Email from January 12, 2015

So I have to explain what went on last week a little bit. So last week we went to this place called Centro and we were practically doing everything that we could and we were running everywhere trying to get everything done. so don´t hate me too much! This week we had a lot of fun I sent a package, just barely, that has this stuff in it that I can´t have. 

Cologne (was a gift), Chess set (Aztec stuff), Aztec calendar, ancient knife, Taylor’s mug
 

  The Angel of Independence

And there is something really fun that I put in on one of the sides of the chess set that can only be handled by me and sterling. Don´t worry I have a video of me playing with it.

After eating the ‘Pan de los Tres Reyes’   There are little people hidden in the bread. 

So in Centro there are cathedrals and they recently uncovered a Aztecan temple and seeing that was pretty stinkin cool. In the history of Mexico when the conquistador´s came around they didn´t like the temples there at all so they buried them and built on top of them with cathedrals and stuff like that so they excavated underneath the cathedral de Mexico city and they have steps of the old temple and it even still has some skulls and stuff from the old sacrifices pretty stinkin cool if you ask me. in the way of life I found something to replace tuna in my diet. I found this proteined up mac and cheese that is too easy to make and I eat that pretty much every night. So my plan is to come back home and cook some of the things you would find here and hopefully I will be able to do it justice. We had lot of people come up to us this week and I really enjoy the fact I don´t have to contact that much more! haha but it really is all good. Today I got asked by someone if they could get a book of mormon for their nonmember friend in Centro today. I knew I should have packed the BOM back there. 

 A little more of Centro

 The cathedral

This week we had a lot of help from the members! I think God thought that he should give us some help or something. But we met a person who is a cousin to our mission leader and he has told us that he wants to get baptized. Then just yesterday we had a recent convert bring a friend of hers and we took them to a members house. and it turns out that she had a rough breakup the day before. I cannot begin to tell you how much crying there was going on in that room. There was three girls at the table about 20 years old each and then me and my companion. SO MUCH CRYING. I don´t even know if we needed to be there. We just said well we can help . . . . .. . with BAPTISM!! so she´s getting baptized. My testimony has really grown on how much we have an influence on each other. I hope that everyone that is reading this email knows that they are being watched. (not creepily) and that they are being followed too and sometimes by people that we wouldn´t know too well. I encourage that everyone be sure that they are consistently trying to be better trying to improve and to bring others with them because in reality if we don´t make an effort to help others then there won´t be a lot of people to talk to after this life. 

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ELDER NISSON

Email from January 5, 2015

Hey sorry for the lateness but I have to go in a little bit we had a crazy day but I’ll tell you all about later. But for this week we had a baptism. Pictures will come later. I promise I will respond to all your emails next week but you have to be patient. This week was really cold for some reason like more than usual. And I LOVED it. This week since we baptized we went to centro, which is a place in the middle of Mexico City that has all this sweet architecture and all these buildings and really just culture in general. I will send pictures! This week was a good one and one I won’t forget because to get the water ready for this baptism we had to look everywhere for the problem. It was not filling up. . . .  at all! My companion and I were freaking out! But through some witty Missionary knowledge we were able to fill up the font enough to baptize her. . . .  kneeling down. Yeah it was legit. 

I really loved all your emails. and I am SO sorry that I couldn’t get to respond with length and with time but I love you guys still and I know that through the hard times we find out what we are supposed to learn. Sometimes we have to look from Gods point of view and see what he is trying to teach us in this life. I am so grateful for this perfect Heavenly father to help me and to do what’s best even though it hurts at the time. I am also grateful for the selfless example of Christ and it will always be something I will work on and admire in other people especially in the example of Christ

LES AMO

Tengan bueno dias este semana

Email from December 29, 2014

 It was SOOOOOOO cold!!!!

This week has continued to be rough!! But it ended really happy! This week we still have a sickie aboard so we still estamos ayudando puerta grande 2 and it has really taken a toll on us! haha but it’s all good to be honest. It was a really good time in our zone activity this week because of Christmas and all that jazzy fun stuff. We began with some basketball and some breaking of the piñatas and it was sooooooo much fun! I was online but I was short! Every time! But it’s all good. We had a good time anyway. Then we watched FROZEN!! In Spanish . . .  . . .  with English subtitles. It didn’t feel the same hearing the songs in Spanish so I sang the songs in English to myself. . . . Thank you savanna for watching it so many times. ¡Y si hacemos un muñeco! So that was great and this week we are going to watch wreck it ralph. So excited! We had to do some extra work to get all the pisos completed for this week. But we ultimately completed them. I got really comfortable with the Spanish language because I am beginning to have a hard time talking in ingles. It was really good to SEE you guys this week! I was so happy I could at least have 20 minutes. Puerta grande had a lot of success this week and also us but we had it because God gave us a baptism. Literally that is what happened. We had every fecha drop for going to church and everything! grrr but at church we were introduced to a girl that already has 5 assistancias y nos dijo que tiene un testimonio y todo eso!! All she was missing was the baptism and confirmation! And that is why I root for Gods team.

This week was hard because there wasn’t very many people to visit and there wasn’t very many to contact either! but I was reading a little bit in Job because of this hard time and if anyone had a hard time it would be this guy and if anyone set the example of enduring trials it would be this guy and I found a GREAT scripture to help me out (roughly it goes like this) God knoweth my path and giveth the trial and I will come out like gold I really love this scripture so much it gives me the determination to do what Job says " to come out like gold" I really want to be same if not maybe really close to coming out of every trial like GOLD!! I also know that God gives us trials to shape us and to teach us a lesson. To help us understand something or achieve something that we have asked for. This week I have also arrived to know that trials are an opportunity to prove to ourselves and to other people what we are made of and I am determined to come out like gold

Les amo muchismo y espero que toda esta bien con ustedes y espero que los pruebas van a cambiarles por lo mejor y por su ayuda en sus vidas

--

ELDER NISSON

Email from December 22, 2014

This week was one to remember and more about the struggle and hopefully the growth that my investigators will get. Here there are some weird traditions and I will now explain some of them. The pinatas here are made like stars and they sing and all that then break them. My companion was talking with me about it. It’s like birthday parties! How about we give little kids a sharp object and spin them around a couple times and try to get them to put it in the right spot! But this time it’s how about we give a bunch of adults beer and then give them a bat. So you could say it gets pretty crazy.

This week with our friendly Elder Reynoso out with the chickenpox we had to work 2 areas! I have never been so exhausted in my entire life. So we went on interchanges a lot to get both areas worked. When I was with my old companion from the MTC we worked really hard even though we had only a little experience. But my companion is the type of guy to share with everyone! And I mean everyone. He contacted a gay couple.  But it’s ok because he didn’t know at the time so I will only tease him for a little while. Maybe.

One of the members we visited showed us some videos about Christmas. One of them was the Christmas video sent out by the NBA. (It counts as Christmas so it’s all good) and he started to show us the teaser trailer for the new star wars and I got the 2 words "I don’t" and before you know it my companion has me in a headlock and we watched it. He was sooooooooooooo geeking out over it. It was ridiculous. Probably because he’ll be home by that time to enjoy it. Dang it.

We gave service this week too! Finally it feels good to actually do something like that. We helped a member paint her walls and me and my companion both looked white. Well more than usual anyway. 

This week was really, really, really hard on me and the other companions and I’m pretty sure that I have never felt more exhausted. With the Christmas week here tons of people were going on vacation or had the mindset that they were going. And there was an opportunity for the adversary. I haven’t felt more sadness or discouragement ever in my entire life!! I just tried to keep positive this entire time and at times I just wanted to disappear or something like it. But thank goodness I got a good companion and especially God as help for me. Because without them I don’t know what I would have done. I found scriptures about God strengthening the 14-year missionaries when things were looking bleak for them. I found strength in these scriptures especially "suffer with patience in your struggles and trials" (something along those lines) and boy did I learn. Then came in the quote that I will probably use for the rest of my life. WORK HARD PLAY HARD PRAY HARDER. I definitely prayed and fasted for this week and even though the rewards are not immediate, this is where faith comes in and I know that through God and through the atonement of Jesus Christ I can get through this monumental challenge. I am also very grateful for each and every one of you that help me in my times of trial. I love getting the emails and the spiritual support I get every week from you and I hope that one day I can return the favor.

STAY HAPPY CHURCH IS TRUE!!

CON AMOR

Email from December 15, 2014

So this was the first week in plateros, Tacubaya I found out that our area is small because we have a lot of apartments and there are a lot of people here! I have also found that there is a lot of people here that are content and don’t want to do anything. But thank goodness there are people that want to listen. We meet a few people and all of them are Christians so that’s good that they have that background but it’s hard because they talk so darn much.

Elder Pyne my new companion is a district leader and he has so many people that he knows in this area that will either A) give us free food or B) give us a discount. I am living it up here! But this isn’t all fun and games it turns out. I am the only one as of now that hasn’t gotten sick (knocks on wood)

Home Sweet Home.  Love the mirror.

If there ever was a place that would be grand zero for zombies it would be this one. I found out that it´s true that this place has crazy people. We have a guy ask for cards every time we see him and he is always smiling. ALWAYS!! It’s a little creepy at night ok!

I found that the gorditas here are absolutely to die for. I am so making them when I get back!

So this week we had the Virgins birthday. It got soooooo crazy over here. I hardly slept! ha-ha and there was a priest at every altar and people just gathered around and listening. So talking to people was difficult but good thing we were prepared for it because we already got our contacting done. The day after there was absolutely no one in the street. NO ONE. My companion said he felt like we were in I am legend.

And then another thing happened. So my companion and I were in a bakery giving a lesson and there was a family of 3 that came in. 2 girls and a mom. And one of the girls starting to flirt with us. Literally all she said was how great our eyes looked. I know my eyes are very cute but that hasn’t happened before. Needless to say my companion was distressed all the way home. I am sorry I didn’t get very many pictures this week but I promise that there will be more on the way.

I got a lot of rejection this week and not a lot of success but I still worked. This is a way Satan tries to dissuade us. Using tactics through discouragement and things like that. We have to remember that just because something that has happened to us we can’t be afraid to keep going and to keep trying. All our Father in Heaven wants is for us to keep improving. Every day we need to keep building and to keep growing. That is why this life is here is for us to become something that we can’t see but we know that we have potential for. There will be those days sometimes weeks and even sometimes months of pure distress and struggle. But as long as we are taking it all in for improvement we will have accomplished something that God has wanted for us.

CHURCH IS TRUE. We aren’t perfect but we are supposed to strive for it.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD

Email from December 8, 2014

HOLD

Email from December 1, 2014

This week was a special one! So we were working hard, as usual, and every one of our investigators it seems like [they] don’t want to change and accept the great message that we are giving. Needless to say it was a little depressing. So I fasted and prayed for a miracle from at least one of our investigators. And here is my testimony of fasting right here. So we go with the ZL´s to an investigator who I thought was pretty good. We show up to his house and the first thing that we talk about is the possibility of him being baptized this Sunday. Literally he said that he had something happen to him and after, he said I want to get baptized. So we baptized them. And another miracle, I am pretty sure that I can finally contribute a lot more in lessons now. Spanish! woot!

And today we got some new suits. And just to tell you guys how cheap things are here I got an Italian suit with 2 shirts and 2 ties for around 170 bucks. I am so happy about it! haha

I lost my plaque this week and have been using my magnet one for a long time. Just know that the bus driver was just that crazy.

For thanksgiving I made everyone chocolate pancakes from cake batter. I turned out awesome!! This week we had what they like to call "gringas" and they are so good! I put some really hot sauce on that thing and it was so good! haha even more so. The funny thing was that Elder McCubbins said "Let’s bust those white girls out!" so a gringo is a white guy and a gringa is a white girl. . . . It was pretty funny.

I am almost complete with my training! I am scared and excited than anything.

We also had the opportunity to visit the temple with our investigators! it was so much fun! The visitor’s center was really cool and I sent pictures for you guys :) The temple is pretty big and at night it is absolutely gorgeous! Going into town has its risks too. I saw so many posters for so many videogames and movies it was ridiculous. Now I know why I was sent in the boontooles. 

“Remember” is a really important word in the scriptures and always remember who created you, who knows you and who will always, without difference, love you. He know everything about you and what will make you happy. Trust that he has something so great for you that you dedicate yourself to him! CHURCH IS TRUE

-- 

ELDER NISSON