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Yum SushiMonday, June 16, 2014
June 15th, 2014
Dear family,
This week was really fun. On Monday we went out to the beach!
It was beautiful and the weather was perfect!! It was a really fun
day. Elder Williams who is from buffalo New York, brought with him to
the beach a game called spikeball. It is a combination of four square
and volleyball and is one of the most fun games I have played in a
long time! We played it pretty much all day! It's hard to explain
exactly what the game is and how it's played so due to the fact that
everything is online, if you want to know more about what spikeball is
I'll leave it to you to look up on the internet. I also think it was
extra fun because with the soft sand all around it made it easy and
fun to lay out and dive for everything! So we were covered in sand and
sweat and sunburned but it was a great day!
I also want to tell you that the drive to the beach was super
cool. We drove through bodega and bodega bay. It's a cool little town!
Do you remember the movie "the birds" by Alfred Hitchcock? So
that movie was filmed in bodega and we stopped by the house...at least
we think we did. We don't know for sure if it was the right house
cause there were no signs and we can't remember the movie but hey if
not we were close by at least! So that was cool especially cause in
college I watched that movie and had to write some essays on it.
Well, Elder fallabella is a pretty cool guy. The half mission
conference was good. It was fun to see a lot of friends from around
the mission. I'm really going to miss seeing those guys around. I have
a ton of future roommates at BYUi though so if I'm there in a year and
not married that will be sweet! But yeah I loved the meeting. He
talked to us a lot about how our missions our for us and how hey
should make us better people and prepare us for our future lives! I
was excited to hear him talk about that cause I feel like I have
understood that principle but have had a hard time putting it onto
words and learning more about it if that makes sense? And so it was
cool to hear in vocal expression the feelings that I have had about my
mission. So it was a good conference but once again it was way to long
and in the middle I think everyone zoned out. We had this weird thing
after lunch where these two guest families were introduced to us. They
had just recently been baptized and we got to hear their testimonies
and stuff it was cool. But then elder fallabella like went off for an
hour just talking to them about stuff ha it was weird...so I zoned out
at that part. But for me I thought I did pretty good.
We were at the church all day long. From 7:30am to 5:30pm. I
don't know of any meeting that goes as long as these meetings and I
said this before and I'll say it again these meetings are way to long!
Something cool I have noticed though is that whenever general
authorities come a lot of what they say is just the same things
that are usually taught in the church and I'm not saying that as a bad
thing, but another thing I have noticed is that I always pick up on a
few very simple but powerful spiritual truths that I didn't know
before or didn't understand. So I'm thankful for that powerful
simplicity. I hope I can be that kind of teacher someday.
It's been frustrating in our area this week. We have found some
awesome new investigators...kinda.... some of them are my old
investigators! But they are so hard to meet with! We had a bunch of
set appointments and then it feels like within an hour they all texted
or called and said they had to cancel and reschedule. Ridiculous. As
young missionaries we are pretty naive to the world sometimes though.
All we do all day is missionary work and so when we need members to
help and come out with us or when we want to teach people but then
members cancel or say they are to busy and our investigators have to
work we say "come on don't you care about The Lord and his work" or
"come on don't you know how much this will change you life?" How can
you be too busy? Haha but something I have learned is that people
really are busy! We are focused on one thing only so we assume
everyone else should only be focused on the same thing but what we
don't understand is that people have lives and jobs and problems and
families and their kids have things they are doing and need help with
and they all have a million things to get done! I don't know why I'm
writing about this I just think it's funny how missionaries think. So
I'm thankful for good leader who helped me learn that when members
have to reschedule or cancel or say they can't come out with us, that
usually means exactly what it means! They are busy! Too many
missionaries take the phrase I have to reschedule I'm to busy as a
translation into I don't want to help you with missionary work or
learn about the gospel! I think most everyone does want to help but
life is busy. So I have really learned to appreciate it when members
take the time to come out with us for an hour or two.
I think what got me on that is that we had a great member come out
with us on Thursday. Bro Christensen! He used to be the bishop when I
was here the first time. We taught two lessons with him and had some
great conversations about things. He is a smart man. So yeah that's
how I got started on that haha. I'm thankful for great members. They
continue to shape me every time I interact with them. And I'm thankful
for sincere investigators. Teaching some one who really wants to learn
about the gospel is my favorite part about the mission. It's a
beautiful thing to see in someone's eyes that understanding that
always comes when spirit speaks to spirit about the truths of the
gospel.
Oh man so I really want to go to the east coast to visit
Stainback! On Friday we had dinner with the satterfields and bro
satterfield was our ward mission leader when we were here together so
we got pretty close to them. Anyways satterfield had told Stainback
that we were coming over and Stainback called us during dinner but we
didn't answer and he left a voicemail pretending to be president alba
haha so we called him back and we talked for awhile. It was so fun. I
love that kid! He is getting married at the end of this month! He told
me I should come do school out there in Wilmington haha but anyways I
told him that I'm coming out there at some point to see family and
maybe an internship in DC and that we could hang out so I really do
want to go out to the east coast and I want to go visit Stainback!
That would be so fun. But it was just so great talking to him again.
He is doing so good and I'm happy for him. We had some good times. The
best times really. I think I have said this before but It sure stinks
that everyone I have come to love is so far away and or going in
different paths...it really makes me so thankful for all the
experiences and relationships that I have made. Like I look back over
the past two years and I just am filled up with gratitude for the
blessings I have been given and for all the people I have met. It's
amazing.
I got an email from Megan yesterday! It was her last pday! She
should be coming home this week. So that's pretty crazy. She said in
her email that the second hardest thing she has ever done is leave to
serve a mission and that the hardest thing she has ever done is leaver
her mission to come home! I thought that was powerful because that is
almost exactly what I wrote about last week! She also wrote about how
much she has been changed and that the major reason she loves Mongolia
is because that is where she became fully converted to the gospel of
Jesus Christ. I love Santa Rosa for the same reason. I'm excited to
talk to her and hear about her mission and experiences when I get
home! Along with everyone else that is home and will be home. It will
be a fun time.
So I am so excited for this next week!! There are two zones in
Santa Rosa and Our zone and the other Santa Rosa zone get to be
involved in a mini mission!! It will be much like the Vacaville mini
MTC I was involved in a few months ago except this time we will have
youth come out with us for about three days! From Wednesday night to
Saturday night! So that is going to be awesome! They will stay the
night with us and everything! Some apartments are going to have like 8
missionaries in them. We will have 8 but at least we have two
bathrooms. There is a sister apartment that will have like almost ten
I think but their apartment is huge and they have three bathrooms.
Yesterday night we met with the stake young men's president and
young women's president to help them assign the youth to the
missionary companionships and figure out all the details like bike
areas and how much space in apartments and which companionships can
take two youth and split up. It was a cool experiences we definetly
received some spiritual guidance as we assigned the youth. It was as
close to helping P. Alba with transfers as I'll ever get!
It was a long day of meetings again....we were at the church
from 8:30 to 4:00. And then back to the church from 6:30 to 9:00.
Bleh.
So we are excited for that. It really was a special experience to
help in assigning those companionships though. I will always be
thankful for the opportunity I have had to be a zone leader for so
long. I have had a ton of great experiences and opportunities due to
holding this position that I would have missed out on if I hadn't been
one. I have sat in councils with some of the greatest men I have ever
known. I'll always be thankful for that.
Well this might be the longest email that I have ever
sent...it's gotta be close at least. It should be an awesome day! We
are going golfing with a recent convert and his non member son who was
at church for the first time yesterday!! It's going to be awesome! So
if I tap into the home card funds you'll know why.. We are doing 18
holes...it could be a long day!
So for school I will talk to some people about maybe rooming
with them. I don't know exactly who is up there except for one person
who has already offered me a room. So I'll creep on facebook for a
minute and see Who is up there. Like I said before. In about a year
I'll have plenty of roommates!
Well that's it from me. We are going to go hit up a thrift shop
to find some golfing outfits...wish us luck! Have a great week!
Love Elder Nelson
This week was really fun. On Monday we went out to the beach!
It was beautiful and the weather was perfect!! It was a really fun
day. Elder Williams who is from buffalo New York, brought with him to
the beach a game called spikeball. It is a combination of four square
and volleyball and is one of the most fun games I have played in a
long time! We played it pretty much all day! It's hard to explain
exactly what the game is and how it's played so due to the fact that
everything is online, if you want to know more about what spikeball is
I'll leave it to you to look up on the internet. I also think it was
extra fun because with the soft sand all around it made it easy and
fun to lay out and dive for everything! So we were covered in sand and
sweat and sunburned but it was a great day!
I also want to tell you that the drive to the beach was super
cool. We drove through bodega and bodega bay. It's a cool little town!
Do you remember the movie "the birds" by Alfred Hitchcock? So
that movie was filmed in bodega and we stopped by the house...at least
we think we did. We don't know for sure if it was the right house
cause there were no signs and we can't remember the movie but hey if
not we were close by at least! So that was cool especially cause in
college I watched that movie and had to write some essays on it.
Well, Elder fallabella is a pretty cool guy. The half mission
conference was good. It was fun to see a lot of friends from around
the mission. I'm really going to miss seeing those guys around. I have
a ton of future roommates at BYUi though so if I'm there in a year and
not married that will be sweet! But yeah I loved the meeting. He
talked to us a lot about how our missions our for us and how hey
should make us better people and prepare us for our future lives! I
was excited to hear him talk about that cause I feel like I have
understood that principle but have had a hard time putting it onto
words and learning more about it if that makes sense? And so it was
cool to hear in vocal expression the feelings that I have had about my
mission. So it was a good conference but once again it was way to long
and in the middle I think everyone zoned out. We had this weird thing
after lunch where these two guest families were introduced to us. They
had just recently been baptized and we got to hear their testimonies
and stuff it was cool. But then elder fallabella like went off for an
hour just talking to them about stuff ha it was weird...so I zoned out
at that part. But for me I thought I did pretty good.
We were at the church all day long. From 7:30am to 5:30pm. I
don't know of any meeting that goes as long as these meetings and I
said this before and I'll say it again these meetings are way to long!
Something cool I have noticed though is that whenever general
authorities come a lot of what they say is just the same things
that are usually taught in the church and I'm not saying that as a bad
thing, but another thing I have noticed is that I always pick up on a
few very simple but powerful spiritual truths that I didn't know
before or didn't understand. So I'm thankful for that powerful
simplicity. I hope I can be that kind of teacher someday.
It's been frustrating in our area this week. We have found some
awesome new investigators...kinda.... some of them are my old
investigators! But they are so hard to meet with! We had a bunch of
set appointments and then it feels like within an hour they all texted
or called and said they had to cancel and reschedule. Ridiculous. As
young missionaries we are pretty naive to the world sometimes though.
All we do all day is missionary work and so when we need members to
help and come out with us or when we want to teach people but then
members cancel or say they are to busy and our investigators have to
work we say "come on don't you care about The Lord and his work" or
"come on don't you know how much this will change you life?" How can
you be too busy? Haha but something I have learned is that people
really are busy! We are focused on one thing only so we assume
everyone else should only be focused on the same thing but what we
don't understand is that people have lives and jobs and problems and
families and their kids have things they are doing and need help with
and they all have a million things to get done! I don't know why I'm
writing about this I just think it's funny how missionaries think. So
I'm thankful for good leader who helped me learn that when members
have to reschedule or cancel or say they can't come out with us, that
usually means exactly what it means! They are busy! Too many
missionaries take the phrase I have to reschedule I'm to busy as a
translation into I don't want to help you with missionary work or
learn about the gospel! I think most everyone does want to help but
life is busy. So I have really learned to appreciate it when members
take the time to come out with us for an hour or two.
I think what got me on that is that we had a great member come out
with us on Thursday. Bro Christensen! He used to be the bishop when I
was here the first time. We taught two lessons with him and had some
great conversations about things. He is a smart man. So yeah that's
how I got started on that haha. I'm thankful for great members. They
continue to shape me every time I interact with them. And I'm thankful
for sincere investigators. Teaching some one who really wants to learn
about the gospel is my favorite part about the mission. It's a
beautiful thing to see in someone's eyes that understanding that
always comes when spirit speaks to spirit about the truths of the
gospel.
Oh man so I really want to go to the east coast to visit
Stainback! On Friday we had dinner with the satterfields and bro
satterfield was our ward mission leader when we were here together so
we got pretty close to them. Anyways satterfield had told Stainback
that we were coming over and Stainback called us during dinner but we
didn't answer and he left a voicemail pretending to be president alba
haha so we called him back and we talked for awhile. It was so fun. I
love that kid! He is getting married at the end of this month! He told
me I should come do school out there in Wilmington haha but anyways I
told him that I'm coming out there at some point to see family and
maybe an internship in DC and that we could hang out so I really do
want to go out to the east coast and I want to go visit Stainback!
That would be so fun. But it was just so great talking to him again.
He is doing so good and I'm happy for him. We had some good times. The
best times really. I think I have said this before but It sure stinks
that everyone I have come to love is so far away and or going in
different paths...it really makes me so thankful for all the
experiences and relationships that I have made. Like I look back over
the past two years and I just am filled up with gratitude for the
blessings I have been given and for all the people I have met. It's
amazing.
I got an email from Megan yesterday! It was her last pday! She
should be coming home this week. So that's pretty crazy. She said in
her email that the second hardest thing she has ever done is leave to
serve a mission and that the hardest thing she has ever done is leaver
her mission to come home! I thought that was powerful because that is
almost exactly what I wrote about last week! She also wrote about how
much she has been changed and that the major reason she loves Mongolia
is because that is where she became fully converted to the gospel of
Jesus Christ. I love Santa Rosa for the same reason. I'm excited to
talk to her and hear about her mission and experiences when I get
home! Along with everyone else that is home and will be home. It will
be a fun time.
So I am so excited for this next week!! There are two zones in
Santa Rosa and Our zone and the other Santa Rosa zone get to be
involved in a mini mission!! It will be much like the Vacaville mini
MTC I was involved in a few months ago except this time we will have
youth come out with us for about three days! From Wednesday night to
Saturday night! So that is going to be awesome! They will stay the
night with us and everything! Some apartments are going to have like 8
missionaries in them. We will have 8 but at least we have two
bathrooms. There is a sister apartment that will have like almost ten
I think but their apartment is huge and they have three bathrooms.
Yesterday night we met with the stake young men's president and
young women's president to help them assign the youth to the
missionary companionships and figure out all the details like bike
areas and how much space in apartments and which companionships can
take two youth and split up. It was a cool experiences we definetly
received some spiritual guidance as we assigned the youth. It was as
close to helping P. Alba with transfers as I'll ever get!
It was a long day of meetings again....we were at the church
from 8:30 to 4:00. And then back to the church from 6:30 to 9:00.
Bleh.
So we are excited for that. It really was a special experience to
help in assigning those companionships though. I will always be
thankful for the opportunity I have had to be a zone leader for so
long. I have had a ton of great experiences and opportunities due to
holding this position that I would have missed out on if I hadn't been
one. I have sat in councils with some of the greatest men I have ever
known. I'll always be thankful for that.
Well this might be the longest email that I have ever
sent...it's gotta be close at least. It should be an awesome day! We
are going golfing with a recent convert and his non member son who was
at church for the first time yesterday!! It's going to be awesome! So
if I tap into the home card funds you'll know why.. We are doing 18
holes...it could be a long day!
So for school I will talk to some people about maybe rooming
with them. I don't know exactly who is up there except for one person
who has already offered me a room. So I'll creep on facebook for a
minute and see Who is up there. Like I said before. In about a year
I'll have plenty of roommates!
Well that's it from me. We are going to go hit up a thrift shop
to find some golfing outfits...wish us luck! Have a great week!
Love Elder Nelson
Monday, June 2, 2014
June 2nd, 2014
Dear Family,
It has been a super weird week! Transfer week is always crazy and we had MLC (missionary Leadership Council) The day after transfers and then we had our weekly planning day after that so all in all we haven't been able to do a ton of proselyting but its been good.
Really though it has been a trip to be back in Shiloh park. Not much has changed though which is interesting. It doesn't really feel like I ever left! Most of the people we have gone to see so far are the same people that I was teaching when i was here give or take a few people. So it has been fun to reconnect. I'm really thankful that I am missing out on the whole new area thing. It always takes like two or three weeks to get to know everyone and to adjust to a new companion and get to know your investigators and your area and how things are done. I'm avoiding almost all of that! But my new comp is awesome so that really hasn't been a problem either. I don't know if i have told you but his name is elder Ashton and he is from highland utah. He went to Lonepeak high school. HE is really fun and chill and wants to work hard so no problems. It should be fun. The only thing that has been hard is realizing that i will be leaving for sure in five weeks. I will be really sad to leave because things are going to be awesome here. So knowing that I wont be here for long is sad. But tha'ts alright. I also realized that after this transfer i will have spent 6 months in shiloh park ward! so I will have had two 6 month areas which is weird to me.
Anyways, this week has been good. Everyone is excited for me to be back for the most part and the area is in good shape so there will be plenty for us to do. I miss vacaville though.
Speaking of vacaville, Elder wride wasnt transferred so he is in vacaville with a new companion. I saw him at MLC and it was sad that we were no longer comps. our reign has ended for the moment. But hopefully he will come to BYUi and then the legend will continue. I almost had him talked in to coming but he probably wont until next year if he does at all. HE has a girl to chase down in provo before he can think about going anywhere else. SO if that doesnt work out then hopefully he will shimmy on up to idaho and we can party.
Oh also we have some sweet roomies here. Elder Deborah from mexico and Loramier from texas. They are awesome. IT will be a fun transfer.
Mom i really enjoyed hearing about your miracles! Thats awesome! So many people wonder if God even cares about the little day to day things we struggle with in our lives, it is always great to hear about stories that teach us otherwise!
Hopefully i will have more to tell you about next week, sorry this is short, we got a late start and have a lot to do today that usually we dont have to do. Perks of being a zone leader. Not.
I love you and hope your week is great!
Love E. Nelson
P.s. What do you think about coming back to cali to visit?. . Anyways. love you!
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