¡Grand Eres Tu! - (What ever that means!)

Familia!!!! It has been two months today! That is so crazy! Time has
gone by so fast! One more week and we are off to Ecuador! I am so so
ready to get there! It has been great here but it feels like this is
all the mission is because it´s all I have known but there is more to
it! We have gotten to experience the real mission a few times on our
proselyting days but I´m ready to be a real missionary! So this last
Saturday we went proselyting again and we didn´t have a teacher or a
member with us, just my companion and I, and it was so so awesome! We
taught 5 really great people, one was an adorable little family and
the kids were so cute! It was a mom with her little boy and girl and
her niece and the little girl was so interested in what we were saying
and when we gave the mom the Book of Mormon she tried to take it from
her and read it but the mom didn´t want her to bend the pages so I
gave her the Restoration folleta- I don´t know what its called in
engish anymore- and she was so so excited to read it! She was
adorable! And all of the other people were great too! It´s so amazing
to feel yourself being led to people or doors that are willing and
excited to listen! And I am so lucky to have an amazing companion! She
is a really great teacher and I am learning so much from her! I just
wish I was fluent in Spanish so I could make more sense while I´m
teaching! But the Spirit is the teacher and I have seen these people
feel it even though they probably can´t understand a word I am saying!
So I just keep doing my best and the Lord will take over! It´s hard
sometimes to talk from my heart when I have to concentrate so hard on
forming sentences but I have been trying to work on it and it is
making a difference! It sounds like everyone is doing great and having
fun! I can´t wait to get pictures of Maddie leaving to school on the
short bus! She´s just a little baby! That´s so wierd! A car seat on a
short bus? haha I can´t believe she will be 3 in a few weeks! I´m sure
she is getting so big and grown up! I love you all! Thank you for all
of your thoughts and prayers! I definately feel them and I know they
are why I am able to keep going everyday!
xoxoxXo
Love forever and always,
Hermana Nelson

Peru - Nov. 10th, 2010

FAMILIA!!!!!

How is everyone doing?? It sounds like you guys are staying busy and
having a lot of fun! I can´t believe it´s November already! How was
Kyle´s Birthday? I hope it was a good one! I was thinking about him
all day! Kori wrote me and told me she was pregnant! YAY!!! I´m going
to pray every day that that baby girl is born on my birthday and not a
day before or after! Yes it´s going to be a girl! :) Brandi´s wedding
sounds like it was perfect! Of course! And she is going to be pregnant
very soon also! I´ll pray for you too Brandi! haha It sounds like work
is picking up! That´s good! But don´t work too hard Dad! So my new
companion is so so sweet and I love her to death! Her name is Hna.
Matute from Iquitos Peru! She is 24 and she delivers babies! She is a
little mother hen and takes care of all of us! She is so loving and
happy and she is such a blessing to me! And she is an AMAZING teacher!
I love being able to teach with her! Yesterday we had a practice
lesson with Hno. Loli, a former 70 and his wife and the situation was
they were very religious and prayed to the Virgin Mary and anyway she
asked how he felt about Jesus Christ and he said if I was there when
Christ lived I wouldn´t have fallen asleep in the Garden. I would have
helped Him carry the cross. WOW. We both couldn´t say anything because
we were crying. It was so amazing. I feel the same way. I am so so
grateful for the Atonement and I wish I could have been there to help
carry the burden. But all I can do now is do everything I can to make
that suffering worth while. I can do my part to be obedient, to repent
and keep my covenants and I can do all I can to bring the Gospel to
others. I´m so excited to get to Quito and to see the changes the
Gospel will bring to people´s lives. I´m grateful for the opportunity
I have to live the life of the Savior for a while. To serve others and
to help them on the path to eternal life. But I also get to feel a
little fraction of the pains and sorrows he felt. We watched a talk by
Elder Holland and he talked about being a representative of Jesus
Christ and he said that meant also having to step onto the path
leading to Gethsemane. What we will feel is only a teeny tiny fraction
of what he felt but we still have to feel it. He said Salvation is not
a cheap experience and that´s why it has to be hard. It is hard but I
know it will be worth it. I know I will be a better person because of
it. I will be able to understand the Atonement better that I ever have
or ever would have if I didn´t come on a mission. And I know no matter
what happens, no matter how low I get, He will always be by my side.
And I will never be put through something I can´t handle. Thank you
for all of your thoughts and prayers! You guys mean the world to me.
Thank you for all that you do for me so that I can be here and be
learning and growing in ways I never thought possible! You guys are
amazing!
xoxoxXo
Love forever and always,
Hna. Nelson

Peru Week 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it´s a great one!! and I got Kyle´s letter last week! Is his email working? hahahahha Jed is hilarious! He would say something like that! haha The Buddy Walk sounds fun! I want to see pictures! And I want to see a picture of Chaylee´s hair! And yes Chaylee I did find that picture you stuck in my suitcase! A new bishopbric?? That´s awesome! They will be great! Good job Ellie! That´s awesome! I wish I would have brought piano music! And I didn´t bring any pictures with me either.. And I didn´t bringa copy of the race.. Will you email it to me please? Today we are going on a tour of Peru! I´m really excited! Yesterday our companions all left, it was sad but we are all excited for them! My companion was crying and hugging me and talking in Spanish and I had no idea what she was saying to me but it was really sweet! We are all getting a Latino companion again so it will be good! We got to go proselyting again on Saturday and it went a lot better than last week! We talked to quit a few people and taught a few lessons and it was so cool! my spanish is still horrible and Saturday made me even more frustrated because I just want to be able to say everything I want to say but it will get there eventually! Thank you for the talks! I love them! Hopefully I will be able to print them someday soon! How was Halloween? And Brandi´s wedding? Was it last week? I can´t believe it´s already November! It´s crazy! We will be in Quito in three weeks! I can´t believe how fast these last 3 weeks went by! Well I´m sorry I don´t have a lot of time today but I love you all! Thank you for everything! You are the best family ever!! The gospel is so true and I am so grateful for everything you do to allow me to be out here serving the Lord! 
xoxoxXo
Love, Hna. Nelson

The Life of a Missionary

October 29, 2010

Family!! Hi!! How is everyone doing? I can´t believe i have been in
Peru for 2 weeks already! we only have one more week with our Latino
companions! Crazy!! It has required a lot of patience these last two
weeks but I have learned a lot! Being in an entirely new culture is
crazy but I have realized I just have to love and embrace it and not
compare it to the MTC or home or anything. Cause when you compare you
are unhappy! These past two weeks have defiantely been the hardest but
it is making me stronger! Things are done so differently here. We
don´t have as many opportunities for spiritual upliftment and learning
the gospel. It´s just spanish 24/7!! Which is great! I l have learned
a lot being here! But I still have a long long way to go! The other
day we ahd a little meeting with all the North American Sisters to
talk about how we are all doing and stuff and one of the sisters who
has been here for a few weeks said when things get hard for her she
likes to think of her kids up in heaven cheering her on saying Go Mom!
Go!! It was so cute! And I love to picture that! So Saturday we go to
go proselyting! It was legit! We had a list of non members they wanted
us to visit but we didn´t get to all of them. We were with the bishop,
a member and a missionary in that area so I was surrounded by people
who didn´t know a word of english and I understood probably 10% of
what was said the entire time! But I got to experience real life
missionary work and it was crazy!! I was so grateful I got to come
back to the CCM and learn more of how to be a missionary cause I am so
not ready for that all day every day! We only got to visit with 3
people cause most of the people weren´t home but the first house was a
50 year old lady, Lidia, who is so little and cute! I had no idea what
was being said the entire time so all I could do was bear my
testimony! Actually that´s basically all I could do the whole time!
haha The second house was a 16 year old girl, Thais, who is inacctive
and she is really cute! We read some scriptures with her and she said
she would go to church on Sunday! and the last house we went to visit
was an inactive lady, but there was also another lady living with her,
Theresa and we taught her about the Restoration! And it was so
awesome! The other missionary pretty much had to teach it all. I
talked a little bit but had to hand it over cause my spanish is not so
great. But it was so so cool to actually teach a real investigator!
She seems like she is very sad and not happy with life. She didn´t
seem very interested in what was being said but I bore my testimony
and when I told her I know we are all children of our Heavenly Father
and he loves all of us her, it caught her attention! It was so awesome
and I could definately fee the Spirit! I can´t wait until I know
enough spanish to acutally teach someone! We get to go proselyting
again this Saturday; I don´t know if we get to go back to the same
area but I´m praying that I can do better this time! It´s so
frustrating not being able to say and express everything you want to!
There is so much I want to say people but I lack the words and it is
the worst feeling ever!! But I will get there eventually! I love you
all and I hope everyone is doing well! Can´t wait to hear from
everyone next week!

xoxoxXo
Hermana Nelson