September 14, 2015
This week was rough! Tuesday we had a really good Zone
Conference in Caguas that lasted all day. There were a lot of good talks and
lessons and Sister Boucher is such a good cook. She cooked for all of us and it
was amazing. President Boucher gave a really good lesson/talk. After the
conference, most everybody has like a 15 minute interview with President and
that was actually pretty cool. He's a great guy and is really concerned for the
mission and how his missionaries are doing. So that was Tuesday. Not much
happened.
Wednesday, Elder Borries and Beecroft woke up sick. We got
like halfway through companionship study and Borries like fell over so I told
him to go to bed. He slept for like the next 7 hours until I woke him up for
Branch Correlation meeting and a lesson. And then he still sounded super sick.
So we came home and he slept some more and that basically takes us to the next
morning. Not much going on.
Thursday, Borries again woke up sick. But it sucked for him
because Thursday was his one year mark, as well as Elder Beecroft's (who was
still sick as well). So they tried to do studies, but ended up both going back
to bed. They sounded horrible. So both days now, I was stuck in the study room
with really nothing to do. So I began to read Our Heritage, and I finished that
in those 2 days that I was stuck inside because of the sick Elder Borries. It's
such a good book. I would recommend it to anyone. It's amazing that I could
feel the spirit on nearly every page I read. There was always something new to
learn and always good reminders of the restoration of the gospel and the
process of the pioneers coming across the plains and all that. It was so good.
So Thursday after I finished Our Heritage, I started to read Our Search for
Happiness by M. Russell Ballard. For anyone who doesn't know, it's basically
written so that anyone who reads it can gain an understanding of the things we
believe in. And it's also a great book. I haven't finished yet, but it's good.
Entonces, tambien on Thursday Borries and I went out and got a huge calzone to
celebrate one year and tried to do some work but he just couldn't physically
handle it. So another rough day.
Friday he woke up and was feeling better, thank goodness. So
we went and did some service. We painted a house. But it was kind of
interesting because painting their cement houses is a huge thing here in Puerto
Rico. But you have to scrape off the old paint before you paint over it. And
that is a big pain. So we were scraping and after like 2 hours of scraping the
owners of the house just said forget it, so we started painting over it all. If
anybody questions it, it was their decision haha. So we did that and then we
went out and had like 2 lessons and then went to the Youth activity that night.
It was outside, at like 30 minutes into it, it began to rain super hard and
there was thunder and lightning. But we just stayed out in the rain and
continued to play the games and stuff.
Saturday, we had a branch activity which was actually really
fun. It was a BBQ and there were lots of games and stuff and a kiddy pool for the
kids (obviously the kids since it's a kiddy pool). But anyways, at like 1:30 it
started to pour and there was super loud thunder and a lot of lightning. So we
basically just all sat under the pavilion and talked and had a good time with
some of the investigators and less actives that were there. It was a fun
activity. And it continued to be super stormy for the rest of the day, which
was a downer.
Sunday was our best day of the week. We had a really good
church meeting with some good talks and lessons. And we had 2 less actives
there. After church, we took the sacrament to Hermano Bidro who is an amputee
and has some other handicaps so he can't get to church easily. Then we went
over to Jeila and Angel (Jeila is recently reactivated and her husband is in
the process) and we just had a really good time with them. We talked and talked
about our families and stuff and then at random points, Angel would ask super
random gospel questions. This was actually really cool because it kinda proved
to me that he's really interested in coming back to church. So we were able to
answer some of them, but we were able to set up a time to come back and teach
him more about the questions. He only went to church like 4 times after he got
baptized like 7 years ago, so he doesn't know or remember much. So it'll be
cool to teach him everything over again with his wife. They're just such cool
and funny people. That was the best part about our Sunday.
So we had a pretty slow week, but even though it was slow,
my testimony has been strengthened so much. By reading those two books, I have
not only come to a better understanding about the history of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but my testimony has grown as well. The Holy
Ghost has testified to me that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. That through
him, the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored and we now have the fullness of
the gospel on the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and
that if we read it, we can come to a knowledge of all things, as Moroni
prophesied in Moroni 10:5. I know that that is true. I know that we all have a
loving Heavenly Father who watches out for us and knows of all the stress and
trials and good things in our lives. He has our best interests in mind, and
often will do things or even put people in our lives who can help us to come
closer to Him and overcome the trials in our lives. I have seen that in my
mission, that often people are placed in our lives or the lives of other people
so that we or they can be helped, healed, and their lives can be changed. I'm
so thankful for the knowledge I have that this is the true church and that
through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can all put all the bad things in our
lives, sin, trials, sicknesses, behind us. I'm so thankful for that. I know
that this church is true and that it changes lives. It has changed my life.
I love you all! Keep pushing on, there's always someone who
has been through the exact trial you went through and knows exactly how you
feel.
Love,
Elder Nelson
Huge calzone to celebrate Elder Borries one year mark
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