Are You Ready For This?!!

Hola!!! Wow wow wow, so we had CAMBIOS!!!! Ok bueno, so I’m in the same area!!! And my new comp is Hermana REMACHE!!! Haha yeah she is definitely latina and doesn’t speak english! WATCH OUT! Yikes! She is super guapa though… blows me out of the water! She’s just this cute lil colombiana y tiene 24 años and is just on FIRE. Lol I’ve met her once befote and I told her that we would be comps one day and here it is! I had no idea it would be this soon because she moved up super fast! This is only her 5th cambio in the misión! Which means she only has 2 more than me, but she’s guapa that’s why she moved up so fast. Ha and God know that I needed a latina to help me learn spanish! Lol Hna G also got a latina comp this change..apparently we need some help! This change is going to be CRAZY! Lol I think this change I will learn A LOT!!! Bueno I thought my comp was this lil shy, quiet girl but oh how I was wrong! She is so bold and intense. We worked afool this week! It was cool because like our second or third day together we were having comp study and she was sharing a scripture (bueno before that I was telling her how I was so excited to be her comp because she’s a guapa and I knew I would learn a lot from her this change) and so after she shared the scripture she started crying and was saying that she had always prayed that she would be a good example for her comps and how she just wanted to be the best missionary she knew how to be y eso. And then it was so cute, she was like and I would always tell everyone how I wanted to be your comp because that first time I met you I just thought how fun it would be to be your comp and there was just something about you..chulina ¿verdad? But it’s so crazy because before the cambio I was like Heavenly Father just let me feel peace with my next cambio and know that it’s right y eso and I totally did. I know that I’m supposed to be with her right now. And I’m not gonna lie she’s kinda the type who’s like ‘my way or the highway’ and has dropped the cane on me a couple times so it’s kinda hard sometimes, but I’m humbling myself and trying not to be offended or anything and just learn and grow from this cambio. If I’m lucky I’ll be with her another cambio because I have a lot to learn from her. Pray for me  But ok I have no more time because we had an hermana activity today with all the hermanas! So fun!!! So I gotta see my momma (Hna Case) y Hna G and everyone! And we have zone conference this week! But that’s all the news for now! Thanks for all the emails!!! And really next week I’ll write Emily! But give Tyler big big kisses for me for his birthday! I can’t relieve he is 3!!! I looked at the blog emails…so cute!!! And give Grandma a big hug and kiss too for her bday! And GRACIAS to Hna Andersen for the email! I LOVED IT! What a guapa..and also Nick’s email was HILARIOUS. Love that kid. And also Hna Wariner!!! And tell her since she’s my visiting teacher she’s responsable for sending me letters and packages and everything  And Alena good jobo n your talk! And thanks for sending me Tyler’s prayer it was ADORABLE! Y bueno..mom if you could fix my spelling because the computer keeps changing i tinto weird words! Love yall so much! Have a great week! Love, Hermanita Nelson

Feliz dia de los in amorados‏

Familia y amigos!!! How are ya’ll? Lovin life? Ojala que si! What a great time to be alive! First off, I got letters from John and Pauline Sadovich in our ward (tell them thank you because they sent that like 2 months ago! It was such a good letter and had some awesome advice) and I also got one from Codi!!! I was so excited! And I’ll get a letter sent off to her next week! And also one from quicky dicky! And thank you Sister Curtis for FINALLY sending me an email! Oh and I finally got that email from Nick and Ty. I found it in my account when I was deleting the other ones. Ha I loved it. And can you give me their MTC addresses because I have a lil regalo for them. I have like no time to write today because for pday we had a zone activity and went to Tobati. It was like 3 hour travel but we did some hiking and got a couple sweet pics and then ate some yummy food! They had these things that were a lot like glaciers! They were SO GOOD! Bueno, we have cambios (changes) this week on Wed. Que triste. It’s weird because I remember thinking in the MTC…wow I love these hermanas so much (G, Deem, Burnette) and how can I love anyone just as much as I love them. And then I got with Hna Case. And she’s just such guapa. My heart just keeps growing and growing…there’s so much room to love! Ha it’s amazing. Ah and these people. I feel like this is the best area in the World, with the best members and investigators and how could I ever find other people and love them just as much? But I know I will. Ha but I also have a feeling this next change will be one of the hardest, because I have got to know Spanish already!!! So I’m just gonna push myself. Ha pray for me. Ha but guess what?! This week we actually had water…now our kitchen Light is just out! Ha gotta love it. Bueno I just want to leave yall with my testimony. This gospel is so AMAZING. I can’t believe I’ve already been on my misión for 5 months! Ahh I can’t believe how Fast time flies!! It makes me nervous. So ahora I’m just trying to enjoy everyday and every momento. There are a couple of elders going home in the next couple days that we’ve become pretty good friends with and it almost makes me cry just thinking that they are ending their missions and leaving Paraguay. On the collective ride today out to Tobati I was just staring out the Window and just looked out at Paraguay and it’s so BEAUTIFUL! I’ll be so so sad when I leave. Ah these people are just so close to my heart and I still can’t even understand them! Wow the misión is the best thing in the World. My comp. shared a quote with me and it’s from President Hinckley talking about sister missionaries. And it’s so good so I want to share it with yall. Dice, “ Many young women are serving missions. Many are preparing to serve. Not because they aren’t married or have nothing else to do, but because they have a desire to serve. The reason so many are going is because in the next generation, Heavenly Father will be sending his priesthood army to the Earth. He wants to send them to Mothers who have been properly trained and taught the gospel and what better training can a young woman have than that of serving a misión?” Chulina, ¿Verdad? The misión is awesome. I love it. Ah there is so much more I need to do to be a better missionary but I’m trying. I want to give it my all. Ha yeah I’m definitely going to be one of those weird missionaries who is ALWAYS telling misión stories and talking about Paraguay and about the people and how much I love them. I can’t wait. Prepare yourselves. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so true. So happy. And it changes lives. I love yall! Thanks for all the emails this week! I was so so excited to read all of them. They were excellent. Have an awesome week! Oh and I hope yall all had a good dia de los in amorados! Love, Hermanita Nelson

hey hey hey

Familia y amigos!!! How are yall?!!! I’m doing just fabulous! I love the mission! Oh the life of a missionary and the miracles we are able to witness. We’ve been working with this guy named Gustavo for the past monthish and he’s a stud. The problem has been that he already has his own religion and he’s comfortable there and he’s not really looking for a change in religion. Ha but wow it just amazes me how much truth there is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and how many blessings and how much happiness comes from the gospel. Anyways, we’ve seen him everyday this week and it’s really cool because every time we see him we just dig into the scriptures and he always has scriptures that he’s marked that he wants to share with us and then tells us why he likes them and it’s just awesome! Oh there is so much power in the Book of Mormon! And also everyday this week we’ve asked him if he was going to come to church and everytime he said vamos a ver and never gave us a commitment. Well we were at his house on Friday and he was telling us that the night before he was just sitting outside by himself and had time to just think. And he was thinking about the church and thinking that he would just need a sign in order to know. Well we know that that is not exactly how it works when we receive an answer! So my guapa comp turns to Alma 32 where it talks about “blessed are those who are humbled without being compelled to be humbled” and about signs, etc. and while she was looking it up, I took the opportunity to bear testimony. I told him that what it comes down to is if the Book of Mormon is true; because it’s either true or it’s not. And if it’s true, WOW! If it’s true Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God, and that he was a prophet called of God, and that we have prophets today on the earth to guide us and teach us the things we need to do to return to God and to live with our families forever! Ha I just get so excited about it! Oh the church is so true! Anyways, I just bore testimony and told him that God had a plan for him and that he had so much potential and testified how important it is to attend church and then went on to promise him blessings if he would. And then after Hna Case shared the scripture he still hadn’t given us a commitment that he would come, but explained that the reason he couldn’t come was because he was having a reunion with his friends that they only do every like 6 weeks or something (and I guess he had already told us about that a couple weeks ago too) but said if they didn’t show up by 8 then he would come. So we prayed and prayed and prayed and fasted that he would come, and then what happened?! He came!!! Apparently his friend’s car had broke down. Ha is that a sign enough?! It was awesome and testimony meeting was so perfect. I love this gospel! And yesterday when we first got to church we were about to enter the chapel and Manu was like Hermanas, hermanas look! And we were like what in the world? And then out walks Emilio in his white shirt and tie! Ha it was so cute and it gets better...he blessed the sacrament! It was so awesome to hear his voice over the speaker blessing the sacrament, and knowing that he holds the priesthood authority of God and that he is truly a man of God. And it gets better…we asked him earlier in the week if he would share his testimony because one of us is for sure leaving this next change and he was so nervous about it because he didn’t know what to do or say. And he was sitting there with Gustavo and Manu and Manu kept nudging him to go up and then Manu went up and he still hadn’t gone and we only had like 5 min. left, and then he got up and walked to the podium! And he was like, well I just got baptized and this is my first time up here and I’m kinda nervous, and then he just lost it. He put his arm over his face to control his tears…which of course made me lose it…and waited like 30 sec and tried to talk again but still couldn’t. Then he got control of himself and just thanked God for being able to be a part of this great work and thanked us for bringing him the truth and testified how it’s changed his life. It was so awesome! Afterwards so many people came up and told us how impressed they were by him and how fast he was progressing and what a strong testimony he has and how he just brought in such a special spirit when he bore his testimony. Wow, what a special and sacred experience! You know how in the call letter it says, “you’ll experience greater happiness and joy than you have ever felt” or something like that…well that’s how I felt! My heart was just about to burst! I am just overcome with happiness and feel soo soo blessed to be a part of this great work, to be an instrument in the Lord’s hand and to be a part of his conversion and to have this opportunity to get to know these people! I love them so much already, it’s amazing because I still can’t understand them half the time. But my heart is so full of love for them and I just want them to experience the happiness of the gospel. Oh what a great work this is! I love it…and it makes it all worth it..for example…the fact that we have to shower out of the sink because there’s no water…or the fact that we didn’t even shower for the past couple days because there was NO WATER in our apt and the fact that we went to bed dirty and sweaty and stuck to our beds because it’s so humid and that we’ve gotten like a total of 10 hours of sleep for the last 3 days because it’s been so hot and humid! Ha pero igual no mas. I actually think it’s hilarious and I love experiencing all of this! Oh Paraguay! What an adventure. It doesn’t get any better than this. Camping, what?! The church is true and that’s all that matters. Love yall and love this work! Have a great week!! And also thank Sis Wariner for her letter! I love getting them! And I loved Emily’s too…I’ll write her back next week! And Chel better write me this next week all about her hot date! And I want pictures too! I also got Keri’s dearelder..gracias! It’s so awesome that you’re working for the Daily Universe, you’d be soo soo good at that! And that’s so cool that Chels is taking your engagement pictures, I can’t wait to see them! How exciting! I love getting yall’s letters! Keep them coming!!! Oh and before you send the package make sure to include: garments ( I want those bottoms you got me that came out new..they are amazing and I need some more tops!) also perfume, dove deodorant, toothpaste/brush, facewash, bobbypins, chapstick (a liquid kind), a calendar, one of those lil battery spray fans, koolaid, mixed nuts or trail mix, cheese itz, ped socks!!! (black ones), pictures, mascara and eyeliner. I can’t remember what I told you last week so yeah…but any food would just be fabulous! Love yall! Love, Hermanita Nelson

Guess What?!

Hola!!!! Guess what, guess what, guess what?!!!! EMILIO GOT BAPTIZED!!! Ha I didn't want to tell you anything about it last week because I was afraid it would jinx it again lol! But the 30th de Enero he got baptized and received the Holy Ghost and priesthood yesterday at church! Can you believe it?! Por fin! It's been crazy! He's such a stud. It was funny because for the last couple of weeks he's just seemed like a member to me, because everytime we went to his house he would teach us something from what he had read. He's about half way done with the Book Of Mormon and it's so awesome to look through his book because he marks all the ones he likes and writes comments and questions. The kid is a stud. He wrote us a letter and just thanked us for bringing him the truth and he said he couldn't wait to be a part of ¨this great work of the Lord"and he told us he wants to go on a mission! He'll go. Man, I just can't get over it. It was so cute at his baptism because he was just so smiley the whole time! How awesome that I get to start off my mission with him. Hermana Case said he has been her best investigator by far and that he's been the most converted, but I'm gonna find more! Ah and I just love Paraguayo's. It's so cool because when they're converted they aren't afraid to share their testimony with anyone! In fact they love to share it with everyone and they're always testifying about how the gospel has changed their lives and made them so much happier and how they love the scriptures and the Lord. It's awesome! There's this kid named Manuel in our ward ( I can't remember if I've told you about him) but he's such a stud too. And he'll usually go with us once a week and help us out and everytime it just makes me want to be better and to be bold and to share with everyone the excitement of the gospel. But after the FHE last week Manu and Emilio were talking and I went up and told them to teach me. And the day before Emilio had his interview to be baptized and before that he shared a scripture with us. THe scripture is 2 Nephi 29:6-7 and he just shared how the scripture was kinda the trigger for his conversion. ANd how he had found it after having his doubts about Joseph Smith and everything, and that when he read that scripture it changed things for him and HE KNEW. Anyways, Manu said he would share a scripture (and I thought he was going to do one from 3 Nephi because he was telling me earlier that he was reading that) but no, instead he picked that SAME scripture Emilio had shared with us the day before and Emilio and I looked at each other and we were like no way! Ha it was awesome. But anyways, he read it and then told us why he liked it and then Emilio was like, can I share why I like it. So then he shared again why he liked it and then they asked me why I liked it. I don't know, it was just so cool sitting there talking about the scriptures and feeling the Spirit. I love the scriptures! I love that people can read the same scripture and like it for so many different reasons. It's so awesome! And then I had a vision! haha well...I just pictured myself teaching at the Provo MTC and then being there when Manu and Emilio came in to go on their missions! Ha can you imagine? THat would be so awesome! And Manu was only baptized like 8 months ago and they're both such studs. Oh how I love the gospel! Emilio's baptism was really good though. Nobody from his family came, which is something that I think is really hard for him because he knows how important the family is to the gospel. But his ward family was there. That's something that is so cool too. That the members here are so welcoming and they just love him. Love it. And after his baptism we had cake and things got a lil out of hand and somebody started a cake fight...I don't know who it was... but it was hilarious. Oh the mission! I love it. ha and have I told you that Paraguayoś are the biggest liars. It's actually really funny and they hide from you which is even funnier. That cute lady I told you about last week who was sitting out reading the pamphlet we gave her, HID from us this week. As in we see her sitting outside on her chair and we're walking towards her and we straight up see her get out of her chair and run to her door and go inside and lock it! Hilarious. Life can't get any better than this. And yesterday after we ate lunch (I don't know if I've ever told you that we live with 2 other hna's but we do and they're latin and they think they are so funny and call me witch all the time..shouldn't have taught them that word lol and I love them to death..anyways) so we were about ready to leave but I still had to go to the bathroom really bad but Hna Garcia had gotten up to go, so I'm thinking in my head, I have to beat her to the bathroom. SO I stand up and start running to the bathroom door and right when I got right in front of it, I BIFFED it SO HARD and fell right on my butt and knocked my knee and hip into the edge of the door on the way down. How embarrassing. ha I could barely walk after that but we all had the giggles so bad! Love it. Ah I'm pretty sure my time is up BUT I'm going to try and send some pictures!!! BE EXCITED! And thank you for everyone's emails this week...much better! And I don't have time to email back today, but I already have it all written down so I'll just do it quickly next week. Oh but tell Sis. Wariner and Chel that I did get their letters they sent in the mail the week before last (sorry I thought I already said that) and I wrote them back last Monday (letters) but I don't have any money to send them out yet. I'm broke! And also thanks Becky Goodwin because I just got her letter last week too and I love them! Keep them coming everyone! And Gpa Olson is in my prayers, poor guy! And oh my goodness!!! Nick had his farewell!!! I can't believe it. TIme flies by! What a stud. He's gonna be awesome! And I have a present for him so I'll need his MTC address so I can send it. Tell him to be excited. Love all yall and if anyone was planning on sending me a package or anything here are just a few things you could include if you wanted :) PICTURES...I am seriously lacking pictures from yall, ped socks (black), deodorant (dove), mascara and eyeliner, FOOD (cheeze itz, trail mix, kit kats, fruit snacks, koo laid...really anything AMERICAN)! ha love yall! love the gospel, love the mish. Pray for me! Make it an AWESOME week! Love, Hermanita Nelson

Finally posting...Sorry for the delay

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Monday seems to be a jinx day for me and I've been sick for the past couple of Mondays and just didn't get the emails posted. I'm just going to get the one from today posted and will try to get the others posted later:

Hola familia y amigos! First off, wow it sounds like yall had a crazy week! I’m sorry to hear that Gary passed away and I can’t believe nobody called and told you! Luckily you were able to attend his funeral. Oh grandpa…he cracks me up! And I saw Angela’s pictures and I was so shocked when I saw the pictures of the snow. I had literally forgotten that it was so cold there. Time is so weird here! I don’t even know what the dates are..I know it’s January but it sure doesn’t seem like it. Weird! So this week some funny things happened. First, I totally got on the wrong collective. We were standing at the corner waiting to go and then Hna Case was like ok there’s one, so I’m like sweet and then I turn around to get on it and then I see Hna Case walking outside towards the back of the collective (because there’s a door at the back) so I just figured she was going to get on in the back..and then once I got on, I realized she had not gotten on and then started freaking out haha. So I’m like ah wait! And I got off and see her hopping on the collective right behind us. Que verguenza. So then I run to get on the other one and the driver was like, ha did you lose your lil friend? So embarrassing lol. And then later we almost got attacked by a big dog. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that there are dogs EVERYWHERE! It’s hilarious and sad because they’re all about ready to die because they just eat whatever they can find. Anyways there were these dogs barking at us so we told them to stop and then all of a sudden we hear this dog running up behind us barking its head off and I just grabbed on Hna Case’s arm because I was so scared! But then we got away. Oh Paraguay! And then one day we had planned out our day and we’re going to our citas and everything and we had an appointment for this guy named Antolin for 5:00 but we ended up doing it a lot earlier in the day…anyways we went to pick up Victor because he was going to come and help us and we were waiting at his house for him to get home from work and this kid came in the gate. And we were like who is that? And we figured he was just passing through the backyard because people do that all the time, but then he came back to the front. So we asked him who he was and apparently he’s Justino’s nephew. So we’re like sweet and we were just sitting there, so I was like well we should probably just teach him while we’re waiting. Ha so we started singing and then start the lesson and Hna Case was like look at your schedule. And it was right around 5:00 and turns out that kid’s name was Antolin. Ha crazy! We were like apparently the Lord knew we were supposed to see you today! And then he came to church yesterday too! Oh how the Lord blesses us when we’re following our plans. Awesome. And also we saw this cute lil old lady a couple of weeks ago and I kept feeling like I should talk to her, but I didn’t. Fail, I know. But I just kept thinking about her and then somebody told us she was looking for us and wanted to talk to us. So we ended up finding her house a couple days ago and just stopped by and invited her to church and gave her a pamphlet because we had other citas, and then later we walked by again and it was so cute because she was just sitting out on her lil chair reading it. So we’re gonna see her tomorrow! She’s just the cutest little thing and I’m excited to start teaching her! Ok and I don’t have time to write Angela and Alisa back today, but they can wait  But I LOVED the pictures and I’m almost done reading Angela’s blogs! And I like that it’s going to email them straight to me. Perfect. And Alisa asked me about building up the kingdom of God..and I didn’t have very much time to think about it, but I had a couple ideas. I liked the ideas about the envelopes, but maybe you could even have them start thinking about their testimonies and helping them realized that first we need to build up our own ‘kingdoms’ because we are each daughters of a King, entonces we are all princesses of a loving Heavenly Father. As we begin to realize our own individual worth and understand our relationship with God we will have a greater desire to serve others. And then you could have them write a letter to the Lord. Tell them to write Him what they are willing to do for Him and what kinds of things they will give up to serve Him better. Help them realize that our testimonies of Jesus Christ and the gospel should be the foundation of our lives (Hel. 5:12) and that is the foundation that will help build the Kingdom of God. We can build up his kingdom by serving him, by being an example. We will show the Lord that we love Him through our actions. As people begin to see the love they have for the Lord through their example they will want to know Him(the Lord) because they know them. That probably didn’t make any sense, but it made sense in my head. Lol Ahh I gotta go! I love yall so much! Thanks for all the letters this week. Loved them! Have a great week! Pray for me so I can do the things I need to do to serve these people. Love, Hermanita Nelson

Felicidades!‏

Hola familia y amigos! Happy New Year!!! Ok can you believe that I will not step foot in the United States at all in 2010?! LOCO! Ha that's so crazy and I was thinking about that and then I thought man, I`m going to be talking about the year 2010 for the rest of my life! So I`ve been thinking a lot about what I am going to do to become that missionary I want to be and that God wants me to be. And let`s be honest the mission is hard. I don`t know exactly what I was expecting ha but it`s awesome. And I`ve just been thinking, you just gotta love it. You have to love the work, and love the people and love everything y despues you`ll be successful. ¿Verdad? We had some really cool experiences with finding people this week and teaching them and it was just fun. I love feeling the Spirit so strong and feeling God`s love for these people. A veces it`s hard because the people just straight up lie. But here`s what I decided. I know I`m in Paraguay for a reason. I know God called me here because there are people that I can help. I don`t want to have to pull people by the teeth in order to get them to come to church or baptize people when they don`t really understand what it means. To be baptized is a big deal! They are entering a covenant with God. I want to see these people after this life, I want to meet them at the tree. And I think a lot of it has to do with us as missionaries. Are we teaching them everything they need to know? Are they feeling the Spirit during each lesson and building a relationship with their Heavenly Father? I just know that there are people out there waiting and ready to hear and that just really motivates me to work harder and give it all I can. I love my companion. She is a guapa. And we decided that this week we are going to work harder than we ever have and I´m so excited. Ha sometimes it's hard when it's really hot outside and you`ve just eaten a thanksgiving feast for lunch but I know the Lord can bless me with the energy I need when I show him that I really want to serve Him. This work is awesome. Ha we`re gonna figure this out, and then we`re just going to take off. Watch out! The gospel is so true! And man have I told you how much I LOVE companion study? I think it's so awesome that Ty's studying with his friends because it will help so much. Ha and I should probably apologize because I was never really that big of a fan of family scripture study and always whined about it, but now oh man! I love reading the scriptures and just talking about them and hearing different opinions and how so many people can interpret one scripture so differently. It's so cool! So I can encourage yall to make family scripture study more effective, just become excited about the scriptures and just talk about each verse! Ah love it! Ha man it must be hard to be a parent. Because all you're trying to do is raise your kids in the right ways and hope they catch on. Ha and now I finally figured it out! Ha it only took 21 years. But thanks! Thanks for being the parents that raised us in the gospel and did family scripture study and prayer even when we didn't want to. Wow what a difference the LITTLE THINGS make! President Wade talked to us about that...be obedient to the little things and that makes the difference. It's so true. A couple things that we talked about in comp study that I want to share. We talked about the 'word of God' and that the word of God is found in the scriptures. And Hermana Case compared it to instruction manuals...in most everything you buy it comes with instructions or directions on how to use the product to be successful..even pop tart boxes come with directions. Anyways, we talked about how the scriptures are our instructions on how to receive eternal life. The word of God, the word of the prophets. And then I went through the scriptures and found different descriptions on how they described the word of God. I don`t have the list with me, but it was huge and it was so interesting on all the different descriptions. Do that too! And then I found a scripture that I really liked! 3 Nephi 28:20 ha read the whole chapter it's good and funny actually..it says 'they did smite the earth with the WORD OF GOD' and I was like YEAH.. that sounds good. I like that. That's what I want to do. Smite the earth. Ha love it. So don't even worry about me, I'll just be smiting the earth with the word of God. Aver so man who knew that I loved mangos so much. There are mango trees EVERYWHERE. Ha and can I just tell you that I love that I'm in a mission that when you ask people for directions they say 'you just past the fence and go for a while and it's just right by the big mango tree' ha hilarious. Because they only have street signs in the chu chi areas..which I am not in. So I'm all about picking fruit off of trees and eating it..and off the street for that manner. I've had so many mangos and manzanitas (these lil lil apples) and also coconut...different than I thought it would be...there are coconut trees and they're just in these balls and you crack them open with a rock and then you just eat them..it doesn't taste like coconut, it tastes like walnuts. Ok and so apparently tengo un bigote, look that up because it's embarrassing. haha so they put steroids in the food or something I don't even know and yeah wakala. And remind me to tell you all my experiences with bathrooms after the mission because wow...I think it beats camping. I love this mission. How awesome that I'm here. And a couple cool experiences from this week. So Hermana Case met this lady her first day with Hna Tsosie, so like two or 3 months ago and she met her in a jammed pack collectivo and gave her a pamphlet and told her a lil bit about the church and gave her our number. Well they never saw her or anything and then a couple weeks ago she called like out of the blue and said she saw us with her son and that they wanted us to come by. So we set up a time to see them like 3 or 4 different times and it never worked out. And then it just so happened that we had to go to the store and buy something..a store that we never go to..and then we had to wait for a collective in a spot that we never wait at..and then after about 20 min of waiting we decided to go even further to a spot where we have never waited and were randomly standing in the middle of the intersection trying to decide which collectivo to take and then there's this lady that starts talking to us and asks if we're the missionaries..anyways turns out she was Fatima (the lady) ha what the random, right? Such a miracle...and we saw her the other day ha and she's a guapa. She works all the time and hasn't been able to come to church, but the Lord will bless her and she'll be able to come. Wow the Lord really does help us and apparently we were supposed to teach her because the Lord just kept puting her in our path. Ha ok I have no more time! But thanks for all the emails!!! Alena and Ty it is about time! Keep them coming! I love hearing what's going on! And Ty that's so awesome that you went through the temple, I want to hear all about it! And Alena...omg I legitimately almost peed my pants when I read your 'funny story' I was reading it on a collectivo and everyone was looking at me like I was crazy because I was laughing so hard...ha but let's be honest it sounded legit. And Alena thanks for the pictures...yall are all such hotties! And thank you grandma for always writing...your temple experience must have been really special! Let's work on getting everyone in the family there! The gospel is so true! Have a great week! Enjoy the new year!! Love, Hermanita Nelson

Hola and Happy New Year!

Hola familia y amigos!!! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!!! It was so fun to talk to yall and hear your cute voices! And thank you to Alisa for finally writing me!!!! And to grandma and mom and dad! Unfortunately, Ty, Alena, and Angela did not get the memo…so yall better work on that real fast  K bueno! So I have no time again! Yikes! But ready for what it´s like in Paraguay at Christmas time?! Ha oh Paraguay..first we had to be in our house at 7 because after that it gets a lil crazy and they just celebrate with a MILLION LOUD FIREWORKS..it´s insane and then they turn their music up really loud. Ha it´s awesome. Oh and the other night there was a really bad thunderstorm at like 3 in the morning and I felt like we were going to die. It was like banging out bathroom door shut because there´s a lil window that´s open in there and the thunder and lightning was so so cool! I love thunderstorms. But Paraguayans hate the rain.Literally . They use it as an excuse for everything…like not coming to church. No bueno. Our numbers were really low this week but I´m so excited to get to work this next week and get all our numbers up again because last week was crazy with everything! Oh which reminds me Dec. 24th was my one month anniversary in Paraguay and Hna. Case´s one year! And we celebrated it with a wedding and a baptism! So awesome! What an awesome present! And whoever said baptizing in South America was easy was wrong… that is if you want legit converts. I love teaching these people about the gospel but I want to see the conversion process take place like it did with Emilio, Victor, and Gustavo and his family. I want them to love the gospel and understand what it means! Hna Case and I had a really good conversation about the gospel last night and how powerful and amazing it is. The last days are coming. And we are here in Paraguay in the last days with the calling to teach these people the word of God. Ah it´s such a great calling and what an amazing message we have been called to share. I really feel so so so blessed to be able to serve a mission. How awesome that all I have to do for a year and a half is share the message of eternal families, of the plan of salvation, of the restoration of Christ´s gospel on the earth again. How awesome that my relationship with God is growing stronger and stronger everyday and that I have the Spirit with me all the time! Yeah sometimes it is REALLY hot outside and the food is not my favorite..but I am in Paraguay! What in the world?! Ha it still blows my mind sometimes. What an amazing calling..to be a missionary. I love it. I love the gospel and I know that it´s true and knowing that just motivates me to learn Spanish because I want to be able to communicate with these people and tell them how the gospel has changed my life and has changed me and how infinite the Atonement is and how amazing prayer is…how amazing it is that we can have a PERSONAL relationship with God! Our creator, our Father. Wow..blows my mind! The Book of Mormon is true and it changes lives. I love it! I´m so stoked for 2010 and just a chance to make new goals and start afresh! Just a few funny things… Ok in Paraguay they eat MAYONAISE with EVERYTHING! Ha it is sick! I remember Karina..the girl I worked with from Boys and Girls Club in AF who is from Brazil used to do that..and I was like you are so gross! Ha but they really do use it on everything..yikes. And everyone here thinks it is hilarious that my last name is Nelson. Ha I never thought I would have a problem with my last name…but they think it is so funny and everyone tells me that I have the name of a man. And I´m like oh for the love it´s my apellido (last name) ha and they still look at me funny! Oh and we sing before we teach everyone..so that is a lot of times in one day and the best part is that the people NEVER sing with us, so it´s me and Hna. Case singing a duet…I just thought yall would appreciate that because you know how beautiful my voice is! Ha yeah no. And the bathrooms here..oh dear the bathrooms…first of all about 98% of the people we teach don´t really have bathrooms..they’re just lil outhouses that they have in their backyards…camping?! But all the other bathrooms you don’t flush your toilet paper! Haha yeah…the smells…yikes. Ok and yall are going to all appreciate this…remember how I said I´m gaining wait…I totally BROKE A CHAIR! Haha how embarrassing. We were sitting there waiting for a collectivo and I was on this lil crate thing and I was like oh man this feels like it´s about to break so I go to stand up and I totally fall right through it! Haha and then I go to stand up and it was stuck to my butt! Oh dear!!! Anyways I have no more time! But thank you Alisa and Skyler for your email and ADORABLE pictures! Loved them! And Happy Birthday Kylee!!!! That´s so fun that everyone will be there! Tell them all hi and give them all kisses and take pics and send them in the package  And tell the Bachelor´s, Berry´s, Dave, Keri, Chels (FINALLY), thanks for writing me! I´ll try to write them next week!! And also Becky Goodwin…I loved your email! You are amazing and you better keep them coming..and I want to know the whole story about you are your husband and all the craziness and how yall finally ended up together! I hope everyone has an AMAZING NEW YEARS! Wow 2010. Live it up! Love yall! Love, Hermanita Nelson