From North To South

Dear All,

The hardest thing about the mission thus far was probably leaving La Sarena. :/ And so...greetings from Valparaiso! :) I basically went from the Northern-most city of the mission to the southern-most city of the mission. It was another long bus ride. But it´s good to be here.

Elder Boyd and I were finally separated; it´s weird not to have him around. Haha. The saddest part, though, was leaving my good friend Elder Briones. The night I left, he said (in perfect English), "You are the best missionary that I know." And then he started crying his eyes out. :( I shed a few tears, too, and it was probably one of the saddest things I´ve ever seen. Elder Briones was miserable! (He ended up staying up in La Sarena for a third change in a row.)

And although I do miss all the Elders from up north, I know this is where I am supposed to be, and I AM enjoying it thus far. It´s very different, though. For example--wow--this is basically a city build in the mountains. There are SO many hills, and we are walking up hills/stairs to every lesson. Timmy, you know the hill at Foothill that we run up every day for volleyball? The hills here are three times steeper. :( Haha. It´s a challenge to walk up and down hills/stairs every day for 10+ hours. But I am getting used to it, and I am going to lose a lot of weight. :)

Also, I am in a branch down here. It´s actually kind of sad. I was told that there are 1000 members that live in this area. But guess how many are active? 50! It´s a lot smaller than what I had up north; up there, we had a ward of 200 or so, which was way good. Especially since it meant that we had lunch with the members every day. ;) Haha. Here, I´ve eaten more in the pension than anywhere else because the branch is a lot smaller. But it´s not too bad. Now I don´t have to force myself to eat all that food every day. :)

I was surprised by the amount of English-speakers in my branch yesterday, too. We four Elders speak English, and then there is a sweet RM from Utah here (he´s here for school), and he speaks English obviously. And then there is even an investigator that speaks English, along with this visitor from Austraila. It was a little weird hearing all that English yesterday, but it was kind of sweet at the same time. ;)

Anyways--this is a kind of random e-mail. But yeah--my companion is Elder Mann, and he´s cool. He´s from Texas, and he´s been here just as long as Elder Dupre. So...about a year and a few months. :) We´re already having a lot of sucess, and we are going to have a baptism May 8. Tara´s birthday! ;) And then she will be confirmed on May 9--Tara´s LDS membership birthday. :) The greatest! (I still can´t believe we are almost in May again.)

Elder Mann and I live with two other Elders (Elder McMannamon and Elder Yost), and they are sweet. It´s weird because Elder Yost came the change after me, and so I am actually older than him in the mission. Weird. I was so used to being the "new guy" so that really surprised me. Haha.

Well, I am going to continue working harder. I don´t really have any other exciting news because I am still adjusting to this new area. It´s weird because I feel like I´m on a whole different mission now. Haha. I guess the mission kind of is like that. We serve a little mini mission in one city and then we serve another in another city for a time before moving on to the next. It´s fun, and I just need to continue progressing. We had interviews again a few days ago, and the mission president said that I need to be prepared to be a "senior comp" because it´s going to be here before I know it, he said. Haha. And so I have a lot of work to do.

Sorry this week´s e-mail is so lame. :) I know that this work is the greatest, I know Christ lives and this is His only Gospel, and I know that we are blessed according to our obedience. I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from more of you next week. :)

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

Helaman 5:12

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D&C 122:7

3-23-2010: A Handwritten Letter

3-23-2010

Dear Family,

I hope this message finds everyone doing well. I’ve wanted to send a letter home like this for quite some time; I’ve sought the guidance of the Spirit while pondering what I was going to write. I hope this message can help all of you in one way or another. My hope is that it truly will.

The Lord challenges us. We all have trials. I am positive we have trials because our Heavenly Father loves us. If we endure through the trial with faith, we receive blessings. In D&C 58:4, it says, “For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand." I testify that this scripture is truth!

Again, we all have hard tasks and situations we are put in. But we have help! Allow me to compare it to a video game. Back in the day, when a video game was really hard for us, we wanted to get the “Strategy Guide” for that game. The “Strategy Guide” told us everything that we had to do in that game. But even when we used the “Strategy Guide” the game was still hard at times!

Each and every one of us is in a game called “Our Life on Earth.” We have a “Strategy Guide” that we can use to make this game easier. This “Strategy Guide” is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we follow after this Gospel, things ARE easier. I testify that is true. But – just like the video game – even when we use the “Strategy Guide”, the game can still be tough. My message: Even when we are doing everything we are supposed to be doing by following the Gospel of Christ, we will still have those hard times. Why? Because trials and challenges are part of His Gospel too.

The solution is simple: Be obedient and keep on pressing forward! That is my new motto. I know that if we continually do this, blessings will come. I promise each and every one of you.

I have some more advice. My first word of advice: NOTHING can substitute the Gospel. I will demonstrate and example from my life. As you all know, mom and dad’s divorce was hard for me. I’m not quite sure if I’ve ever told anyone this, but I even had days where I really questioned if the Gospel was true! During those times, my solution for happiness was simple: Listen to my music and talk to my friends. And you know what? I worked for a while! But what happened when the music would stop playing or when my friends would stop talking? I would fall into a state of sadness – I felt empty.

I thought I found the solution a year or two later: My family. “If I put my family first, I will be happier”, were my thoughts. And guess what? I was happier! But there was still something missing.

I went through a transformation from 2008 up until the time I left on my mission. I began being OBEDIENT and doing those things I knew I was supposed to be doing – prayer, scripture study, etc. By doing so, that emptiness vanished over time. The Spirit was consistently with me – I was a ton happier!

My point: We need to put the Gospel first. I’m not saying we shouldn’t listen to music, talk to friends, etc. I testify that if we put the Gospel first in our lives and do those things we know we should be doing, things WILL be easier. The trials will STILL be there, but you will have the Spirit to guide you. There is no other way. There is no substitute for the Gospel!

We can’t always control the situations God allows to happen to us. The divorce was hard – it still is. But I know God allowed it to happen because He loves us. He never – NEVER! – puts us in a situation we cannot handle. But how do we handle it? My advice (again): The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way! Christ has been through EVERYTHING; you can’t deny that, otherwise you are denying His infinite atonement. Live is Gospel. Be obedient and keep on pressing on. It is the only way to obtain true happiness. Basically: We can choose to be either obedient or disobedient.

Learn to love these challenges God gives us. The blessings will come, my beloved family. But we have to endure with the Spirit. It’s hard, but it’s possible. I testify that it is. I am a witness of the blessings that come from doing these things. I love you all. I hope, again, that everyone understood the importance of this message. Thank you for your examples, your love and your support.

Con amor,

Elder Nelson IV

D&C 122:7

¿Me Voy o Me Quedo?

Dear All,

This last change has just gone by super fast. It reminds me of the time when Brent Nelson and I rode up to Salt Lake City from Las Vegas in 4.5 hours when I was seven years old or so. This last change truly feels like a couple of hours to me. It was a good change, and we are looking forward to cambios tonight. I want to stay here in La Sarena, but I also want to go somewhere new at the same time. :) The Lord will decide, and I will obey. Simple as that.

Matias´s baptism was excellent. I was surprised last week when we went to his house to ask him who we wanted to baptize him. Haha. We gave him three options: "Elder Dupre, Elder Nelson, or your grandpa?" I was almost positive he was going to ask his grandpa to do it when he suddenly says, "Elder Nelson!!" And so I had the oppurtunity to baptize him, and it was a great baptism. He was so excited to be baptized, and I was honored to have preformed that sacred ordinance for him.

The greatest part came after Matias´s baptism, though. Just so you know--here in Chile, EVERYTHING is locked up super good. For example, the church has huge gates around its yard, and then there are bars around all the window, etc. It´s just the common thing here in Chile. (We even heard this week that our chapel was bombed and put to flames a few times in the 1980´s by some Catholics. Wow. No wonder they are so protected!)

Anyways, Elder Dupre and I--after the baptism--were on the side of the chapel, turning the key to the drain of the baptismal font, so--of course--it could drain. Haha. But to our surprise, when we went to leave the chapel, the chapel, along with all the big gate doors surrounding the chapel were locked! The Bishop left without realizing that we were draining the water. Haha. And so Elder Dupre and I were trying to see if there was a way out. We found a pretty short part of the wall, and we were going to climb up and jump down. But...the church was smart and knew people would want to do the same thing. That part of the gate was covered in barb wire! Haha. And so there was no escape.

Our only hope was to wait for someone to walk by so that we could use their phone to call the bishop. We talked to some people, but they weren´t willing to help us. Haha. Finally, a homeless guy comes up, and we ask him if he has a cell phone. Haha! Of course, he doesn´t. And so I was expecting him to just keep walking. I was surprised, though, whenever he asked us, "What is the number of the person you need to call?" We were both caught by surprise! But we gave him the number and 100 pesos so that he could go call the Bishop from a pay phone. We thought he was just going to run off with the money at first, haha, but to our surprise--again--he showed back up saying he called the Bishop. The first thing he said was, "Man! Your bishop is mean!" HAHA. He talked about the conversation he had with the bishop for a while and then we finally asked, "So, wait, is he coming?" He just smiled and said he was. (We tried to set up an appointment with the homeless guy afterwards, too, but he wanted nothing to do with us. I think he wanted more money.) But yeah--to make a long story short, the Bishop showed up, saved us, and we all got a good laugh. It was a good, fun hour of being held hostage. :) Haha.

But yeah--yesterday at church was good, too. We had four investigators attend. Manuel is an investigator that Elder Birchall and I ALWAYS tried to teach, but we never could. (His wife is a inactive member.) Elder Dupre got here, tough, and we´ve been teaching him ever since. He´s met with missionaries in the past, but he never committed to being baptized. A few weeks ago, Elder Dupre committed him to being baptized two or three times in the same lessons. AGAIN--I was surprised when he said, "I want Elder Nelson to ask me." HAHA. And so I committed him to be baptized on April 25, and he just nodded his head. But yeah--April 25 is next week, and he should be finally getting baptized! The greatest! That is one reason I want to stay here in La Sarena, too. If I miss his baptism, that´ll be hard for me, I think. :/ But..the work goes on! :)

Well, I want to thank everyone for the e-mails. I got 23 this week, and it was good to hear from everyone, especially from Timmy and Luke. I wanted to cry after reading Luke´s e-mail. Haha. I am truly blessed with the greatest siblings ever!

I hope everyone is great. I love you all, and I look forward to this next week. Enjoy the pictures, and I will send a few more, too, in another e-mail. Have a great week, everyone!

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

¡Nosotros Debemos Tener Muchas Gracias Por Las Cosas Que Tengamos!

Dear All,

As I type this e-mail this fine fall afternoon in Chilè, my heart is full. This last week was a great one.

We spent the last two days listening to the words of the Lord´s living prophet and His apostles. (And before anyways starts wondering...They actually set up a TV in a room for the missionaries so that we could watch it in English! Thank goodness.) What a powerful experience it was for me! As I sat in that room with my fellow missionaries, my heart was full and the Spirit was stronger than it has ever been for me during a General Conference. Whenever they mentioned missionaries or missionary work (mostly in the powerful Priesthood session), the Spirit would whisper to me, "That is you, Elder Nelson!" And the Spirit would fill my whole body. It was the greatest weekend of my mission thus far. :)

It truly amazes me now--the fact that the General Conference that I watched in Chile was watched by thousands of other members around the world. As I watched the Priesthood session at 9 PM, my first thought was, "My Dad and my beloved brothers are watching this same session with me, despite being thousands of miles away." It truly is a remarkable thing.

I learned a lot. We all did. Last week, I challenged every one to learn something from this conference. However, I forgot part of the challenge. The other part: Act upon those things that you learned! My whole life, after watching conference, I would say,"Excellent session" and then I would just move on with my life. I realized yesterday though that learning something is only half of it. We need to use what we learn. We need to apply it to our every day lives. And that is why as missionaries, we are always committing people to DO things. We don´t simply teach them; we teach them Gospel principles and then we invite them to act and to apply those things to their lives. It is only through this that we can progress--through our actions.

I would pick out my favorite talk if I could, but I really enjoyed every one of them. I hope everyone takes the time to relisten/reread the talks; perhaps as a family every week during FHE or something. No sé.

Again, my heart is full. I am grateful to be here in Chilè as a missionary of the Lord. I know now--without a doubt--that my call here to Chilè is from the Lord Himself. I am grateful for my knowledge of the Savior and of His Atonement. With all of my heart, I testify that it is only through Him that we can obtain Eternal Life. I testify that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. We all witnessed the truthfulness of this during the sessions. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God; if we always read it and abide by its precepts, we will be blessed. Heavenly Father loves ALL of His children and will never put us in a situation that we cannot handle. As President Uchtdorf taught us during the Priesthood Session (I believe), we need to have patience. As Elder Oaks taught us in the Priesthood Session, "our faith needs to be centered on Christ. Not on outcomes!"

I was looking back on my last night at home when I was set apart by President Peterson. One thing he said he felt was that a mission was going to be easier for me than it is for other Elders--that I won´t think of it as the hardest thing I´ve ever done. I won´t say the mission isn´t hard or that it is easy. I will basically state that I have been blessed. I never realized how many blessings I have until coming out here on my mission. I have been blessed with a faithful family, good leaders, and a powerful testimony of the Gospel. My testimony has been my strength and my support during times of trouble here on the mission.

I love each and every one of you. I am grateful for your love, your support, and your prayers. Thank you for your e-mails and your letters. Thank you for remaining faithful even when it is hard. God will bless you all as you continue to endure until the end.

¡Hasta la proxima semana, entonces!

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

P.S.

Oops! I forgot to mention: I got a call from my zone leader a few days ago saying that some missionaries up north found my scriptures on a bus. :) They are sending them down here right away! I about cried when I heard the news. God answers prayers. I testify that this is true!

Estoy Muy Agradecido Por Esta Oportunidad

Dear All,

Another week has flown by. Elder Boyd and I had the oppurtunity to do exchanges again this last week, and that went well. We actually got into a house, taught a lessond got a new investigator from it. During the lesson, there was another templor, and it was measured as a 6.0. It was pretty scary! Elder Boyd and I thought it was going to turn into a big one. And wow--it´s already been a month since the earthquake. That´s just crazy.

General Conference is this weekend; I am really looking forward to it. It´ll be fun to see in Spanish for the first time. haha. My challenge and my hope is that everyone watches it with their families and really ponders the messages. We can all learn something from General Conference; the messages are meant for US, afterall. I hope that every one takes the time to watch and learn something new from our Prophet and His apostles. :)

Life in our new house (AKA el castillo) is pretty good. It´s been a lot different, but I think we are adjusting just fine. It´s good to be with Elder Briones, and it´s good to actually live in our ward boundries. :) Haha. Of course, I miss Elder Boyd and the other Elders from the other pension, but...we are are still in the same zone, so it´s good! We had a soccer match this morning (Brillador vs. Compañia Baja!), and every one was surprised by how much I´ve improved. HAHA. I got four goals or so. And Elder Boyd just kept saying, ¨"Elder Nelson! By the time you leave this place, you are going to be AMAZING!" I scored on one of the Zone Leaders, too, and you should have seen the looks on their faces! HAHA. Elder Bales (the other zone leader) said, "Elder Bastian! You just let ELDER NELSON score on you?" Haha. By the time we were done playing, they actually were looking out for me and making sure I was never open. It was just a lot of fun! :)

Anyways. This last week was good. We had our failures and we had our sucesses. When Elder Boyd and I found that new investigator, we were just SUPER excited. Despite our weaknesses (mainly the Spanish) the Lord still opened that door for us, and we were able to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and the blessings that come from reading it. It was the best! Elder Dupre and I also had four investigators attend church yesterday, and that was super sweet! We are really looking forward to Matias´s baptism next week. :)

And so we are in week five of this cambio. I can´t believe it! Time continues to fly here in the mission, and I can´t believe it´s almost been five whole months since November 18. These five months have changed me in a lot of ways, and I am reminded every day of the Lord and His tender mercies. I know that it is only through our Savior and His perfect example that we can obtain Eternal Life! My testimony continues to grow every day. My favorite thing to bear testimony of during lessons is that our families can live together forever if we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my knowledge of these things--for the knowledge that I CAN live with my family forever. There is nothing more important to me.

During the sacrament yesterday, I was reading a few hymns--both in Spanish and in English. Wow. I love the hymns that we have in the church. I challenge every one to read the first presidency´s message in the front of the hymn book. (It´s so true what they say!) Maybe it´s something every one can do for an FHE or something. And then READ the words of a three hymns before singing them. I testify that you will feel the Spirit as you do this. The ones that really stuck out to me yesterday: "Be Still My Soul", "Our Savior´s Love" and "I Stand All Amazed."

The Savior lives and He loves us. I testify that it is only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we can obtain Eternal Life. I know that it can be difficult, despite the simplicity of the Gospel. But I know that if we do everything we can to be obedient, we will receive blessings in this life and the greatest blessing of all--eternal life.

I love you all. I am grateful for the oppurtunity to leave everything behind for two years in order to serve the Lord and to invite these people to come unto Christ. I hope all is well, and I look forward to hearing from everyone again soon. :) Enjoy the pictures this week! I´m going to send a few more in another e-mail, I think. ;)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

La Carta Sin Fotos. ¡Pero Hay Muchas Experiencas Buenas! :)

Hello All,

I hope this e-mail finds every one doing well. Sorry this is coming on a Tuesday; we had interviews with the President yesterday. :) It went well; I learned a lot from our little conversation, and I know without a doubt now that the mission presidents are inspired men of God.

But yeah, for future reference, if I ever DON´T e-mail on a Monday, it´ll most likely be moved to a Tuesday. And if I ever get called to the mission office (I have a feeling it´ll happen some day), my P-days will be Saturday. So yeah, keep that in mind. :) Haha.

No pictures today either. Oops. For some reason, my camera is not working on this computer. It´s like that here in Chile. Some places have really nice computers, and everything works fine. Haha. But we are e-mails from Centro de La Sarena today, and we are in a pretty ghetto Internet place. I´ve already restarted this thing two times! So...pictures next week. :) I promise.

This last week was pretty good. We found a lot of new people to teach, and our progressing investigators are doing well. Matias will be baptized this transfer/change, but I am not so sure about Manuel and his kids. They will be baptized eventually, I think. Just not in this change. :)

I can´t believe it´s already week four of this change. Time is flying! before you know it, it´ll be cambios again. And who knows if I´ll stay in La Sarena or not. I wouldn´t mind either way, really. :) I love this place, but I think it´ll be fun to move somewhere else.

Speaking of moving...we officially moved into a castle this morning. Excellent. I have mixed feelings about it now, though. Haha. I am going to miss Elder Boyd. He and I have been together since November 18! Wow. Of course, we will be in the same Zone, though, until the end of the change, so at least we will see each other once or twice a week. :) I´m sad to leave the zone leaders, too. Haha. They have become my good friends the last few days. The good news: I am excited to live in the same house as Elder Briones. The greatest!

I saw Elder Birchall at our Zone Conference this last Saturday. It was funny because he and I were getting confused--we kept thinking we were still companions. HAHA. He was walking up to me, and then he was like, "Wait. You aren´t my comp anymore." It was good to see him.

One thing president told me that really stuck out: The second transfer/change is the hardest one. I´ve talked to other Elders about that, and they´ve said that the first and second WERE really hard for them. It was just weird for me because--well--so far nothing has really been super hard for me. I really do think I have been blessed; and now I do feel like all the preparation I did has paid off. Of course, my Spanish isn´t the greatest, but...it´s enough to get into people´s houses and to teach them. :) And that´s all that matters here in the mission. (But of course, I will continue to keep working on it.)

I can´t really think of anything else to say today. This one might be shorter than usual. :) I will say that the mission is truly a time of change and of testimony-building experiences. I only have four months, and here I am--10 times stronger in the Gospel than I was when I left. The mission truly shapes you into the person your Heavenly Father wants you to be. :)

I testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can make us eternally happy. He is our Savior, and he is the keystone to the great plan of Salvation/Happiness. He is my strength and my support! If we follow Him and His Gospel, we can live with our families forever. There is nothing more important to me than this.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. I now understand WHY it´s so important that people get a testimony of that powerful testament of our Savior. It is truly the keystone to our religion. I challenge all of you to read more from that book--make it a consistent thing! I testify that you will receive blessings for studying the scriptures.

My love for each and every one of you grows as I continue to press forward in this great work. I am grateful for your prayers and your support. I am truly blessed. I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from you all very soon. Ciao!

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

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D&C 122:7

La Oscuridad

Dear All,

Sorry if this is short. I was really slow with my letter to the mission president today and what not. Oops. But I want to thank everyone again for the e-mails. :) I got a lot again this week. I am sorry if I didn`t directly reply to you. If you sent me an e-mail to me, but didn`t get one back, just know that I love you and am grateful for the e-mails. :)

Well, let`s get cambios out of the way. I stayed here in La Sarena in the Brillador Ward, along with Elder Briones. :) That was great news, because we both wanted to stay together in the same ward. However, Elder Birchall left, along with Elder Tarbares, and that was sad. :/ But...the work moves on!

My new companion is Elder Dupre. He is a good Elder, but he has his different ways. He is different than Elder Birchall, and it kind of threw me off at first. But I am getting used to it, and it`s been good. :) The next four weeks with him should be sweet. :) He reminds me of a shorter Nick Beatty. Haha.

(Unfortuneately, my camera died while pictures were being uploaded, so you will only see the photo of me and some other Elders waiting for our companions at the bus station. :/ There`s always next week, though! :))

We now have an investigator with a baptismal date. His name is Matias, and he is part of a less active family. The family is getting reactivated, and he is getting baptized on April 10. Their family is way sweet, and I am happy to be working with them. :) And then yesterday, wow! We had four investigators attend church! It was way sweet. I look forward to meeting with them all this week, and hopefully they all return next Sunday, too. :)

Elder Wallentine (my district leader) and I went on interchanges again, and we had a fun time, just like we did the first time we went on interchanges. Haha. We were going to ask this old lady what the name of this street was...and as soon as she saw us, she walked over to Elder Wallentine and tried to greet him with a kiss. He said, "No puedo besar!" (I can`t kiss.) HAHA. And she was all embarassed, and said to her neighbor, laughing, "Yo quiero le besar!" (I wanted to kiss him.) HAHA. It got even funnier later on when we were teaching this less active lady named Brigida. Her ten year old grand daughter walked into the room, and greeted Elder Wallentine with a kiss on the cheek while he was teaching. She shook my hand next, and I gave her the stiff arm. HAHA. She was trying to go in for the kiss, but I wouldn`t let her. To make a long story short, I was laughing during the whole lesson, and I even made Elder Wallentine laugh while he was trying to read a scripture. We joked later and mentioned how weird stuff always happens when we are on intercambios together. :)

Last night, while teaching the Arayas, the power went out! It was SO dark. It was about time to head back to the apartment, and we did so in safety, thanks to a member who gave us a ride home. :) The power was out in the WHOLE country. Pretty nuts, eh? We ended up having to plan for the next day (today) in the dark with a flashlight. That was fun. :) I will send pics of the darkness next week. :)

Well, I am out of time. :) I love you all, and I know this Gospel is true. All is well here, and although I have my stuggling moments, my testimony has been my anchor and my support.

I hope that everyone remembers this one thing: Nothing can replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through living this Gospel that we can be truly happy. I know this because I am a witness of the happiness that has come in my life and in the lives`of others.

Again, I love you all, and I hope to hear from every one soon. :)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson

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Mosiah 2:22