Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Sun, The Rain, And the Appleseed

I have these two worlds. The one has its orbit back in Las Vegas and the other orbits Kentuckiana. In one world I go by Brooke and I'm surrounded by people I'm related to. In the other world I'm known as Sister Nelson and I'm surrounded by friends with funny accents. In the one world I'm a normal girl. In the other world I'm a missionary. These worlds know about each other but they've never met. They're not supposed to co-exist; that's the nature of having two separate worlds. But last week, my two worlds collided. And it was crazy.
 

Mom came to Kentuckiana! There I was, in my skirt and nametag with my companion and two other sisters when my mom pulls up, gets out of the car and gives me a big hug. Mom. Mission. Mom. Mission. Mom & Mission. It was surreal. And it was awesome.
 
Mom and I spent most of the week she was here cooped up in the Louisville Residence Inn while I recovered from my surgery. But we did spend one night in Salem where she got to meet people there, and then one night at the mission home where she got to meet President and Sister Woodbury. First people she met in Salem were the Vonnahmes. The thing about the Vonnahmes is that they both talk really loud and neither one cares if the other is talking. So, whenever people go to their house for the first time they have an inward struggle trying to decide who to look at and who to respond to since they're both talking a mile a minute at you about completely different things. Add to that how tiny Sister Vonnahme is and Brother Vonnahmes "tusks" and it's a tidal wave of newness coming at you and they don't even give you a second to catch your breath and take it all in. I was excited to watch Mom and see how she handled it. She was doing a really good job of juggling between the two with only a slightly amused face till she gave herself away by quickly whispering during a lull when they were distracted, "Am I laughing out loud?" "No." "Oh, good. I'm trying to keep it in, but I was afraid I might be laughing despite myself."
 
As soon as we got in the car afterwards, she belly laughed for a good minute and then giggled for another two. [Mom's personal note:  I've got to add that when we went to get into the car it was POURING rain, absolutely pouring.  The Vonnahmes stood at their door to watch us until we got out of sight and so we got to the rental car, I opened my side of the car, Brooke went to hers, I hurried, smiled and waved one more time, hopped in and could NOT figure out how to unlock the door so that Brooke could get in.  Could not figure it out.  She was screaming, I was laughing and screaming, the Vonnahmes were waving, and it continued to pour.  There was more than one reason why we were laughing for "a good minute" or more after we finally got into the car!] She thanked me for letting her have the unique experience of meeting Marv and Judie and then scolded me for not warning her about how tiny Sister Vonnahme is. I told her I had warned her and she'd seen pictures. She just wasn't expecting her to be quite so small in real life, I guess. On Sunday they insisted on feeding us dinner (lunch) and Brother Vonnahme made a pot roast and we had a good visit with them again. Brother Vonnahme just read a book about J. Golden Kimball so he was trying to be as outrageous as possible and Sister Vonnahme just kept hugging everyone.
  
Mom also got to meet Brother Hobson and hear his conversion story. He came to church because Mom was going to be there and actually wore a white shirt and tie which he NEVER does. He told me that on a scale of 1 to 10 on first impressions that Mom earned a 9.5. (To put things into perspective he said he's only ever met two other people that earned a 9.5.) I was really surprised because he had been so nervous to meet her because he knows she liked Romney and he's a democrat and he thought Mom wouldn't like him because of it. But he was really impressed by her and when she told him he should wear the white shirt and tie to church every week he said that he would (something the Sisters have been asking him to do for over a year). Something about Mom telling him to do it did the trick. So, good job, Mom. Mom also got to meet Brother Winslow. When I called him to see if we could come over Mom was whispering in my ear, "Tell him to put some clothes on or we aren't coming," but I somehow forgot to ask him so when we went over he was in his jean shorts. He liked Mom. He thought she sounded like she was 13 years old and kept asking her how she could be my mom if she sounded so young. Then we rode in his rickety, self-made elevator down to his basement and mom screamed every time it jolted. That's when he knew we must be related because I scream like that anytime I see a bug and he thinks it's the strangest thing to scream over a bug.
 
Staying with the Woodbury's was pretty unique, too. Sister Woodbury cooked some delicious meals and President took the time to sit and visit with us. At supper (dinner) there were two Elders there eating with us and Mom kept calling me Brooke and I kept correcting her and saying she had to call me Sister Nelson. She would laugh and apologize and then call me Brooke again. Finally President looked at her and laughed and said, "We're going to have to send you home!" He didn't care if she called me Brooke when we were alone, but in front of other people, especially other missionaries she was supposed to call me Sister Nelson. She finally compromised and referred to me as her daughter. Haha.
 
My surgery went extremely well. Dr. Kakarlapudi was astounded at how well I'm recovering. On Monday I had a follow up with him and he was shocked. He said that he had just seen another woman who had the same procedure done the same day I did with less than half the work done as I had had and he said she's nowhere near as recovered as I am. I told him I had a lot of people praying for me and he said it might have helped. I know it did. Today I saw him again and he said that my healing is exceptional. I think he's pretty shocked.
 
The only things that have been hard for me in recovery is nausea. My equilibrium has all changed and my body has had a time trying to get used to it. Every time I got into a car for that first week, I almost threw up. Elevators made me sick. Walking made me sick sometimes. And now that I can smell everything I've been hit with nausea when a lot of smells come at me at once, too. The only thing that helps is drinking pickle juice. I don't know why. But that first day we were in the car and I thought I was going to hurl all over mom and all I wanted was dill pickles so she got them for me and I opened the jar and drank the juice till I felt better. I've gone through four jars this week. I don't know what's in that stuff, but it's magic for my nausea. Maybe it's the vinegar?
 
I'm getting better every day. My body is adjusting to having oxygen and it likes it. I've been so blessed. My whole zone fasted for me without telling me the day after my surgery. And I know I have many people at home fasting and praying for me. I'm so grateful. I know that the Lord is blessing me with such a quick recovery because of your faith and love. Oh yeah, when I saw Dr. Kakarlapudi today I gave him a Book of Mormon and marked Alma 36 which is my favorite chapter and he said he'd look through it! Maybe one day he'll go by Brother Kakarlapudi.
 
I've told you about my medical miracle. Now, let me tell you a missionary miracle. Brother Hobson has two brothers. His one brother met with the missionaries for a while but he passed away in January from cancer. His other brother, Mark, has never met with the missionaries. He's a lot like Brother Hobson was before he joined. He's drawn to the church and agrees with a lot of what we teach and he can feel something different about us, but he avoids us as best he can. Every once in a while the urge to talk to us or come to church with be so strong that he'll give in for a second and then run away as fast as he can. For example, he'll drive by the church on Sunday mornings while church is in session and sit in his car in the parking lot. But he won't come in. He'll see us at the library with his brother, Kim, and won't say a word to us. Then every month or so, one of those days at the library he'll come up to our table and say, "What are you reading about today?" and then we tell him and he says that's interesting and we'll invite him to sit and he says he can't and walks away as fast as he can. He talks to Kim all the time about the church. He has a Book of Mormon. He's come up to me and thanked me before for visiting their mom in the nursing home or helping with Randy's funeral and stuff like that but he always walks away as fast as he can after he says what he wanted to say. So, I know he's interested, but he's terrified that he's interested. This is just how Kim was. Well, I met Mark a day or two after Christmas, right after I got here to Salem. Ever since then I've prayed in my nightly prayers for a chance to teach Mark Hobson. That was December. This is August. We've had a couple run-ins with him since then and every time I wait for the Spirit to tell me it's ok to invite him to take the lessons and the Spirit never does. So I just try to have as pleasant a conversation as possible with him and let him come to us and he has, gradually, a little more often and then a little more often. He still runs away pretty quickly, but he's not as shy about it.
 
Saturday, Sister Hunt and I were walking around the town square trying to find people to talk to and hand out cards to. At one point we felt prompted to go up behind the square to a street and walk there for a minute. As soon as we got to that street, Brother Hobson drove by and pulled over and we talked to him for a couple minutes there. As we were talking to him, a car honked its horn as it passed and it scared me and made me jump. It was Mark. We watched him slam on his brakes and turn into a little side street as if he was going to come through the square back around and talk to us. I got really excited and got out this custom pass-along card that I had just created the day before that has some of my favorite questions of the soul on it and offers a free Book of Mormon. And I also got out an Articles of Faith card. I was nervous but excited.
 
Well, Mark must have chickened out because one block down we saw him pull back into the street and head off the opposite direction. Bummer. So, we said by to Brother Hobson and kept walking around the square for a while. We found a new investigator named Kimberly which was awesome. Then we walked down the main road some more looking for more people to talk to. For some reason, I felt prompted to turn down by the railroad tracks. We did and we started walking down this almost deserted street that has an old factory on it that went out of business. There aren't any houses on it and there's very little of anything on it. Sister Hunt was like, "Why are we walking down this street?" I was like, "I don't know." But we kept walking it. A single car drove by and pulled over and asked why we were walking down this street and offered us a ride. I said no thanks and handed the driver a pass-along card and we kept walking. Haha. It was weird.
 
We finally came up to a sketchy laundry mat and I saw a guy and walked up and gave him a card. Then we turned to keep walking and I hear someone say, "Hey, why don't you stop picking on my brother?" I turn around and see on the other side of that man's car is none other than Mark Hobson. My heart skipped. He smiled. "I'm just joking. I'm sorry if I scared you earlier." My heart sped back up. Is Mark Hobson really opening up a conversation with us that has more than a two sentence exchange? We small talked for a couple seconds while I waited to see if the Spirit was going to let me talk gospel with him. I felt really good. I cut the small talk because I didn't know how long Mark would talk before running away and he had already started walking the opposite direction twice and then turned back around. It looked like he was trying to have a square dance with himself or something. I needed to ask him now, before he could get away.
 
"Can I give you a card?"
 
"Well, sure."
 
YES! He pulled out his glasses to read it as I explained, "Those are some questions that I've had that God has answered for me through the Book of Mormon."
 
"Oh. Nice."
 
He studied it for a second and put it in his pocket. Then, instead of running away, he became very candid and cut to the chase. "Look, girls, I think your church is very nice and I admire a lot of what you do. But I can't accept the idea of a modern day prophet, especially at 14 years old. I also have a hard time with the idea of reformed Egyptian when no one has ever heard of reformed Egyptian and I also know that Paul said we aren't to preach any other gospel and you preach a new gospel. Those are the problems I have with your church. But I really like your programs especially with charitable work and a lot of other things that you teach."
 
So I told him we respect his desire to believe something fully and the research he's done. I mentioned Samuel the boy Prophet which he hadn't really thought of before but I didn't really want to get into the gnitty gritty right there. I want to sit down with him and explain that if someone knows the Book of Mormon comes from God that all of the other questions that someone might have will be answered or they'll fall by the wayside.
 
So I just said, "Those are good questions. Can we sit down with you sometime and talk with you about them and about our church?"
 
And then I held my breath. I've been praying for this for 8 months and I've been as cautious as possible because I didn't want to scare him off or push things too hard too quickly. So I held me breath.
 
"Well... sometime. Sometime that would be good."
 
That wasn't a good enough answer for me.
"Sometime... in the near future?"
 
"I'm going to Florida next week and school starts soon, but when I get back, we could get together. That would be nice."
 
I had flashbacks to Jake Schmidt and commanded myself not to yell and do a fist pump.
 
"Ok! So, when you get back from Florida, we'll get together and talk about your questions and about the church, right?"
 
"Right."
 
"Great!"
 
Then we had a little more small talk. And then he went into the laundromat and we walked back to the main street. I accidentally let out a little scream once we turned around but I'm hoping he didn't hear it because he's in his late 50's maybe he has bad hearing. Once he was inside I started rubbing my hands together and singing and I just couldn't believe that we had just talked to Mark Hobson and that he had said we could teach him! Prayer works! It works, it works, it works! That's when I introduced Sister Hunt to the Johnny Appleseed song:
 
The Lord is good to me
and so I thank the Lord
for giving me the things I need--
the sun, the rain, & the appleseed
the Lord is good to me!
 
It was an absolute miracle! Miracle, I tell you! The Lord had led us down that first street to get Mark thinking about us even though He knew Mark would chicken out. Then the Lord led us down that deserted, dead street because He knew where Mark was. And He knew that for some reason, Mark would be willing to talk to us that day. And since he had already seen us a half hour before he had something to start up a conversation about. He knew all of this. And He let me be a part of it! It was so AWESOME! It was definitely all the Lord's work and His timing and his placement of all three or really four of us if you count Kim earlier. It was so, so wonderful.
 
The next day Kim called and told us that he'd been talking to Mark and Mark had mentioned running into us. Every time I've asked Kim about Mark he says that he'll be a tough sell and that Kim doesn't want to get in the middle of it. So he said that he asked Mark if he really would meet with us once he's back and he said that he would! He told Kim he really does plan on meeting with us! Oh, I'm so excited! This is the best thing ever. I'm so, so happy. I just know that Mark Hobson is going to accept the truth. It might take him a while, but he will. I feel it in my bones!
 
I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I'm so grateful that I've been allowed to stay here on my mission despite several and very weird circumstances. I know I'm a spoiled brat. Most people don't get the allowances and chances that I've been given. And I don't know why I've been given them. But I'm very, very grateful for them.
 
Extra Blessings: Shannon, Judy, Otis, Aunt Suzanne & Kate
Quote #1 of the Week: "I'm going to open the window. We haven't seen the sun all day--" FWHAM!
Quote #2 of the Week:  "I am SICK and TIRED of looking like a scarecrow!"
Quote #3 of the Week:  "It sounds like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang played by a drunk!"

Quote explanations:
#1 (**Mom's note: This quote refers to a rather hilarious moment we shared when we were in the hotel room early one evening.  We had been couped up for the entire day, not only because of Brooke's surgery recovery but also because it was raining.  As evening was approaching I thought it would be nice to open the curtains up and see a little bit of sunshine before nightfall.  Our room was a few stories up and right across from us was a beautiful building with a dome on the top.  As I went to the window, I threw open the curtains in a rather dramatic motion as I said,  "I'm going to open the window. We haven't seen the sun all day!" At the very second that I threw open the curtains and finished the word 'day', a giant bolt of lightning hit the top of the dome on the adjacent building!  There was a huge flash of light and it surprised me so suddenly,  I instantaneously screamed, stumbled backwards, and fell on the couch.  FLASH! FWHAM! AAAH!! THUD! and then gales of laughter for the next half hour.  Brooke and I have often said that the timing was literally miraculous.  We could not have timed that intentionally that perfectly if we had been offered a million dollars to do it!  So so funny.)
 
#2: Sister Vonnahme's hair sticks straight out unless she gets it permed. Well, she was so ill for so long that she went months without getting it permed and one day she told Marvin that she didn't care how weak she was the next day that she was going to the salon because in her words: "I am SICK and TIRED of looking like a scarecrow!"
 
#3:  Brother Vonnahme and I were talking about how annoying and loud CT scans are and he said, "It sounds like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang played by a drunk!"
 
The Church is TRUE! Share it!
 
Love Yuns,
Sis Nelson
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Friday, August 3, 2012

The Boomerang Debt Effect - Monday July 23

You know how they say that you can never have one up on Heavenly Father? It's true. No matter how many times you try to repay Him or give Him something, He just takes it and boomerangs it right back at you but with 10 times the blessings that you sent to Him. It's crazy. My debt to Him just gets bigger and bigger. But it's a good debt. It's the only good debt there is. Every time Heavenly Father allows me to have a "trial" it's so that He can show me how much I'm loved. It's counter intuitive to my human mind. But for some reason it's a Godly law or something. My trials are for blessings? What? Seriously though, they are. That's why we call God an "Awesome" God: He inspires awe.

I'm sure most of you or perhaps all of you know by now that I get to stay here for my surgery. I don't have to come home yet. Three months as a healthy missionary seems insignificant to some, but to me, it means a lot. And the Lord knew that. And He's merciful enough to move things around to let me have those three months. And my mom gets to come out and be with me! I know it's horrible timing for all that's going on back home and I'm really sorry to my siblings who needed Mom to be there with them right now. I'm sorry that I'm stealing her away. Thank you for letting me have her. I know it's an inconvenience. But I'm really, really grateful that she's coming. I had my CT scan on Friday and my wonderful Doctor, Venkata Vasu Kakarlapudi, was still having a hard time putting into words how "severe" my sinuses are. I saw the pictures. It looks bad. He said it looks like my septum has actually eroded because of how bad my sinuses are. He gave me a pamphlet on the surgery and it listed 10 symptoms that indicate someone might need the surgery. It said that if you have one or more of the symptoms than you should talk to your doctor about it. I scored an A+ with 10/10. I'm way excited because he says that my headaches will stop and I'll be able to sleep and I'll be able to breathe and I'll get my sense of smell back permanently and my sense of taste will improve. It's going to be awesome (see paragraph 1 for explanation of "awesome").

So, the surgery is on Wednesday. Mom flies into Louisville sometime Tuesday! She's staying for a week! My recovery is supposed to take about 10 days but I'm supposed to be able to get up and do stuff after 7. Sister Hunt is going back to a trio in Charlestown while I'm with Mom. I know Mom's here to help me recover, but I have two goals while she's here that I have to achieve or I'll be disappointed: she HAS to meet the Vonnahmes and she HAS to meet Brother Winslow. Everyone else she can meet when we come back after my mission to visit. But it would be a tragedy if she got out of Indiana without meeting those three gems.

This week has been an up and down week, but it's been full of the Spirit. Elder Munns of the Seventy and his wife visited the mission. Whenever a general authority visits we get to drive into Louisville and listen to them speak. It's fun because the group is usually more missionaries than a regular zone conference. Zone Conference is usually two zones which is about 50-60 missionaries. Visiting authorities is usually done in groups of 4 zones. That's anywhere from 100-120 missionaries. You get to see a lot of friends. All five of us missionaries from my MTC district were there. Three of them are training new missionaries right now and I think the other one is a leader in some way. It's crazy that we're all the older ones in the mission now. It's fun to see them and talk to them and see the growth that has happened since March of last year. 

The meeting was a spiritual feast and even though I was exhausted from so little sleep, I left there feeling rejuevinated and excited to be a missionary. Sister Woodbury talked about how when we feel like the odds are against us, if we could have the veil lifted we'd see angels around us helping us fight our battles with us. "If God be for us, who can prevail against us?" (JST Romans 8:31) Then President Woodbury talked about Nephi when he was commanded to build a ship. His brothers told him he couldn't do it but Nephi was like, "If God commanded me to turn the ocean into dry land, I could do it because He commanded me to do it. If I could do that, why can't I do something as simple as building a ship?" Sister Munns talked about a lot of great things but my favorite thing she shared was a story about two buckets that are used to get water from a well. One complains to the other and says, "No matter how many times I come up full, I always go back down empty!" The other bucket says, "It's different for me: No matter how many times I go down empty, I always come up full." I really liked that. She also shared a quote from Joseph B Wirthlin that went something like this, "When you love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden." 

Elder Munns spoke about how to be successful as a missionary. All you have to do is cut out distractions to the Spirit, work really hard, and love the people. I'm excited to implement all of those things once I'm healthy again. After the meeting, President and the Assistants gave me a blessing. This was the day before my CT scan and I was on pins and needles, nervous about the results. The blessing told me that the Lord was going to allow me to stay on my mission till November! It was wonderful! What a blessing. I only had to wait another 24 hours to find out, but the Lord was willing to relieve my stress and worry and not make me wait any longer to know. Awesome!

Last week we picked up a new investigator after being led by the Spirit to him. It was really cool to see that if you'll turn things over to the Lord, He knows a lot more what to do that we have any idea of. We got out a map of our county and prayed to know where to go tracting. After the prayer we felt like a certain area on the map was where we needed to focus. We wrote down five or six street names that we felt good about and prayed again to know which one we needed to go to first. We felt strongly about one street. We drove a half hour through the forest of Mt. Carmel and found this street. There was ONE house on this street. That's it. Just one at the very end. We walked up to knock on the door and the man was outside. We didn't even have to knock. We talked to the man there for a bit and left knowing that the Lord had definitely sent us to him for a reason. He didn't say we could teach him, but I know a seed was planted. On our way back we felt prompted to stop at a trailer on another one of the streets that we had written on that list. We did and when we went up to the door we thought we shouldn't knock it for some reason. Off to the side of the trailer was a garage. We walked over there and there was a man welding a car he's getting ready for the demolition derby that's coming up in a couple weeks. I felt sheepish stopping him from welding because he had a mask on and stuff, but we did. He talked to us for a half hour till we had to leave to make an appointment. He said he wanted us to come back to talk to his family next week. Two contacts, no doors knocked, out in the middle of nowhere. That's what relying on the Lord can do for you. 

This week we went back to the welder's and his girlfriend had left because she didn't want to talk to us. But he has a daughter that's 22 that sat in on the lesson. As soon as we got into their place, a storm passed overhead. The power flickered off and on once and everyone froze. Then we kept talking. A couple minutes later it happened again. John's daughter went and lit some candles in case it happened again. John looked at us and said, "That's two times. If it happens a third time, the power don't come back on." Gulp. Great. We're going to be stuck in the dark in a storm that I can't drive in with a man and his daughter on the first lesson with an angry girlfriend off somewhere waiting to be told the coast is clear to come back home. Thankfully the power didn't go out again. We finished the lesson and they said we could come back sometime but they don't know when because that's the first time in forever that they've both gotten off work early. Neither of them were supposed to be home that day at that time. I have a feeling they WERE supposed to be home that day at that time. It was pretty neat. I'm hoping we'll get permission to go watch John in the derby. He reminds me of my Kentucky people because he only has one tooth on top and a couple on the bottom.

We've seen Sandra a couple times the last two weeks as well. I love her. I love her so much. We watched the restoration movie with her and Sister Hunt said she could tell Sandra felt the Spirit. I was over on the other side of the room keeping her sons distracted so that she could watch the movie in peace. Sandra is so lost and confused and wants things to get better so badly. But it's hard to change when there's a risk that things will get worse. With the Lord they won't get worse. I know that. But she needs to know that. I don't blame her for being scared. She needs to move out from her boyfriend's house but if she does she won't have anywhere to go and she'll be leaving the only person that has ever told her she's worth anything. But he's not good for her. And he's not good for their sons. It's a hard situation. I asked her at our last lesson, "If God Himself was to tell you what to do, would you have the faith to do it?" She started crying and said, "Yes. Even if He told me I had to leave." We invited her to start praying every day in the morning and at night time. The Lord will talk to her. And the Lord knows what's best for her. I hope that we can teach her and help her enough to help her recognize the Spirit and improve her life in whichever way the Lord knows it will improve. She's so special. And it's incredibly humbling to have someone pray and thank Heavenly Father for sending you to her. It's that boomerang debt thing again. She's grateful for me but I pray every day thanking Heavenly Father for her. No matter what I do, I'm always thanking Him for something else. It's amazing.

On Friday when I saw Dr. Kakarlapudi he told me all of the things I would need to do for my surgery. He said I'd need to stop certain medicines two weeks before surgery and start others the week before surgery and in my head I'm thinking, "Two weeks?!?!?! I have to wait TWO MORE WEEKS!?!?!?!" At the end of his instructions and telling me all the risks involved with the surgery he said, "Any questions for me?" "My only question is: when is the soonest we can schedule the surgery? I'm desperate." He said, "I know you are. I know you're miserable. That's why I'm rearranging my schedule for Wednesday and I want to do the surgery then. That will give you five days on the pre-operation medicine and that will be enough." 

Oh, Venkata Vasu Kakarlapudi! I could kiss you if it wasn't inappropriate on so many levels! It took all that I had not to hug him. I don't know if anyone has ever been so excited to have a surgery! He immediately sent me to get my blood taken at the hospital because your blood has to be taken at the very latest five days before your surgery. So, I head over there and wait when I get in with the phlebotomist I ask her to just start with my hand. No one can ever get the stick in either of my arms and they always dig around in there saying, "I can feel the vein. It's right there. It's just so slippery!" all while they're digging around in my arm and I want to yell, "That's my body and that hurts me!" They usually end up in the hand anyways and even though it hurts more there, it hurts less to just skip straight to the hand. So, I ask the lady to go to the hand. In a true phlebotomist's prideful fashion she goes, "Well, just let me feel around first in your arm." She then goes, "Where do you usually get your blood drawn? Because I do this all day every day. I'll get the stick on the first try. And I'll get it in your arm. And when we're done I'm going to give you my business card so that you can always come back to me. You're not leaving here without my card. I'll take care of you. Don't worry." 

So, I sit there and don't say anything and just wait. She can't find a vein she wants to try on my right arm so she moves to my left. She finally finds one and says again, "I'll take care of you, don't worry." So, she sticks the needle in and... nothing. No red liquid in the tube. So, she pulls the needle almost all the way back out and goes back in in a different direction. Still no red liquid. So she digs. And she digs. And she says she can feel it but it keeps slipping. And she digs some more. I'm telling you I've never been dug on this much in all my times I've had my blood drawn. She finally got perpendicular to the angle she first went in on and I thought I was going to slap her. She still didn't get any blood. So, she pulls it back and goes straight down like she's aiming to stick the needle through the bottom of my elbow and finally, there's some blood. I just sat there. She goes, "Well, your veins are very deep. And people don't like to dig because they don't want to hurt you. But I told you I'd get it on the first stick and I don't give up." ... Obviously. And I have the bruise to prove it. So she takes the four vials and tapes a cotton ball to my arm to stop the bleeding. She doesn't make any more eye contact with me and is suddenly very preoccupied and says, "Have a nice day." And dismisses me. What about the business card? I thought she was going to take care of me? I thought she does this all day every day? I thought I wasn't leaving her office without her name and contact info so I could repeat that lovely needle experience over and over and over again. Hmm. I guess she changed her mind. Oh well.
But, I don't really care. If I have a bruise, I have a bruise. I'm having surgery on Wednesday! And my mom is flying into my dear Kentucky tomorrow! And we're staying in beautiful Indiana together! And I have a doctor with a name that's really fun to say over and over again! Venkata Vasu Kakarlapudi! Things are good! No, things are great! And wonderful! And Awesome!
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your patience with me. I know it's not even comical anymore. It's just like, "Oh. Another thing is wrong with Sister Nelson. Let me know when things get good again." Well, they will soon. They are now. But soon you won't have to hear about my medical dramas. You'll get back to hearing about the wonderful people that the Lord is allowing me to meet here in Kentuckiana. (Have I ever told you that's what they call the part of Indiana where I live because it's so close to Kentucky? It's even the name of my mission district I'm in, Kentuckiana!) I love you all. I love the Lord. I love the gospel. Come on, Mom! Brother Winslow's ready and waiting to give you a big Welcome-to-Salem hug and kiss! And maybe even a free ride on the back of his tractor! He's driving, of course!

Extra Blessings: Otis, Camillio Estevez, Dad
Quote of the Week: "It sounds like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang played by a drunk!"

The Church is TRUE! Share it!

See'ya-Love'ya-Bye!


Sis Nelson
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PLANS A, B & CURVEBALL - Monday July 16

If there's one thing I've learned on my mission, it's that my Plan A isn't always the Lord's Plan A. My Plan B isn't usually His Plan A either. Heavenly Father's Plan A is usually so far down on my own list of plans that it doesn't even make Plan Z. So when my Plan A teeters and is on the verge of crashing to the ground, I try to imagine the Lord saying, "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your [plans] my [plans]" and trust that His Plan A will end up being better than mine. And I'm sure it will. Still, sometimes it's hard not to be shocked when Heavenly Father pitches you another curveball after you've already been pitched two in a row.

So, I haven't been sleeping much lately. I haven't been sleeping because I can't breathe when I'm lying down. Remember Bird Fungus from January with Sister Ford? Well, I guess the two months that I was home for Toby's extermination weakened me up or something. Cause when I came back to Salem, Bird Fungus struck again. No big deal. I called the mission doctor (he doesn't live in Indiana, he just talks to us on the phone) and asked him for a prescription of anti-biotics for a sinus infection. He asked if I wanted to see a doctor and I told him I'd rather not. I know what's wrong. I know what'll fix it. I've done this several times before. Just give me the drugs. So he says he'll write me the script and as he updates my file he notices that I had a sinus infection back in January. Then he asks me about my sinus history. I tell him about the surgery I had to remove my adenoids when I was 17 and how this happens a lot and blah, blah, blah. He changes his mind and says that he'll still give me the anti-biotics but that if I'm not sleeping because it's that hard to breathe that I need to see an ENT. Fine. Whatever.

So, Friday Sister Hunt and I drive down to New Albany to an ENT place. They call me back and I'm pretty miserable. I hadn't slept more than two hours the night before and I couldn't breathe. The nurse takes the 8 forms I had just filled out and turned them over and asked me the exact same questions I had answered on the opposite side and wrote what I said. I swear, they only make you fill those things out so you'll have something to do while you wait. They don't even look at them. Next time I'm going to write crazy things like that I'm telekinetic or 200 years old and see if they notice. Anyways, she can already tell by talking to me that the doctor will want to do a scope up my nose. Gross. So she gets out this numbing spray thing and tells me to open my eyes and close my mouth. I'm like, "I can't breathe if I close my mouth." She tells me to hold my breath then. So I do. She sprays the awful stuff up my nose and tells me to sniff it up. When I do and it makes a disgusting sound she goes, "You really can't breathe, can you?"

 A couple minutes later the ENT comes in. Are you ready for his name? It's Venkata V. Kakarlapudi. He speaks perfect English, too. So, he comes in and takes the scope and aims it at my nose. I gulp. Then I laugh. Then he says it's not as scary as it looks. Maybe not for me, but it's got to be scary for anyone putting their eye on a viewer of a camera that's stuck up a nostril. So he looks up my nose. This is what he says, "Wow! Wow! This is severe. Very severe. Wow. Wow." He basically repeated that over and over. In the middle of one of his "wow"s I had to sneeze so I told him and he pulled the device out and it was awkward but not for him because I guess he's used to it and then went right back up and continued his "wow"s where he had left off. Long, gross story short, I have several polyps in every nasal passage that I have. I have zero percent airflow in my nose. I have swelling on my ears. Basically, my sinuses aren't worth anything right now. The only option is. Well, I'll let you guess what the only option is. Go ahead. Guess. I'll give you a hint: I had two of them a couple months ago. One was in Indiana and one was in Las Vegas. Think you got it? If you guessed "Surgery" you are correct! You're prize is nothing but a good laugh. Or a good cry. Take your pick. I chose the good cry.

So, I have to have another surgery. That'll be three in four months. All while serving a mission. Do they give out awards for that? I know what I would like to win: one free kick to Satan's face. Oh wait, he doesn't have one. Maybe that's why he hates me.

It's still up in the air right now as to whether or not I have to come home for the surgery. I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday and that will tell Dr. K what kind of surgery he needs to do which will tell the mission doctor how long the recovery process will take which will tell me and President Woodbury if my mission ends in November or if it ends next week. If the recovery takes less than two weeks than I get to stay. (And my Mom gets to come out to Kentucky- I hope that's ok, Mom. I told President you'd be willing to do that so that my companion can go to a trio till I'm better.) If recovery takes more than two weeks, well, it looks like I'll be Sister Nelson no longer. They don't let you come back to the mission field twice.

First thing I did since I couldn't call home was call the next best thing: Sister Ford. We cried together. She suggested that she and Sister Walker and Sister Hunt and I fast the next day for me to be healed or for the recovery to be short. So, we did. What a sweetheart to offer to do that. I love her.President's fighting to keep me. The mission doctor said I need to go home now and be done but President is willing to let me stay if the recovery is short. I love him. Other sad news: I'm not training anymore. I can't. It's not fair to the greenie to come into an area where she has a companion who might be going home. Sister Ford is getting transferred from Charlestown. I'll miss her. I like Sister Walker though. Hopefully her new companion will be cool. I don't get a new companion. That's another curveball I wasn't expecting. But since I'm not training, the sister who was going to be Sister Hunt's new companion has to train now. So. Yeah.

I don't know why this is happening. I don't know why I can't just do missionary work, why I can't just be a normal missionary. I know what my Nelson side of the family will say, "You'll do anything for attention, won't you?" I should really work on not being such an attention hog. I don't know why this is all happening. But I do trust the Lord. He knows what's going to happen. He has a plan. He loves me and He knows what's best for me. I don't want to come home. But it's not always about what you want. It's about what you need. I hope that the Lord knows I need more time as a missionary. But if He doesn't, I know it'll all be ok. I know I was promised in my setting apart that my health would improve on my mission. I can see how this is the Lord making good on His promise. This will greatly improve my health. I just hope it doesn't end my mission. I do know though that people can hit a home run off of a curveball. It's possible.

I know I've asked and asked and asked for your prayers. I know I don't need to ask for more because I know you're already praying for me. Thanks. Friday will decide it for me. Sister Woodbury will call Mom and Dad once we find out.

This is the Lord's Church. He is at the helm. I know he loves us all perfectly. I'm grateful for the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. Through Him our wounds are healed and our tears are wiped away.


Love Yuns,

Sister Nelson
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Monday, July 9, 2012

BORTKA'S GOT THE BLING SHOP


Well, another 4th has come and gone without fireworks. Sad. We did go to a parade though. It was in Pekin. And it was REALLY hot and REALLY long. Most of the parade was political candidates and little girls that were running for parade queen and parade princess and then the rest of the parade was businesses that wanted to advertise. BUT, there were a couple cool parts. And we talked with a girl the whole time who had two little kids. She was friendly and talkative and humble. When we asked her if we could come talk more with her about the church she said we had to ask her husband. At the end of the parade he came up and we asked if we could come talk with them about the church and he flat out said no way. They did end up taking a Book of Mormon so hopefully it makes it to their bookshelf for someone to read someday. She was a really nice girl though.

a guy dressed as a beat up Uncle Sam who was
shouting into his megaphone, "We have to get Obama
out of office! I won't survive another 4 years!"
More people who don't like Obama
The Hoosiers graven image of choice
one of the hillbilly clans that were in the parade...
 I don't know if it's a funny club for old people or what
 but there was more than one clan in the parade

Brother Vonnahme had his heart cath and tests done this week. He has blockages that might end up needing stints but they don't yet. Hopefully some medicine will clear them up. Sister Vonnahme has still had really bad nose bleeds. One of the doctors in the ward brought her one of the clamps they use in the ER and she's been wearing it and it's hilarious. She likes it though because she's one of those people who waves their hands around while they talk. And before they got her the clamp she would forget she was plugging her nose and start waving her hands around and drip blood on her face. It's a good thing she has that clamp now. 
Sister Vonnahme with her curlers in and her nose clamp on
  
 

We had an exchange this week. Sister Walker came here with me. We had a really good lesson with one of our "eternigators" (eternal investigators) named Wende. I really hope she follows through with the commitment we extended to her of writing down questions of the soul, questions she has for the Lord, and then reading the Book of Mormon with those questions in mind. We promised her that the Lord would answer her through the Book of Mormon. She seemed excited about it. I'm excited for her. I think this will help her form a relationship with the Lord and a testimony of the Book of Mormon. It's also a lot nicer than us constantly saying, "Don't forget to read your scriptures" but being able to ask how it's going and if she's receiving answers to her questions.
My reuniting with Sis. Ford
We taught Sandra (the young mom we found after the Jake Schmidt fall-out) TWICE this week. She's my favorite. She is at a point in her life where she can' sit idle. She has to make big choices or she'll stay in a miserable position. She's looking for answers. She's looking for a way out of the mess her life is. She's really in need of peace and I promised her that she could find it. We taught her the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. After the Plan of Salvation I asked what she thought about the new things we'd told her and she said it made sense. She had never really believed that it was heaven or hell and that's it and there's no hope for people who were good who weren't baptized.  She really liked the plan. Then I told her that when she and her sons were in the pre-mortal life that they had told Heavenly Father that they would come down to earth and do everything they could to make it back to Him. She stopped me with tears in her eyes and said, "But WHY? WHY would I have wanted to come here to earth? Why would I choose THIS?" I don't really remember or know what I said to her. That question has stuck with me. It's been shouting at me ever since we left her house. I probably said something like, "It will be worth it someday." or something like that. But I know that wasn't a good enough answer. Someone who is in pain and is miserable doesn't want to hear that the pain is good for them. They don't want to hear that someday things will make sense. Someone in the kind of turmoil she's in wants answers now, wants relief now. As I've thought about her question and her distress in that moment that has replayed for me over and over, I've thought about Christ. The reason Christ is the center of our message is because without Him it wouldn't work. The plan wouldn't work. Salvation wouldn't work. Happiness wouldn't work. What Sandra needs right now isn't so much knowledge. It isn't so much church or the Book of Mormon. What she needs is Christ. She needs what only He can give. She needs peace and forgiveness and deliverance. I can't give her that. Only Christ can. I can use the tools that bring people to Christ: knowledge, church, Book of Mormon, etc. No matter how much I want to relieve her pain and take away her guilt and fix her sadness, I can't. I am nothing. Christ is the Savior. Christ is the Miracle Worker. What a blessing it is that He allows me to invite others to come unto Him. Every time we leave Sandra's I pray that Satan won't be able to hurt her. I know he's mad that she's on the brink of discovering the truth. He sees the potential that she has and he's going to try his best to dissuade her. Cause when I look at her I see a valiant woman of Zion. I see her boys holding the priesthood. I see them as leaders and missionaries. I see her as the mother of two stripling warriors. A woman who lived a sinful life but was converted and when she was she taught her sons to trust in God and never doubt. And because of her testimony and example her sons had unconquerable faith. That's what I see in Sandra. Please pray for her. She's very special and the Lord has great happiness in store for her.

 the stainglass they have in the chapel in the Salem hospital.
On the right is the steeple of the courthouse
Brother Vonnahme gave us the name of some people who live on the outskirts of the county in a no-stoplight town called Livonia ("lie-vone-ee-uh"). We drove out there and knocked on the door and the man was not at all interested. It was a bummer because it's a waste of miles. On the way back though, there was a house that the Spirit prompted us to stop at. We did and we met a guy named Derek. It was funny because he kept talking to us like he was going to say no but then he wouldn't. He'd say, "I'm not really sure that's something I'm interested in... but it is an interesting idea." I kept waiting for him to say no and I think he kept wanting to say no, but he couldn't. He took a Book of Mormon and wouldn't commit to reading it and wouldn't commit to letting us teach him... but he told us to stop by again sometime and see. We directed him to Mormon.org so hopefully he'll look at that and feel the Spirit. He asked us what makes our church different than other Christians. We told him about our belief in the need for a restoration and the need for a prophet and that our church had been restored and we did have a prophet. He thought for a second and then he was like, "Yeah, but I'm really happy with my church." So I asked him how important it would be to know if God had restored a church and he did have a prophet. And if those things were true, how important would it be to go to that church rather than one of the many other Christian churches. He said it would be incredibly important. I told him I know that's a bold claim, but that's what we believe. That's why we're on his doorstep in the middle of Livonia while it's raining. That's when he decided to take the Book of Mormon. He said he'd have to talk to his wife about it which lately for us hasn't been the best omen. BUT, even if it doesn't pan out. A seed was planed. And I know it got some wheels turning in his head. The Spirit is so awesome. The Lord is aware of all of His children. He works with them and is so patient with them. He's patient with me. Brother Hobson was telling Sister Walker his conversion story on Friday and he had run into the missionaries off and on and in varying ways for 31 years before he was baptized. He was mean to some and he ignored some and some said things that they won't remember but he remembers verbatim. Those missionaries have no idea that that grumpy man from Salem has years later joined the church. The thing is that this work isn't the missionaries' work. It's the Lord's work. He knows that people have different timetables. In the scriptures it tells us that if we plant the seed but don't see the reaping, we'll still be blessed. And in the end, the Lord plants the seeds and does the reaping anyways.



While Sister Walker and I were meeting with Brother Hobson on Friday, Creeper John saw us and came and sat down next to us and started talking. He told me that he bought a new house and that he's going to open up a shop in his garage. He said for me to deliver a message to someone in our ward that he knows. He repeated the phrase over and over till I had it memorized. (John's last name is Bortka) Here is it: "Bortka's got the bling shop, shinin' in Canton. And it'll shine when it shines." Then he told us about the time he saw his grandma who had passed away. She was an angel and had huge white wings. BUT, the wings weren't made of feathers, they were made of pitbull fur. (John has albino pitbulls... I'm guessing that's where the idea came from). He then told us how he's still saving up for a gold tooth and then he left. Haha. Sister Walker's trainer had served in Salem and had told her all about Creeper John. It was such a treat for her to have a run-in with him on the one day she was here in Salem. 

Sister Hunt and I are going through the less-actives in the ward (which is most of our ward's membership) and there's a lady we visited named Gay Barbara Douglas. Well, we had figured she'd want to go by Barbara. When we met her she told us she prefers Gay. Later that day Sister Hunt and I were discussing something that I thought was right and she thought was wrong. That's when she said, "It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong today: I thought Gay Barbara Douglass would prefer to go by Barbara."


One of the members here who is 22 has a boyfriend from Mexico. He's here for the summer right now and we were over there yesterday talking to him about the Book of Mormon. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and after I asked him how he felt as we read and knowing that Christ loves all of His children. He said, "It's hard to say. It makes me feel like if I was walking down a dark street with bad guys waiting for me that I have a policeman behind me so I feel safe to walk down the street. Safe. It makes me feel safe." I thought that was such an awesome description of the Spirit and how He makes us feel. I really hope that he'll let us teach him. At church he told us he'd have to think about it. But after church we went over and had lunch and that's when we read from the Book of Mormon with him. He said he'd read the Book of Mormon and pray. Hopefully he'll let us teach him. I know he felt the Spirit because that's what he described to us. It was awesome.

Extra Blessings: Brother & Sister J, Sister Wood, Otis
Quote of the Week: "I am SICK and TIRED of looking like a scarecrow!"

Thanks for all your prayers. I hope the fires die down out there. I love you all. The Church is TRUE! Share it!

Love Yuns,
 
Sis Nelson
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Letter to family - July 2nd, 2012

Family;

I feel like my letter was so short this week but in actuality it probably was a nice break to not have a novel to read from me like you usually do.  I just can't ever seem to get everything in that happened if I don't write a lot.  I feel bad that I left that email on a depressing not.  so, I'll just pick up where that left off to try and have things end up happier.

That guy Paul, who braids his goatee?  Remember him?  Well, we went back and when we knocked on the door his wife looked through the window and started pointing angrily at him.  He came outside and found The Book of Mormon on the porch (he couldn't keep it inside) and handed it back to us and said he didn't like the book because it didn't say what the Bible says.  he said he believes in Mary and Jesus and we didn't.  I told him the Book of Mormon talks about Mary and I also asked it he had read from The Book of Mormon.  He said he flipped through it but that it didn't say what the Bible says.  I told him the Book of Mormon WASN'T the Bible so it wouldn't have the same writings but that they both taught ABOUT Jesus and teach the same things.  He said his wife didn't like it and said we should leave but before we turned to leave, he said, "But you should know I DO believe int he Lord."  I said, "That's great. so do we.  Have a nice day."  Then, we started down the porch.  Just at this time, Paul's wife (who had been talking to Paul so she BLASTED some Christian Gospel music (the hillbilly kind with banjo-pickers, not the black-choir-in-graduation-gowns kind).  I can't do justice to how LOUD the music was.  She was inside and we got down the lawn to the road and it still sounded like ear buds were in my ears on full blast.  I guess she saw us as the devil and figured since the devil wouldn't leave she'd make him leave by forcing him to listen to old, white people twang about "the rapture."  I don't know.  It was so blatant and so obscenely loud that when we got in the car.  I asked Sister Hunt if we'd just been banished by gospel music.  She confirmed my suspicions.  We laughed the whole way home.  It was hilarious.

Another hilarious thing.  The Vonnahme's were telling us about a missionary who served in Salem years ago. I don't remember his name so we'll call him 'Elder Nevada.'  Elder Nevada got a greenie to train and we'll call him 'Elder Nebraska.'  Well, Elder Nevada liked to get in the car and lock out Elder Nebraska.  The only way E. Nevada would unlock the car doors was if E. Nebraska would kneel on the ground and put his hands together in a pleading posture and say, "Oh, wonderful Senior Companion, please unlock the door and let me in."  Unrighteous dominion?  Maybe.  But, probably no so unrighteous that it can't be fixed with a little repentance... so, that night when Sis. Hunt and i were filling up the car at the gas station.  I got in the car and locked it and got out the camera and didn't let Sis. Hunt int he car till she knelt down and asked her gracious Senior Companion to let her in.  Don't worry. She was laughing the whole time.  And don't worry: I recorded it.

The Hermana that got to the mission field with me is going home before next Zone Conference.  So, the departing missionaries always bear their testimonies at their last Zone Conference.  Hermana Gardener said she's tried to live her mission everyday putting her tag over her heart to remind her to ask herself in every situation, what would Jesus do in this situation?  What would He say to this person?  how would He act?"  It's not just that people who take on His name through baptism or missionary work represent Him, it's that we are His hands and His feet.  It's made me realize how  much more improvement. I need.  It's not a matter of "would Christ approve of me saying (or doing) this?"  It's "would Christ Himself say (or do) this?"  It's like Elder Oaks's point of how there's good, better and best.  I might do good tings.  But if I do what Christ would do, I'm  doing the BEST thing.

We visited Bro. Hobson's mom in the nursing home this week.  Her name's Rowena (Ravenclaw) and she has Alzheimer's.  It was really hot in her room and I got out a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to fan myself with.  I got out another one and gave it to Rowena so she could fan herself.  On the front of the pamphlet is the picture by Del Parson called "He is Risen" with Christ coming out of the tomb.  Instead of fanning herself, she stared at the picture.  She's not a member so she's never seen the picture before.  She stared at it and finally smiled and kissed it.  She'd fan herself with it and every few minutes she'd re-notice what she was using to fan herself with.  Every time she'd stare at it and once she recognized Christ she'd get a big smile on her face and say how much she loved Him.  It was very sweet to see her recognize Him over and over again like that and see how happy He made her every time.  Last week we were with her and were listening to a man sing Amazing Grace.  She grabbed both my hands with hers and said, We'll always be together no matter what, won't we?"  I told her we would.  I'm so excited for her to learn the gospel on the other side.  I know she'll accept it right away/  We're hoping the spend some of the 4th with her and Bro. Hobson.  You know I"m excited for the 4th (as all Nelsons are, I'm sure).  Isn't it neat to realize that George Washington and Benjamin Franklin weren't this land's first patriots?  The Stars & Stripes wasn't this land's first flag.  There were people like Alma and Benjamin and Moroni and Gideon and Nephi and Teancum and Mormon who loved this land and prayed for it and fought for it.  There were groups of people that hoisted Titles of Liberty across the land and people who rent their coats in token of their dedication to protecting the Promised Land and its consecration to the Lord.  Alma 61:15 tells us that "the Spirit of God . . . also the Spirit of Freedom." No wonder our patriotism is so sacred to us. We're blessed to live in the land of promise.  We're blessed to have the responsibility to take care of this country and fight for all kinds of true freedom like those who have gone before us!  We're too, too blessed.

I love you all.  I love being a missionary.  I feel unworthy to have such great blessings and such a great responsibility to act for the Lord in this part of His vineyard.  thank you for your prayers in my behalf and in behalf of the people here.  The Church is TRUE!  Share it!!

Love Sis



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Monday, July 2, 2012

RICHARD G SQUAT

A year ago last Monday Jackie Lee Sturgill got baptized. A year ago today Judy Jones got baptized. And a year ago next Monday was the day that Willard got baptized. It's crazy that it's actually been a whole year since all that happened. And it's almost been a month since I've been back in the mission field. Craziness.

I don't know if you all have heard on the news or anything, but it's been really hot out here. It's been in the 103-104 area all week. They actually had a "bad air advisery" one day because the air was so hot and with the humidity I guess it was bad for people to be outside. I've had a hard time breathing this week because of it. I have to admit that the heat is welcome to me, though. It doesn't feel like summer if I can't feel my skin smolder a little when I get into my hot car and turn on the AC and get blasted by even more heat. Poor Sister Hunt. That sad cornhusker. Mom sent this to me and it basically perfectly describes our companionship to a tee (I'm the one on the left):



Haha. But in all seriousness, the weather is taking its toll on the people here.They're all in danger of losing their crops. The corn is starting to wilt and all the grass is dead. Dead grass isn't new to me, but it does look weird on my green Indiana home I'm used to. People on the streets when we've been talking to them have been asking us why God isn't giving us any rain, like we're privy to that information. We did finally have a severe thunder storm last night. We were out on a country road miles from shelter when it started hailing with lightning and wind. The hail on the windshield and top of the car sounded like someone was trying to shatter glass with a bat. It was pretty crazy. We ended up at the Vonnahmes' and waited out the remainder of the storm with them.

Speaking of the Vonnahmes, they had a scary week health-wise. Three hospital visits and some follow-up tests scheduled for next week. They're both sick and they're both so worried about their spouse that the stress is making both conditions worse. It's a mess. They missed church, a ward party and a temple trip this week. Sister Vonnahme cried about all three. At one point she said in between her tears, "What did we do to deserve this, Marv?" He said, "We lived too long." Then he turned to me and said, "Whatever you do, don't grow old." Which reminds me of last week's quote. We were talking about cremation and I said that's what I'd prefer and he said I was crazy. He said he didn't care if the buzzards got him, he just didn't want to burn because he figured where he ends up after he dies, he'll see enough of that anyways (he's joking. He's a saint and will end up in heaven). Then he pointed to his skinny, little leg that's extra small because he had polio when he was a baby and said, "That's about all my right leg is worth: one good buzzard poop." 

This week we had Zone Conference and it was amazing as usual. 4 out of the 5 of us missionaries from my MTC district were there and we all caught up and took a picture together. It was fun. We had a really spiritual training by our Zone Leaders on using the Book of Mormon in our teaching. But, to start off the training Elder Smith wanted an awesome quote by Richard G Scott about scriptures being packets of light to be read. He calmly and sweetly asked a missionary on the front row, "Would you read this quote by Richard G Squat?" He immediately got red and tried to correct himself, but we had all lost it. I couldn't stop giggling for five minutes. I don't know if it was how sincere and spiritual he was trying to be when he said it that made it so funny or what, but I haven't been able to get over it all week. My missionary vision skews my humor so I don't know if that's funny to normal people or just to missionaries, but I had to share it. Richard G Squat. 

After Zone Conference we went tracting and were led, definitely by the Spirit, to a home that's hidden from view on maps and from the road. We were headed somewhere else when we got the impression to pull off of the side of the road and knock the house we saw there. Behind the house (where no one answered) was a tiny trail that led to a hidden house behind some trees. We had to hike up a gravel hill to get to the house and Sister Hunt didn't want to because she hadn't worn good shoes and she had to go to the bathroom. But, she was willing to be coaxed into going and it was awesome. We met a pregnant woman with two other little kids who took a Book of Mormon and said we could come back in a couple days. We made our way back down the hill on a spiritual high, excited and grateful that the Spirit had so obviously taken us out of our way to find her. Two minutes into walking down the hill (it was a big hill) we heard someone calling to us. We turned around and it was her husband. He walked down the hill towards us and when he got to us he said, "No offense, but we're straight Christians. I don't want anything to do with the Mormons and I don't even want this book in my house." He handed the book back and walked back up the hill. This isn't the first time we've been rejected. Not by a long shot. And this isn't the first time that we've essentially been told that we're not really Christian. But for some reason I had to fight back tears the rest of the walk back to the car. 


I think it must have been because we'd just come from Zone Conference and I've been in a point in the Book of Mormon right now where I can't put it down. I can't get enough of it. And I feel closer to Christ through that book than any other book I study from. I don't know what it was. But later that night when I actually let myself really think about what he said, I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. It's just so, so sad. It's so sad how these people love Christ so much and are so devoted to what they know and love about him that they won't even look at or permit more light and truth to even sit in their homes. We had three people actually give us back Book of Mormons this week. That guy did it before we could leave and the other two did it on our return appointments. I've never had people do that before on my mission. I've been a year out and people have never been so afraid/appalled by the Book of Mormon that they can't even keep it in their house. It makes me wonder if some preachers around here are stressing anti-Mormon preachings right now. It's "smart" on Satan's part to try and get people to reject the Book of Mormon because that's where testimony of the Restored Gospel stems from. If he can get them to get rid of the books, no one will ever read them. If they never read the book, they'll never find the fulness of the gospel. It's a lot to go up against. Thankfully, I'm in the war chapters right now in Alma. I've pretty much decided to name one of my sons Moroni someday and I'll probably use Teancum as a middle name. They fought tirelessly for what they knew was right. They wouldn't yield. They were bold because of their faith and their acknowledgment of their need for the Savior. 

Well, the computer kicked me off and I lost most of my time I needed to write so this is the end of my letter this week. I don't want it to be a downer. I'm grateful that I get to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon. And I'm grateful that I know that it is true.

Extra Blessings: Sister Clemons, Sister Noakes, Dad and Paige
Quote of the Week: "It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong today: I thought Gay Barbara Douglass would prefer to go by Barbara."

I love you all. I'll try and write more by hand this week. The Church is TRUE! Share it!

Love Yuns,

Sis Nelson

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