Chat from October 6, 2014

Elder Nisson:  I’m on now if you want to chat! :D

Spencer Dad Nisson:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Elder Nisson:  Thanks dad! I enjoyed everyone’s little snippets just in case I forget to mention it :) Love you much dad! I am tempted every time I get on email to ask what’s going on videogame and movie wise but just inform me what you and Ster are playing these days so I can mentally prepare myself when I come home to play! Haha

Spencer Dad Nisson:  I am doing good! How are you doing? :)

Elder Nisson:  I’m doing pretty good! I can feel my tastes in life changing! I really missed you guys because after priesthood my body was preparing itself for Training Table but it never happened and I think I might be suffering from that a little bit. :D

Email from October 6. 2014

It has been 3 very long yet now that they are over they seem short! This week has been really good we finally got some dates for baptisms and I´m happy to see it make my companion happy. This morning I got a call from the mission president and he had everyone in the mission home sing happy birthday for me but the funny part was that they said my name wrong and the first time they all said my name with a hard I like nIsson well it´s hard to explain but they redid it since Hma whitehead always seems to remember it correctly but I think that President Whitehead just spent hours memorizing it wrong but it was a good comical moment to start the day. I have gotten so much better at speaking Spanish it´s obvious that I have nothing to do with it. I need to work on my listening (people) skills. Since I have a native companion my movie quotes have gone out the window. I haven´t played basketball at all here in the mission field partially because there isn´t a basketball in sight. There are hoops everywhere and I mean everywhere. My companion and I were walking to an appointment when I saw something so ghetto it reminded me of something like what me, Jadon and Chris saw. Picture a complete metal backboard and bent Rebar as the hoop and here´s the best part! It was wedged in an electrical tower. And they took various metal pieces and string to secure it in the tower. I really need to take a picture but I´m always too busy. Me making food here is nonexistant since we either have food to bring home with us or we have such a big lunch it would be ridiculous to even think about eating dinner. Speaking of which we eat lunch with the members and not dinner. It´s one of many mission rules that (apparently) make us more efficient. This week we found a house that we could possibly move into as a quadpanionship and compared to what we have right now it is LUXURY. So hopefully everything works out and we can move in there. I forgot my camera again but I promise next time I won´t forget. Conference was pretty sweet and relaxing because me and a couple other elders heard it in English in the bishop´s office. I´m having a better time each day because I´m getting used to life out here. Speaking of getting used to I don´t think that people have taught their children to not stare quite yet. Because whenever I´m walking around or visit a members house they always seem to keep staring at me! I know I´m good looking but I don´t think that´s the whole story unfortunately. A weird thing of food I ate this week was cactus! It´s texture was weird (sorry pam) but it tasted like green beens! And in that same meal I ate some of the spicest sauce I have ever tasted ever. Don´t worry I videotaped it and I felt a little bit like ster during his mission but I´m pretty sure that my tongue burned more than his just saying. For the meals here we usually get a soup first and then we get the actual meal. It is also popular to drink a juice with the meal also. Every time we go to eat they have a HUGE jug of juice for us and they flavor it themselves and it is some good stuff! It is suprisingly cold here! I didn´t expect it at all but it is pretty cold! But that just means that the sun isn’t out. When the sun is out I am dying. Oh I had an interesting experince this week. We were looking for an investigator and were walking next to a man made river of sorts (haha) and we found the place but not the person. Then we were able to contact somebody and then when we were talking she said that we should be careful down this street and said that the drug addicts and such hang around here. Not 2 minutes later we were still talking with the lady there was a guy that summed up all his petite courage and yelled at us (pointing at me since I´m the rich American apparently) "give me 5 pesos". 2 things first he was not threatening at all. Second 5 pesos is an American equivalent of about 50 cents. That´s going to get him nowhere! So I thought that was interesting. We just said not today a couple times and he left without really posing a threat. I went with Elder McCubbins to a special baptismal interview and then when we got there I split with Elder Mielkie to an appointment with a member. I learned that he played national rugby (so he´s basically huge) and he turned down a scholarship to a AAA college in New Zealand (which is a huge deal for rugby) to serve a mission. I admire him and respect him so much! I´m constantly looking around for something authentic from Mexico but it seems that all that is here is imported from America so you´ll have to wait for a little while longer. 

The church is true I know it to be true. I know that if we follow the example of Christ even though it will be hard and we won´t accomplish it without the great gift of his the atonement. I know that if we find the path God wants us to take he will make sure we succeed even though the waters may seem rocky. I also know that if we are willing God will shape us into something that we can not imagine. We need to be humble and patient. I also know that sometimes answers lie in the book of mormon but we must keep it as a priority in our lives. I also know that if we take going to the temple weekly or if time permits monthly we can experience blessings that will be expounded on us being obedient. Always remember don´t be THOSE guys on the rameumptum (I think that´s how it´s spelled) and shout praises to God  and then never talk to him when we are at home. With all the love and charity I hope for the success of you guys out there 

 

--

ELDER NISSON

Email from September 29, 2014

This week has been interesting as always. There was the loudest and most rain I have ever seen in my entire life! It's been pretty cool. Not to brag or anything but there is a family we're teaching and there are 2 things that I thought were cool. First there is a guy in the family who can't speak or hear I don't know the word for it so I'm always confused anyway he signs and stuff! I have learned a lot of Spanish sign language from him and yes American sign language and Spanish sign lanuguage are different. Also they fed us some of the spiciest chicken I have ever tasted. EVER. And don't think that eating a spicy chicken from Mcdonalds cuts it. It was soaked in hot sauce. And it was GOOOOOOOOD! I don't know if I forgot to mention this last week or not but there are stray dogs EVERYWHERE. And some of them do travel in packs. I've been here long enough to actually recognize some of them. Spanish is finally coming around and my practicing but mostly listening to my companion and the natives I have figured out some frases that I use all the time. Me being able to listen has been difficult for me. I also forgot to mention that thanks to dad's email I was reminded that I should tell you guys how popular frozen is here. There are posters and spray paintings everywhere for it. Everywhere I turn I see a poster. Also everything is weak here or I'm just buff it could be both the only thing that isn't are the buildings. There are all made of straight cement. The other day my companion told me to close the door to the stake center and so I used what I thought would be a regular amount of strength on the door and it was the flimsiest door I have ever slammed. I'm sending some pictures of what it's like here. The basketball hoops are also goals. Don't ask just look. Also the "key" is slanted. It's not straight. I saw the biggest teddy bear ever known to man this week. I couldn't take a picture because we didn't have enough time but I mean picture a sumo wrestler and it was about as big as that. Just today one of the elders from downstairs decided to play a prank on the new guy and while I was airing out our apartment (It gets really hot in there) he took some bug spray and a lighter and flamed me! I now have less hair on my right arm than my left. So yeah it was pretty funny but now he's declared war. while still being fully invested in the work. It's hard but not impossible. Another thing that I noticed this week is that the stairs are ridiculously steep and I have pictures. If you have ever seen Lord of the Rings the "stairs" that Frodo and Sam climb to get to the tunnels. I know now where they filmed that scene and it was in mexico anywhere. 

I love you guys a lot and I hope the best for you all. I know for a fact the church is true. I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't. I know that the trials and pain that we have in our life actually polish it. I know that with God and Jesus Christ at our backs we can accomplish anything. I also know that we recieve true and specific answers to our questions and I know that the atonement is real. That we can feel clean and be rid of thoughts and memories that just weigh us down and we can find our true potential.

-- 

ELDER NISSON

Email from September 23, 2014

Well I´m not going to lie it has been a crazy week! Me and my companion are doing good I guess but there is definitely a language barrier unfortunately but once I get better at Spanish I´ll actually be able to have a conversation with him. Every where in the mission no matter where you are at you don´t waste time! The day after I got here we went out and talked to people and whatnot. I understood nothing whatsoever but I can finally pick out words and sometimes I can tell what they´re talking about. I´m also pretty sure I got sent to the hardest mission every . . . .  of all time. The rules here are strick! sheesh! but not to worry they aren´t too overbearing. The first week went pretty fast for my first week and it makes me sad to think that it´ll be over so fast. I'm sorry but I forgot my camera at the apartment so I can't show you how cool it is over here. now to describe my area. There are three parts of my mission. The ghetto. The ghettoer ghetto. and then imagine the ghettoest ghetto you have ever ghettoed and that sums up my mission area. Now I'm not complaining at all because being here has given me a greater appreciation for the things that I have and when I say we have it good I mean we have it GOOD. The food here is good and I really enjoy it. It is REALLY close to places back home like el farol and such. It rains. . . . . Everyday . . . . at around 5 normally I'd say it's great but just yesterday it POURED rain and it had rained so much and so hard that there were rivers in the streets. . . . rivers. The terrain here is good I guess. I could explain it by saying that I don't need to have excercise my legs at all here because here in Mexico every day is leg day. We get fed a lot and hopefully I won't loose weight like our kind introducing missionary said we would. I'm basically doing a maintaining workout in the mornings since I don't have very much time and trying to get used to everything is harder than I realized. The people are great and love to have a good time but I don't understand them as much as I would like. the rest of the people in my district are absolutely golden and they are fun to be around and also they speak english whenever I need help. The transportation here is in reformed vans called cambis. Speaking of driving the driving is crazy here! Man it's like a roller coaster ride everytime we need to go somewhere. And sometimes the cambis get really tight with people. So you could say it's a fabulous missionary opportunity. If I could speak spanish as well as my native companion. The water is always cold here. I don't know why but it always is. It feels great AFTER I'm done. So concerning letters I was told that you should always use US postal and never UPS. When sending packages just print out a picture of Jesus or something related and they won't go through it. I don't know exactly where to send them but I do know that you need to send them to the mission office which is I don't know what I was told that it was in the little folder thingamajig that came with the mission call. Could you help me out mom? I will enjoy hearing from you guys more than usual since letters are like gold out here since we hardly get any of them. Speaking of gold everything here is so cheep it's ridiculous there are some really nice headphones here for 45 pesos which is the American equivalent to about 4 bucks yeah I know. So coming here I expected not to hear a lick of english from anybody or anything but just the other day when me and my companion were riding in a cambi these are the words which I heard being blasted from a boombox outside. "cause I'm slim shady yes I'm the real shady" Things got a whole lot more difficult for me to focus. And also there is a recent convert we're teaching a little bit more and while he was cleaning his little restaraunt he had music playing and there are 2 songs that I'd like to mention one he had was Hotel Calfornia which of course reminded me of Grandpa. Then after that I heard piano man I about died! Oh and by the way the shops and stuff are about 10 feet by 20 feet and they are built into the walls of buildings and stuff so it's a lot different from stuff back home.

I wish you all back home the best of luck! Happiness comes from hard work and always remember that pain and hurt are temporary. Also remember that the church is true and it is only after the trial of your faith do you recieve the truth. It's hard but it's worth it I promise. And one more thing you don't create memories by living inside a comfort zone!!

--

ELDER NISSON

Email from President & Hermana Whitehead on September 18, 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Nisson,

President Whitehead and I want to let you know that your son, Elder Nisson, safely arrived in Mexico City last Monday night and is working hard.

We are so thrilled to have your son in our mission. With the help of the Spirit, President Whitehead hand-picked top-notch elders in this mission to train this great generation of missionaries, whose arrival we have been excitedly anticipating for some time now.  We can tell already that they are going to be valiant, obedient, hard-working, and loving. 

We fed your son dinner soon after he arrived and sent him to bed in the basement apartment here at the mission home with the other elders. The next morning we fed him breakfast and then he was interviewed by President Whitehead.  Next he was briefed on the rules of the mission by the APs and and oriented by the office elders, the assistants to the president and myself.  Afterwards he met his new trainer and companion that he will have for the next 6 weeks at least, Elder Quiix.  We took pictures, fed him pizza and then he was whisked away with his companion by taxi to serve in his new destination, El Molinito in the state of México.

 

Thanks for raising this wonderful young man.  We love him already.

President and Hermana Whitehead

Email from September 13, 2014

This week was amazing! I really enjoyed the last week of the MTC! The pictures are of probably our favorite teacher ever here at the MTC. The past week involved lots of GR (gadianton robbers) and last minute studying of Spanish. I'm nervous and excited for the ride over and am really excited to get my feet wet. The Spanish does not flow yet but I expect it to in a little. This week with our progressing investigators the teachers switched up our companionships and so I taught with an Elder Kitchen (also known as Elder Cocina) I really enjoyed teaching with Elder Kitchen and I really enjoyed getting to know how other people teach. We got both of our investigators to get baptized and that really felt pretty good even though they weren't real people. I forgot to mention but to Josh Barrus. There is a missionary here and I kid you not he looks EXACTLY like your brother Micah. It's pretty scary actually. Haha this week there was another torential rain storm and I was legitly worried that the base of our classroom was going to flood but it didn't thank goodness. It was our last week of gym time so I could very well not play basketball for a very long time! I chose to go half and half with my gym time. I played volleyball for 2 days and basketball for the other 2.wehave some really good volleyball players in our zone and I will really miss him. I have the same flight as my district to Atlanta and then we split from there to go to mexico/monterey. I will definitely miss these guys and we are literally held under contract that we HAVE to attend a reunion. 

Speaking of which my companion really wants me to go visit him in Washington one of these days and he says we're going hunting if I do. That should be fun. Another elder in my district is from Delta and he said that when I come visit him that we'll go bunny bashing. The name says it all. We have another quote going around the district and it's "bendice me" my very own companion when he needs something instead of saying "de me" (give me) or something like that he'll say bendice me which means bless me. So the members in Mexico will think he's really spiritual I guess. I can't begin to explain how fun this week was. I'm pretty sure that I have laughed more this week more than I have any other week before. My knees started to hurt a little more today than normal I think that they know what's going to be happening when we hit Mexico. I have seen so many people this week that I know! I saw Dillen Clark finally! He's doing pretty good. I also saw Elijah Glismeyer (probably botched that) he's going to Germany! lucky guy. If you don't already know (because I forgot what I've said in the email before all the time) I have seen Elder Gardner and Elder Diamond and they're in the same campus as I am. Elder Gardner is a DL and it seems like he's having a good time. Right now the email is really being weird so I can't add anything to something I wrote previously so It will sound out of place sometimes so bare with me. In gym time we had a very good time! I say that because all of my district was doing ABSOLUTELY AMAZING I have never seen so many people be so good at a sport at one time. It was ridiculous. I'm definitely ready to go to work even though I might not be as prepared as I think I am. It will be hard and it will be worth it! I was told for future references that if you buy a postage stamp or a sticker of Mary or something like it and put it over the opening of the letter that the mailing people down in Mexico won't cut across it to see what's inside. at least that's what I was told. Speaking of which I will be emailing you guys as soon as I can for you to send some letters and I'll definitely respond I promise! :D

CHURCH IS TRUE!

la iglesia es verdadero

JESUS CHRIST IS OUR SAVIOR

Jesucristo es nuestro salvador

JOSEPH SMITH WAS A TRUE PROPHET

Jose smith fue una profeta verdadero

May peace and love fill your souls and you minds one month down and now it's time to really go to work.

Email from September 6, 2014

So this week was pretty good I'm not going to lie! We lost another teacher this week and with him another investigator! We have a companionship in our district that haven't had the same investigator for more than a week and I feel really bad for them. Speaking of investigators our investigator is absolutely the hardest person ever to teach and on top of that in Spanish but that's not really that bad anymore. We had a missionary leave this week and it was hard on everybody even though he wasn't in our district. The next day we had a missionary have a panic attack and the ZL's (us) got to help him out and eventually gave him a blessing and just to make sure that everything was OK we sent him over to the ER and everything is good to go now. Besides that district B left for mexico on monday and we were handed the ZONE BALL to describe what the zone ball is is it's a foam ball with a yellow smiley face and has signatures of all the ZL's before us. We were also given the location of a secret room that supposedly has pillows that fill the room and I can't express how excited I am for the day that we go there!!! Speaking of ZL's I know you might have some questions as to what we do. We honestly don't do very much besides interview the DL's and we organize who prays and who passes the sacrament! And also since I'm a ZL I get to have a little bit of "diplomatic Immunity" for talks :) We got our flight plans today and I'm really excited to go! We have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and our flight is at 8:30 and lasts till 2 something and that's to get to atlanta. After that I don't quite remember what we do but we have it all in paper so don't worry too much about me. Our new teacher is Hermana Steward and she is a great teacher. I can say that I have learned a lot of phrases that I'll be using on the daily. Para ejemplo there is a phrase "se le plancho!" which (as I'm told) means "you got ironed!" and that is the Mexican equivalent of "you got burned!" so I use it . . . . . . A lot. Another few phrases that the District I'm in uses is "Tengo dibs!" which is not something that we will probably won't be able to use in Mexico but it means "I have dibs" there is also hota ka which means JK and since there is a rule here in the MTC that we can't dance we will scream at each other "NO BAILANDO" if any of use start to dance. We have picked up a game that we play every once and a while called Gadianton Robbers which is a MTC version of Mafia. The people are the Lamanites, The saving angel is the 3rd nephite, The mafia is the gadianton robbers, and the detectives are chief judges. Just recently we've added a character named Teancum who is able to choose a person to kill if he himself is killed so you could say things get pretty intense! All in the appropriate time of course. I think my Spanish is pretty good for some broken Spanish but I know what it's going to be like when I get to Mexico! I won't understand a thing. 

All in all it has been a normal week here in the MTC! Always remember that the gospel is true! and that it is through the trial of our faith that makes our testimony grow. So don't be disheartened when things don't go immediately well for you. Always remember that it is through Heavenly father and Christ that we can be made clean and that we can not only become like him but while we are here we can have someone to understand us and to go to for support. I know this to be true wholeheartedly.