September 1, 2014

¡Hola Familia!

Well this week has brought the usual surprises! After having so much fun and becoming great friends with hna Pukahi, thursday night we got the dreaded emergency transfer call. Poor hna Pukahi will have 3 "moms" in her first two transfers! And this was all because... I got my first greenie! Hna Greene (oh the irony) came in the middle of the transfer because she did the advanced course of spanish in the MTC, and I am to be her trainer here in the great land of Balcarce. I travelled to Mar del Plata friday night, stayed with the sisters there until my new hija arrived that evening. It has been a lot of fun so far! It sure has taken me back to my first days in the field - when everything was so overwhelming. Its been great being able to help her out, to introduce her to the delicious foods of Argentina and to tell her that everything will be fine. Its all about patience, because the beginning is always a little hard. :) But she´s super great, speaks pretty well (the understanding is the tricky part), and has the desire to work. So that´s what we´re gonna do.

It was a little bit of a slower week, but still good. N is still there, moving slowly but moving forward. She´s a sensitive one. :) Solange has hit a bit of a rough patch, and has taken a few steps backward but we have been making plans with the member who is her friend and things will work out. 

Yesterday we met the coolest couple ever - and I just loved them instantly. So during lunch with our ward mission leader he told us about a brother who is less active, but wanted to get in contact with us because his girlfriend (not a member, they are living together) is interested in family histoy and learning english. She lost her job and has lots of time on her hands haha. To make a long story short we got in contact with him and went over sunday afternoon. They are the most kind, warm people I have ever met. C, the hermano, joined the church when he was a teenager and went less active right before the mission. He´s been on and off for a while because his family doesnt like the church. But he never lost his testimony. We got to know them, talked for a while, and then shared a scripture on families. The hermana began to cry as she spoke about her failed marriage from before - and how her daughter suffered from the split. The both love each other so much, have a beautiful relationship, but have fear in commiting to each other and trying again when there was failure in the past. We testified to them of the Lord´s way, and that even though the family won´t be perfect that when we do our best we can be happy. Anyways, it was awesome and we are gonna be visiting the hermana and teaching her english - with the condition that we also share a scripture every time. :) Sneaky. 

This is the Lord´s work, I have no doubt of it. Even though there are few who recognize it or have the faith the try, that doesnt change the fact that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so humbled every day to know that the Lrod trusted me enough to call me to be His servant. It is an honor and a pleasure! I love being a missionary. 

love you all,

Hermana Nelson

¿Hermana, tiene sueño?

¡Hola familia!

What a crazy week of adventures it´s been. I´ll try and give a good lowdown.

It all started with a beautiful, sunny, warm Pday last monday. We went to a big park with us 4 hermanas and an hermana from the ward. It was a lot of fun and the weather was awesome. We soaked it all in because pretty much the whole rest of the week was torrential rain all day every day. Wednesday we went to Mar del Plata for a special zone conference (about 40 missionaries) with Presidente and the asistentes. It was amazing, a really powerful experience and I learned a lot. He and his wife spoke a lot on our purpose as missionaries - to bring salvation to all people. It made me reflect on how I see my work every day. Its so easy to get distracted by so many things, to not give so much when you´re tired or relax and just let things happen. But this is a work of urgency, a work of the greatest importance. The Lord has chosen us, very much imperfect young people to carry this message to the world. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my own imperfections, but I have to trust that He will qualify me. All that He requires is my best!

Thursday afternoon after lunch we got a call to say that we were to make a surprise trip to Bahia Blanca so my companion could go do her tramites (for the visa). We left that night at 8, and arrived in Bahia at 6:30 in the morning. Talk about a killer trip! It turned out to be an awesome day though, because I asked the elders when we got there if I could go work in General Arias (my old area) and they even dropped me off at my old house! I surprised hermana Mancuello - it was the best thing. I got the best news ever. Carla, the investigator we had been teaching, was to be baptized that evening!!! I couldn´t stay for the baptism, but I got to see her and see how excited and happy she was. It is such a miracle, and just made me so happy to see her glowing. 

We arrived back in our area saturday morning after another sleepless night in the colective (bus). Hence, the subject line. Saturday we ran all over town in the rain to try and see as many as our investigators as possible. We had a great lesson with Solange, who just loves us and always gives us delicious brasilian food. Apart from that, she is just soaking up the things we are teaching her. She has gone through a lot of rough times recently and needs so badly the comfort and perspective that the gospel brings, so its been neat being able to share that with her. And then she came to church on sunday and stayed all 3 hours! woohooo!!!!

my dearest family, I love you all so much. I love the gospel. I know its true. It is incredible to me that even though we as people are so imperfect God still has the patience and love to give us the precious truths of the gospel. When people reject us (which happens quite often)  it makes me so sad thinking of all the joy that they are missing. I feel often like Alma, who expressed his desire to be able to speak like an angel and have all hear and understand him. I wish I was a better missionary, with more perfect words and more perfect love. But I, as with all of us, have to trust that the Lord with make us sufficient in His hands to bring about His work. 

Have wonderful weeks!!!!

Hermana Nelson

Beautiful Balcarce

with my new comp (and "daughter") Hermana Pukahi and Hermana Tovar!

¡Hola Familia!

One week down! Okay, this place is so beautiful. I really don´t feel like I´m in Argentina sometimes. Its just so clean!! haha. Our area is huge, and a lot of fun because there is a lot of diversity. We´ve got the big city center, the quiet family neighborhoods, and the humble little houses up against the endless fields. I was super lost the first few days but I am getting a hang of it. It has been quite the adventure because my companion only has one transfer in the area (and the mission and speaking spanish) so its been kind of like starting new. But we have some investigators to keep going with. Hermana Pukahi is just the cutest. She is 19 years old, born in Hawaii but grew up in Orem. Its been weird quoting movies again. We are having a great time together though and she is up to everything! So we have been workin hard.

We had a bit of a hard day at the beginning of the week when we found out the family of investigators we were teaching up and moved to Bolivia without notice. And then in the evening we called our super cool investigator N, and she said that she didnt want to continue anymore, for various reasons, and that we should pass by to pick up the book. It broke my heart. So we prayed a lot for her and prepared ourselves, and then finally found her friday night while with a member. I had no idea what to expect, and we just wanted so badly to tell her to not give up so fast. She let us in, and we had a great mini lesson. She told us about how her daughter (who is of another religon) wasnt happy with her mom all the sudden getting involved with another church. But we talked about how she has the right to find what makes her happy, and that she shouldnt give up seeking for the truth and asking God. So she commited to keep reading and praying and said we could come back to keep teaching! Woohoo! So we will keep praying for her. 

We also started teaching a crazy (in an awesome way) brasilian lady named Solange. She was a reference from a member, and we met her saturday. She told us all about her dating experiences and marriages plus pretty much every other part of her life. It was like a telenovela! haha. She is great though and we are excited to teach her.

We´ve been doing a lot of street contacting. It is a lot of fun. The other day we were talking with a girl and her mother and after chatting for a bit the girl said to me, "all the missionaries from your church that we´ve met always smile while they`re talking". I told her its because we are just so happy! Seriously, there are the hard days but I cant help but feel so happy when I am talking with people and bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I just cant help but smile! 

So life is good in Balcarce. The ward is HUGE, like 100 members were there on sunday. It was a little overwhelming. But they are great and so willing to help! 

love you all,

Hermana Nelson

The Surprises Continue...

Hola Familia!

What a week its been! Its another one of those days where I sit down to write and have no idea where to start. We had an awesome week. We worked so hard and were determined to meet our goals - and saw lots of little miracles. Even though my companion was sick on and off all week, when did go out to work amazing things happened. We found a ton of new investigators! Literally almost every door we knocked on was opened by someone who wanted to hear us. That doesn´t happen every day. 

K is doing super great. She is reading and learning so much - already in chapter 7 of 1st nephi, plus a bunch of pamphlets! This week we taught her the word of wisdom. She smokes a little and loves coffee. But her heart was so prepared and she accepted the challenge to begin abstaining from these things without complaint. She has progressed so much from the beginning, when she had no desire to make changes! It has really been cool seeing her progress. We had a great lesson with her saturday with a member and apart from the part where I feel out of my chair onto the floor it was really great.

The Elders in our ward had a baptism on saturday and we passed by a former investigator right before just to try our luck one last time. She came out, talked with us for a while, and then decided to come with us to the baptism! She loved it. C came too.

We started getting a little nervous for transfers, and they didnt call us until almost 11 saturday night. And I was super surprised to find out that I would be leaving Bahia! I got transferred to Balcarce, a cute little town about an hour away from Mar del Plata. The funniest part is that I am taking the place of hna Tovar, finishing the training of her greenie and everything. My new comp is Hermana Pukahi, she is hawaiian but raised in Utah. She has one transfer on the mission and is super cute!!! I am really excited to work with her here - she and hna Tovar had lots of success this last transfer and we are gonna keep it goin. I took the long bus ride from Bahia yesterday (8hours) and arrived in this lovely town in the morning. I stayed overnight in Mar del Plata with the hermanas there - one of which is hna Tovar, who is in my zone. So crazy that I will be seeing her a ton! 

Leaving General Arias was sad of course, even though I was only there 2 months I learned to love it and made many great friends. I´ll send some pictures of my last day there with some members. But I am SO excited for this transfer, I know its gonna be great! I truly love every moment of this great work. These are the best days of my life for sure. 

I love you all,

Hermana Nelson

Happy Surprises

¡Hola Familia!

As the subject line suggests, this week was full of surprises! It keeps things interesting. :) 

Monday we had a surprise devotional with our zone. We watched a talk by Elder Holland that really touched me - he spoke about how as missionaries, it is essential that we become converted first. Because when we teach, those words shouldnt come from memorization, but rather from our hearts. For me, one of the biggest miracles of the mission is that imperfect 18-24 year olds can go out and teach people who have more years/life experience and change their hearts. That is the miracle that comes from teaching by the spirit.

Surprise! I got the package you sent to me. :) thanks for the treats!!! all the hermanas were anxious to try goldfish. :) It was so wonderful to get that!

I was called wednesday night to say that the next day I had to go to the mission office to get visa details settled - it was a full day process! The BEST part of all that was the wonderful miraculous surprise of Hermana Tovar, my companion of 6 months in Patagones, show up! It was so amazing to be able to be with her again, we got all caught up and laughed so much together. She also said thanks so much to my parents for helping her out with byu!

We have an investigator named K who has really been surprising me. At first it just didnt seem like she had a lot of interest, but kept receiving us. This week she really started reading the book of mormon and is enjoying it a lot. She is a young mom who has a crazy little boy. They both came to english class on wednesday, and then on sunday morning when we passed by to see if she would come with us to church she was waiting all ready for us! She came to all 3 hours and loved it. She is pretty timid but loves to learn. So that was a great surprise!

E, the cute old lady that I mentioned last week also surprised us by coming to church! She´s been a little up and down but showed a great effort by coming to church.

Sunday J, who was baptized two weeks ago, received the Aaronic priesthood, meaning that next week he can pass the sacrament! He was so happy, and even bought a cool scripture case for all his books. It is the best thing ever to see him so excited.

So in general a great week. The Lord sure is blessing us, and the successes more than make up for the rejections. This is His work. Sometimes I feel SO tired, emotionally/spiritually/physically but the Lord always sends tender mercies to pick me back up.

Love you all,

Hermana Nelson

July 28, 2014

with Juan, Hno Soto, Kevin, and Kevin´s mom

Juan and Kevin are the ones in the middle - with the hermanos that baptized them :)

​With Kevin and his family!

¡Hola familia!

Well the biggest news is that saturday we had a baptism! Actually, two baptisms. :) K and J were baptized and it was awesome! A ton of members came out and it was a beautiful service. But my favorite part was when on sunday they were confirmed members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The blessings they were given were full of promises and blessings that the Lord has prepared for them. One of my favorite things that as mentioned in J´s blessing was: "God loves you very much, and for that reason sent His messengers to bring you the fulness of His gospel". It never stops being amazing to me how the Lord uses us to find His children who are seeking the truth. There really is nothing like it. 

Speaking of which, we had a neat experience this week that was a testimony to me that the Lord is aware of each and every one of us. It was towards the end of the day and we didnt have any appointments and so decided to knock doors. The first one we come to, the lady asked a few questions about where we were from and then said that she had been baptized in the church. She invited us in, and began to open up about all the trials she had been enduring - she has lost children and recently her mother as well. She began to cry, asking us why God was punishing her so much. We cried with her, and in those moments its hard to know what to say. But we bore our testimonies to her that God indeed does love her, and that trials are necessary in this world, but will not last forever. We read in Alma 7 where it talks about what Jesus Christ suffered for us. At the end of our visit with her we hadnt taken all her sorrows away, but she smiled and hugged us tight, saying thank you. We said a kneeling prayer together and she seemed to have a lightness about her that wasnt there in the beginning. It was really beautiful, and wonderful to know that the Lord guided us to her because He knew His daughter was suffering. We were instruments in His hands.

It has been a great week, with the ups and downs as usual but I love every day. We meet a cute old lady who´s children are members and she wants to be baptized! She is 82 years old and hs the coolest life stories. Its been a little hard to find her though - for an old lady she sure has lots to do

! 

The kids are still doing well, K and N couldnt make it to church sunday but Agustina did. Also, K went to one day of the youth conference they had here and loved it. :)

The work is great! This week my comp and I are memorizing this scripture and it is true to me every day:

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

The gospel is true!

love,

Hermana Nelson

Become as a Little Child

¡Hola Familia!

Well it has been a most wonderful week, and as the title suggests we´ve made lots of little friends. I´ve been reminded more than ever of where it talks in the scriptures about the commandment to become as a little child - humble, meek, easily persuaded. I´ve decided that kids are the best investigators because they have those attributes! If you remember in the email from last week, we met a lady and began teaching the family. The mom, K, has been really hard to find and we havent had much contact with her. But her two kids, K and N (13 and 11 years) plus their cousins A and J (10 and 6 years) have become our buddies. Tuesday Hermana Belogini, the most awesome hermana ever in our ward had us all over for a family home evening and we watched Finding Faith in Christ. Wednesday we had our first english class, and had an awesome turnout! A ton of kids between 9 and 14 years old, plus Juan and a few hermanos. It was  alot of fun if a bit unorganized. I taught with Elder Bench while my comp was one of the students. :) 

After the english class we had a great noche de hoger, with lots of investigators and the ward missionaries. It was pretty low key compared to what I´ve done in the past - just a movie haha. But I love it! 

So this week we´ll be preparing J and K for their upcoming baptisms this saturday! We are praying all will go well and they will make it there. J went to an activity the other day with a group of single adults from the ward and loved it. He already has lots of friends. :) 

Sunday we were able to bring a ton of investigators to church and it was so awesome! The kids made lots of friends and loved it. The Lord sure is blessing us a whole lot! 

This is the Lord´s work. He is guiding us to those who are prepared. I love bearing testimony of the truth, and I have discovered a passion for teaching! There is nothing like it.

love you all,

Hermana Nelson