Mexican food on Christmas

Hey mom,

Well things are going good here in Oxford. Dinner on Christmas was really good, we had mexican food on Christmas! it was awesome!

So Transfer calls were this morning and i didn't get called so i am staying in Oxford for another 6 weeks. Gonna be long but good. I Guess that since i am not leaving that there is someone that i still need to find and share the Gospel with.

Yeah it was great to talk to you all! It was good to see the kids, I was really sad that Bubba would barely talk to me, i am glad that Brynlee talked and laughed alot!

Yeah the package from grandma never came, that sucks that they ruined it and all the stuff! 

Well that is all that has happened this week really. Nothing to exciting, it probably sounds really boring but its not! haha it is lots of fun.

That is aweome that sister Durfee's mom wrote that, yeah i guess it was pretty funny watching me juggle the baseballs, glass cups, toaster, box of Ramon, and loaf of bread. It was a lot of fun and who knew that i could juggle all that stuff!

I also am learing how to shuffle! It is the dance that that they dance to on Party Rock Anthem, it is a lot of fun! Learning lots of stuff! haha.

Well i hope you have a great week and thanks for everything! Love you tons

Love Jesus. Elder Nielson

 

Elder Brich (?), Elder Mitchell, Elder

and Elder Nielson

Elder Brich and Elder Nielson

 

Christmas Day skype

It was GREAT getting to talk to Elder Nielson on Christmas Day. He sounded great and it was just fun to see and hear his voice again!! (It was also sad to say GOODBYE again)

A toaster, box of ramen and loaf of bread.....

I am on a Little Rock Missionary moms page and this was posted: Brayden just told us on Christmas he did this.... (He must of impressed the Sisters for them to write home) 


I'm late posting this but I thought Elder Nielsens mom might appreciate this! (She's on here right?) This was at their zone conference last week. Sister Durfee was writing about the talent show they had!  "Elder Nielsen (He's still in Oxford) juggled a loaf of bread, a big box of ramen, and a toaster. That was pretty funny! haha! First he juggled three balls, then three glass cups (and didn't break anything!) And then those random objects. Well right at the end, trying to set the toaster down, it lands on the glass cups and breaks them. Oops! ha! It was pretty funny though! :) and nobody got hurt! :)


Brayden has found his talent.... Juggling 

Brayden had Christmas early!!!! dang boy

Mommy,

Nothing really new this week, talked to A LOT of people, talking to everyone on the streets. Those people aren't members, i knocked on their door and we started talking religion and we became good friends, so they called us and asked if we wanted to go eat and we told them YES! so it was a lot of fun. Their name is the Defores. They are a nice retired doctors, so they are loaded. It was fun. I am filling out because all the dang candy everyone sends me! I feel i have to eat it all!

well sounds like a lot of crazy stuff happened.... That is crazy about the wreck! I thought that was ashton that got the stitches! Those look bad!

So yeah i got the packages! the 12 days went good. Im sorry to say that i cracked after like day 7... i just wanted to open stuff! So yeah... when a mom isnt there to tell you not to open it it is free range! so... sorry! hahah but it was good. I loved all my presents,except i dont know why you wrapped cold medicine.... weirdo. Yeah i got grandmas package! It was great. Sweet! Send me the info on skype so i call you. Love you guys thanks for everything! Talk to you in a few days! Elder Nielson

 

                                         Elder Nielson being fed by nonmembers Defordes.....

Missionaries can still have fun!

Dear Mom,

Yeah i got all the packages! thank you so much, the tree was awesome it is sitting in the apartment right now. The 12 days are going well, not to far in yet! I am glad that grandma and grandpa got the letter that is awesome! I sure hope that it made their day a little better.

Yeah we always try to visit less actives, if only most of them weren't a half hour to a hour away! haha our area is huge, we try the best though. About the primary class, i would think it would be better to have a recent convert... but i am not sure if there is even any recent converts in rexburg... so probably missionaries.

I am doing well, just working hard, talking to everyone that i see, I Always talk to everyone, walking down the street, on the bus, in walmart, wherever the Lord puts people in my path. We are still trying to figure out the whole skyping thing, we are working with the bishop. So i will let you know. District Leader is good. We have a lot of extra meetings, leadership meetings. And i have to teach at district meeting like 2 or 3 times a month, so lots of work. I also have to call my District as well as the Zone Leaders and tell them about everyones day, so i dont get to go to sleep on time most of the time.

His name is Wes Medial! He is so awesome, we are good friends. He just got off his mission in July when i came out. He is so cool and we hangout at church. So yeah, he randomly asked for your number so i am not sure what he did with it.

Well i am glad that Dad ran into Gary, that is always good to hear from them. I hope they are doing well.

This week Elder Brich (other Oxford Elder) and I decided that since we were bored that we would light a tennis ball on fire and throw it around! It was awesome! haha. Just shows you that you still can have fun on a mission that is for sure!

Well i hope all is well! Thanks so much for everything. Love yall! I will let you know about everything soon!

Oh Christmas Tree

                               Brayden with santa                                    

Brayden with 12 days of Christmas... silly boy

Teaching statues AGAIN?? 

Serious? Ron Burgandy! haha

Phone call from Oxford

I know what you are thinking..... and no Brayden did not call home. It was from ANOTHER awesome Oxford member!! Wes Medial who is a returned missionary (in June) from Oxford called me! He told me how great Brayden is doing and how spiritual he is and how much people like him! He said that they are good friends and he sits by him on Sunday and Brayden told him on fast and testimony meeting that he had a feeling that he needed to get up and bear his testimony! Wes told me he had that feeling all week and had been fighting til Brayden said something. This coming from a returned missionary, about a missionary that has only been out 5 months! I am so proud of my son, he has grown up so much! It was great hearing from Wes and I told him he made my day and that day I needed a pick me up!! I was crying in the store, I am sure everyone thought I was crazy. I love the members in Oxford! I would love for him to stay there his whole mission. ( I know this won't happen!)

Dropping like flies

Mommy,

(First off, can you send me Blazes address, as well as grandpa Danks? i need to write them) Also i never got the package ... idk if you sent that or not.

Week has been a long and stressful week, we had a Ice Storm that hit our whole mission. It got really cold and then at the same time it was raining so all the rain froze on the road and made ice everywhere. President made us stay in the apartment all day friday and half the day saturday. It is a different kind of cold here, the wind and the humidity just cut right through you. So this week has been slow and boring. As far as investigators go, all of us in Oxford are struggling on keeping the investigators that we have, they are dropping like flies!! But it is alright we are working hard and that is what counts.

Yeah i have got the letters, i just have no time, now that i am district leader i have to make calls every night and talk to people till 1030 and then go to bed, i will try and write them back once i find the letter. And yes i got the package from the young women it was awesome i love candy!!

Haha shade, what a loser (hey shade if you read this blog! miss ya) glad you saw him though.

Yeah i am missing the snow for sure, someone brought up snowboarding and it hurt! haha but it will be ok. Hope everyone has fun doing it!

Umm my companion..... it has been a rough last 3 weeks. The Lord has a sense of humor and wants me to learn patience i know it! Right now all the pressure is on me cause he wont talk to people so it is me teaching and talking to everyone. I am learning a lot but i feel he isnt trying to learn or wanting to learn. It will all be alright though, gonna be a long 9 more weeks but it will be good for me!

Yeah dont remind me how little i have been out mom! haha yeah 6 months is coming up fast!

Thanks mom, love you guys so much. Thanks for all you do. Thanks for supporting me like a jock strap!!! hahah i am gonna get slapped for that one when i get home! Haha love you, say hi to everyone for me!

Again.... I love the Oxford members!!!

I received this text today .....

                      "I ran into these awesome guys at Walmart today. Carrie Roberts"

She said Elder Mitchell (2nd from left) is Elder Nielson's new companion....

Oh how I love Mondays, especially when I get pictures like this!!! (I miss my cute boy)

Thanks Carrie Roberts

Preaching to the Choir

Hey Mommy,

Thanksgiving was great! We had dinner at the church with a bunch of members and non members. Met this really cool part member less active family that moved from Boise Idaho! So we talked a lot about Idaho. I realized that i just like to talk to people, i probably talk to much haha. The Football game was sweet! We had a lot of fun playing and being rough with the members, reminded me of when i rocked at flag football in South Dakota. Sounds like you guys had a good thanksgiving! I hope grandpa gets feeling better, that is no fun to get old.

My First District meeting went alright, i tried my best. I am up there preaching to a Choir though! I have been out 5 months and they all have been out like around a year, so its kinda crazy. Training is going good, my trainee is a lot different from me, i like to talk to random people and he doesnt like to say a word haha. So it is mostly me just talking to everyone and teaching. But he will come around hopefully. But he is my companion and we are supposed to be together so what are ya gonna do right? haha.

That is crazy that Cole is coming home soon! That is really cool. Say hi to him for me!

So about the bag... i really dont want a side bag. All i carry around is a book of mormon so i feel like i dont need a bag for that. But i guess i can let you know if i decide i need one.

That is pretty crazy that it hasnt snowed yet! i am glad cause i am going to miss snowboarding a lot! The weather here is nice. It is a different kind of cold cause of the humidity.

Things are going good here, it was a slow week cause everyone was out of town cause of thanksgiving. The whole university was gone pretty much. So we are hoping that it will get better this next week! Love ya mommy

Thanks for everything. say hi to everyone for me! HELLO! Love Elder Nielson

Elder Nielson is all about the fun.

                                 I have nothing to say for this one....
                                  

District Leader and Trainer all in the same week

Dear Mom,

Well your receiving words from Elder B-Dizzle Nielson! So i got my new Companion this week, he is fresh out of the MTC. His name is Elder Mitchell from Mesa Arizona. Definitely opposite of me but i love him. So being the Senior Companion is cool, i make all of the decisions and where we are going, i am like a veteran at 5 months! Also this week i got called as the District Leader. I am the Leader over 4 sets of missionaries. So my whole world got changed up to where i have all of this responsibility now on my shoulders. But I love being a leader. It makes you work harder and strive to be the example in your District. They look up to you and expect you to answer their questions and help them be better missionaries. So i have my first District Meeting tomorrow so wish me luck! i am pretty excited. So i love being a leader.

Wait the Camera worked??? are you kidding me! I tried fixing that thing forever! Dangit.

Yeah instead of eating you guys out of house and home, i am eating myself out of money! haha. No we usually always eat at the house from the groceries that we buy. But i am usually to lazy to cook myself a real Meal. Except the other night i made this awesome mexican rice and meat, and then chips, it was soooo good! I act like i have worked at a Mexican Restaurant or something!

Yeah i am pretty excited for thanksgiving! We have a couple members that are feeding either us or the other Elders so i am really excited! And thanksgiving morning we are doing a Turkey Bowl! So Football Thanksgiving Morning!!! Im excited.

Yep i got the package, thanks so much! I was needing contacts, my eyes were hurting from wearing glasses so much!

Haha you got that video? haha they were spanking him for his birthday and i was like i want to do it! haha and it was funny!

So something i would like maybe for christmas is some Cds from a group called Vocal Point. They are good, they are an a Capella group. Thanks for everything mom, you are the best. Things will work out with you guys, just keep doing your best! Ill be praying!

Love Jesus. Love Elder Nielson

P.s. Sorry the computer would not let me upload the pictures! ! sorry

Brayden is a Trainer! (No transfer but has a new address)

Hey Mom,

So here is the latest on transfers...

I am staying in Oxford, i am training a brand new missionary. So i am pretty dang nervous. And then they are taking the Sister Missionaries out of Oxford and bringing in another set of Elders, so that will be fun on p-days and stuff! So i am moving into the Sisters old apartment because it is so much nicer than our apartment. So i am pretty excited about that! The new address is 801 Frontage rd. apt.#911. So that is the latest update on transfers and stuff, so now i really am taking over the area because i will be the only one that has been in the area, been here 4 1/2 months.

This last week was not productive much at all. It has been a rough last few weeks. My companion is going home so all i hear from everyone is about him going home, that is all he talks about and that is all everyone asked about, so it was rough. I had to tell him just last night to stop calling old members on our phone. That is not what the phone is meant for, all he would do is text and call random people. I told him that when he goes home in 2 days to call and text all the people he wanted, to just have a hayday! But i wasn't gonna listen to him talk on the phone till midnight. So i was the bad guy haha, kinda liked it! 

The weather here right now is awesome! it is like in the high 40s or low 50s! And fall here with all the trees is awesome! So i am looking forward to the cooler temperatures, but i don't like that it gets dark at 5 oclock at all! 

So Christmas huh? Ya'all get ready? Um i am not sure about what i want, i really don't need anything and you have bought me a bunch of stuff already! so you dont need to get me anything. Save the money. 

So yeah, a little damper on the end of this week but i am kinda looking forward to getting the new missionary and then heading down and working hard. Its gonna take a lot of getting used to. This is the hardest thing i have ever done in my life, but i love it. So that is this week, sorry i dont have any pictures cause i am in a different area right now until transfers and i get a new companion, love all ya'all, and miss you very much. Thanks for all that you do for me! Love Jesus. Love Elder Nielson.  

Being transfered (maybe)

Hey Mommy,

I did make it through another week, this week was long. Right now the investigators we have are really new, we have been doing a lot of finding and things like that to try and to find some solid investigators. But we did find a couple solid ones so far, only if they will come to church! We found this black family and they let us in and we taught them the Restoration. They seemed interested and it was awesome. We then invited them to church, Steven the head of the household looked at us straight in the face and said i will be there at church... what time does it start. Guess what, he never showed up at church! Its just like people don't care what we think haha.

The Ward here is pretty dang sweet, they love me, what can i say? haha. There is like 3 or 4 people that are talking to you, its crazy, its like you know my every move now. haha. They don't like my companion to much though, for some reason they all like say right to his face... "why do you never laugh or smile or have fun?" i think its is pretty awesome. They are used to me laughing and making jokes and actually talking to them like human beings. We are opposites as companions.

So got some news this last week that rules for missionary dress go into effect January 1st. So that makes it so i cannot wear a backpack anymore, and i cannot wear the khackis that you sent me, it can only be khacki slacks, so i will have to get some of those or something. So that is kinda lame.

Also this week, we were talking to president and we were saying it is a little difficult to get rides to our meetings since we are so far away, and the members are busy and stuff. So he said one of the only solutions was to take Elders completely out and put in a new set of sisters. So that means if he follows through with that plan... then i am leaving Oxford next week. Which stinks! So i have been hoping and praying that i stay cause i do not feel like i am done here. So i guess i will let yall know what goes down. Until then, love all you guys, and miss you so very much! Love Jesus. -Elder Nielson

Another text from Oxford

We received this text from a ward member in Oxford on Nov 9th. (happened to be Kevin's birthday)


the text said: " I am sending this, I love having Elder Nielson in Oxford"

No idea what Brayden was doing????

Sacrifing Lambs ...what???

Hey Mommy,

Whats crackin'? Things are going good. Yep yesterday was 4 months for me, still i feel like a young one, and that i know nothing, but it will get better. So on Halloween we went to the Oxford ward Trunk or Treat, it was fun, i went around to all the cars and i said "I am a Jehovah's Witness, Trick or Treat!" Which is funny cause the J dubs do not believe in holidays at all! haha. Guess you just had to be there. Other than that we did nothing all day except walk around or go see members, it is not a real productive day for missionaries. So Yeah i have had plenty of District meetings, we have meetings every week. It is Either District meeting, Zone Meeting, Specialized Training, or Transfers once a week. What we do at those is just do training and help each other out. So about the temple, usually you only go before your mission in the MTC, and then right at the end of your mission, so i won't get to go for awhile unless it is a special occasion.

Haha that is some funny stories about Camden and Brynlee, they seem like they are growing up so much! I don't remember them ever being able to talk so well or anything. To me they are never going to grow up, they are still 3 year olds that cause havock.

Sorry i am not writing you back letters mom, i just have like no time at all on my hands, it really sucks. 

So this week was a hard week, we were just so sick of the week we wanted it to be over. 3 times this week with 3 different people. So the first guy, his name is Bill. He randomly came to church and stayed through all of it. We asked if we could stop by tuesday night, and he said of course. We get to his house and he just starts going off on what he believes. This man Bill believes in the Tora, or the first 5 books in the Old Testiment. So what that means is that he lives the old law, or the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was before Christ's time here on earth where they did sacrifices, they stay away from pork, they don't eat shelfish, and they do a lot of weird things, it was meant for the time of Moses. So we asked him to try and see if he fully lives the law of moses if he still sacrifices lambs? He said oh yeah i do i have video evidence of me sacrificing lambs. We were stunned, i wanted to literally puke. This guy still thinks it is ok to sacrifice, first of all he has no Authority to sacrifice and second it probably is illegal. He is crazy, he also un-patronized from the U.S. and is a citizen of the house of israel. He is just way out there. And to make it worse, we are meeting with him tonight to throw down and talk to him about the Book of Mormon and how Christ was the great and last sacrifice. Then on Saturday we ran into 2 people that live the Law of Moses and they just talked at us for 45 minutes about how it is right. I HATE people just talking at me, it is such a waste of my time. I am here to talk about the Book of Mormon and how i know it's true... not about you and your killing lambs and throwing away a good slab of Bacon. Geeeez! Some People. Sorry i went on a rampage there but we are not trained on how to approach people like this that do not believe in Jesus Christ but believe that they can do it themselves. This is the South, everyone loves Jesus! Jesus wakes them up every morning and does this and that... haha Baptists are crazy as well.

Well enough of me going on about the dang law of Moses. Things are going good here, i am trying my best to learn the scriptures to the best of my ability. Thanks so much for all you do Mom, you are the Best Mom i have ever had! Thanks to everyone. Love Jesus.

Love you, Elder Nielson

(loving Elder Nielson smile, he looks so happy)

 

 

Can you say...." Love the members"

I am serious when I say .... I love seeing little notes like this show up in my email! It sure makes my day! I LOVE the ward members taking care of Brayden, and we sure LOVE our Missionary that is touching the lives of others.


Dear Parents.

We have been here in Oxford for 43 years.  We came from Utah when there was not a branch or ward in Oxford. We were asked to start a Dependent Sunday School and Primary.  We held Primary in our home for 10 years.  Your have a fine son.  He is a very good missionary.  Even though he hasn't been out here long he has shown eagerness to learn, is spiritual, knowledgeable, helpful and a joy to know. We have been blessed to have him here.  We thought you might like to hear about how he is doing.  Brother and Sister Bartlett.

Leading Baptisms in Mississippi by a long shot!

Hey Mommy,

Well this weekend was awesome, we had a Baptism, that makes 2 for this month which is awesome! We are leading Mississippi in baptisms by a long shot. With that baptism we actually broke the record in the Oxford ward for most baptisms in a year, it used to be 5 but now that we got this one we hit 6! and we are hoping for more. The ward here is kinda sucking lately, the members are all in school and they don't help us out much and go teaching with us, and they don't feed us much anymore or help us with rides. It is difficult but we are trying hard. The ward isn't to fond of my new companion, they don't like that he is so serious and stuff

So i ended up getting a North Face jacket, it is grey and it is pretty warm and it is waterproof so thats good cause it has been raining a lot lately. I like it and i think i should be good for now.

Yeah i don't understand why he got rid of the little pickup i thought we would never let that thing go!

Haha yeah that would be funny to have a cut out of me around that house, it would have to be me making a funny face or something though haha. Tell Bubba that he can sit in my seat anytime. Tell Brynlee that i love her very much and miss her, she is so cute.

I bet they are way excited about Halloween. They will get tons of candy. You should have had Camden be me as a missionary! That would have been funny! Maybe next year.

I got the package that you sent! It was awesome, if i didn't know any better i would say that you are trying to fatten me up! I hung up the decorations all over the house! It looks horrible cause our apartment is so ugly!

So the picture is of this awesome dog that i play with at the Humane Society, we volunteer there.He is awesome, his name is Boss and he loves to fetch, we fill up a pool of water and he jumps in and rolls around in it, it is great! Love Boss

So Idaho vandals were down here at Ole Miss playing them on Saturday, all day i was looking at license plates to see if there was anyone from idaho that came to the game but i didn't see any... then i thought, who likes the Idaho Vandals?? haha.

So things are going alright, it has been a rough week with all of our investigators dropping us but we found a couple new ones that seem pretty interested. Elder Clason and i were teaching this one lady named Josie and she would never come to church. I had the thought to go and see her again, so on thursday we went and saw her and i asked if she would come to church with us. She said yes and that she was excited but that she wanted me to call in the morning before church. So i called her and she said, yeah i am coming i will be there, and see you there! Guess what... she never showed up. Of course. That is typical out here. I am not ready to train at all and i am not looking forward to it, cause i still am not sure what i am doing. But i will be ok. Love you Mom very much and i am so grateful for all you do for me and all the packages you send me! I wish i had more time to write you letters back but i am so gosh darn busy all the darn time! sorry. Thanks again. Love Jesus.

Love Elder Nielson

Nichole's Baptism

Elder Nielson and Elder Smith

Boss from Humane Society

 

 

"I am a Metho-Baptist"

Mom,

 

Hey Mom sorry you had the worst week! Yeah so Elder Smith and i are getting a long great, we are working hard and i am learning a lot! Things are going well. We have another Baptism this Saturday for Nichole. We have been teaching her for like a month now and she finally quit smoking and is getting baptized! We are excited.

There isnt many exciting things to do in Oxford either, there is a Good Will (which is like DI) and there is a lot of expensive stores on the square you can go look at. They have $100 ties! crazy stuff. So we pretty much just sleep on p-days and catch up on a little R&R.

Haha That makes me laugh that Bubba wouldn't do his part in the primary program, what a kid!

Wow there is some crazy things going on in the world that i am totally oblivious to, it is kinda nice sometimes! haha 

 

So this week was pretty good we just were looking for some more people to teach since we have baptized all the ones we were teaching. Things get CRAZY here when Ole Miss is playing, literally there is nothing for us to do, everyone is either at the game, at the grove getting drunk, or at home getting Drunk watching the football game. Everyone's lives revolve around Ole Miss, so they dont want us bothering them. The Town gets so packed, i will send some pictures of it.

Story of the week: Yesterday we were knocking doors in this really rich neighborhood, we knocked on this door and a old lady opens the door. She says that she already has the saviors peace and blessing on her home and that she is very religious in her church. I then asked her, what church do you go to? She then said, "I am a Metho-Baptist." She mixed Methodist and Baptist together, she goes to both churches. She says, there is all types of ways to get to heaven, so i am trying 2 of them... haha dang people out here! They are insane in the membrane!

I also am sending a picture of this massive truck i saw on Ole Miss campus. this thing was HUGE it had at least an 8 inch lift, huge monster truck tires and if you look at it the tires are as tall as the car next to it! And the Black guy in the background lets you know how tall it is! Redneck heaven.

Anyways things are going great here, i am trying to learn all i can before i am left with a new missionary. Hope all goes well.

Um idk what i want for christmas, but i do know i need a nice jacket soon.

Love you Mom and everybody! Thanks for all everyone does! Love Jesus

Elder Nielson
 

 

Yeah!! for Pizza and a new companion...

Hey Mom,

Woah i was accepted huh... good thing they have a 98% acceptance rate at BYU-I! haha never thought i would get in. So yeah Elder Clason was transferred out of Oxford, it was sad, we got along very well. But i received my new companion on Wednesday. I think everyone got confused on what i meant by a new missionary. I am not training this transfer, i just got a new companion. My new companion is Elder Smith, he is from Centerville Utah... (who would have thought that Utah pumps out missionaries) He has been out 22 months. That means that i am killing him off this transfer it is his last one! Its crazy. This week President Petersen called me (which is the scariest moment in your life cause you wonder if you are doing something wrong) he said how are you doing, hows your new companion, and stuff like that... then he said well work hard and learn as much as you can cause i want you to train and do the 12 week program with a new missionary... Ahhhhh.... how the crap am i supposed to train when i have been out for 4 months? So if all this actually happens, that will put my in Oxford at least until February, which is crazy! But knowing President, things could change in an instant.

Yeah the pizza was the craziest thing... We were knocking doors in this area and it was almost time for dinner, but we felt we needed to walk down this one more street, so we did that and then we headed home for dinner. We got in the apartment and i started boiling water to make some instant potatoes (i love potatoes, they are easy to make as a missionary that doesn't know how to cook or is too lazy to cook) when all of a sudden we here a knock on the door, we were like what the? usually we are the ones knocking doors... not other people! First thing i thought was, its the Jehovahs Witnesses!! They are coming to get us! But we opened the door and standing there was an Asian guy holding a pizza, a little different than we expected. He said your mom got you this pizza. I stood there and said...What? My mom? ( i was thinking to myself, if you only knew how far my mom is away you'd realize that this doesn't sound right) he said your mom is surprising you with this pizza. I said alright and i took the pizza because who am i to turn down pizza?? Im not insane. We opened it up and laughed about the inside that says from Mom with love and then a heart as well, cause i was laughing thinking how long it took that asian guy to draw that heart on the inside of the box haha. But it was great i loved it! I definately did not know that it has been 100 days, im not counting ;)

Yeah i got the camera, thanks, the other one is broken idk whats up with it. Now i will get some pictures.

No i am not driving, i wish i was cause i hate not being in control! I wanna drive! i wanna win!

Yeah a lot of crazy stuff going on at home.... weird.

Well things are going good, this weekend there was way too many people in Oxford because of the game, the city was jam packed. Just like sardines! We didnt have a very productive weekend cause of that. Well hope everything is good and i miss all of ya'all. Thanks Mom for everything! 

 

 

 

 

 

Silly Boys

So I received another email from Sister Tina Davis (the nice lady that came to our house, she is in Brayden's ward) she sent these pictures of Brayden!!! She is the best!!!  


Elder Nielson and Elder Jones
2 Oct 2013
Oxford, MS
I had the best time carrying the Oxford Elders & Sister missionaries to Southaven, TN for their training meeting and exchange/splits. Elder Jones, the zone leader, was Elder Neilson's companion for 24 hours.
We had a lot of fun on our back-to-back mini-road trips, telling stories & jokes. The Elders seemed amazed and entertained as to how the mind of a woman often works. Haha.

Elders Nielson and Clason (silly boys)

15 September 2013

Oxford, MS

The faithful missionaries were fasting that Sunday, so we loaded them up with Tupperware containers full of refreshments from the double 8 yr old Ward baptism (Jacob and Alyssa, in case he's mentioned them or their families).

Transfers . . .

Hey Mom,

So transfer calls were today, this has been the awaited day the whole week! The AP's call between 6:30 -7:30 in the morning. So we were waiting. We had already guessed that Elder Clason has been here to long and that he was leaving and I was staying. The call came at 7:10. Elder Adams our AP calls and says that Elder Clason is leaving and going back to Arkansas. So i am staying in Oxford, I had a feeling i was staying here anyways. I am taking over the area now, getting a new companion and i am only 3 months out, pretty crazy. It came all to fast. So go ahead and send what you want to cause i probably will stay in Oxford for another 3 months i am guessing.

Yeah Nick (9 years old) was baptized on Saturday by yours truly. He received extra blessings because i dunked him 2 times. Elder Clason failed to mention that you have to say, "being commissioned of Jesus Christ" so i had to do it again. But all worked out and he was baptized! It was an awesome experience for my first time. 

Conference was good. It was broadcasted to the church in Oxford. Us, the sister missionaries, and the member that drove us there were the only ones that came and watched conference at the church. We watched all 10 hours right in the chapel, it was a long weekend but it was still a vacation from doing missionary work i guess. And that quote from Elder Uchtdorf was one of my favorite quotes, "Doubt your Doubts, before you Doubt your Faith." I also liked Jeffery R. Hollands quote of, "If the bitter cup doesn't pass, Drink It." he is a boss and straight throws down in his talks.

Yeah the Recorder i bought is working great, i have recorded some good stuff! i love it, it also plays music so that is nice.

Everything is going good here! Thanks for the packages and letters that you send me! I am nervous to take over the Oxford area but i am excited as well! Love you all.

Elder Nielson

 

 

 

Yeah for Conference

Hey Mom,

Happy Birthday!!! That came pretty quick. Don't let dad shove cake in your face or anything like that, just do like the kids did and do it yourself haha. Yeah we are really excited for conference because that means it is a 3 day weekend for us of just watching the Prophets. And on Saturday between sessions we have a Baptism, his name is Nick, he is 9 years old, they are a less active family that we are trying to re-activate. He wanted to be baptized and last time i checked he wants me to Baptize him. So that will be cool i have not baptized anyone myself. He is a pretty cool cat!

We have so much fun when we eat at members houses! We laugh with them, i make fun of them. They like us a lot. And we eat a lot at their houses, i am not to excited about gaining weight, there is so much food here. So here is a story, Friday night we had dinner at a members home, then at 830 we decided we were hungry and that we needed to eat at ihop, so we went and we ate and felt like crap after as usual. The next day we did service at the Bartlett's home, they are the coolest older couple ever, we put some tint stuff in their window so no one could see through it at night. They took us to eat at Pita Pit, then later that night we went and got milkshakes cause we were bored. Well all day Saturday i didnt feel good at all, i was dizzy and my stomach hurt (It couldn't have been from all the crap we had eaten) so we came in early cause i was sick. That night at one in the morning i got up and threw up a few times! So this weekend i have been sick. I am still trying to get over it today.

On Saturday we were riding the bus and i sat kind of up front while Elder Clason sat in the back. A big huge guy sat across the row from me, He had to play for Ole Miss i thought to myself. I got the impression to start talking to him. At first i was like NO WAY! This huge black guy does not want to hear about what i have to say. But i got the impression again, so i manned up and i asked him "How are ya doin'?" and he gave the answer that you do not want to hear, "Fine." I was like... dang where do i go from there?? So i asked him if he was going to school, what he was doing there, and such. He started to open up a little more. Then i got down to the knitty griddy! I shot the question, "Do you go to church around here? " he said yeah and we started to talk. He asked what Book we believe in and i told him and he seemed interested! So i asked him if we could stop by his place and share a message with him, he said yes and we exchanged info. It was sweet! if i hadn't listened to the spirit on talking to this huge black guy, idk i probably would have got struck down! haha.

 

So transfers are after conference, and we are pretty sure that Elder Clason is leaving and that i am staying in Oxford and taking over the area with another missionary, But we will see what happens.

 

Love everyone, happy birthday mom:) love you -Elder Nielson

Raining LITERALLY all day

Hey Mommy,

Oxford is doing great, i love it here, it is the best area. Um transfers is after general conference. I am not sure if i am getting transfered they dont tell you till the day before. I am pretty sure that i will be staying here and elder clason will go somewhere else cause he has been in oxford for 9 months. So i am hoping that i will stay here!

Haha i miss the babies so much ( i guess they arent babies anymore really) but i miss them. Bubba and Brynlee look from the pictures like they are changing so much already. I dont like it i want them to stay small so i can throw them around and play with them! i guess i will have to wait till i have my own kids haha.

Yeah i got the package this week, yeah my companion and i loved it we ate it all in 2 days so that is saying something.

So this week was a slow week, all of our new found investigators didnt answer the door so we had a pretty annoying week. This week has been pretty hott till friday, friday was awesome! It rained LITERALLY all day and night. And we didnt have the car this week so we were stuck walking about 5-8 miles that day to our appointments. We were soooo soaked. But i looked at it this way... at least im not hott and sweaty, im just wet, and when its warm and raining, you cant tell what is water on you and what is sweat so it just doesnt matter haha! That whole day no one answered the door, no one wanted to talk to us cause of the weather. So around 730 or 8 we were sick of it so we went home and decided we were going to run out our frustration in the rain. We went for a run around town while it was pouring rain. It was crazy. In oxford they have to have like thousands of canals and ditches to direct the water out of the town and off the streets because the rain storms down here are like nothing else anywhere. They are intense! so what we did was walk through a ditch with water up to about our shins and just were trying to have a fun time. It was sweet! Running in the rain and splashing in the puddles was cool. It is crazy the things you have to do to have fun as a missionary, it really differs from being home. That running would not be fun while i was at home but since i am on my mission it is fun... weird. So that is that for the week, hope things are going well. Tell Bubba and Brynlee Hi! miss them, and i miss everyone, all my friends and family. Thanks for all the support. love Elder Nielson.

Spiritual Harvest

Hey mom,

No time is going by pretty slow here too. I dont think i have recieved a package from walmart. The last package i got had the cd's in it and candy. Um things are going good we have 3 people with Baptismal dates, and we are hoping they stay with it. Yeah we usually track(spiritual harvest) everyday. No we arent on facebook yet but maybe soon idk. Ya i am doing pretty good on my own, i just throw meals together, through clothes in the wash and hope they get clean haha. But all is going pretty good in that area. It is finally cooling down a little bit here i am hoping that fall is around the corner. We took our matresses out in the living room and slept out there with the sliding door open cause it felt so good outside.

 

All of my clothes are good! my khackis are sweet! they are nice and something different to wear. I might need a jacket when it cools down in the winter so i will start looking.

 

Krystle was baptized by her husband, he is a less active and she wasnt a member, we taught her, she loved it and she was baptized. Now they are active and doing well. She loves us so much, she spoils us with food!

Ill try to write a letter to the primary.

You gotta love mississippi!

 

Love Jesus. Thanks for all you do for me Mom and Dad! i love you. Thanks for raising me up so good like you did, you guys taught me a lot.

 -Love Elder Nielson

 

Best Missionary Day Ever

Hey ya'all from the south, where it was the hottest week ever! Dang gina! it was so hott! It hit 103 and then add the humidity. Lets just say it was so hot that even black people weren't outside! Black people are always outside on their porch doing nothing all day unless it is blazing hot, or raining, cause down here black people melt in the rain. They ain't got no business out in the rain. So this week we did a ton of walking cause the sisters have our car, then we got it back yesterday and found out that it didnt start and that it turned out to be a bad alternator. It is a flippin 2012 ford fusion... So basically Ford stink. It can't last a year. But we blamed it on the sisters haha cause they already drove it into a ditch! Flip! Yes mom i loved the package! the Lacrae Cd is awesome! and the books. So i was thinking... do you know the recorder that Dr. Larson had at the drs office? the grey recorder, a missionary has one down here and he puts his music on there and it play, and it also records things! so i could record some of my diaries, or record lessons it would be sweet! so im thinking i might buy one today? let me know if that would be alright soon??

So this was Saturdays schedule... (Best missionary day ever)... So we woke up at 6:00 hit up the gym, pumping some iron, and getting huge, no big deal. Then we studied from 8:00 until about 10:30. at that time we had to head over to the church to start the water in the baptisimal font. We chilled there, played basketball, burnt ants with a microscope, you know the usual missionary fun. The baptism started at 1. Me and Elder Clason both had to speak at the baptism, that went pretty good, the ward loves us. The baptism was over at 2. Then we went and tried to see an investigator but this guy didnt show up to the appointment. Then at 3 we had dinner at Bro. Rosemans house, he is the guy that sent you the pic at the game, they are the ones that took us. We then went through the grove... bad mistake, if you ever get a chance to look up pictures of the grove youll know what i mean, SO SO many people. We as missionaries pretty much had to close our eyes while we walked cause there were so many skanky girls around there. Lets just say they have a unique style down here. Game days its short skirts, and school its short shorts with a huge t-shirt so they look like they arent wearing any pants! its so stupid. Then the game was at 6. Ole miss won 31-14, with their 3rd string in. SEMO was not a very good team at all. They played like high schoolers. But there were a bunch of drunks, the student section all left at half time to go and party so that is what Ole Miss is famous for...no pants and partying. So yeah it was a pretty sweet day!

Also ive kinda realized that i changed my style on ties. I like what are called narrow ties. They are not skinny and not normal they are like in between. They are 2 inches across. I also like just like a classy stripe or patterns, ive grown up a little on the flashy ties and things. But i havent completely grown up.

So let me know if it is alright if i buy that recorder i think it will be sweet! and very useful! then i can just download music like lacrae and do it that way. But yeah. Thanks for everything this week, the letter was great! hope everything went well this week! love everyone! Bye Bye. Love jesus, LOve elder nielson!

P.s. i will update shutterfly, except i dont know the password.

                                        Krystal's Baptism

      Bro and Sister Roseman, Elder Nielson and Elder Clason at Ole Miss game

Bro Roseman sent me and Kevin a text with this picture when they were at the game . He said we have the best missionaries! I believe it!! I am thankful for members that do small things like this...

it makes our day!!

                                             Brayden has to throw in a silly one!

 

Suprise email from Sister Davis(the one that stop by out house)

This is Brayden's mom again. I received an email Sunday from Sister Tina Davis she is the one who brought the letter and goodies to us! This is what she wrote:

 It was so fun meeting you! Here are some pix of your boy. :)
They couldn't decide if they were going to be smiling or serious in the first one; and they "Made the sign" in the second one. I had to ask, as I didn't recognize the sign. It's an O and a T, for "O-Town" or "Oxford Town" ... ... Boys. Haha.
Thanks again for loaning him to the South.
Tina                                                             
 
                                              
Funny boys....

Best Saturday ever....

Hey mom,

Things are going good this week. It was so ridiculously hot this week! the dang sisters have our car so we have been walking alot! We get the car back next Sunday so we are looking forward to that. Saturday was 103 degrees plus humidity! It was so hot. We walked about 7 miles that day as well. So you liked Sis. Davis? They are a sweet couple! They take us to Buffalo Wild Wings, she is hilarious and he is an awkward guy! But he is way cool. I also got some papers that i am sending to you as well with me in there.

Well i am glad everything is going well in the family, i will keep grandpa in my prayers. Well this weekend is probably gonna be the best Saturday ever in missionary work all over the world! So this Saturdays plan goes like this... wake up, get ready, study, then about 10 we are heading to the church to fill up the font... you know why?? Cause we got a baptism! We have a baptism at 1! Krystal. We are the only area in Mississippi that has had a Baptism this whole YEAR. crazy huh. Then after that we will find for an hour, eat at our ward missionaries house, then head to the grove, then to the OLE MISS football game! Talk about a good day Baptism and football. So yeah 2 Baptisms in 2 months in the South, one of the hardest missions in the world according to Pres. Petersen. So yeah good stuff!

Spiritual Message:

So i was reading in "Our search for Happiness" i came across something i really liked. It said something along the lines of if you look at our Eternal life like its a rope that goes both ways off into the infinity, and you take a string and wrap it around once in the middle, the width of that string is our mortal life. Then he switches to Hope. Hope is an interesting thing that i studied for awhile the other night. He says, " we feel pain and anguish in the face of adversity but in Faith in our Heavenly Father and in his plan it can be a source of inner strength through which we can have peace, comfort, and the courage to cope. Hope grows out of faith and gives meaning and purpose to all that we do. It can give us comfort in the face of adversity, strength in times of trial, and peace when there is every reason for doubt and anguish." I also looked in Alma 7: 11-12, 24. Those are some good scriptures for the Plan of Salvation. Then there is the Endure to the End scripture, one of the best ones... 2 Nephi 31:20.

Anyways, i hope things are going well with everyone! Miss everyone! Any one out there that wants to send me a letter, my mail box is always open!!

Love all'ya'all! Love Jesus. ELDER NIELSON 

p.s. we took this beer from an investigator, actually Krystal so she wouldn't have the temptation, so we are the only missionaries to have beer in our apartment, and they were full. HAHA 

Company from Oxford

So I was at home on Thursday afternoon and seen a pickup pull up in my driveway. I had never seen this pickup before. A couple came to the door and knocked, answering I was a little unsure of what they would want. The said there names were Steve Davis and his wife Tina Davis. Mrs. Davis had an accent, I honestly was thinking what are they selling haha. They were from Oxford, MS and are in Brayden's ward. They were here visiting there daughter who just had a baby. They said Brayden had sent them to bring a letter to us and they bought us a treat from Mississippi. They are the sweetest couple and told me they loved Brayden and he was doing amazing. I had goose bumps. What a nice thing for them to do, I am sure they didnt realize how much it meant to me :) It sounds like Brayden loves it so much there, he might not come back..

Brayden's mom

I am pretty much Famous

Hey mom! 

Yeah I had a better week! Yeah I spoke in sacrament my first Sunday here! I forgot to tell you. We are eating way to good! I hope I am not gaining weight we work out every morning at the gym! Yeah we gave a blessing to a lady in the hospital last week it was pretty powerful. Yeah I wrote Hadley and I am going to write shade today! I sure hope they went skydiving!! 

Well that trip sounds fun! Lagoon and swimming I am sure they loved it! 

Things went well this week we found 10 new investigators. But we did a lot of finding and we are hoping some of them turn good! We had to set back some baptism dates for people cause they didn't come to church or they fell back into temptations, but I know they will be baptized soon! So we are hoping and praying and fasting that things will work out. 

This week we were interviewed by the Oxford Eagle (the newspaper) they took our picture and asked questions and put us on the second page, so i am pretty much famous! I will send you a copy of the newspaper soon! i just got to get ahold of it. This week there will be something arriving at your door for your part b-day mom. So I hope your home. I am not going to change over my mission, i want to keep my same personality, yet be able to be serious when the time comes dad!! haha i wont change. 

Story of the week: So our ward mission leader, Bro. Roseman, asked if we could go to an Ole Miss game. We were like that would be sweet! but we didn't know. So we call up president, we ask him if we can go to the game? He said ya know what, i have never been to one and i would love to go! He asked if he could take us? We were like of course you can! He then told us, call me back with the details. So we got the details, Sept. 7 at 6:00. We called him back and he said, dang sorry guys i cant make it to that one... but then he said, you guys go ahead! We went cray cray! He is letting us go to an Ole Miss game! We went and bought our tickets, we got front row, 40 yard line seats to the first home game that Ole Miss plays! They are playing South East Missouri State but still it is going to be sweet! Missionaries going to a football game! yeeehaaa! who can say they did that on their mission! And then the next day we got interviewed by the paper! Crazy week we are pretty much famous! 

So yeah we are pretty excited to go to the game this upcoming week! This week we set up the apartment for the sisters, and guess what! of course they get a flippin nice apartment! Ours is such a dump! But we were nice and put all their beds together and things so we were nice about it. 

Spiritual: If you look in Moses, idk what chapter but it talks about Adam and Eve. It says that Adam and Eve lived 130 years before they had kids... Then for 800 years they had kids, and then died at age 930. Wow that is old. I thought, "How many Kids did they have??" so i did some math, took out some variables and i came to the reasonable number. If they had a kid every nine months to the T... Adam and Eve would have had around 983 kids! That is a lot of kids! I bet that made you guys cry it was so spiritual! 

Thanks for the shoes and everything mom i love them!! Thanks for everything! i love you guys and miss you all! i miss everyone, all my friends and everything! Hi to all'ya'all that look at my blog! thanks for the support. Love everyone, love jesus! 

- Elder Nielson 

 

 

 

Bible Bashing

Hey mom, 

Well things have been hard this week to. We were teaching this lady named Timber. We use the Bus system in Oxford so we were riding that and she came up to us and asked us to teach her. So we arranged to meet her at a coffee shop that is on the Oxford Square. We met her there, as soon as we sat down she had all these questions cause she knew her bible really well. She was asking all these questions like you aren't supposed to add to the bible and all of these bible bashing questions. And I was sitting there just stumped. I realized hard core this week that I do not know my bible very well at all. It made me feel worthless cause I didn't even know how to answer it. I know why, but I cant find the scriptures to back me up. So just thinking I should have paid attention all those years in classes. But I hope as I keep studying that things will become better. 

I am glad things are going well there. Brynlee's hair is gone? dang I bet it looks good! picture? hey thanks so much for the khakis and the tie! I love them! the tie is so sweet and everyone is jealous! which is good! yesterday we ate a habanero pepper! it was so flippin hott!! we almost died! but then my companion rubbed his eyes and it got in his eyes! haha sucker! 

Anyways i love and miss you all! Thanks so much mom you are the best! I am so thankful for all you do! thanks for getting me everything I ask for! love you! love the babies! miss ya dad and ashton! love jesus. 

                  -Elder Nielson xoxoxox 

                               Way to go Brayden, teaching everyone!

 

                                               Ole Miss stadium

                                                      Yuck.....

The 22 Mile Bike ride for a steak

HELLO!

Well that was a journey through that letter! haha. I am glad you guys got to go camping and have a fun time! i miss the babies like crazy! How do they like the jerseys? i loved those jerseys so i had to buy them so they could remember me! Yeah all that lady said is correct in arkansas... but mississippi, is worse. haha. No but the college town that i am living in is so awesome! like i want to live here it is so nice and so green! i have never in my life seen so much trees and vines growing on the trees in my life! It is insane! so many trees! so many black people! and so hot! and so humid ! it stinks really bad, i want it to get cold! but yeah. I want you to look up this scripture... JOHN 14:27 it is a really good one. 

Story of the week: This week was one of the hardest weeks ever, we had nothing going on. Lots of our appointments dropped, and we had to do a lot of finding. We did exchanges and that screws everything up. I was in charge of the Oxford area with a companion from another area. it was a big job. So this week is hard. In a couple weeks, we get sister missionaries which is gonna stink. They will be in our area and we will have to share the car, meals, members and everything with them. I just hope they arent weirdos too haha. But anyways the one good thing of this week was on friday... One of our investigators made a bet with us. Their names are the Griffens,they are a wicked sweet family! He said if we will bike to his house from the church he will make us an amazing steak dinner. Well the trick is... it is a 22 mile bike ride to his house in the middle of no where!! so we took on the challenge and headed out that day. We needed to get there at 5. one hour and fifteen minutes in we have ridin 12 miles, it is 430. IT was the hardest bike ride ever. i was so tired, it was so hott that day and so humid! sweat was everywhere sweat shouldnt be! it blew. But he said get in the car, since you rode 12 miles i will still feed ya! and we were so excited! it was one of the most delicious meals ive had since ive been here, i still dont know if it was worth it. But anyways, id like to send a challenge to ya'all that are reading this here story. Ezra taft Benson said that the sin that we would all be guilty of as mormons or of any religion would be the sin of ingratitude. I heard this and i was like crap! this is so true. We take a lot of things for granted and dont say thanks. So this week, take one of your prayers, and say nothing but thanks in this prayer. Nothing! make it a meaningful prayer, think hard on what your thankful for. You will realize that you are so blessed in your life. And then say thanks to the man upstairs! Be good everyone, love Jesus, and stay classy San Diego! Also here is an awesome scripture to look up, JOHN 14:27

 

Thanks mom for all you do! Thanks for the packages, and i know i will like the pants you got me. LOVE ALL YA'ALL!!!

Peace be unto you. Love Jesus. Love ELDER NIELSON