Earthquake, Fame, Papusas

Hello everyone!!!  WHat a crazy week.... ugh I cant believe the time is flying by so fast.. First off, wow Christmas lights back home. You are bringing out the feels mom. I can't believe Christmas is already coming and to be completely honest Thanksgiving for me came and left and I hardely felt it. hahah but it is probably better that way. Sounds like it was a blast and i was shocked to see the pictures of so many kids running around the house.  I cant believe how big everyone is and i cant believe how young my parents look.... (earning brownie points out here in El Salvador). Well this week was interesting. First off... there was an earthquake. I was eating lunch and everything just started moving and it was a weird sensation. It was decent sized but nothing was really damaged... but it was weird for me because there are never earthquakes in Arizona. Also IM FAMOUS AGAIN!!!! Although i havent acutally seen it, apparently my picture is in the Liahona for December 2016!!! its in the local pages here which go to all the neighboring countries here. so that is cool.  I'll be sure to snag a copy this week to keep my fame forever. Ya boy has made it big. Hahaha but yeah anyways this week was good but kind of weird. We were on diviones the entireeee weeeeekkkkk.  I only spent one day with my actual companion. Its good just really tiring because since my compnaion still doesnt know the area I had to stay in apopa and lead it all for a week.  Kind of rough.  But it was good. I was able to work with Elder Brimley and Elder Eve and they are both awesome missionaries that are new in the mission but are already some of the best. Also we had interviews this week with President! It was good but since the zone is so big we were there alllll dayyyyyyyy on Tuesday. We focused a lot on how we are going to teach the message of the Restoration and I think we are heading in a good direction. Definitely a spiritual experience. Alssoooooo mother I got your Christmas package!!! I haven't opened it yet but since i already had the unopened birthday package I opened it up a week early. Thanks!!!!!  Definitely hit it spot on with the candy.... I dont know how you are always so spot on with things.... It must be a special gift. Anyways love you all and thanks for all the support this holiday season. Finishing strong!!!!

Elder Nelson

 

New Change! Happy Thanksgiving

Well people officially one week down in the new change! Its been kind of a crazy week. I cant believe that Thanksgiving is coming up this week, how time is flying! Unfortunately here its basically the same as any other day... but hey its a good day to be able to give thanks, because I guess eating turkey and watching football isn't the only thing to do on that day. Well my new companion is Elder Chavez, he is a tall Mexican Elder and he is pretty cool, he has about 15 months in the mission and likes to work, and we have already seen a lot of good results in the area. We are hoping for the best in this Christmas season even though it can be a little hard sometimes because a lot of people leave the city or just kind of take a vacation from all their responsibilities that week. I saw that the Church campaign for Christmas this year is really centered on Service and I love the idea. We as a ward have a lot of service things we are going to be planning and as missionaries we have the chance to serve every day. but I would like to go up and beyond this Christmas. I also want to extend the invitation to everybody reading that they can do a small service for someone in these days of the season. Serve who you want however you want, just serve. The little acts almost always go a long way. But anyways this week for us we received the new Elders in the zone on Wednesday and we are helping them get settled in. We had divisions with Quezaltepeque on Thursday and with La Nueve Concepcion on Saturday so me and my companion actually haven't had a whole lot of time to work together. But it was pretty good and i love getting to know other Elders, especially the newer ones so that I can feed off the new missionary fire they sometimes bring. Its awesome. Other than that Ill be honest everything is so normal and blurred I couldn't even tell you. But I love Apopa and love the people here. I also want to share my testimony with you guys that I know this Church is the true Church on God on the Earth. That God has restored His Gospel and called a prophet to guide us in these last days. I also know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have read it many times now and have prayed and have felt strong and unmistakable spiritual impressions that it is true. The Atoning sacrifice of my Savior has changed me and keeps changing me, and I am eternally grateful for His mercy. Thanks for all the support and love, wish you guys the best Thanksgiving!

Elder Nelson

Another change and Trump

Well. Trump won. Ill refrain from my political comments even though i have many. The people here are less than enthusiastic about him winning and its actually pretty funny and eye opening to me to see the influence that America has in the whole world. Always Proud to be an American. Well anyways in the El Salvador life we just finished another change.... and ..... I am going to be staying here. My companion has changes. I was pretty shocked but its not too bad because I like this area and ill be in the Navidad here, for my long term followers (aka. mom) this will mean that i spend my two Christmases here in Apopa..... and half of my mission. I feel a little tired of being Zone leader but It should be fine im excited to keep working and the time is passing by fast... (shout out to getting my plane ticket already). So anyways this week was pretty good. We have a super cool family, Familia Chicas that we contacted a while back and its crazy to see their progress. they were super catholic and had a high position there but have gotten their answer and are just waiting for some legal situations to get baptized. Probably some of my favorite inv. and super positive. Other than dodging a bunch of trump haters here it was a pretty normal week. We had a lot of success from our activity we did last week and contacted a lot of the people that took photos and its cool to see how the Lord prepares people. We had a couple intercambios and I spent a lot of time traveling. The good thing is that I already got over the flu that I had and feel a lot better. I have the goal to lose 7 pounds before I go home so i have been trying to avoid the Pupusas but hey its kind of hard... they are soo good. The mission life is good, its hard but really rewarding. I feel and see so many blessings in my life and the lives of the people around me that it almost makes me not want to come home because I don't want the blessings to stop. I am super excited to see who my new companion is and to get working here in Apopa and hope for the best next companion. I have the goal to complete the "12 week" training program in these last twelve weeks so I can stay focused in the work here. Hope everyone is good back home! love you guys thanks for the support and emails!!!! God Bless America.

Elder Nelson

What a week

Hello fam. First off.... Election. Prayers going out for America right now hope that whatever happens is for the best. I feel like America is going to be way diferent by the time I get home. Oh well, I guess nothing lasts for ever. I am sure I will hear what happens here because pretty much everyone in the world hears when there is big news in the states. Hey i got two packages! One happened to be my birthday package.... (I havent opened it yet!) and another from Tyler and Anneke! Thanks guys you're the best! So anyways this week was quite the crazy one, one that just gets you thinking... ill try my best to explain even though somethings just cant be written out in an email. 

We had an activity in the cemeteries on the 2nd for Dia de los difuntos. We took pictures of families and we offer to go to their house to drop them off. We have found a lot of really positive people. Also, I have the flu. So that's fun. 

So anyways last Monday in the night we went to go visit a 9 year old girl that is part of a huge less active family that we have been Visiting. Her name is Keiri Reyes. She was what i surely believe to be a little angel here on Earth. She was going to get baptized a little ways back and is super smart, absorbed everything we taught her. Her baptism got delayed a bit because her Mom kept taking her to the beach on Sundays so we wanted her to have a more consistent church attendance. Anyways so on Monday when we went and visited her she was sick, and was going to go to the hospital the next day to get some tests done. She asked for a priesthood blessing and we gave it to her... blessing her that everything would go well and she would be cured from her illness. The next day we got a call from her Grandpa saying that she had a lot of built up liquids in her head and it was pushing against her brain and needed to have an operation. We kept her in our prayers. The next day we called and heard the bad news that her operation had gone wrong and her brain died out. Keiri died on Wednesday. Its hard to explain exactly what we felt as we watched this wonderful family go though the grieving process that they are going through. I was asked to share some words in the viewing and I felt way out of my league. Sometimes it is ridiculous to see the trust people put in us in things so personal to them. We gave many priesthood blessings that night and saw many miracles, but it was a night I don't think I will ever forget. Here, death isn't something uncommon, actually way more common than what I would like to admit, and I felt as though I was getting immune to hearing of it. Like it didn't affect me. But some times it hits harder than others. I guess I am happy for the gospel knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation. Knowing where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going is some of the most important knowledge and peaceful feelings one can have in this life. Sometimes you just have to sit back and think, why does all this happen? Yesterday we went to see the Reyes Family and obviously it was hard. But her grandma told me that she, and I, had received spiritual confirmation that Keiri was in a peaceful place, and everything was going to be all right. She said a couple nights before she went to the operation  she found Keiri reading the book of Mormon on the couch. She asked why Keiri was reading and she answered because the Elderes told me to read this part. She also said that she learned in Primary that she had to read the book of mormon to have a pass into heaven. I dont think I have felt a greater feeling after wards. Thanks for all the prayers and support you have given me up to this point, I just ask that you remember the great people of El Salvador in your prayers as well. They are a very blessed people.  

Elder Nelson