptures MUCH more so that I can teach more effectively. :) The Spirit truly testified to me that if I study with His companionship, I will have Him on my side when I do teach such people like this poor woman. And since then, I've decided that my studies will be accompanied more-fully by the Spirit so that I can help those in great need.

Well, all is well here. We're doing our best to keep our heads high, and we're excited for another week. I love you all, and I am grateful for all the support that I have received from you these last few months as I've served the Lord.

Until next week, then.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

It's May Again?

Dear All,

Happy Birthday, Torilynn! Uncle Ben loves you. :) Happy Birthday Tara! I hope this e-mail finds you doing well.

Happy Mothers' Day to all you Moms out there.

I never know what to write the day after talking to the family on the phone.

I've seen a lot of miracles in my life. I witnessed one that got me here on the mission. About two years ago this month I was starting my mission paperwork and when I got the results of my physical, the doctor informed me that there were a few problems with my kidneys. I was worried about that. I wondered if I'd even be able to serve my mission with such an unexpected discovery. But I knew that if the Lord wanted me to serve a mission, He would provide the way. Dad gave me a blessing the day before I went to get another physical, and when I got the results back, the doctor told me, "Wow. You're 100& healthy!" Before leaving the hospital that day, I offered a silent prayer and thanked God for that miracle that was performed by the Lord Himself through my Dad--a worthy Priesthood holder.

All is well here. We won't have six baptisms on May 28 because no investigators attended yesterday. :( But it's okay! We're going to do our part, and if all goes well, we'll have a lot of baptisms here in June. :) Eugenio and his family are great, though. We've enjoyed working with them--especially the kids. They never wanted to pray when we first started teaching them. But with a lot of patience, they eventually learned how to do it, and they LOVE praying now. It's awesome. Our challenge now, though, is finding new investigators! We found a ton last transfer, but Eugenio and his family are the only ones that are willing to progress. So we're going to work really hard and find more people to teach! :)

I've learned to share my feelings more openingly here in the misson. As a missionary, I've been asked about my parents' divorce a lot. The truth is: I love both my parents and both my step-parents a whole lot. I'm grateful that my entire family is active in the Gospel. And I got through that tough time by drawing myself closer to the Lord and not further from Him. As a young 15-year-old, I wasn't the brightest kid, and I was confused about a lot of things. But there was one thing that I knew and recognized. And that one thing was that I NEEDED to develop a strong relationship with my Heavenly Father. I also recognized that He expected me to do so! And I have done my best to always strive to draw closer to Him, and I know the blessings are real!

Well, I want to close by sharing something that I've learned these last few weeks. I've learned that when I strive to do my best, our companionship will be better. And if our companionship is doing its best, our district will be better. And if the district is doing its best, the zone will be better. And if the zone does the same, the mission will be better. And if the mission accomplishes the same thing, the church will grow stronger. But where does it all start? With ourselves. And it's the same for all of us. If we love our families and work with unity, our wards/branches will be strengthened. And if the ward does the same, the stake will get better--which will help the church grow stonger. Again--it all starts with us! I know that by following Christ and His Gospel personally it will help the church in the long run. It's an interesting concept, isn't it? It's simple. I like it.

Well, I love you all. Until next week!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson

2 De Mayo: My Time In The Mission Is Limited!

Dear All,

I received a nice batch of e-mails today. I was happy to hear that Brent Nelson received work, and I was happy to hear about Justin Brunner's call to Ecuador. That's awesome! It hit me really hard today that a lot DOES happen in two years. I saw a picture of Luke last week (a picture that Mom sent to me), and he's a giant!! I think I'm going to be the shortest one in the family when all is said and done. :) But alas! It brings me great joy to see that all is well back in my homeland.

I've learned a lot about myself these last 18 months. I can be dramatic sometimes, I've learned--especially in my e-mails home. I just like to write, really. When I was young, I was always a big fan of writing stories. I like drama. But I don't like to act. It's hard. I've also learned that I'm a little kid trapped in a twenty-year-old's body sometimes. On the micro (bus) ride down here, I was acting as if I was on some kind of roller-coaster. (The micro rides can be like that sometimes.) Another thing I've learned: I can do hard things! I'm reminded of that one every day.

Anyways. It was a good week! We were ESPECIALLY happy yesterday when Elder Gasik and I left the house at 8:00 AM to make our way up Villa La Cruz (it's a HUGE hill in our area) to pick up Eugenio and his family for Stake Conference. The whole family wasn't able to make it, but Eugenio and his son José did. And it was awesome! They were really loving it! And Elder Gasik was REALLY happy to finally have some investigators in church. It was a great. We even celebrated this morning by making french toast and "mini torta" milkshakes. (See pictures.) It was perhaps the greatest companionship bonding moment I have ever had. Elder Gasik and I have a great companionship.

Last week, I wrote my mission President about how I want to be more consistent. I really enjoyed his short reply, and I want to share it with you all:

Elder Nelson IV, life is about constancy. Do it here, do it now and you will be blessed with the grace to be constant throughout your life.

You must be squeeky clean and make sure your companion gets started on his mission correctly.

Powerful advice right there. I enjoyed how he mentioned Elder Gasik. It really hit me that I need to STRIVE to be perfect so that Elder Gasik can get started on his mission correctly. And I think I've done fine thus far. I just have to keep working hard and being consistent. :) I also thought it was funny that he referred to me as "Elder Nelson IV." That gave me a good laugh.

Being a District Leader has been fun thus far! My first class went well. The Zone Leaders really enjoyed it. They said I did a good job of getting the district excited and what not. I also did my first exchange with Elder Fowler from Salt Lake, and that was a lot of fun!

We're having a lot of success, and we have a good chance of having six baptisms on May 28 if we work REALLY hard! We're excited. :)

I love you all! My time has run out. I want to say a lot more, but it'll have to wait for next week.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV