Hey, Hey!

Ok I just love the mission. Really, how cool is it that I'm in Paraguay serving a mission! Love it! And guess what?! Emilio went to the temple for his first time on Saturday!!! How amazing is that! Ah he is just the coolest. And ok Gustavo did not get baptized..toda via...I have faith that he will, but he's just got to make that decision on his own. But the day we saw him we had a nice long chat with him and he told us everything that happened, and how he was all prepared and ready to go and that one collectivo passed by but that he didn't get on and that he hadn't told any of his family about it and he just got really nervous and all these different fears and doubts. Bueno, y despues I told him that I wanted to share a story with him about these 3 friends. ( And if somebody could look up this story...it won't be exactly like this but something along these lines and then let me know how it really is that would be awesome) So there are these 3 friends and they were the best of friends in heaven and they always talked about how great earth life would be and how it would be so awesome to meet back up and talk about what happened with their lives while on the earth. And then God came to them and told one of them (se llama Hna Remache) that she would be sent to Columbia and that her family wouldn't be very rich but that they would always have the things that they needed, and that gracias a su papa who would be converted when he was 18, she would have the gospel in her life. And that her grandparents would also later convert to the gospel and be sealed in the temple. And then God turned to the other friend (se llama Hnita Nelson) and said and you will be sent to the United States and your family will be very blessed y gracias a su mama who will be baptized when she is 17 and will later meet your dad and they will be sealed in the temple so that yall can live together forever as a familly, you will have the gospel in your life. And then he turned to the other friend and said and you Gustavo will be sent to Paraguay and your life will be hard, every day your family will struggle to have food to eat and you won't have the gospel in your life. But gracias to your best friends right here who will be sent to Paraguay on their missions and will be companions and will serve in the very spot where you live, you will have the opportunity to accept the gospel in your life, so that your family also will have the opporutity to live together forever. And then he counseled Gustavo to remember to be faithful and have trust in Him, his father in heaven because there would be many other things in his path that would seem good, but that were not the full truth. And then Gustavo turned to his friends and pleaded with them to be patient with him and to just love him because he was going to be difficult and stubborn and it would take him time to recognize the truth. And then I just talked to him and said, Gustavo we're still here because we promised you that we would find you and do all we could to help you recognize and remember the things you already know to be true. Realmente, I know that you need to be baptized so that you can return to live in the presence of your Heavenly Father and so that you can live with your family forever too. Ahhh the church is so true! And yes tears were shed lol. But he'll get it! I have faith. I can't imagine what my life would be like without the gospel. I feel so blessed to have a testimony, have a firm testimony of this gospel and it just makes me excited to share it! Ha oh and a couple weeks ago we met this lady and we went in and sang with all her kids and all the neighboring kids and everything and the kids just loved it! And bueno, so everytime we went to go back she was "never there" so the kids would always want us to come in and sing with them y cosas asi.. but it had been awhile since we had been there and on Thursday one of the kids told us he had been to church before and he wanted us to talk to his mom. So we went to talk to him and his mom and ha apparently it wasn't our church (it was the testigos...Jehovah's witness) but she wanted to know if he could come with us to church because everyday he would come home and ask her if he could go with us. His name is Pedro..Pedrito and he's 12 years old and he's just a lil stud. So he came to church with us yesterday and we went to his house last night and his mom was like, oh he just loved it and he says he wants to be a missionary like yall...and then she started asking questions about how he could be a missionary and what they needed to do to get him ready. haha it was so cute!! But yeah during church he like turned to me and pointed to my plaque and was like I want to be like you, I want to have one of those and be a missionary like you. I was like ahhh precious! lol so we're hoping that his mom will come to conference with us this week and have the desires to keep coming! ha because the first time we talked with him we left him a pamphlet and told him to read the first page and highlight all the parts he liked, ha and he actually did it with his mom's help! And underlined God, Jesus Christ, felicidad (happiness), it was just cute. So we left him a Book of Mormon and told his mom it will be really awesome if she could read it with him. Ha and there is power in the Book of Mormon! I'm excited! Ah and we have cambios this week! And I don't want to leave this area! Ha I'm praying that I don't..which probably means I will...but I hope not! I love everything here...the people are amazing! Ah I just love the mish! Oh and I got a letter from Elder Moore who is coming to this mission and leaves for the MTC April 21! Ahhh I'm so excited for you! This is the best mission! And yeah Pres Wade leaves in July, but I didn't get my letter from him until like a week before I entered the MTC...but I'm sure you'll get it sometime! A really good way to prepare would be studying preach my gospel and the scriptures and just becoming familiar with both! And yeah most of the people here know both Spanish and Guarani...ha and actually I found out this week that a lot of the words I say are not spanish, it's guarani! Crazy...the languange is really tight and I know I'm going to come home and speak a mixture of guarani and spanish and people won't be able to understand me, but it's all good. Also, mom I didn't get Ty's first forwarded email...I got the one he hand wrote but not the other one..if there was another one. Also I need you to tell me how to make guacomole because avocados are starting to fall from the trees! Ha I love Paraguay! So we've been eating them and they are sooo good! And I still haven't gotten a letter from Dave, but I got Emily's letter this week!!! (And I don't think I'll have time to write her back today, but I've gotten it all written down to send next week!) And question...when is Easter?!!! I have no idea, and neither does anybody else...yall made it sound like it was really soon! And Alena's patriarchal blessing, that is SOOO EXCITING! Alena that's awesome, I'm super excited for you! Look at you all grown up! Yikes! But yeah I get to call home on mothers day..I'm not sure what time or anything yet, but if you could do her blessing like a week before or something that'd be good. And the RS party sounded like it went really well, and that RS open house sounds really fun and you're going with really fun sisters! Guapas. And congrats on the design team and getting all that scrapbooking stuff! That sounds like it will be really awesome! ok yeah my times up, so I'll email Emily next week! And wow Ty is such a stud...I'll send him an email next week too! He's just got to remember to be patient with himself...ha and I'm so glad he has hermanas in his district! So fun! Does the kid have a camera because I want pictures!!! And he's just going to start loving the MTC...it was hard for me at first too! And how are his teachers! ANd tell him good job on the details. Very good email, I want them all like that! Love yall so much! Have a great week! ANd I think it's SIs. Wariner's bday this weekend...if so happy birthday!!! Love yall!Love,Hermanita Nelson

Email from March 22

Hello hello hello!!!Ok really this week I have NO TIME to write!!! We went to the lake today for a zone activity and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I'll have to send a couple pictures next week. Ok and yeah we went to the temple this past week!!!! Ahhh it was actually a really amazing, spiritual experience! I love the temple. And the feeling that I had the whole time inside the walls of the temple was that I felt at home. I felt right at home. It doesn't matter that I am in a completely different country and everything was in a completely different language, the temple is the same everywhere. Beautiful, amazing, clean, the house of the Lord. And what a TENDER MERCY it was to be in the celestial room and to first, meet a sweet old lady, who just so happened to be the FIRST sister missionary in Paraguay (about 50 years ago) who just so happened to be visiting with a group of people who were only going to be in Paraguay for that day and then leave...and just so happened to be in the same exact session as us. Tender mercy? And despues I just so happened to meet another lady, whose husband had also served in Paraguay, and she just so happened to live in St. George!!! Wow!! Tender mercies! And like Sister Curtis said, "Coincidences are God's way of staying anonymous" (P.S. thank you so much for that!!! I'll write to you when I have more time!). Wow the blessings are incredible!!! Bueno and my packages!!! Ahhhh yall are so AMAZING! I'm not even kidding! Those were the best in the world!! I'll write more about that later too, but let's just say about half the chocolate is gone and the trail mix! And I loved the IN-N-OUT tshirt and Emily thanks for the letter! Loved it loved it loved it! Yall are FABULOUS! Ahh and Ty's in the MTC!!! How awesome that yall saw Steve Anderson and that Johnny Esplin is his zone leader! Haa that's so cool. Yeah, I know him, he was in my temple prep class in the singles ward! He's a stud. Wow the tender mercies of the Lord. I can't wait to get Ty's first letter! Ok I got to go...but I need a favor!!! Please please please keep Gustavo Sanabria Cañete in your prayers! He was supposed to get baptized on Friday and we had seen him earlier that day and it was all good and we were just about to leave for the baptism later that night and he called and said he couldn't do it. Honestly, for the first time I experienced the heart ache of a missionary!!! We've been teaching him for 3 months and he knows it's true!!! But his friends and pastor from his other iglesia are confusing him really bad. We're praying for a miracle. He needs strength! I don't know what to do except to pray for him. I know he is so special to the Lord. My comp and I were really just heart broken and cried and cried. And Hna Case had come to the baptism to surprise him and a bunch of people from the ward had come AND Emilio (my converso) was going to baptize him!!! Needless to say, it didn't happen. He is just so so close.I feel like he is one of the people that I was supposed to find..no I know that he is one of the people I was supposed to find and bring the gospel too. And I just feel like if he doesn't get baptized I will have failed. He knows it's true and he know's that baptism is so important but yet he is yeilding to the enticings of men! Ahhh mi corazon! But we haven't talked to him about everything yet...hopefully we will be able to tomorrow. But honestly he needs your prayers. And pray for us so that we might be guided by the Spirit to say the right things that he needs to hear. I love yall so much and thanks so much for all the emails! Hopefully there will be more time next week! Ahh and can you believe we have cambios again next week?!!! And oh my goodness, TOMORROW IS MY 6 MONTH MARK!!! Can somebody please slow down the time?!! Yikes que rapido!!! Have a great week! Love,Hermanita Nelson

hola, hola, hola!

Hola hola hola!!! Ok first of all, I have really BAD NEWS!!!So I had about a good 400 pictures from my mission so far, and ALL of them got DELETED!!! so so so so so sad!!! I don't know what I did, but they were there and the next thing I knew, they were all gone!! Yeah super triste. The good news is that I got the package from the Wariners-por fin!!! But I actually haven't gotten it yet, but they called me and told me it's here! And I haven't gotten the one from yall either..ha I'm waiting very paciently! I should get them on Thursday! And no, I haven't gotten the one from grandma yet- yeah the mail is really slow. And tomorrow we're going to the temple! I'm so excited! It'll be AMAZING! Oh man and Ty had his farewell yesterday! Sounds like he did an amazing job! I knew he would..what a stud!And thanks for the pictures! I'm excited to get the ones on Sis Andersen's camera! And that's fun that all the peeps were there for the weekend! And Alisa..your hair is so cute! And tell Emily and her mom, I'll write them back next week! Ha funny story...this is totally Paraguay for you...so first of all busy roads are shared by cars, collectivos, moto's, horse and buggys, 4 wheelers...and apparently by cows too! lol it was so funny the other day we were waiting for a collectivo and all of a sudden we see this poor lost cow roaming down the street holding up all kinds of traffic. Ha I'm sure it was just terrified for it's life because everyone was honking and starting at it, but man it was so funny! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. Also we had entrevistas (interviews) this week with Pres Wade and Elder Curtis was with him and he came into my distict meeting and it was so funny, just remembering the good old days in sunday school in the church building and then being here in Paraguay in the chapel talking about the gospel. haha it's cool. Oh man and who knew that Jehovah's witnesses were all over the world? ha well they are all over our area! They are crazy lol, we were teaching a family the other day and they are testigos and their beliefs are so different! It's kinda sad, it makes me so greatful to have the gospel in my life and to have a testimony and know with a surety that the gospel of Jesus Christ of LDS is true! Ahd we've also had some Marzo Milagros..baptisms no, but we've found some really cool people! We found a cute lil family that came to church with us yesterday and also this other guy named Alcides, who also came to church and he accepted a baptismal date yesterday when we saw him. I'm really excited for all of them and am excited to see them progress! And ahhh Gustavo, I hope yall are praying for him! He came to church yesterday too, and we are praying for a miracle and for him to be baptized this month! He has all the lessons and everything, and the kid loves the Book of Mormon but he's scared of making the commitment to be baptized. Ah but I have faith! He'll get it! And ah we have cambios in 2 weeks..man the time just flies by!!! But my times up! I love yall! And I can't wait to get Ty's email from the MTC!!! Don't cry too much on the way home! ANd take pictures before yall cry so you can send them to me! I hope our service will bless the family! I love yall so much! Have an amazing week! Love, Hermanita Nelson

Hola!

Hola!!! WOW WOW WOW!!! Primero, Gpa Al, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You’re what, 50 por alli? I hope you have a great day! Proximo, Michelle Morley and Amber Peacock are both pregnant?!!! What in the world…I leave for 5 months and look what happens!!!! Ha I’m so so excited for both of them! That’s so awesome and so cute! Tell them congrats! Ok…and SKYLAR YATES…NOT OK!!! Somebody needs to remind her that she isn’t supposed to get married until after I get home! And who is this guy?!! I swear she was not dating ANYBODY like 3 months ago! Whoever sees her first needs to tell her that she has A LOT of explaining to do and that I want all the DETAILS on who this guy is and how they met and how he proposed and EVERYTHING! Understand?! And ok yeah I’m really excited for her too! Emily...don’t even think about it. Ok and oh my goodness Ty’s farewell is THIS Sunday!! Yikes!!! Ahh that is so crazy and so fun! This weekend is going to be so crazy for yall with all the peeps down from Snow and all the crying that’s going to go down! Oh wow. Oh and mom my ZL called me a couple days ago to let me know that I got a package and turns out it’s from you! Woot woot! So really I don’t know what ever happened to the one from the Wariners! Hopefully I get it soon! But I’m not going to get it until tomorrow, but THANK YOU in advance because I know I’m just going to LOVE IT! Bueno, ¿que mas? Ha the picture of Elder Curtis and I…we’re just the cutest, ¿verdad? Haha I totally forgot we even took that picture…yeah how cool is it that we are both on our missions in Paraguay?! He’s a stud and it’s always so fun to see him every month! Oh and grandma…let’s get one thing straight…I will always be your favorite missionary  And Alena way to go with school, you’re such a guapa! And what the random with the exchange student haha. And ok Alisa, Nate’s room is so DANG CUTE!!! I love it! And wow that’s amazing what a lil spray paint can do! Now you just need to put pictures of Nate on there so I can see his cuteness! And that’s fun that Rebekah y Nathan are coming to visit Angela and Bobby…be sure to take lots of pictures! Ahh and I got Chels’ email!!! Gracias! I LOVED IT! I’m excited to write you back…ha yeah email is so much better! Ah and I saw your cute picture from the dance, what HOTTIES! And yall would go to Vegas, the beach and Disneyland without me! Ha jk take lots of pics so you can send them to me, and we’ll just have to go next year when I get back! Ok bueno, we had a really cool experience the other day with following the Spirit. It was like 8:00 and it was dark and we were kinda tired but we still had a couple citas that we needed and we had a couple contacts left. Bueno, so we were walking passed this house that we walk by I don’t know how many times in one day and we both turned and looked at each other and walked up to the gate. Usually people will say “otro dia” or ¿que dice? Or algo asi especially when it’s late, but she told us to come right in. And then she was telling us how the night before she had been asking God which church was true because there are so many churches and different books and teachings, etc. And so we brought out the Book of Mormon and shared a scripture and bore testimony that it is the word of God and that she can find her answer as she reads and prays about this book. Then we went back there a couple days letter and shared the first lesson and when we started talking about Joseph Smith she got really excited and was like, “yeah I have that same question that he had!” and once again we testified of the truthfulness of the gospel and how Joseph Smith was a prophet called to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ, the same gospel that he formed when he was on the earth. It was a really cool experience to see how God had prepared her to receive this message! And also how he had prepared us and guided us with his Spirit to her house. Tender mercy? I think so! Ah I love this gospel! It is so true! I feel so blessed to be a part of this great work! Also we have this mission goal right now to have 384 baptisms this month as a mission because are numbers were so low from the last couple months, so we’re pretty much going to triple the number we had in Febrero…128ish. But we’re doing it because those are the people that we were supposed to find and bring the gospel to, but didn’t. Those are the people that are out there waiting to receive the message of the gospel that the Lord has prepared for us! Our goal as a zone is 46 and 5 as a companionship. Please help us with your prayers! It will be really appreciated! I love yall all so much! Thanks for your testimonies and your letters, your love, everything! Have a great week! Love, Hermanita Nelson