Hello all! As promised I said that I would write an extra long letter this week because I did not really have time to write last week so here it goes.

Letter From Last Week:

So, first of all, this last P-Day was crazy! We went on a trip to Taxco which is this beautiful city built into the mountains about 30 minutes from Iguala. Impressions of Taxco: The weather was cool, breezy, and so nice that I am trying to figure out how to convince President Kusch to transfer me there for the rest of my mission. The streets are SO narrow with little taxis zooming by in every direction. We toured this old, baroque-style church in the center of the city which was pretty ornate and beautiful. We ate at a McDonalds (which was heavenly) and saw the whole view of Taxco from a viewpoint at the top of the city which was pretty beautiful. Taxco is also famous for selling silver or "plata" so there were literally like 100 stores selling silver merchandise which was fun to look at. So, in the end, I loved the city! (Pictures are forth coming).

So, I guess it is time for impressions of Mexico:

1) McDonalds in Mexico is actually like a classy restaurant. Clean, nice music playing, etc. Very different from the United States if you know what I mean.

2) The people feeding you will get offended if you do not eat at least two plates of food.

3) Tortillas. Like a huge monstrous stack of tortillas are served with every meal. You are expected to partake. And partake heartily.

4) The cab drivers will try to charge white people more for cab rides than Mexicans. Too bad I live here and know how much a normal cab ride costs. Sorry, not sorry.

5) When it storms, it storms. Like thunder that shakes the house and makes it sound like World War III has started.

6) Every morning a symphony of roosters sound off. I think I can replicate their calls now.

Anyway, spiritual stuff. I have been reading in Mosiah Chapters 11 through 23 in the Book of Mormon this week and they have really spoken to me. It is funny how real the scriptures are becoming to me. The more I study them and come to truly know them, the more I love them. The advice, the hope, the love, and the warnings raise me up every day. I compare it to plugging my spiritual charger into the wall and receiving spiritual energy each day. Anyway, in Mosiah 16: 8-9 it says, "But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. He is the light and life of the world; yea, the light that is endless, that can never be darkened, yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." I love this. Because we have Christ we have light, we have hope that death is not the end of existence, that we continue to live, learn, and grow.

 

How do you describe a week of growth and learning in the mission field in one email? It is impossible. But I want to tell you that I am working hard, I am being obedient, we are finding people to teach, they are progressing, and that every day God shows his love for me. I have such a strong testimony that his goal is to shape us into something greater than we could have ever imagined for ourselves. Sometimes this process is very hard because we have to let go of and change some very ingrained habits and thoughts. But he is always there, he is always with you. He is walking with you and guiding you through that process.

To end this week, I want to tell you about a sister in my ward named Hermana Gabby. I love Hermana Gabby. I first met her when my companion said on my second day here that we were going to help out a sister in our ward with her English class every week because they wanted to talk with an American. Through stories she has told me, I can tell that she has had a really hard life. A lot of trials. And a lot of tears. But she is an example to me of someone that has allowed the gospel into her life. She is now sealed in the temple with her husband and children. She also decides to be happy even when she is suffering or things are hard. She always tells me to just smile and remember that life is supposed to be enjoyed, not suffered through. I am glad that I have had the opportunity to meet this wonderful woman and learn from her. I am going to include a picture of me and her on this email. I love you all. So very much, and now...you can read my letter from this week!

Well. Here it goes for this week. This week was so challenging. But also had its beautiful moments. So we had interviews with the mission president on Tuesday. This was a great experience. He told me that I was having a really positive influence on my trainer because of my desire to be obedient and work hard. What I found interesting during the interview was that he warned me about 3 times to never lose my desire to be obedient. I thought this was super odd, but I found out why later on that week. He also told me that my Spanish was really good for how long I have been in the country which was nice to hear and other things that lifted my spirits up. I left that interview happy and confident and ready to work. Then, this week happened. Almost all our appointments fell through. People we thought would progress decided not to listen to us anymore. And to top it all off, I had some pretty interesting conversations with my trainer.

Elder Miguel is a good missionary. He is very sociable and loves to talk tons with the members and develop relationships with the members. Which is great. I enjoy that too. But he is not very obedient to the mission rules and likes to drag me down with him. I talked about this with President Kusch and he just said that I needed to lovingly encourage him but that I truly did not have control over the situation because I am the trainee as of now. This week, Elder Miguel started crying and told me that he was totally focused on going home (he has three months left), and that he just wanted to be with his girlfriend, and things, and is not focused on missionary work. He also said he is sad because he has been a bad example for me and feels like he is not helping me at all and teaching me nothing. This was very interesting for me. It was my worst fear that I would have a trainer like this but God wants me to learn from it and grow. He gives us trials for a reason. I just kneeled down and asked my Heavenly Father what I needed to do. And he said that I needed to continue loving the people, but within the bounds the Lord has set (the mission rules). I know that the two must and should work together. That I will find the most success and fulfill my purpose if I learn to mix and blend these two aspects of missionary work together.

So, I will continue to walk. Continue to grow. And continue to try to help and serve others as best as I can. Everyday I pray that I can develop more charity, everyday I pray that I can develop more love for the people and know how to serve them. Everyday, God grants me the strength I need to do it. Sometimes I do not understand why. But, as Henry B. Eyring said in his talk on Sunday Morning, we need to learn to be humble, submissive, and accept the time table of God. I am going to work on this.

Conference was amazing! The Saturday morning session and the Priesthood session were all in Spanish so ask me how much I got out of those, but the other three I was able to see in English! For the first time I did not want Conference to end. I was edified and uplifted by the words of our Prophet, apostles, and church leaders and I am excited to study them later.

One last experience. So after a very trying week, God provided me with a beautiful experience. We have been teaching a young 19 year old named David, as well as his mother and sister. He is golden. He reads, studies, and remembers everything we give him and sometimes even asks for more. He loves the church because he told us that he knows it is going to put him on the right path in life. He told us that he has never felt so much peace and happiness before now. I am so happy that God always provides when we are obedient and we strive to love others. I should end my first transfer with his baptism this Saturday.

So, everyone! Keep pushing, keep trying, and keep walking. Love people, serve people, and be positive! God and the Savior are always there and present. Ready and willing to help and love you. I love you all. You all mean so much to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Until Next Week,

Elder Nielsen

Hello All!

First of all, I am sorry but I do not have a lot of time to write this week so I will be brief but I want to tell you all how I am doing. Today we went to Taxco! It is this beautiful city up in the hills of Mexico about 30 minutes away from Iguala and the city is literally built into the hills. It has European style streets (very narrow), with beautiful Baroque architecture. The city also has amazing views. I took a lot of pictures so hopefully you will be able to see them soon. I do not know if all of them will send today. We also ate at a McDonalds which was heavenly.

 

This week, the work has been going a lot better. We have met this family with a mother and two kids named Susy, Cynthia, and David. They all came to church and are progressing so hopefully a baptismal date is soon!

 

I want all of you to know that God is real. That he lives and that he loves and knows each and every one of us. I want you to know that he has built me up everyday and teaches me something knew about myself everyday as I continue to ask him for help and draw closer to him. Read Mosiah Chapters 11 through 23 this week. Those chapters really spoke to my soul. It is so funny how real the scriptures are becoming for me. I know that when we read them with real intent, that we can receive so much guidance. I really wanted to say a lot more but I promise that I will write more next week. This is my first short letter. But hopefully you will see the pictures and that will make up for it. I love you all. I pray for you. I am safe and well. I hope that you are happy. 

Love,

Elder Nielsen

Well Hello Everyone!

This is your weekly email from Elder Nielsen in the field. I would like to start off with a few more observations that I have had from Mexico!

1) We went to the house of a member for our "comida" which is everyday at 3:00. They had completely forgotten and asked if they could order Domino's Pizza for us. I think I almost cried with happiness. It tasted so good.

2) The Police in Mexico are really scary because they always have these MASSIVE guns slung over their shoulders and when they ride in the back of trucks they are literally pointing the guns at the people walking on the sidewalks.

3) Oftentimes little Mexican children will run up to me and ask me to speak English to them. Once I do they either get really nervous and run away or they cuss at me in English. One or the other.

4) Everyone is addicted to Coke (the drink). Everyone.

5) Aerpostale and Crocs are the two most popular brands that I have seen thus far.

6) Every week we help a sister in our ward with her English class because the students want to practice with an American. Last time was sort of really awkward because I had to explain to a roomful of Mexican citizens how I felt about illegal immigration as a citizen of the United States. But it has actually been really good that we have been doing this because we have a family home evening planned tonight with 4 girls that attend the class in the home of this sister!

7) We had a lesson yesterday with a young mother who just had a baby and while we were talking to her about the Book of Mormon she just whipped it out (you know what I am talking about) and suddenly it was feeding time. I do not think I have ever felt more uncomfortable during my entire life. But apparently it is normal.

8) Whenever the members sing hymns it is always really off key which is pretty funny.

Just some more observations for your amusement and edification. The work is getting better but it is still really difficult because of the "no street contacting" and "no door approaches" policy which is about to become policy for every mission in Mexico. We have definitely had to get creative. We have been searching the area book for old investigators, visiting inactives and part-member families, and visiting members and pretty much getting them to help us either by providing references, service, visiting inactives with us, or volunteering to accompany us to lessons. Also my Spanish is slowly improving everyday which I am grateful for. It still continues to be my biggest challenge though and I worry about it a lot.

For the rest of my letter, I want to share with you all something I wrote in my journal this week. I feel inspired and I hope that it will help someone.

"9-20-12

Well. Once again it was a bitter sweet day for me as a missionary. We started off with a meeting with our entire zone, President and Hermana Kusch, and the assistents. Something really struck me during Hermana Kuschs talk. It was a video of David A. Bednar and he was talking about revelation and the Holy Ghost. He said that most of the time life is like a foggy day and that normally you only receive enough light to be able to see where you are going for one or two steps. Then, once you take those one or two steps, you receive just enough light to be able to walk another one or two steps. This really stuck out to me because it is a perfect analogy for how my mission is. It is scary, dark, and foggy, and most of the time I receive just enough light to move forward and keep moving forward. I think the reason why I am still here is because God provides me with that comforting, hopeful, peaceful light everyday. Even though I cannot see the future or where I am going, he can. He knows who I need to meet, where I need to be, and the experiences I need to have in order to reach this end goal he has in mind for me. So what is the light that is so enticing and comforting to me? The Holy Ghost, the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, prayer, other people, and my Savior. God works through these mediums to guide his children through the fog. The more we access and learn to love these mediums, the more inclined we will be to act in faith and continue following the light and the plan God has set for us, instead of giving up and wandering off in the fog and losing ourselves. In the end, on this mission, God must be my best friend, my confidant, my ally. He the Savior and the Holy Ghost are oftentimes the only ones I can turn to for support, guidance, and comfort. These first 3 weeks in the field have been humbling for sure. Once again, God has seen fit to remind me that all my efforts are in vain without him. He has also seen fit to teach me greater patience. I found myself praying one today, "Heavenly Father, I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing. I am obedient, I study hard, I work hard, why I am not seeing miracles?" The answer I received came from a song that I love called My Kindness Shall Not Depart from Thee. "How long can rolling waters remain impure. What power can stay the hand of God? The son of man hath descended below all things, Art thou greater than he? So hold on thy way, and I shall be with thee. And mine angels shall encircle thee. Doubt not what thou knowest. Fear not man for he, cannot hurt thee. And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee, and with healing will I take thee neath my wings. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, and the valley shall be lost beneath the sea. Know my child, my kindness shall not depart from thee." I just kept getting the overwhelming feeling that I needed to just keep going. Keep walking. Keep trying. And lose myself. Rely on others and show more gratitude for the amazing light that I receive everyday. My desires are righteous. I want to help others. And I know God will bless me when it comes to the language and all other things that I need because he did not send me here to fail or lose faith. He sent me here to help others and grow rapidly. I love the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 88:49-50 "The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, neverthess, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him. Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me, otherwise ye could not abound." My goal is to trust that light always. How could I not? How can I forget my testimony and the amazing things the Lord has done for me so easily once hard times come? I know and have a testimony that Jesus Christ lives and is the Savior of the world. I know that he suffered for and felt every pain I have felt and that he stands there, ready and waiting to succor me and give me the comfort and strength I need. I need only come to him. I know that no matter how hard life gets, no matter how dark, God stands there always, and the light of the gospel can always pierce the darkness. The darker it gets, the more brilliant the light shines. I know that this gospel has the power to make people happy. Truly happy. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt that what I am doing right now is what God wants me to be doing. I am exactly where I should be. And I want to be here. Everyday I gain an even greater desire to be here. And I know that there is purpose and reason behind everything. I want to close this entry with one last scripture. My mission scripture. The reason why I am here. "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing that will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father, Amen.""

I love you all very much.

Elder Nielsen

My first baptism! With Elder Miguel and Lizeth. This was such a great experience!

Our dogs, Luna and Estrella! In front of my apartment.

In Mexico! My trainer Elder Miguel and our apartment

My MTC District, Elder Davis, and President Bradley