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