Just another work day

Hola!

Happy Thanksgiving! everybody. I hope you all had a great Thankgiving. Mine wasn't too bad, we taught a little and worked like normal, they don't celebrate it at all, I missed it though, they don't really eat turkey down here but they do celebrate Christmas at  least which is in less than a month. It's pretty crazy, we are planning a branch Christmas party for investigators, less actives and people to bring their friends. I am excited for that but it will be after the next cambios because this cambio is only 5 weeks or else the elders going home would miss 3 Christmas´away from home. 

This week sure went fast as has this cambio and November. I remember Halloween with all the people trick or treating and all the evangelicos who hate halloween and now its already December, I can remember last December planning for Jeni and Cameron's wedding. Can't believe how fast time goes now. Time on the mission is incredible how fast it all goes.

So we are close to having another baptism with Marcos the husband of my first baptism Monica. He is trying to get off work so that he can attend church, but right now he might change jobs and move to Calbuco whch is an island about 4 hours south, but he is changing so that he can attend church and he wants to be baptized here, it was also cool because we were teaching and we were ending with a prayer and we asked who they would like to say it and he said Amaro,their 4 year old son, so they got down and his son said the cutest little prayer. So simple but adorable. They are teaching their son how to pray which is an awesome thing and they are preparing for the temple right now. Such a good and special family to me.

We also had the oppurtunity to bear testimony about the Book of Mormon in a lesson to a lady and her husband who are evengelicos. They were great but they didn't want to be confused about their faith so they wouldn't read the Book of Mormon, but we finally got them to read and pray and we have another appointment with them Saturday so keep them in your prayers to recieve an answer before that day.

Well, I hope its not too cold up north, as it is starting to really heat up, its been short sleeves and though it did rain and was cold at the beginning of this week. It has been changing from cold to hot lately and I don't really like it but its better than cold and rainy all the time.

Well I hope everybody is having a great holiday season, because I sure am, it's becoming one of the most selfless holidays I have ever had. The only times I am a little homesick is seeing the Christmas trees in the store and wondering if the tree is up at home already, because I know how its always up around Thanksgiving if not before and thinking if Tanner is sleepng underneath it haha. 

I also have been going through a fun little time, because this year I get to have 2 springs or another name I like to call it is 2 allergy seasons. I had a really bad time on thursday, it's better today but it's still pretty rough. I think I am also allergic to cats becasue it is worse everytime that I am in a house with cats, so guess we can't have any cats, darn it, only dogs.

K Love You all, Big abrazo

Elder Jentry Nelson

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

People down here don't celebrate Thanksgiving at all. Everything will probably the same normal Thursday like always, people down here don't really eat turkey. I might go out and get a completo or something special to celebrate. Well it's good to hear that everybody in Rexburg is doing so well and also to hear about all of the people going on missions. That is so exciting. It is a great time to be a member and the work is just starting to take off.  I love being here and hearing all of the new of the amount of people starting mission papers. 

Well this week has been really hot, I have been wearing my short sleeve shirts for the first time since the MTC and that is without a jacket or anything, we also found alot of new people to teach which is exciting. I didn't have a baptism this week but I am hoping very soon, with all the people we have been finding it will be great. We found this great family who are all intersted so I have very high hopes.

The theme from the sacrament meeting yesterday was attending the temple. I also talked about this with the family I had lunch with yesterday after church. I am living with people where the nearest temple is in Santiago which is about 12 hours away by bus.  Everybody who reads this blog, I am praying that you never take living so close to temples for granted. Its a huge sacrifice for the people to go here, for all of the people who read this from Idaho and Utah and Arizona or where ever you may be, go to the temple as often as you can. Never take being so close to a temple for granted. I have seen people who are so poor down here, get all of there expenses together to make a trip to the temple once a year, and there are many that could walk. We just cannot take a temple for granted.

Well I hope that everyone in the states is enjoying the nice cold weather becuase it is finally warm here but I guess we will see who is laughing in about 6 months haha.

Fun fact: tomorrow will make 5 months, and these past 3 months have gone by so fast I can't even believe it. It will be exciting to see in another 3 months. I am very excited to skype too.

I hope all the best for everyone,

Love Elder Nelson

My littlest friend Josefa

Elder Quinanola

My complete rain gear

Pichanga again!

Hola

How is everyone doing? So first of all for our cambios, it looks like for a third cambio I will be with Elder Rupp again, but its not 100% sure because there have also been talks of splitting our sector and we each run a part of it so we´ll see, but this next cambio is going to take us right up until Christmas.

So it has been a good week, we taught a lot and I have really been pushing to find new people which has been going good, we have a huge sector with lots of fields and farming areas which we have been exploring a little bit more.

Thats fun that Kassie had her primary program the same week that we had ours, I think hers might have been a little better because chileans don't know how to sing, very tone deaf haha and don't know how to follow a piano but it still went well. The primary president was very thankful to have a piano there and she wanted me to tell you (mom) thanks for teaching me.

So its fun thats it is starting to cool down for you guys because it sure has been heating up, I haven't been wearing a jacket and yesterday I was too hot during the day in a longsleeve shirt which  means that I am close to shortsleeve weather which is exciting. It will be weird to have a warm Christmas and thinking about how cold it is there. The only bad part about the weather heating up is that so are my allergies, thats not fun at all haha.

 We also had interviews with president this week which is fun, it was the day after the elections and Hermana Rappleye was pretty mad about the results. I'm pretty frustrated but at least now Chileans will stop asking me for my opinion on the subject. It was cool because while President Rappleye is interviewing, we just sit and talk with Hermana Rappleye and she tells crazy stories, they have been everywhere in South America.

So I was getting my visa all taken care of in Puerto Montt because that has the biggest places to take care of stuff, Elder Quinanola, another Elder in our house took me becasue he served in Puerto Montt, so we got off the bus and hopped in a colectivo (a cheap taxi which is about 400 pesos or 1 dollar). So our colectivo driver is going, about 30 seconds into the ride he cuts off a big truck driver and the truck driver gets out of his care at a red light and he has a bar and threatens to hit the colectivo driver, me and elder quinanola were just like what the heck, and all of the sudden our driver hops out of the car and goes and gets the caribineros (police) and they come over and me and elder Quinanola just told them that we were going to leave and they let us but bottom line is that I almost saw a guy get beaten with a bar which was crazy.

OK well, that was my week. I hope everything is going well in the states even though Obama is back.

Pichanga again which is the most amazing food, just with french fries, sausage, steak, tomatoes, avacados, eggs and about anything else you can think of

By the by the way, I haven't touched a single dog in chile in the 3 months I have been here, they are ridden with fleas and other diseases, they are all junk dogs, I miss my dogs so much to have nice clean dogs to sleep with, just Chilean dogs are disgusting and they are everywhere.

It is fun to see the growth of the church. There is alot of talk about what the new changes are going to be like all missionaries going to chile will now be going to the MTC in Chile, the average papers that the get a week is now around 4000, the amount of missionaries in the world will go from 55000 to almost 100000 and they are asking to see how many sister missionaries each mission can hold and are now expecting around 250 in each mission (We have about 180 right now with is about 30 or so more sectors). Its amazing to see how the Lord is taking control of the work and everything that has happened in the last year or so has been in preparation for alot more missionaries. They are trying more than anything to strengthen the church in areas rather than have a ton of little small branches in remote towns, which there are a good bi in chile of branches with about 5 people and 2 are missionaries. Now is the time and i am so excited to be apart of the missionary work in the world.

I hope everything is going well.

Te Quiero

Elder Nelson

Mom and Dad

I don't Have much time to write anything personalized to you guys but I love you and apreciate everything that you do for me.

Love Jentry

Cómo Estai

First Baptism - Monica

Ah....the penguins....soo cool!

Hola familia!

It was a great week, we were working hard and found a bunch of new people and on Tuesday I did an intercambio with the Zone leaders where I stayed here in frutillar and led the sector, we also taught alot this week and it was topped off with a baptism Saturday night and confirmation on Sunday. It was an awesome felling, I was asked to baptize Monica and elder rupp to confirm her with the Holy Ghost. Just an awesome feeling, there is nothing like it in the world other than leadings someone out of the waters of baptism. I also put her husband with a baptismal date for the 17th of November.

Other than that awesome thing not too much happened exciting, I did get bitten by a dog though, didn't end up breaking skin because I was wearing a sweater and jacket but it still hurt, This week is also going to be a fun week, we have interviews with the president on Wednesday and on Saturday we find out about cambios or changes, so my next email will have the detaills of my next sector or companion or whatever happens. I'm pretty excited for it all. Almost done with training. Also this Sunday is the primary program where I am the pianist for it. Its kind of rough, chileans don't really know music haha but I am trying.

I finally got my visa and I have started the paperwork to apply for my carnet (ID that makes me legal) I just hope that it goes good with all of that stuff.

So its kind of lame here on Halloween, they don't really do much, there is a little trick-or-treaters but not much, and all of the evangelicos (evangelists I think) take all the fun out of it with signs that are anti halloween. But on halloween, I did get invited to a wedding of a member of our ward who the day after went up to santiago to be sealed but they asked us to do the same thing in their wedding where I play and Elder Rupp sings, it turned out nicely and everybody really loves it.

Well I hope that everything is going well in the States, It is finally warming up with only rain every other day yeah.

Take Care,

Con Amor

Elder Jentry Nelson