Last Post!!!

OOhhhhhhhh man!!! Well I have about 2 seconds to write, but last week was the BEST week EVER!!! I can't wait to tell yall all about it. Man I love these people and I am going to miss them like crazy, I've been crying all week long and we are about to leave to Luque for my despedida and I'm going to cry more. Oh man. I can't believe it's really time. But I'm so EXCITED to see yall!!! It'll be so fun!! Thanks sooo much for all your emails, I wish I could email you indvidually but I can't, but no big deal, we'll see eachother soon! I love yall so much!! Thanks so much for everything. THe gospel is SO TRUE and really, I have felt so much HAPPINESS on my mission. The best year and a half of my life. Love it! Love yall. See ya soon! Be good!!!
Love,

Hermanita Nelson

April 4, 2011 **10 Days Everyone!!!** 2cd to last post

WOW, Ok I don´t even know where to start!! Conference was AMAZING, I loved all of it (bueno, all of it that I saw...) but I think Sunday afternoon was my favorite session, and like everyone else said, I too want to just be a better, kinder person! So this week was crazy! Probably one of the hardest weeks of the mish... we got rejected so many times this week! it was incredible, I´m talking worse than Asuncion rejected. Looks like someone is trying to get me discouraged and desanimada (I´m sorry, I can´t translate that..I just spent like 5 min trying to think of the word in english). But that is NOT going to happen. And everyone keeps saying this week will be even harder, igual no mas. I´m so excited for this week! MY LAST FULL WEEK in the mission field, entonces OBVIOUSLY (like Nick obviously lol) it is going to be AMAZING. Time to step it up, go BIG or go home!! Ha and home is going to have to wait a week and a half. So I´m just going to work my hardest, with the goal of going home TIRED...they might just have to send me home on a stretcher, perfect. Man, didn´t conference just get everyone excited to live and to be happy and to serve? Oh so the story... bueno, on the saturday session, our adorable lil investigator Gisel, surprised us and came! Which we were really excited about. The full story will just have to wait, but basically during the second session we were pulled out after about 15 min (right after they announced my old mission president, Terry L. Wade, to be a general authority!!!! Called that one, he is so amazing!) and one of the member told us that Gisel had left somewhere because she wasn´t feeling good. So we start searching EVERYWHERE for her, and then finally found her- and bueno she has some kind of sickness but I´m not sure what it is, but she has like those attacks like she can´t breathe (like an asthma attack maybe, but they said it´s not that) and it´s been happening like twice a week lately. So justamente she had one right after we found her. And we were like freaking out because we didn´t have any idea what to do and we´re just praying like crazy...bueno yall will get the full story later, but basically we missed that whole session of conference because we ran to the emergency room and were there the whole time. Por suerte, she is fine but we were so scared. I know that God answers prayers. Ahhh so that along with other things, like them not having the session in english and the power going out, made it so we didn´t see all of conference. But it´s all good, and what I heard just changed my life lol. The church is so true and so legit. I love being a missionary and a member of this true church. Life doesn´t get any better. Thanks for all yalls support and love, it has made this experience all the more sweeter!! FELIZ CUMPLEANOS Nate this week! Chulina! Love yall! Have a great week!!!

Love,
Hermanita Nelson

**Amanda's homecoming will be on April 17th at 1:00 pm
She will be arriving home on April 15th!!!

Mar. 28, 2011

Hola los estados unidos!!!! Alrighty, I have no time bc today was crazy, but I´ll give yall a lil somethin something. Ok so justamente on the 23rd (my official last day of my mission), I woke up feeling TERRIBLE. But woke up at the usual hour 6:30 to do our usual caminata- our lil walk around the neighborhood, and just about died and we had to turn around and come home early. But we continued with the usual and after studies I went and laid down a lil bit before we went out to work. Well the whole time we´re out working I just feel so terrible and weak and can´t breathe and yeah... to make a long story short, I almost blacked out on the colectivo and everyone on the colectivo was freaking out and the chofer wanted to drive us to the hospital- out of his route- to make sure I was ok. We´ll save that story for after the mission, but basically we got back home as soon as we could and I hit the bed and was out. I don´t know what happened to me, I´m pretty sure it was some bicho- a bug- because I had chivivi (I´ll explain after the mish) the whole time and couldn´t eat anything and felt like death for 2 days straight. Bleh. Hna Tuaone also got way worse with her cold and we were both so sick and so pathetic. It was so sad. And right now, I´m pretty sure I still have some kinda bug, but I´ll be fine. But I really feel so blessed because the Lord blessed us so much even though we were out of work for 2 days! We saw so many lil miracles, lil tender mercies. Juana-an old investigator who we haven´t seen or talked to in over a month, we decided to randomly go to her house and we were really nervous bc we didn´t know how it would go, but it turned out sooo good! Unfortunately she can´t fully progress right now because her husband won´t give her permission to go to church or anything, BUT she knows the Book of Mormon is true and she is so excited to go to conference and it was just great, I´ll explain the full story later. Another thing, for the first time EVER Graciela´s husband shared with us. It was incredible! A complete change of heart. I don´t know what happened! It was a miracle and he accepted a baptismal date. So cool! Also we have such an incredible investigator right now, Gisel, who is just SO prepared for the gospel and loves it and recieved an answer and is just so legit. She is the cutest and I am so excited for her and it is just such a joy to teach her! And then yesterday we had one of the COOLEST lessons I´ve ever had in my mission. The spirit was SO strong and everything just went SO smoothly, the Lord was just guiding everything! With this man that we contacted the week before, we found his house and taught him for the first time. It was just like the perfect lesson, everything you want an investigator to do. Ahh and as I was testifying about the Book of Mormon, he interrupted me, and he´s like I´m sorry but I just have to ask you a question. If you die right now, do you think you will be able to live with God? ANd I was like ah ojala (hopefully), and I was like I´ll tell you what. I don´t know what would happen, but I do know that I am in the right path. That the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer. And that it is through a baptism with the authority, which is the first step to enter into the kingdom of God. And I know that this is the true church of God on the earth today, etc. And then he was like you just seem soo sure, I can tell that you know what you are saying is true. I want to feel like that and have that surety. I want to know too. Ahhhh... I was like perfect. And then we just went on to testify and invited him to be baptized. ANd he was like absolutely. And he is really excited about the conference as well. Ahhh I amm SOOOO excited about conference! And we are just make everyone sooo excited!!! I can´t wait!!! I know this week is going to be sooo awesome!! I love yall! Thank yall all so much for the emails! I don´t have time to write individual emails, but next week! And thanks Angela and Alisa for your blogs, chulina! ANd thanks grandma and pops and mom and alena and mamma wariner and emily and hna case and g and todos! Love yall! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermanita Nelson

Pictures

Here are some pictures Amanda sent home yesterday:

March 21, 2011

Ahhhhhhhhhhh man this week was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO goooood!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though both my comp and I got sick this week and almost died, pero por suerte it wasn´t dengue! I got some kinda bicho, bug in my stomach, and then a couple days later Tuaone got a cold or something and still getting over it, but we´re better now! Aver, so we had a BAPTISM! Ahh it felt soooo good, it´s been awhile. It was for Wildo, I´ll save the story for later, but it´s a good one! But it all went really well, a couple problems right at the beginning ha but we are in Paraguay so not a big deal. The church is true. We also had the conference with President and that went really well, always really inspiring, man we did so many practices, it was intense. But it was cool bc we did a practice with la hna Madariaga and the Spirit was just so strong and by the end we were all 3 crying, and she was like wow hermanas if you can bring the spirit in that strong during a practica, yall must be doing just fine out in the field. It was cute. And man, yesterday at church it was so random because so many of the inactive people we have been visiting forever just randomly decided to come to church! And I can´t even describe it but when I saw them walk through the doors, my heart just like melted because I was just so happy, and it like moved me to tears. Man, I just love these people and feel so special to be out here serving them. And it´s just soo cool because I know the work we are doing here is blessing this rama so much, which just makes me feel good. We get to be instruments in the Lords hands to help these people out. They are good people, they just need a lil help, and that´s what hermanas are for! Oh haha and we also had a birthday party for the relief society and it turned out to be really cute. There was just a couple of us there but it´s cool that they are celebrating all over the world! ANd let´s talk about how I officially finish my mission this Wednesday, my 18 months will be up! ha but don´t worry, I just take that extra 3 weeks as like a bonus. THere is still so much work to be done here and it is time to go out with a bang! And I know the Lord will bless us for our obedience and animo! No time to waste people, time to get serious. I love Paraguay. I love the mission. I love being a missionary. Life is good :) Oh and by the way, Angela and Alisa have got to be the cutest lil moms, that makes me excited to be a mom.. mas adelante. But all that stuff was so cute and I love seeing pictures of the kids. And mom what are rueben sliders? And I´m going to send a couple pics just incase yall forgot what I look like... ha probably a lil different then the last time yall saw me. Bueno I love yall! Have a great week! Be good!

Mar. 14, 2011

Ok a couple things, first, I can´t believe Ty is completing a YEAR in the mission!!! WOOT WOOT! That´s awesome bud! And so sweet you still have another year to tear it up! Second, yeah I definitely saw that picture of Payden, and said, ahh chulina! aka ahh payden, cute! That´s so awesome!!! I´m so excited for him! ANd chachi! Awesome. Good job boys! And Gpa Al, Happy Belated Birthday!! Other thing, remember how whenever I started to feel sick or whatever, I would always say I had cancer? Now, it´s dengue. Everyone in Paraguay has dengue. And all these missionaries keep getting it and they just sent us this huge warning and all these things we need to do to prevent getting it haha. Man so my comp and I are so scared of getting dengue. And like every area we go to, they will say something about someone having it. Ha pray for us. Also, I have some really AWESOME NEWS! Manu got his mission call this week!!! ANd he is going to Peru!! So awesome, and so I´m just praying that Emilio gets his before I leave!! But that is just so awesome that they are going to go and be missionaries! And this week was just so good. We worked a full. We like doubled our numbers from the week before and just finding and teaching and finding and teaching. It´s a blast. Oh and there was like a lil cold front that came in yesterday, so the weather is awesome, which makes it even greater to work in. Tomorrow and Wednesday we have a conference with President which should be really good. Man once again I have just been so humbled and so grateful for all the blessings I have. Mostly about family. Man, family is the best. Yall better be ready to just be with me all the time, because that is what is so important. It is so sad to see all the broken families here. It´s something completely normal, and every time it just breaks my heart. I never realized how blessed I really was. Ha thanks parents for being so awesome, and siblings for being so awesome. We have such a great family. What a blessing. Man that´s so awesome we´ll be able to live together forever if we just do our part here in this life. Family is part of the plan of God. The main part. It´ll be so fun starting my own lil family... mas adelante. But it´s so cute to see Angela and Alisa and their lil families. And to just see how they are living the gospel and teaching their children now. That is following a prophet. Man, I am so excited for conference! Ha everyone in Paraguay thinks it is the end of the world. All of the newspapers say it. After what happened in Japan, ahh soo sad. And we just keep pointing at our plaques and say estamos en los ultimos dias. We´re in the last days, the signs are everywhere. Repent! Ha ok maybe not exactly like that, but man the gospel is true and I am so thankful for a living prophet and for the scriptures. We have all the things we need to prepare! Ha oh and yesterday at church a member came up and asked me if I could give the sunday school class about 2 minutes before it started, I was like oh perfect no problem. Ha so I did. And it acutally went really well, it was really cool to see how the spirit guided the lesson, and someone gave a comment about what a privilege it is to be a member of this true church. And I just kept thinking about that. What a privilege, what a responsibility. Ahh and how privileged I feel to be a representative of Jesus Christ and to serve my Lord for this year and a half. Awesome. I love yall and am so thankful for your love and support. Have a great week! Be good!

Mar. 7, 2011

Alright...so first off CAMBIOS!!!! Ha no cambios, por suerte!!! I´m dying in Ypacarai with la hna Tuaóne!! I´m so excited!! There is SO MUCH work to do here and I love this special lil rama. And I am so grateful to be able to help them out a lil bit. Ohhhh and I got the package from the Wariners!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!! Those oreo covered mint something were SOOOO GOOD! ANd I love chocolate! It was great! And I got letters from the Otts, chulina! And Hna Henderson that she sent in November... and the Batchelor´s! Thanks! Aver, so we found the cutest lil couple this week, Rafael, 62 and Tomasa, 50 and they just love us and love everything we say and are just so eager to learn more. It´s so fun! And we passed for them Sunday morning and unfortunately they couldn´t come to church, but she invited us over for lunch, which was AWESOME, because it was fast Sunday and all we had in the house were eggs (which we´ve been eating for the last 6 weeks), so it was nice for a lil change. And she made us this cute lil meal and it was so good and then we shared with her after. Anyways they are super cute and we´re excited to work with them. Our family didn´t come to church this week :( but they are still so cute and we have hopes for them. ANd basically we are just finding finding finding to find those people that are ready! Ahh and we had our mission prep class yesterday and it went really well. It was so fun! I think I want to be a seminary teacher. And church went really yesterday, a lot of people got up to share their testimonies and it was really cool. The mission is changing like crazy, we got a bunch of new rules again today. Exciting stuff. Too bad I´m leaving, which is why I just need to go work at the MTC! That would be awesome! THanks so much for your letters! I love hearing from yall! Oh p.s. Angela is so cute, all that stuff for Tyler´s bday was awesome. Bien hecho. I love yall! Have a great week! Oh p.s. Hna Case is OFFICIALLY ENGAGED!!! Woot woot! Alright Be good!!! Love yall!

Hermanita Nelson

Feb. 28, 2011

M´bae cha pa?!!! Bueno, to start off, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS TY!!!!! 20 Years old!!! Oh man.... what a stud!!! I hope you have fun!! Second, EMILY IS A MARRIED WOMAN!!! Haha that´s crazy. Pero, FELICIDADES!!!! And this week we have changes!!! Mi ultimo cambio!!! I´m hoping I stay here with Hna Tuaóne, but anything could happen!! All I know, is that whoever I am with we are going to TEAR IT UP!!! There is a lot of crazy things happening around here, President just put a ton of new rules (one of them that we can´t have any more hermana activities :( which I´m really sad about because if we don´t have changes I won´t be able to say goodbye to Remache and that would be soooo sad. Ha I already tried to convince him to give us permission to see eachother but apparently he´s really serious about all this and he told me no, so what can you do?) He just wants everyone to be more obedient so we can have more exito. It´s kinda rough but he knows what he´s doing, so you got to just trust in him. We had a really awesome week this week! Oh and by the way, Ty´s experiences were so cool, that´s awesome how the Lord just prepares the way. We have these really cute investigators we have been working with... there is this cute lil family, bueno the dad doesn´t like it and doesn´t want to share with us, but the mom and her 4 lil boys are just the cutest things. We went to pass by for them yesterday for church and when we got there they were all ready to go and excited. And the boys just love us, it is so cute. The oldest is 10 and then 8, 6 and 2. They are adorable. We always do these really cute activities with them and it´s so fun. We drew maps of the plan of salvation with them last time and it was so adorable. And yesterday in church we had the most asistencia that we´ve had so far, which is awesome and we were really excited! All these menos activo families that we´ve been working with for awhile are starting to become activo otra vez. Ahh it is so cool and so rewarding when we see them walk in the church doors! Ha we always get so excited. Poco a poco. And the members love us, it´s so cute. Last night we had our lil meeting with our branch president and then his wife and one of the youth came out to talk to us, and they just randomly started talking about how greatful they are for us. It was really cute. They just love having elderas (hermanas haha) and it´s just cool that they say they have noticed a huge difference ever since we´ve came. I just feel really blessed to have been able to come here to good old Ypacarai. Ha it is so special. But it´s just exciting because I just know it´s going to keep on progressing and pretty soon they´ll have their own church. Man the mission is so rewarding. Ha we also climbed up a water tower this week, I thought I was going to die!!! I almost peed my pants when I was like half way up and I was so scared to keep going up, and I looked at the view and I almost just fell off. Man, Paraguay is beautiful!!! And por suerte I made it to the top and we got some cool pictures. You could see the lake and then just all the green of Paraguay and the sun was starting to set, it was sweet! Ohh that reminds me!!!! We went over to that part of our area because we recieved a couple references from a kid that´s from the states who apparently lived here for like a month like 3 years ago, but we ended up finding all the people up there and they just loved him and remember that he was such a good kid and that he didn´t drink beer or coffee and was just so nice and sweet. But his name is Shawn Reed I think, you could try to find him on facebook or Neil Reed and let them know we´ve contacted the people and that this week they will all have Books of Mormon!!! What a good story. Alrighty I gotta go!!! I love yall! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermanita Nelson

Feb. 21, 2011

FELIZ CUMPLE MI QUERIDA ABUELA!!!! Happy Birthday Grandma Olson!!!! Woot woot! I hope yall had so much fun celebrating! This week was SO MUCH better than last week, ahhhh. We had so many awesome lessons, it was a blast. We are just finding and teaching a ton and we have some cool people we are working with. The sad news of the week is that Hna G is going home this Wednesday :( She just keeps getting worse, she has some kind of bug, so they are sending her home a change early with Hna Tsosie who is also sick. Sad day. I´m really sad about it, but she is such a guapa and such an awesome missionary. Yeah so she called last night to let us know, so I quickly called President to organize a lil hna activity so we could all say bye to them. It was a lot of fun. I don´t have like any time to write though. But I love yall and thanks so much for the emails! And the pictures from Alisa and Angela´s blogs are ADORABLE. Man I have got the cutest sobrinos, I love it. It´ll be so fun to play with them! But I love yall so much, sorry I don´t have any time. Have a great week!!! I promise I´ll write more next week!! But just know I am happy and loving life and the mission and Paraguay. Life is sooo good and the gospel is sooo true!! Life doesn´t get better than that. Be good!

Love,

Hermanita Nelson

Happy Valentine's Day!!

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Mom I about peed my pants reading that!!! That is HILARIOUS!!!! I´m serious, I just got so many weird looks, oh man I can just picture the whole thing. Hhahahaha pobrecito. hahaha good story mom. Oh man Emily had her shower, that´s cute, ah and Sarah Ott is engaged! Chulina, how´s the guy? Yeah do you know what day I´m doing my homecoming talk? Will it just be that next day? Oh by the way, I got my FLIGHT PLANS!!! Ahh man that is going to be the LONGEST day. I have to take 4 flights and then I have like a 3 hour layover in blasted Salt Lake lol. I fly most of the way with my peeps and I think one is coming with me to Salt Lake and then his parents will pick him up from there, but I´ll be chilling there all by myself, so sad. But yeah that would be so SWEET if they could come down for my homecoming, or if we could go up for Easter, I´m so down. Oh and let Monica and Michael know I got their card! I was so so excited! And I´m not writing a big email bc I don´t have time, but tell Tyler I love him and Happy Birthday! And I liked your quote of the day. It´s so true!!! With all these letters we are handing out to the future missionaries, we decide to start a lil mission prep class for them to study the scriptures and preach my gospel because they don´t have anything like that here. We´re really excited about it. We found a couple other boys that are excited and want to be active again and prepare to go. So cool. Love serving! This past week was actually way way hard and really sad, I´m glad it´s over, and we are starting a new week. We just heard so so many sad stories about peoples lives, last week more than ever and our investigator Juana that we´ve been workign with forever, her husband didn´t give her permission to get baptized, we even had the AP´s come out with us to try and convince him, but no. It was really sad. We are just hoping she´ll still be able to come to church and that one day she will be able to blessed with this baptism. Man you just learn so much in the mission. I almost just super guilty about all the blessings in my life that I have. I have so much and have been SOOOOO blessed and then hearing all those stories this week was just really hard, Peoples lives here are sooo hard, it´s incredible. We have so much. Ahhh. It was just so weird because this week more than any other week in my mission in almost every cita the people just let out their load and we just felt like pshychatrists (haha can´t spell that) but it´s just so crazy bc the answer is always the same. The love of the Savior. The Atonement of the Savior has such a healing power. It´s the gospel! The gospel can change your life and make you happy and help you feel peace and comfort ahhh and everything. We just must live it and trust in the Lord and pray to him and read his words and obey them, etc. Incredible. He loves us so much. Man, I am just so greatful for that knowledge. I love the gospel. And am always always always just so greatful for you and dad, seriously I don´t even know how to say it. Yall have done so much for us. Ha and I was never greatful, I never understood, and wow now I do, and I´ll spend the rest of my life thanking yall and trying to follow yalls examples. Love yall! Have a great week!

**This is her response from me telling her about getting locked out of the house and my adventures trying to get back in the house.

Feb. 7, 2011

Man, I just love Paraguay. Let´s talk about how all I do is eat...bueno right now it is MANGO season and GUAYAVA (look it up...bc I don´t think we have that in the states) and I love it! I love just picking fruit off the tree and just eating it. Ypacarai has a ton of fruit everywhere, so everyday I just pick some fruit off the treat and it´s such a good lil snack! Also, there are icecream stands everywhere! ANd it is so cheap and sooo good because it is soooo hot! So we have icecream just about everyday, also we have that sweet americanish restaurant with the amazing deserts of pecan pie with icecream, that we´ve been getting everyweek, and we just discovered a Burger King and McDonalds in our area (ha our area is HUGE, and we have this one really chu chi spot that all the rich people from Asuncion go during the summer time, because it is right on the lake and they open a summer BK and McD, it is sweet!) So yeah we went there again today, yummy yummy yummy. ANd man the work this week was so good. I´m not even talking good, I am talking sooo good. We pretty much just tore it up. Like I was telling mom, this week in companionship study we studied a full on el espíritu santo, the holy ghost, and every lesson was just so awesome. We really focused on having the spirit being the teacher and man, it just flowed. Ahh and I can´t remember if I told you about Claudelino, he is a joven that we found that got a card (the invitation to go on the mission) and it´s cool, because he really wants to prepare to go and yesterday he came to church again and brought his sister (who is not a member) who just moved in with them. And she is going to get baptized, bueno I can feel it! This week we have zone conference, the last one before I go home (weird) which means I have to give my final testimony, which is so lame because I still have more than 2 months! But it´s cool. Being a missionary is the best, and I just feel like this will be the end to another beginning. I can´t just stop being a missionary. Yeah, maybe I won´t have the plaque but there are so many ways we can be member missionaries to help "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men" because that is why we are here. Gotta love it. The mission has just opened my eyes in so many ways y como siempre digo, estoy muy muy muy agradecida por la oportunidad y privilegio que yo tengo para ser misionera y servir a mi Dios. No hay nada mejor en la vida. No hay nada que trae mas felicidad o gozo. Da gusto luego! Ha I love yall! Thanks for all your love and support, it means the world to me! Be good! Ok bueno, we´ll finish with a ´good story´ from this week, ha from today. So we were riding the colectivo home from BK and we got on and it was pretty darn crowded and my comp got a seat in the very front and I got a seat in the very back but we couldn´t really see eachother. And it was raining a full outside so you couldn´t really see anything. So we had talked earlier about how we were going to go and do internet after we ate, so that´s the plan, right? haha so the stop is coming up, so I push my way to the buzzer, and I buz it and the bus stops and I get out with about 4 people behind me and people were coming out the front as well. So I jump off and run under the shelter so I don´t get soaked and wait for my comp...but wait, she doesn´t bajar (get off) and the colectivo drives away. So I like start panicking and I´m like oh shoot maybe she got off a block before, bc I had pushed it a lil late, so I´m looking around and I don´t see her. And so I´m like alright well maybe she got stuck and couldn´t push her way through on time to get off, so the colectivo will probably pull over again in a sec and she´ll get off...uh nope. So here I am, panicking and getting SOAKING WET looking for my other half. Ha you have no idea how weird I felt, ALONE. I was so scared lol, it felt so wrong. So now I am honestly just drenched standing in this huge puddle trying to look down the street, thinking oh man she must have thought we were going to go home first (which is another 8 block walk) and I´m like about ready to pee my pants, because I´m going to have to walk 8 blocks all by myself, when finally I see her walking towards me in the distance (like 4 blocks down) with her lil umbrella, dry as can be haha. Yeah there was definately some miscommunication, she wasn´t really sure if we had decided to go do internet or what, and she had a testigo (jehovah´s witness) sitting right next to her asking all these questions, ha it was a really old lady, and she was going to try and get off earlier but the lady wouldn´t stop talking and then she started panciking bc she couldn´t see me anymore on the colective and the testigo was like what´s the matter? And she´s like I don´t see my comp, and the testigo is like, aren´t yall always supposed to be together? haha oh man, so she hurried up and jumped off the colectivo. Oh man that is a good story. Man, I am going to be so weird after the mish, I´m going to have to have someone at my side siempre! lol Bueno, time´s up! Love yall! Have a great week!

Eldera Hermanita Nelson

Jan. 31, 2011

Ahhh man, Ok I don´t have too much time! But this week was a lot of fun, we actually got lost like 3 different times this week and ended up in the middle of nowhere! We were trying to find some houses and it didn´t quite work out. We about died from heat, but we did end up finding one of the houses that we were looking for (one of the youth that had a letter/invitation to leave on the mission) and it´s been a really long time since he´s been, but we met him and have him some animo, and on Sunday he came!!! We are excited because he wants to find out more and reactivate himself and prepare for the mission. It was really cool. We also had a lot of inactive people come that we found this past week and who we´ve been visiting who haven´t been in months or years, so that was really cool. It´s crazy because the branch really does depend so much on the missionaries. But that´s cool, they are all new and learning, and we are just helping them to progress. It´s a lot of fun, they are all really good people. Investigators, no one came to church. We were really sad, that is our goal this week, to get people to church! It is so important. But we found a couple really new cool people that we are excited to work with. Also, we had another really cool lesson with Maicol. We were reading the Book of Mormon in guarani, portugues, y español. And it was really neat, the Spirit was so strong. I´m starting to get all emotional again haha. I remember at the beginning of my mission I was and then the middle I just kinda numbed out and now it is all coming back. Man, it´s just been manifested to me so many times how important this gospel is and how it can bless these people in their lives and how much they need it! Today we had our district meeting and an Elder shared a really cool analogy. He said alright, let´s say we have $1,000,000... what would you do for that? Just about anything right...claro. Ok let´s say we have $1,000,000,000, what would you do for that? Now let´s say, our Savior Jesus Christ. What would you do for him? Sad how sometimes we just put more value on worldly things. What would we do for our Savior? WHat would we sacrifice for Him? There´s always that one thing... that one thing, that we just hold on to and justify and tell ourselves it´s ok. What if we gave up that one thing, however big or small it is, what if we gave it up, so that we could allow ourselves to become closer to our Savior, and to be a better representative of Him? Man, I love this gospel. I feel that it is such a privilege and blessing that I have to be here serving my Heavenly Father in Paraguay. Life just doesn´t get better. Let us be better, sacrifice something more, so that we can be worthy of the blessings of God. Love yall!!!

Jan. 24, 2011

¿Sabe qué? I may or may not have just completed 16 months in the mission and 14 months in Paraguay!!! Man that just flew right by! Oh and cambios!!! Alright, so la Hna Messina went up as sr. comp and went LEJOS!!!! She went out far to Villa Hayes and is with a latina! Ha she´ll do great and I´m gonna miss her, she is a guapa! So that leaves me y la hna Tuaóne! It´s great! We´re having a lot of fun! And we have made our theme for the year 2011 ¨Good Story¨ because life is just such a good story! And as we were talking about it, I was like yeah...that is so true. It is just how you look at things. And it´s just so much funner haha to have a good time and be happy and not worry or complain about the heat or the rain or the broken oven and stove and fridge and water haha, now it´s just a ´good story´. lol it´s great! Life is just full of good stories. And man the mission is just the best. I´m just loving it. And my blasted comp always reminds me how short my time is (not cool, but I totally remember doing that to Hna Case all the time) so we are just so pumped to find way cool people and have really good amazing spirtual lessons and be obedient and have fun and spread the gospel to everyone who will listen! It´s a blast. Oh and I got the card from the Tenneys! Super cute! Thank you! And don´t worry, it is still Christmas here in Ypacarai, we have all our decorations still up and they will stay up til I leave lol, so it´s great! Oh and it is official, I am coming home :( lol the Elder called me to verify my flight and told me I will be arriving home to the St. George Airport on April 15th at 4:30 p.m. algo así. I think that is just about perfect to go and eat some really good food... I´m just saying. Yeah so story time... we have this really cool investigator named Maicol (Michael) and he is from Brazil! Ha he doesn´t speak any spanish. He has been here for like 3 months or something and is living with a family who is also from Brazil and are here working, but they´ve been here for a long time so they speak both languages and Felipe, who is a recent convert. He was baptized in September and is just a stud and is preparing to go on his mission. Bueno, so we´ve had some really amazing lessons with him. It is just soo soo amazing to teach with the Spirit. Ah I love the mission' bueno, so Felipe pretty much translates, Maicol can understand mostly everything we say but just can´t respond very well in Spanish. It´s cool those because portugues is pretty similar and we can understand some of the stuff he says and we can have like normal conversations with him. Bueno, so it was really cool teaching about the Book of Mormon and the plan of Salvation and Felipe would just be teaching and sharing his testimony, yeah anyways it was super cool! And he came to an activity at the church and made some friends so that was way cool. And Juana, we are still working with her...oh that´s another good story. We´ll save that for after the mish but her baptism will be such a miracle and I´m really excited for her! Alright I gotta go, but I love yall. Pray to help us find more cool people! The church is true. God loves us. We have a living prophet. Man life is good. Love yall!
Hermanita Nelson

Jan. 17, 2011

Mbaé cha pa?? How´s everyone doing? Paraguay is great!! We should be getting our changes tonight, and I really don´t want to leave this area, pero vamos a ver que pasa. We actually had a special change this past Thursday and they took my daughter away from me! They called on Thursday night and we were like an hour away from our house and they told her she had about an hour to get home and pack her bags for like 5 or 6 days and that the elders would be picking her up. Because Hna G has been super super sick that past week, something really weird happen and they don´t know what she has but they hadn´t been working for like 5 days in their area and Hna G was staying at Pte house, so yeah Hna Messina should be coming back like tomorrow, but I have no idea. We had a pretty good week, found some new inactive families(about 30 new people... I´m not kidding) and handed out some letters for the future missionaries! We also found this really cute family, who are catholic but they are at least open to listening to us and with time they will realize how the gospel can answer all their questions and unite their family! So I´m excited to work with them!! Also, Juana went to church and she basically knows everything is true and I can tell she wants to get baptized and right now her husband is out of town, so she is going to church secretly but doesn´t want to get baptized unless her husband says she can. ANd we had a really good lesson with him when he was here and he said he would come to church, so I´m just praying that he keeps his word. ANd she wants to get baptized in the lake!! And that would be soo cool! ANd our recent convert, Gregorio would do it. Man that just spells out PERFECT!! I´m excited! Ha and I told her yesterday that I was going to be here for her baptism and she just smiled and was like I know you just have so much faith and she always tells me how she can tell I have the gift of discernment. Ha she is a character, ha so is Gregorio. I can´t wait to just sit there and tell yall all about these people. I love them! Man, the mission is soo good!!! Oh my goodness, AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Emilio called me yesterday and told me he is about ready to turn in his papers!!! How cool is that??? And Manu just barely turned his in! I am so so excited for them. Emilio will complete a year as a member on Jan 30th and his mission papers will be in before that! And I´m just praying that their calls get here in time, and that I´m here still so I can go through the temple with them. Manu said the lady told him it could be like 8 weeks that he could get it, but normally it is about 3 months, and I know 2 guys that just barely got their papers and it took 4 and 5 months!! Man, can you imagine?!! So I am just hoping and praying that it all works out!! But that is just what makes it all worth it! Man, the gospel is so true. I just love it. I love yall so much and am so thankful for your love and support. Have a great week!

Jan. 10, 2011

Hola amiguis!!!! How is everyone?!! Today we had a zone activity and we went and hiked this cool hill ha and man it was sooo HOT!!! Ha and I got SOO sunburnt!!! My legs even got way sunburnt, but we got some cool pictures. And I am soo tired, I feel like my body is just breaking down here people. Ohhh and I got that like package you sent with the OREOS!!! Man those things are SO GOOD!! We opened it and ate them all right there!! Yummy!!! Ha it will be so weird walking into a grocery store on the snack and candy isle, I will be in like Heaven! Oh you know what else I realized this week...I think I will be home for Easter! Unless it´s a different day in the states. I`m kinda sad, because Easter is so much fun in Paraguay because they make a ton of CHIPA!!! LIke you already know the Elders called me today and asked what airport I wanted to fly into...que macanada! I dropped him the cane, and I was like I`m sorry I think you have the wrong hermana or something because I still have 3 months left! Ridiculous! And we have changes next week, o sea like the 18th. I figured I would just die here, which would be sweet, but my lil daughter just might move up with Tuaóne which would kick me right out, but I hope I stay here!! This past week was actually kinda sad because 2 of our investigators that were going to be baptized this week both fell :( One didn`t get permission from her father and the other one didn´t get permission from her husband. Ahhhh. So we talked with their family members and we had really really good lessons and the spirit was so strong but in the end they both said no. :( No da gusto. So that was really hard because they were like the cool people we have, but I know that they will get baptized someday and we were just helping them out on their journey. So this week we have a lot of finding to do! Ha finding is so much fun, you meet the funniest people. Ha the mission is the best. And also this week we focused on handing out the cards to all the potential missionaries.. I don`t know if I ever told yall about that. President gave us this list of 68 young men from the ages of 17-24 of muchachos that could be going on missions. The problem is that only 2 of those 68 are active, so we have this HUGE project to find all of these people and hand them out their letters personally, we can`t just drop it off with family members, so if they aren´t there we have to keep going back until they are there. And bueno, so we´ve been asking the ward members to help us because we don´t know who any of them are, and so now we know about 30...but they don´t know the rest of them. And this week we handed out 10 cards! We were so proud,and we found over 50 new menos activos. Incredible. But it was cool because you can tell that some really do have testimonies and want to go back to church they just need that support. And actually a couple went to church this past Sunday after years of not going. So I figure we´re still saving souls right? So poco a poco we are going to get these cards handed out, and hopefully in the meantime God will bless us with some really cool investigators as well. It´s crazy because most of these people live WAY FAR AWAY!!! Our area is SO HUGE, they could probably put like 4 pairs of missionaries and there would be so much work to do. So traveling to their houses has taken up a lot of time, because if there aren`t colectivos, we walk, ha and it is so hot. My body just sweats it´s amazing. Ha these are the best days of our lives! Ha and we still have no water pressure so we are still showering with buckets, gotta love it. This next week is going to be soo good,I already know! I love spreading the good news of the gospel. I keep just thinking about it and I´m like wow, this is such a blessing! Life really doesn´t get better than this... all I have to worry about is helping people come unto Christ. There is definetely heartbreak, but your love for the people and the gospel just grows and grows. You just feel like your heart is going to explode! Da gusto! I love yall! And I am so thankful for yalls examples and testimonies and support and love and emails and pictures and everything! Yall are the best! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermanita (Eldera) NelsON (ha just picture them trying to say nelson with a spanish accent)

Jan. 3, 2011 FELICIDADES!!

2011!!!!!!!! ¿Mbaè? ¿En serio? Man, this is going to be such a good year, I can just feel it!! 2011 just has a ring to it, right? Ha maybe just in Spanish, but I think it sounds pretty good in English too. Yeah, like mom said I am always excited for a new start too! And you know what justamente today I have exactly 100 days left. Crazy! Don`t worry, I`m not counting, it`s just my DyC countdown. But man it was so fun making metas (goals) and weird, it`s like I`m planning 2 different lives here. But man I just love Paraguay, life is so good. Ha and it is SO HOT here, I can`t believe it SNOWED in St. George- that is straight up snow! Those are some sweet pictures! Ha grandma wrote me how on new years eve they had some couples over to play cards and then at the end they all were done by 10:30 and went to bed, and she was like "I guess that`s just what happens when you get old" and then I wrote her back and said, "or if you`re a missionary"- because we had to be home at 7 because it gets a lil bit crazy here in Paraguay on New Years Eve and I was out by 8:30. Ha and I had so many good plans of what I was going to do, and boom I decided to write a lil bit in the journal on my bed, and the next thing I know, I hear the fireworks going off like crazy!!! So we woke up and went out on our balcony and screamed "Feliz Año Nuevo!" and all kinds of good stuff. Ha right around the corner from our house there`s this street and almost everyone is family or they`ve all lived there forever and are just really good friends and they were having a huge block party and were up all night long shooting off those fireworks... there were some pretty ones, but most of them sounded like gun shots- ha they are so loud, I`m serious! And you know how in the states like the adults shoot off the fireworks, here no... the adults are all sitting in their lawn chairs while the kids from 3-14 shoot off the firecrackers. I`m not joking about the 3 year olds. We have an investigator, Jessica, who has a lil boy who is soooo cute! And he is 3, bueno I think he just turned 4 and everytime we go over there he loves to throw the firecrackers at us. You can buy a lil box for a mil, like 25 cents and so that is what the kids do todos los dìas!!! Insane! Ha I love it, because it is sooo Paraguay! Aver...ok yesterday at church, SOO GOOD! We only had 2 investigators, but that is pretty dang good too, and we also had 61 in church! Which is amazing because we usually have like 30-35 ish so it`s pretty much like double! We were so happy! And it was funny because we found 10 random members during the week, like in just random spots and we were contacting and then found out they were members, ha we find so many every week, it`s like a game now. But it`s all good. There`s a lot of work and we are excited to help out this lil branch! It was just a really good week! I just love the mission, I can`t imagine not being a missionary. I`m not going to let them take the plaque off haha. I just keep learning and learning and my love for the gospel keeps growing. It`s great. The mission is the best. Cada dìa I realize a lil bit more, how amazing yall are -mi familia y mis amigos- mi gente luego. Just love yall! I love your letters and love and prayers. It really helps and I need them! Thanks for everything! Have a great week!!!