Merry Christmas and Merry Baptisms and Merry Changes

Hello!!! I thought I would write a quick email because I was able to talk to you guys yesterday.. It was great talking with the family thanks for being there family all together to pass an hour wit me!! And I hope the little surprise at the end went over well... :) Also thanks to the Hunter and Jones family for the Christmas packages!! It was much appreciated. But here In Apopa I have officially started my last change and they just let me know I have changes... its kind of sad because I have been here for almost 6 months and I really like my area but I only have 6 weeks left and I think having to learn a new area and getting to know new people will help me stay in the game for these last days. I don't know where I will go yet but I will probably spend these last two days saying good bye to everyone. But this week was really good! We had a Christmas activity on Thursday as a zone and we got some pretty awesome t shirts which i will send a picture of. It was cool to get to see a lot of missionaries i had not seen for awhile. Also on Friday we had the baptism of Adonai!! He is awesome and had a lot of support. He had been investigating for about 30 years and finally took the decision to get baptism and I feel honored to have been able to see this change in him. Also Matilde and Belen got baptized!!! They are awesome and have suuupppeeerrr strong testimonies. They had a super spiritual experience at the moment of there baptisms.  and then on Christmas EVE we ATE A LOT OF FOOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I love the food here and a lot of people invited us to go eat so that was pretty much our day. Well that's all I got for now thanks for everything and I hope everyone has a safe and happy new years!!! 

Elder Nelson

Happy Early Christmas!

Well I guess I can say Merry Christmas because its officially Christmas week. i cant believe it is almost already here, its going by so fast this month. Sounds like back home people are buckling down with the weather and various people are a little sick. Hope everyone feels better by this Christmas! We Cant have sick people on the video call that's just not allowed!! Because you asked mom the call will probably be around 5 or 6 but I cant guarantee anything. Ill be able to give you a 15 minutes warning or something and we will have one hour to talk. From sad experience, I know that my words leave me in the moment of the call so be prepared in case i have nothing to say... yeah its the forth time around you guys know the drill. Also I opened up the Christmas package thanks a lot Mom! I love the ties and I already have a list of people i want to give them to. And the decorations are already put up around the house. This week should be awesome and its going to fly by. Tomorrow we have interchanges because we are going to have three baptism this week (!!!!!!) and thursday we have our mission Christmas activity. Saturday we already have 4 families and I'm sure there will be much more that are going to invite us to eat so we are preparing ourselves mentally for all the panes con pollo that they are they are going to give us. Yuuummmmmm most wonderful time of the year. ANnnnndddd Sunday we will be in the Church all day with the video chats because our zone is huge and we have to be there the whole time so that will be fun... 

So anyways this week was pretty good. The flores Family is going to get baptized and they are super awesome. They are going to do it on the 24th in the morning and they are super excited, already preparing themselves to go the temple. Also we have been teaching this guy named Adonai. He is the bishops uncle and knew thew church 30 years ago but never stepped foot in the church building. Anyways something changed in him and the Lord has prepared him. He hasn't missed church for almost 8 weeks. We just couldn't quite get him to commit to baptism. This Sunday he came up to me and told us he wanted to get baptized on Thursday and had made his decision, he wanted to surprise his family for Christmas. I almost cried. The people here in El Salvador are the greatest, hands down. Also we had a cool experience, we were eating dinner last night and it was 8.30 or so and the name of a sister that has cancer and has had it for a long time kept popping in my head. I wasn't sure if it was the spirit or not but told my companion and we decided to drop by on the way home. When we knocked on the door it was all dark, and quickly the husband of her quietly wanted to shew us away. supposedly the day before they discovered  the cancer had come back and came back hard and they hit her with another round of Chemotherapy, she hadn't moved for almost a day. She heard our voices and with strength she didn't have she shouted "I need a blessing, God sent them here, God answers prayers". She sat up and came out and with all the strength she had she sat up to receive the blessing, and after wards collapsed because she had no strength in her. We silently slipped out and let her rest. I felt the Spirit very strongly and knew that God had led us there and was happy we had been obedient. This Christmas I hope we all can all think of the people that are sick and afflicted that don't have, that need. I feel and have felt more the Christmas spirit now than I have in any other time of my life. I want everyone to feel it too. Thanks for all the love and support! Merry Christmas! Talk to you guys this Sunday!!

Elder Nelson

Happy Day

 Helllloooo everyone i just want all you guys to know that you are awesome. okay. Glad everyone is enjoying their december and getting ready for Christmas.  I cant belive that it is going to be in less than two weeks.... time flies... especially since these weeks are going to be pretty busy and I dont think we are going to feel the time. This week was really good.  We found a family that is supppperrr positive and two of them are going to get baptized on Christmas!!! *sings im dreaming of a white christmas in his head* this family is one the coolest families ever and when we taught them the first lesson about Jospeh Smith it ended with them testifying to us that he was a true prophet and they had found the trrue church. its one of the greatest feelings in the world to see people willing to accept the restored Gospel and really is what brings joy. They were willing to drop all their bad habits at the moment we taught them so that they can get baptized. They have helped my own testimony grow. Also this week we went out with the ward to decorate the houses of some less active and inv houses and then after the primary kids went and sang to them. I love Christmas time. It seemed to have worked because we had about 10 inv in church and a bunch of less actives that came. We stayed pretty busy this week taking a couple long bus rides to get out to Chalate which made me super tired but the time has flown by. Also we got to see the Christmas devotional because they replayed it.  We brought a whole family with us that is preparing to get baptized in January  This week we have a lot more activites as a ward and then the week after we have our mission christmas activities. Becasue im totally not baggy and my mom asked i will say that my Christmas call will be on the 25 in the night/afternoon depending on how everything goes. Well thanks to everyone for the support hope you guys enjoy this Chirstmas season!!!

Elder Nelson

Happy Birthday to me?

Hello everyone. First off I wanted to thank EVERYONE for the birthday wishes. You guys are all awesome and thanks for remembering that i am not an old guy.... Not to sure how I feel about that still. Its been quite the week and i guess i can start from the beginning. Well first of all working this has been a really good. We could find a lot of really good people. Me and my companion have really focused on being better teachers and we have seen the spirit bless us greatly in the efforts to do so. The spirit brings true joy. If you have not had the opportunity to feel that for a while or ever, i invite you to look for the Spirit so that you can feel of true joy. What better time than this Christmas. So we have been working pretty hard and this week we had consejo de lideres, which i think it will be the last one. It was super cool, and super weird because Melissa, Presidents Daughter, came home from her mission. She was left about the time i finished my training and i cant believe she already finished the mission and is back home... wow time flies. But the meeting was super good and we learned a lot from Pte Vasquez, he is such an inspired man. Sunday we got 6 inv to come to the Christmas devotional only to find out that the signal in the church didn't work and it got canceled so i never got to see it. That was kind of a bummer but at least they had time to interact with members and so all was not lost. Annnnndddddd today is my birthday. Its been pretty good haha some people in the zone bought a cake and piñata so we had some interesting times with that this morning. These upcoming weeks we have a lot planned to do with the Ward.  We are going to go the house of less active families and sing songs and then decorate the houses with Christmas stuff we made. It should be pretty cool and im excited. Well that is all I got right now but ill try to send some pictures.  thanks for all the love and the support. And thanks family for the videos!!!  Love seeing you guys and miss you guys a bunch!!! 

Elder Nelson

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