Feliz Natal!!!

This week was awesome!  First we had the opportunity to go to the temple with President and Sister Houseman.  It was so cool!  Such a beautiful temple.  There were two missionaries working in the temple from Salt Lake, and their last name was Nielson.  I talked to the husband, and when the wife was coming to talk to us, I noticed Her name was JANICE NIELSON!  Exactly same as Mom!  It was crazy.

We had a baptism saturday!  That was awesome!  It was a bit of a miracle, She was ready, and we knew it, but she just wanted more time to think about it, and She received an answer that she needed to be baptized.  She is going to have a much better life because of this decision!  I know that.  

We have the best members here in Jordaõ!  We got 3 big packages of food from the sisters in the Relief Society.  They helped us so much this week.  They made Christmas awesome!  It was really hot on Christmas day yesterday, so a bunch of the missionaries got together and played soccer.  

But it was awesome to talk with my family!  Everyone looks great, and I love you guys!  You guys do so much for me, and it was great to see you guys again!  You guys mean so much to me!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  Love you all!

Love,

Elder Nielson

Batismo!

Oi Familia!

First off, our baptism went through.  L--- H------- didn't drink coffee all week, kept all his commitments, and was prepared.  He was baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday.  It was a miracle.  He didn't accept a lesson for over a month, and last week when we taught him, he told us he wanted to be baptized, and that he was quitting coffee.  It was so cool to see how much more happiness he had this week.  The Lord really blesses us as we try and obey him!

We also had a division this week.  I stayed in Jordão with our district leader, and we met with all our progressing pesquisadores (researchers or investigators).  It was really good.  I learned so much from him, and I'm trying to apply these things to my teaching.

We didnt have water for about half the week this week, so I was smelling really bad.  But we have water now, so all is well.  Many people still don't have water, and I don't know what is going on.  They are all coming to houses with water and carrying water back to their houses in buckets.  Every day there are fewer people doing this though, so I think that whatever the problem is, they are slowly solving it.

I ate this weird fruit this week called Jaka (Jack Fruit).  It was actually really good.  Look it up because I don't know how to explain it.  It is a lot of work to eat it, but it tasted really good.

We are not being moved in this transfer.  So we are going to stay here in Jordão.  I'm excited because we have the best members here!  They do so much for us, and I am so thankful for them.

We are excited for Christmas!   Hope you all are too! For Christmas we will be in a member's home.  We will use Skype.  We will call at 5 pm here.  I think that is 1 pm in Utah.  I was trying to get a little earlier, but all his family is together at night, so this works better for them.  I love you guys. Remember to serve others this Christmas!  Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Elder Nielson

Almost Christmas?

Oi Tudos!!!

This week was pretty cool!  We had a family night with the family of the boy we baptized two weeks ago.  It was the birthday of another one of their kids, so we made pizza.  The dad Irmão R---- works for a pizza place, so it was really good stuff.  Later in the week, we committed the older brother to baptism, and he shared his testimony, but said that he didn't want to be baptized.  So this week we are going to talk a lot with him about his doubts. I think it will be similar to our experience with his little brother.  We have him set for a baptismal interview on Friday, and so if he goes through with that and still doesn't want to be baptized, he wont be this week, but we will keep trying. 

We have another investigator who hasn't accepted a lesson in almost a month.  His name is L---.  We talked with him about the plan of salvation.  His only problem is with coffee.  So we connected everything back to that.  He is set for Saturday, and for the past 3 days hasn't had any coffee.  We bought some Cervada, which is like coffee but good for you.  He likes it and has been drinking it instead.  He is set for an interview Friday also.  We are talking with him every day. I know he can do this.  He was at church on Sunday.  He seems much happier.  I cant wait!  It was a miracle that he talked to us again in the first place.  But now we can see his drive.  Before we invited him again to not drink coffee, he sat up, and said, "No more coffee. I'm quitting it right now!"  He really wants the blessings that come form living the Word of Wisdom.  It's exciting!

One night, our family night fell through, and as we were walking to the house of another member. Elder Carrari knew some girls that were walking down the street, so he started talking to them.  As we were greeting them, we were shaking hands, and one girl took my hand, and leaned in and gave me a hug.  It was really weird, and we were all confused.  So we went to the members house, and talked with her for a bit, and we ate some food. As we were leaving, she asked me why I had lipstick on my shirt.  This random girl in the middle of the road KISSED my chest!  We all went crazy, what the heck?!?!  So that was a really weird thing this week.

We got to ride in a car.  That was a really an odd feeling.  It was my first time being in a car since we drove to the airport in Utah.  Weird. 

Our toilet is even more sketch now.  The string you pull to flush it broke.  We are trying to figure out how to fix it.  For now we just fill up a bucket of water in the sink, and dump it into the toilet.  It usually works pretty well.  But we try to use the toilets at the church as much as possible.

It would be fun to sing Christmas hymns, but my companion isn't much of a singer and I'm not much of a soloist.  Neither are many people here.  Hymns are usually flat, but it is cool.  They are trying to worship the best they can.  It's about how loud you sing, not how well you are on key.  Christmas still doesn't feel like it's happening.  It's hot, and I haven't heard too much music.  Not many decorations either, stores have them, but not many houses have decorations here.

Things are good here in Brasil!  I love you guys and all that you do for me!

Love,
Elder Nielson

Another One Bites the Dust! (Another Week)

Oi!!!

It's crazy that its P-day already!  This week went by pretty fast, but Saturday and Sunday felt so long.  Saturday morning I realized it was Nationals for high school cross country and that the Springville team was racing, so it felt really long waiting to hear how it went... That's crazy that they are 5th in the nation!!!  I'm proud of those guys!  They definitely put in the work to get there! It's odd that this would prompt my first bout of homesickness, but I'm feeling good right now. It's weird.  I've never been homesick before, so I'm trying to adapt to these feelings while also adapting to mission life.  

Do you guys know what time it is?  I didn't know what time it was this week because one day Elder Carrari decided to open my watch up while I was reading through a grammar book and "compare" our watches.  We can't get the back to go back on, and it stops working at random times... so we are trying to figure that out.  But it's all good. I wont have a crazy bad watch tan line for a little bit, so that is a good thing.

More on the apartment: We have a decent shower, but when we run out of water, it doesn't work (as with other appliances in the house). It has tile in it, and I think you can make it a little hotter or colder if you want.  But for the most part it's a neutral temperature.  I don't use the mosquito net because I have no way to hang it up.  The sealing has tiles, with no gap.  But we shut the door to keep mosquitoes out, and sleep with bug spray on.  I also spray my bed regularly to keep other bugs out as well. I'm staying healthy. Funny how you don't get sick when you aren't stuffed in rooms with other people 24/7 like in the CTM.  I love the food here, and it's fine on my stomach.  I haven't had any problems with digestive problems yet.

We had an service activity again, and this one was replacing a roof.  We got there, and they had already taken the whole roof off, and we were replacing the wood, and using a hammer to make new holes for the slats to fit into, then laid the roofing on top.  It was pretty cool.  But it looked really hard on the interior of the house, because you basically collapse the whole roof inside, and move the stuff outside.

We have the best members!  We still get lunch every day, and they help us so much!  Right now (as you can see from the pictures of our fridge)  We have a full fridge from random people giving us food.  The members will just walk up with a bag of food, and give it to us.  It is awesome!!

We have been working hard with Seja a Luz do Mundo (Light the World)  Everyone we talk to, we share two cards with them, and ask them to invite someone else to participate.  I invite all of you to participate too.  Watch the videos, and serve.  Its really simple.  Christ's whole life was service to others.  The only reason we celebrate his birth is because of the life he lived.  So the best way we can celebrate Jesus Christ is by serving others.  Don't worry about presents or stuff, just go spread kindness to everyone.  Smile.  sing for people in the old folks home.  Make everyones' lives around you better!

We had one investigator tell us this week that he wants to be baptized.  Its difficult because he is a tatoo artist, and doesn't want to give that up.  But he came to church, so he is trying his best.  I think after a couple of good lessons, we can get him to commit.  The other son of Irmão R---- came to church too!  We had been doing family nights with them, and he was participating really well.  He actually knows a lot about the church.  We invited him to church, and he said he didn't want to come.  But on Sunday he showed up at 9 am.  His ward has sacrament meeting at 10:30 am,, so he took the sacrament, waited for his ward to start, and took it again with his family!  What a mericale.  He is ready to be baptized, but we need to talk to him about doubts. He was telling his little brother all the things he couldn't do in the church.  There is definitely a really good chance he will choose to follow Christ!

I hope this letter finds you all well!  I love you all so much, and thanks for all you do for me!

Love,

Elder Nielson