April 14th, 2014

Well I didn't get any letters this week so I'm thinking I might get
 them today if you sent them. I'm looking forward to getting the
 packages!! You don't need to worry about them not getting to me
 because I'm staying in Vacaville with elder wride!!!!! After this
 transfer I'll have spent 6 months in this place! Haha oh man I really
 wish you could have witnessed our reaction to transfer information
 when we opened it up!! We were screaming and laughing for like 5
 minutes. It was awesome!! So I'm really really excited about that!! We
 both are! I love this place and I love my companion! It has been and
 will be so great! We have been working so hard to get this town
 going!! It feels like everyday all we do is eat sleep and talk to
 people. We only have a few solid people we are teaching. Everyone else
 has flaked out. So we are just really in need of finding prepared
 people! It's a whole different area than I have experienced before.
 There are tons and tons of churches here so almost everyone goes to a
 church or is atheist. One day while tracting we talked to a very
 faithful passionate Lutheran who wasn't interested in talking to us,
 and then right next door to him we talked to a hard core atheist that
 was a jerk. Speaki of jerks, we have had it rough the past week. We
 think satan is working on us or our faith is being tested cause right
 before general conference we were talking about how everyone is so
 nice here and we haven't had too much run ins with mean people. But
 right after general conference it feels like every day we have run
 into people that attack us. One day the pastor for church of Christ
 pulled over to the side of the road and was telling us anti and that
 we were wrong and stuff. We have run onto several atheists who have
 told us stuff that makes us look stupid for believing haha and then
 there are just lots of mean people that we have run into. So it's been
 a rougher week for us but hopefully that means blessings are coming!
 Not that we haven't been blessed. We have found quite a few sweet
 potentials and part member families! And also on supa day we found a
 sweet family that had an uncle in like Oklahoma that is a member and
 he has just been starting to learn about the church out there. But I
 guess he has been emailing this family saying he is going to send them
 stuff and that they should check it out! So when we knocked on our
 door and she told us that we were like well, now you can tell him he
 doesn't need to send you anything we can give it to you right now! We
 are going back next week to teach her! So that was awesome. We are
 having a baptism on April 26th for Sierra Jensen! An awesome 11 year
 old who is much smarter than I am! We are excited about that!
 I don't have to much else to say! I'm thankful for all of you.
 I love you so much! Talk to you soon!
 Love elder Nelson

Dear family,
 This week has been quite a week of miracles for us! I don't know
 if I have told you but in our mission the daily standard of excellence
 is 20 contacts 3 lessons and 1 baptism invite daily. Or the 20-3-1.
 Our mission has been promised that if we would get 20 contacts a day,
 (10 per person) then we would double our baptisms. So for awhile now
 over a year I'd say. That has been the struggle is getting the 20 3 1.
 It used to be just ten new contacts a day but now it is twenty. So
 elder wride and I decided we needed to buckle down and focus on that
 so we could find new people to teach. As of today we hae gotten it for
 over 30is days in a row. Which means we have talked to over 600 plus
 new people about the gospel haha. That's a lot of people!! Sadly
 enough, most don't listen. But we are being blessed!! This week on
 Tuesday I think, we hadn't had time to get our 20 earlier in the day
 because of zone meeting and elder wride had some doctors appointment.
 So we were In Fairfield for that. So we were out tracting, in the
 pouring rain at like 8:30, in order to get 20 contacts haha. In case
 you don't know, tracing after 8 is sketchy because it's dark and
 people are relaxing or putting kids to bed and it hurts us every time
 we knock a door that late...but it just so happens that on this night,
 because we chose to not let anything stop us from meeting our goal, we
 found like 6 awesome potentials on that street over two nights of
 tracting it! (The night before we tracked one side of the street and
 found some good people) but this rainy nig was rough except for that
 right as we were about to head in on one of the last doors we knocked,
 we ran into this awesome lady named Victoria with 3 kids who is a
 member of the church but has been less active for many years and she
 is trying to figure out which church is right...haha it's funny how
 perfect our timing is sometimes p, Even when in our own minds the
 timing might be horrible! So if you can picture it we are out soaked
 in the cold rain knocking doors at 8:30 waking up children probably
 and interrupting dinners and people sleeping and relaxing haha people
 hate us enough already...and so here we are and then out of the blue
 this beautiful family opens up let's us in and she invites us back to
 teach her and her kids. We went back on Friday and had a great lesson.
 And it's been like that all week! We set a new baptismal dat
 with an 11 year old part member family that I have been trying to work
 with my whole time being here! She finally be getting baptized in a
 few weeks! And the family is very excited! We also had an amazing zone
 meeting. When elder wride and I were preparing to teach it we didn't
 really feel good about anything. Then on the morning of zone meeting
 we felt that we needed to teach about sacrifice. So we did and I don't
 know what happened but everyone loved the meeting and came up after
 and said it was their favorite meeting and that they needed to hear
 what we said and it felt like we were talking personally to them. And
 ever since that day, our struggling little zone that has been on the
 up and up is now on fire!! Every single companionship is now
 consistently getting 20 contacts and the lessons and baptismal dates
 have shot up!!! So we are very excited about that. We are thankful for
 the spirit and it's guidance in our live because without it we would
 be nothing!
 So while I'm thinking about it, last night we found another
 sweet family while tracting!! It he invited us back and have us his
 number so we could call and come over another time!! Awesome!!
 The zone is doing so awesome. I don't know if I said this earlier
 but ever since zone meeting everyone is working hard and seeing
 miracles!! So it's been a good few weeks here. Unfortunately they will
 probably be my last :/ at least that's what it seems like. But hey who
 knows maybe I'll get lucky and get to stay here in Vacaville one more
 transfer! That would be the best! I can't believe that this transfer
 Is already over. It's weird to think that two transfers ago elder
 wride came into Vacaville, and that's how much time we have left.
 Pretty crazy. It's going to go fast.
 General conference was great I Thought! I loved priesthood
 session. I hope stew was paying attention. It seemed like they were
 talking right to him! There were some awesome talks given. I already
 can't remember anything though. I swear I have the worst memory every.
 Thankfully they are online and can be read anytime anywhere. I look
 forward to re reading them and studying them more!
 Well, I think that's it for me this week. I can't believe it's
 April already. What is going on!?
 I love you!
 Elder Nelson

March 24th.2014

You are not going to believe this. I had this whole email written out
 to you but I accidentally deleted it. I'm so mad!!!! There is no way I
 cam re write everything that I just wrote. I don't have time my email
 time is almost over :( so I'm really sorry about that. Gosh I'm so
 mad. When I hit delete it like happened in slow motion but I couldn't
 stop my dumb finger in time so I literally yelled out , nooooooo!!!
 Elder wride was like what the heck? Haha so yeah I'm really ticked
 right now. I put some good thought into that one...
 
 Basically in a nutshell I said three things.
 
 
 1: we have been finding a ton. Contacting, tracting, ect. We have
 some solid potentials.
 
 2: I love my companion, this might be the best time of my mission. I
 am so happy.
 
 3: I love you so much!!! This transfer is half over...
 
 So obviously I wrote a lot more about those things in the other email
 but I can't re write I don't have time. So I'm sorry for the
 pathetically short and non informational email. But just know I am so
 happy and grateful for this time of my life. I'm so thankful for my
 amazing family and I'm so thankful for my companion. Life is good!
 Thanks for your letters and your encouragement and love! It is always
 one of the highlights to open up that box and see your letters! They
 have played a crucial role in my sanity ;)
 
 I love Heavenly Father and our savior. I know this church is true!
 Have a great week!
 
 Elder Nelson.

March 17th, 2014

Soooo, I don't know very much about what I want to do after the
 mission. I feel like I get more confused as I go on. But I feel like
 as I get closer to going home somehow I'll figure it out or else God
 will let me know.
 Elders ride and I have been out hitting the streets all week it
 feels like. We need to find some new peeps. Another week with no
 investigators at church! You can only do so much for these people
 without getting annoying and pushing them too much. So we will
 continue to work with the people we have but we are making a concerted
 effort to find more people. It has been a very slow process with them
 and their problems. And we have been dealing with the head honchos of
 our mission on us all for more baptisms. The email this week kinda
 ticked us off. The believers are baptizing is what they (the
 Assistants) said. But I'm pretty confident that I believe and I am
 doing my best to help these real people with their real problems. I
 guess that's not good enough though? Sorry for venting that out haha.
 We had a great lesson with Veronica this week! We taught her
 about the sacrament and answered some questions she had about our
 doctrine as compared to Jehovah witness. It was good and she felt the
 spirit and she seemed to like the member that we brought with us, bro
 Kaai.
 Each week I have out here is such a blessing. It's hard to
 convey to you all the many small experiences I have each day that mean
 so much. That change me and shape me and that allow me to learn and
 grow. I'm so thankful for my companion. He is quickly becoming my
 favorite. We have a lot of fun together. Life is usually pretty trying
 as a missionary in different ways and at different times but it's
 constantly trying. And when times get hard. It's pretty hard. But
 having a great companion and being unified and sticking together and
 having fun even when it's hard and frustrating is such a blessing. So
 I'm very thankful for that. Having a companion has helped to impress
 on me the importance of choosing the right eternal companion....def
 can't mess that one up haha.
 So I have to be honest I don't really have much to say right
 now....oh!! Thanks for the quest bars!! They are so good.. I wasn't
 expecting anything so it was a welcome surprise! Elder wride calls the
 bars "space food"
 Happy st Patricks day by the way! I am currently not wearing
 any green so I will need to change my tie when I get back to apt. I
 totally forgot this morning! Didn't even cross my mind. Last night we
 had corned beef..it was pretty good!! Kinda salty but I really enjoyed
 it! I'm still trying to figure out how you corn beef and what that
 means though haha hopefully it wasn't too unhealthy!
 I think I'm forgetting something that I was supposed to
 respond to in your emails...but I don't remember. And I don't have
 them...maybe I'll check that after lunch and then send my response if
 needed.
 Well I feel like I'm just blabbing now. I can't wait to blab
 in person. It's much more fun that way. I always feel bad writing
 short letters to you mom especially after that time you said you love
 it when you scroll down and there is a whole nother page to read! Well
 that won't be the case this time haha so I'm sorry to disappoint you.
 I love you so much!! Thanks for everything! Talk to you next week!!
 Love elder Nelson

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.