Week 76: This week was harder than finding 3 mormons together!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a difficult week, it was harder than finding 3 Mormons together! But other than that it was a good week. Lots of thinking and praying, but we're still going good with our animo :)

This week while doing contacts we contacted a 23 year old and were talking with him when suddenly he asks us why missionaries always walk in groups of 2. After explaining that it is the way the lord set up, that it helps us be safer, and is more efficient than using three he explained to us why. In the streets there is a saying (Not a saying that every Chilean knows, just ones that spend more time in the street) that is "Its harder than finding 3 Mormons together" and it means that the thing referred to is super hard. So that is why our week was harder than finding 3 Mormons together :)

This week we had a ton of appointments and we were stoked to go visit and teach all of them. But in total we had 2 appointments that were good and all the others fell through. So in total in 2 weeks we have had 37 appointments fail. That is a pretty huge number. That was pretty hard on us. We were working really hard and giving it our all and we weren't finding anyone. It was pretty frustrating, but with lots of prayer and study of faith, hope, and diligence, we were able to make it through the week.

This week we found out that there are a lot of hidden problems in the zone caused by a little bit of laziness and lack of diligence from our district leaders. We had put a lot of confidence in them, and come to find out they were abusing it a little bit. That was really hard because we did divisions and I went to the sector of the district leader with his companion. They had no plans really because they didn't have any new people to visit. It was saddening and frustrating to hear about what was going on. In divisions we just took out the trash and did 21 contacts and found 14 future investigators for them. But the next day I had to talk to the district leader and correct him and humble him a lot. It was hard to do, but it was necessary. He was mad at us the next day and at stake conference he didn't look us in the eyes and we had to greet him because he just tried to walk by us. But after the conference he worked hard so obviously what we did helped them out.

This week I was having a frustrating week with everything and decided to try and make my studies even more meaningful and personal. I decided to read the scriptures with a question in mind and then I decided to study repentance. It was an incredible study. When I read about repentance and the nature of it, it was a great peace in my soul. It was something that was more than just feeling calm, it was a peace even stronger. A hope that I can get better, and a desire to achieve it. It was a great study and all the scriptures that I read that day really helped me understand it. It was incredible. I made an effort to have studies like that all week and I achieved it a couple of times. 

This week is going to be very interesting! Elder Teixera the area president of our area is going to do a conference with the 4 zones that are close by. It is going to be amazing but the cool part is before the normal conference is is going to have a conference with the zone leaders so it will be us (8 zone leaders for the 4 zones) alone with Elder Teixera! It is going to be cool and amazing to be with a 70 almost personally. I am pretty sure that he is going to interview us as well. But I will let you know how it goes :)

Love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

 

 

Week 75: Taking out the Trash

Buenos Dias a Todos!!!

This week was a great week and definitely a turning point in my mission! I have been doing contacts for almost my whole mission but there was always a little bit of fear, almost no faith, and not too much effort unless they were golden. But this week I lost all fear in my contacts, I put my faith to the test, I gave it my all, and we planted the seeds.

My companion taught me a valuable lesson about contacts, he taught me that they work. My companion has almost the same amount of time as me, and about half as many baptisms, but as always I asked how he found them. And unlike every other missionary, he has the majority of his baptisms from contacts. It was a living testimony that they work, so I decided to make them work.

Every day this week we worked as hard as we could to contact and talk to 20 people a day, and we saw the miracles. This week we have 13 appointments with future investigators and many of them are families, so we will see if they are willing to take the next step in the path of conversion. 

I finally feel like a missionary that is proud to say that he has a good amount of time in the mission because I finally feel like I enjoy doing every part of the mission work, including contacts.

This week we contacted a lady named J who was pretty interested in God and his teachings. We didn't have much time with her but we gave her a Book of Mormon and made an appointment for Thursday. On Thursday we passed by and started teaching and she started crying because she was passing for lots of pain and stress in her family because her parents are old and sick and dying. We had a very spiritual lesson and it was wonderful. Today we have another lesson with her. She is the best hope we have of a baptism this month so if you could pray for her that would be awesome.

This week I had a Deja-Vu of my Valparaiso days because a group of 7 men were drinking and relaxing in a plaza. When we passed  by they started making comments and my Valparaiso instinct turned on and we went of to say hi to them. They invited us to sit by them so we did. Then they started asking us the typical questions of "How long are you in Chile, how much money do they pay you to be here, why do you come, why do you adore John Smith?" and the other typical questions. When we answered they were pretty astounded that we don't get paid to be here. They were also a little bit confused they we don't worship "John Smith" (Joseph smith) and i more than eagerly taught lesson 1. It was so cool because as I was teaching they were all paying close attention and wanted to know more. One of the guys kept asking questions that had nothing to do with anything and the others would yell at him to hush so that I could keep talking about Joseph Smith. In the end I had the lesson1 pamphlet out showing the picture of the first vision like a elementary school teacher would to her class of Kindergartners. They were all in awe and they started asking really good questions. They invited us back the next Sunday to teach more. 

Another example of why we don't sleep in the mission ha ha.
Last night I went to bed at 11:30 like normal and was sleeping pretty well until the phone rang. I looked at the clock and it was 2 in the morning. Our District leader was calling because his companion was really sick and had been throwing up all night and was really dehydrated and was hyperventilating because he was scared because he felt so sick. He had a fever of 103 degrees and was in really bad shape. To make it worse, the District leader was throwing up as well. Needless to say with lots of calls, prayers, soothing remarks, and trying to remember all my first aid training through the fog of late night sleep we managed to fix the situation at about 3:30 in the morning. Then like normal we woke up at 7. The elders are okay now and are sleeping to get better. Sleepless in Coquimbo ha ha :)

That was my week!

I love you all!

Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 74: Epic Rap Battles of the Mission!

Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was a great week full of tons of work and little sleep! I am so tired, but so happy with what we have accomplished! A week full of new investigators, lessons, contacts, and street raps to get us pumped :)

This week we had the challenge of finding a new investigator every day to find a total of 7 new investigators and we did it!!! We didn't find 1 new a day but we did find a total of 7 new investigators!!

We found a family whose dad is an inactive member and his wife (SHE IS MARRIED!!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF FINDING A COUPLE WHO IS MARRIED IN CHILE!! WOOHOO!!) and his son who is 10. They are very good and have shared with the missionaries before, but didn't understand the lessons at all. We are now teaching them and they are understanding more and more every day :) Pray for them please :)

We have been doing tons and tons of contacts which is good to find new people to teach, but at the same time people are pretty mean and after hours of doing them it wears you out a little. But my companion is a boss at beat boxing so to relax we will do freestyle raps :) It is really fun and my freestyle skills are getting better every day ;) When they are good enough to brag about we will send you a video :) But anyways yesterday we were kinda frustrated with the day so we decided to do rap offs between companionship's. So my comp would pretend to be a different missionary and I would pretend to be that other missionaries companion and we would have a rap off using the characteristics of the missionaries to make the raps funny and awesome :) It was hilarious and made my day. Then with our spirits lifted we did more contacts and found some good future investigators.

This week we had the awesome opportunity of watching a worldwide missionary capacitation. It is the first one they have had in more than 10 years. I learned a lot from the apostles and 70's who gave capacitations. They spoke a lot about having faith, focusing on bringing the spirit into lessons, inviting less actives and recent converts to share with their friends and family, and seeing people as they really are. It was a great capacitation and it really motivated the missionaries.

This week I had a great experience with prayer. I was on interchanges with an Elder who is kind of new, but isn't like me at all ha ha. He is from a family where he hasn't had to work hard, has been given everything, and expects everything to be given to him. It was hard in the beginning because he is known for just following his companion around, but as a zone leader in interchanges you have to make things happen. I was kinda bummed that we didn't have any appointments which makes it hard to have success. But I remembered the advice of the sister missionaries when I asked them what they did to have so much success. They said they prayed to give thanks, and prayed to find, and then after finding prayed to give thanks again. With that in mind I decided to pray. After praying we kept working and achieved some little things, like giving out a book, I said another prayer of thanks and asked for more guide. We went and taught a lesson and the investigator accepted a baptismal date. We left and I said a prayer of thanks and prayed for more guide. That day I received many instructions from the spirit in order to help me help the elder progress, find new people to teach, and to have success in that day. I know that if we pray, not just one time, but many times, and not just asking, but also giving thanks, that Heavenly Father will bless us with what we need and with happiness :)

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

MC Elder Nielson :)

 

t

 

Week 73: Cat Poop, Changes, And a New week

Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was a interesting week with very little mission work.

Monday we had P-day and then had a FHE with the bishop, some recent converts, and with some new members that moved here. It was fun and our converts are doing well.

On Tuesday we had to clean a house all day because the sister missionaries are moving out, and it is the zone leaders job to prepare it to be turned in to the Owner (And I thought cleaning my room was tough!)

On Wednesday we had changes and went to Viña in the bus. We got there just in time for the meeting and went and sat down. I am staying in Coquimbo with my new awesome companion Elder N. He is American but his parents are from Tonga so he is huge, funny, happy, and doesn't look like a gringo. We work very well together and it is going to be a great change :)

After changes we had to stay in Viña because my companion had a meeting on Thursday. While my companion was in his meeting on Thursday I went with some other zone leaders to go to Valparaiso to go visit my converts!!! It was the best and I was so happy to see them! They are pretty good. They had stopped participating so much in the church because the missionaries arent visiting them. It was hard to hear that, but we had a good lesson about enduring to the end and doing the little things. It was just what they needed. If you could pray for them that would be great.

Friday we had Counsel of Mission Leaders with president and it was good. All the numbers in the mission are dropping and it was a good presenation on the need to be good leaders to help the missionaries be focussed on finding people to teach always. I learned alot and had some good spiritual promptings.

Friday night we were going to take the bus from 6 at night until 2 in the morning, but somehow we missed the bus and the next one didnt leave until 11:30 at night. So we traveled from 11:30 until 5:30 in the morning, got to the appartment at about 6 and opened the door to a surprise. As I walked in I almost stepped in... Yeah thats right... Cat Poop!. Inside the appartment there was cat poop meaning only 1 thing... There was a cat in the appartment. We went looking at all the windows and they were all shut. After looking for a half hour we found a cat hiding under one of the beds and chased it out of the appartment. It had been inside for 3 days!! It  must have got in during the day and when we shut the windows in the nighttime it couldnt leave. 

After chasing the cat out of the appartment we took a good half hour nap until 7 and then we woke up and worked.

My comp is awesome, we dont have any investigators yet, but we will find some soon :)

Stay Golden! love you tons!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 72: Through the Fire and Flames

Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was definitely a tough week full of trials, not much to report, but lots of walking, contacting, praying, contacting, and a couple of shocking letdowns.

This week, as we only had 1 progressing investigator (J) we spent almost everyday walking in the street contacting people and houses. It was really rough because no one was home and everyone was at the beach or really mean (seems like the fun people go to the beach and the mean people stay home). It was really tough. We had some days where we contacted all day and didn't have one person who said that we could pass by another day. It was really hot and really tough. But at least we had Jorge to teach every once and awhile.

J passed his interview for the baptism and everything was perfect... Until Sunday morning...

15 Minutes before church we got a call and J said that he wasn't going to be able to make it to church and that he wasn't going to get baptised. His family said that they were going to kick him out of the house if he got baptized. (He is 41 years old and takes care of his family). It was sad, but it showed that his testimony wasn't strong enough to break past the trials. Needless to say, he didn't get baptized and he wont be sharing with us anymore. It was sad to hear that, because that is the second investigator that was about to get baptized and then bailed on us this change.

Well this week we have changes and meetings so we will see how things go in order to baptize this month. Your prayers to find new people to teach would be very appreciated :)

I love you all!

Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

 

 

Week 71: I didnt choose the Fleite life... The fliete life chose me.

Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was a fantastic week of baptisms, New Year, and Progress :)

This week we prepared everything for the Baptism of M and M and they got baptized on Wednesday!! They were so happy and are such faithful members already! It is such a pleasure to have worked with them :) It was a great service and then on Sunday they got Confirmed! Work, prayers, and faith has shown its fruit once again :)

Sunday was a great day because P another one of my converts fasted for the first time and payed her fast offerings. She is progressing well and is going to become a strong member :)

J our other investigator came to church so he will be baptized this Sunday. He is super awesome and is living the Word of Wisdom. He stopped drinking tea and is now drinking coca cola instead ha ha :) At least we have  some progress there :)

We also had a great New year. We ate a huge dinner with a member and the Elders From Andacollo because there were no buses to make it to the activity the next day so they had to come early :) It was a blast and it was super delicious :) In the night we got to see some fireworks for about 5 minutes. They were cool while it lasted :)

On new years day we watched a movie in a zone activity. It is called the Cokesville Miracle. It is super good. It is by the same group that made 17 Miracles and Efraims Rescue. It is pretty intense but has a great spiritual ending :)

Other than that we didn't do much more this week. We are teaching, looking for more people to teach. 

But to end it all... Today I didn't choose the Fleite Life, The fleite Life chose me. Today I had to get a haircut because my hair was super long, But what I got was not what I was expecting. I showed the hair cutting lady a picture of the hair I wanted and she explained what she was thinking and I told her that it was exactly what I wanted. I sat down and before I could take a breath she shaved the side of my head!!! So now on the sides and on the back I am basically bald, like a really really short buzz. On top it is my normal hair style. It is a super super super fleite haircut and the moment the other elders saw me they all started laughing and making fun of how fleite I look! I will send pictures next week, but maybe I will have more success with the fleites ha ha :)

That is about it for this week!

I love you all, stay golden, Don't get haircuts! ;)

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

 

 

Week 70: Tanto Tiempo! (Long Time no talk;) )

Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was a good week! We had Christmas, The Christmas Call, Lots of Lessons, and We are going to have 3 baptisms!! :)

Well this letter will be pretty short, but this week I got to Celebrate Christmas a little bit :) On the 24th we worked during the day, visiting less actives and recent converts to sing them Christmas songs (I don't know if it was a pleasure or a punishment for them ;)) and did that until the Night time. At 8 we went to the bishops house to spend the evening with them :) We ate a Christmas Dinner, Rice with a sauce and spices, Mushrooms with the same sauce, and Malenaise (A chicken breast soaked in a sauce and the breaded) :) It was really delicious and we had some good conversations about every ones favorite Christmas memory.

After dinner we cleaned up and opened presents! From the bishop we got a chocolate Santa, a knit owl key chain, and a tie pin :) It was fun to be in a house where everyone was excited. The best part was seeing the bishops sons open presents ha ha. They were so excited that it was hilarious. One of the boys got a comic book that he really wanted and almost passed out after hyperventilating and freaking out. 

After that we ran to the apartment and opened the presents from the Grandparents and my Family. Thank you for the candy, cookies, yo-yo, and teeth whitening strips. 

On the 25th we woke up and went and taught some lessons and then went and called the family! It was awesome to see my grandparents, parents, and little sis. It was a great conversation, but 40 minutes is pretty short ha ha :)

After that we went and ate with our ward mission leader and then went to teach a lesson to the M and M. They are both getting baptized this Wednesday and it is going to be awesome! They are so prepared and have progressed so much together. And in the end of the lesson she gave us a present. Each of us got a white shirt, 3 pairs of socks, and new very attractive shoes (Exactly what you told me I needed in the call). It was awesome. She is so loving and really wants to help others. It was a great gift and we thanked her like a million bazillion times.

After that the week was work, work, teach, teach, search, search. We have 2 baptisms this week, and in 2 weeks Jorge is going to get baptised. We are preparing all of them and looking for more :)

Thank you all for the Christmas wishes, prayers, and encouragement. 

Have a fantastic New year! Stay Golden in 2016 too!

I love you all!

Talk to you next year! ;)

Love,

Elder Nielson :)