Meet Martin!

 spiders and bugs!

 lonely random houses in the jungle

Letter #22

Hey family! Glad to hear about your week and that everything is well! I am always praying for your well being, and so i know that through our faith and diligence, we will be blessed!

This week has gone by so fast...this change has gone by so fast! We only have two more weeks until transfers! Holy cow! That is crazy! The mission just flies by! Tomorrow i am going to have 5 months in the mission! Can you believe that? That, is a ton of time but it feels like nothing! I am kind of scared to see the changes of things when i head home, but luckily i dont have to worry about that for a long time! I am greatful for that! Well, the work here is great, we had four investigators in church this sunday, which was the best in the zone i am glad to say! They are progressing great and we hope to have them become members of our branch soon, if all the paperwork for marriages goes correctly! We are going to spend a lot of time this week tracting, i am needing to refresh my pool of investigators for when i have my new companion, so we will be on our feet a lot this week! Wish us luck! 

My comp is great, he really has changed a ton, and so have i. I am very greatful for this change and the opportunity to grow more and more every day of the mission. We had the assistants come and join us for a day of divisions, and they were very pleased with my progress with the language and my teachings. They said as of now i am the best of my group of missionaries, but i am sure they say that to all of the missioanries. But i was pleased to hear that i am doing well! 

To answwer your question that you put in red, no, i havent visited them, (the village he found after following the extension chord into the jungle) one thing that we need to do as missionaries is see who can progress and who cant, and i am sure there is not a single person in that village that even know what the word "casarse" means. So, we are spending more time in finding families that in reality can progress. But if all fails, i have a backup plan! 

And yeah, i always steal the pamphlets (Jehovah Witness), its pretty cool how bold i get to be as a missionary, i enjoy it a little too much, but as a representative of the lord, i do what i can to teach and help the people! 

Well, I guess i dont have too much more to write about this week, i gave a talk this sunday in sacrament meeting, and it was cool. They finally had elections of all the provinces here, and so there arent any more crazy campaigns! We can finally sleep without music blaring and people shouting!! Yay!! haha, the people of ecuador are crazy! i love them! 

Well, i hope you guys all have a great week! I love you all tons and l¡think and pray for you often! Have a great week in work, school, and home!

Love,

Elder Nielson

More photos from Letter #21

 I want this pick up bad!!!

the food here is good and we have a member who washes our clothers with a washing machine, so its all good! 

Monday the girls didn't have school because of President's Day.  We had several items on our "to do" list...one being a photo shoot.   As we were ticking things off our list, the day slipped away.  Bret came home and needed to check cows.  We decided to combine the two...a photo shoot while checking cows.  Here are the results:

I guess it didn't really turn into a photo shoot...but we had fun checking cows that night.  Erin is the official tackler...she chases after the new baby and holds 'em down while Bret and Jillian tag them.  Lizzie was there, but she was in charge of keeping Jimmer under control.  We had 3 new babies on Monday night!!!  

Kurt's companion is Elder Castenada from Columbia.  

Letter #21 from Elder Nielson

Yeah! I am so glad to hear that thear is more rain! Good for you guys! 

Well, this week has been good, i have grown a ton, and i can tell i am being tested in patience haha! We have focused hard on three different families this week, and we basically had them locked in to get in the water the next week! Things were great, they were progressing, and all was well! But when sunday rolled around and we passed by each of their houses, we found, to our suprise, that all three of the families moved out the night before! What?? in one of the families the husband got drunk and got with a bunch of girls and left to live in a different city, and so now the wife is living with her mom in a different sector, and the other two families up and left too! Haha what in the world!! People sure are crazy here in ecuador! I am in awe in the ability they have to pack up all their stuff and move out in about 30 hours! That, is impressive! so yeah, we wiped the slate clean this sunday and are starting all over! We contacted all day sunday in the heat, and we found a great family and a great girl! The  family their is four with one kid that can be baptized, they have a daughter and she has 5 years and also down syndrome. The párents arent married, but its easier to marry them here then in santo domingo, so theyll progress fastly here! We also found an 18 year old girl that let us talk to her and she commited to baptism too, so if she follows rightly we will be looking pretty good here! I am greatful that the lord puts trials in our paths, and i am greatful for this trial! Believe it or not, i took on this trial with patience and understanding, and the lord has blessed me! What a wonderful opportunity i have to see the hand of the lord every day of my life! I wouldnt trade it for the world! I am growing so much every day, and am changing into the missionary the lord needs me to be. 

This change has gone by so fast! We are already in week four! I cant believe how fast the mission goes by! It is crazy! 

How is brody doing? Is he really home? Tell him hi for me please! 

Well, our house is something else...haha its horrible! But, we are moving into a way nice apartment in the next pday, so all is well their! We have to sleep with blankets, even with the heat, because the bugs like to bite pretty hard! But its all good!

I will probobly recieve your package this week because president ghent is coming for a zone conference we will have, so ill get all the mail then! We had a valentines day party in the ward this week, i totally forget that it was this week until the party and also from the letters i got from you guys haha! 

Something that i would like everyone to do:

Please write me sunday night so i can check my email in the morning, its a lot easier that way! Please and Thanks! 

Well, I dont have much more to let you guys know about, so ill let you go this week! I love you all tons!

Elder Nielson

Also, i went on divisions with Elder NELSON this week, he is my zl here and we had a ton of fun! we got to cross a river in a bus on a barge, and messed around and stuff! He lives in las vegas, and currently Elder Boster lives in his house with his dad! How cool??

 Converting Pigs and Turkeys!

President and Sister Ghent

 he birds here are many and beautiful, and here is my biggest enemy, the catholic church, and how i am going to defeat it!

 My Sector! Literally behind me is jungle for thousands of miles!

Letter #20

hey fam! How are you all doing this week? I am great! this week has been great! 

i really enjoy my sector, the people are nice, they have a bit more money then the people in santo domingo, and its just great! I abosutely am loving the work now! I love my calling to be a missionary and see the changes in the lives of the people hear! how great it is to be a missionary! 

Well my comp is from bogota, the capital of the drugs, he has been a member for four years no more! He doesnt know much doctrine, but he really has a strong testimony, and when i guide him, he is really a great missionary! I love this opportunity i am given to change him! He has told me the difference i have made in his life in only two weeks! I am very greatful for the strength the lord has given me the complete his work. After all, i am only a body sent here to be a connector rod for the people to feel the spirit through! It is so true that it is the spirit that converts, not the teacher! it is amazing to see the people feel the spirit through me and my companion! 

President Ghent and his wife surpise visited our branch this sunday!! It was so cool to talk with them! I abosultey loved it! sister ghent talked to me for a bit and thanked me for my work with elder castañeda, she brought me cookies, and they were delicious! talk about absolutely wonderful!! They were american cookies too, and so i was in heaven! She told me that i was glowing with the love of the lord, and so i feel very greatful for the strength the lord hasgiven me to complete my work here as a missionary! I know that only through him do i have the power and authority that i have! The best part is that i have two years to enjoy and use this power! I really am so greatful for this sector and my companion, because i have grown so much in two weeks. So much! And i will continue to do so every day as i strengthen my faith in the lord! I abosulety love studying!! Have i told you that? I decided i am going to read the new testament this month, and so i am about to finish matthew. How wonderful and spiritully filled the bible is! I love to read of the miracle of the lord! And also how he chose his disciples. Not the rich and powerful kings, not the smart business owners, but the humble fishermen. That, is what i am. a simple fisher. BUT, like the apostoles, i have a wonderful calling to further the work of the lord. wow!! I love it here!!=)

Well, to prove the fact that yes, i am literally in the jungle, i have an awesome story! this wednesday my comp and i were contacting without success, and so we headed to a different part of our sector, closer to the jungle, and i found an electric cord plugged in to an electricity socket, and the cord lead out into the jungle. And so i took my comp and we headed out to find where this cord went. After ten minutes walking through jungle, i came out to a clearing, and there was a straight up village! It looked to house about 20 people, and they use this one electric cord to have their power, how cool! I didnt bring my camera this day, and no one was home in the village, and so we didnt do any contacting, but how cool! 

Also this week we found a new family that had taken the discussions from some missionaries in the past, and so they invited us in to listen, and the wife told me how they had problems in their family, big problems like abuse, drugs, and cheating. and so i basically let them have it hard on the law of chastity. I told them that the only way you will ever see hapiness in your lives is if you either marry each other, or separate. you are breaking the law of god, and he will punish you if you continue. Stop and change now, and god will bless you with what you are looking for in this life. It is so true! Only what they need to do is obey god! Then they will have hapiness! Hapiness comes through obediance and NOTHING else! That is what i have learned this week more then anything else. OBEDIANCE is the key to hapiness in this life! 

What else can i tell you about? well, the volcano is about an hour and a half away from me, its in my zone, but i didnt get to see it because the wind was blowing the ash the opposite dirrection. We heard it and saw it through the camera of an elder in our zone, but nothing more. I am dissapointed i didnt see it! There are tons of volcanoes here in ecuador actually! 

Well, this is about all i have for you this week! Thanks for the updates! Stay strong and obediant, and the lord will bless you!

Love you all! 

Bye! 

Photos--Letter #19

 this is cook and ridd and i in santo domingo, we are doing the prophets pose haha! 

i bought a pair of sunglasses for 12 bucks here, they cost about 100 in the states! 

did i mention our house sucks horribly? we dont have water like, two days of the week, but its all good! Its just a place to rest my eyes and sleep for a bit just to conitnue the work, so its all good! 

 did i mention that i get to baptize in a river?=) 

Letter #19

hi family!

How are you all doing this week?
This week has been actually a way cool week! Usually the first week of changes is tough and difficult to adjust, and it was hard, but i am doing great now!

The week started out with a long 8 hour bus trip to here, tena, and that was a long horrible trip! Those horror stories you here of missionaries all alone in a bus with all the children on your lap sick to your stomach, yeah, that was me haha! But i made it to tena safely, my comp and the district picked me up, and all is great! It is soooo hot! the humidity is something that is hard to conquer, but really the sector is great! I like it more then santo domingo! the terrain is the same with a ton more trees and animals, and ill wright more about it in my letter that ill send officially later this day, we are here in puno with the zone and we are going to play soccor, so this is just a little preview! haha, well, i am going to head out, i will send you all a letter this afternoon!

Love you!  

ok, i am here to write for good!

well, where to start, i have way too much to write! 

Well, my compa is named elder casteñeda, he is from columbia, and is a great guy! He is way shy, and yeah, from what i had heard lazy and disobedient! But he told me today that he had heard of my reputation of working, and so he told me too that he was scared of me, and is going to be obedient like me this change! How great is that? I love it! In the district they call me "cahone" which is translated to something like overly hardworking and obedient! How cool is that? He has told me a couple times that i am working him too hard, and i can tell i am, so i am giving him 3 minute breaks every once in a while, becuase it is way tough to continually walk in this heat! he has 16 months in the mission, and so i am the companion oowith less experiance, but i lead everything, becuase he is too shy to do anything, but its way good for me! I love it! I have grown so much this week! I can feel the spirit when i teach so strong, and i dont allow people to tell me no, i absolutely love it! we are having a ton of success and i am expecting baptims soon in this change! in santo domingo there was a ton of testigos de johova, (i cant remeber the translation, its a church with missionaries too) and so i know how to machate them like crazy, but now the catholic church is big here, so i am ready for them! All i have to do to get them to fall is read the bible! haha, we are visiting all of the past investigators of elder castañeda, because he says i am way powerful and tells the investigatores that they need to listen to me because i am a man of god. Yeah, he kind of idolizes me right now, but im sure thatll change in a bit haha. He is really a good guy, and i put him to work, and so we do get along really well! He doesnt know our sector, and so we have to spend like 30 minutes looking for our mamitas for lunch, but the food is good, and i really enjoy this sector! so its all good!

Well, yeah, a little more about my sector: well, it reminds me exactly of santo domingo, it has all dirt roads, the people are basically friendly too, and so all is well! It is a different kind of heat here, more humid then anything! The sun is a little tough too! but what is way cool is the people here have more money then the people in santo domingo, the houses are a little nicer, some people even have cars! All have tvs, and it is way cool! Elder Casteñada tells me every day how this is the poorest sector he has been in, and so i am pretty sure santo domingo was about the trashiest part of ecuador haha. I never told you guys while i was in santo domingo, but my sector there is in what has been dubbed by the ecuador national news the most dangerous part of ecuador haha! Isnt it amazing how the lord can protect us if we are obedient? once i am home i am going to share some very strong experiances with the spirit that i had that protected me from tons of danger there!

also, there are tons of gringos here!! this town of tena is where everyone buys all their stuff to head into the jungle, and so the prices are unfortunetly jacked sky high. so i might be using more of my money from home to live here, we will see! i found a way to withdraw money here, so that is great! 

Well, we have a branch here in tena, its a house chapel, and there are about 50 members, and so that is way tough to convince people to go to church in something like this when there is a three story catholic church two roads down. but i can do it! 

Also, the guys in my district are way cool! There are six of us in tena, and four live together, and elder castañeda and i live together alone. But we do sleepovers sometimes, and always wrestle! Haha, once again, they are all scared of me because i just slaughter them all! It is the funniest thing ever! I take on three of them, and it is hilarious! We have fun! 

well, i have a ton more to talk about, but no time! So ill send pics from leaving santo domingo and here as well! 

I love you all tons! Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Kurtis Nielson