March 5, 2012

Hello,

So we got transfer calls this morning, and Elder Dannatt will be leaving me. So on Wednesday we will head down to Memphis and find out who the new guy is and head back and get to work. We had a pretty good week, we did some more service, and we are working on getting the members more involved in missionary work. We changed around a lot of the things that we have been doing, hoping to get some better results. So far it seems to be going pretty well. We have been teaching a couple named Mitch and Emily who have 2 kids, and we found out this week that Mitch is good friends with Andrew Turner in the Branch, so Andrew went and talked with him and invited him over to his house for dinner to talk about the church. So we are really excited about that.

I talked to the Loval High School Baseball coach down here and I am going over to work out with the team on Monday afternoons until the season starts. That should be pretty fun. I know a couple of the guys on the team just from going around talking to people, so I will see if we can use it for missionary work as well.

We also are going too be moving down to Humboldt sometime between now and April 1st. Humboldt is geographically better for us. Brother Fisher has a house he has been trying to rent out and he talked with the financial secretary of the mission and they worked out a deal so we get to go and live there! It's going to be pretty cool. It is a nice house just east of Humboldt on the Medina Hwy.

Anywho, thanks for the shoes, they are great, a little snug on the feet, but they will stretch out a little bit. They were much needed, we have been doing a lot of service as of late and I worked right through the soles of my other shoes.

Love you guys!

Elder nelson

December 12, 2011

Yello,

I am e-mailing early today, before we head off the Memphis, because the Frayser Elders will be done e-mailing by the time we get there... so ya!

I will find out who my new missionary is on Wednesday, it is going to be interesting.. I'm excited though, and I'm sure it will be a new experience and hopefully I will do some growing. I got an e-mail from Pres. Peterson that said "You are going to get one of the best new missionaries because I want him to see baptisms right off", so we will have some work to do.

This week was kind of uneventful, we were getting Elder Sprauge ready to head home. We are teaching a couple of kids though, who are 10 and 12, who's parents are members. We are hopeful for them. The new missionary needs to come in and see some success.

On Christmas, we are going over to a members house and we DO get to use skype, as long as the new missionary is able too. If he isn't, then I'm not going to, so he doesn't feel bad, but ya.
Our church gets over at 1 and then we are going over to the Smith's home, so somewhere in the afternoon... haha sorry I don't know 100%, but I will let you know for sure when it gets closer.

I've got to wrap up quick this week, since we are heading down to Memphis, but I love yall!!!

Love Elder Nelson

October 3, 2011

Yello,

Ok, a cool story. This week we got a call from a guy named Brother Oliver that lives in Chactaw, Arkansas. He was working down in Helena Arkansas and met this guy. The guy uses the Lord's name in vain, and brother Oliver kindly says, "you know brother, the Lord would bless you a whole lot more if you didn't use language like that. The guy apologized and it got a conversation started about religion. Well, Brother Oliver brought up the church and shared a BOM with him, and the guy is getting baptized this weekend. Super cool.. He said that Brother Oliver bore hi testimony and they both started to cry, he said the spirit was incredible and the guy went home and read the BOM and went to conference, called up Brother Oliver and said, "I don't care what it takes, I need this in my life... Unfortunately, he is just outside our area, so we don't get to go teach him, but the Senatobia Elders are. Just so cool how "Standing as a witness" will open doors...

So, conference was amazing. Keith came to Priesthood session and he loved it. Then Crystal came to the first session on Sunday, and during Elder Hales talk she started to cry. Needless to say, she loved her first conference. Willie came as well, and loved it. He kept saying "Pres. Monson is a funny dude" haha it was a good day.

Crystal is set to get baptized this Saturday, should be fun. We have also been teaching this lady named Betty. We met her last Saturday and she came to church and loved it, then she came to a ward party we had at the Gossetts and had a great time. We went by yesterday to teach her ad we were doing the cup demo, (don't know if you have heard of it) basically shows the structure of the church of old and now. Her niece came out who is "devout Baptist" phs haha Well, she started listening in, and we ended up committing her to Baptism... didn't set a date, but Betty has a date to get Baptized on the 29th of this month. I'm pretty excited about that one. Hopefully we can get her niece in on it as well:) Things are just going awesome right now...

Love you guy!

Elder Nelson

Oi Pops,

Yes, conference was so good. I love Elder Holland, he just lays it out, doesn't sugar coat anything. Also, we were talking with Brother Drake about the last couple of conferences and how they are being a lot more straight forward with the stuff they say and just coming out with it, rather than beating around the bush, they have been so good.

Priesthood session was awesome. As I was heading home to go to bed, I was like, wait... Pops is probably out to eat with everybody... dang... haha

So, and eight hour day out in the gutters sounds like a piece of cake, compared to knocking on doors for 11 hour a day. Haha I don't think I will complain so much when I get home about workin... haha

I love you pops, thanks for making me come out and help you in the yard and whatnot, growing up, otherwise, I wouldn't make it out here. haha jk

May 16, 2011

Alright Family, this letter is going to have to be a quick one, so I am just going to answer "Yalls" questions.
1. Our teaching pool is pretty slim right now. We found a few awesome investigators this week, and one of them came to church. Unfortunately she got hit on by one of the recent converts (he didn't have much game, it was pretty pathetic) and we think it may have scared her off.
2. The teaching is going good. Elder Badger and I actually teach really well together, so the teaching is fun. He has a different style teaching and we have a lot of fun teaching together.
3. Transfers are this Wednesday, but we didn't get a call so Elder Badger and I will be together for at least another transfer. Elder Peay is leaving, so there will be someone new in the house with us.
4. Injuries... ya, doin pretty well. Since my ankle sprain at Saddleback it is really weak, so it hurts some, but I'll get over it.. hahaha, and I am supposed to go to the Dr. about my jaw this week as well??
5. I should have one more interview with President Drewes before he heads home, but I'm not positive that will happen. Hopefully it will.
6. anything else I can think of?? haha um... oh shoot!!! not only is Elvis a member of the Church, but as of yesterday...he is a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, haha Oh and he was showing us some of his moves at church yesterday, it was pretty funny.

Well, I'm fittin to run, (as they say in the south)
I love you guys, hope all is well...
Love Elder Nelson

May 9, 2011

Hey guys,

It is weird e-mailing yall after having talked to you yesterday. haha Oh well
I gotta say the weirdest thing in the world is hanging up the phone and knowing that I won't be talking to you for another 7 1/2 months. I wish we could have skyped, so I could see how all the little ones have changed. It is alright though, just the way they are talking is different. I am kind of feeling bad for the joke I pulled on mom. I saved the voicemail she left me, and I'm sure it is the saddest thing I have ever heard. haha Hopefully the call made up for it. I have been quite lucky with my companions so far. I think about each of them and how inspired all 3 of them have been. Elder Boice was the perfect trainer for me, and then when I served with Elder Adams it was exactly what I needed at the time. Elder Boice did most of the teaching because he is a really outgoing kid and I didn't know a whole lot, and then things switched completely when I was with Elder Adams. He was a lot more quiet and it forced me to do a lot more of the teaching and that was huge for me. I really didn't think that I knew what I was doing, but I learned quick and was better than I thought. Now I am with Elder Badger, who is the man. I am leaning so much about teaching from him, he is an incredible teacher... keep praying though mom, my luck with companions may run out. hahaha Oh well, I'll be fine.

May 2, 2011

what up family!

The storms have been pretty nuts. We have been hoping to see a tornado, they have been happening all around us, but not where we can see it. There has been some terrible flooding in the area though. We have been helping out members, quite a few have been evacuated and others weren't and should have been, so we have been doing quite a bit there. We don't really have much going on missionary wise, things have been slow since our last baptism. The mission has some serious ups and downs, but last night we decided randomly to go see this guy we had met and had an awesome lesson, seems like every time the work gets slow and I get discouraged we have an awesome lesson that cheers me up. Hopefully this guy Zach comes along, he is pretty cool.

The flooding was so bad yesterday that they just had the sacrament and then sent everybody home, so we were only at church for like half an hour.

q&a

1. yes we got the package. and everyone told me to tell you thank you. we all wore our purple ties on Easter. got made fun of pretty good for being matching. but who cares...

2.no baptisms this week. probably wont have one till at least the 21st

3. investigators are slim right now, but we have been doing some finding to fix that.

4. next week we will probably call at like 3 or 4 our time, because we have church from 10 to 1. So i guess any time from 2 to 5 haha sorry. things are crazy.

5. we get to play quite a bit of basketball. we get together every Tuesday night and invite people in the area to come play. and then every day after lunch we shoot around for a bit.

Elder badger and I played some guys at the park the other day in our proc. it was pretty sweet, we decided we could take any two guys in Fraser. hands down.

6. p days we do random stuff. we went biking one day, we play ball sometimes and today one of the members who's son we helped move, is taking us out to eat and then we are going to play risk at the stake center.

7. we get to go to the temple like once a month. that is the only time missionaries are allowed to go. our work is with the living haha

8. we have a couple dinner appts each week. there are some awesome people in the ward.. we have a guy named "amen Charles" who just hollers out amen and hallelujah through peoples talks. and people cussin out their kids during sacrament. its pretty crazy haha and very different from home.

9.The area I am in is supposed to be the most ghetto in the mission. it is a lot like the south side of blytheville. I think more people have jobs here. but not by much.

i love you guys. hope all is well

love elder Nelson

Greetings from the BLY... Feb. 7, 2011

hello everyone!

I have a story to make you proud this week haha so on saturday we had an eating contest with Sammy dodd at pizza inn, to start off our fast. i won... and i ate 40 pieces of pizza... not a joke. 40 pieces. elder boice had 27 and sammy had 19
As far as investigators, we lost helen and eva it looks like, but ronnie is still looking good, he has a date set for the 26th. we also are teaching a guy named allen, who is looking promising, he lives with a member of the ward. We also met a lady named diane, she is awesome. and we asked her to be baptized, she said yes but we haven't yet set a date. keep praying for us to find people. the finding is rough!!

I tought gospel principles yesterday... on the creation, it went alright i think, I hate teaching, it is stressful!! dont know why, but it is. Elder Boice and one of the members make some great comments and it really helps.

we were trackting the other day and met a family that was out playing football, I picked up the ball and tossed a bomb to one of them haha they now call me Tebow... they see missionaries and don't think we can walk with coordination haha it was sweet, they seem to like us and one of the daughters is reading the bom now.

We had another chick hitting on us too, haha we walked out of bk the other day. and this girl runs out and was like hey the girl in there wants to know if yall have girlfriends... haha we told her no and that we couldn't for 2 years and whatnot, but we decided that from now on we are just going to tell them that "we are companions" and leave it at that.

Things are goin in the bly though. We are workin hard and praying for some success, it will come. everything back home sounds like it is goin well. I'm not happy you waited till i left to get new phones haha. oh and go jimmer!! he is the man!
love yall, talk to you next week.

love elder nelson

December 13, 2010

Mom and Dad,

Ok, so this week has been pretty sweet. We spent one day in Carutherville Missouri, which is one of the cities in our area. Caruthersville was pretty cool, it is more of what I expected the south to look like. We were able to teach a couple this week that was awesome. We knocked on their door and they invited us right in. We started teaching them the restoration and for the first time on my mission I can say I was able to speak with the spirit and I felt like I actually said stuff that helped them. The spirit was so strong and we asked them to be baptized if they felt through prayer that what we had taught them was true, and they said yes. We are going back to see them tomorrow, so hopefully they read and pray. We also taught another couple and extended an invitation to be baptized.

We were reading in 2nd Nephi 26 or 27 and it talks about teaching people not for money, but from the goodness of our hearts because we love them and want to share with them that the church is true and what it means in our lives. That is why I am out here sharing the gospel.

Anywho, I love yall and miss you like crazy. thanks for the presents, we put them all under the tree, as you can see from the pictures. I can't wait to open them. Keep sending pictures! Oh how did you like the crack house pictures??

p.s. go cougars/jazz/chargers/ it sucks that I have no idea what is going on in the world of sports, so keep me updated. What are the standings in all the sports, is Jimmer going to get MVP, and Utah sucks... plain and simple. But the church is true.!!!!!

Love Elder Nelson

Hey Pops,

I'm doin good. You wouldn't believe how cold it is. When you look online and it says that the temp is like 35, it is really about 20. The wind is always blowing which makes it colder and the humidity makes it sooo bad. I seriously haven't ever been colder. The coldest days in Utah are nothing compared to the last couple average winter days here haha, I'm stayin warm though. The coat and beanie keep me warm but my legs and face freeze. As far as the food, the ward up here is awesome, we get taken out to eat about every other day and then there is one lady i the ward that goes shopping and hooks us up with food for the rest of the time, so we rarely spend money on food. On Sundays we usually get about 50 people is all to church and this week I think we only had 34. It is tough to get investigators to show up, we are working hard though. I do have to teach a class every other week, it is Gospel principles, but we usually only have about 6 people to teach, so it's no big.

As far as my days go here, every day we wake up at 6:30, we exercise until 7 or 7:15 then we eat and shower until 8. At 8 we have personal study for an hour and then we have companion study until 10:30 then we head out and go teach. We teach until usually about 1 or 2 then eat lunch and then go back to work until about 7 to 8:30. My bike has been alright, but this week I week I started to have problems with the left pedal, it comes loose and I have to tighten it every house we stop at, it's rough, I'm hoping to find something to fix it at walmart today. We have zone conference on Thursday, but won't get a new comp for probably 3 months. Oh! the crime rate, (not to scare you) but the entire town is the "scary part of town" but we are alright, most people think we are cops...

Well, I've got to sign off... talk to you next week, Elder Nelson

First Letter from Arkansas!

President and Sister Drewes with Elder Nelson

Mom and Dad,

Today has been insane. We got here, went to Taco Bell and then went straight out trackting and contacting. The people were way nice. We ran into a group of guys sitting out around a fire in a barrel, one was named "dog face" ??? He just asked me about my love life the whole time, but with a few choice words haha, or a couple hundred. It was funny. They gave me the lead at a door we knocked... I slaughtered it. I started talking and just went blank. It was bad, the other missionaries saved me though.

The President and his wife are awesome. Part of our mission song involves throwing a Tiger Woods fist pump, and President Drewes throws it into the closest Elder...

Tell everyone I am doing good. I go to transfers and meet my companion tomorrow. The President tells me I am serving somewhere in the North, which will be colder.
Little Rock is beautiful, there is water everywhere and it is really green. We were in the Ghetto today, it was interesting. The people for the most part are in pretty good spirits, they are probably all drunk though. The President told me you could send my glove, so you should send it? my flare!! I can throw on P-days. My P-day will be Monday, so I will be able to e-mail you then.

I love you and miss you. Love Elder Nelson

November 24, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad;

Sorry this is coming so late, the computers were down so I was just able to get on! I wrote you a letter, but now I'm on so oh well. Things are going much better for me, if you get a bill in the mail from the health center don't worry. They told me that I am getting ulcers from stress, so they gave me some pills. I'm doin alright though. We got our itineraries and we leave on Tuesday the 30th at 3:00 a.m. so be ready for a call around 4:00 to 4:30:) You can wake up that early... haha Thank you so much for the package tonight... It was really fun opening it. (We sent a bowling set, so he didn't have to miss the annual family Thanksgiving bowling, and a BYU football, with alot of party treats.) It was really sweet!! Actually both of them (Pies). My district/whole apartment floor loves you!

Make sure you Dear Elder me this Saturday as soon as the game is over, so I can know what happened (BYU UTAH) I will be freaking out. I could hear the game on Saturday and it was killing me knowing you were so close, and that I was missing it. I got to sing along to the fight song though!!! I could hear that well! I even knew every play they ran!!! Let me know how the basketball team is doing too, and the Jazz, and Eric and the Chargers!!

I can't wait to get our of here and go to Arkansas!! I did write to Dusty today too, we need to get him baptized.

I sent my camera card to you yesterday, so it should get there soon. It has some good pictures on it. You are amazing, sorry if I forgot to tell you anything. I have to get to class pretty soon so I've got to wrap up. I love yall so much and miss you like crazy. Two years is going to fly by though, this past week has felt like a day.

Oh, I ripped my pin stripped suit pants, is there a way I can ship them home and you fix them? they are pretty bad, I can't do it myself. Our new roommates are pretty cool, one of them is about 6'6" and looks just like Thomas! It's freaky, he just has black hair. Anyway, I've got to run, teacher is getting mad. I will talk to you on Tuesday morning.

Love you,
your baby boy
Elder Nelson

Oh and something else. The sisters in my district are going to Temple Square, so when you go there you need to find them and say hi, they are sister Wilson, Sister Holliday and Sister Bryars (all Australian) Try and Dear Elder me with scores as often as you can, I don't know anything about the outside world... We are in prison... less sodomy though hahaha Hopefully Dad laughed at that, and I'm sure mom has that half smile half trying not to smile look on her face. Love to all.

Nov 17, 2010

Dear Mom,

To answer your questions: My best experience so far is we had a devotional by Elder Pearson of the Quorum of the Seventy's, the spirit was amazing. He talked about us no longer being the boys were were at home but the desciples we need to be in order to be great missionaries. We have to do what we are supposed to do 100% of the time or we won't get everything we can out of our missions. My worst experience is the food... awful! and my funniest experience so far is my companion and I staged a fake fight for some new Elders that were coming into our room. (Me and my comp were the only two in our room the first week). It was awesome and we all had alot of good laughs. As far as my testimony, I went into this thinking that I could do it by myself, and quickly learned that that wasn't possible. In order for me to be the missionary I can be I must give myself completely to the Lord. This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but since I made the decision that I need to be a desciple and not Jake Nelson the baseball player or whatever I was at home, things have been so much better, and I have been happier.
Anyway, thanks for the updates on the gamnes, I was dying on Saturday not being able to watch, and didn't even know the outcome till tuesday!!! I was so excited though, especially hearing that Utah got thumped. BYU is going to win this year!!! It's great. The Jazz updates are awesome too, they are getting a chanpionship while I'm gone!!
The MTC is a rollercoaster, some days I want to come home and give up, and I feel terrible, and some days I feel like I could go out and teach right now! I miss you guys so much.
I think it might be easier for you to send me some cardvoard or something to tape my phot card to to send it home. I made a couple videos for you so you can put it in your camera and watch! thanks for working on my car. I'm sure Josephine looks amazing! Don't worry about me, I am doing great, my comp is a redneck, so we are getting along great!!! Tell everyone hello for me and I love then. Love Elder Nelson ps. Oh, and keep praying for me, I need them

Dad,
I love you guys so much, thank you for everything, you are amazing. Give me a honk on the way home from the game on Saturday, we are in the building on the far southwest corner of the MTC, so you know haha 4th floor. Keep praying for me.

Sorry I'm not there to help with the leaves, honestly there have been times when I would rather ve doing that, but I'm good now. I love you so much and hopefully I'm not forgetting to tell you something because I only get 30 min. on the computer every week at like 11:30, so I gotta hurry, the computer shuts off when the timer runs out. Send pictures, I can't open them on the computer so send them snail mail, I can't even tell you how much I miss you. Oh well, love you guys, keep cheering on my teams... Elder Jake Nelson

Wahoo!!! First Letters 2 at once

Mom and Dad;

Shoot, today has been a blur, things have gone by so fast. My comp is awesome. His name is Elder Leavit, he is from Moapa Valley NV. (The hole you go through on your way to Lake Mead, is how he puts it). He is a football player and seems cool. We are getting along great so far. We got here today and met with our zone. Our zone is cool, we have an Elder and a Sister from Australia, but we are the only two going to Arkansas, everyone else is going to Everett Washington. I am doin good guys, I miss you like crazy but so far it has been good. Hopefully I can sleep tonight. My P days are on Wednesday, so that will be the day I can respond to you. By the way, I am the only lad in here without treats, so you should send some, and some listerine strips so I don't feel bad getting treats from others. My zone leaders are cool too, pretty relaxed so it's going to be good.

When I first got here I ran into Elder Hilton and we talked for like half an hour, it was great, they are sending him to Pocatello on monday until his visa comes through, so tell Gary and Karleen to watch for him. We had a good talk though and he is doin good. I also ran into Elder Farley and Elder Glenn, it was nice to see some familiar faces.

Anyways, I am supposed to be asleep so I've got to go. I love you and miss you so much.

Love Elder Jake Nelson

Letter 2

Mom and Dad there are a few things I didn't tell you that I forgot, please send vitamins, I was told to take them so I don't get sick. My second day was great. People say it takes some time to get into the flow and start enjoying it. It's tough to get going, but I am loving it already. Elder Leavitt is awesome. We are getting along great, and we are alot alike.

They made me District Leader today by the way. So I am over the 12 missionaries in our district. We spend pretty much the entire day together. The district is great, we have some good Elders and Sisters. Tell T-Bizzy her letter didn't come, no idea why.

The check I sent you I found in my pocket, so you know. So you all know you don't have to send me letters just use dearelder.com and I will get them that day. Make sure when you write to let me know what is going on in the outside world. We don't hear anything in here.

Tell everybody hi, I love you all soo much and I miss you like crazy!!!! Love Elder Jake Nelson

p.s. send me and my comp a case of mountain dew!!!