An Uncomfortable Car Ride!

Letter Received April 26, 2010:

hey hey my family:

 

Well, this week went by really really fast and it seems like yesterday that I was sittng in this seat writing you guys.  It seems that time is flyin' by and I can't really believe that I have so much time in the mission. It is already time for changes and I am probably going to be getting a new companion.  Part of me doesn't want it to happen, but part of me does only because I think that it would be nice to get a new sector or maybe a new comp.  I think that me and my comp are getting really comfortable and that we haven't been working like we were and we could do better. 

 

This week we did a lot better and we have been working a lot harder than we did when I was sick.  I am good now, my cold is pretty much gone and I am feeling good.  We had 9 people in church this week so that is good and we have some good people that I am hoping will finish up and get baptized. 

 

It is getting cold here and so I have broken out the coat.  No rain yet but it is just cold!  I am guessing that is how it is going to be for a little while.  This week I had an expierience that everyone kept telling me that was going to happen and for some reason I didn't really believe that was going to happen. Dad, you are going to laugh becase you told me that it was going to happen. Well, me and my companion were are our way to an interview and we got in a collectivo (which is kinda like a taxi but they just drive the same route the whole time). Anywho, my comp always takes the front seat and I look in the back of this car and there are already two ladies in the back and they both aren't that bad looking women and they are both wearing low cut shirts because that is how it is in Chile and they both have kids on their laps.  I am on one side of the car and looking across the car at the kid on the far end of the car because he had really cool eyes that were really blue and the next thing I know the baby next to me starts to cry.  The lady sittitng next to me (which she was not bad looking and is gifted in the boob area) just flips the baby around and the next thing I know her boob is out and she starts breastfeeding and doesn't use anything to cover herself up for a good five minutes.  Then finally she put something over her, but I am not going to lie, it was the most uncomfortable car ride of my life here in chile! Ha, ha.

 

This week was really good and I am really trying to focus on talking to everyone and trying to be bold and talk to everyone that passes by.  As Elder Holland says, "Bold we must be!"  Not much more new to tell you guys but that is the expiereince for the week.  It sounds like you all have been doing really well.  That is too bad Lex about your insurance.  How can your insurance just drop you? But I hope that it all works out.  That is tight about Craig's graduation and that it all went well.  It is good to hear about all of you and that you are all doing really well and staying busy.  Is the desk for the office?  I am jealous that you all are going to the  Supercross, it will be awesome!  I will know more about Mother's Day next week because I don't know what is going to happen with changes.  I will let you know.  I love and miss you all a ton! 

 

Love, 

Elder Nelson

Working Through a Cold

Letter Received April 19, 2010:

Hey family,

Well, this week was not so awesome as we planned, but still it was a good week and I am staying positive.   I came down with a hard core cold and cough and had to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics.  I asked my companion and our mission leader in our ward to give me a blessing and I know I am starting to feel better because I got that blessing and I know that the lord has really blessed me with more help because I am getting better really fast.

This week we didn’t seem to be working very well because we were both sick and I think that is definitely one of the reasons that we didn’t work so well, but that is no excuse.  I need to do better and I am working now with more determination, so I have learned from my trials. 

This week we have a disappointment.  Rodrigo is not going to be getting baptized because he just can’t get the doubts out of his head about Joseph Smith.   He knows that it is true but just won’t accept it.  He is an awesome guy and he is an awesome friend but he isn’t going to be baptized until he really reads and gets down on his knees and sincerely asks God if it is true.  This week we have been working with some key people and really have been trying to focus on getting people to church but it didn’t really work out this week to have people there because everyone fell and didn’t show up, it really sucks.  Oh well, the only thing that we can do is try harder for next week.

Today we went out to the mountains and to this really sweet river and I will send pictures next week, but I am out of time because we went to the river we got back really late.  I only had 40 minutes to write.  It is really awesome that you all had fun at Kat's house and that you all get along really well and that everyone is staying really busy.  That is cool to hear that Dad is really starting to like his new job and that he had a good birthday, also that Jace, Lexie and Lyndsay are all doing well and are happy.  I got to go, I am sorry this is so short.  I love you all, and miss you a ton.

Love,

Elder Nelson

Busy with the Work, Tons of Investigators

Letter Received April 12, 2010:

Hey everyone,

I have been really busy this week, sharing with all the people. We have decided to kind of go with the people that we got for now, so that we can focus on them and so that we can give the investigators the proper attention that they need.  We have been working really hard on four people and making sure that we see them every day, so that we can work for special dates this month.  

We had two guys get interviewed for baptisms and it looks like we are supposed to have another baptism this week.  His name is Rodrigo and we have been sharing with him for 3 and a half months now.  He has had a lot of doubts and we have been battling them one by one and finally I found Alma 42:30.  It made him stop looking for doubts. I found that scripture in my personal study and I know that the Lord led me to that scripture to finally show Rodrigo what he needed to do. It just kind of drops the stick on searching for doubts. We also had the other guy named Manuel get interviewed, but we found out that he is living with his girlfriend which we thought was his wife, so we have to get them married before he can get baptized. I know that he knows that it is true so his opposition is going to be his girlfriend. I am sure that he is going to get baptized because he reads like crazy and he is so smart, so he catches everything that we tell him.  Those two are really close to baptism.

We also have another lady that her name is Carola and she is really close to baptism and her doubt is that she doesn’t think that she can go to church every week. We are going to get her over that because she is an awesome lady and she just needs to take the step of faith because when she gets baptized she will know that she will want to go to church every week. She is just worried that sometime in her life that she won’t go to church, she knows that it is true; she just needs a little push. 

We have been really busy this week, but I feel that we could have done a lot better with the use of our time.  I feel that we didn’t work as good as we could have and I think that we just need to plan and work harder and we will have results, because we all get a little lazy sometimes and I need to do better.  I know that we are doing the Lord's work and we will be blessed with these people because they are really close. 

This week we had one of the young men stay at our house.  Right now we have the permission from the president that he can stay at our house, because he is going to be serving a mission in Ecuador and he has been going and sharing with the people that we have so that he can learn.  He stays at our house for 3 days a week.  So, he was sleeping at our house and I am sleeping on the top bunk and he was sleeping on a mattress on the ground, but we were just talking and I leaned over the bed and fell down on him, it was hilarious, but really hurt at the same time.  We have a good time when he comes to the house.

There is not really much news this week, we are just doing the usual stuff teaching and what not, but I am really liking it out here and really trying to better my language.  It has been getting better because I have been focusing on it.  Everyone sounds good and busy and seems ready and waiting to get some stuff done within the next two weeks. I am glad to hear from you all and glad to hear that everyone has been doing well, and is back in the swing of things.  Well, got to hurry.   I love you all and miss you tons.  I want to wish Dad a happy birthday, I love you and wish that I could be there for your b-day but you know I love you and want to you to have a happy b-day.  Glad to hear that you are all doing well, talk to you all next week.

Love,

Elder Nelson

General Conference and Grandpa's Funeral

Letter Received April 5, 2010:

Hey, Hey,

Well my first Conference here was really good and I learned a lot. They had a TV set up for us upstairs in the church so I got to watch it in English, it seemed that they really focused a lot on families and especially young men in Priesthood. This week has been really busy because we are still trying to get to know all of the investigators, but it is all good because that means that we should have a lot of baptisms within this next two months. We didn’t have a whole lot of luck getting people to go to conference. We are going to try really hard to get people to church this week, it is something that we have decided that we would really like to focus on. This week we had mission conference also, just before General Conference and I learned a lot. I also had a change of comps for a day it is called a mini cambio, it is when you change comps for a day, and it was good because I went with one of the missionaries that was in my MTC District and he is really spiritual and really in tune and we found three new awesome people. We have had a busy week, pretty much appointment to appointment.

I had to get a bunch of new stuff for my bike because it was not working right. I am realizing that I like living just me and my comp because we are getting closer as a companionship. We are teaching a lot better and I am learning a lot more Spanish because it is something that I really have been trying to focus on and I pretty much understand almost everything that people say. I am doing really well and starting to like learning a lot more words in Spanish, and I am losing weight, I have to wear a belt for sure now to hold up my pants ha ha, I love it. I am glad to hear that everything went well with Grandpas funeral and that everyone was able to be there. I wish that I could have been but I know that Grandpa wouldn’t have me be anywhere else but here right now. I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well and enjoyed Conference. I am glad to hear that dad is enjoying his new job it. It was cool to see some of Utah on TV, but I am sad to hear that Lexie has been sick, welcome to pregnancy! Ha Ha jk, glad to hear that mom is doing well after everything, and sounds like that everything is going smoothly, and that you all had a really good Easter. Well I got to go because the President is really cracking down on internet time but I love you all and glad to hear that you are all doing well. I got an email from Brit it sounds like he is doing really well. I love all and miss you tons

Love your Son and Brother,

Austin Nelson

Grandpa Passes Away

Letter Received March 29, 2010:

Hey,


I haven’t heard anything from my Mission President or anything. I for some reason lately have been feeling that something was wrong with Grandpa Wayne, that is why I asked a few weeks ago and then this week I was kind of feeling that something was going to happen at home but I didn’t know what. I can’t believe that he is really gone. I knew that he has been really sick this last little while and we all kind of knew that he didn’t have much time left, I am really sad that I couldn’t be there to say goodbye, because I really love him and I really wish that I could have been there to say good bye and tell him how much I loved him. I really wish that my president would have said something, but I am doing okay . I am glad that we have the plan of salvation because I know that he is with Grandma Ruth and that he is happy now and that he isn’t suffering any more. I know that he is in a better place and that I will see him again. I am glad that you all are doing well though and that he went peacefully. How is mom, is she doing ok? I want to know how everyone is doing. I am doing ok I have a really good companion that has been helping me.

Lexie that is awesome news, that you are getting your family going and all. The baby is going to be a year old when I get home, crazy huh? It is crazy am going to have another niece or nephew, everyone is having kids and now I am starting to feel old. This week has been a really busy one and it has been really crazy, since they took the other two elders out of our sector we have inherited all their investigators and we have been just going to all the appointments and not knocking any doors now, because we have so many people to see and we have been really busy, also Emanuel got confirmed this week and it went really well. I have to go, sorry this letter is so small. I will write more next week, because my time is up. I love you all, and hope that all is well.

Love and miss you all, your son and brother,
Austin