Dear Familia,

Well, I am jealous that you all got to go to Nauvoo, that would be really cool. The good part is that while you guys were all doing baptisms for the dead we were doing baptisms for the living. This week Juan de la O and María Aracely were baptized. I don´t know if I talked about them last week. We found them as a reference from the Centro Para Visitantes, but when Elder Bringhurst and Elder Gonzalez went to check out the reference they didn’t want anything. I obviously didn’t know what they looked like and the next day without knowing it Elder Sosa and I contacted them in divisions. We contacted Juan, who is out of work right now. He was really upset because the occupant of the house he was renting out had just abandoned the house still owing 12,000 pesos in rent. He said he just felt a peace come over him when we contacted him and he led us to his house. That was 3 weeks ago, he is now finishing Alma in the Book of Mormon and he and his wife are really excited to keep growing and learning more about God. The good part is that they have 2 children and a grandchild who live with them and are also excited about the gospel. We are working with them and they should get baptized within the next couple weeks.


The Thunderstorms are awesome. It rains everyday starting at about 6 or 7 and stopping the next morning. I have been taking my umbrella everyday. I don´t always use it thought because me gusta mojarme. Me encanta la sensación de camiar en la lluvia viendo los nubes y contactar personas corriendo por sus casas. It´s really funny when we start to knock doors in the rain and people yell out "I can´t answer the door...it´s raining."

I forgot to tell you last week I got sick. Not really sick, I just had the runs for 4 days. For that I laughed really hard when Cameron made that comment. (From Peggy: While in Nauvoo, we were commenting on the humidity and how EVERYTHING gets wet so quickly, like our water bottles, etc. Then Cameron said, "Our bedsheets are going to be wet." We laughed at it because it sounded like he was foretelling something.....) Luckily there were no accidents. What happened is that we have an investigator named Julio. He gave us water like everybody else does...just that this water was not normal water. It was water from vulgares or something like that. They are little funguses that when you give them piloncillo produce water. I took one swig and just about dropped the glass because it looked and smelled exactly like beer. I thought "crap...I´ve never had beer before and now the first time was on the mission." Turns out there isn’t alcohol, but I was still pretty freaked out because the last week we went to a first appointment with someone and they brought out glasses of beer for everybody. We didn’t drink the beer and he didn’t progress. The water did me harm though. Just another adventure in the life in Mexico.

Transfers went well, we helped out by going and picking up the new elders from the CCM in the temple at 6 in the morning Monday. We take them to President´s house and then we give a capacitation about the mission, the norms of the mission and to get them all fired up and ready to go work. Then in the changes meeting we sit on the stand with President and his wife with a sheet with all the changes on it and check to make sure he doesn’t make any mistakes. Then we help give the trainings to the new district leaders and the trainers afterwards. Most of all we are there to help president in any way he may need and make sure everything goes smoothly.

For this week we have one possible baptism. Efraín. He is the youth that was going to get baptized 4 weeks ago but couldn’t because he got drunk the night before. He hasn’t drank in 3-4 weeks and I think he is ready this time.

As for hitting my year mark...I still have 3 days before that so I still have time...but I haven’t gotten the package yet I will let you know as soon as I know. I remember the day you dropped me off and it seems like yesterday. I remember that I was just so excited, I just got my stuff out of the car and said "bye...see you in two years." and that was that. It seems like it has gone by so fast...but at the same time so much has happened. I have changed so much, and yet they say that the 2nd year just does by exponentially faster, I hope not.

This week we have been studying the DVD´s from Preach My Gospel. There is one part where the elders are talking about how they have not had a baptism for 2 months or more and they feel so frustrated. They had been working so hard, feeling like they were becoming the best missionaries they had ever been but were having less success. He talked about how through his struggle he came to know God and to develop a relationship with Him. It made me think about how much they depend on Him. I thought about how in this mission we just work so hard, and the baptisms are relatively easy. Sometimes I think that we do not have that pressure to depend on Him and we think that through our hard work we have success. Do I really know God? Do I depend on Him everyday? Am I dependent on His Spirit to teach us and lead us and help us out? I know that God exists, I know that He is our Father. I know that He has an intricate plan worked out for each of us individually. Yet I need to develop that dependence on Him. I need to be more humble and realize that I should turn to Him in all things. We cannot execute that intricate plan unless we really develop a relationship with Him that allows us to know Him. He has plans for me much greater and much different than I have for myself, but unless I learn to follow Him and depend on Him, I will never become what He wants me to be and do what he wants me to do and accomplish what He wants me to accomplish. I love you all so much. Darci I hope you feel better...I know how you feel trust me. Cameron.....please don’t wet the bed.

Love,

Elder Nelson