March 10th, 2014

I am really looking forward to not writing these emails every week. It
will be so much better to just talk to you and tell you about my life
in person!!
Our week was a little bit slow with transfers and zone meeting and
being sick. I'm still sick but it is getting better at this point
finally!!
First of all, we went to a funeral on Saturday for some well known old
stake president here in Vacaville. It was a very very good service. (
we went in hopes of finding people to teach :))I really felt full of
love towards a man I didn't even know and I felt even more love for
each of you. I think on the top of my list in regards to what I do I
want to be close to my wonderful,family and be able to come home and
visit easily and with not a lot of expense. 
 I'm super excited to be here in Vacaville for another
transfer! I love this place. We are excited about our zone and the new
missionaries! They seem to all be really great missionaries. Most of
them are. Me and elder wride are just doing our best to finish strong
and endure to the end. We have both Covenanter with each other that we
will not be like some of the other missionaries that we have seen go
home that totally lose it and go nuts haha. I'm thankful that I have
had great teachers to learn from about missionary work and I
understand how important my time is here. It's so easy to get pulled
away from your purpose as a missionary. I am worried that coming home
it will be even harder. In fact I already know it will be. But luckily
on my mission I have developed a great testimony of the "small and
simple things." It's not the big things that make us who we are it is
the small things that we do every day that determine the strength of
our faith and testimony and conversion. Things like reading, praying,
and home teaching, are small and simple trials of faith that we face
each and ever day of our lives. It is a sacrifice of our time and
agency to do those things and as we consistently do them the blessings
flow and the windows of heaven are opened upon us. I know that to be
true. Pray for our investigators Craig baker and Veronica Gloria and
Vanessa Chavez , and Paula Ruiz that they will come to church this
next week!! Despite all our efforts we had zero investigators at
church this week. What a waste of a Sunday.(not really, but you know
what I mean) You only have so many Sundays on a mission to bring
investigators to church! So it was sad for us. We thought for sure
that Craig at least would be coming.. Luckily, there is always another
Sunday. I know that The Lord has definetly been patient and forgiving
with me as I have failed to live up to what I said I would do, I guess
we can be patient and loving with him :)
So I just realized I have a bunch of "lasts" coming up. My last
general conference on the mish, my last zone conference, my last
temple trip, my last call home, it's a weird feeling. It's also really
weird to be basically the oldest missionaries in the mission.
Minus a few. We have two elders in our zone one that goes home this
transfer and another the next and then it's our turn.
I must admit I am excited for the flight home. Anderson and wride
will both be on the plane with me and I have been companions with both
of them so it will be fun to make that flight and meet their families
at the airport haha. We always joke around that when we get there we
will say hi to all of you and then take off together and go hang out
haha. It will be fun.
Alright well I'm excited for today. We are about to shop at
Costco with a member! I'm going to buy a ton of chicken for the rest
of the transfer lol. And also some fish oil. And we get to ball with
Volksen and have dinner with him again tonight! It should be a great
pday!! I love each of you and hope you have a great week!! Love you!!
Elder Nelson.

March 3rd, 2014

Dear family,
We had a great week!!! Oh and good news! I'm staying in
Vacaville with elder wride for another transfer!! Woohoo! We are
really excited. At missionary leadership council when they pulled up
the transfer sheet and we saw we were staying together I swear like
800 pounds dropped off my shoulders!!! I'm so happy to be staying!! I
absolutely hate transfers. It is by far the worst part about the
mission. I hate packing and saying goodbye to all the people I love
and getting a new companion is hard and going to a new place is hard
and transfers are just stressful. So I'm very thankful I have avoided
transferring for another six weeks! I love this place and I love elder
wride so I'm very very happy and excited!!
Also something funny is that Elder wride and I are the only
companionship in our entire zone that is staying the same! Every other
companionship is getting changed around! Which is good. A lot of the
problems we have had will be fixed!
Elder Wride has had a rough week. He has been sick. Saturday
morning he was really down and we stayed in till after lunch so he
could get some good rest. He felt a lot better after that.
On Wednesday we had an awesome awesome night!! Actually leading up
to the night it had been a downer day. It was raining and no one was
out and we didn't have any appointments or anything all day so we were
doing what we could to find and be effective but it was a slow day.
We were worried as well because we had splits with the young men that
night and no appointments to take them too which is lame. But anyways,
we went on splits and I went with one young priest to see Veronica
Chavez and elder wride went to go see Craig baker. When we got to
Veronica's house she let us right in and asked if we would read with
her to help her understand the Book of Mormon and figure out what is
going on! Her daughter Vanessa sat in on the lesson with us and it was
great!! It is always such a great feeling to help someone relate to
the scriptures on a personal level!! As we read through chapter one it
was quite easy to help her see that she was not only reading Lehis
story, but also her story! She was reading about herself and her
family and it the spirit was just really strong as they made that
connection and understanding flooded in. I love the scriptures and I
love the Book of Mormon! I invited Vanessa the daughter to be baptized
if she received an answer and she accepted!
At the same time elder wride had a great lesson with Craig and he
said that he loved church and really wants to be baptized still.
Well I must say this week was a Blur. And I have finally been
hit with the sickness! Saturday I was feeling a little under but then
Sunday was rough and last night was horrible haha. I was so plugged up
I couldn't sleep and I kept waking up. My mouth and throat were super
dry from breathing through my mouth oh man yeah it was rough. So we
slept in a little this morning because we are both sick. It was funny
because all last night we were both just sneezing and coughing and
breathing loud from our mouths and sniffing our noses haha we are both
sickos haha. I have been hitting the airborn hard and vitamin c so
hopefully it goes away quick. Being sick is the worst!
Soooo yeah that's what's going on here. We are excited for this
new transfer. The numbers for our zone this week were horrible...it
was pretty surprising. And we were especially disappointed because we
did pretty good and we had meetings on Friday all day and we were sick
Saturday and Sunday and we still managed to teach most of our people.
But everyone else taught like 2 lessons . What is that?? What do you
spend your time on the whole week if you only teach two lessons?? I
don't get it. I don't even see how that is possible. It is
frustrating.
So our zone is getting switched up and that will be good.
Well we got a later start on the day so I need to get going but
I love you and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Also I got
your letters from the last week so you don't have to worry about
that.
Have a great week!!! Love you.
Elder Nelson.

I don't eat out lol I pack lunch!

FEB. 24TH, 2014

We received Andrew's walking orders today...He is coming home July 8th.

Hey there. I didn't get any mail this week so perhaps I'll get some
later today! We had a pretty cool week. On Sunday our investigator
that we found named Craig came to church with his mom for the first
time!!! It was a much needed blessing!!! Elder wride and I were
talking this week about how hard it is to get people to come to
church. So, sometimes we feel like it would be just as effective to
bang our heads against a wall for several hours as it would be to to
do anything else! Just come to church people!!! But it was a sweet
Sunday having Craig their and his mom Marianne. They seemed to enjoy
it! The members did a great job fellowshipping them and that always
takes a lot of pressure off! We have great members.
It was pretty funny though, sacrament went 30 stinking minutes
over because the concluding speaker kept droning on.....me and elder
wride were ticked haha. Whenever we get new investigators at church
for the very first time in my mind I immediately put myself in their
shoes the best I can and try to experience things from their
perspective....when I do that it is so easy to pick out quickly things
that they probably don't understand at all and things that they will
probably take the wrong way...I wish members would remember to a point
that in sacrament meeting there is sometimes non members and that we
should clean up our talks a little bit with that in mind. Not that the
talks were bad by any means they were actually good but that's just
something I have seen on my mission....the lesson following an
investigators first experience at church is always scary! I have had
more than my share of people who get offended or very confused from
church...luckily most of the time they say they feel the spirit so
it's all good but yeah I was just thinking about that.
So sacrament was good. We set another baptismal date this week
with a lady named Veronica Chavez! She is very cool and we have been
talking to her seriously for a week or two now and she agreed to work
towards baptism! Pretty exciting. We passed off Andrew Morehead to 4th
ward this week so he is no longer our investigator but technically we
have 4 baptismal dates now so that's exciting.
Our temple trip was great! We saw the other new video!! It was
great! I think I like the other one better but they are both good!!!
It was quite the surprise when we got there and found out about
another new video!! It was like going to see Harry potter 7 part two
opening night at midnight for us haha gotta love being a missionary.
We are so weird.
Let's see, oh our meeting with p alba went good! He is a great
man doing his best to help 250+ 18-21 year olds stay motivated and
figure out how to be Successfull missionaries and hard workers...I
don't imagine that is an easy task.
Last night we went to visit a potential named Chris. As we
walked to his door there were three guys outside his door being
obnoxious and as we walked up they saw us and ran inside....it was
funny....then we found out the house they went into was the house we
had come to visit! So we knocked on the door and they didn't answer.
Chumps. But as we walked away to our car and opened our doors one of
the kids came running out of the apt complex with his shirt off
yelling "TRUFFLE SHUFFLE!!" Whilst simultaneously shaking his fat
rolls...haha it was funny. I yelled back at him "you need to hit the
gym bro!" His friends laughed. Then we drove away cause he ran back
inside. Good times!
Well flip did you know this is the last week of this transfer? I
can't even believe it. I really hope I stay here one more. I love
elder wride, he is the man. We have a lot of fun. Time has gone by so
quickly because we get along great and have fun and the work doesn't
feel like work because we have fun working. Plus I love the ward and
yeah I want to stay so we shall see. I don't imagine that I will
because that never seems to be what happens but oh well. We find out
Friday. It's all water under the bridge in a moment anyways, pretty
soon it'll be July. I have like 19 weeks left I think...and I haven't
been counting, it is just so close that counting it up is easy...three
transfers left plus this week. NUTS!!!!
So I don't know what the plan is for July when I get home but I
think I might need to go visit a family I got really close with in
eureka. The Floyd's! Blaire Floyd leaves on a mission like July 11th
or something so that would be cool to go back and hear her homecoming
and visit. We will see. That would be really fun!! Okay well that's
all for now!!
Have a great week! Love you!
Elder Nelson

February 17th, 2014

Hello my wonderful parent and Family,


We have been crazy blessed this week. We had a lot of appointment's
fall through so we weren't as involved with members this week like we
were the past weeks but we had some great lessons with our people.
Aaaaand we found the elect!!!! We went over to see a potential this
week named Craig. Elder Boswell and I had tracked into him. I may have
told you about him because when we first met him he looked like the
walking dead haha. When he answered the door he could barely stand and
at one point his eyes rolled back into his head he almost fell
over....it was nuts. I thought we were going to have to call 911 and
do CPR or something. But he didn't fall and he didn't want help but
just said he was sick so he said come another time. So here we are
coming another time and I think we saw him on Tuesday and we talked
briefly and he said to come back the next day at noon which was
Wednesday. Wait! Just kidding we went over on valentines day. So we
went over at noon and he was there and we went in and had an awesome
first lesson. We didnt teach the restoration but he told us a lot
about his life and what he has been through and he told us his
religious background. He has a copy of the Book of Mormon and he also
has read it before and has family that are members. But we did a lot
of listening and then as directed by the spirit we did HTBT chapter 10
PMG dad ;) the bullets are the best. As we testified that his life
would improve and that his guilt and shame would be relieved he
started to cry...he said he has felt burdened for a long time and all
he wants is to be forgiven for his sins. Well how do we fully access
the atonement? Through living the gospel and being baptized!! It is
the best feeling ever to be prompted by the spirit to invite someone
to partake of the greatest gift in this life, the atonement, by being
baptized by proper authority. He readily accepted a date in March!!!
It was an awesome lesson. He is such a sweet guy. Unfortunately he
didn't come to church...now I know what your thinking haha I thought
the same thing but that's bull. Don't let doubts into your mind! Me
and elder wride made a pact to never doubt anything ever again. Even
the smallest things. Anyways we called him before church and he said
he was super sick in bed and he told us to come over on Tuesday and
committed to church the next week without us asking him. So it's good.
I forgot to mention he has some sort of nasty health problems. Like in
his liver or kidneys or something and it's pretty hard on him. So that
will be a struggle, but through faith all things are possible.
So yes me and elder wride are pumped about him!! By the way just
want to let you know how much I love elder wride. He is so awesome. I
have never wanted to stay with a companion for 2 transfers more than
now so I have been praying that I will stay another transfer her in
Vacaville. We have so much fun and we are always on the same page. I'm
so thankful for him and that he is my companion.

Let's see, what else, we helped like three people spontaneously move
last week. I have thought about maybe going into that for a career,
moving business. I'm a professional! Gimme a couch and I'll get it
through the front door. Period! Haha.

I had a cool experience giving a blessing this week. Sis warnock in
our ward said she was hit in the gut by the spirit that she needed a
blessing but didn't know why. So she asked me to give her one and I
did, (I have given so many blessings these past two transfers haha)
and it is always powerful to experience what The Lord meant when he
said take no thought before hand what you should say, it will be given
to you in the moment when you need it. I had no clue what I was going
to say my mind was blank. She just simply said I need a blessing. So I
laid my hands on her head and opened my mouth and guess what!!! Words
came out!!!! But not my words. I don't even remember thinking the
words almost I just remember saying them. She was bawling after and
later told me that it was the most powerful blessing she has ever been
given. The words were very personal and meant for her. But like I
said, it wasn't me no credit for me I just opened my mouth. Another
classic example of being unprofitable haha he gives us the authority
and the wods and carries them with his spirit into the hearts and
minds of others. We are a vessel. All we do is stay worthy and open
our mouths. I was happy for the opportunity to use the priesthood. It
is always nice to have those confirmations from The Lord that you are
on the right track. (If you have the spirit with you you are usually
on the right track!) so I'm thankful for that.

Liesel and jenny! Thanks for your emails!! It is great to hear about
your awesome families and how hints are going. It has always been such
a great blessing to have you set the bar high for me in my life and
being great examples! When people ask me about my family and I tell
them about you both and that you have served and married well and in
the temple and have cute kids I always feel very grateful to have you
as my sisters. We are a truly blessed family I'd say. Time is sure
flying and it brings me soo much peace that I will have each of you
standing by My side no matter where I go in my life. Not many people
have a family like that these days. I can personally testify of that.
I see families divided and broken frequently. Usually due to some form
of disobedience to gods laws. I like nephi am grateful for goodly
parents and siblings who taught me and set the example for me to
follow.  I love you so much is
what I'm trying to say! I hit 19 months this last week. That's just
crazy.

You are all the best! Thanks for everything!! Have a great week I look
forward to hearing from you!
I hope you enjoy my weakly letters ;)
Elder Nelson

February 10th, 2014

Hey family it will be a short email this week. Sorry about that.
This week was great! We set a baptismal date with a new
investigator! I can't remember if I told you about him last week but
his name is Andrew and he was a member referral and he is so solid.
Unfortunately he is 20 so we have to pass him off to singles ward but
we have taught him twice and he is awesome. It was wonderful having the
experience of teaching him. Teaching people ready for the gospel
always reminds me of my purpose and why I'm here. We are here to find
those people who are ready. We have to weed through a lot of tares to
find the wheat but when you find the wheat it makes it worth it. There
is nothing better or more exciting or more powerful than teaching
someone prepared the the gospel! It is great.
The mini MTC was great. Thanks for your tips. I read what you
told me as part of my talk dad haha everyone laughed. Do you want to
be happy or sad? Well duh. Everyone said my talk was great so I'll
take their word for it. Highly recommend doing something like that in
gville. It was cool.
Well I love you all I'm thankful for all you do! Thanks for the
packages!! I looove the peanut butter, it's good. Hope you have a
great week!!
Elder Nelson

Feb. 3rd, 2014

I got the peanut butter and the scale and the quest bars! I wasn't
expecting any of it to be honest!! Thank you so much! And thank you
for the extra money as well for the other things! I love you so much!!
I really don't know where I would be without amazing parents and
siblings. I have seen so many families torn apart and suffering from
bad choices. I'm so blessed to have been born to goodly parents that
taught me how to make right choices and and loved the heck out of me
even though I made so many wrong ones. You have both supported me at
every turn supplying me with anything I might need to have the
greatest chance for success. I consider the greatest blessing in my
life to be you, my wonderful family!!! Sometimes, on Sunday evenings
when I'm worn out from a long week and tired. I remember those Sunday
evenings and nights back at home. I sure did waste a lot of them. But
if there were good times that we had as a family for some reason
Sunday nights come to my mind. Especially before I left for the mish.
Being with the fam playing games eating bologna and cheese and
crackers and nachos, watching church videos and home videos, and
playing board games. I'm so thankful for those times. The weird thing
is that when I remember those times I feel a sense of Great peace and
satisfaction and I have a renewed desire to serve The Lord more
diligently. I guess you could say that I have a testimony of taking a
moment to look at your life and count your blessings. The song rings
true! Count your blessings, see what god has done. I think it reminds
me of how greatly God has blessed me and that I should serve him the
best I can to show him that I am thankful for those blessings and
recognize where they come from. Anyways what I'm trying to say is that
I love you!
So this week we accomplished a lot!! And we had a couple of
really great spiritual experiences. First of all it was great because
we had members out with us to every single lesson and that was fun and
awesome and way better than going without them. If there is one thing
i have finally been able to knock through my brain and into my heart
in the past few months it is that there is almost no point in going to
a lesson if you don't bring a member with you to help you teach and
bear testimony and more importantly to fellowship. So I have a huge
testimony of that and we have seen the blessings. On Sunday two brand
new investigators that we taught for the first time this week came to
church with their member friends who referred them to us. So sweet. If
you take away that member friend one we never would have taught them
and two they probably wouldn't have come to church for the first Time
on their own immediately after hearing the first lesson. That just
doesn't happen too often. So it just goes to show how important it is
for members to be missionaries and invite.
So that was great. We had the sweetest lesson this week as well.
It was with a guy named Andrew morehead. He is 20 years old and has a
3 year old son with a girlfriend who is no longer a girlfriend. He was
referred to us by bro. Crist a member in our ward. Andrew is trying to
get into the CHP California highway patrol and has been shadowing
officers or so,etching and he has shadowed bro Crist a lot and they
have become good friends. We went over Thursday and met him and we had
one of the most powerful first lessons I have had in awhile. It has
been rare lately that we find someone who is totally new to the
gospel.P Point is that often  we are teaching former investigators and
part member families and less actives who already know or have heard
quite a bit about the church and Joseph smith so it was a tender mercy
and great refresher and reminder of the power of the restoration. We
taught him the whole thing and it went awesome. He loved it and was
feeling the spirit really strong. I invited him to be baptized and he
accepted! We were very thankful for that opportunity to teach and bear
testimony and invite someone to partake fully of the atonement of
Jesus Christ. We were also very thankful for the spirit backing our
words and filling our mouths. I'm also thankful for elder Wride and
his awesome skills. He is a great companion.
I haven't talked much about elder Wride have I!? Well he is
awesome. He is from Ogden! He is funny and quiet but he is very chill
and is a great missionary. We have been getting along great and having
fun! I am hoping that I get to stay with him for two transfers.
We had zone conference this past week. It was good but I must say I
feel like if you go to one zone conference you have been to them
all..I hate to sound like a bum but I hate those meetings haha they
are way to long and about the same old stuff. It's not bad and I did
learn but sheesh. 8:30 to 4;00? It's just drug out and too much. I'm
gone after three haha. But it was good. We have good leaders.
We had one of our gators at church on Sunday for the first time.
She didn't stay but seemed to really enjoy it! We were excited about
that.
I have to give a 12 minute talk this next Friday on "why serve a
mission" to about 50 youth at a mini MTC experience we are doing here
in Vacaville. If you have some thoughts on that I would love to hear
them!
Well that's it for me! Oh yeah I had a splurge this
week.....fentons ice cream did me in haha here is a pic...