Tuesday, December 31, 2013

December 30th, 2013

Dear family,
      You all rock! It was great talking to each of you this last week! I wish it would have worked out better and we all would have been able to skype so on Mother's Day lets make it happen! I am sure my app will be up to date by then hopefully. Or maybe we can just do google hangout and I can plan on being at a members home with a camera and good speaker system to talk into! Either way let's try to make that a smoother process next time!
      Sorry I'm lame to talk to haha I don't know what to say! It is just great to see all of your faces and hear you talk! It will be fun to be with you all again in person. I can't wait to play with all the nephews and niece!!! They look so fun!!! They are growing so fast!! Tell them to slow down!
      
       So something pretty awesome coming up is that we get to go camping again!!! But only the leaders!! In I think two weeks we will be going to camp liahona with all the  zone leaders and sister trainer leaders for three days! It will be so cold but super fun. We are really excited.
We had a good week this week. It was slow because of Christmas but it was good. I think it was probably a little slow for most missionaries. So   We are looking forward to getting some good work done here with the Christmas season coming to a close and New Years almost past. It will be nice to get back into the rhythm of things and actually have people home and not busy! So that will be great!
     So in my studies the other day I read 2 nephi 2:2

2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain. (2 Nephi 2:2)

I was interested in the last line. Consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.

To consecrate means to make or declare something sacred or to dedicate formally to a divine purpose. So The Lord has a Devine purpose for our trials sometimes. I found this quote by Richard g Scott

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

I love that quote!! So often we think when hard times come that woe is me I must be disobedient and a horrible person or we might think that of someone else because of the hard times they are having. But often the hard time come because god knows that we are prepared and that this will help us grow more and become more like him. I know that is true. I have also learned that as we show gratitude in All things like the scriptures tell us too that we will see our trials in the context that we are supposed to. That we came here to learn and be tested. Opposition in all things. And when we do learn from that opposition we are taught ourselves and we are then because of our trails and experience, able to help those around us going through the same trials.
     I love the scriptures and the gospel. They teach us so much. All we have to do is open them and begin to read and any sincere seeker will find truth and answers.
  The church is true. I love all of you! Happy New Years!!
   Elder Nelson

December 23rd, 2013

Sent this to a friend and got caught up in what i said and it turned into a decent letter so I thought I would send to you as well! 

Everyone always asks me if I miss Utah and i always say Not one bit!! I don't miss the snow or the cold at all! The weather has been really nice here, it gets cold at night but not too bad. It doesn't feel like Christmas really because there is no snow and we have been so busy that it has just snuck up on us. Two days till Christmas say what?? I don't even know where this last month went. I am glad you were able to come home for Christmas. If there is something I have learned on my mission both from being here and from understanding the gospel, it is that Family is everything! 
    My companion is the bomb. we were in the MTC together and now we are both Zone leaders and companions so we are just doing work. It has been great! We are quite different but we make it work and it is fun! 
    I am doing great and I am just so thankful for all that God has given me. On this last Thursday we had our all mission Christmas devotional/PARTY in Santa Rosa. It was a fun day but I had a really spiritual experience. Before everything got started and we were waiting for everyone to get there we had time to just walk around and mingle and talk and and stuff (250+ missionaries in one church! it was packed!) I was able to see many of my old companions and talk to them along with  many of the friends I have made and served with and around over the past 17ish months. I was also able to meet new missionaries and get to know them. after a while of this I sat down in the chapel for our devotional. As I sat there I just felt so full of love and joy and felt the spirit very strongly!! It hit me then How BLESSED I am and have been on my mission to come to know all of these amazing elders and sisters and to work alongside with them and grow with them and to help them and train them  and watch them grow as well! I have made eternal friends here. and it is just the best. Simply the best time of my life. It was a sweet experience. I am so thankful for this time i have to serve and for the people i have served with! I know it was no accident that we are all here together at this time! I LOVE my mission. I love the Savior and my Heavenly Father. I Love my family and friends. I love Christmas and the spirit that is upon the earth during these weeks. IT is truly the most wonderful time of the year as the song goes. 
Anyways, in this spirit of love I now need to go ball up all of the young elders in our zone! peace! 
Love Elder Nelson! 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

December 16th, 2013

Dear family
     Here I am in Vacaville!! So far it seems like a really good place! I have met some great members. I have missed arcata and I will miss being there when Christmas and New Years rolls around but I think I will probably make friends by then.
       Did I tell you elder Boswell is my new companion? Well if I didn't now I did! It's kinda cool because he came out with me so we have both been out the same amount of time and we are Zone Leader companions! So that has been really nice so far! We are both on the same page as far as obedience and working and how to do the work and so it is just flowing nicely! I think it should be a great transfer! We just moved into a brand new apartment and we have a ton of room because it is just us two in a two bedroom apartment! So we have tons of space! It is really nice!
      It has been a fun first week we have been really busy but it's weird because it hasn't been normal. When we got back Wednesday night we had to help the sisters finish moving into their apartment and build a bed frame for them and we had to pick up a desk and chair for them from another missionary apartment. The next day Thursday was our planning day and so that takes awhile and that night we had a stake blitz where all the missionaries come into one wards boundaries and blitz it. It was pretty sweet I must say but took up the night. Friday we had zone meeting so that ate up much of the day and we had to finalize our weekly plans and so Friday night we were able to go out and work then Saturday it got normal and we had a full work day. The joys of being a zone leader. Haha. You have to deal with everyone elses issues and areas as well as your own. It is fun though :)
      
      Ohhhhh so I started writing this earlier and just got your package. Thanks for the
stuff! The amino acid looks really good. When I'm out of stuff I will let you know what I want and you can get it off of that website but I'll be good for a month or two now. I didn't know if it was for Christmas or not but either way I wasn't going to wait so I opened it haha. Thank you though!! And thanks for the smoothie book!
      So we had our ward Christmas party this Saturday. It was fun! I got to meet some cool people. It is a very old ward not many young families. But it is a strong ward. At least for now until everyone dies haha after the dinner there was a ton of leftover ham so we got to take a lot home! We have ham for weeks. It's great!
      We had a really cool meeting with our stake presidency on Sunday! Once a transfer they meet with all the missionaries and talk and teach deep doctrine of the church haha we went deep into the temple! It was pretty awesome. I learned a lot. I hope I will know as much as they do someday about the temple.
       Well I love you. It seems like this area is not very busy right now so we will have to be changing that. The members are sweet here. It is like mini Utah. So it should be a good experience! It will be the most member involvement I have seen on my mission easily. I can already tell.
       I have been having some awesome success on facebook! I have been able to send a preacher in Africa a copy of the Book of Mormon, find a girl that wants to be baptized in the Philippines but that didn't know where a church was, and find a solid investigator for the arcata elders.
      The preacher was a friend suggested to me by this weird member I have never met who does tons of missionary work online haha I messaged the preacher and we introduced ourselves. I asked him if he had ever read from the Book of Mormon before ad he said no but that he would like to! I got his address and was able to send him a Book of Mormon at his request! He also requested a second Book of Mormon so that he could share it haha pretty cool. I need to find out if there are elders in his area so they can deliver it.
      The girl in the Philippines was a random person that added me. I accepted her request and messaged her and asked if she was a member of our faith! She said no but I would really like to be!!!  I was then able to help her locate a church and invite her to sacrament and to be baptized! They said yes! I just need to call in the referral to the office today! After that I was able to teach her part of the restoration.
      The solid gator was the friend of a member in arcata. I messaged her and we had an awesome conversation about what the gospel is and what it could mean for her and her family! I sent her a link to the restoration mormon message and a link to Mormon.org about the restoration and when I got on the next day and asked her if she read she said she had read both of them and that it was exactly what she wanted in her life! I invited her to be baptized and she said she wanted to go to church first with her friend harmony who was one of my favorite people in arcata :) so she was excited to hear about that! I'm still gettin it done in arcata, Well, I love you all and I look forward to talking to you in like 9 days haha.
Have a great week!


Andrew's new address:

Elder Andrew Nelson
159 Aegean Way
Apt. 48
Vacaville, CA
95687

Monday, December 9, 2013

                                         Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl


                                            Crescent City


                                          Elder Nelson's Angels  LOL


                                       Medford Oregon Temple visit


                                         The Golden Bear Ride


                                              Floyd Family

December 9th, 2013

3:29 PM
To: Mark and Diane Nelson
Well i havent gotten any mail from you this week. but it has been a great last week here in Eureka. Yes, I am once again being transferred. I'm heading to Vacaville 1st ward I can't say I'm very happy or excited but I'm sure that will change when I get there. I always leave right as things start booming. It's lame. And once again I am leaving before Christmas so that is also a bummer. When I told bishops wife that I was leaving she started crying haha. I love this area and ward and people. It has been so much fun and we have done so much work. And now it's on to the next one. Well anyways I won't waste your time hearing about how dumb getting transferred is sometimes.
      This week was so fun. I got to spend it with elder Cartwright and we drove all over haha. As I said last week we went to crescent city to exchange with the elders up there. Oh I don't know if I mentioned this but on Monday elder Cartwright and I went to a gym in arcata with a couple of free passes. Best pday of my mission. We played racquetball and basketball and lifted weights. It was great. Then we drove up to crescent and stayed the night. Tuesday and Wednesday we were on exchanges. We saw a lot of miracles and taught a ton of lessons. As we set a few dates. Pretty exciting!
      So on Thursday we went to the Medford Oregon temple! A member drove up our companions, picked us up in crescent city and we headed to the temple. It was the most spiritual experience I have had probably on my mission. I have been changed.
       We arrived at the the temple late and missed our session so instead we did initiatory. While doing them I posed a question to one of the temple workers in regards to some of the words in the initiatory. He left after that and came back and told me he has asked the temple president and the temple president gave him an answer and he gave me the answer. It was nothing special haha. But I think because I asked that question the temple pres was curious so he came out and found elder Cartwright and I sitting waiting with our names to go back into the initiatory thing. We had an opportunity to talk with him for a few moments and we posed the question, how do you gain a strong testimony of all that goes on in the temple?  He told us we just needed to keep coming back and learning and that we would come to understand more basically. But he did mention some things that were very powerful in reference to the temple itself and the purpose of temples. He said many people take for granted our
temples and treat them like a church. But they are far greater than a church. They are literally houses of god. People misunderstand the word LITERALLY. He then told us to come into his office after we had finished because he had something he felt like he needed to share with us.
       Now finally I can tell you that this is and was a defining moment in my life. For ten minutes we sat with a temple president and he taught and bore witness to us of the reality of this work and the importance of the temple. Unfortunately I cannot tell you all of what he told us. He made that clear. Before he said anything else he said , "now elders what I'm about to share with you is something I have not told very many people. It is a special and sacred experience and is not meant for the public. Only for special times when you feel prompted like I have today. He told us then a very powerful story. What I can tell you, is that the spirit was so strong. Even as I write this I am almost  brought to tears at the thought of that moment. Pres. Puente I think was his name. He bore us his personal witness of Jesus Christ, and of the ministering of angels, specifically his LITERAL Personal experience of them. It will be a cherished memory of mine forever. And it came at a pefect time in both mine and elder Cartwright life. I love the temple. It is truly the whole point of being here. To be sealed together as a family for eternity. That's it. That's the goal. That's why we are here.
     Interestingly enough,following that experience on Saturday at missionary leadership council we had our area authority and a member of the second quorum of the seventy come and teach all of us about the new family history pilot program that we are doing in our mission. We are testing out to see if it is an effective tool in missionary work! so that wil be a lot of fun. There is a very stong spirit connected with it and as missionaries we are trying to harness that spirit of elijah and use it top help non members come closer to christ. Basically what i have goten this past week is that the temple is everything. We are here on earth to go to the temple to be sealed. Not only to our families forever but to God. The GA Elder Richards specifically said we are sealed to God as well as our families when we go to the temple...I need to study that one to learn more but the spirit was strong when he said it. so i will tell you more about that as we go. They didnt tell us much just the basics and that we are to just go use it in the best way we can. Invite people to learn more. It should be sweet! 
      well, that is about it for me. ill send some pics! Love you all!! 
Elder Nelson

Monday, December 2, 2013

December 2nd, 2013

Dear family,
      I just have to say once more that hoopa is still booming. We went out there on Tuesday and did work! We set another baptismal date! Three of our eight dates our in hoopa! So things are going really good! It was cool on Tuesday when we were at a less actives house teaching them towards the end one of their friends came over and the member asked her if she wanted to know more about the church and she said yes! So we set up a time to go see her next week! It was great. Next thing that happened is that we went to visit another non member to teach him that we found through sacrament and when we got there one of his daughters who is a less active member was there at his house! They were busy but we talked and when we left we asked for referrals. They have us two more names to contact! Plus the guy, bro Marshall who is not a member said next time we come we would sit down and talk about who we could teach!! Haha it's just crazy. God is placing people in our path left Nd right!
      This week is going to be NUTS! Today elder Cartwright and I are driving up to crescent city to exchange with the elder up there so we will be staying for three days and going with each companionship! On the way up we are going to spend our p day fishing ;) im going to catch a massive salmon! Then we will exchange and sleep up there from Monday to Thursday. On Thursday our companions will be coming up with a member and picking us up in crescent city and we will be going to the Medford Oregon temple! So that will, be really fun! I can't wait to be in the temple. After that we will come back and drive home. Friday we will be in our own areas for a few hours until about 5:00 when we have to drive down to Santa Rosa for missionary leadership council the next morning on Saturday. We will be there all day and staying the night because president doesn't want us to drive through the night to get back. So we will be driving back home on Sunday! So I won't be in my area all week basically. I think scalese will be able to handle it though. I have been letting him lead out the whole last week and he will do a good job..I hope hAha. So it is going to be a fun last week of this transfer.
       On that note, onn the way to the temple there is this place where you can buy beef jerky in Oregon that is AMAZING. Best jerky I have ever had in my life. I plan on buying a good amount....sooooo if you can hook me up with some funds that would be great....otherwise I'll be starving all transfer because my money will have been spent on jerky haha. Not just any jerky though.the best jerky in the world! Maybe I'll send you some so you can try it!
       I really really hope I stay here. I don't want to get transferred at all. I'll be quite angry if I do get transferred actually. I love this place! And the work is going awesome! And I don't want to get transferred before Christmas again....that would be lame. So I'm nervous about that. I really have no idea what is going to happen. Plus I just love this area. I am really emotionally tied. It is like Clearlake except amplified. We didn't have much when I came in. Zero baptismal dates nothing going with the ward. Now we have 9 dates spread over December and January and the ward is really getting involved  through bringing friends to church and giving us referrals. I have come to LOVE the people here so much. I think having elder Cartwright as my zl comp plays a role because we are like long lost brothers and best friends,an d that has made a huge difference. Huge. I love him. But also the member here are so fantastic and I have built such a strong spiritual relationship with them as We have taught their friends with them in their homes. It has been wonderful. So I already foresee leaving here will be so hard. I want to stay so bad. But with how things are playing out in our zone I think I will be leaving. The miracle will be that I stay in the same apt and area but just get transfered over to be with elder Cartwright for a transfer in the YSA branch haha. It will be interesting. So yeah I felt like telling you about that. It is especially heart wrenching because I will, be gone basically the whole last week of this transfer like I said earlier. And I might miss church. So if I leave I won't be able to see very many peeps. Sad. So anyways, I'm very attached. I could spend the rest of my mission here. I think also it is due in part to my maturity as a missionary and realizing how time is flying by. I only have probably two more areas after this before it's over. I don't like thinking about that at all. So I'm moving on.
         So thanksgiving was pretty sweet. Much better than last year! We played some football in the morning with some of the missionaries and a few members. My team tore it up!
         After the games we chilled at the apartment for a little bit and changed and then we went out to go eat dinner! We ate with the Lindsay family and two of our investigators! Quinton and Kelsey! It was super fun! I ate waaay too much! But it is okay. Something I have learned is that your weight depends on how you eat most of the time. Like 80% probably. Maybe more. But one day will never kill you, nor will one piece of pie! But when you eat pie everyday you have a problem. So I had a piece of my favorite, pecan pie.
        It was an interesting day a little bit because before we had left for dinner at the Lindsay's elder Cartwrights companion had what seemed to be a ridiculous breakdown and was in pain. (Like Stewart, low pain tolerance, so when he is in pain it seems obnoxious!) so we left and elder Cartwright said he would call if we needed to switch so he could go to his dinner. But it turns out he was really sick because he threw up and so we had to leave our dinner and come exchange with elder Cartwright so him and I went to his thanksgiving dinner at his investigator sky tinseths house. If you remember sky is the investigator that I found online and that is really solid!! So we went over and met her whole family and all her friends and one of the families from our ward was there. It was a huge party. I wish I would have got some pictures. But it was super fun. We had a good time.
       All in all it was a super sweet thanksgiving except for the fact that I ate way to much and I felt horrible! I weighed this morning though and I'm down to 202.6 so I finally have bounced back after three days. And I will tell you what, I am so sick of turkey and thanksgiving food! And mom no one makes as good of food as you. Seriously you need to start a restaurant and a cookbook and you would be a millionaire haha sound familiar? One of dad's schemes.
       So before I forget, yes the hoopa sacrament is once a month and the rest of the time there is just no church for the hoopa peeps unless they come to mckinleyville which is an hour and a half drive and no one can afford gas out there or is too lazy to drive. So it is tough I wish we had it every week out there but we don't yet. But Soon. If they get 30+ people every months for another month or two I bet they will seriously start thinking about getting a branch going! That would be sweet!
      Well that is all for me. This week will be really fun! I'm looking forward to it. We have a meeting like I said this Saturday with a general authority who is going to teach us about our new family history pilot program! I'll have a lot to tell you about! We'll I love you and I missed you over thanksgiving!  Have a great week!!
Love Elder Nelson
P.s. for pday this morning elder cartwright and I used two day passes to HealthSport which is Gym and we went and played raquetball and Lifted weights and played basketball with a bunch of cool guys one of them being our stake president! ha ait was AWESOME. Seriously, best Pday ever. Working out in the morning is never going to be the same again now. I have been ruined! I miss the weight room!!!! Great day. Off to Crescent City!! 

Monday, November 25, 2013

November 25th, 2013

Dear Family, 

We had the most amazing weekend!!! I felt the windows of heaven opening upon us!!! I literally felt the spirit being poured over our area. Specifically hoopa!   This week was our monthly sacrament meeting in Hoopa and after weeks of coming out here trying to find and invite and teach the best we can... it really paid off. It was a huge turn out! We had over 50 people show up! Over thirty of them were from the hoopa area!!! It was amazing. People just kept showing up!!  I will tell you what. There is not a better feeling out there than seeing weeks of work and effort and frustration and persistence in teaching and inviting and finding , pay off in a single moment. All our solid investigators came to church today. We had eight!! We picked up two new investigators at the meeting afterwards when we taught them and set a return appointment for Tuesday! All the less actives we have been teaching and calling came to the meeting! And the members who we have been doing our best to work with brought friends and family that aren't members. What I saw in hoopa last night was a glimpse at what missionary work is like when all are equally yoked!!! The members, the missionaries, the spirit, all acting on our faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel!!!

And that is only the beginning. One of our members from hoopa, bro Joseph gave a powerful talk and testimony on the Book of Mormon. Elder scalese and I followed it up with a short lesson on the Holy Ghost and it's role in teaching us truth! The spirit was powerful! Hearts were softened and faith was strengthened. it was one of the best if not the best moment on my mission up to this point. In fact as I type I feel so full of love and gratitude for my savior and Heavenly Father who have guided us and directed us as we have gone about his work. It is because of them that all this happened!! I'm just so thankful he has given me the chance to be a part of it. I really can't describe in words how I feel. My cup is overflowing today.

So yeah It was awesome. This week should be sweet. Especially when we go out to hoopa. We might have to start going twice a week if we are not able to meet with all of the people we need to see. So that is exciting. With that many people attending each month I think a branch is in the future! That is more than the Miranda branch has and it has been there a long time!! I was down in Miranda on exchanges this week. It is a teeny building. It would be a whole different experience to serve in a tiny branch that is for sure!

 Love you!! 
Elder nelson

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Halloween with Sister Williams/James (Investigator and his kids)




Herbal tea-time with Elder Cartwright


November 18, 2013

Dearest family, 
      Today I want to share with you some of the miracles that I have been Part of this week. 
       First, I went on exchanges with Elder dale who is a new missionary serving in mckinleyville. While I was with him we found not one but two new families and picked up five new investigators! One was just a door that we decided to knock and the other was a potential investigator they had been trying to see forever but could never catch. 
       The first family was Native American and initiallythey were not going to talk to us. it was funny because we  introduced ourselves and talked briefly anout why we were there and we asked her a question about her beliefs. she said she wasnt interested because she was native american and believed in her whole culture thing with her tribe. so we brought up the Book of Mormon and testified to them that it was a book from god and that it was a record of their ancestors! She thought about that for a second and then said, "we'll actually come on in I want to learn more about that." So we came in and introduced her and her two daughters to the Book of Mormon and answered their questions about it! One of the daughters asked for her own copy so she could read it! It was totally awesome. It was cool how we found them though because we originally came to that street to find a potential but they weren't home. So elder dale asked me what I wanted to, do, either tract or go try to see someone else. He said that usually they would just get in the car and go to the next person in their list. So it was a great teaching opportunity for me. I told him that one of the most important things that I have found to do on my mission is to leave time in your plans to be guided by the spirit. Yes we plan activities for every hour but you have to be flexible and ready to submit to the will of the spirit. I asked him why we came to this area. And he said to see a potential. I said we'll he wasn't home so obviously we weren't supposed to come here to find that potential. Why are we really here? God put us here for a reason. When you planned by the spirit to be here at this time it wasn't for nothing. So he tight about that and said well I think we should go knock on this door. I said okay let's do it. And then we found a family! It was awesome! Talk about being guided! 
       Because of that experience It opened a door for elder dale and his missionary work. He then looked over his plans and said you know I have had this family on my mind and I think we should go see them but we don't have them planned in. I said we'll that my friend is the spirit lets go see them. And we found another family. 
        This second family just like the first was initially going to shut us out as well but then we asked if we could just have a few minutes and they let us in. It is just funny how busy people think they are so by asking some good questions and asking for just a few minutes they let us in even though they are sooo busy.  It usually works but as soon as they let us in its over ......bring on the spirit. 
      We taught them the restoration simply and clearly and powerfully and they told us we could stay longer because they had questions! Elder dale is an excellent teacher and it was a totally spirit guided lesson. Probably the second best lesson I have ever taught when it comes to unity and simplicity. And because of that the spirit was powerful. She accepted a baptismal invitation and wants us to come back! It was awesome. I hope I helped elder dale understand the importance of the spirit in our work. 
       The next thing is a past experience that is now paying off in a big way. Do you remember that picture I sent you of the Facebook conversation I had with that girl named sky? Well this week we taught sky and she is so ready for the gospel. Her biggest concern is that her parents won't be able to come inside the temple for her marriage....and she isn't even baptized. To remind you of who who she is she was the daughter of two people that elder rouse and I contacted on the street. They mentioned as we talked that they had a daughter that lived in Erda for a time and I told them I was from gville. Which gave us a very significant connection. It was significant because when we ended that contact, they were not interested.but I asked if I could add their daughter on Facebook. They were a little weirded out at first but took my name and told me they would let her make the decision. She messaged me the next day! 
      It took awhile but we have now taught her. The reason my being from grantsville was so significant is because when we taught sky she told us that her parents said that the only reason they were cool with her adding me was because I was from Grantsville and had that connection! Otherwise they would not have passed on the message. So God placed us in their path and because of Facebook I was able to find an elect daughter of god who is sooooo ready for the gospel. I just wish I could teach her haha she will be in YSA. But elder Cartwright is the man and will take good care of her. Besides its all the same team. It's all for god and Christ. 
      So yes those are some of the miracles. We set two new baptismal dates this week and picked up a few new investigators that look promising because they have solid member friends. One of them was brought to church by our bishops wife and we taught her afterwards and it was sweet. She is 22 though so she is YSA. Seriously man I have found so dang many golden college students. ySA is blowing up with awesome people to teach and my companion and I found all of them Haha . Just kidding only a few but still! Send me to YSA president! 
        I know that God is a God of miracles. From the small to the great. He blesses us with them as we are faithful and as we need them to grow or learn, he also with holds them so we can grow and learn. I have found on my mission that what Gordon b hinckley said is true. He said something along the lines of "work hard do your best and be obedient, then leave the harvest to The Lord." Something like that. 
      You better enjoy this letter its like forever long! Now next week I only have to write a teeny little bit haha. 
     Well that is all for me I think. Nelson out!!!! I love you! 
Elder Nelson. 

Monday, November 11, 2013

November 11th ,2013

We had a good week. When we went out to Hoopa we invited this awesome family to be baptized and set a date with them in December! It was an interesting invitation. It is amazing when you invite some one to be baptised,  no matter what you find out what concerns the person has and you then know pretty much what you need to teach and what commandments they need to be living. We found out that they aren't married, that one smokes and one is on some pain meds that make her not able to focus as much. Michelle, the girlfriend, is still married to another guy who got put into jail like a few days after they were married so tracking him down so they can get divorced is going to be a struggle. So for them to get baptized they have some mountains to climb. But I think they want it. I can tell they really want to change and be better for their family. They love church and the members and what we teach and they want to get baptized. But learning all that was interesting because as they told us these things I felt my faith falter. I started to doubt and feel sorrow because I thought they were much closer to baptism. Basically what I thought was, how will they be able to overcome all that! Not to mention tithing...that will test them. They are not wealthy. So I almost inside thought great  They won't make it. But then as I thought that the spirit chastened me and the thought came to my mind, "where is your faith?!" I then realized that even though there might be mountains to climb the purpose of this gospel is to help us climb them. I then came to understand that if this family really desires it and does their part that even though it will be hard, the spirit will testify to them and will strengthen their faith which well then enable them to make the necessary changes to bring their lives into harmony with gods will. It was a cool moment for me. I know the gospel is true and that it can change anyone if they let it. I know it can change Isaac and Michelle! With faith in jesus christ all things are possible! 
     Our zone is doing great! We are stacked with great elders and sisters. In our weekly call we hardly had to spend any time talking about the struggles of missionaries because everyone is doing great and working hard and doing their best!  
      We had a blitz here in Arcata this last Saturday. Every Saturday in the past  we have been blitzing a different area. So it was our area this time. Everyone came down except for crescent city and we blew up Arcata! We probably talked to over 200 people in two hours of work so it was pretty legit. We have a ton of potentials to go see now for both us and YSA so it was very successful! I think the thing I was most impressed with was that everyone was so excited and full of faith! I don't foresee our zone having trouble raising their expectations. But then again  blitz always is exciting and day after day in your own area can wear on you. So it is our hope that the fire and excitement that were present at our blitz is the same fire that is with everyone in their own areas! 
       
        So I have to tell you a little bit about Elder Cartwright. He is the man. He is My Zone Leader Companion and like the best friend of my life! We have so much fun and seriously the past two transfers would have stunk without him around. After we are seperated I dont know how i will be able to enjoy the rest of my mission! We have that much fun! It is the best. He is awesome. If I go to BYU I am living with him for sure! We are going to try and talk President into letting us serve together next transfer...that would be awesome!! We are a lot a like and have the same interests. We have been getting up at 6am to work out for a half hour before we go running at 630 and we have been making healthy shakes in the morning and at night we have tea time haha we have been using sleepy time tea but we just got back from this hippie store and we got some cool herbal teas and we are excited about that haha so we have a lot of fun and I love him! He said he is going to come hang out with you when he gets home. He can have my room! Plus sister floyd our bishops wife wants to adopt me after my mission...I told her you might have a problem with it mom but then I thought about it and i realized you would probably be glad to hand me off haha we had a good laugh about that. 
     So I know you will probably be putting together a Christmas box. I have some things that i want so I'll make a list and let you know. Anyways, I love all of you.  
     Welp That is all for now! I love you all! Talk to you soon! \
Elder nelson 

Monday, November 4, 2013

November 4th, 2013

Well I don't have to much to report this week! It was a little bit slow because of transfers and having to drive down to Santa Rosa and then Halloween was this week as well and so was Zone Meeting. So we were busy! My new companion is Elder Scalese from Maryland! He is a visa waiter and was originally going to Brazil. But since he doesn't have his visa he is here in Santa Rosa until he gets it! He will probably get it pretty quick though. At least that is the word. Also He spent a semester at BYU-H before he came out here on his mission! Which was 7 weeks ago. haha. So he has been trying to sell me on it by telling me why I should go there. Pretty funny! He had quite the experience there.  So he is cool. It should be good.
     We had a couple of really sweet lessons this weekend. We taught Michelle who lives in Hoopa and she agreed to be baptized! We introduced her to the book of Mormon and read part of the first chapter with her. It was super spiritual. It was one of those lesson where the spirit takes over and you get in the car and drive away and say, what did we just teach them?  Pretty cool. We also had a good lesson with two other people we are teaching, Quinton and Kelsy at one of our members homes after dinner. We talked about the plan of salvation. Unfortunatly the members who were with us talked way to much about things that didn't matter and the lesson got derailed but we managed to save it and have a good ending. It is hard to teach more than one investigator at a time especially when they are at different stages and have different concerns and needs.
    We had four investigators at church on Sunday! It was great! one of them was a new investigator that we just picked up this week! His name is james.
 great.
In gospel Principles class on sunday we had a pretty funny experience. We were talking about agency and the ability to make choices so I asked everyone to shout out some examples of choices that they made this morning. One of our investigators, Quinton, said, " I chose to smoke pot!" It was a funny way to find out that we need to teach him the word of wisdom! Also it was funny because the look on my companions face was one of shock and disbelief! He didn't know what to say haha It was funny! I love training new missionaries!
another funny thing that happened was when I was out contacting people with two elders in our zone in mckinleyville. As we were walking they said that we should stop by this one house and see if one of their potential investigators was home. So we did and a girl about our age answered. She was pretty and not very modestly dressed but we asked her if Katie the person we were looking for was home and she said no. So we asked her wen she would be back and blah blah but then We asked her how she knew Katie and she said oh she is my partner!!! From that point on it got reeeeeally awkward!!! One of the elders I was with tried to start talking but didn't know what to say and only weird sounds came out of his mouth hahaha so I told her who we were and why we were there and invited her to learn more about the church and she said yes! So Those two elders are now en route to have the most AWKWARD law of chastity lesson ever!!! So that was funny as well.
Things are going great I love my mission! We are being blessed everday! thank you for your prayers! I love you!
Love elder Nelson

Monday, October 28, 2013

October 28th, 2013

This week was great! i got your letters by the way i just got them super late. but i did get them! So that was good!  Lets see. This week we had a great lesson with two of our investigators, kelsy strong and quinton. They are both super solid and agreed to be baptized! We taught them in a members home after dinner! The only thing with them is that they are both not married to the person they are currently living with. So we didnt set a date with them because neither of them are in the right situation to rush a marriage. So you can pray that they will have things fall into place for them to eventually be baptized. 
      So I am training another new missionary this transfer! My third born in the wilderness! So I am excited for that! Elder Rouse will be going to my old area in Ukiah! It was good serving with him but I am excited about the change! 
       So I can tell you that our mission is yet again going to be doing another pilot program. seriously the story of my mission life is change. We are constantly getting new things to do and try out. This time it will involve family history. A member of the seventy is coming December 8th to train us on what it is all about. So that will be coool. 
       This week went by so fast I don't even know where all the time went but it is over. I have been sick the past few days so that hasn't been fun.  Just a head cold pretty much! 
      Well I dont have to much to say this week.
Love Elder nelson

Monday, October 21, 2013

October 21st,2013

Hello familia.  So I just have to tell you all that this week is sweet! was sweet. We saw so many miracles and we taught so many lessons! it was a big time jump. We set three new baptismal dates as well! all with a part member family! It was legit! And we also have a lot of really sweet people to teach! it has been so fun! The past few weeks have been hard! We havent had any baptismal dates and no one has wanted to listen to our message. We have been finding a ton and sometimes everyone we talk to throughout the whole day will say no. We wont get one single potential and we have had a lot of days like that. So it has been frustrating but  the cool part is that this last week was just so full of awesome stuff that i almost don't even really remember the hard weeks. All i know is that our efforts and faith have finally brought forth some fruit! So it was awesome to see that. I have noticed that a lot on my mission. We will have a lot of hard long weeks but then blessings will come and you don't even remember those weeks because you are too busy with miracles. you receive no witness till after the trail of your faith! Isn't that the truth. But the witness sure is worth the trial. And in the end you grow so much more because of it. It is really cool to be aware of that. To feel it and recognize it in myself and in my life that the lord is totally in control. He gives me the exact circumstances i need to grow and become better and lets me struggle and fight just long enough to learn what i need to and then he sends the blessings. Every time. It reminds me of Hollands quote from a mormon message. Some blessings come now some and some don't come until heaven but for those who embrace the gospel. they come. I know that that is true! you don't even realize your growing and being blessed until you look back and see where you were and go, what the, how did i get all the way up here?? that  is kinda the feeling that i have had the past day as we have reported all of our stuff for the week. it felt so good to report those dates after weeks of inviting and no one accepting! 
     SO I should tell you that we had a pretty cool experience this week. We were contacting in downtown arcata on a friday night. you wont fully understand it by me explaining it but it is nuts down there.  haven't talked to very many normal people. but there are always people there so that is where we go to get our contacts for the day. So anyways it was crazy because it was friday and everyone was at the bars and partying and there are lots of crazy homeless bums and hippies and it is just a melting pot of people. Its pretty much sodom. 
      But we were contacting and no one was interested. There is a central place in arcata called the plaza and it is  pretty dangerous so we stay away from it because that is where a lot of the bad stuff happens. but we ended up on a corner of the plaza and we looked at each other and elder rouse asked me if i wanted to go through the plaza just once haha. I was like sure lets go for it! So we walked in and along one side of the plaza is just tons of bars and we happened to be on that strip. Passing bar after bar and everyone outside them was drunk or drinking or smoking or homeless. But anyways we get to the end of the street and there was this big group of weirdos at the corner and we were about to intersect with them and it was really sketchy when in front of us a ways this kid walks up and says, Well what are two mormons walking around a bunch of bars for? We just laughed and shook his hand and he introduced himself as a member of the church. Obviously less active cause he was pretty drunk. But we talked with him for a bit and as we talked people were making jokes and laughing at us and stuff but then out of nowhere came these two other guys who introduced themselves as mormons as well! they were less drunk. One of them had a brother on a mission and was going to be moving down to LA in a few days to live with his other brother who was a member and had served a mission. He was less active. The other guy was a less active as well and he lived here in arcata. So here we are in this dump skechy place and out of the cracks come these members haha . I felt at that moment what jesus christ meant when he said, ye are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. At that moment i felt that we were the light in the dark for these three members that had fallen into forbidden paths and were lost. And when they saw our light  they came. So anyways we have appointments with two of the three cause one is moving. They all expressed desires to come back to church especially after i bore testimony about the atonement and that no one has done too much to come back.  and they really respected that we were brave enough to be walking around in the plaza. one of them wants us to come over for dinner so he can feed us and we gave out a book of mormon to him. 
    So that was a little scattered and my spellling is bad because my fingers are freezing. But that was a really cool experience. And it was really fun. 
      Well this is week six can you believe it? Another transfer has come to pass! it will be intersting to see what happens. 
      Welp, i dont have to much else to say. I love you! 
Love Elder Nelson

Monday, October 14, 2013

October 14th, 2013

Dear Family, 
     Hello! I had a great week this week! Elder Cartwright and I spent three days in Crescent City going on exchanges with the Elders up there! It was really fun! Crescent city is a beautiful place! It is right on the coast! For our exercise one morning we walked to the beach with golf clubs and hit rocks into the ocean! It was sweet! I wish i could have taken pictures but unfortunately my camera is broken. i will stick it in some rice to see if that helps and i look forward to getting another. this was like the worst three weeks not to have a camera. I missed a lot of good photo opportunities!! Luckily, ill be here awhile and will be able to make up for it! 
     So that was fun to be able to go up and work with the elders. We had a zone blitz in eureka on Saturday. The Elders there are struggling so we all came down and did work in their area for two hours. I think it helped them out a lot. They have a lot of people to go see now. 
     So lets see, what else, we have some cool people we are working with. At church on Sunday we had three investigators show up! That was great! One of them, Quinten, was the boy friend of a less active member who came to church for the first time in awhile. they had just moved here from Utah! So hopefully we will be able to teach them soon once they get settled. We also had a girl named Kelsey Strong come to church. She is the good friend of a member  and this is her third time at church. In gospel principles she started crying as we taught about god and knowing god and we had dinner with them that night so things are going god with her. And the last one was Marvin who is basically a Mormon he just has to get baptized. But he is on paroll and cant be baptized until he is off of it. So i know i have been bad lately at telling you about who we are teaching but things have been slow in that department. We are super busy and always doing stuff but the teaching pool is small. And we are having a hard time finding people to teach. we will contact 20 plus peeps a day and there are days where every single person will not even give us a chance to say hello. So i have felt like I'm in Sodom and gamorrah ha ha. but we keep on going. It is always in the lords time! I know he is aware of me and my efforts to do his work. And i know that if i find someone to teach it is because he lead me to them or he led them to me. I am just a tool in his hands. So it is in the lords time. Apparently he wants me to learn a lesson! 
   Elder Johnson says he loves you! 
He is one of my favorite people i have met on the mission. I love him. 
    I got the raw meal! Thanks for that! I have been missing it! 
Lets see what else..this is one of those weeks where it was just a blur so I cant think of much to say. 
    This next week is zone conference so im sure that will be great. 
So I just have to say Mom and dad I love both of you so much! I don't know what i would do with out you! I always look so forward to getting your letters each week and hearing about how things are going. Mom you always crack me up with some of the funny things you say! So I am very thankful to you for writing me each week! There are some elders that i have talked to recently, that have not received one single letter from their mothers their entire mission. I cant imagine that. I am very thankfull for your prayers in my behalf. I decided awhile ago that no matter what happens i am not going to be a miserable bum so I am going to laugh and have fun and smile every single day. So i do. But missionary work is hard. These past few weeks have been hard. I feel like satan has been working on me extra hard lately. So I definently feel your prayers! 
      I know that Jesus Christ lives and is our savior. I know that becuase of his enambling power i can be strengthened to do more than i normally could while relying on my own power. I have felt him bear me up and I know he is aware of me and my struggles and challenges. As I have served him i feel like i have slowly come to the know the savior alittle bit better. What is that old saying, if you want to know someone really well you need to walk a mile in thier shoes? I feel like I have bee doing that in a smaller sense. As i have served and represented him i have come to know him better. And as I have come to knw him better i have felt myself changing to become more like him. And as i have become more like him i have become more like God. Which is pretty much the main purpose of us being here to become like god by following his son jesus christ and using the atonement. We are so blessed to have this knoweledge!
     So have you ever wondered if we ever renew our temple covenants? or when we renew them? I thought it was so cool in conference when the young womans pres spoke and quoted one of the prophets when she said that when we take the sacrament we renew every covenant that we have made with god. The sacrament has taken on a new meaning for me as i realized that along with the baptismal covenant, I also renew my sacred temple covenants as a partake of the sacrament...How important is it that we take it worthily!!? now i understand a little bit more. I love general conference! I am so thankful to be a part of Gods Kingdom on the earth. I am so blessed to be apart of his royal army. When the people asked jesus christ where his kingdom was he said it was not of this world. Likewise our reward for living the gospel and serving him dont fully come until the next life as well. Some people are shocked when we tell them that after our missions we just go back to life! no special reward or payment or status....for now. All of our rewards will come after this life. We are buying stock in heaven haha or in other words we are laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven. Blessings in this life but even greater blessing after. So many people dont understand. THIS ISNT IT. There is more. and when they come to that realization as they stand before god they are going to realize that they came unprepared for eternity. They didnt have their spiritual food storage. I feel so sorry for them. Especially the ones that so boldly rudely rejected us and cast us out. Because we dont represent ourselves. We represent the savior of the world. How blessed are we to be a part of his great work. to not have to wonder or search or seek truth. We have it all right in front of us. there is no hole to fill. We have the fullness of the gospel and plan of salvation. I stand all amazed. 
     Ill get off my soapbox now. Well, i love you. And i will talk to you soon! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!! 
Love Elder nelson

Monday, October 7, 2013

Oct. 7th, 2013

Hey family! It was good to hear from you this week! That is so exciting to see Brenden Returning home and Jake getting his mission call!! That is sweet! Isn't that the same mission that you served in dad? That is just awesome! 
     Alright some items of business! First, Last week at the beach there was a terrible incident! We were all playing ultimate Frisbee and there was a rogue wave that came out of nowhere and went up the beach and soaked all of our stuff that was lying on the beach. So my camera, yes my camera got drenched. and it isnt working. Soooo I don't know what you want me to do. Should I send it back or what? And also I need another camera...Let me know! The mail is all worked out so you can mail me stuff now. I got all of your past mail as well. 
      I hope that you were able to watch all of conference! It was the bomb.com I cant wait to re read those talks and study them. I feel like conference always comes at the perfect time. Every six months I think generally speaking that the entire church needs a boost. I know i do. It comes at the perfect time! 
      I n Preach my gospel under the section about prophets it mentions the word truth like 7 or 8 times. I love that because one of the main roles that a prophet has is to teach truth. So many people in this world right now just have no clue what is right and what is wrong. they dont know when they pick up a religious book if everything that they are reading is true. I remember a time when some jehovas witnesses knocked on our door and gave us pamphlets. I started to read a little bit of it and i was just feeling very skeptical and confused and unsure about a lot of what i read. I didnt know what was truth and what was a lie. And I am not smart enough and spiritually in tune enough to pick out truths from half truths and lies. And it hit me then that that is why I am so thankful for a prophet!! We have materials that are published in our standard works and many other manuels that we can read and study from and have NO DOUBTS that what we are reading from is true...except the journa lof discourses...some of that stuff seems super sketchy haha but that is besides the point! We dont have to doubt!! We dont have to be confused! We have all the answers before us and they are stamped with the prophets and apostles approval. I love that. I love truth and I am so thankful to know the truth. and to now at this time be able to declare the truth to all that i meet! It is a great blessing!! 
      I am so thankful for the atonement that allows me to change everyday to become more like jesus christ! We are such a proud people. I have talked to many people with the mindset that I dont need to change! I am who i am and i cant change that! I am me and this is how i will stay. But they are mssing the big picture. The whole purpose of the atonement was to enable us to change not just superficially but even the very desires of our heart. I have felt this change overcome me on my mission. as I have submitted to the will of the lord my heart and my desires have been changed. The things I used to think that made me me have been altered and changed to make a better me. But I am still me. people dont get that! I dont even fully get it. But it makes sense because i have felt it in my life. It is a beautiful thing. 
     I hope each of you have a wonderful week. We are seeing many miracles every day out here in the service of god. I love you! 
Love Elder nelson

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

September 30th 2013

Hey family!!! how are you!!!!  I am glad you emailed me because I havent been able to get mail this past week either. I will be able to get it all tomorrow hopefully. The problem I guess is that we just moved in here right before i came and when someone moves in the post office changes the locks. so we have been trying to figure it out and we should have a key tomorrow! 
     Things have been crazy. For three days last week I was in shiloh Park! My very first area! We went down monday night and left wednesday night! So Elder Cartwright and i were both able to go visit some people in our old areas!! it was awesome!! The reason we went down is because on monday night early we had Zone Leader Conference With Elder Adjukitus. And it was trotally sweet. He pretty much told us that the church is very happy with what we are doing here in our mission but they aren't satisfied. And then he proceeded to point out everything that we stink at and laugh at us! That is really what he did. So we were all laughing at ourselves and how bad we are haha. He then taught us about how we can improve. It was basic stuff but very much inspired. He told us Zls about planning and how our weekly planning needs to be way better. It was good. 
     So I havent had a full week of work yet in my area. The first week I arrived in my area on wednesday and then left monday and got back wed. so i have only been here like a week still. But it is good. 
      So you are still having questions about online work. I will try to explain some things. I have now been able to give two talks on on that very subject. (i spoke in church on sunday here in arcata) So The first way in which it is effective is that it is the supreme way of contacting a lot of people in a short amount of time. and it is just as legit as a face to face contact because it practically is. 
       So first here is a story. in church last week one of the members  i had introduced my self to sent me a request on facebook. I didnt know that he had until I signed in to add a few of the members that i had met like the bishop and stuff as friends in between classes. I saw that he had requested me and i accepted his friend request. A few seats down from me there was a ring tone that went off and he looked at his phone and then me and said oh hey you accepted my friend request. So he was alerted by a notification that i accepted his request,
   That is the exact same thing that happens when I send a message or send a video or post a video on someones wall or send a friend request or like a comment or photo pretty much anything I do makes waves because someone is gonna get a notification...do you see how effective that is? Say i send a message to a non member that was referred to me. He is going to get a notification and see my name and photo and be like who is this guy. Next thing he is going to do is go to my profile to see who i am. My profile is open. he can see everything. He will probably look at some photos read some of my posts. ( all of me in missionary attire and about the gospel) Maybe he will then click on the "about section" where you can put down information about who i am and what i like. Well in the about section of my facebook, my testimony is written. so he could read my testimony. Boom. How many contacts with the gospel did he have just by going to my page? Quite a bit. Maybe something will strike him and he will want to learn more? Who knows. But that is exactly what happens because that is what i do when someone i dont know adds me. and that is what we all do. Statistics say that it takes seven interactions with missionaries before they will agree to be taught. With the internet we are going to burn right through those seven contacts. 
     Next. Something I have been doing is searching for groups on facebook. Like groups for new mothers or groups for "truth seekers" whatever that means haha but as i have found these groups I then go to the mormon messages library and find a mormon message that fits exactly what the group is about. So for this new mothers group i posted a video about mother hood. In the truth seekers group i posted the video about the restoration with L. tom Perry. At the very end of it it says. "truth has been restored" haha. So now lets go back to the notification thing. When I posted this video in the groups every single person in the group is notified that i posted something. How many members were in the truth seekers group do you think? over three thousand. I just contacted three thousand people and they were all notified in some way that i posted. From that post I have a bunch of conversations going with people who had questions about the video. I also had a lot of people attack me haha but it is awesome!! Do you see how effective this can be? it is so sweet. 
     I have joined groups that are specifically for members as well. THe groups are for Lds members in europe and england and germany and I am getting referrals from many of them because i posted in the groups introducing myself and telling them about what is going on. 
     This last week I taught two lessons. One was with an excommunicated member that lives in germany. Her name is vera. She really wants to get back into the church but is having a hard time forgiving herself and her family is holding her back. I was able to teach her about the atonement and about how everything wrong about us and our live will be made right because jesus christ suffered for us. And that because he knows us individually he can strengthen us to overcome our burdens.Everything we have felt he felt first. And she was so grateful. 
     I taught another girl named Sky! she actually lives here in arcata. We were out contacting people in downtown arcata towards the end of the night. We talked to this awesome couple who werent interested but told us thier daughter actually lived in erda for a few years at a boarding school of some sort. They said she loved it and that she almost was going to join the mormon church but that she moved back here and never did. Well before they left I asked them if we could add their daughter on facebook. And they said they would get my name and tell her and let her make the decision so we said okay. Well the next day i got her friend request and started a conversation with her. This was the conversation! 
  • Sky : when I was in boarding school, one of my family teachers who was Mormon told me that the LDS church doesn't approve of tattoos.
  • Elder Andrew Nelson
    Elder Andrew Nelson
    In GETTING tattoos yes but if you already have them it doesn't matter!
  • Sky Alexa Tinseth
    Sky Alexa Tinseth
    ohh okay I understand now!
    I will talk to you more later on, I'm off to babysit now!
  • Elder Andrew Nelson
    Elder Andrew Nelson
    Okay awesome I look forward to it!! Have a great day!
  • Elder Andrew Nelson
    Elder Andrew Nelson
    the past is the past! That is the beautiful part about the gospel. God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been or even about where you are as much as he cares about where you are willing to go with his help. And I just want to testify to you that it is through following Jesus Christs example and being baptized that we take the first step towards the greatest blessings available to us in this life and in the life to come! Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized sky??
  • Sky Alexa Tinseth
    Sky Alexa Tinseth
    I'm definitely considering it now. I would love to sit down and really get told all about your faith.
  • Sunday
  • Sky Alexa Tinseth
    Sky Alexa Tinseth
    enjoy church today!


    I was going to leave it at that but the spirit prompted me so hard to not let her get off that easy so i invited her!! She also wants to have us over for dinner! So we will be going to see her this week sometime!
    So online work is legit. I have contacted pres collings and still need to reply to him but he wants to hear more about it. Maybe you can direct him to this email for me? Or forward it to him? that would be great!
    I am so pumped for general conference! If you want to be up to speed on what the most recent revelations from god are watch general conference!! Also I want to invite you guys to watch at least one session if not both sessions on sunday at the church dressed in your sunday best! I really regret all those wasted sundays when i fell asleep and didnt listen to the words of our great prophet and apostles. Many members out here go to the church for every sesion as a family. I want to do that with my kids. At least one session on sunday. Just an idea for you. I know you will all be way more open to personal inspiration.
    Oh so something else cool is that within the bounds of our HUGE area we have an indian reservation. Hoopa Valley. We are trying to get a branch started up there. This last week we went out to work there(it is an hour away) And we found a sweet family! We invited them to the sacrament meeting in hoopa on sunday. (There is only one a month) They came and loved it!! We are going back this week to teach them. Also at church were a ton of members and they brought friends and we set appointments and asked for referrals and we are going to be quite busy in hoops this week. It was an awesome miracle.
    So The zone leader thing dad. Pres alba wanted the zone leaders to be influencing more missionaries so he split most of them up, put them in a four man pad and had them train up new missionaries or help get older missionaries and struggling missionaries on track. So i live with elder cartwright who is my zl companion.
    I will let you know next week about mail i would just email again until it is figured out for sure. Thanks
    Have a great week!!
    Love elder Nelson
    ps we are going to the beach :)