The Talent Show

Hey Familia!

It was great to hear from everyone.  We were super busy all week.  On Wednesday we had interviews with President Rappleye and it was really good. When we finished we got a phone call from the zone leaders.  One of them was going on an emergency transfer out of Valdivia and had to pack, and the other had a meeting with the Stake President of the Valdivia and Calle Calle stakes, so he asked me to go with him.  The meeting included the zone leaders, stake presidents, President Rappleye and Elder Wilhelm. I think it was interesting to be in a meeting with my Mission President and Jaren's Mission president. We talked about ways to help activate those that have lost their way.

We have been teaching a man who is really nice, but doesn’t have any legs.  He is always super calm and talks very calm.  It was surprising when his friend came over to tell him something and he started yelled a bunch of swear words at him (I now understand the bad words), I just hink it is funny because I wasn’t expecting it and it was right after we asked him to end with a prayer.

I also had another fun experience with some drunks this week.  We were looking for an address  and a bunch of drunks started coming over to talk to me and the one said he had 3 questions: who is God? Who is Jesus? Who is Jehovah? and who is the Son of God? Then he started taking off his shirt  (again). He started to talk to Elder Barriga a little and another one started talking to me and telling me how I killed the Mapuches (Natives to Chile) and how mad he was that I killed him and how he really doesn’t want to punch me but if he has to, he will. And then he spat in my face, which was gross because it was beer & tobacco saliva.

On Friday we had a talent night at the church. We had about 25 people come. I played a couple of songs on the piano. Some other people sang and danced and we felt it was a good turnout. We are trying to get the people of the ward more involved because they are a little lazy.

Well this was the week for me. Have a great week.

Love Elder Nelson

 

la casita (our apartment)

 our kitchen

 My zone: youngest (top left) to oldest (bottom right)

My companion Elder Barriga

New Companion

Dear Family,

What a week! This week Elder Mendoza and I parted ways as he went to Puerto Montt.  I am now here with Elder Barriga of Santiago, Chile. He is great.  He is a convert of about 3 years, and we have about the same time in the mission. It was a good week, we found a lot of good people who we are going to start seeing who will progress and are ready for the gospel in their lives. We started teaching a guy named Ruben who is really good, but its sad because he was in a train accident and now he has no legs so it will be a challenge to get him to come to church. 

This past Sunday, my companion and I gave talks in church as well. We talked about magnifying the calling and helping others to come back (sublimanaly stop being so lazy). This is a ward of old people and nobody wants to do anything so we are working hard to animate them to start working because the attendence is around 30-40 every week.

We have really been working hard to work with the bishop here which is helping..  We have an activity this Friday which is a talent show. We´re praying that the ward shows us some suport in this talent show and that people will come and inactive members will want to come.

We are still getting alot of cold but only in the morning. I am back to sleeping with thermals for the next 8 months.

I love you all and am happy for Mom and Dad and their new house purchase.

Love Elder Nelson

Lanco, Chile

Hello family!

Well it's another rainy week in Valdivia, but it was a good week. We found a great guy named Ricardo and some families to teach.  They seem really good. It's been really hard to find people in the past month because they have been traveling and having visitors, but the school just ended their summer break and are back to having to stay here all the time.

A few weeks ago, a zone leader in a city called Lanco, his lung exploded and was in the hospital but then he was transferred here to be in my zone, so this week all of the elders in the zone took turns taking care of him, so that his companion could work in his sector, so I got to just hang out with him one night, and then on Friday I had the opppurtunity to go to Lanco so he could get all of his clothes that he left there.  It was fun to see another part of the mission. Lanco is a small city about an hour north of Valdivia with alot of trees. It felt like I was going camping.  (Speaking of which, I can't wait to go camping next year)

This week we received a call from the Mission President and it appears that Elder Mendoza will be leaving this sector to go to Puerto Montt, and I will be getting a new companion named Elder Barriga from Santiago, Chile. I'm hoping that my spanish is really going to get good now. I'm going to learn all of the Chilean slang. It's definatelly different to have a latin as a companion, but I like it. 

It is exciting to start another cambio, I can believe how fast the mission goes, I'm already in my 6th cambio out of 16 almost with 9 months. 

Sorry, this was not the most exciting week that i have ever had,  but it was good.

I hope the best for everyone in all that they do, 

Que Dios Les Bendiga

Elder Nelson

Satellite Stake Conference with President Monson

Dear Familia,

Just when I thought that it was becoming winter, we have been hit with some more heat this week. But the longer the rain holds off the better.

We had a good week capped off with a good stake conference yesterday. It was Satellite from Salt Lake City with Sister Burton of the Relief Society General Presidency, Elder Corbridge of the Seventy, Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the twelve and our beloved Prophet Thomas S Monson. It was special because it was broadcast to only Chile and was specific for this area. I also had the opportunity to play the piano in the stake conference. We arrived early and it was quiet or people were talking, so I had my paul cardall book and I took it up to the piano and started playing, soon after the stake president asked me if I would play for the meeting, so I did. I played bandera de sion (High on a Mountain Top) and Tú me has dado muchas bendiciones Señor (Because I Have Been Given Much). When I finished, there was still time before the broadcast, like 5 minutes so I continued playing some more paul cardall. I have played the piano almost every Sunday. There were some good talks, Elder Anderson and Elder Corbridge both speak Spanish, they talked a lot about tithing, that is what we are faulting now in this area, that is why they still haven’t started work on the Concepción temple yet.

In our ward here, a missionary returned home from Resistencia, Argentina, and we had lunch at their house, it was weird, he came home on Saturday, just kind of weird to think of that being me in a year and some, because the time here sure goes by fast. It is incredible. Including this cambio, we will find out who goes and who stays this weekend, and then on Monday, I will tell you who will be my new companion in the next week.

We are also really excited, we found a new person this week who is really good, we have been having trouble finding people lately. I think it is because the summer vacations end this week so I hope now it will be more steady.

Well I´m thankful for all of the love and support, and am proud to say that my testimony of having a living day propet was strengthed by listening to him, and I am so excited for General Conference in only a month! I also can't believe that a year ago this week, I received my sacred calling to come to "La gran Missión Chile Osorno". I have grown to love these people, as I have served them.

Love, Elder Nelson

 

 A beautiful hotel here in Valdivia

 They have McDonalds here too...and it tastes pretty good

 the Calle Calle River in Valdivia which has a lot of sea lions

they are so cute

 A view of downtown Valdivia

A view of the Calle Calle River