October 18,2009 Planting Seeds by Elder Nelson

This past week was an interesting one. Michael still has not sent any pictures home yet. So, I will continue to post the pictures we took of him before he left. It has been a tough week for me but getting better by the minute. I cancelled my facebook account as I found myself being addicted to it and wasting a lot of time although I did make some good friends but it eventually became more of a problem for me. I just miss that contact with some of those friends especially new ones made but oh well, you live and learn and then you live and learn again. So, I must trudge on in life and make the most of every situation. I do feel grateful for many things especially for this remarkable young man in this picture. So, I will share some of his words this week as he seems to teach us something new every time he writes home. Oh how I miss him so much!

"My companion and I are still working hard at finding but this past week we focused a lot on less active families and trying to bring them back to church. One of our members said that he wants to work with us to bring back his brother into the church and his brother's daughter....We also got a Ward Mission Leader, bro. Fa'aui lol,he's a crack up and I was worried at first because he likes to muck around but he sat us down and he's got some great plans to work with us and the ward to really spark the missionary fire in all of us. So'I'm excited! We should see some great changes happening. I know that working each day we're planting seeds and maybe another pair of missionaries will do the reaping but it feels good to be doing the lords will.

Mum, So I hope everyone is okay because I havent gotten an email from home for 2 weeks now. If you are punishing me for not sending pictures home then I'm sorry! I sent like 7 cd's home this past week so get excited! Anyway love you all an miss you heaps. Hope to hear from you soon!

(yes, it is true, 2 weeks! we are the worst family ever! it was just bad luck and bad timing....better in the future..promise:)

October 11, 2009 Conference! Elder Nelson

......I really enjoyed conference and the opportunity we have to hear from the wonderful Sisters, members of the seventy, and apostles and prophet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The spirit truly manifested to me that they are called of God and that if we hearken unto their counsel and heed their words we can experience more blessings in our daily lives. I loved David A. Bednar's talk on being more diligent and concerned at home and how we should openly express or love, be consistent on spiritual matters and share our testimonies. I love my family and the blessing of goodly parents who strived to be consistent in f.h.e. and family prayer and scripture reading even though I think my brothers and I made it close to impossible to do so lol! ......I feel so bad for my Australian brothers and sisters because there are so many who do not believe in God. They dont know what its like to feel God's love in their lives.

......Mum, thank you for your diligence as a parent and a nurturing mother. I'd love to hear your and Dad's tesimony if you could send them to me and I hope you decided to have testimonies shared more often in the home. I think Stephen and Bryce would love to hear your testimonies.

......Dad, thank you so much for being such a great father. I thought about you so much during priesthood session. Wasnt it great? You've always been a great example and I've learned a lot from you, even when I didnt want to haha. I feel bad for not confiding in you more and asking for your advice. I feel like I've missed out on a lot. I hope my younger brothers dont make the same mistake. I love you. How grateful I am for how Heavenly Father has blessed my family. I miss you all so much.

Elder Nelisoni

October 5, 2009 Preaching Repentance

..."I've grown to love studying the scriptures. It's the days when I truly feel like I've feasted upon the words of Christ when I really feel like I can be bold and confident in preaching repentance unto these people. As it says in D&C 16 (paraphrase) 'The thing that will be of most worth unto us in this life is to preach repentance unto the children of men or in other word, "Feed my Sheep" as Christ commanded'. In D&C 18 it say's 'How great shall be your joy if you bring save it be one soul unto me.'
I know how great the joy is to be a missionary and Iwant to feel that fullness of joy someday. I hope your desires are the same. I know that this is Christ's one and only true church and we have a living prophet today, Thomas S. Monson. I know that God lives and Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. I am so thankful for his infinite atonement. I love my family and for how blessed I was to be born into this church and to be born of goodly parents. I love this gospel."

....I love to hear how blessed my family is. Keep the ball rolling. Keep praying , reading scriptures and spending time as a family. Also, one thing that I've found that really strengthens a family is when you do service together as a family, especially for other people and the more you do it the more you get used to doing it. Kuz I know sometimes we can be whiners lol. I mean mostly us boys:) I'll talk to you next week.
Love you,
Elder Nelson

Feeling Empowered!

Today I am feeling empowered. It didnt start out that way. In fact I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of bed. I was so depressed! I did my regular routine and drove to seminary made lunches and fed the dog. Then I got dressed and took the dog for a walk. After feeling sorry for myself and feeling like my life was being taken over by circumstances and things that seemed to be out of my control, I suddenly got a strong urge to take control. So, I called Mike and told him that the dog was no longer allowed inside the house and in addition to this the TV was no longer going to be on. ( Now I'm talking about the televison. Whe chores are complete and when all else has been done then they may watched approved movies with permission.) But as far as all the junk that is on the tube these days....no more of that in my house. I am sick, sick, sick of sitcoms and the like. And I am sick and tired of this big dog taking over my home chewing up anthing that is left out and running my furniture like he is on a track feild! I felt so empowered and started cleaning and taking back control of my life. Some things may be out of my control these days but I can still create an enviornment that is conducive to what I want my life to be like.

Then I started thinking about this coming up weekend. When my best friend Denisa and I will be going away together ...alone....cant wait! We started this 3 years ago and now we are hooked. She had followed me to each of my National Sales Meetings for the past 3 years and now I am no longer working for that company. But that is not going to stop us this year. So, we have decided that we will continue to take our time away from life and family and kids and stuff and go enjoy ourselves on a girls weekend. We are going to drive down to So. Cal go to the beach and maybe hit Disneyland......maybe....who knows....we are just gonna play it by ear and relax. So, now I am even more empowered since I know this is coming up. We have been best friends for 27 years now and have not missed a beat of eachother's lives.....I honestly dont know what I would do without her in my life. Here's to my BFF! Denisa, I love you! And here's to girlfriends and empowered women everywhere!

Notes from Elder Nelson in Australia

Well, it's a good day. I am so glad I heard from Michael last night. I worried about him all week. I am feeling more normal now that I got his letter and now that Bryce is back home again. It seems the older I get the harder it is to part with my children in anyway. I want to hang on to them forever.

On a personal note this is what Michael had to say this week:

Mum, send me packages on holidays or whenever and whatever you want. Anything from America is awesome!

It's awesome to hear about Dad's job and about you attending institute this week. I love hearing these things. Stephen, you're a stud! Iheard a quote and thought of Stephen: "Good leaders direct people, but Great leaders direct people to Jesus Christ" I love you and thank you for everything. I love being a missionary. I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to be successful. Have a good week!

p.s. I am putting all my pictures on a cd and I will be sending it home soon. (cant wait for that:)

MIA

Michael and Bryce are giving me greif this week!

I usually get an email on Sunday night from Michael and I still have not heard from him and it is now Thursday!! And Bryce has been gone since Monday at Sly Park with his school class, so that means I am homesick for my boys! Stephen of course is still here and being his usual silly self but it is still not the same without hearing from Michael this week and seeing Brycie's cute face and getting his big hugs in the mornings when he wakes up. I am sure they are both doing fine, I just hate not knowing for sure...ya know? 2 years keeps getting longer and longer each week! Cant wait to have lunch with Cindy on Friday and talk about the kids! Missing my BOYS!

Somebody is missing his buddy this week. Bryce left yesterday to go to Sly Park with his 6th grade class for a week. He was so excited to go but worried about missing Dash at the same time. I know that Dash can feel that something is just not right around here. It was weird last night with only Stephen at home with us. Of course Stephen loved the undivided attention that he cant seem to ever get enough of. I know that Bryce is having a blast. He is really growing up now...fast! It's funny how once they hit 6th grade you can see them graduating from High School. I am sad in a lot of ways but so excited for him too.