Missionary Broadcast

Hello everyone!

This was a good week capped off with a great broadcast last night by the Quorum of the Twelve.  I would encourage you to look it up on lds.org, it talked about the missionary work, and how important this work is at this time, the Lord really is hastening his work (D&C 88:73), it is an exctiting time to be a missionary. I am ready to make this last year of the mission truly count. The devotional was great to watch thinking that just a year ago, I was there being one of the young missionaries. Its incredible thinking of how the work has changed in year, and I can't imagine the next year.

This week, I had the opportunity to go to Puerto Montt and work there for a day.  It is weird being in a small city and then going to work in a big city. But I liked it. It is very, very cold here. Not as much rain, only every other day or so for 4 or 5 hours but the cold is hard to deal with.  My feet are always cold right now as its a very wet cold.  In reality it is only about 5 degrees celsius but that is with alot of wind and water and having to be outside all the time. Its still fun though. Puerto Montt is on  a big bay so it is even more cold there. 

We have been working hard and putting in the hours and are starting to see more results.  It's a great time. I am trying to see the real growth that Los Muermos can offer. It just all comes with the work. In the video from last night, the part by President Monson when he talks of St Thomas, really describes Los Muermos and what we want to accomplish. Also, there is a video from this broadcast with the songs:  I hope they call me on a mission and We´ll bring the world his truth; I saw those songs and it brought tears to my eyes thinking about the grand privelage that the Lord has entrusted with me. 

This past Sunday I taught elders quorum on the spot because nobody else had prepared anything, but it went really well. I taught the general conference address from Elder Uchtdorf in the priesthood session of the general conference. He talks about the 4 titles that we have as holders of the holy priesthood. This week we are going to have an activity with the branch.  This branch has a lot of activities which  I like haha.

Well, stay warm everyone,

Love Elder Nelson

Hey Mom, thats great with your new calling and that you are paying the organ a little more too. Without an organist, now you see how all of Chile is...

Well Take care, love you

Jentry

 

Dad,

Hey, I figure you are probably working, but I hope all is going great, and I would love to know who won the nba finals. i heard it was game seven but have no idea, also it would be great to know about the USA soccer and Honduras soccer for my companion, thanks!

Love, Jentry

1/2 Way, Down Hill, Happy HUMP day - Yeah!!!!

 

Today is the "1/2 way mark for our missionary in Chile!

 

It's all "DOWN HILL" till June 20, 2014!

Some call it Happy "HUMP" day!

 Whatever you call it...it's my last year as a missionary Mom! and I am so very proud of both of my missionaries sons! 

First Counselor

Hello All!
This was a great week filled with new experiences, We were able to find some great people this week to teach, including a family that are great and want to follow Christ (not married of course...) but its funny because the guy is super nice but every other word is a swear word. I can finally understand most of the swear words.  Another thing is so uncomfortable here.  I think everyone has had a baby recently or in the past 2 years and is breast feeding in almost every lesson, which is so uncomfortable for us.  It happened 3 times in the 1st year of my mission and 6 times in the past week and nobody covers up down here. We can be in a lesson and a child of 2 years comes running up because he is hungry. Speaking of that, we were with a less active sister in our ward and  I told her about how my Mom taught me the piano, she asked me if i was a "Mamon" and I said a little, and she said "I bet your mother attended you until 5 or 6 years old". I think that that is one of the weirdest things that someone has asked me. 

This week we had an activity in the branch for fathers day which was nice, it was on Friday here but the day they celebrate is Sunday.  There was a little gift for the fathers and a little slideshow and then ping pong, (I dominate haha). 

This Sunday our branch president was out of town which meant that the first counselour was in charge (me) so I presided in all of the classes and the sacrament meeting. I had to take the sacrament first which was interesting. One of the speakers didn't show up so it changed my talk from 10 minutes to about 20ish minutes with playing the keyboard just like in all of the units. It all turned out good though. My talk was about how the ways of the Lord many times aren't our ways but we need to make sacrifices many times. It was nice to have that we had 3 less active members who haven't been at church in a long time there.

Welcome to Winter in Chile! It is starting to get really cold here, it rains and is very cold almost every day. I look forward to enjoying my last winter in Chile. I can't believe that one year has already passed by, it went so fast! I am scared to see how fast this next year will go! I am so grateful for all of the love and support that everybody has shown me, and I am exctied to have this last year serving the Lord and the Chileans. 

Enjoy the heat in the states and I will enjoy the cold.

Que Dios Les Bendiga!

Love,

Elder Nelson

 the ward building in Los Muermos

 Branch party for Father's Day in Los Muermos

Hey Papa!

Felicitaciones para tu nuevo llamamiento, sumo consejo, listo para destruir a todos.

No sé porque no me dijiste, pero está bien.

Hey Dad,  Happy Fathers day! I remember fathers day last year, and I am excited to have the next one with you (almost I think), I am so grateful for you example that you have set for me, especially from having set the comino by serving a mission, so forcing me to fulfill my priesthood responsabilities when I was lazy and didn't want too, I am so grateful for all that you did now and I sure do recognize it now, I wish you the best in this Father's day.

Gracias por todo que hacías y haces ahora para mi, te amo,

Jentry

Birthday on a bus

Hello! what a great week!

I turned 20 this week in the mission field.  (Goodbye teenage years).  I spent my birthday on a bus going from Valdivia, Chile to Los Muermos, which is kind of like the boonies of Chile. The bus ride was 4-5 hours to our sector.  The house where we stay is nice and I will send more pictures next week of the area.  It is a way in the "campo" or far away from the city, about an hour and a half from Puerto Montt. There is just farming lands around.  It's great though and there are so many people that are waiting for the gospel here.  We are already excited to get started and find many.  It was difficult to leave Valdivia but I hope it is going to be a great time here with a lot of success.

 

It is a branch of about 30-40 members.  The fun part is that I am now the 1st counselor of the branch Los Muermos. I do all the things that a first counselor would do like direct the meeting, have meetings with the branch presidency, and assign people to give talks. It is definitely a new and exciting experience. It is also fun because for the 4th cambio (change) in a row, I am with a Latin companion, Elder Vasquez from La Esperanza, Honduras. I think my spanish is starting to get there. It has to or I couldn't communicate with my companion.

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes, it was one of the best birthdays that I have had.

Love,

Elder Nelson 

Hey mom and dad,

Thanks for helping me have a great birthday, it was  a fun experience to be here, I hope that you guys aren't roasting there while I am freezing, at least I am getting good at making a fire for when we go camping.  Love You, Jentry

Elder Vasquez from Honduras

 no candles so I just used a match

Happy Birthday!!

Hello Everyone!

Well, I'm just about to have my first birthday in the mission field, and about to leave behind the teen years. I got another birthday gift, a transfer! It looks like I will be spending this birthday on a bus going to a new sector, the sector is Los Muermos, a small town about an hour and a half from Puerto Montt. I think that I will be in the branch presidency there which is exciting. I will be with another Honduran companion named Elder Vasquez. It will surely be a memorable birthday traveling 6 hours on a bus.  But now starts the goodbyes. Yesterday, I said good bye to a kid (8 yrs old) that we taught and baptized on Saturday. It was so cute, when I was leaving his house, he went into to his room and came back with a stuffed animal, it is his favorite one. It was fun to teach him, we taught the 10 commandments, and talked of thou shalt not kill, and the word of wisdom, and right after, he went and told his grandpa who smokes and drinks. He told me that he wants to serve a mission.

It was another very rainy week. For about 3 days, it rained all day and every day, one day the wind was so bad too that we couldn't use an umbrella.  Monday night at about 4 o'clock (Tuesday morning), we were awakened with a thunder storm and lots of hail for about an hour, and it happened again on Thursday night too. It's funny because I don't think that Chileans know what to do with thunder, because everyone was really scared.

This P-day, we went and played bowling as a district. I did some of the better bowling in my life. I had 151 and the next game 166. There is a bowling alley in Osorno, Puerto Montt and Valdivia.

Well, I'm sure getting ready for a fun and rememorable birthday here in Valdivia that I am never going to forget. Thanks so much for the Happy Birthday wishes from everyone and thanks to my family for the package that they sent me. I love it! And especially thanks to mom for organizing it and helping me have a happy birthday far away.  (She no longer has any teenagers). Thanks to Jaren for the music. I found out how to work the mp3 and have been putting more conference talks on it. I love listening to them when I have 10 minutes.

I hope that everyone is having a great summer there and enjoying the sun while I enjoy the nice cold rain, its great though.

Love, Elder Nelson

 

Dear Mom and Dad,   Thanks so much for everything, I love the pictures, especially of the dogs, my companion still thinks that our weird love for the dogs isn't normal, but I still love it. Thanks so much for everything!  Love, Jentry