15: And The Toughest Challenge Yet

Dear All,

Another week has flown by, and here I am again writing an e-mail home. I'll be honest...It's been a tough three weeks. I might even go as far as to say that these last three weeks have been the hardest times of my mission by far. I'll save all the details for a future date; perhaps when we can talk to each other face to face, and I can explain it all more thoroughly. However, I will say this: the Lord has me here in Los Vilos for a reason. I felt that very strongly this week. And so tough times or not...I'm here to do the Lord's will, and I must obey. I won't accept any other choice.

With that said...I was talking to my companion Elder Monzón a few days ago, and he told me something interesting. He said he heard a few rumors that the zone leaders might be moving to Los Vilos soon. If that's the case...Maybe I WON'T end my mission here like I thought. But I guess the only choice is to wait and see what happens, right? :) But it's interesting. I remember opening my call in July of 2009, and thinking, "WHY do I have to wait until November to leave? I want to go NOW." I remember my Dad explained to me that it was that way because that's the way the Lord needed it to be. And so it's interesting because I'll learn in the next few months WHY the Lord called me in November instead of September or October.

I am excited for the next few weeks. We have an investigator named Fernanda that will be baptized on August 20. It's super weird because a few days ago, I figured out that she's younger than me; she's 19. But she is awesome! She's like a mix between KT and Cynthia. Haha. It makes me laugh every time that we teach her because she's really smart (she basically has the pamphlet's memorized), and she has the same kind of personality that KT and Cynthia have. She has such a powerful testimony, and every time I hear it mine grows, too. She's getting married to a man named Eric (a less active that is reactivating) on August 19, and then he's going to baptize her the next day. :)

And then there's Cristofer and Francisco. Cristofer is 14 and Francisco is 12. They'll be baptized on August 27. I love being around them because they REALLY remind me of my little brothers. They are so funny. They both want to be baptized NOW. Their desires to follow Christ's example is amazing. I mean...They showed up to church yesterday before us! Without their parents! They'lll be a great addition to the branch because we don't have any youth. The branch is SUPER excited to have two youth to pass the sacrament. I'm really looking forward to their baptisms.

A few days ago, we had a branch activity and we watched a seminary video clip from the Doctrine and Covenants called "The Man Without Eloquence." It was about a man who didn't have public speaking skills nor could he speak with powerful words. He was humble, and he bore his testimony sincerely. And thanks to this man (I can't remember his name), Brigham Young felt the Spirit SO strong and was eventually baptized by this man. As we watched this short video clip, I felt the Spirit really strong because I have been in that man's shoes before, and I've seen miracles come out of what I thought were weak, unconvincing words.

I have pondered and studied much this past week. I was pondering on how evil and corrupt the world in today; and it worried me! But as I was studying my scriptures during my personal study, I felt God's love sweep those worries away. And then I received personal revelation from the Spirit; I was taught that "we live in a world today where we cannot afford to not read the scriptures and pray daily." I felt that prompting strongly, and I know it's true. Because if we aren't reading and praying daily, the Holy Ghost cannot and will not be with us. And the companionship of the Holy Ghost is an absolute must in today's world filled with so much immoral decay and temptations. I promise each and every one of you that we are filled with peace and comfort as we study our scriptures daily, as we pray daily, and as we attend church weekly. If you're going through a hard time in your life right now...I know that if you do these things, the Lord will save you. I know these things are true because He saved me. The words of Alma The Younger to his son Helaman will be my second witness of this promise:

16And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the apains of a damned soul.

 17And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

 18Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

 19And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

 22Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and bpraising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

 23But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.

 24Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

 25Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;
I love you all. Until next week!

Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Nelson IV

¡Bienvenidos A Agosto!

Dear All,

All is well here. I literally have no time to write today. And I don't know what to say either. I have way too much on my mind, and I don't know what to tell you and what not to tell you.

But I will say this: Nothing has made me more happy than my mission. It's been the hardest thing that I have done in my life by far. But every tough task and every dificult time has included a reward and a blessing. And I want it absolutely clear that my decision to serve my mission will be a decision that I will never regret taking. If each and every one of you could only feel the way that I feel right now.

Again: All is well here, and we're looking forward to having a few baptisms in the coming weeks. (More on that next week.)

I love you all.

Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Nelson IV

Best For Last: Estoy En Una Tumba De Oro

Dear All,

Greetings from Los Vilos! This place is a beautiful one. Look it up on Google Maps or Google Earth. I'm in the middle of no where. ;) But Los Vilos is RIGHT by the ocean. In fact, it's the only ward in the mission that we have permission to proselyte on the beach. When we went to go eat lunch at a members' house a few days ago, it was SO awesome because their house is right in front of the ocean. It's a great environment. :)

I'm a little lost here. I thought that with all the landmarks and with the small area I'd learn the area easily--in a day or two. But it has been difficult because there are so many different routes that we can take and what not. I'll get it down soon, though. But I'm loving it here! I learned this week that Los Vilos is a "tomb" (or would "grave" be a better word?; I don't know. In Spanish it's "tumba"). Why is it a grave? Because I guess A LOT of missionaries end their missions here. I didn't know that. It's weird to think that Elder Monzon (my companion) will be one of them, and I'll probably be another. Crazy.

But it's a golden grave. You wouldn't believe it! Elder Monzon and I have SO many potential investigators here. In August, we have set a goal to have FOUR baptisms. We will have at least three. :) And that's only in August! We have others that will be baptized in few more months. We're excited to show the mission that this zone DOES baptize.

But all has gone well thus far. It's a little different being with another missionary as a "co-comp" and it's been difficult for me to switch back to speaking Spanish 24/7. But with time I'll adjust completely and everything will work out.

I've gained a powerful testimony of the family here in my mission. I know the family is the central part of God's plan. I know that we can live with our families forever as long as we accept the Gospel and endure to the end. I want to become a better person, a better son, a better brother, etc. so that my prosperity can look to me as an example--just as I have done with my parents, with my siblings, with my grandparents, etc. I know that as we do our individual part by living the Gospel, our families will notice our examples, and they will want to follow that example. And most importantly: We can be an eternal, happy family. There really isn't anything greater, is there?

I love you all. Until next week!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

Elder Monzón y Los Vilos: Es Lo Que Dios Quiere

Dear All,

I guess I take a lot of pictures and send a lot home. I've heard a lot of comments from other missionaries like "You send A LOT of pictures home" or "You've taken 700 pictures these last four months?" I've always been a photo-taker, I guess. This week is no exception either. I'm attaching a lot of pictures of the people that have influenced my life here in Reñaca Alto. I'm going to miss this place.

Elder Gasik is staying with a great Elder named Elder Rigby. I'm excited for them! Nicolás and Natalia passed their interviews, and so Elder Gasik and Elder Rigby will have two baptisms this Saturday to start off the change/transfer. :) And they will continue baptizing here. I'm sad that I won't be here for the baptisms, but I know that it's what the Lord wants.

I'm being transferred to the North! I'm really excited to go back up there after not having been there since my first ward. :) I'm going to a zone called Illapel; it's a zone of six elders! And so I won't be a district leader because it's not really necessary in a zone of six. :) I'm going to a small little town called Los Vilos. I'm REALLY excited because Illapel is a zone where nobody wants to go because the Elders have it in their heads that no one is baptized there. But I have complete confidence that there are people there; we just have to find them. So it's going to be an adventure!

President Gillespie is trying a few new things. The mission is really struggling, and so President Gillespie has basically changed the mission COMPLETELY. A good 90-95% of the mission is going to consist of co-companions. In other words...No senior companion, no junior companion. I'm with an Elder named Elder Monzón; he's actually older than me in the mission. :) He's great. He's from Paraguay (my second companion from Paraguay!), and he'll be in his last change. I'm excited for that because I've never "killed" anyone in my mission (rather: been with someone in their last transfer).

I know it's what the Lord wants, though. I've always known that Elder Monzón and I were going to be companions. Remember Elder Dupré? He was my second companion. But do you want to know a secret? He wasn't going to be my second companion. Elder Monzón was! But there was an emergency change before the changes. And my whole mission I ALWAYS felt that I was going to be companions with Elder Monzón--mainly for the fact that we WERE going to be companions in my second transfer. But a few months ago I met him here in Achupallas, and I thought, "Dang. We'll never be companions because we are both too old in the mission."

But now look! We're going to be companions. And as soon as I received my transfer, I KNEW it was where the Lord wanted me to be. And I KNEW it was with whom the Lord wanted it to be with. And I am really happy to work with someone with so much success. We're going to work really well together. It's going to be a fun six weeks. And an even funner four months. :) I'm just really excited.

I know the Gospel is true. I've never doubted. I know that if we put ALL our trust in God, He will bless us. And such blessings aren't only blessings. But they are evidences that the Gospel is TRUE and that God DOES love us.

I love you all. Until next week!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

"Seguid El Modelo Que Dio El Señor"

Dear All,

It was an interesting batch of e-mails. I read Todd's last e-mail; he goes home next week. I can't believe that. That means that I received my mission call almost two whole years ago. (I received my call the day after he entered the MTC.) Also I heard from Levi Kiffe that William Lovell put in mission papers and that Timmy has been working on his. I cannot believe it.

It wasn't the greatest week. We didn't have anyone in church yesterday. And we basically spent most of the week working with a list of less-actives. We elimated a lot of names of people that have moved or who have passed away. We found a few families, though, and that was good. Also we were happy yesterday because we had a ton of members in church. A good 80 or so. That was great for our ward. I've definitely seen Reñaca Alto's good days and its bad days. I love this place! But I'm ready for a new ward, I think, because I've been here for a long time; it'll do me a lot of good. I'm going to do my best to leave the ward better than I found it, though. We'll see who stays and who goes a week from today.

Sergio Nicolás and Natalia are doing great. They couldn't attend because they are on winter vacation, and they were visiting their grandma. But they are really excited to be baptized! And we're excited to finish up the lessons this week so that they are prepared for their baptismal interview this weekend. I'm a little worried about setting up the baptism because we just lost our ward misson leader, and we won't have a new one until Sunday. But it'll all work out.

I just want to stay focused and work really hard these last few months. I've done terribly these last few weeks. I need to be a better missionary and a better person. I haven't been all that pleased with myself these last few weeks. But I'm really grateful for the Repentance process. I'm grateful for the Atonement and for the chance that we have every day to repent of our sins and to better ourselves. :)

I know the Gospel is true. I can't deny it because I've experienced and seen too many witnesses that it is true. I like the quote that the mission put in the mission announcements today. It's a quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith. It says, "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God." If we strive to keep the commandments of God, we'll be happy. I've experienced that happiness! And that is why I will never deny the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because I want to be happy. It's that simple. And nothing will ever convince me otherwise.

I love you all.

Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Nelson IV

¡Feliz Cuatro De Julio!

Dear All,

Happy 4th of July! Elder Gasik and I put on the Mormon Tabernacle's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner", and we sang along this morning. It was great. I love my country.

We had another great week. I mean a GREAT week full of a lot of miracles. It all started on Wednesday when we were working in the rain. We had to climb to the top of a mountain (or a big hill, I guess) to teach a reference that we had received from a family that lives on the top. The roads aren't paved; they are all dirt roads. And so basically the only way to get up is in a car. Because without a car, it's just one big mudslide.

But of course we were determined to make it to the top, and so we started to walk up, sliding all over the place. And then the miracle happened! To our left, there was a truck. The man inside rolled down his window and called us over. He said, "There's a Mormon at the top that told me to give you two a lift." I was confused. I got a little closer, and he repeated what he said again, but this time he mentioned something about money; I didn't fully understand because of all the rain and comotion. My first thought, "Oh. He's only trying to get us to pay him." But to understand him better, I asked him to repeat himself. He said, "There's a Mormon that told me to give you two a lift. He's going to pay me up there. Hop in!" We hopped in. We made it to the lesson on time, and we taught a great lesson to this reference. And the man even gave us a ride home after the lesson. It was a miracle! I know the Lord put that man in our path so that we could teach that lesson.

And that reference (Johan is his name) was at church! And not only was he at church, but he stayed for all three hours. And so did four more investigators. Yes! For the first time in my whole mission, we had five investigators in church. A miracle.

And did I mention that we set two baptismal dates this week? Another miracle. Nicolás and his sister Natalia accepted dates to be baptized, and they will be baptized on July 23. :) We're really excited to have investigators with baptismal dates again. It's an exciting time to be a missionary.

We helped rebuild a fence a few days ago for the Parada family. It fell over after a big storm we had a few weeks ago. It was a fun service project. At first, it was a little overwhelming, and I thought, "How in the world are we going to do this? I don't even know where to start." But we went to work, and we rebuilt it one piece at a time. And after taking that first step, the steps that followed were much easier. But that's how life works, doesn't it? For example: The hardest part about the mission is getting started with the unfamiliar language and surrondings. You don't even know where to start! But you get to work and everything comes with time. And by the end you feel REALLY good. That's what happened with the fence project. And that's how I've felt here in my mission. :)

I've had the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" stuck in my head these last few weeks. I love that song. A few weeks ago, I thought back on my childhood (I do that a lot), and I remembered my Dad and how he often got up to bear his testimony in sacrament meeting. He almost always spoke of how he knew that God loved him and all His children. As I grew up, I often wondered, "How is my Dad so sure of that?" But I gained my own personal testimony of that as I prepared to serve my mission and as I've served my mission. As I've studied the scriptures, as I've prayed, and as I've attended church, I've felt His love, and I KNOW He loves me and all His children. There is no doubt in my mind. I know that each and every one of us can feel of His love as we keep His commandments.

I love you all. ¡Que tengan una buena semana! :)

Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Nelson IV

Villa Dulce

Dear All,

Here we are at the end of June. Again. We can't believe how quick time goes by.

It was another great week. I'll never forget these months that I've spent with Elder Gasik. A lot has happened since he arrived back in March! The greatest part about being with a missionary that you trained for so long is seeing him progress. Elder Gasik has always had a lot of guts. I remember when he first got here, we would stand outside of the church to try and do "tours" with the people that passed by. Elder Gasik showed no fear as he talked with the people that passed by--despite his limited Spanish skills. I really admired that because I definitely could NOT do that during my first six weeks in Chilé. But the other day Elder Gasik and I were trying to do "tours" again, and it really hit me how far he's come! The man said, "No. I don't have time." And Elder Gasik said (now speaking MUCH better), "That's okay." And he pulled out a Book of Mormon and he left the man with something to read in the Book of Mormon instead! I was loving that because it really showed me how far he's come.

I did an intercambio with an Elder named Elder García from Utah; but he was born in Mexico. At the beginning of the intercambio, I was talking to him in Spanish because I figured that he was more comfortable speaking in Spanish. But he made a phone call to ask his companion a question, and he asked his companion in perfect English! And when he was done, he started to talk to me in perfect English. And it really surprised me! But then he explained to me that he lived in Utah for 15 years, and everything clicked. :)

But we had a great intercambio! I went to their ward (Villa Dulce) to do an interview for a 23 year-old-man named Eduardo. It went well! It was a great interview. He has such a powerful testimony, and I looked into his eyes, and I could just tell that the Gospel has changed his life so much. I've loved being a District Leader for that reason. It's fun to interview people before their baptisms. I've had some really powerful experiences so far with baptismal interviews. This weekend I get to do another interview for the zone leaders' investigador named Alejandra. :) It'll be great.

I love the Book of Mormon. I have been reading it a lot. I read the Book of Mormon in Spanish during my personal study. I read it out loud in Spanish during language study. And I read it in English when I have any spare time. I've learned a lot! I've thought a lot about the missionary Amulek. I have a lot of Book of Mormon heroes such as Nephi. But I think Amulek might be one of my new favorites after this week. He's a great example to all of us. I was blown away as I read about his story in the Book of Mormon. He is first visited by an Angel and is told that he will attend to Alma. He obeys, and he and Alma preach the Gospel to many parts. They see a bunch of success, and they baptize a ton of people.

But the thing that I love most about Amulek is explained in Alma 15:16. It mentions that Amulek abandoned all his gold, silver, and precious things in his city (Ammonihah) so that he could serve the Lord. Not only that, but it mentions that he is rejected by all his friends and family. And I imagine that was tough for Amulek. But he served anyways! And what was even more surprising to me was in the next chapter--in Alma 16:3--where it mentions that the entire city of Ammonihah was destroyed by the Lamanites. That included the family, the friends, the gold, the silver, and the precious things of Amulek. And although I imagine Amulek suffered much after hearing this news, not once does it mention that Amulek complained or got discouraged. But rather it talks about how he KEPT preaching the Gospel!

What a powerful example. In my mission, I've met a lot of Amuleks. A lot of missionaries that have been rejected by family and friends for being here. A lot of missionaries who have lost family members and friends while they've been here in the mission. And it really has helped me realize how much the Lord blesses us for serving Him. I'm grateful for Amulek and for the Amuleks that I've met here in my mission. How inspiring!

I love you all. Hope everyone has a great week. And I hope to hear from you next week. ;)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV