Christmas call 2014

He quoted to us all of D&C 121:34-46 (I think those were the scriptures, but I have to confirm with him) and it was impressive!!!

He hasn't gained any weight (lol)
He eats a lot of bbq
(I'll add more later...)
We love you!

On Thursday, December 25, 2014 at 9am MST we all gathered on Google+ to chat it up with this Elder!!  He looked great and seemed super happy!  He was at the Valenzuela family's home and we got to visit with their youngest daughter for a minute too... she was darling!

 Some highlights...

He loves crepes!

(I'll add more... it's late right now)...

  We love you Elder!

#sharethegift / #missionarystyle

Hey everyone!  Hope you had the chance to read over my last email! I kind of wanted it to be fun to figure it out! Hope none of you got way mad and said rude things about me; if so, I would invite you to repent!

Yay!!!  The days are coming closer to Christmas and I am pumped!! I love Christmas and it seems like everyone is in a better mood then usual!  I'm excited to share with you all some great stories of the  week.

This last week we went to this apartment building (fyi this place has like the most apartment buildings I have ever seen) and we went straight to this one apartment and went to the very top floor and started to knock and make our way down the stairs. We knocked on this one guy's door about half way to the bottom.  He answered and we told him we have a wonderful video to share with him and he invited us in.  We talked for a bit and he had a lot of questions so we told him we couldn't stay and that we would love to come by soon.  He said he would love to and we met with him again and it went great!  Then the next time we met with him his wife wanted to meet us and make cookies and chicken soup for us!!  (I almost thought they were Mormons by the end of the lesson)! This family might just want to learn more about our faith and not join it but, I admire them because they're so nice and really brighten my day! So, I would like to say thank you all for showing love for those who might need it!!

Another day we were knocking doors and we walked up to this guy that was sitting outside.  We asked him how his day was going and he fired back a quick answer that started with "JUST GETTING DRUNK"!  Caught us
both off guard and we then talked for a second and he realized we were not Jehovah's Witnesses! He said "please forgive me I'm not really drunk" I just say that to the Jehovah's witnesses to make them "get".  He
then said he works with a guy and he shared with him a video #heisthegift.  We said "wow, that's sweet" and we were able to teach him a lesson and set up a time to visit him again!

Sad day... our ward mission leader got released yesterday!

Another sweet thing that happened this week was that we had a great zone conference and were able to joke around and see some old buddy's!

Well everyone I love you and I'm so thankful for all the gifts I've gotten and all the letters!! I'm grateful for all of you and hope to see most of you in Christmas!! #weaboutit

It's Christmas time!

Today my letter is in Spanish because I love you all!

(Translation Below)

Esta semana ha sido genial! Escuchamos a Elder D Todd Christofferson!  Y fue increíble que ahora es uno de mis favoritos! Ni siquiera se inicia con un tema que acaba de hacer un Q & A y respuestas con esas grandes palabras! Tocó mi corazón! No es broma una cosa que él dijo que me gustaría compartir con todos ustedes es que él dijo "cuando pecamos sabiendo que es malo es como abofetear a nuestro señor en la cara!  Decimos eh señor que voy a hacer esto y usted paga por ello!

Estoy tan feliz que era capaz de compartir estas cosas con nosotros también era hilarante se burlaba de todo el mundo y sus bromas eran de lo mejor no es broma todo el mundo estaba muriendo probablemente porque como misionero de nosotros nunca reímos, pero fue bueno! Creo que él sabía lo necesitábamos!

Lunes Bueno pasado fue divertido, nos lo pasamos tan divertido en el centro de estaca de nuevo!
Tuvimos un gran tiempo en el distrito cumpliendo nuestro líder de distrito es el anciano español y todos sabemos lo mucho que los españoles les gusta salir de fiesta por lo que podemos adivinar un poco cómo se van reuniones distritales! Jajaja!  También yo y mi compañero nos llevamos un poco mejor que hemos
disfrutado de algunas risas entre sí que es bueno!

Tuvimos una fiesta de Navidad en la iglesia era muy lindo los niños pequeños eran tan lindo y me recordó a todos mis sobrinas y sobrinos que los amo y espero que todos ustedes están dejando saber cuánto los amo!

Y ayer nos fuimos a cantar villancicos en un hogar de ancianos que era una maravilla encanta esa gente!

Ha sido una locura últimamente causa que no tienen a nadie en la piscina investigador por lo que hemos ido encontrando y que realmente tienen que confiar en el espíritu y ha sido impulsar mi fe!  Te quiero todo y estoy muy agradecido por los maravillosos regalos que he recibido yo amo a todos y no puedo esperar a Navidad para hablar con usted.

Sorry for doing this just thought it would be funny!

(TRANSLATION):
This week has been wonderful!  We listened to Elder D Todd Christofferson and it was incredible!  He is now one of my favorites!  He started with a theme and then ended with Q&A and the answers were amazing!  It touched my heart!  Not even kidding about one thing that he said that I'd like to share with you guys.  He said that when we sin, knowing it's bad, it's like slapping our Savior in the face!  We say "hey man, I'm going to do this and you pay for it!"

I am so happy that he was able to share these things with us! Also, it was hilarious and he was totally making jokes that were so funny!  As missionaries we don't laugh a lot so it was great... I think he knew we needed that!

Well last Monday was fun! We had so much fun at the stake center again.  We had a great time in the District celebrating our District Leader's birthday!  He's Hispanic and we we all know how much the Hispanics love to party and celebrate (we can tell from how our district meetings go hahaha)!  Also, my companion and I are getting along a little better and have had some good laughs together!

We had a Christmas party in the church that was really nice!  The little kids were so cute and reminded me of my nieces and nephews that I love and I hope you are all reminding them how much I love them!

Yesterday we went caroling at a nursing home which was wonderful!  I love all the people there!

It has been crazy lately because we do not have anyone in the investigation area so we've been finding and you really have to rely on the Spirit and it has been boosting my faith!  I love you all and I am very grateful for the wonderful gifts I've received!  I love you all and cannot wait for Christmas to talk to you.

The future of the World!

Thought that title was pretty legit! 

So this week has been really fun! I have enjoyed learning from my new companion!  He is very obedient and lives his life in a perfect path which a lot of you may know I'm not perfect so I'm working really hard on trying to be more obedient! I'm gonna talk about Obedience real quick... it's something that we all hear everyday in the mission field. Everyone is working on it and tries to prefect it! I'm gonna invite all my family and friends at home to think of one thing that you can be more obedient on - nothing to crazy and then next week when everyone writes me like they always do:O remember to let me know how you did on that thing! I'm just trying to not justify everything I do disobedient.  It's really hard and I would love some thoughts on how you overcame these things! Also, I want everyone to know I'm not like super disobedient but when you're in the mission field you look at ever little thing so thanks!!

On to the week.  This last Monday we went to the stake center and met up with the whole zone!  It wasgreat!   This zone is pretty sweet! We played volleyball and chair soccer and a little broom hockey! We had a blast! 

I got to go on a exchange with the Spanish elders that was sweet!  We went around and talked to all the Spanish people and I pretty much just sat there and smiled and said a few Spanish words here and there! And some times I would imagine them talking about something totally hilarious and would just bust up laughing! It was a great exchange! We found out that Elder Christofferson is gonna speak to us this Saturday!  The mission is flipping out! I'm enjoying all the excitement! 

We have been really working on sharing the message about Christ and his brith. I'm sure most of you have seen the video but I would invite you to share it! #sharethegift 

Sorry I don't have a lot to write about this week.  We have been trying to find new people to talk to so mostly walking around and thinking of neat ways to find if anyone has any ideas I would love them! 

Thanks 

Love Elder Nelson

This week!!! HE is the Gift!! #sharethegift

Wow what a fun week I have had!  

I have been transferred to......... Greenesboro!!  It's a ritzy place! I believe the LDS guy that wrote the Enders games series lives here which is dope!  I guess he doesn't like missionary's cause they only want to talk
about his books!

Anyways my address is 2400 lake Brandt place apt O, NC 27455.

So, I have a new companion and his name is Elder Smith. He is from Seattle and loves being a Mormon!!  He loves singing hymns in different languages and studying fun facts about the LDS faith! He has been out for about a year and we're pumped for this transfer!!  I'm sure I'm gonna learn a lot from him!

So this month we're gonna focus all our time on sharing He is the Gift video. We are getting pass along cards for it. We are supposed to pass out 10 cards a day which is gonna be tough, but I think it will help motivate the work!!

My new apartment is sweet and we have a cozy hot tub and an indoor pool and an outdoor pool! A very nice workout room and very nice people! Fyi I don't get into the hot tub and pools they just look nice!

We had Thanksgiving at the Hardy's. He is from Jordan, Utah I believe and not sure where she was from.  They had two sets of twins... a set of boys and a set of girls.  They were so cute and I enjoyed the love they had
for me!

We have some great plans this month for Christmas and I would invite all of you too share the He is the Gift video!!!  It's gonna be sweet!

Anyways, I'm excited for this new area and I will try to send some pictures today. I just forgot my cord and stuff kinda like my brother.

Anyways, I'm thankful for all of you and the motivation and support you give me!!

#sharethegift

Love elder Nelson!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hi Sis. Nelson - My name is Jennifer Hardy. We had your son over today for Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to share some pictures and a hello from North Carolina. He was just transferred to our area, we are excited to have him here in Summerfield.  I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful! I sent Elder Nelson home with a lot of leftovers - we so enjoyed having him in our home today! 

Jennifer Hardy

Here's my weekly letter to all my loved ones!

Here's my weekly letter to all my loved ones!

Well I would like to start off with saying I have loved the area I have served in and have learned a lot here! Now I am moving to another area ... I am getting transferred! Yay!  I'm excited for the first move in the mission field! I am jacked up to move on! This area has been great but
it's time for me to learn some more somewhere else!  Anyways I will be leaving tomorrow!


So this week has been pretty good! It's been pretty slow but I have been able to really connect with the members.  Hopefully, after I leave this area, the missionary's will be able to really use the members!  It's kinda sad but I'm happy with it!

They had me share my testimony yesterday and I noticed how much it has
grown! I was kinda blown away by my self #nottoboast but really it was
good and all the old lady's were so sad.  Guess I'm a moms kid!  They're all
fighting over dinner appointments! #ladysman! Jk
But really they're great!

Well we helped sister brown with her walls to make them a brighter white and sprayed bleach all over and ruined my shoes😡 but it's alright... I don't mind.
Fyi I got that Bahamas hat at a garage sale last Saturday morning.  We
were trying to find some people...

My weekly post

Well, I took like 10 - 15 minutes trying to start this gig and it's probably the most stressful thing I do out here in the mission field but I'm ready now.

So this week started off very slow.  On Monday we didn't have any plans and
as a result we cleaned the house like we are supposed to! Next comes
the crazy Tuesday's... president calls and wants to talk with us😨 Don't
worry...he just wanted to interview us so that was neat we were able to
have some good one on one with him!

Well on Wednesday we met this guy named Cody! He seemed so into our
church it was a little suspicious but don't worry I was on the case. 

Then on Thursday we went back to visit him when we got there we noticed a certain man with him that looked like a baptist preacher😱. That's right - we were set up!  They wanted to bash us with there bibles but me and Elder Smith were able to take control and calm them down!

Good news we were able to set a baptism date with Max and he is a 5
out of 5 so it's gonna happen!!!! Yay! We're very excited for him!

Umm this sweet winter storm kinda came through and it got really chilly the last couple days but it was exciting cause I got to show my winter blood and be like "I'm warm I lived in Utah!" Hahaha 

#howwedo
#hinthint

Okay so we had a dinner appointment at sister Chues this week.  She has
7 children under the age of 10😁 holy smokes are they nuts!  She is so
nice and so are her children but they were freaking nuts! I kinda
thought they were monkeys because they would surround me and then they
would run off with like my name tag or my iPad! And just play with it
and laugh and then bring it back then they would do it again and
attack me.  Anyways, sister Chue is only 29 years of age and is doing really good for having 7 kids destroy her house everyday!

Anyways sorry for the short letter but hope all is well! Love Elder Nelson
Thanks again for all the love I receive from you all!

#turndownforlife

My message

This last week has been great I'm really excited! Here is my life in a short letter😁

So this Monday we hiked up to the beautiful mountain called table rock! 

Because of this hike I was not available to message all of you.  I truly am sorry. I know for most of you my letter home is the high light of your week! 

So I'm gonna tell you all about my district.  First of all my comp is great and a lot like me! Home schooled, has issues with horses and cat hair! Just kidding.  I'm gonna start my letter off with a joke to help lighten the day! 

So on Wednesday we had some extra time so we decided to knock on a couple doors and turns out most of them were southern baptists people😱 I had no clue! Anyways, we said we didn't like this area so we drove for awhile and I decided to stop and knock on a couple doors! We skipped a couple houses and went strait up to this house and turns out she was looking for a sign😇 and not to boast but that was us!😌 Anyways, we have been teaching her and having a lot of success! Yay! We enjoy people that want to hear from us! 

On other exciting news, a member we have been teaching, well his son wants to be baptized🙏 

We're very excited because he is a really good guy!

We had stake conference and all the missionary's in the hickery zone went to sing in it and had a blast! They talked about how as a member we need to do more to help with the missionaries! 

And if anyone in Arizona area meets an Elder Maltba make sure you tell him where I am because his lovely parents are very supportive of us missionary's! 

So my companion is singing in this big event called the Messiah! I will not be so I'm gonna be enjoying the beautiful practices on Sunday's for about 2 hours.  They really are something else and they will be performing in a lot of different baptist churches around here and I will be using that time to share our message to all those not of our faith!

Anyways, thanks for writing me and keeping me in you're prayers! 🙏 

Peace from your boy Elder D. Nelson 👼 

#missionarywork

#wecantstopandwewontstop 

#Haveablessedday 

Hello!

Sorry mom that I couldn't write you all!  Had a late one!  Let everyone know I'm
alive and love them!!!

ATONEMENT

Hello all.

This letter will be short because of the little story's I have!

Well Ronnie is one of the sisters' converts and he has a pretty neat

story.  He was baptized and confirmed a member yesterday! The sisters

met a guy at Micky Ds and he wanted them to stop by but gave them the

wrong address! So the sister went to this area and thought, "You know

what? We're here for a reason.  Because of their great faith, they asked

the member they were with; which house should they should knock on; number 14.

They went and knocked on this door and Ronnie answered and said, "I

was just praying for a sign on what I should do right now with my

religion." Pretty sweet stories, gets me pumped for mission work!

Our pool of investigators has dried up and we cannot found the house to

refill this bad boy but we never give up!

So that being said I don't have many stories to share!

We went and saw a les active member, Ken.  I have never met this guy but

he kind of runs this apartment place.  He told us a neat story about

how one night he got a knock on the door from a man in his complex

about his wife locking him out and he was covered with wax! So Ken

tells him he doesn't have a key and tells him to get.  So a couple

months later he sees out the window that same man, bleeding and

staggering across the parking lot! Cops are called and turns out he is

dead and his wife stabbed him like a ton of times and then locked him

out and barricaded her self in!

I just want to share with you all that I know though the atonement

this lady can be relieved of her sins and be forgiven! I love the

atonement 

And I love all of you keep in touch.  Love, Elder Nelson

Sent from my IPad

Service

I love service! As a missionary we have so many opportunities to do service, And I have never felt the love of Christ in my life so much as when I'm in service of my fellow brothers and sisters! 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-017-opportunities-to-do-good?category=mormon-messages%2Fmormon-messages-2011&lang=eng

The love of Christ

This week has been great thanks all for the wonderful letters and for all the support! Sad to inform those that sent me stuff to the last address I gave you was wrong here is the one that is correct 725 Shorman Lane apt #13 Lenoir, NC 28645.

Anyways, I got a new comp this last week my first real change in the mission field was super worried but turned out okay.  He likes reading the scriptures and taking long walks with his companion in the morning! But really he is great!!  Here is a good story for you all!  So my comp got called to serve in Australia 2 years ago and started his mission waiting for his visa here in Lenoir! Here is where it gets good!  He went to Australia for about 14 months and then on Christmas Eve he totaled the mission car and got pretty banged up! He went home because of some things like reaction to shots and others things.  Anyways, he wanted to come back out for his last 6 months and they said you're going back to where you started so anyways that's my comp Elder Smith from Morgan, Utah 22 years of age!

My week has been normal nothing to crazy had the chance to help Sister Roberts with her home.   We cut down around 5 trees that were growing into her home.  They were huge no joke! I'll have to send a video but tonight I can't because of the lateness of my message! But after the service she glowed like a Christmas tree no joke she loved us!  I loved doing it we got to run the chipper and most of you know how boss I am with putting away trees!🌲 Anyways, I love service!

Here's the thing... our area is in the dumps right now and we're trying to get her back up and running like a good area! So I'm digging deep for stuff in this email!

Anyways, I got people to baptize love you all!!!

Love Elder Nelson❗️♥️

Great Week!!

This week has been great!!  On Wednesday we were able to see Meet The Mormons!! It was pretty funny and cute at the same time!!

Here is my story for the week!  We drove our bikes to Lenoir and thought we would try to find all day!! So the first thing after we lock up our bikes is some guy tells us to come give him our number! We asked him if he knows elders and he said he was about to go on a mission so anyways we thought he was a member!! So we set up an appointment with him on Saturday.  At about 2 we go over and he says right when we sit down I'm ready! We asked him for what? He said to be baptized!!! We said we thought you were already a member and anyways it turned out that some elders gave him lessons like 2 years ago and he bailed on his baptism!  He decided he would set up his own church so he become a pasture for his church!! But he realized it wasn't the right church so he gave up on that job and saw us and remembered he wanted to get baptized.  Anyways, he was baptized yesterday and it was great!!!!

Elder Morrow is leaving... sad days, but stoked for the new comp!

It's starting to get cold, but I'm loving the cold weather cause we have to ride our bikes with church cloths on!!

This last district meeting I signed up for a musical number and stood up and everyone was like what's going on then I pulled out my harmonica and played like one note and sat back down it was pretty hilarious everyone was laughing because of the pure awkwardness!!

Thanks again for all the love.  Here is my address. I would prefer stuffto be sent here: 
725 Shoreman Lane, Apt 13
NC, Lenoir 28630.

Love you all Elder Nelson

God's Good Buddy!!

This week has been great I'm sure you are all are aware of my cancer!  Jk but for reals this week has been a good one hope all of you had the chance to watch General Conference! I know I did and I had a blast!! I
stayed awake during the whole thing probably the first time in my entire life!! That's exciting!!

Last Monday turned into a sad day one of our converts had her kids taken away and she can't talk to her husband and she is now in a shelter home.  It's been rough for her this week but she has so much faith she even came to all of the General Conference! She knows she has to trust in God that's the only way she'll get her kids back!

We have been finding and meeting a lot of people luckily there are a few nice people that we talk to that light up our day!  It's hard to find all day and not talk to a single person you talked to but hope they have more understanding of our religion!

Transfers are this next week and I think my companion will be getting transferred so keep me in you're prayers that I will be able to take over this area like a boss #aboutit.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon ever morning and it helps answers questions through out the day!! I love the BOM and hope all of you will have time to ready it!!

We went to Brother Shipps house he is one of the funniest old man in the branch.  He got the new iPhone 6 and was showing us all the cool things about it and I took some selfies with him!

We moved a member and I was able to shoot a cute little time lapse video... I'll send it!!

Anyways, I love you all and say thanks for the wonderful letters and prayers you send my way!!

The weeks turn into years!!

This week has been very exciting! We have been trying to grow our teaching pool, but it's very hard lately! We have been knocking a lot and meeting some great people!

Yesterday we knocked on a girls house she was very excited to get her faith back and she shared with us that just earlier that day that she has been wanting to get back to church! With tears in her eyes she said, "I never answer the door my mom always does!!!!" Anyways she seems really nice and we're excited to meet with her.  We're gonna read the BOM with her on Tuesday!

Okay so as we were walking a street the other day a man stops by us and asks us what faith are we and I reply with much excitement Mormons! He laughed and look at me and asked me if I was wearing magic underwear. That guy thought he was hilarious!!  I should've said rude things but my mouth is so clean now I don't even know any bad
words!!😏

This week we had a zone meeting cause our mission isn't doing so well here's the numbers!  Last year this mission had 100 less missionary's and they were able to baptize almost 600 for the year!! Here is our numbers our goal was 809 and were at 370ish!  So anyways were not gonna get 800 so our new goal is 601ish cause we need to beat last years numbers!! Anyways, the meeting was really great we talked about goal setting and plans so we are gonna be master planers this week!

After zone meeting I took over my area for the day with Elder Bishop!!  He is great and has 14 siblings!! Holy Macaroni!!  Anyways, we had a blast he told me all his crazy story's out in the mission... that kid has had a good one! We were able to teach the BOM study group class on Thursday night that was very interesting! We had fun through!

It's starting to get bit chilly here so mom sent me some of the biggest coats I have ever seen so I look pretty hilarious! Kinda like a midget.!!

I'm getting pretty stoked for General Conference!!  We have been trying to get people to come but you know it's missionary work so it's hard cause nobody likes you!!  But we're having a hot dog grill off before the priesthood session!! !

Some sad stuff happened this week.  Brother Guthrie passed away. :(  We have been trying to get him back to church really sad for his daughter who has been helping him out lately.  On a brighter note, he's probably able
to make it to church now!! ;)

Anyways, I've been loving all the letters lately! Thanks a lot!!

I love you all!!!!

FACEBOOK POST

I can't ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars!

This week!!!! It's been a fun one.  Last Pday we were able to go up to brother Lewis's house and fish all day.  That was great and peaceful.  I felt like I was back on my game catching all the fish!! I loved it though I got some great pics!!!!!!


We had a lesson with a recent convert and we talked about indexing and how she has been doing it and it has helped her to feel the spirit in the hard times.  She's great!!

We have been dropping a lot of our investigators because they aren't keeping commitments, so we did a lot of finding and we were able to knock into a lady who said she and her husband were just about to start looking into churches to attend. We have been so blessed to have so many people be prepared to receive the gospel. It's amazing!

So Brother Lewis had us over to help him put up a fence.  It was Great. I learned a lot and had a blast! We're probably going to go fishing there again today!! No joke,  it's a blast!!

So the weekly accident comes on Friday.  We were riding over to an area to go finding and I was texting a member with two hands.  As I was texting, my bike decided to turn sharp left and I fell like a dumb person and ruined another pair of my new pants. I am so blessed to be able to not have to worry about dying cause I know of the wonderful plan of salvation. FYI this is not me saying I'm gonna go die I'm just letting my peeps know what's up.

So those of you that are thinking or are going to send me a package, I'll have to give you the address later cause I don't have it right now so I'll shoot one to you as soon as I do because we might be getting stuff stolen from ours.

Anyways thanks again for the prayers and all the love!! 

Remember God knows you are smart and will choose the right—Jacob 6:12

Going to the Seaside!

Going to the seaside.

This week has been alright.

On Tuesday we were knocking on doors and this nice young girl answers
aka Kenya she was great and catholic so we had some things in common.
We decided we would share the Book of Mormon and she loved the idea of
more scripture we asked her if she has heard much about Mormons? She
had no clue who we are! So we give her a BOM and she asked us if we
could come over to her church and share with them all that there is
more scripture and we kinda laughed a bit and said we would love to!
And then she said I can't wait to share this with all my catholic
friends.

We were able to get a baptism date for sister Greene. She's been
coming to church but doesn't really know much about what we believe so
we get the chance to teach her were excited!! She has a great spirit!

Wednesday we went out to brother Lewis's place. He's got like 16 acres
and a beautiful house on it which he remodeled.  We drove around on
his golf cart and replaced fences! It was nice to get out and I was
able to conquer a couple fears of horses they are actually pretty
nice! Who knew?!

So we have a meeting every Wednesday night with our ward mission leader
and two older lady's.  Our ward mission leader is great and during the
whole meeting we are quoting movies and the ladies don't realize it!
Best part of the week.

This Sunday was great! I was able to confirm a lady we baptized last
week a member of the church and to have her receive the Holy Ghost. It
was very calming and exciting at the same time. I wanted to hold her in
the air like a baby blessing but haven't had any protein lately. 

Anyways, I love you all thanks for everything!

 "People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care"