Lessons!!!

Haha sorry I´m so chaotic! My mind is always going a million miles an hour! anyway.. I love love love reading the scriptures!  I would always read them before but now I really understand what it means to feast on them! It´s really like a peice of heaven when we have time to read them in EnglLeish!!  The temple is so so amazing. It is my most favorite place on earth! I know you can do a lot of good where ever you are and be a great instrument in the hands of the Lord! You don´t have to get a mission call to be a missionary. Serving the Lord is the best thing ever and will bring you so much peace and happiness that you have never felt before! I have never been so happy. I love you!!   The way things are done here are so different than Provo so it was like starting new all over again! We don´t have as much time to just study by ourselves and they don´t tell us what we are teaching before we get in there so we have no idea what to say, and then they tell us we need to be more prepared! But how can we be more prepared if we don´t know the words to say because we haven´t studied that lesson?? I can do lesson one just fine! But other than that I have no idea! So it´s crazy, but so fun being clueless all the time!  Today is one month since I have been out!! 17 more months left! I can´t wait to get out there and actually do some work!!  In our lesson yesterday I said the closing prayer and I prayed for the "investgators" and afterwards the latinos were freaking out a little bit because I said the names and the people and they don´t really exist! So I guess in practice lessons you aren´t supposed to pray like you are in a lesson because if you do it is a waste of a prayer basically!  Haha my bad!!  Anyway I better go do laundry..... I love you all!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxXXXXOOOOxoxoxo -me

One Week In Peru!!!

Hola!! One week in Peru!! It´s so much fun here! I have decided that even though this is the hardest thing I have ever done, we just have to laugh and enjoy all the frustrating things about learning a language because if I didn´t I would be home; I wouldn´t be able to handle this! But the Lord is on our side and we just take it a minute at a time! But we decided we are all going to have to be friends after we get home because we will be so weird no one will want to be friends with us! We find the weirdest things to entertain ourselves! It´s a lot of fun! We have to teach, or try to teach, once a day and it is so hard! It´s so funny to think how we must sound to the Latinos having to stop and think before we say every word! They have so much patience for us and our gringo accents! And it is so much fun playing charades and trying to communicate with them! And having no idea what in the world is going on ever! The other day we were getting dressed for gym time and the hermanas told us to bring our bands- we had no idea what for but we brought them and we walked outside and saw all the elders standing in a line on the soccer field with this little Perusian man in front of them in is sweet workout outfit with a whistle around his neck! What in the world??? So we get out there and he starts yelling in spanish and blowing his wistle and starts doing exercises and yelling some more for us to do what he was doing! It was the most hilarious experience of my life!! We could hardly do the exercises because we were laughing so hard! All the North Americans looked so confused the whole time!! And we had to count while doing them and he would come yell at us  "Louder!! Louder" "in spanish!! in spanish! no japanese, no french, spanish!!!" It was so funny!!! I felt like I was in boot camp! And then afterwards he bore a very deep and intense testimony about missionary work and it was awesome! He was a very intense man! And Aparently, we get to work out with him every monday!! So the food here is ALWAYS THE SAME THING FOR EVERY MEAL!! Rice and chicken!! It is good but it never changes!! And we hardly get and fruits or vegetables!! We are all craving food from home! But we got to go to the store after the temple today so we all got oreos and chocolate! haha The temple is so pretty!! Claro! But its so tiny! And the people are so short here so everything is farther down and it´s really funny! and oh my goodness people are insane drivers here!! They don´t stop or slow down for anything! They just honk and you better get out of the way or you will get hit! The bus ride to the temple was a grand experience! haha we had no idea what we were in for when we got on! But on the way back a guy was sitting next to Hermana Ward who spoke english and he asked her why did the people put Joseph Smith in jail and kill him? And we told him they just didn´t believe he was a prophet and they didn´t like what he was teaching. And anyway long story short he thought that the people who followed him killed him and we said no no no they loved him! The people who didn´t believe in him were the ones who killed him! So anyway it was fun to talk to someone in a real life situation!  I don´t really remember what I told you guys last week so sorry if I repeat myself.. My companions name is Hermana Meza! She is really cute and kinda quiet but she is getting more open with me! The girls here are very quiet and reserved, in front of the Elders at least.. When we get to our rooms they go crazy but it´s just wierd to not be able to interact with the Elders as much. They repect the women so much, which is good but sometimes we just want to be equal! We can´t sit with the Elders at meals or in firesides or anything! They have a table reserved for the Hermanas and we always sit in the front row! It´s so sad! It´s like socially unacceptable to be friends with boys here or something! The other day I said I´m tired of being respected! haha yeah I didn´t really think about how that would sound before I said it! my brain just doesn´t function anymore! I can´t speak english or spanish!!  But the Latino Elders are so funny!! They are always making us laugh! And the North Americans tell their companions things to say in english like you look very pretty today! They also taught them how to say you stick so when they came up to one of the Hermanas to talk to her he said you stink! And he was supposed to say you look very pretty today! It was funny! But they are so sweet! last night after we taught, the elders we were teaching gave us feedback and I wasn´t really paying attention cause I didn´t know what he was saying; I was talking to his companion and when they started I looked over and hermana Meza was crying and I had no idea why!! So the whole time I  had to participate all by myself and I had no idea what was being said so it was interesting! But afterwards all the Latinos came to comfort her because I didn´t know what was wrong or what to say to comfort her. So I just hugged her but all the elders were so sweet to her and comforting her and asked if she wanted a blessing and it was just so cute! What I could make out of all the conversation was she just felt overwhelmed with having to teach and not knowing what to say and she just felt like she couldn´t do it. I know exactly how she feels!! But we just have to remember to have a good attitude and smile no matter what! And love life because life is great!!! On the plane from Atlanta to Peru Hermana Norman and I sat next to Elder Nuñez and talked to him for the entire 7 hours! We basically know his whole life story now! But he is so adorable! He had a call about a year and a half ago to San Salvador but something happened and he didn´t go and he stopped going to church for a while and then the bishop called him and gave him a calling in Primary and he said it changed his life! He decided he needed to be and example to the kids so he put his papers in again and now he is here! And he said this is the best thing he has ever done. But he said if he would have gone out the first time it would have been for the wrong reasons and he would have probably gone home and never come back out. He just has such a sweet testimony of doing the right thing for the right reasons and not letting anyone or anything get in the way. It was awesome! So now we are all really close and feel even more like a family! but I´m not in their district anymore and it´s so sad! We get so excited to see eachother! Which is all the time but it´s not the same as being in the same class! I saw Hermana Norman and Elder Nuñez in line the other day and Elder Nuñez got so excited he tried to hug me!! Luckily he remembered we are missionaries and we shook hands! But it was funny I laughed pretty hard! Anyway my thoughts are all over the place so sorry this is all random and not in order but I love being on a mission! I´m so excited for the day when I can speak spanish without having to think about it first! That day will probably be the week before I get home but any day is better than none right?? Well I love you all! I hope all is well and you are loving life because I am!! xoxoxXo Hermana Nelson Haz lo justo!

I'm in Peru!

Hola! I´m in Peru! It´s so crazy!! Yesterday was the longest day ever! We got up at 4 to get ready and get to the bus and we didn´t get to bed until 2 this morning! It looks a lot like Mexico here so I still haven´t really comprehended that I´m in  South America right now! And I won´t be back in the US for 18 months! It´s so crazy!! You can´t see the sky here because it´s so humid or because of polution or both. I don´t really know! The CCM is so small but there are lots of pretty flowers and plants and it´s really pretty! It is so humbling to be here and to not know what anyone is saying. We all feel so lost! But we will get it eventually! I am in a room with girls I don´t know and I´m not with my district anymore and it´s so sad! But it´s way small here so we will see eachother all the time. Our classes are all with Americans but we have Latino companions that we eat with, companion study and teach. My companions name is Hermana Mesa! She is very nice but very quiet! Of course she doesn´t speak any english so it´s hard to talk about anything! I already blew up my alarm. We didn´t get transformers because Ecuador is the same voltage as the US but Peru is different! So I´m gonna have great hair until I get a transformer!  So no packages can be sent here.. So in about a month you can send my charger to Quito if you find it! The address to send letters is Hermana Nelson, Quito Ecuador   Av. Melgarejo 159/ Urb. Campo Verde/ La Molina, Lima, 12, Perú the dashes mean enter! we can´t figure out how to enter on these keyboards! haha But mail is too crazy so Dear elder or email is great! I´m sorry this isn´t very long.. I think I´m kinda in shock and can´t think of anything to tell you all! My mind is just spinning right now! Hopefully by next week I will be adjusted and I will have lots of stories to tell you! I love you all! xoxoxXo    Hermana Nelson                                                                                                                  

Another letter home

Hola! How is everyone doing?? Thank you for all the letters! Letters are the highlight of our days! Yesterday was my companions birthday! Her family sent her a cake and a package of presents and they sent me a little present too! They gave me fluffy socks! :) Only one more week until we leave for Peru!! It's so crazy! In some ways it feels like I have been here forever but in others it seems like I just got here. I found Elder Ward though! I didn't see him for the first few days he was here and now I see him every where! Things are going well here! I don't remember what I told you last week but all we do is study and eat all day long. I can never keep track of the time of day! After lunch I feel like it's night time; after dinner it seems like it's lunch time! It's weird. So was General Conference AMAZING or what?? I loved it!! It was all so great! I especially loved the Saturday morning session! Mom- I'm sure you cried the entire session! haha But I learned a lot! President Monson is so cute! I can't wait for the Conference Issue Ensign to come out! If they give it to us in Spanish I'm gonna have you mail me the English one! Next General Conference we will be listening in Spanish so it was so great to listen in English this time! So learning Spanish is HARD! I get pretty frustrated with it because I don't know how to say everything I want to say so it's hard to teach a lesson in Spanish about something that means so much to you but you can't express that. I'll get there eventually though! I am so so glad I have a deep testimony of the gospel! If I didn't I wouldn't be able to last here. The work is tough but I know it will be worth it in the end! So my advice to anyone going on a mission- learn to LOVE the gospel!! Cause if you don't you will have a miserable time in the MTC. Actually that's my advice to everyone! Learn to love the gospel with your whole heart and you will be more happy than you can imagine! I wish I could study the scriptures all day long!! It's so exciting to read everyday and to find new things every time you read. And Preach My Gospel is awesome to study with also! So what is going on at home? Anything exciting? I wish I could see Maddie's new signs and hear her new words! Send me pictures please! I didn't bring any pictures of the family, except the ones on my camera.. Well I'm sorry I don't have a whole lot to tell you. There really isn't anything that changes around here. Once I get to Ecuador I will have tons of stories to make up for the lack of words now! I hope everyone is doing well!! I l love and miss you all!

xoxoxXo

 

Love,

Hermana Nelson

A couple of pictures

Our district in the MTC!

Me, Hermana Norman, Ward, Caldwell, Elder Johnston, Nunez, Hancey, Hasson, Behmer, Gambles, and Elder Jones.

 Me and my companion Hermana Norman.