3 John 1:4

Hello Family!

This week went by sooo fast. There were a lot of things that happened. But first I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I get to call home the 24th or 25th of this month, either day at whatever time works best for you and me. I only get 45 minutes, that is the bad news. The way it works is I am going to give you the number of the chapel where we will call from and then you will need to call me so that the Church doesn’t have to pay for the call. Or, actually, I don’t know if my phone card will work, but I will check on it and let you know. I am soooo excited for that phone call, but I think Mom knows how I feel. I feel like I have been gone forever, but at the same time it feels like I just got out of the Acadia with my bags, turned, said good bye (not really knowing what good bye meant) and walked up the sidewalk into the MTC. Time works out really weirdly here. On the 11th (Saturday) I complete 5 months in the mission. That’s a long time, it doesn’t seem like I’ve been gone for that long...it’s almost a quarter of my mission. Weird.

Ok, the picture did not take up too much room, and I enjoyed the picture. It seems like Chika would be the one who doesn’t need warmth because she has so much insulation. I like pictures, the only pictures I have of you guys are the one we took at the hospital with Grandpa. No I have not gotten the package yet, but we will receive pouch within a week or two and I am almost positive that I will get it then.

For baptisms, we have them in the RS room just like the U.S., except that in this chapel the RS room only holds about 20 people, or 30 max. But the room is usually full. The ward is pretty good about supporting new members if we have used members during the conversion process. But if not, then we struggle sometimes. The Ward here is good, but the people are just so busy with work and life that it’s hard to get the members involved sometimes. For FHE, well...we don’t have it. We work on Mondays from 6 till 9, unless we have an FHE with an investigator or recent convert.

Speaking of recent converts the Familia Martinez Avila is doing really well. Jose Luis blessed the Sacrament for the first time Sunday, and they are all doing well. They are all reading the scriptures, the Book of Mormon, as a family and individually and they are saying their family prayers. They are the definition of someone who ¨´knew not the truth only because they knew not where to find it.¨´ I have seen such an incredible change in their lives, the Spirit is in their home. Their family is closer and they are much happier. They are pretty poor, their business (aztec/teotihucano art/gift) store isn´t dong that well, but they are working hard and putting their trust in God. Their daughter in the wheelchair is named Ana Karen. She is a twin, but the twin died at birth and Ana Karen suffered severe brain damage. She can´t talk, or move on her own. She can make sounds, and she has certain sounds she makes when she is content,angry...etc. Something really interesting is that each time we came to teach a lesson to them she would make her content and happy sounds, a lot. She knew we were sent from God to heal and help her family.

In relation to playing, we get to do that too. On Mondays only of course. Two weeks ago we had a zone activity where we went to a Fun Center. Basically Triple Play, bowling (I got the highest score in the zone with a 93, kinda lame, but there were a lot of people who had never bowled before in their lives! I guess it’s not very common in Mexico), mini golf...but there was an ice skating rink. I ice skated in Mexico!! I have pictures that I will send. I think I can send my SD card through pouch, but I need to put all of my pictures on my flash drive first, then the SD card will take a really long time to get to you guys, but that´s just how things work here. Also today we went and played soccer in Ojo de Agua with the zone. It is kind of weird for me, because usually I am pretty decent in sports, but I am not very good at soccer. We play on basketball size courts at the churches that are concrete...so it´s like futsal without the walls. I´m getting better and I am starting to like playing portero (goalie). Elder Llanos and I slept at the Zone leaders apartment because it is 2 hours of travel and we had to be there at 9 in the morning. I love my zone leaders, Elder Guzman and Elder Hall. They are really good missionaries. We have fun here in the mission, but the number one priority is the work. If anything distracts us from the work then it is not worthy of our time or attention. I only have 2 years to give, I need to give 2 years, not 2 years with the exception of Mondays or Tuesdays.

Elder Llanos has a supportive family that is very excited to have him back in Peru. The only bad part is that they keep telling him how excited they are to have him home, and he just wants to work until the end. It is kind of a distraction. Before his mission he was in the Navy in Peru, but because of health reasons he had to quit. He studied Banking Administration before his mission, and will return to his studies and his job in a bank.

Mom and Dad, I have a scripture that I found for you this week. 3 John 1:4. I love this scripture and I think it applies to you 2 really well. The truth is this week has been really hard, we haven´t baptised for 2 weeks, and all of our numbers were bad. We had to drop 6 investigators because they weren´t completing their homework. It´s really hard to drop people when you come to love them. But one thing I know is that I am not called to fail. You did not raise me that way, and that is not how I live my life. I want to become the best missionary in the mission. I want to be successful. I will be successful. Thank you for raising me to be successful.

Grandma Nelson I love you too. Thank you for your email. I pray for you everyday and I know that Grandpa is proud of you. He is waiting for you, but he wants you to be 100 percent faithful to the end so you can join him in the Celestial kingdom.

I love you all, thanks so much for your support, I pray for you, each of you individually everyday.

Love,

Elder Nelson