12/28/15

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! This one was great, to
really focus on what matters most.

This week I went to have confrence in Cuiabá! We had to take a bus
there which took about 15 hours! But it was good to finally get there.
We did a lot of things and there was a lot of great times! We traveled
back (by plane this time) back to Alta Floresta with our companions!
We got to show them the area and have some fun on our pday night of 24
and pday of 25. It was pretty great. Im loving it. My new companion is
Elder Dontato from São Paulo Brasil. He is a convert to the church at
22, just a little over a year ago. And he is great. We are enjoying
things here a lot and its going great.

One thing our mission president talked to us about it presents. There
are presents, real presents, that we recieve every day from God.
Blessings, happiness, His love, and so much. But whats important this
time of year is what we can give Him. There are things that we can
give Him. Maybe its something that we will give up that will make us
in His will more. Maybe its something that we will do more that will
be obeying Him more. Its important that we can make these goals this
time of year and we can always learn more and arrive closer and closer
to Him. And how great will be our joy. Everyone have a great new year!

-Elder Nelson

12/21/15

We are preparing for christmas by teaching everyone what it is really
all about. In Brasil, everyone believes in God but very few actually
know who He is. So it is an amazing opportunity to teach them that God
is our Heavenly Father, who created our spirits. He wants us to
progress even more so He created this plan for us and sent us here. He
loves us so much He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to suffer for us so we
can return to Him, even better. And we have His church once again on
the earth, preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

We will travel by plane to Cuiabá today to have a Christmas Conference
tomorrow. We then will return with our companions Wednesday. So we are
excited for this week. It should be pretty good.

I hope everyone will have a great Christmas and remember and give time
to Him who saved us all.

-Elder Nelson

12/14/15

It was a little crazy this week with the whole city and just us two.
But we found a way and made it work. It was great to meet new people
this week. And it was awesome to work the other half of the city.

So there isnt much priesthood holders in our branch. Basically, it is
just our branch president. And he will travel for a month starting
next sunday. So Elder Bodily and I have the opportunity to run the
branch until he returns. It should be pretty interesting. But we are
excited.

I had the opportunity to give a talk in church this past sunday and i
gave it on Jesus Christ and the Atonement. I talked about how the
prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon said we should seek to obtain a
perfect knowledge in Christ and in His atonement. So i talked about
His atonement. It is something that most people know about but not
much about. What does it mean? Why the big sacrifice? How does it
work? These are some questions to think about. And i invite everyone
to think about them especially during this special season where we
celebrate this Prince of Peace and Mighty Counselor, Jesus Christ. He
was born, He suffered for us, He died on the cross, He he ressurected
himself. All so we can have joy.

Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Nelson

12/7/15

Well President Oliveira came to visit our city this week! He arrived
and he began to tell us our transfer. So the other companionship in
the city will be leaving and it will leave Elder Bodily and I to work
in the city for three weeks. Elder Bodily, my companion, recieved the
position of district leader and i recieved the position of senior
companion. After three weeks, at the Christmas Confrence, we will pick
up our companions. Which are pretty new, with only 2 transfers each.
So it should be a pretty fun transfer, we are pretty excited.

We worked with a lot of people this week and met a lot of people on
the road. We are searching for those who are seeking the truth. But
for now, it is a little difficult. But we wont give up we will keep on
searching. This week was great, it was really spiritual and amazing.
We are seeing the church come up and we are seeing a lot of potencial
in people. The church is being restored and people are being brought
back to the truth, I know it. I hope everyone has a good week! Us
three for three weeks!

-Elder Nelson

11/30/15

We are visiting and meeting a lot of new people. We are working and
working and working ha. We are trying to prepare for the building that
we will have here soon. We want to fill it. We want to help as many
people as we can. Our time is short here, so we got to take advantage.

It is hard to get people to realize how important going to church
really is. We are having a lot of struggles with this, my companion
and I. Many people in the world think that we just need to remember
God every once and a while in our lives. We just need to believe in
Him. But I promise you thats not it. Faith is an amazing word. Because
in it exists two words: believing and acting. Just like it says in
James 2:20, "Faith without works is dead." So we need to act on our
beliefs. We need to go to church to feed our faith. We need the
blessings that come from going to church. And if we go to church we
will see this in action.

When I think about Christmas coming up here I get excited. Lights
going up, trees getting decorated, stores putting up promotions, and
everyone just excited. Its a beautiful time of the year. But whats
even more beautiful is when we remember what its really all about.
There was a baby born more than two thousand years ago. He was born a
person just like you and me with challenges, pain, trials, and
temptations, but He was born with a purpose, a purpose greater than
any purpose that ever existed, He was to save the world. I hope that
we can all remember Him, Jesus Christ, this Christmas season. And I
hope we can learn just a little bit more about what He did and how it
applies to our lives personally. This video is amazing and all of you
should check it out. christmas.mormon.org

Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Nelson

11/23/15

The construction workers arrived to begin the construction of the new
house that we will use as a church. They will start now and it should
be ready to use before Christmas. It is really exciting. Everyone is
really excited and we are making a lot of plans to prepare to actually
have our own building here. It is nothing but excitement here for the
members.

On the side of investigators, we have been looking for new people. We
noticed that the further in our area we go, the more easier it is to
find people. So we went to the furthest part in our area that we could
find, 2 hours away walking, and we began to meet people. We met a lot
of awesome people and families and we are planning to go there a lot.
It has been really awesome to find new people. So we will begin and
see where this will lead us.

We have been teaching a lot the Plan of Salvation. And we have been
using a lot of the life of Jesus Christ to show it. Before he died on
the cross he told the man next to Him that they would be in paradise
that very day. And three days later He appeard as a ressurected person
to Mary and told her that He hasnt yet appeared to His Father. And we
read in Peter that he taught the dead in prison. So where is this
paradise and prison? We know that is the Spirit World where we wait
for the ressurecton, where we can still learn about the gospel and get
the chance to come closer to Christ even more. We know the Plan of God
is completely just. And we all have the opportunity to return to Him,
And to live in HIs presence with our families for eternity.

Everyone have a great thanksgiving! And remember to thank God for His
plan for you! Have a great week!

-Elder Nelson