January 30, 2013

Friends and Family,

This week has been kind of a blast. I love being a missionary and being able to serve those in my zone. Over the past two weeks, we have had 12 new elders come in and I've gotten real close with most of them. So fun to learn more and more about people. There is an Elder Ficklin in my zone and he’s from Mesa, AZ but he used to live in Spokane, so we have made so many different connections it’s kind of funny! I told him i went to West Valley and he said "awww come on...CV all the way" i thought, oh brother, even people that don’t go to that school are obsessed with it. It’s just been so fun! Through every person there is always some kind of connection, especially through the church! I have come to love others more this week too. I find that the best way to really get to love someone is just to simply get to know them. I think a big reason why people don’t like other people is because they just don’t really know them. I find that as I get to know others, my first impressions good or bad always change for the better. So I leave now in less than two weeks with still no confirmation on my visa. I’m not sure what to expect to be honest because nobody has told me anything. So I just hope and know that if I have it or not ill go where the Lord wants me to go. My favorite chapter in Alma is Alma 26. One day in my study, I prayed for the Lord to guide my study. I had no clue on what to study, so I just started reading from where I left off in the book of Mormon. I came across Alma 26. Ammon is a missionary I look up to. Through his words in this chapter, I could hear the Lords words tell me what he wants me to do. I could feel my desire to do His will grow as I was reading it. He guided my study that day, and he told me what it is he wants me to do and who he wants me to be. I was brought to tears because of the power I felt. Through Ammons words, the Lord was talking directly to me. I'm so grateful for this book! The Lord speaks to us through the writings of prophets! I testify of that because it happened to me. I love this gospel and I love you all!

- Elder Nelson