Pictures

Elder Nielsen "on top of the world"

"They really taste like chicken! Fantastic!"

soccer jerseys - obviously Elder Nielsen is really excited about these lol 

11/28/16 - It's Pure Pure Joy in My Soul

This week was so good!!! We had Thanksgiving and we ate my favorite food, ajee de gallina, a Peruvian spicy cream chicken. It's unreal. I wish you all could try it.  I am just so grateful for so much - my family, the gospel, my friends, Dahlia (Elder Nielsen's girlfriend), the mission, my Savior, the scriptures - the list just goes on and on. One good thing about being on the opposite side of the equator is that it doesn't feel like the holidays - instead of snowing its getting hotter and hotter. I think I would be way more homesick if it were cold and I heard Christmas music but thankfully I'm not experiencing either of those things so it's out of sight out of mind.

We did more service and it was really good to wear regular clothes and work with our hands. I've included a picture of me on top of the world again. 

Nestor got lights in his house!!!!! He was sooooo excited to show us. It was so amazing. I love him so much. It's crazy how strong his testimony is when he prays- its overwhelming.

We are teaching a man named Taylor and we explained the tree of life to him. I love how in chapter 11 vs 21-23 he explains what the fruit is. It is insane how happy I am when I'm teaching and feeling the spirit. It's a different happiness then when Steph Curry misses a shot or I'm eating something really good. It's pure pure JOY in my soul. I love being a missionary. I am going to miss putting my name tag on sooo much when the time comes - even though people straight up murder my name here. It's sooo funny, its not even that hard!! My district leader has a way harder name than mine - it's Migliononico!!! 

Our district leader got to go to the temple with one of his converts (if you baptize someone, after the year wait is up, you get to go through with them) and so Elder Tillman joined us for the day. He's from Herriman. He's so funny and he's like 6' 2" and so people just stop and stare at us. Elder Migliononico was late so we had to sleep at their house.  We all got hungry so we ordered pizza and had a pizza party!!! It was so sick. 

Church is always a blast, especially now that I can understand what is going on. The Primary program gave our ward a run for it's money yesterday. Kids breathing into the mic's, some talking super super loud and some talking so fast I swear they can sign with a record label or something. A dog was just walking around in the middle of it and this guy next to me stood up and just straight up punted it out the door. It was soooo funny.

We played soccer on p-day again and it was so fun. Everyone LOVES soccer here and honestly its really starting to grow on me. It's just so cool how the entire world plays it and I'm playing it with the little kids in the streets. Ahhh we can buy these sick jerseys for around 6 US dollars and they look and feel real, we just cant wash them haha. We played today and I am really out of shape, but it's all good. 

They have pollo a la brasa lays potato chips here and they really taste like chicken!!! Wow Peru is just fantastic. 

I encourage you all to read Mosiah 27 thru Alma 7. It's my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. His change is incredible and I strive to be like the Prophet Alma in all I do. I love you all! Thank you all for helping me be the person I am. Until next week!!!

Love,

Elder Nielsen

Pictures of the week

Elder Nielsen and "his main man Elder Canfield"

Elder Nielsen, Elder Vaca, and Melee and Raul Sanchez

Melee and Elder Nielsen

One of those "mindblowing incredible mangoes"

11/21/16 - Jesus Christ Lives

Hello Everyone!!

I hope everyone is doing just fantastic. Last P-Day was so amazing. We met up at the Sanchez´s (Raul's house) and we played soccer. Melee (Raul's dad who has 15 kids) was visiting along with one of his sisters. He is the cutest guy- he just breaks out in song and he LOVES soccer. His real name is Mariano but he was so good at soccer everyone calls him melee. I guess a “melee” is when you embarrass someone and, bam, the name stuck. He had a stroke though so he was just watching us play but he was really getting into it and it was so funny. We played volleyball and I forgot how much I like it. Raul is 65 but he is crazy good. He just doesn’t make any mistakes and is really tricky - it was so much fun. They are like my family in Peru. 

This week we had training with President Stauffer. He is such a good guy. I learned a lot and the next day we had district meeting. We got some new missionaries in our zone including one straight out of the mtc. I was shocked how far I've come in just 1 transfer and it gave me a lot of hope. 

This week I feel like I should share my testimony. Oh my how it has grown! First things first, Jesus Christ lives and He really did die and rise again on the 3^rd day. ONLY through him can we return to live with God and it's such a glorious plan. The Book of Mormon is true and the prophets in it were real people. Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God and he really did see God the Father and the Son. 

I've been reading. A LOT. Every spare second, in between bites, in the morning and in the night and everywhere in between. I seriously can't stop learning about everything- it's just so amazing. From the Old and New Testaments, to the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants to the Liahona.  I just love it. I was reading a couple days ago in Samuel (the Old Testament is so crazy I love it) and this scriptures really hit me. 2 Samuel chapter 22 verses 2-8, 29,47. The whole chapter is really good though. I think its so interesting how God gives all these crazy challenges to the prophets and kings. From letting people chase them around in the desert for years to making them fight crazy wars its so interesting how they learn and grow. When they are ready God lets them rule and they are so much better because of it. 

If you are ever feeling sad or alone I want you to read 2 kings chapter 6 vs 15-17. Some back story- the Prophet Elisha and his servant wake up and they are surrounded by the forces of evil. All hope is lost and they are going to be killed. The servant is freaking out but the Prophet isn't. Read it - its so cool. Elisha was a prophet called by God and he had the Priesthood with the authority to use it. Through Joseph Smith the same Priesthood and Authority is HERE! RIGHT NOW!! If you are reading this you have access to the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I encourage you to read them. Just for 10 minutes a day. Read chapter 8 in 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I promise you that if you pray with real intent and want an answer you will gain a testimony that the Book of Mormon was written by Prophets of God and translated by the power of God. 

I love you all I am so glad to have you all in my life. Here's to another week!​​

Love,

Elder Nielsen

11/14/16 - Pictures

P-day fun!

Elder Nielsen loves his new jersey

Elder Nielsen and another missionary

Elder Nielsen and his buddy, Yosepi

Elder Vaca and Elder Nielsen with a Peruvian family at church

11/14/16 - ¿Como?....What? I Don't Understand

Of all my weeks here this one has been the most calm. All in all this week was very solid and time is flying. We did this really amazing service project and it was sooooo pretty. We carved a pathway into a mountain and it was really cool. It felt so good to work with my hands and wear regular clothes. 

Time on the mission is so weird. Today is transfers and that means I'm officially 1/8th the way done with my mission. To be honest that makes me kinda sad. I love putting my name tag on and it just keeps getting better and better. I can understand what is going on around me more and more. And something I've learned is that even when I can't understand someone I can smile and shake their hand and that's really enough.Learning a second language is so different than I thought it would be. It's way harder and it takes a lot more time. It's hard because I can understand a lot more than I can speak. I can get what is going on in lessons for the most part and I get so excited to share something and I bear my testimony and all they say is ¿como? which is like "what? I don't understand." hahahaha It's been very humbling. 

Please pray for Jonathan. I guess he has been working a lot more and we haven't seen him for a few days. We were walking to meet him (he wasn't home that night - again) and a man stopped us. We started talking to him and we ended up walking down a few houses to family Sanchez and teaching him in Raul's home. It was so incredible and he loved our message. He was so sad he couldn't make it to church because he had to work but he said he is going to get next week off. We are meeting up with him tomorrow to take a tour of the chapel and to give lesson 2! His name is Edison. He is so excited about it all and he loved the Book of Mormon we gave him. People here are so humble. It's so heartwarming - you give them a Book of Mormon and you'd think it was Christmas. 

The food here is so amazing. I'm really so lucky to be serving in a place where I am pumped to eat every meal. 

My pictures are always a week behind because I transfer them to a flash drive I bought. We have these little dvd players in our rooms (they are the missions) and you can transfer files. It takes a while thought so it's a week behind. I heard there was a missionary that went home 3 transfers before me and in his 23rd month he plugged his camera in and lost everything like i did a few weeks ago. It's better to be safe than sorry so I'm sorry if my pics are kinda old. 

I love you all! Thank you so much for your prayers! 

Love,
Elder Nielsen

Pictures from the Week

"This little boy is Yosepi and he is like Michael (Elder Nielsen's little brother) in Peruvian form. We do bottle flips and talk about sports and I Randy Orton him sometimes. He and his family are an answer to my prayers."

Lima

Lima

Elder Nielsen and Abel's goat

Abel's house

Abel's baptism day!

Abel and Elder Nielsen - soaking wet and loving it! 

11/7/16 - Gracias a Dios

WOW WHAT A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week flew by!  It's insane. We had a zone meeting and it was so good and in the middle there was a pretty big earthquake. Our zone leader, Elder Cedeño, just looked up, smiled and kept talking. He's from Ecuador and is going to be something amazing one day. His last week here is next week and he was so depressed -  it was so sad. Our district leader is one of the coolest guys. He is finishing his mission the way I want to with 12 baptisms in 2 transfers!!!!! As a little kid he cut his thumb off with a machete. Instead of being sad he does the "pull your thumb off trick" to the little kids but when he moves his hand it's really gone!!! Their reactions are sooooo funny! When both of them leave everything is going to be so different here. 

I finished Matthew and all I can say is I wear my name with even more pride now. I LOVE reading about my Savior's life. It boggles my mind that people wanted to kill him. When I'm feeling down about no one wanting to talk to us I just think about how people killed the perfect missionary and it helps. I was reading in Alma and this scripture hit me like a brick. It's Alma 29 1·3. Alma the younger is talking about what he wants most in the world and he doesn't want money, power, land or even to go home from his mission. He wants to be an angel so he can preach with even more power and more of the spirit than a prophet of God already has. Wow he is my inspiration. 

Our cook asked if we wanted mangoes and we said sure. She bought over 7 pounds of the most insanely mindblowingly just incredible mangoes I've ever had for 3 us dollars. Holy cow Peru is just fantastic. 

ABEL WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!! It was so amazing words cannot even describe how I felt. I was smiling so big my face hurt. A dog outside of his house has rabies and it was foaming at the mouth and I didn't care. A moto (a little motorcycle/car/buddy taxi thing) didn't come for over 40 minutes and I didn't care. The water in the font was colder than Chicago in January and I didn't care. When I baptized him he just kind of turned sideways so i just dunked him in the water. When he came up he said he was hot!!!! He said "Gracias a Dios" honestly more than 100 times. It means "thanks to God" and he was soooo thankful. He repeated it when we were singing, in the middle of the prayers, during his baptism after his baptism in the font like 10 times before and after it all. When he thanked me in his testimony-after 4 "thanks to Gods"- I felt my Savior's love more than I have my entire mission. This is why I am here. To bring "Abels" to Christ. A man who has 7 kids and weighs no more than 120 pounds, has 3 teeth and a goat and his Savior is my Savior and it's amazing. This gospel is true and I feel so blessed to be sharing it. 

Funny stuff -  I bought a Christiano Ronaldo Jersey and its soooooo sick. They have the coolest jerseys and we had a zone soccer game today and everyone wears them. They are 30 soles which is like 7 us dollars. Also

Peru is hilarious. It's like 75 degrees and perfect weather and people are wearing hats, 2 coats and thick pants they are so cold. The days from 12-4 are kinda hot but the afternoons and nights are soooo nice.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUBBBBIIIIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! One of our members is a big baseball fan and when he told me they won the World Series I started running around!!!! Holy cow I'm taking complete credit for this. They don't win in 108 years. The prophets have promised over and over serve a mission and it will bring blessings. I serve a mission and 3 months later

 they win. You are so very welcome Chicago. You gave my family and me 11 great years, we give you guys a championship. 

We have a new investigator named Jonathan. He's 20 and both of his parents are pastors but he feels they are missing something. We committed him to baptism yesterday for the 28th!!!! He knows the Bible how I want to someday and it's amazing to see. He's been to church twice without us even talking to him about it because he says he feels different there. All in all I'm excited and I pray for you all!!!!!!!! I just wish you all could meet these wonderful people. I love them all so much!  Until next week. Thank you all so much for your emails!

Gracias a Dios,

Elder Nielsen