Tank of Gas=Life of Luxury

A Mexican Water Heater :)


Christmas arrived in Mexico for Braden!


The Gingerbread House tradition lives on in Mexico! (But it is a kinda pathetic looking house....)



Elder Nelson and Elder Garcia playing soccer on P-day



Elder Nelson near the Cathedral that plays Simon and Garfunkel music
from it's tower


Mole Rojo...not Braden's favorite


Artistic Graffiti in Teotihuacan


Woman at Old Folks home on Christmas Day--she hugged him "like 4 times!"


Typical sight after Christmas--a drunk man asleep in the streets



Hola Familia!!

This is an email of pictures....I tried to remember all the things you guys wanted to see. I included a picture of my Christmas, Elder Garcia and I playing soccer on P Day, the gross looking thing in a bowl is not what Kolby just said it looks like...it is called Mole Rojo and I ate it. It really doesn´t taste good. There is also a picture of me next to graffiti that I thought was really cool. There is a picture of a guy sleeping on the ground...he is drunk. That is really typical around Christmas time. Also a picture of when we went to an old folks home on Christmas day to sing hymns and give gifts. This little old lady hugged me like 4 times, and the majority of them started crying because no one ever visits them. It was an awesome experience.

Ok, first thing is first. We finally baptized this week!!!!I haven´t had a baptismal service since November and I was starting to forget just how awesome it is to baptize. We baptized a couple named Pedro and Concepcion. He is in the army and they live on the army base that is in San Juan. They have an incredible story. They have a daughter with autism, and one day they were walking home when she started to have a seizure and convulse on the ground. She, Daphne, is only 5 years only and they didn´t know what to do. One of the members of our ward happened to be walking by at the exact moment when she started to convulse, so he rushed over took her in his hands and gave her a blessing. She stopped convulsing and returned to completely normal. Before the blessing she had been having emotional problems also, she didn´t want to talk or walk or play or even eat. But now she is running and playing, still autistic but much more normal. That is the power of the priesthood. From there the family started talking about the church with the members of our ward, and then they invited us to come and explain more.

The other baptism we had was Jose. We found Jose when Elder Llanos and I were checking former investigators. Turns out he has a girlfriend in another ward and has been attending her ward for a while. We started visiting with him and decided after a while to drop him because he wasn´t ready to make the commitment to be baptized. Then when I was with the Zone leaders after E. Llanos left we were giving a fireside in the stake center to the future missionaries of the stake and Jose happened to be in the building at the same time. He approached me and told me he was ready to be baptized and gave me the date he wanted to be baptized.

There is such an incredible feeling in baptisms. The feeling is different, it´s not a fiery spirit like when we talk about Joseph Smith, nor the solemn respectful spirit like when we talk about the Atonement....it is just gentle and sweet. It´s like Heavenly Father is giving them a gentle and loving hug, getting them ready for the battle that will follow. They are clean, completely and fully clean. That is such a fantastic yet abstract thought.

Life is good here. Today we went to the Pyramids again as a zone, I took a bunch of pictures. I need to find my other SD card and then I will send this one home. I really worried though because this card has 350 pictures on it and I don´t want to lose it.

As for the weather, it is windy sometimes and I love it. I miss the wind and it reminds me of home. The weather is pretty nice, but I have become acclimated to it, so I get cold in the mornings and nights. Good news!!! we finally got a tank of gas, so after a month of bucket showers we are living the life of luxury with hot showers. I sent a picture of the bucket and the thing we use to heat the water.

This week I played piano for Sacrament meeting, way scary. I played two of the hymns with only the top hand, but they thought it was better than the CD player we usually use.

Darci I have been studying Hope like you suggested in your letter. I love this topic, it is so awesome for missionary work. ´´Faith, hope, charity and love with an eye single to the glory of god qualify him for the work...´´ (D&C 4) Hope is an optimism that the principles of the gospel are true and real, not just abstract ideas. It is an enthusiasm for life that comes from a knowledge that God will fulfill His promises. I don´t have enough time to share everything that I learned because I filled up 5 pages in my study journal with this. Hope is an abiding faith in Christ and His atonement that leads us to do charitable things and love the people that surround us, and these good works lead us to glorify God who has used us as an instrument to bless His children and others to glorify God because of our acts. It is sooo awesome.

Mom, for the scriptures to come alive.....that is a good question. The truth is for little kids that stories are the best becuase they don´t really care about doctrine. The thing for you to do if you want to bring the scriptures alive is develop an extensive knowledge through daily study. This knowledge and testimony that you develop will lead to enthusiasm for the scriptures and ability to teach from them because you know them soo well. You have to be enthusiastic, that is the key to making the scriptures real. I have really developed a testimony of the scriptures, we are really wasting a day if we go without our scripture study.

Well I love you all sooo much. I am soo happy that all of you are really trying to live the gospel. The gospel, when lived right, will occupy all our time and thoughts and efforts....and will fill our lives with the pure love and joy of Christ. It will give us a taste of the eternities, and will take away or diminish our pains and discomforts. I love my Savior, I love Him so much. He is more important than the air we breathe, and He loves us with a love that we cannot fully comprehend. I love you all so much. Until next week,

Love,

Elder Nelson