Thanksgiving And All Sorts Of Stuff! :)

Dear All,

"Tough times don't last; tough people do." This is a quote that Elder Fanene shared with our district a few days ago. It is so true!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving here in the MTC was unbelieveable!! Jeffrey R. Holland came and spoke to us, and it was awesome!! I've never seen anything so powerful. As for the food...It was very delicious, and it was just such a good day!

The Spanish is coming along pretty good. My favorite thing to do is sing Spanish Hymns! :) Haha. It's awesome! I love it.

We watched the Joseph Smith movie the other day. Wow. I've seen it a bunch of times, but I've never been so moved by that movie. I know that Joseph Smith had EVERYONE (including our generation) in mind when he fought through all that persecution. In a sense, Joseph Smith was doing a TON a missionary work by living through that. And so why should I complain about the MTC (THE MTC!) being hard? My heart is full.

My new motto: work hard, BE OBEDIENT, and have fun. Obedience with willingness and exactness! I decided that I will only write letters on P-days like I am supposed to. I used to write at night before I went to bed, rather than write in my journal. But I am working on being more obedient. It's the most important thing.

I now understand why missionaries act/feel the way they do when they get home. I don't mean it to sound rude or anything--I am sure everyone understands--but...I am already forgetting what Henderson was like! And it's only been two weeks. ;) I can't imagine what it'll be like in two years. I now understand the "getting lost in the work." It'll only hit me harder as I get to Chile, too.

I decided to start a "Quote Book" for my district. For all our funny moments and what not. They love it! Every time someone says something funny, an Elder will say, "Elder Nelson! Quote Book, Quote Book!" Haha. I love it.

Elder Hardisty got the swine flu and has to stay locked up in quarentine for SIX days. Wow. However, we were able to talk to him on the computer via "Virtual Classroom" for a few minutes yesterday. It was awesome! Haha. JoAnn and Mom, no worries! I have been protecting myself from the flu. :)

Last night, we heard from the President of the Primary, Sister Lant. She was awesome! She compared us missionaries to the 2,000 stripling warriors! It was a great talk. We also got to sing "Called to Serve" AND "We'll Bring The World His Truth." THAT was awesome. The best part about "We'll Bring The World His Truth" is that they change "will be the Lord's missionaries" to "are now the Lord's missionaries." It's so powerful!

Also at the devotional last night, we sat next to some ASL missionaries. WOW. They are awesome! Going out to preach the Gospel in sign language....Man! THEY are the elite of all of us missionaries. I've never seen any missionaries so happy and excited in my life. They are going to serve the Lord very well; I know it, I could feel it.

I ran into Elder Neil Espinoza from Orchard Valley Ward the other day! The greatest! Please add him to the list, Dad: elder.espinoza@myldsmail.net :)

Dad, could you also find out what President Walker's e-mail address is and send him my e-mails? He wants to hear from me. Also, I was wondering if I could get Sister Lamb's address. Along with Sister Mann's (our neighbor) and the Black's? Whoever is willing to mail those to me...It'd be greatly appreciated. :)

Every Tuesday we do a service project here. We get to clean our residence halls!! The greatest! Elder Boyd and I do toliets every week. It's AWESOME. Haha! I've never been so excited to clean toliets in my life. ;)

The Gift of Tongues is real. It blows my mind to realize how much Spanish I have learned since two weeks ago. Wow. And I can even pray in Spanish now. Unbelieveable!

HAHA. Timmy, share this scripture with Levi and Skyler. Proverbs 28:25. THIS is why I am so fat; no because we went to Taco Bell all the time. :) HAHA.

Keep praying for me. I know you guys do, along with the 133 temples out there who pray for us NONSTOP. It's amazing how many people pray for the missionaries. It's awesome. :)

I love you all, and I miss you all. But this is my home for now--like I've said before--and I am so happy to be here. It's crazy to think that I am technically already in my third week. :) I hope everyone enjoys the holidays! Update me on how everything is going. :)

Yours Truly,
Elder Nelson
D&C 103:36

P.S.
dearelder.com is a GREAT site to use to write me in the MTC. Use it. :)

Elder BDN's First Two Snail Mails

Check 'em out:

• 19 November 2009
• 22 November 2009

Cheers!

EBN

Hola From The MTC!

Hola Everyone!

How is everyone doing? Happy Thanksgiving! I have a lot to say, and they are actually timing me right now, haha, so I will do my best to get everything said. :)

The first day in the MTC was pretty tough for me, but it has become a new home since then. I love it! I think the reason it was so hard for me the first day was because it just really is a HUGE change if you think about it. Haha. I'm getting used to it, though, and I'm actually starting to feel like a missionary. :)

My District is great. Elder Fanene is my District Leader, and he is awesome. He is Somoan, and he is hilarious! The whole District is great. My companion is Elder Applegate, and he reminds me a little bit of myself, which can be good and bad at times. ;) Two other Elders in my district that have become some of my best friends (already) are Elder Hawkes and Elder Boyd. They are companions, and I just love them. Elder Hawkes is a mix between Jared Brummett and Brady Dow. And Elder Boyd is a mix of Chris Berry and Bryce Skelton. They really are great! As for me....My District thinks I am hilarious, and I think they enjoy working with me. :)

My motto in the MTC right now: Work hard and laugh. That means to work hard, but to have fun while doing it. There are a few missionaries in my district who are stressing out and what not because they work way too hard. Working hard is a good thing, indeed, but I think this work is so much easier when we work hard AND laugh/have fun while working. Whether or not that is the way I should be doing it, I am not sure. But it has worked thus far, and I've been enjoying myself. I've already changed a lot, I think. :)

The Branch Presidency for my Zone is the best. The Branch President is President Nelson, and he also has a son in Vina del Mar. So when I get there, there will be two Elder Nelsons for a few months. One of President's counsellors is Brother Nelson, and he and his wife are awesome. (So...there is plenty of Nelsons around here, as you can see.) The other counsellor is Brother Jensen. He is great because he only knows French, and no Spanish, which made me feel a whole lot better when I first talked to him.

We are actually supposed to go to the Temple today, but we aren't because it is closed for Thanksgiving. And it'll probably be the same for Christmas, too. I am really excited for both holidays here in the MTC. It's already snowed a little bit, and they have a TON of lights up. The atmosphere is just great. Tengo frio!

We had a funny moment on Sunday. My District got a good laugh whenever I was taking some pictures and the camera said: "Memory Full!" I was really confused because I was pretty sure I had only taken a few. So my first thought was that someone took my camera and took a ton of pictures. However, haha, I realized that I had forgotten my SD card! Oops. No worries, though, I bought an 8 GB card at the bookstore for super cheap. I also bought a sweatshirt/hoodie because I forgot to pack on of those. haha. Because the missionaries get huge discounts...it actually only cost me about $30 for both of those. Which was "muy bueno"!

Dad, I know Matt asked you for his line of authority when he was on his mission, and you said you didn't have it. However, they want me to ask and see if I can get mine. If you have that, could you send it? If not, it's all good. It's just something really cool to have, I think. (Also, Dad, I just wanted to remind you to log on to my hotmail account every month so that hotmail won't get rid of my e-mail address. Mucho gracias! :))

The Tuesday night devotional last night was awesome. Dallin H. Oaks came to speak to us! It was so cool. The Spirit was so strong, and I loved it. He gave us tips on how to be a better missionary, and he even told us a few funny stories. The advice that hit me the hardest: "It's about working smart, not about working hard."

Brent sent me a letter, and I was really grateful for that. I really needed that because my companion gets mail every day, and I was really starting to think people have already forgotten me! :) I am just kidding! But it really was good to hear from him. He told me that BYU won on Saturday!! I hope they destroy Utah on Saturday. :) And while I am at it....I still need to know how Foothill did on Friday. Someone needs to hurry up and update me on that one! Haha.

Well, my teachers here are excellent as well. Hermana Shulca and Hermana Cragun are great. They are doing a good job of teaching my district. I am a little slow in the Spanish category, but I'm 1000 times better at Spanish right now than I was before so it's all good. I can only compare myself to myself--no one else.

Elder Michealson and I see each other almost every day, which is sweet. We hadn't seen Elder Ericcson ina while, and I was really worried he had gotten sick or something. However, I ran into him yesterday, and my heart just jumped. It was so good to see Taylor, and I actually almost cried. Haha.

Well, another random note: Sister Elizabeth Smart (the girl that got kidnapped a few years ago) is here, and is serving in France...I think? It's pretty awesome! I would talk to her, but...She's gotten enough publicity from all the other missionaries here. Haha.

Well, here is my address:
Elder Benjamin David Nelson
[check it out on Facebook]

So I better here from you all soon. :) My time is running out. I love you guys so much, and I really miss everyone. However, I am really excited to be here. And it's only going to get better. Adios, everyone!

Yours Truly,
Elder Nelson
D&C 103:36

Elder Nelson's Farewell Talk MP3

For those of you who were unable to attend Elder Nelson's farewell I recorded it and have posted it online for your convenience:

Elder Nelson's Farewell (15 Nov 2009)

Also, I have been alerted of Elder Nelson's MTC address. If you'd like it, please email me at brent@ebrentnelson.com or check his wall on Facebook.

Enjoy and thanks!

EBN

Pre-MTC E-mail

Dear All,

Well, since I won't be getting a mission e-mail until next week, I thought I would e-mail you guys now to update you on what I have been doing the last few days. :)

On Monday morning, I left home with my Mom and my step-Dad Darin. We stopped at Brent's house so that I could say bye to Shayla (my sister-in-law) and my two cute little nephews. It was awesome to be able to do that! We also stopped by my aunt's house to say goodbye, and we picked up some stuff she wanted us to drop off in Provo with her kids up there. And then we were off!

It was a long trip. Even longer than usual. It was good to be able to sit down and talk to my Mom and Darin, but it just lasted a litle longer because I'm so used to having a sibling or two around. :) But I am glad it lasted long because I definitely needed as much time as I could get with my Mom. :)

We finally got to my Mom's house in Ogden, and I got on the laptop and started talking to Logan and Timmy. I laughed a lot because Logan said, "Hey, what's up?" And I said, "Hey, get off my computer!" He said, "...Dangit..." HAHA! And then he told me that it was weird to not see me napping when he got home; instead, he said Timmy was on my bed playing the Wii. HAHA. It really cracked me up. Timmy also said that the house was lonely without me; and he also said that everyone was so sad at seminary/school. And...well...it made me a little sad! But...I know once I get to the MTC--and once things get more adventurous--it won't be as sad. The greatest!

Today was pretty good as well. I pretty much sat around Mom's house until she got home from work around 2 PM. When she got home, we went to Wal-Mart and bought some things that I realized I was probably going to need. (Pens, pencils, paper for writing letters, etc.) We also found new blades for my elecrtic raiser, but they were $40. Instead, I just bought a new electric raiser for a few more dollars. It's a pretty nice one, and I am glad I was able to get it because my other one was getting kind of old and out-dated. My new one looks a lot cooler. ;) HAHA.

After the store, we had the missionaries over for a steak dinner. It was delicious! The missionaries gave me some hints and tips for the MTC, and it got me really excited. It sounds pretty awesome! They told me that the first day is by far the longest. And one of them told me to replace my cell phone and PDA with a missionary planner. Little did he know...I've always used a planner and I've never had a PDA or a cell phone. So I think I think the planning won't be too new to me. ;)

I called Tara and talked to her for about an hour while I packed and said a few goodbyes on the computer as well. It was good to hear from her! It was good to hear from her! She will be coming back to Henderson on December 19 and will be there for about a month. So everyone needs to be sure to include her in any FHE's and other family activites. And rides to church, of course, as well! ;)

Mom and Darin just dropped me off at Darin's parents' house. They are driving me into Provo tomorrow morning, and then I am going to meet up with Scott and some friends to eat lunch and say goodbye and what not. And then Scott and Company is going to drop me off at the MTC at 1 PM. I am really looking forward to it.

Well, I've only been gone for about two days, but it feels so much longer than that. But that's probably because I haven't gone to work yet. :) I am surprised by how much I already miss everyone. I was never one to play favorites, but I think I miss Timmy the most right now. Only because I realize that there is a 50/50 chance that I won't see him for four years. I also miss Skyler and Levi a lot as well; but I guess that is understandable because I spent so much time with them and Timmy. Heck, I miss everyone. :) But I wouldn't call it home-sicknesses or anything.

I know that what I am abou to begin tomorrow is going to be my toughest challenge yet, but I also know that it's going to be the greatest, even though I will struggle at times. I have a lot of faith, and I know that if I work hard and do what I'm asked to do...the Lord will make up the difference. I am excited for this journey. It's a little weird and unfamiliar to me right now, partly because I never thought the day would come, but...I know that it'll all sink in. Fast. :)

I love all of you guys. :) Check your e-mails again next week for A)my address and B)my e-mail address. I look forward to hearing from everyone again! Keep me updated, of course.

Yours Truly,
Elder Nelson
Moroni 8:3

P.S.
I will need updated on Foothill's game against Basic this week. And on BYU's last two games and their bowl game. ;)

Operation: Elder Benjamin David Nelson (Part 13): Looking Ahead

This week I look forward to...Finishing up my final preparations for my mission.

Next week I look forward to...Entering the MTC.

Next month I look forward to...Christmas in the MTC.

Next year I look forward to...Serving the Lord in Chile.

The year after that I look forward to...Serving the Lord in Chile (Year Two).

After my mission, I look forward to...My next challenge and starting fresh!

(And I don't think I should go any further than that. Haha.)

Operation: Elder Benjamin David Nelson (Part 12): The Emotion and Shopping!

Well, I first want to thank my Grandpa Brunner! This last weekend, we took a quick trip up to Utah to visit my Mom, and I was able to get some mission shopping done. My Grandpa decided to join us so that he could help out with the funds. Well, our shopping trip ended with my Grandpa buying me pretty much everything I needed for my mission. It was awesome because getting everything on my list had actually been worrying me for quite some time. So it was good to finally get it over with. Thank you, Grandpa!!! :)

Other than that, not much has changed. My preparation has been consistent for the most part, and I am learning more about being a missionary day by day--mostly by going out with the missionaries in my ward and what not. (It's the best!)

I've had two very cool experiences that I'd like to share. A few months ago, when I was at camp, we had a testimony meeting. After the testimony meeting, my friend Taylor came up to me and said, "Ben, I just wanted to thank you. I wasn't planning on going on a mission, but seeing you prepare has inspired me to serve a mission." I remember when he told me this, I did my best to hold back the tears, and I just told him how proud of him I was. Taylor got his call a few weeks ago and will be going to Argentina! He reports to the MTC the same day as me. :)

Two days ago, I had a similar experience. My friend Kody got on Facebook and sent me a message. He said, "Ben!! I've made THE choice." I knew that he was talking about putting in his papers so I told him congrats and what not. And then he said, "I just wanted to thank you! You are one of the big reasons I decided to make THE choice. You've always had a burning desire to go on a mission, and I've always noticed it since I first met you." This time, I couldn't help but to get a little emotional. Just like I did with Taylor, I told him how proud of him I was and that he was going to be a great missionary.

I do not share these stories to boast or anything like that. But I share these stories because these two friends of mine helped me realize that people really are watching me, and I really do make an impact on my peers' lives. Whether or not my two friends would have served missions had they not known me, I can't say because it wasn't my decision. However, it was a great comfort to me to know that I have two friends who have looked up to me and have decided to make the same choice as me to serve the Lord full-time for two years. For me in my life right now...There is no greater feeling in the world than to know that I have friends who are on the same journey as me.

And I just want to verify again....Preparing for my mission has truly been my toughest challenge yet. I would have never imagined that preparing for a mission would be this much of a challenge. However, I feel that I have prepared well, and I have relied on the Lord for help.

I have two more Mondays and two more Tuesdays at home. Although knowing this makes me a little sad and nervous, I know that everything is going to work out for the best. I've made it this far, and I can't let Satan get a hold of me now. :) And that's why I've built my foundation on Christ.

If you are reading this, I just want to let you know that I love you and will miss you! Whether you believe it or not, I love you and will miss you. Thank you all for all that you have done for me, especially the last few years when life got rough. :)