29 October 2013

HOLA

Okay. so much to say.... Also, Im sorry if my grammar stinks and I dont sound excited at all in this email... the punctuation stopped working. Ahhhhh. Haha.

This week was great. We had Zone conference. The President and his wife came. They gave wonderful talks on obedience. Kind of stresses the importance of being obedient to the commandments and the mission rules. 

We had an amazing Zone meeting this morning. We were all in tears by the end and the spirit was so strong. I love our zone. The leaders are amazing. I feel a little outnumbered at times being the only hermana companionship out of 10 other elder companionships haha, but its all good.

We have been teaching a lot. Mostly working with Less actives... No one wants to come to church.... they have the worst excuses too. Its raining.... I am washing clothes.... I have to plant seeds. My comp and I were laughing at how different it is from the states. Imagine someone in the US saying they cant go to church because they have to plant seeds hahah. Oh boy. Also people love talking here. Like really like talking. Well ask a question in a lesson and theyll respond with their whole life story. Haha its great because they love opening up, but we just have to be careful with what questions we ask. One lady, Eulalia... I asked her how she feels about going to the temple to be baptized for her daughter that died. I didn÷t undertstnad much of what she said, but all I heard was Menopause and then she pointed to her braids in her hair. You can imagine how confused I was haha. Turns out, she was sick and the doctors thought she had cancer, so she shaved her head... what... then they found out that it was only menopause... oh good hahahah. Now she has her braids back. Oh I love the poeple here. It is even more fun now that I am understanding and speaking more. Its a good time. 

I love Peru and being a missionary. I feel more happy and healthy than Ive ever been. Thank you for your emails and love. I love you all so much.

Happy Halloween. Have fun. I want pictures of everyones costumes. Ah I didnt realize how much I use exclamation points until now... Sorry. EXCLAMATION POINT. 

I love you.

Con Amor,

Hermana Nelson

23 October 2013

Address Update


My mail address is just the mission office. But unfortunately it is different than what was in the packet. It is...

Av. La Cultura 2417
En frente la Urb. Santa Ursula
La Capilla Mormon
Cusco, Peru

They forward any mail or packages I get to the Zone leaders who then give it to me. I have heard that it takes about a month for packages and letters to get to and from here. The packages can only be under 5 kilos.

21 October 2013

Pictures...








A real missionary

Hola Familia!

This week rocked. I had a great learning and humbling week, but it was so wonderful at the same time! Here are the deets:

1. Sister Leaders. The Sister Leaders came to visit us last Tuesday for two days. We went on splits with them and it was so great to learn from other people`s teaching styles. I had a little humbling experience with them. They comforted me and assured me that the language would come. They were a little blessing that day. I learned and am still learning that I need to rely more on my companion, Preach my Gospel, and the Lord. I can`t do this my own stubborn way. 

2. Agua Caliente. Yeah folks, that`s right. We got HOT WATER up in here!!! We went from cold ice showers, to warm wonderful actually enjoyable showers. We also got ipads, cars, and we`re allowed to have cats for pets now!! Woohoo!! Okay that`s all a joke, but hot water is seriously a wonderful thing. 

3. Oh the beauty. Peru is beautiful! I didn`t realize it my first week because I was staring at the ground or at my planner trying to figure out what the heck we`re doing... but now I actually look around. The doors are my favorite thing here. Each one is different! I am taking pictures of a ton of doors. The sky is ridiculously blue here. I love it. The weather is perfect. A little rainy sometiems, but pretty dang good. 

4. This Sunday was hard because hardly anyone came to church! It was a little frustrating. Everyone works and cleans and does other things on Sundays and when they promise they´ll come to church, they don`t. It`s their own decision, but it is sad for us because we KNOW how happy this gospel makes people and especially strengthens families. My comp and I got a little overwhelmed with emotion last week as we studied the joy of this gospel. It truly is amazing. We have everything we need to be happy here and for eternity. I am SO grateful for the churhc in my life and to have the opportunity to study everyday.

5. Church. Okay. So I officially feel like a real missionary. I found out AFTER I agreed to play the piano, thay I am the ONLY one in the ward that plays. And let`s just clarify something... I know how to play like 3 hymns... semi well. YIKES. Well the last two weeks I have `played during sacrament meeting. And the Bishop just likes to throw randoms hymns that I´ve never played before at me... It`s rough to say the least, but I love it. Haha. I also gave a talk in spanish(obvi) on Sunday. Not sure if anyone understood me, but it happened and it rocked.

6. The Laguage. Once again. Yeah, that`s a thing. Last week I said that Brian used to buy hamsters for us to eat... I meant to say that he boughtthem for his snake!! Haha we got a good laugh out of that one.

I love you all. I am loving this mission thing. I still am learning A TON and have a long way to go, but I love it here and am so happy! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Nelson

15 October 2013

Do You Believe in Miracles?


Woah. A LOT to tell you all. The last week in the MTC was cray cray. My comp and I delt with a crazy bizarre situation with a district and girls and... ah I`m not even going to try to explain, but I`m glad it`s over ha and I learned that I am grateful that I had such an amazing companion and district in the MTC. I miss the MTC and all the studying there, but this thing... the real world... this thing they call ``the feild``... yeah, it rocks.
 
Here`s the highlights:
 
1. Altitude. What Altitude? I am extatic to announce that I have defeated the altitude sickness. That`s right, no sickness at all! I feel great! I can feel that we are high in the sky and it`s harder to breathe, but while most missionaries get sick for days, I haven`t had any sickness. Blessings I tell you. Miracles.
 
2. My Comp. She rocks. Hermana Allred is her name. We have a lot in common and we are both American which is cool because we can speak english! Yay my favorite! We are the first only American companionshp in this mission... ever. Or at least that`s what Hna. Allred says. Kind of crazy. We are both blonde and very white, so yeah we kind of stick out like a sore thumb here.
 
3. Sicuani! I am in an area 2 hours outside of cusco called Sicuani. It is beautiful! Look it up on Google maps. The ward is amazing. Really supportive of missionary work. There are A TON of less actives here so that is our main focus. It`s hard, but awesome. The poeple are so sweet here and so welcoming. Our cook, Margarita (also the RS president and the most amazing women ever!... in Peru) told me that they have to kick me out if I don`t know spanish in a month. They really are welcoming... haha no but really. I love the people. We all kiss each other on the cheek to greet each other. So sorry if I come home kissing everyone.
 
3. The language. Oh the language. yep. Yeah. That thing. Hm. Spanish is a language. I am trying to speak it.
 
4. Miracles. Saturday was a disappointing day because we had a ton of appointments and everyone and their dog decided to not be home. I´m convinced there was a party we weren`t invited to. It was discouraging a bit. Then as we were walking with a member, we decided to visit a lady we had tried earlier that day. We randomly ran into her on the street on the way to her house! Crazy! She`s never home so that was a miracle we saw her. Then we went to her house and met a couple that was renting out a room there. We began teaching them. After teaching them about the Book of Mormon and a little bit about what we believe, we asked if they had any questions. Andre, the man, said, ``Yes, when can I be baptized``. Um. What? Woah. Yeah... Okay I can work with that. Seriously it was a crazy miracle. They have a lot to work through and learn before baptism, but I knew that the spirit had testified the truth of this gospel to him. Heavenly Father had prepared us and humbled us for that experience. He truly knows far more than we do. I am grateful for that.
 
Thank you all so much for the emails and stories. I love you all so much!! Conference sounded like a blast! I LOVED IT!! I couldn``t help but think about you all while watching it. It was fun to think that we were all doing the same thing at the same time. Probably the only time that`s going to happen for a while. The gospel really brings families together... no matter how far you are from eachother.
 
I am doing well and loving life as a missionary. It`s hard, but I am learning so much. I am recognizing my weaknesses too. I am learning that I am very stubborn and like  to do things my own way. I´m sorry you guys have to deal with that! That`s annoying. I am learning that I HAVE to rely on others and there is no way I can do this on my own or my own way. Proverbs 3:5 THat`s what`s up.
 
Love you!!
 
 
Hermana Nelson

05 October 2013

NEW ADDRESS


Starting 10/3/13:
Send all letters to the Mission office until we hear from her and where her first assignment will be.
Sister Kelly Nelson
Peru Cusco Mission
Jiron Ricardo Palma
Manzana A Lote 2 4to Piso
Urb. Santa Monica, Cusco
PERU

01 October 2013

FELIZ NAVIDAD


Dearest Familia!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY!!! Ah I love you girly. I had an experience that was just a little blessing to ease my Hailey withdrawls. As I was running laps at Physical Activity time I heard a distant, and soft ´´Hola´´... So I stopped and realised it was coming from a hole in the brick wall. Haha. kind of strange, but I walked over to meet a little 2 year old girl and her mom. I got to ask her questions like, ´´Cuantos aƱos tiene?´´ and ´´Que dice el gato?´´... She even make a pig noise for me and said ´´perro´´ and ´´ruff´´ and ´´meow´´. I about died. It reminded me of Hails bails so much! I love her and miss her.
 
Happy Aniversary to my NATALIE AND CHRIS!! Woohoo!! Rock on! Love you both!!
 
Christmas? Yes, it is General Conference this weekend... but that´s not the kind of Christmas I am talking about. It is our LAST P-DAY in the MTC. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa???? Yeah. Crazy. These 5 weeks have FLOWN by! Next Tuesday early in the morning I will fly to CUSCO and my mish pres will send you an email and a pic saying that I arrived safely, and then I will email you on my next pday... so probs thenext monday! I am SO excited to go to Cusco.
 
Okay unfortunately I am getting kicked of right now ahhhhh. But I love you and have had wonderful experiences this week. I am So sad to leave the CCM. My teachers and district are amazing. I am learning to be more humble everyday... I have a LONG way to go! I will write you when I get to Cusco! Love you all so very much!
 
Con Muco Amor,
 
Hermana Nelson