Harare Time
May 8, 2012
So this week has been good for the most part. Umm had 9 at
church again will finally have a baptism this week woo its about time. Umm have
really been successful in the area have been reaching the mission goals. Umm the
lessons are still in a majority of shona so I don’t teach as much as I would in
my last area. Umm the food in the area is nasty, they grind their own sadza
which means that there are pieces of rock and what not in it. And I can usually
eat a lot even if it taste bad, but here im not able to do it just because of
the taste. did service this week for brother toitae moved dirt for him
so he can begin to make bricks. Ya they make their bricks out of mud how crazy
is that. It funny we will be at a house and you brush against the wall and half
of the wall falls apart…. Yikes. Umm got letters from dad, ggn, payton, and
terrie face. Still in the process of writing back. Oh ya I drove
for the first time on mission. Woo driving on the opposite side of the road is
weird. But come to find out im still pretty good at driving stick. I even might
get to drive president dubes truck woo. Moving up in the world!!! Umm money here
is nuts the church is having problems getting us our money on time so it makes
it difficult to buy food. We have to come home from the area early to buy food
to survive. Also yesterday Monday was our zone conference, Carl B.Cook of the 70
came and spoke to use. So that is why I am emailing today. Umm it was powerful
the spirit was so strong. Ummm that is about it for the week. Oh ya we are also
still looking for the right goat!!! Miss you and love you.
Love elder nellesen
April 30, 2012
Well another week down…. So last Monday I bought a sweet Scooby doo tie I just
couldn’t resist. Finally paid for my package from customs. Umm it was an alright
day nothing really cool happened….. Tuesday we had district meeting as usual.
After that talked to president james about our area….. ya there is a lot of work
to be done there, but I guess that is why I am there. Pretty sure I had typhoid
we went to the area for like an hour and I almost died!!! But its all good now
still alive and kickin. I can say I puked on the streets of Zimbabwe. Its is
known as my day….. Wednesday was an alright of a day still felt a little sick.
Oh how I miss my mommy when im sick. My district leader just sent me a text
saying he loves nuts…. Odd right. Thursday, what a waste of a day didn’t even go
to our area were stuck doing a service project that we got in trouble for. Also
tried to make german pancakes and our oven doesn’t even work then tried to make
crepes and the pan is lumpy so it didn’t work booo!!!! Friday ummm don’t
remember Friday but something cool happened today just don’t know what.
Saturday, the guy we work with kid almost got hit by a car today!!! Luckily he
didn’t get hit, but he fell and hit the tar and has a giant goose egg. Sunday I passed the sacrament for the
first time in like 3 years yikes. President james came to speak at sacrament
trying to resolve our branches issues. Didn’t know
that man could give fire like that. Umm I also taught the youth today and taught
them how to play hangman. Had 9 people at church, which is really good from the
time before. So im hoping I will get a son next transfer. So we get home and we
have no keys so we try to squeeze through the window well it didn’t work out to
well both of us are to big. Especially me. So we hung out in the chapel for like
two hours waiting for the aps to get home. So ya that was my week.
Elder Miller attempting to break in....
April 23, 2012
well another week down.... only 3 more quarters to go. this week has been
good different but good. so harare is so fast. im not use to things being fast.
i miss things being slow. as for my area it is insane domboshawa is in the
middle of no where. the people dont speak english and they live in grass huts.
as for teaching lessons... i basically dont we have a member teach because we
cannot speak the language so im questioning why i am in this area if i dont even
get to teach... the branch is seperated into two groups. there is a power hungry
member who is trying to take control of the branch so sides ahve formed. umm in
the area there is a farm where invader live and i guess im not allowed to go
there because im white, people often think that im a spy.... i
dont know why. but oh well. umm got sick this week have the flu.... again. and i
have a package stuck in customs. ummm the winters here are so
cold. not idaho cold but a different kind of cold. finally had to break out my
long sleeved shirts. ummm my area is huge. bigger than idaho falls probably. and
i have to walk eveywhere. to get to my area i have to ride in a convey for an
hour!!! so a convey is basically a van that they stick 20 people into.
absolutely terrible especially when you get stuck between to mommas. we are planning on killing a goat so that should be fun. my companion
has never killed anything before. oh we taught the sermon on the mount. it was
pretty neat. umm ya love you
April 16, 2012
so weekly letter i guess.ummm this week has been good i forgot my journal so
cant go into much detail. umm i got transferred to harare. so i left my birth
place where i have been living for the past six months for a wonderful life in
the transfer house. my new companion is elder miller he is a party. from
vermont. will tell you more about him later as the transfer goes on. now i live
in the city but my area where i serve is in the rurals.... they dont have
electricity or even toilets.... now this truly is an african mission. in the
transfer house i get to live with the assistants to the president, so i get to
live with elder boone. (Elder Boone is from Idaho Falls as well, his brother in law is Elder Nellesen's Mom and Dad's home teacher) ummm i work in domboshawa (probably spelt it wrong) i got
a letter from gpa and nard this week. and also got my easter package woooo. ummm
so went to take money out today and guess what the whole mission doesnt have any
money..... so we hope we will get it tomorrow. i hope... umm less than 18 months
now and i get to call home in a month!!!! wooo. ummm it was hard to leave nketa,
there were so many great families there especially the dube family and maisiri
family. went the whole transfer with only one baptism, and now they will be
baptising 5. which is good cuz the area has been struggling. i have reflected
back on why i am with each companion. but i cnat tell you why just yet. i will
send it at the very end of my mission. i really have alot of pictures that need
to be sent home but microsoft office isnt working... so i can only send a few
sorry but they are there i promise. loving things here in africa but miss home
so bad. but its all good. so as for now i am senior companion.weird huh who
would ever put me in leadership yikes. ummm ya i dunno what to say not alot this
week sorry sorry. love you alll!!!!!
April 9, 2012
So
this week has been pretty interesting. So first off we celebrated natashas
4th birthday. So
that is what we did Monday night, we then get a call from our zone leaders
telling us to pack our bags, that we are moving!!! Now im still in my first area
but my third house. So Tuesday we finally move and this place is nice has tile
and carpet and has two bathrooms with showers. I feel like im on vacation. I
wake up in a hotel everyday now. Makes mission a lot easier. But when we moved
we didn’t have anything to cook with so we went and stole from the other elders
that we lived with. I stole two paintings that night. I felt like a robber off
the game of sims. So after that we came home and tried to figure
out why our fridge wasn’t working so we pull it out and its not even plugged in.
what we thought was plugged in was and extension cord with live wires on the
other end so I pick it up and tell my companion to unplug it, but what does he
do he turns it on!! Ya there was a bolt of lightning in our house. I almost
died!!! On mission I tend to escape death a lot.my luck is going to run out.
Well on Wednesday nothing really happened just a normal day in Africa. On
Thursday I woke up and it was literally a hotel. The owner of the house came and
cleaned it and I mean deep cleaned it and she brought us a cake. Yummy. Received
some bad news today about a recent convert she has a tumor….. not good, I
almost started to cry…. We made her dinner that night, which made us late for
curfew and to make it even worse our zone leaders were at our house waiting for
us. Also on this day, we were teaching an investigator and they asked us if we
could buy them a loaf of bread…. Now on mission we are not allowed to do that.
So we had to say no, that broke me…. So Friday again nothing to special. But
that family that asked for bread well we decided that we had to. So we did. Its
sad to think that some people really don’t know where there next meal is coming
from. Saturday….. I woke up sick L, but we
had a baptism. We have a huge hole in our font though, so they called us and me
being a genius fixed it. Good thing I went to tech. I learned something there.
Oh and sanso ncube was baptized or so we thought…. Sunday happy easter…. Not.
So sanso was confirmed today but after
that we were in class and were introducing our selves and sanso said some weird
name. so me and the branch mission leader just stare at each other. We baptized
and confirmed a kid by the wrong name……. we have to redo it. Which means
no baptism this entire transfer it looks like we didn’t do anything… oh ya still
sick at this point also. Came home and easter was celebrated without any power,
not even candles…. Now Monday we went and my companion played tennis while I did
my abs, umm than walked to Beverly hills. And shopped now emailing you. So ay
that’s about everything that has happened. Still alive so that’s good. Love
you
Love elder nellesen
March 26, 2012
this week ahh its been rough. ummm president dube came down to speak to us as a
zone than had a one on one interview, it was good. ummm nothing really exciting
this week.... umm officially broke..... we ended the week with 1 dollar..... so
ya have to pull some from personal. but hey almost 1/4 done. time flies. ummm
this week we had a member get scammed by a guy that said they owed a power bill
of 11000 dollars. so they gave him jsut a little bit 1600 and the guy left so
they found out they got scammed and caleld the guy back so he could collect the
rest of his money. well he came and they beat the living tar out of him, like
whips, drunks, batons, rocks, it was gnarly. ummm so i my need bigger clothes,
umm or i need to stop working out. umm i ripped my suit jacket.... sorry mom.
ummm and wore my brace for all of church i thought i was going to die!!!! ummm
no baptisms this week we are planning on next month we ahve alot of families
that are being prepared. ummm everything is going fine. miss home but its all
worth it. loving the mission. me and barlow are making plans for when we go
home. we are writing a book also...... i cant say what it is about but i will
show you the finished product we are going to make millions. muah umm but
having a companion you can relate to is awesome. so miracle,,,, i got my first hot shower this week!!!!!! was so excited
its been almost 6 months!! not cool but i take as many showers as i can now. and
i basically dominate at making crepes still. cant make german pancakes because
they dont have big enough pans here :( but everything is going goo. umm back to
200 pounds so hope i can keep my weight up and my strength and size. me and
barlow are trying to be lean and built when we get home. we do a pushup routine
with a deck of cards we take 22 cards and do how much the value of the card is.
we did like 220 the other day. it sucked. but loved it. need to get ready for
life after mission so good thing i have along time to prepare. love you
love elder nellesen
love elder nellesen
March 19, 2012
weekly letter. so crazy week some of my week consisted of getting invaded by
cochroaches. well can i just say thank you mom for keeping my house clean. i
have become a neat freak. umm this week i
had started my lifting routine. and every monday i go and do my footwork.
finally got back to 200 pounds wooo. just 20 more to go. umm my pants keep
ripping my legs are getting to big. in a good way no cottage cheese for me. umm
we got invited to teach a bible class. so we accepted thinking it would be jsut
a few little kids we show up and its a college. 120 kids. we taught. it was nuts
they loved us. they started to chant we love you brothers we love you brothers.
it was awesome when we come back we are going to have some more fun. taught an
sda and bible bashed well eleder barlow did because i dont know anything about
the bible. ummm its rained ever since elder barlow has arrived which is good but
electricity is terrible now. and things are starting to go crazy today we saw a
riot car going by city hall. ahhhhh. umm we ahve been doing good in lessons. we
teach alot of people on the street. which is funny cuz who does that. ummm
almost got in a fight with a drunk guy...... good thing elder barlow was there.
umm other than that one guy i love the drunks. reminds me of college and they
all love us they offer to buy us cokes. wooot wooot. ummm ya that was about it
for my week. still havent recieved any letterss...... :( booooo. love you
all
love fly
love fly
March12, 2012
weekly report.
crazy week. full of miracles. so first off my new companion is freakin
awesome elder barlow, he is from utah. plays basketball for weber state.umm so
ya he came on monday and made thigns awesome we get along great together. ummm
many miracles the work is going great. we received two refferals from president
dube himself one is an sda whcih sucks they like to bible bash like no other
always aboutt the sabbath too. . so ya thats rough. but its all good almost died
we came home and we wanted to eat but now power but we have a gas stove so the
hose looks like it was connected to the cylinder. but it wasnt so i stated to
open it and elder barlow stops me. some idiot didnt connect the hose and left it
looking like it was connected. we literally almost died. especially since there
was a candle right there as well. so glad the spirit was with him. or i wouldnt
be writing right now. but that was one of the many miracles i have recieved.went
to a lessson on friday and we walk in ask if the guy is there and he isnt so we
are getting ready to leave and a dog comes and starts attacking us. elder barlow
climbs a window and i jsut stand there not knowing what just happened luckily
for me the dog when it was trying to bite my ankle only got my slacks. how
lucky is that. but things are
good me and elder barlow are really clicking, we would have been really good
friends before highschool. im sure we will be after mission as well. so now the
good part we found wsome weights we spent 20 dollars to rent the weights for a
transfer got 2 bars, 2 dumbells, 10x6, 65x2, 25x2, all for 20 bucks that was a
steal so. ya adonis better watch out when i get home. miss you all still
waitnign for letters from everyone.... love elder nellesen
March 5, 2012
how did you know i wasnt transferred?? we were really getting along together. fetch all my companions leave me. not cool i will be stuck here for the rest of my mission!!!!!
Onto something else....
How's Zimbabwe? its alright elections are coming. so there are crazy things
happening. cops everywhere
Is the Weather changing? not yet but soon i hope they brought us more
blankets so i guess its gonna be cold soon.
Tell me about your new companion..... he isnt here yetHow long has he been out? transfer ahead of me
How are your investigators? they are alright not really any progressing right now
How many do you have? have about 20 but focus mainly one 13
Do you have any families? yes that is the new focus about 3 families right
now
Any new food? catapillars!!!!
What's your favorite food there?....if there is one.....? food from
home
man i miss my puppy hope she is there when i get home......
that qwould be sweet to get book of mormon with testimonies. umm as for conference we are going to try and watch it live. which means we wont work for a few days. since we watch it at like 3 in the morning. but i hope we do. just hope i dont fall asleep like i did at home.they wont announce a temple this time hopefully in october. we didnt make it this time :( umm i hope i get to sign a rock that was sweet. love you mom
man i miss my puppy hope she is there when i get home......
that qwould be sweet to get book of mormon with testimonies. umm as for conference we are going to try and watch it live. which means we wont work for a few days. since we watch it at like 3 in the morning. but i hope we do. just hope i dont fall asleep like i did at home.they wont announce a temple this time hopefully in october. we didnt make it this time :( umm i hope i get to sign a rock that was sweet. love you mom
February 20, 2012
(I give up correcting his letters....good luck)
ok ready set go..... so by far the roughest week i have experience
ever!!! so monday we went to fhe at the elder quorum presidents house
and ya i sat in the corner freezing all night it wasnt good, umm so
than as we were about to leave it started to down pour so we had to
ride our bikes home fast. ah wasnt good totally bent my rims on my
bike (must mean i still have my weight so i guess thats good). umm so
that night was miserable didnt sleep at all. woke up in the morning as
sick as could be. called the health people for my area which is elder
and sister james and i was told to stay in bed and rest she checks up
on me like every week because of my mono and all the typhoid and
malaria going around. so i slept all day long it was so nice, felt bad
for my branch missionary though he sat in the house all day doing
nothing. but its all good at least i didnt puke. but we still didnt
have water which sucked. we went 7 days without water.... not healthy
i felt so sick got so dehydrated that my stomache was eating itself.
but its all good now. and im pro at fixing our water filter. woo hoo
good thing i went to montana tech and not carrol. umm wendseday we had
a tracting activity we have one every week in a different area. i
didnt want to go because i was still tired but me being a trooper i
went oh ya. no wimp here. umm thursday... nothing really fun happend
on thursday jsut a regular boring day. umm friday again nothing reall
fun or cool just a regular day. ok so saturday got alot more
interesting. where to begin so there was a wedding in our branch so
all of our branch was gone so we didnt have a male to work with so we
were kinda in a pickle so we called a kid named moses he is going to
alabama on his mission so he worked with us for the day kid is funny.
so that was basically my week, long week but zone conference is coming woot woot.
umm and also finally got my hair cut... by a proffessional this time.
so ya thats all really starting to know my scriptures which is helping
me alot. love you all
February 13, 2012ever!!! so monday we went to fhe at the elder quorum presidents house
and ya i sat in the corner freezing all night it wasnt good, umm so
than as we were about to leave it started to down pour so we had to
ride our bikes home fast. ah wasnt good totally bent my rims on my
bike (must mean i still have my weight so i guess thats good). umm so
that night was miserable didnt sleep at all. woke up in the morning as
sick as could be. called the health people for my area which is elder
and sister james and i was told to stay in bed and rest she checks up
on me like every week because of my mono and all the typhoid and
malaria going around. so i slept all day long it was so nice, felt bad
for my branch missionary though he sat in the house all day doing
nothing. but its all good at least i didnt puke. but we still didnt
have water which sucked. we went 7 days without water.... not healthy
i felt so sick got so dehydrated that my stomache was eating itself.
but its all good now. and im pro at fixing our water filter. woo hoo
good thing i went to montana tech and not carrol. umm wendseday we had
a tracting activity we have one every week in a different area. i
didnt want to go because i was still tired but me being a trooper i
went oh ya. no wimp here. umm thursday... nothing really fun happend
on thursday jsut a regular boring day. umm friday again nothing reall
fun or cool just a regular day. ok so saturday got alot more
interesting. where to begin so there was a wedding in our branch so
all of our branch was gone so we didnt have a male to work with so we
were kinda in a pickle so we called a kid named moses he is going to
alabama on his mission so he worked with us for the day kid is funny.
so that was basically my week, long week but zone conference is coming woot woot.
umm and also finally got my hair cut... by a proffessional this time.
so ya thats all really starting to know my scriptures which is helping
me alot. love you all
To Mom:
I guess I need to start writing you more don't I. Ya mom I know. I will send you letters but if I send letters I will need some more envelopes also so I can send them. (In a normal mission you could just go buy envelopes....you probably can there he just wants me to spend $60 to get them to him :)) Happy to do it!
I can't wait to get a letter from the ward sisters that would be nice and to have them write back and forth.
As for food it's going good, we just try to eat at members houses as much as possible. So it's going good just trying to get my money back that I have spent from personal.... which is $210 so I have some work to do with that.... woops.
As for food it's going good, we just try to eat at members houses as much as possible. So it's going good just trying to get my money back that I have spent from personal.... which is $210 so I have some work to do with that.... woops.
The package you send sounds like a sweet package. Would you also send DVDs? The Testament and The Living Prophet or something like that. Oh and also a gospel art book? It helps when teaching because it's easier to understand. I'm excited for the package Love you mom now have to write my weekly letter.
(here's that weekly letter)
Mom, I have no water it has been four days without any water. ugh..Wait I need to email about Coach Owens. So ya, here it goes. Coach Owens so the first time we met .....
the rest is about Coach Owens who was his inspirational high school football coach. Coach is leaving and returning to California so we asked Dustin to write something for a speech Allen has to give.....
Oh also mom sorry about my letter home I had to write that thing for Owens. I love that guy.
But I baptized on Saturday, with a beard so I have to shave daily now it sucks so bad. But at least it isn't red anymore.
Love you mom have to go now. Will write you a letter soon
Love the FLY
Love the FLY
How can a mother be upset with these incomplete, non descriptive emails? I'm just glad he hasn't changed. He's having a good time and working hard. He's maturing and growing a beard. He's loving the people and the gospel....what more could a mother want....besides a letter. :)
February 6, 2012
To Dad:
1 - So have you been able to get outside of the city and see any of the country side or surrounding areas? No we are not allowed to leave our area unless for a zone activity.
2 - Do you need any money? No I still have some I just need to pay myself back from this last week
3 - What are you eating? Rice and sadza that's about it.
4 - Is there still a typhoid outbreak? No
5 - When do you think you will be going to the Temple? Never, we will never leave our mission
6 - How are your investigators doing? Investigators are good some are doing better than others but thats how it goes
7 - Do you want us to be friends with the people in Zimbabwe on face book? oh sure
8 - Are you eating meat? Yes mostly beef. I try to avoid chicken at all costs unless a member cooks it for me.
9 - What was the most meaning full event this last week? Probably Adonis getting baptized.
2 - Do you need any money? No I still have some I just need to pay myself back from this last week
3 - What are you eating? Rice and sadza that's about it.
4 - Is there still a typhoid outbreak? No
5 - When do you think you will be going to the Temple? Never, we will never leave our mission
6 - How are your investigators doing? Investigators are good some are doing better than others but thats how it goes
7 - Do you want us to be friends with the people in Zimbabwe on face book? oh sure
8 - Are you eating meat? Yes mostly beef. I try to avoid chicken at all costs unless a member cooks it for me.
9 - What was the most meaning full event this last week? Probably Adonis getting baptized.
10 - Do you need most coloring books? Probably a few oh and also some strawberry milk yum :)
February 6, 2012
To Mom:
How are your YW discussions going? Do they just think you guys are cute or are they really interested in what you're saying?
LOL. I think you're cute! They are going really well. The one I baptized on Saturday winked at me on Sunday, ya awkward. But they are powerful. They will be strong in the gospel all we need is to get their fathers baptized.
Tell us about your companion. Is he from Zimbabwe? Are you getting along with him.
Tell us about your companion. Is he from Zimbabwe? Are you getting along with him.
Elder Duwa is awesome he is from Malawi and he is one month ahead of me. We work so well together. I understand why he uses the bible first, because people know the bible and it helps them to understand the book of mormon when we get to it.
Oh we are friends with the Dubes. Is Dube a common name like Smith or Hansen? Are they related to Pres. Dube? They seem like nice young men.
Oh we are friends with the Dubes. Is Dube a common name like Smith or Hansen? Are they related to Pres. Dube? They seem like nice young men.
Dube means zebra. They are awesome. I love them. I gave Simba one of my ties. No they are not related to President Dube.
Mom I really need letters!!!! (so do I) Life gets hard without mail. I wait week after week and nothing. It's depressing. :(
I got a bike oh ya. It's nice my legs hurt so bad though. ugh... but it's better than walking.
I'm so happy that Adonis got baptized .
I love you mom, thank you for everything that you have done for me.
Love Elder Nellesen
so owens is leaving..... i dont even know what to say... breaks my heart to see him go he did such great things there. but its up to him not us so he knows what he is doing is jason going with him also??? umm this week has been hard i havent heard from anyone. i havent gottne mail in like a week. things are good with my companion though. jsut in emails this week wasnt things i wanted to hear. but oh well. but ya things are good. dont send my other scriptures i dont need them any more. i got it all figured out now thank you though. just letters would be nice. love you dad
January 30, 2012
The freezer stays cold, we go with out power very seldom now so everything stays cold and frozen. Finally we can have some beef. so the little boy in the picture i dunno how long they have been members and dunno if he has a dad. most kids dont here. usually one night stands.
We ran out of alotment money, so right now I'm using personal money, because I need to eat. Don't worry and I am going to slowly pay myself back. (we don't care about that....eat!) I'm a big guy, I need food. I have gained weight back it is doing alot better.
As for typhoid there is a breakout in Harare and I don't know if it has gotten here yet. But we aren't allowed to eat anywhere except for our houses. We can only buy soda, we can't buy water because they reuse the bottles. They need some health and safety guidelines here.
Some of my branch missionaries are adding my family on facebook. My companion and I are doing really well together. I talked to Elder Bradshaw today he seems to be doing well.
I finished reading Our Heritage it was really good. I'm starting to read Our Happiness and the New Testament. I have never read so many gospel things in my life, its crazy.
I came home the other night and Elder Mitchell from my MTC group was sitting at my desk. Love the kid. He is now in my zone.
Every Monday I have only 2 hours to email and then we go to a house and eat since we can't eat anywhere other than our homes due to typhoid. Well love you by mum
I'm sorry about not writing a full letter about my week. Our zoneleaders are forcing us to play soccer. But I did see two mommas fight in the middle of the street. It was nutz.
January 23, 2012
Things in Zimbabwe are alright, it's rough. There is an outbreak of typhoid so we can't eat anywhere. The only place we can eat is at home and we don't have enough money for it, we can't even eat at member's houses. I'm dying. ahhhhh.
Transfers were this week, Istayed in my area. Elder Duwa came to be my new companion he has been out for 5 months now.
Elder Nellesen with Elder Duwa from Malawi
The talk of elections came up and it sounds like if they do come up we will be evacuated out of Zimbabwe. but who knows, I guess time will tell.
I will be sending a package home soon. I just have to fill the box. So far I have two sets of horns with carvings on them and 4 scripture bags. I will have to get some more of those and I'm also going to buy some sweet hymn books and some temple shoes. Not a lot this week other than I miss home a lot and I mean a lot. Love you, hope all is well. Oh and i got a package from GGN. I should hopefully get another one today or tomorrow.
January 16, 2012
How are the YW investigators doing? They are doing really well. I wish the preisthood was that good.
What an important age to learn the gospel, this I have learned myself recently. We take so much for granted.
Because they are minors do they need parental permission? Yes, we sit down with the parents and they ahve to sign a paper. Wow maybe you can get more families this way.
You've been in the new house for a while.....compared to the last one how is it on a scale of one to ten rate the old house and rate the new house.
Old House? sucked!!!!!
New House? Nice. Our roof leaks and we have no food or things to cook with.
What an important age to learn the gospel, this I have learned myself recently. We take so much for granted.
Because they are minors do they need parental permission? Yes, we sit down with the parents and they ahve to sign a paper. Wow maybe you can get more families this way.
You've been in the new house for a while.....compared to the last one how is it on a scale of one to ten rate the old house and rate the new house.
Old House? sucked!!!!!
New House? Nice. Our roof leaks and we have no food or things to cook with.
I give out the coloring books and crayons, don't worry although I do keep some for myself the kids love them but they get destroyed fast. ahhh. But its good stuff.
I am going to send a weekly letter because I forget so many things on email. I feel rushed to answer everyone.
(January 9, 2012, from Elder Bradshaw, companion to Elder Nellesen)
Sunday night was an equally incredible experience. We are teaching this one women. She was pretty disinterested the first time we met her. Early this week we had a great comp study about asking inspired questions. We used our question skills with her and the result was finding out that she really wants to have a strong relationship with her mother, but no matter how hard she tries she can't. The Spirit lead the discussion and she committed to baptism. After church on Sunday we taught her the restoration. It was the most amazing experience of my mission. We followed the Spirit. Who knew that every subject and topic in the Restoration lesson applies directly to having better family relationships? We got to the first vision and I looked over at Elder Nellesen. He was in tears. I looked at the sister, she was trying to hide her tears. I was about ready to break up myself. We let it be quiet for a moment. After a minute she asked us, "this is something that is very important to you, isn't it."
We seem to be teaching a big variety of people right now. A very committed young sister in the Branch come for the holiday and referred us to 5-6 young women to teach. We got one family oiut of that and 4 committed young women (the YW organization might double this month). We are really working on finding a few more committed families right now. Pray for us!
January 9, 2012
1 - Did you get to move in to your new apartment? yes finally on Tuesday we did. and its alright. way better than the other house though and no bed bugs wooo
2 - Is the new apartment in an area that has better power distribution and reliability? It's all the same power in all of Zimbabwe, it gets shut off daily
3 - Does the new apartment have a fridge that works? No we don't have a fridge or a stove. We cook on a gas grill every night we don't even have counter tops. We had to steal chairs from our meeting house.
4 - What interesting things did you eat this past week? Well, Oreos that was pretty strange (he must have got our package)
5 - Did you get to have meat for a meal this past week? Yes, one night.
2 - Is the new apartment in an area that has better power distribution and reliability? It's all the same power in all of Zimbabwe, it gets shut off daily
3 - Does the new apartment have a fridge that works? No we don't have a fridge or a stove. We cook on a gas grill every night we don't even have counter tops. We had to steal chairs from our meeting house.
4 - What interesting things did you eat this past week? Well, Oreos that was pretty strange (he must have got our package)
5 - Did you get to have meat for a meal this past week? Yes, one night.
6 - How are things going with finding investigators? Very good. We are teaching alot of sisters right now, if we baptize them all our young women group will double in size!!
7 - Did the missing man ever show back up? Yes, he was back for a week. Crazy story that one. But now he is missing again so I don't know what to think.
8 - Is your new apartment in your area or do you still have to travel a long distance? Yes, it's in our area which is good. Because that km walk was killing me.
9 - Why don't you have bikes to ride? They can't get any that are good they all break after a month.
7 - Did the missing man ever show back up? Yes, he was back for a week. Crazy story that one. But now he is missing again so I don't know what to think.
8 - Is your new apartment in your area or do you still have to travel a long distance? Yes, it's in our area which is good. Because that km walk was killing me.
9 - Why don't you have bikes to ride? They can't get any that are good they all break after a month.
10 - Have you gotten any of the other packages? I got two others, one with my backpack and one with fooodddd. Thank you so much saved my life.
Those kids in the picture was a family that we baptized. Their family fed me the cow stomache. I want to start the addiction class back up, the problem is no one will come forward.
January 7, 2012
HELLO SANDY, (isn't he cute)
So I am so excited for the little dude, (Adonis has decided to get baptized) except they should have given him a date. so make them extend a date to him. It sounds like your going to have a drought. that's not good. I hope we don't have a drought here.
I need your parents email address so I can email them. Sounds rough. Poor grandpa. has to lay face down for that long. Getting old does suck when are you going to start experiencing these things.
Next Adonis should read the New Testament. The Old Testament is confusing like no other. I think the New Testament would be best than he can learn about Jesus Christ.
Did you move? Yes I finally moved. We moved last Tuesday into a empty house we don't even have counter tops. Totally camping right now.
If you moved did the bugs follow? NO THANK GOODNESS I WOULD HAVE DIED
Can you sleep without the biting? yes
And how's that shower? The shower is amazing. Except no hot water. But it reminds me of the high adventure I went on this last summer when I went swimming in the lake. So it brings back good memories.
Is the power problem throughout Zimbabwe or just in certain areas? It's all of zimbabwe. It is crazy
Are you eating better? Yes, the shops are a lot closer now and we can come home to eat.
We're still getting your package together so I'm sorry to say that it won't be there for Zone conference but maybe another one will. Sorry.....takes time and ordering for some of the things you need. It's fine and I got two of them one with my bag and one with candy and drink mix thank you.
The storm you had looked BAD! Is the church tent usable after that? Actually yes some how they fixed it. For now it is standing but not for long and the building that you see is where all the class rooms are.
Have you used the plan of salvation yet? That helped Adonis so much....he can tell you all about the plan because the visuals were so helpful.
Yes, it helps so much. I need about 15 jenga blocks for a lesson for the restoration. Can you include that in the package. And the people in the plan of salvation are white?! (it was all I had)
Yes, it helps so much. I need about 15 jenga blocks for a lesson for the restoration. Can you include that in the package. And the people in the plan of salvation are white?! (it was all I had)
How are your investigators? investigators are good. We are teaching a church group on Tuesday so it should be interesting
Anyone serious? Yes alot of young women, it will double in size.
Even if they aren't one day they might be so never underestimate the power of a seed.
Even if they aren't one day they might be so never underestimate the power of a seed.
Tell me about the Masari family....what does dad do for a living? How many children do they have? etc.
Brother Maisiri is the giant on the left...
The Maisiri family is powerful, the father is a fire fighter he is huge. He gave me a huge hug the other day after he shared his testimony. They have 2 kids at home a girl, Kristine and a boy Rungi. They are awesome. I don't even know what to say but love them they take care of use. I want to pay her to cook for us that would be so nice.. your so lucky that you are going on a cruise I want to go so bad. When I get home?? ok great.
January 2, 2012
Mom,s letter
I read in preach my gospel that our mind is like a stage when something is going on we are focused on that. But when the stage is empty is when our mind begins to wander and that’s when satan comes in and gives us these feelings. I'm glad dad put new tires on MY truck. It needed something. Still don’t like how the wheels lock up when it slides. I bet its really quiet in the house does that suck or what?? Ya I heard you were taken out. Love you mommy
Did you move? Please say yes! No we are hopefully moving today…. But I'm not really counting on it. Although I packed all my things up cuz I thought we were. They are fortifying it right now
What did you eat this week? Actually ate really good. We bought meat so I have had meat almost every night and on new years eve we ate at our mother's house aka the Maisiris. We had chicken and some other nice things
How are your investigators? Investigators are alright. Not a lot of them are serious. I believe a lot of them need to be dropped at least after 3 weeks if they aren’t keeping their commitments
How many do you have now? 21
Any baptisms in the works for this week? No we had a baptism on Wendesday we baptized 3
How's your testimony coming along in another language? Not to good lol.
What language is it that you're trying to learn exactly? I don’t know how to spell it. It’s a tribal thing they speak shona and also nbelli I don’t know how to spell it. But nbelli is what I speak (it's an english speaking mission)
Do you do missionary exchanges? Not yet on wendesday we will
Our missionaries do exchanges....like for overnight even. Yup for 24 hours
How far are the nearest missionaries from you? An hour
How far are you from Harare? (like miles or hours) 7 hours by car
When did you tell us Zone conference was? It should be this next transfer sometime
Dads letter
Utah lost that sucks did they play the buckeyes?? That sucks they should have won a lot of their games this year they just cant finish it seems like. Oh thanks for putting new tires on my truck for me. I appreciate it. What is a vinyl cutter?? And did you see any bucks?? That’s pretty cool how you got put back with the kids you have already taught. (Sunday School Teachers for 13 year olds we had in Primary two years ago) No we were not able to move into our new apartment yet we are suppose to today but I doubt it will happen. I'm not sure about the power. It has two inside toilets. And as for showers I don’t know. And no hot water as of now unless they put a hot water heater in. The windows are all good. I believe today they are fortifying our house so that’s good I guess. Things here are good.
- Are you still battling the bed bugs. How does your companion deal with them? I spray for them like once a week it seems to be better. He doesn’t have any.
- Did you get the other 2 packages? No I guess it takes a while my companion barely got his from like October
- Did you eat anything interesting this past week? No everything was normal. I almost had to eat chicken feet last night though
- Do you need a a dry bag to keep you scriptures in so they stay dry? It wouldn’t hurt mine are about done so I am ordering some more today. So ya that would help
- Did you get the windows in your apartment replaced or at least covered to keep the rain out? No not yet. They aren’t very good about fixing things. Our house is not livable at all. We have cardboard in our windows to try to keep the rain out.
- How is the addiction class coming? We haven’t been doing it we stopped because no one was in town but we are starting it back up. I agree we need it.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Did you track any Tyghee hair over to Zimbabwe? (Tyghee is our family dog who has a severe hair loss problem)
I have found one so far
Do you need new scriptures?
Yes, I am ordering some from South Africa distribution center super cheap only 32 dollars.
We sent a rain jacket with you, are you using it?
Am I using it. hmmm yes, yes I am
Were your packages in Customs? (We've sent several packages over the last month and a half....one has arrived)
No, not that I know of.
Can you buy milk?
Ya but it goes bad fast because there's no power.
What package did you receive?
My package had a scripture bag, candy, plan of salvation visual aid, coloring books, water proofer, calendar
Thank you for everything. Sorry I'm short today. I dunno what to really talk about but I love you and I am so happy I got to see you guys. Love You
This is written by Elder Nellesen's companion discribing Christmas in Zimbabwe. He writes significantly more than Elder Nellesen does.
(For any other Zimbabwe Mom's I added a small part of Ryan's letter from his letter this
morning. I thought he did a good job explaining a little of what their Christmas in Harare was like.)
Harare has been crazy sweet. Lots of people have been asking me about the logistics of getting 96 missionaries, 16 couples, and presidents family to Harare. Let me just say that only in the best mission on earth could this happen. Only with obedient missionaries and a mission president that trust his missionaries could this happen. The Church has a headquarters in Harare which is a chapel, mission offices, and a mission transfer house (plus the site of the future Zimbabwe Temple according to Pres. Hinckley and other apostles).
morning. I thought he did a good job explaining a little of what their Christmas in Harare was like.)
Harare has been crazy sweet. Lots of people have been asking me about the logistics of getting 96 missionaries, 16 couples, and presidents family to Harare. Let me just say that only in the best mission on earth could this happen. Only with obedient missionaries and a mission president that trust his missionaries could this happen. The Church has a headquarters in Harare which is a chapel, mission offices, and a mission transfer house (plus the site of the future Zimbabwe Temple according to Pres. Hinckley and other apostles).
About 50 missionaries slept at the transfer house and the floor of the chapel. I gave up my bed in the transfer house in favor of the hard floor of the chapel because president came and slept in the chapel with us. He kept us up all night telling stories and scaring us all with transfer predictions. The other missionaries slept in the various other missionary houses in Harare.
Friday afternoon we went to a hospital in Harare. The mission is adopting the hospital this year to help them along. We spent the day giving out toys to children in the childrens wing, cleaning outside, and giving out hygine kits to mothers who gave birth that day. Elder Jensen and I helped a mama to her car after she had just given birth that morning. We found her carrying all her own luggage out becuase there wasn't enough room in the hospital for her to stay any longer. I am glad that we got to go assist. I am even more glad that the United
States has modern health care.
Elder Bradshaw
Zim-Har 7/11-7/13
Friday afternoon we went to a hospital in Harare. The mission is adopting the hospital this year to help them along. We spent the day giving out toys to children in the childrens wing, cleaning outside, and giving out hygine kits to mothers who gave birth that day. Elder Jensen and I helped a mama to her car after she had just given birth that morning. We found her carrying all her own luggage out becuase there wasn't enough room in the hospital for her to stay any longer. I am glad that we got to go assist. I am even more glad that the United
States has modern health care.
Elder Bradshaw
Zim-Har 7/11-7/13
Monday, Dec. 19, 2011
Monday- nothing really cool met my new zone leader.
Tuesday- again boring went to a meeting. and got chewed out for not having investigators
Wednesday- I taught spanish to some of the people here. (I don't know that he knows much of it)
Thursday- I couldn't sleep at all :( rained so hard it kept waking me up. and it started to drip on me. I freeze every night. I wake up and everything is wet because almost all of our windows are broken.... It took a full week to dry my garments and my shoes are barely getting dry from last week. (he was sure he wouldn't need that heavy blanket I sent...this is summer there)
Friday was my birthday. It was a really good day actually other than the fact that they were trying to pour buckets of water on me. I had a brownie for my birthday. It was awesome. My last water bottle broke so now I have none.
Saturday-we went to a wedding, it's crazy, alot of loud music and weird dancing. They partied all night long. We played a drinking game tonight caps. I pretty much dominate at it.
Sunday-it was good got my Ensigns so now I have something to read. We had a baptism, a guy that was baptized last week baptized his friend.
I made an order for distribution I need a new Book of Mormon. I watched a church movie. It was not a very exciting week. I saw another dead snake, thank goodness it was dead. I'm sorry for not writing as much
Alma 26:27 is the favorite scripture this week;
Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
Questions/Answers:
How do we talk to you on Christmas? I sent home those emails if they it doesn't work then you can call or email President /Dube. or if you have any questions I'm sure you can ask Elder Boone's sister. (We're set up and hoping for Skype without video)
Any new investigators? 23 new ones this week, a lot of them are families
Any news on a new place to live? they have to be out by the 31
How are your newest members doing? really well, a momma basically adopted us into her family. We are going to have a huge dinner
Will you take a picture of the outside of the front of your house? I will
How is the weather? Ahh crazy it gets super hot right before the rains and when it rains it rains hard. my shoes took a week to dry out
Have you gotten to see any wildlife? no saw a mouse though (we were hoping for something more African)
What kind of food did you eat this week? Anything good, bad or otherwise? ramen noodles that's it.....Elder Bradshaw almost burnt the house down yesterday. We were making fries and scones and the oil was a little bit too hot. It was very interesting.
What are some African traditions for Christmas? dunno
What kind of food did you eat this week? Anything good, bad or otherwise? ramen noodles that's it.....Elder Bradshaw almost burnt the house down yesterday. We were making fries and scones and the oil was a little bit too hot. It was very interesting.
What are some African traditions for Christmas? dunno
Do they have nativities? I’d like one. Maybe next year you can find me one to bring home. I dunno
Bed Bugs? Have you defeated them yet? I dunno yet. I still go to bed ready for battle
Have you seen or heard anything on a package or two or three from us yet? I should get them when I go to Harare this weekend
Do you need sunscreen? Yes, I need some also some more water proofer.
Do you need joint meds? Yes my knees are locking up
Are you taking your vitamins and malaria pills? Yes, I need more vitamens and protein powder please
How is the addiction class going? We are not doing it right now because everyone is gone for the holidays so we are starting back up next year
also I need something to dry my shoes out. The rainy season is here and I get drenched also maybe some rain gear..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
Did you have any baptisms on Saturday? Yes we did
If so tell me about them? It was awesome totally baptized two people Brother Maisiri and Brother Bunny
How did you feel? I felt like a 
superstar
How many were performed? I did 2, Elder Bradshaw did 4
How's your ability to move going? Maybe it's time to look for another place.....court could take a while. Court is over but she has until the 31st to be out. So we're still waiting. I might have to throw her out myself. (I'm sure he's frustrated with his current location, I'm sure he means he wants to baptize her)
I'm getting replaced what serious? Its' only been 61 days...
(he's referring to Adonis, his new brother, getting a "big brother" as part of his therapy. We all know that Elder Nellesen IS always going to be the "Big Brother".)
Any news on calling home for Christmas? Not yet I will let you know though. When I konw you will know.
Any news of any packages yet? You are expecting three total. No no news yet. (I wonder if they will even make it there)
Tell me about your best missionary experience this week...? Baptisms duh lol
Tell me about your number one investigators...the serious ones. As of right now I don't know we are very low on investigators.
How are the bed bugs? Good I just have to bundle up
When's the last time you have a shower as in a real shower with a running water faucet? November 3
Are you learning a language? Can you speak some words in other languages? Trying to, a little I can say hello and a few other words
This week was rough it was hard to find new investigators. Monday we had Thanksgiving dinner and it was amazing. I ate way to much though. But that's alright it was well worth it. Yummy yummy in my tummy. Oh and come to find out there are country hymns, ya sick, I want some so bad.
Tuesday we got transfers, we are staying together. Elder Boone (from Idaho Falls as well, he's our home teacher's brother in law) is assistant to the president.
I don't remember what happened on Wednesday.
Thursday, we cleaned our yard because people were complaining. I guess snakes come and speaking of snakes I saw my very first one, ya not cool. It was tiny and dead but still, ah I about died.
Friday... rough day we had interviews for baptism today. I was in charge and I was asking one of them questions and he is living with his girlfriend so he couldn't be baptized. How is that for asking inspired questions? After that we went to a sister's house to teach and half way through our zone leaders come so we get up and leave leaving our branch missionary in there all alone. We came back like half and hour later.
Saturday baptism day... Yikes my first baptism, I was so nervous especially because Brother Maisiri was so big. But I did it with no problem. I also baptized Bunny. We had braai this night and wow I miss meat it was so good.
(The word braai (plural braaie) is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "grill" and is a social custom in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The term originated with the Afrikaner people,[1] but has since been adopted by South Africans of many ethnic backgrounds. The word vleis is Afrikaans for "meat".)
We also bought chicken, but I'm a little smarter than that so I didn't have any.
Sunday was the primary program and wow they make our kids back home look like nursery. They were so powerful. It brought Elder Bradshaw to tears they will be strong in the church. We should have primary programs every Sunday.
Oh, I prayed in my sleep. Elder Bradshaw and I both remember it. I'm not sure about this. I got on my knees and everything.
Now it's Monday and I'm just emailing everyone. Love it. 
I got an email from Elder Jordan Speirs and Chris Hinckley.
I almost forgot, someone died while being baptized how crazy is that? Luckily it wasn't our church. (I'm not sure if he's referring to another church or another LDS church building/baptism, I'm assuming another LDS church building/baptism) Thank goodness. It is now a crime. Crazy though right? I didn't even think that was possible.
(An additional letter to Dad)
I wish we would have read more scriptures when I was home. I didn't like it, but now I love it.
(Adonis), the kid is golden.
I love mission work, I may not be able to find the right scriptures all the time but in my life I have dealt with a lot and thats how I teach, through the examples in my life.
One of our investigators did disappear. We still haven't heard from him. The last we talked to him he said he was going to Botswana, but the night we left him some guy was there waiting for him, sketchy stuff. So he is MIA.
There are plenty of jobs here, it's just that all the males drink all day long that is why there country is going to down hill. We are continuing the addiction class we had three people last time and it was powerful to share my experiences.
Questions of the week:
• So how are you doing? I'm doing alright my knees are killing me. Too much walking and I have alot of weight to carry around. It doesn't help that we don't take breaks and can't eat any protein because it spoils to fast.
• So did you get a new baptism font and meeting tent? No, they dont send us anything we don't even have any Book of Mormons. We get 4 Book of Mormons a transfer. It's hard to do the work without the materials.
• How did your baptism on the large gentleman go? Oh it was golden. Piece of cake. I didn't have an issue.
• What do you need for yourself that you can’t get there? I need protein and sunscreen
• What can we send for you to give to the children you interact with? Good question... not really sure. They are entertained really easily. Things like my watch entertains them.
• Are you able to workout at all or is it work all day? I try to work out but just don't have the energy. I think once we move I will be able to have the energy more because we cut down at least 5 miles of walking and we will be able to go to the butchery and get meat.
• Are you getting enough to eat? No
• What are you eating? Peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, rice and oatmeal....
• How was your dinner last week? It was so good, I forgot my stomach shrunk so I got super sick
• So are you wearing your shoes or slippers all the time? Yes, no fungus for me
These are forwarded from his companions mom:
"This week my companion (Elder Nellesen) baptized a giant. I mean that almost literally. I am not sure what the exact specifications of a giant are, but I think Brother Maisiri met them. The baptism was on Saturday morning and it was a wonderful event. I have never had such a spirit filled baptism. The talks were great (one of our recent converts spoke, I was so impressed) and then the baptism. I jumped in the water and baptized most of the maisiri family and brother Bhebhe (the father of the Bhebhe's that we baptized last week!). It was then my companions turn to baptize Bunny Msoni and then Brother Maisiri. The whole branch gathered close around to see it happen and then.... swish... done. Elder Nellesen reported that he pulled an ab as he pulled him out, but it was a success. Brother Maisiri is a giant both physically and spiritually. I was so excited to see him on Sunday, in a suit! He is one of the most amazing, caring, loving men I have ever met."
"A crazy situation popped up on Friday this week. All the baptism candidates were being interviewed that morning. I was on splits at the Maisiri's house as interviews happened elsewhere. My companion (Elder Nellesen) was talking to one of the men who had just passed his interview. He asked him about his fiancee and then asked him where she stayed. He answered "my place." What! Elder Nellesen didn't say anything until we met back up later and then he pulled me aside and told me the situation. Problem. We had to have an emergency meeting with him and figure out the situation with his fiancee. Unfortunately he couldn't be baptized that day, but he is very excited to be baptized this next time. It is sad for us but also very inspired for Elder Nellesen to ask the question that he did. It would not have been good for him to be baptized unworthily."
~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, Dec 5, 2011
(I don't know why he writes in so many different emails...but we'll take it...it could be power outages)
I got letters from Mom, Terrie and Payton. Even though they were all super old they still made me happy.
We had another bible bashing session. It was not good I just sat back and relaxed during it. It's funny they start to argue with one another. They forget we are there.
This week we started our addiction recovery class... and no body came, I dunno about this idea. No one cares that they drink and smoke and I just don't know.
My companion makes me run like 3 miles at night all so we won't be late, not very good at keeping time.
We were suppose to have baptism but no water and our font ripped and our form fell apart. I don't know what we are going to do we are trying to fix things for this Saturday so we can have one.
Our meeting house is falling apart. Our tent is breaking. We can't get a new one. We were in sacrament meeting and part of it fell down.
We have an investigator and he is suppose to be baptized but he just all of a sudden left. I think he is involved in the black market... not good not good at all.
My favorite scriptures this week were Alma 48:17 and Alma 56:48 powerful. I read my patriarchal blessing. There are things stated in there that I didn't notice before.
Over all a good week, longest week of mission so far though.
Everyday I make a snowflake even though they absolutely are terrible. Se sing a christmas songs everyday. All that is missing is a tree, snow and hot cocoa... good week
22 more fast Sundays to get my work done.
Love, Elder Nellesen
~~~~~~~~
Mon, Dec 5, 2011
Sister Oakey has asked if there are many redheads in Zim? I'd imagine not and if they are like Mexicans redheads are favored. Redheads no. All the albino don't have red hair either its blonde.(Sent to Elder Nellesen concerning our search for counseling)
"I'm finding that when we read scriptures....not just listen to them we are experiencing some incredible blessings and help from above.
We've had so many small and large miracles. Again today, the Lord put things in front of me to benefit our situation. Adonis is willing to go to counseling now. He opted for a counselor through the church.
I made calls to the church social services....they don't take Medicaid. So I called the Medicaid office who gave me a name of a person who was of our religion and good. We as well as Adonis want him to go to someone who can identify with what he is learning of the gospel and of this life and the next because it's so important that he understand that not all is lost at death.
Anyway, I called that counselor's office....he doesn't take medicaid either. The lady on the other end of the phone asks me to give her some information about our need for counseling and the situation, so she could maybe direct me to someone for the circumstance. I start with the generals, we're his guardians, he's 14, he lost his mother to a heart attack 3 months ago, we had a few hard times without her especially during the holidays. Then I was prompted to tell her of my son leaving for Zimbabwe, who Adonis missed as well as his mother. I remember thinking why did I say that....Adonis misses him but it's not relevant to the real need for counseling.
She says is this Mrs. Nellesen. What? Wow! Yes! Who is this? This is Michelle Suarez. She is one of Dustin's all time favorite high school teachers. Although she is no longer at the school she follows Dustin. Adonis and I met her at the back to school night before the funeral. So she knew Dustin has a new brother in this situation. It gets better.
She was able to direct me to a counselor who is fantastic with youth, who takes medicaid, who is a convert to the church and is active in it. Her HUSBAND! I trust Michelle Suarez and I'm confident this is where the Lord wants Adonis to get his counseling.
We have lots and lots of these experiences where things just fall into place. We know it is controlled by someone more powerful than we are and with faith things are working out. It's very cool and weird at the same time. People have told me over and over, "you will be blessed when you have a missionary serving the Lord." and "you will be blessed for taking in this boy." The blessings are so remarkable I can hardly believe they are happening to me! And I'm so grateful! Jesus take the wheel! I just follow! Thought you'd like to hear that small miracle."
That's crazy that it was Mrs. Suarez, made me cry what are the chances of that? Wow that is powerful the Lord knows how to work his ways.So tell me about your new place? I hope it has a shower and a water heater and I hope they work. I really hope you left the bed bugs in the last place and they didn't transport with you. We take so many things for granted don't we?Also tell me about your weekend....I believe you were to baptize 10 people. Is that you personally? This would be your first baptism ever....how did that feel?
Next week we are going to have one and no we try not to do baptism we try to have members do it to build a bond. After they are baptized we still meet with them. I have to baptize a huge father, Brother Mayisiri; imagine Larry Belnap and Dad put together. I don't think he will fit in the font. Should be interesting.You get to call home in 21 days! Do you have any information about how we are to do that? Do you call us or do we call you? One of the Zim mom's on my website said you call from the mission home....Can't imagine that many missionaries calling from one place....nevertheless we're excited to hear your voice.Don't know, I will find out."We're going to SLC temple square the night of your birthday. We'll see the lights etc. and spend time on Saturday going through the exhibits and hopefully get Adonis started on family history. You never know who's in his blood line....some one great!"I love family history he will to
Nellesen
(To Dad:)
Dude I thought you forgot about me..... I wish I had that weather (cold and snow). So your going to to temple square... maybe you will run into some of the sisters from my MTC group: Sister Kurutz, Sister Dotterer, Sister Armstrong, or Sister Steinblick.
Questions for the week:
So how is everything going? decent
Have you moved into your new housing arrangements? no they are in court right now the tenant is refusing to move out
How are you doing your laundry? I pay a branch missionary to do it
How many baptisms did you have on Saturday? none we didn't have water
So how much rain do they usually get during the rainy season? So much. I get drenched almost everyday (umbrella wasn't on the list of things to take....maybe should have been)
Are you getting enough to eat? Ha no we can't hold food because the power always goes out daily
Are you taking you vitamins and malaria pills? yes
Are you working out? trying to. I started my Butte work out system and emailed Coach Campbell
Have you had a chance to play soccer with the local kids? No to busy
So how is the food? Do you have to use a lot of ketchup? The food is amazing when its normal.. and haven't used it yet today at thanksgiving I'm going to use it though
What interesting food have you eaten this past week? Nothing really interesting.....
What is the city you live in like; does it have high rise buildings, what are the houses like, do people have many comforts (TV, computers, internet, etc)? No we all live in shacks. We live in the hood of Zimbabwe as people like to call it. No power no water, tvs yes, and no internet very, very basic.
Love, Elder Nellesen
As a family we have written what we're grateful for, this is Dustin's list:
Let's not just talk about counting our blessings---let's do it! Write a list of 100 things you are thankful for.
Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for:
1 my looks
2 muscles
3 none existance ear lobes
4 abs
5 big feet
6 hair
7 freckles
8 broken fingers
9 calves
10 teeth
Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for:
1 shower
2 milk
3 meat
4 gatorade
5 water
6 electricity
7 my own room
8 microwave
9 walmart
10 mcdonalds
Write 10 living people you are grateful for:
1 parents
2 sisters
3 brother
4 grandparents
5 aunts and uncles and cousins
6 football coaches
7 payton
8 hailey
9 jaclin
10 butte friends
Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for:
1 snow
2 wildlife
3 water falls
4 rivers
5 lakes
6 trees
7 trails
8 smell
9 beauty
10 sounds
Write 10 things about today you are grateful for:
1 life
2 gospel
3 fanta
4 thanksgiving
5 brownies
6 writing letters
7 emailing
8 nap time
9 investigators
10 donuts
Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for:
1 football field
2 weight room
3 home
4 my bed
5 butte
6 swan valley
7 upper palisades
8 mcdonalds
9 temple
10 internet cafes
Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for:
1 internet
2 cameras
3 football
4 pens
5 snake the game
6 cell phone
7 cd player
8 exercise bands
9 toilet paper
10 running water/electricity
Write 10 foods you are grateful for:
1 MEAT
2 milk
3 fruit snacks
4 jerky
5 mcdonalds
6 subway
7 oreos
8 cheese cake
9 dirt dessert
10 pumpkin
Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for:
I cannot sum it up in ten things. sorry please try again.
When we make a list like this, we discover that a list of 100 doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all the things God has given us.
Letters received on November 28, 2011
I knew Monica was coming lol. I hope it was awesome. I will write her. Ha promise. (Monica is Mom's BFF, who surprised us for Thanksgiving!)
(A sister has been called to Zimbabwe from Idaho Falls....we've been asking Elder Nellesen questions for her) yes sister missionaries do. We just had some sisters transferred from our area. So i think she will be coming here. It's pretty safe, because everyone says we are god's soldiers. She shouldn't worry. All the sisters have their own phones. She just needs to remember the mission rules. The other sisters here didn't follow them and they got emergency transferred!!! She should be fine.
You love me! LOL. It will be worth it, just remember its cheaper than schoooling. (referring to a package we sent for his birthday....costing $155 in shipping costs) I like surprises. Sorry it was so much.
I do clean and polish them that was from the rain. (in reference to Mom reminding him to polish his shoes to make the last). It's the rainy season and it rains and rains. I can buy shoes here if I ever have to. So no worries and I still haven't worn one pair yet. My Grandfather has been out 9 months and he only wears one pair of shoes. So I should be good.
Did you try the Bed Bug Essential Oil information I sent? No lol. We just bought bug spray. It works for now then we move on thursday.
Did it work or help? dunno didn't try
Have you actually baptized anyone yet? No on the tenth I have to baptize alot because we have 22 people and I have to baptize a big man; he is like 6'5 and 300 pounds should be interesting.
Tell us about your investigators this week? We had some power full investigators this week. We started to teach a whole bunch of new investigators. We had 11 investigators at church. And they even brought friends we've never even met before. We recieved a call from this guy we contacted on the street we gave him a pamphlet and he read that so he called us wanting a book of mormon. Sick huh? We also started to teach two golden investigators Bunny and Collin. Wow they are awesome we taught Bunny and he wanted to come to church so he did and he brought Collin and they both said they can't wait to be members than we went and taught them and they want to be missionaries!!!
What did you learn this week? Everything. I don't even know where to start. So much. It all relates to football too (and he leaves us hanging there)
Do you know that we love you and are so proud of you!? We proudly tell everyone that our son is serving in Zimbabwe!
Have you had to learn any "special" language? Shona and Ndebele, they are hard. I still can't click.
What's your favorite lesson to teach and study? umm dont put this on the blog. chasity and word of wisdom just because i have gone through those things in my life.
I saw the picture of your chapel....do they break for classes with no classrooms? we meet at a house. so we have like 5 rooms that we go to.
Did I tell you that I found Elder Bradshaw's mom on the africa missionary moms website? So fun. Ya and Elder Asay. Elder Asay is my grandfather
Money? Do they soley use US dollar there? Yes and the rand. That's it though.
Can you get us a large Zim currency bill....that would be so cool! We'll wait two years for it. I can, I have some, I will send some when I get a chance. (A million zimbabwe dollars is worth about 10 US dollars)
When is zone conference? It was on Wednesday. It was awesome.
How do you get to Zone Conferences? We ride in convoys. Basically a van driven by drunk people. Scary huh?
You were supposed to leave the country on Dec 2......will you actually leave and if so can you go to the temple? No they just say that for visa purposes, I wish I could leave though to sleep on the plane.
Do you love your companion yet? Yes, he is awesome. He makes me obey all the rules which is good.
Have you met any people from other countries? Yes Kenya, Uganda, Ireland, South Africa, and of course Zimbabwe.
What other religions are there? So many I can't even begin to name them
Ah a powerful week this week. Tuesday was a regular day nothing really to special.
Wednesday we had Zone Conference so President Dube came and saw us. It was so good, I learned so much and learned of what we need to improve on. They could work on their graphs though made no sense at all. Other than that it was good. We finally had a decent meal and ice cream, oh ya! You're jealous.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, my feast consisted of bread, peanut butter and jelly, biscuits, and a little bit of chocolate. Not a great thanksgiving but oh well. We got invited to a investigators house for a thanksgiving feast one day.
Friday everyone had the gift of tongues for some reason they all spoke perfect english. A group of prostitutes wanted us to teach them, not going to happen. It was a powerful day, we made contact with Bunny he wants to be baptized and serve a mission so bad. So does his friend Collin.
Sunday was long no appointments.
My favorite scripture this week were Alma 44 and Alma 46:11-21
Love, Elder Nellesen
Letter received on November 20, 2011
Also pictures were sent....look for them on his photos and companion pages.
Glad things are going well in Idaho.
Adonis did write me it was good. Love the little fart.So you know how we lost the one disc for the Book of Mormon well surprise I have it. lol. (we've looked everywhere for that) my bad. Adonis will love Alma, what's not to love about it.
I learn something new each and everyday. and it's weird how it fits into my life each and every day. Who is this sister missionary coming?! Sweet how you tell me that one is coming but not her name.
I need water bottles, more basics, umm that's a toughy... I dunno gosh. Things that I need slash want are my
blue back pack, because it's small, I don't carry around much just water food and scriptures.
A case for my scriptures because the rain is bad.
Water proofer, they took mine at the airport.
Airheads
Oreos for dirt desert "its for thanksgiving"
Ranch dressing
Corn Nuts LOTS!!!!
I need more than one journal. I need like 5 more to last my mission.
Lined paper
A pink pen I will explain later.
Pictures!!!
Propel packets lots as many as you can send.
Lemonade mix also.
Candy!!!!
Maybe another tie. I;m trying to have on for everyday....(he took 21 ties one for everyday is like 700).
Brittany's recipe for tortilla chips
So ya love you. Christmas will be late ahhh!!! Ok that's fine.
Questions we asked this week....
What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
We are celebrating thanksgiving in 2 weeks we are going to kill us a turkey and make a feast. It's hard to eat here my stomach has shrunk. I'm going to email coach Campbell to see if he has any suggestions
· What interesting things did you eat this week?
Ramen and PB @ J
· Do you fix your own meals or do the members feed you?
We try to make meals its hard though cuz we can't store anything in the fridge because power goes out constantly. Members sometimes feed us we are trying to meet with a member every night so we can eat
· Do you have any investigators? Tell us about them…
Do i have any?! We have like 21 of them they are awesome. I will have to take pictures of my favorites. The Bahe bahe family they have two little boys who are so cute. The other day we went there and they were outside taking a bath. I saw my first naked African. Bevon the youngest, I taught him the "where do the dogs go" thing. Ha love it.
· Have you been able to work out or enjoy an outdoor sports?
I haven't worked out yet still getting use to my energy levels. We ran two miles the other day though. I almost died. Right now I'm just stretching, next week I'm going to start my football workout from Tech.
· What kind of fruit do they have there?
Peaches we have amazing peaches. mangos, bananas , lemons, apples
· How is the apartment hunting going?
We found one. It's huge and so nice, we move in on the 1st of December. It has two showers I'm so excited. Woo no more bucket baths. This house is in our area to. Right by the shops. It has two peach trees, apple tree and a mango tree. It rocks.
· Have you had the ability to have a normal (like we know) bath or shower?
No just fill up a bucket get a cup and start pouring.
· Are you taking your vitamins every day?
Yes Mama and malaria pills
· Are you wearing your hat and using sun screen?
I'm not aloud to wear my hat. And yes on my nose and ears.
· Are you drinking safe water? We are sending you a UV light kit that you can pack with you to use anytime. Make sure you always use it per the instructions.
I try, we have a filter at the house that we use alot. But in the field we run out so we go to members homes and get some or pump it out of a well.
· Did you have any inspiring experiences this past week and what were they?
It rained finally. I dunno just how the scriptures are like written for me and I study something and it hits me. Like today I was studying patience and I decided to dig out the letters you wrote me and it was about patience, it's crazy how the Lord works sometimes. We had baptisms yesterday. It's funny one of the men that was being baptized was wearing a Jack Daniels whiskey belt buckle. Weird huh.
· Do the people there have pets?
Dogs and cats. they are terrified of lizards. lol
· Have you seen any wildlife this past week?
Not really just a blue headed lizard it's sweet when we catch one I'll send a picture home
· Explain to us your apartment. Is there a kitchen, bathroom, running water, sink, etc?
Our apartment has a small kitchen small bedroom, very small bathroom, and a small study room. We usually have running water but today we didn't, and we also didn't have power or propane. It was a rough morning. There are spiders everywhere and cockroaches are taking over we kill about five every morning and they are huge.
· How many Elders live in your apartment?
It's just 2 for right now when we move we will get two new elders with us
· Are the kids in school there and what are the educational programs like?
Yes there are. The school is very poor, and it's expensive. I've met alot of people who went to college in the states.
· What’s the greatest thing so far about Zimbabwe?
He left this blank....:(
· What do people do for a job and making a living?
Everyone is so lazy here all the mamas just sit and eat all day, and the men drink all day.
They mostly farm and fix things.
· Do they have orphanages?
Haven't found one yet.
· Do you need hair clippers for cutting each other’s hair?
Yes!!!
· Have you hired anyone to do you laundry or are you still washing it by hand?
Yes we still do it by hand we hired a ward missionary to wash our clothes for ten bucks. I think its worth it.
· Can you print off the information we send you?
It depends on where we go.....
Adonis needs to understand the importance of going to church. He needs friends in the ward. that will help him. I will send another email so wait lol
Love Elder Nellesen
Adonis needs to understand the importance of going to church. He needs friends in the ward. that will help him. I will send another email so wait lol
Love Elder Nellesen
This is the second letter....
So everyday I wear a new tie, it helps the days go by faster. I drink alot of warm milk, ya gross huh. Finally got the house that we wanted. It's about time the rains are here, or at least they were for a night. It felt so good. I think I was sick that's why I was so tired so I broke out the pharmacy counter. Oh ya love you mom. (he thought I was sending too many over the counter drugs).
We have a bunch of bike parts and no tools so I've been trying to fix them but I need some tools. Makes it very difficult, I look like a grease monkey everynight.
I miss Butte. I think everyday about it constantly. (he's got to look at Butte differently, it's the reason he decided to serve a mission) When I wake up every morning I know that they are partying. Good times lol but not good times. (Dustin was the designated driver) I dunno how to put it.
Oh my goodness, so Wednesday we went to a hospital, now think of a hospital from a horror movie that's exactly how it was. No joke, there was blood on the walls and they made us clean them. (According to his picture he looked happy to do it). If I ever have to go to the hospital I'm coming home for sure. I'm pretty sure it has lead paint also. Not safe at all. I felt like we were all going to die.
Come to find out our roof is ...you guessed it asbestos, can you say cancer... oh and ate my first mango ya it sucked so bad. We went running and ouch my calves were hurting so bad. Charlie horse bad but I made it that's good.. Saturday I was thinking a lot about football for some reason. I dunno why I miss it so much. Missionary work is like the end of a football game I come home exhausted and just crash. One night after we were done I just crashed on my bed and didn't even change.. I took NyQuil a little late so I was super tired Sunday morning, not good. I have found the Nellesen's have a problem with falling asleep in church.
We taught a lady sister Dube, and she teaches special needs children I thought that was pretty cool. She is waiting for the program to start up. Oh than to finish the night we were teaching and some lady totally started to breast feed her kid right in front of me..... ya gross huh. I saw two naked kids bathing out side Zane and Bevon Bahe Bahe, ya awkward I know that was my week and for some reason when I tell people I'm from America they want to kiss my hand its very very weird. I won't let them.
Letter received on November 14, 2011
Also pictures were sent....look on the photos page of the blog.
hmmm.....for my packages I need lots of propel and I mean lots and I need more water bottles mine exploded in the freezer to much water in it. (at least he has a freezer)....ah fine no camel back I guess (we're afraid of bacteria and parasites). I don't need ketchup, they have it here, thank goodness. Send me something for bed bugs!!! Pictures of family like photographs so I can carry them with me. LOL no more gum we're not allowed to chew it. Mostly things for water to taste better. Some cool little toys would be good to. Oh and I need journals, a lot more. The journal I have now will be done in mid February... so i need more of that.
The highlights of my day besides mission work is hearing american music. love it. Oh my goodness had my first bible bash it was intense, even though we didn't bash back. People just have hard hearts and wont let go of the ten commandments wish I knew my bible more. That's what they thrive off of.
(attempt to get information out of him and keep him mind on Zimbabwe...we asked the questions, he answered)
1-I’ve heard that Elders can receive emails but not reply to emails except for parents? True or False false
2-In your mission what are the email reply rules since you are so far away?
Email once a week, doesn't matter. We all reply to all since mail is so slow.
3-What’s your daily schedule?
Wake up at six, study till 11 then teach till 9:30. Sleep
4-Do you walk, ride or drive cars in your area?
We walk. We don't live in our area we live in nketa 8 but our area is nketa 9 and 7. We walk about 3 miles to get to our zone. We might get bikes today or tomorrow
5-You are a companion to a US citizen. I thought they would put you with a African native companion. Is this in certain areas for safety?
He is from Utah. Yes, it's safe everyone loves us. They always ask if we are British because they hate them. When they find out we are Americans they love us. They all want to go to Tennessee because of the whiskey there.
6-Tell us about the people there.
Very humble and very drunk. Ha very funny though reminds me of college alot.
7-Tell us about the members there.
Members... some of them love us and invite us in and some we never see. Like our senior couple in charge of us, I've never even met them.
8-What kind of food do you eat?
We eat sudza, look it up. Also rice, beef, chicken, ramen and popcorn. Oh and home made donuts that taste like scones. Yum (scones alone will keep weight on him)
9-What kind of foods are not available there?
Icecream. Taco Bell there is no Mcdonalds here!!! not cool
10-How’s your apartment (is that what they call it) hunting going?
It's going good I guess. We have found some we just have to go look at them and kick the people out.
11-Are your bed bugs (or whatever it is) getting better?
Ha no, they are all over my legs and feet. I thought I had chicken pox today
12-What’s the area like you are in? A large busy city or smaller village?
A small village, very small. It's gross there is sewage just running down the street.
13-How does the church get money to you? How much do they give you and what are your expenses?
The church gave us a debit card so when we go to town we pull some out for our expenses.
14-What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen this week?
Coolest thing I've seen this week... umm I saw white people. LOL 5 actually. Albino Africans. Like whiter than me. Crazy right?
15-What’s the most spiritual and touching thing in your week?
Having people commit to baptism. Last night we gave a girl a blessing.
16-How long has Elder Bradshaw been on his mission?
4 months (two US greeny missionaries running around Zimbabwe)
17-Where do you go to email us?
We travel to town and use an Internet cafe
18-What was the strangest thing you ate this week?
Cow tongue, cow stomach, and cow intestine
19-What’s the terrain like? Hilly, mountains, brush or shrubs, dry wet, etc?
Dry and flat, very hot
20-Where do you get hair cuts?
We do it our selves (I'm scared for Elder Bradshaw then!)
21-What are the stores like?
Empty no food really
22-Tell us about your investigators.
Amazing not all of them are serious but for the most part they are.
23-Tell us about your church building.
We meet in a tent
24-How do you pronounce the place you are living?
N keta
25-What kind of sports are popular there?
Soccer
26-Are people as poor as we thought they were?
Yes
27-What do you do on P Day?
Shop, email, eat, laundry
28-Will you get to see Victoria Falls? You’re not far from it.
No, sad huh.
29-When you have to leave the country once a month….where do you go and what do you do?
We don't leave the country. It is a way to bypass the immigration
30-Do you need your temple clothing?
no
I would love to write more but power is on and off. Ya not good. So I'm doing fine and I am doing a lot better. My favorite scripture this week was Alma 24 talks about the Lamanites wiping out a whole city. and the people of the city were all righteous so they were taken up. Love you all.
Elder Nellesen apologizes to everyone who he could not reply to via email....due to the power outages.
We received letters today! Monday is his P-Day! He arrived in Zimbabwe on November 2, 2011, Wednesday.
Mom (this was written to Mom, he loves us all), I love you. That's awesome about Adonis (taking the missionary discussions). Have him write me his concerns so that I can talk one on one with him. I think that would help kinda like I would be his journal that just happens to respond back.
Ok so I tried to call in South Africa but the phones weren't really working. So sorry. (don't try this it cost us $130 in debit card charges and we never heard from him)
Zimbabwe, wow what a place. The airport looks like a scene off of Call of Duty. I actually think they came here and saw it and was like, oh we will make it after this.
Saw my first giraffe in Harare on my way to see President Dube. It was awesome. The people here are amazing. Ha haven't got turned down yet. That's good. I talked to Elder Boone (brother in law to our home teacher serving in Zim) he seems like a nice guy still don't remember him though. Lol he played center and nose guard for Bonneville my Junior year.
The people are so humble and they are just amazing if only the whole world was as humble as them. I live in Nketa 8, it's in Bulawayo or something close to that. You will have to tell me. I live in a two room shack. We are looking for a new one bigger and nicer. The one we have now has no shower... or water heater... so we wake up boil water put it in the bucket and then dump cups of water on us. Ya awesome right? For laundry hand washed.... you should have told me how to do that before I left.
I've seen lots of baboons the vicious little suckers. Yesterday we were leaving our house and all the little kids were playing with boxes. Well when I say playing I mean beating each other with boxes. There are some tough kids here.
So basically I might be the richest person in Zimbabwe right now. I didn't need money for a bike or anything like that, so i have lots.... :(
The weather, oh the weather, the weather is so hot here. I get so exhausted. I fall asleep during lessons some times. not good. I dunno if my body can keep up with all of this. It's really hard. It's really hard just to keep going. I had no idea missionary work would be this hard. President Dube has us wake up at 6am also not 6:30, that might be some of it. But he seems to be doing something right.
We are number 1 for baptisms in the world. My area is just a branch and once it is made into a ward we qualify for a temple.. no pressure right? The people here are so amazing though. Everyone accepts what we have to say. I dunno if you know who John Cena is but he is a professional wrestler and all the little kids call me that. Haha I dunno if it's just cuz I'm big or something. So I like to tease them and act like I'm him.
Almost every lesson we work with ward missionaries, they are powerful teachers. They know so much and can speak the language. Ya language. I didn't learn the language in the MTC. They speak English, just very poorly. I mean very poorly. Even my English is starting to turn for the worse. I'm starting to get an accent.. Dunno if that's a good thing or not.
The spiders are huge here. and every night I wake up with bites everywhere... ya dunno what those are from (we think bed bugs).
My companion is Elder Bradshaw he is a powerful missionary. He went to BYU before he came on a mission. His father is like the CFO of Seagull Books or something like that. Well gotta run. I love you you so freaking much.
Love you oh also need lots of propel, my little blue back pack, my black one is melting and falling apart... ya it that hot. and a camel back. I run out of water constantly and we are the only ones with filters. So that would be much appreciated. Also pictures and letters. Letters to keep me going and pictures so I can hang them on my wall of fame. Love you.
Love,
Elder Nellesen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 November 2011
Dear Brother and Sister Nellesen,
I hereby wish to confirm that your missionary has arrived safely in Harare and
that Elder Nellesen is happy to be here.
In spite of personal difficulties, the people in this country are wonderful and
are eager to listen to the gospel as preached by our missionaries. This is a
very obedient mission. Sister Dube and I truly believe that we have been sent
the best missionaries by the Lord.
I spent some time in an interview with Elder Nellesen and found him to be very
serious about his assignment. He is a delightful young man and very eager to do
the Lord's work. We are looking forward to working with him. He really carries
a good spirit with him which I believe will be an asset to the Zimbabwe Harare
Mission.
Please be assured that we will treat Elder Nellesen as our own and make sure
that he is well taken care of. Should you have any concerns please do not
hesitate to contact us directly. Thank you for the part you played in preparing
Elder Nellesen for this great work that lies ahead.
Yours Sincerely,
President Edward Dube Zimbabwe Harare Mission
Elder Nellesen's letters are all over the place....I'll try to put his subjects together. Hopefully he'll get better at keeping his mind on one subject at a time.
October 25, 2011
How could you forget to pray for me?! Crazy Crazy. (I was up until 4am, got settled into my bed and realized that I forgot to pray...but I did get out of bed and pray....I only forgot initially) The daily schedule is wake up at 6:30, then personal study for an hour, then breakfast, then class for 3 hours. Then TRC. TRC is where we teach investigators. It's really neat.
Then lunch and gym, totally pro at volleyball now. Then more class and more teaching, then back to the room to goof off.
I've gained so much weight since I've been here. Ah, I need to weigh my self today. When I left I was 205 now I bet I'm 215 or 220. Ya not good.
Ha we started MTC smack. It's where we battle different characters and decide who would win. So far its been Ron Weasley from Harry Potter and good old John Wayne. Crazy.
Last Tuesday Richard G. Scott came to talk to us that was really neat. The spirit is always so strong here.
I got my itinerary and will send details in a separate letter. I plan on calling home. I will stay with Elder Wyler till Zim (Zimbabwe).
Jace (our neighbor going to the MTC mid November) is going to love it here.
Dude, Adonis thats sweet that you met Brodie he is an awesome guy. (Brodie is a good friend Dustin met at college. Adonis met him at the straw maze) Wish I could have had dinner with him and Tashia. They are truly remarkable people.
Thanks GGN (Grandpa & Grandma Nellesen) for the lemonade it keeps me awake during class. The classroom feels like a prison sometimes but only six more days. Guess what.... only 23 fast Sunday almost. Woot Woot.
I am able to write on Tuesdays, but I write letters after I'm done in my journal. I got made senior companion the other day. It's pretty sweet to just take control and push my companion. He gets lazy sometimes and it irritates me.
I love it here. It is hard to do personal scripture study because I'm so busy preparing lessons for my investigators. One of them, Chicho is amazing. Me and him have gone through so many of the same things. Yesterday we went over the law of wisdom and chastity. They say chastity is the hardest lesson but I sailed right through it. I think the plan of salvation is the hardest so far... with the word of wisdom he had a bottle of wine in his hand and totally just chucked it in the garbage it was an amazing experience to see that.
I love all of you. and I thank you all for supporting me and my decision. It's amazing how much my testimony has grown.
Ok, so i totally thought I left drama at home, well apparently not. Ah one of the sisters is so ah..... She was complaining the other day about how she had to many letters. Like really who does that? Not cool. Ya but she brings all the drama to the table.
I am so excited to go to Zim. I don't need a VISA I guess. but we have to leave the country every once in the while so we fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, and I think we will go to the temple. That would be sweet. We have been doing our research and Zimbabwe is number 1 in baptisms. Come to find out it has only two stakes and only 32 churches. Idaho Falls has more than that.
The other day we met two brothers from Zim. The Gumbi brothers, talk a bout skinny, and tall wow. Now mom when I send my memory card home you have to save everything and not get mad. lol.
Well, I love you and I'm safe, I hope all is well with all of you. I love you all. I pray for everyone before I go to sleep every night and in my personal prayers. You know what sounds amazing a heat pad. I dunno if I mentioned that or not. Adonis again no you cannot have my ipod. (he has told his that three times in this letter but I left it out) Well love ya.
Love,
Elder Nellesen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| From: | <><><><><><><><>Dustin Nellesen |
| To: | <><><><><><><><>Sandy Nellesen |
| Subject: | <><><><><><><><> <>Re: I'm confused.... |
| Date: | <><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><>Tue, Oct 18, 2011 10:58 am |
(I'll do my best to correct his spelling etc.....a difficult job I have)
Yes, my mailbox is 247. So tell everyone. I got your letter thank you. I wrote a letter home I don't know if you have received it yet or not. I would also like to receive the bcs rankings for college football. Also some pictures of loved ones would be nice too.
I wish I had more time to hunt, I hope he (Dad) is successful and safe. Can't wait to come home and hunt and of course football.
Church thing every day is really good. It's amazing how much of the spirit you feel. It touches me tremendously. It never goes away, I love it. Today is my P Day. Very interesting P Day we had a fire drill right before laundry so we had to take our laundry across the street and wait forever.
We are going to the temple today to do some temple work. We might do some baptisms for the dead also.
In my district are 6 elders and 4 sisters. Elder Wyler is my companion, he is also related to Thomas E. Ricks, so if I could receive that information that would be great. (Thomas E. Ricks founded Ricks college which is now BYUI in Rexburg, Idaho), the other elders are Elder Toomer from Morgan Utah, Elder Stewart from St. George he went to school with Ashley ¨johneys wife¨, Elder Cloyd from Payson Utah, and Elder Mitchell from Virginia, and apparently there are two other missionaries going to ZIM but we have yet to find them.
The sisters are awesome, Sister Steenblick is from Spokane Washington, she is like our mom of the district she gives us the stare down once in a while. Sister Armstong, a convert to the church is also from Washington, Sister Kurutz is from California, and Sister Dotterer is from Wake Forest North Carolina, love them all. They are amazing and they will be amazing missionaries.
Yesterday we taught our first investigator, Carlo it was a really awesome experience, just how we had so many things in common. We were meant to meet.
He (Adonis) better miss me cuz in two years I'm gonna knock him out. (Adonis and Dustin have agreed to fight when he gets home....it's brother stuff).
Jace (Jace Holt is in our ward and will entering the MTC in a month) is going to love it here. The first week feels like prison but after that it's easy. I was sitting in class, I think on Friday, and the walls started to cave in on me it was intense.
Oh and I've turned into a germaphobiac I use hand sanitizer constantly, Jodi Roland would be proud.
He (Adonis) will (take hold to the gospel), we all take hold of the gospel at certain times in our lives. It took me going to college, but we all have our right time and moment. Life here is a lot like college such as pranks, getting shot at with slingshots and such. We have really grown as a family just over these past couple of days.
I have learned much patience since I have been here. We live in a 4 person room but with six elders. Ya it's cramped.
things I need from you:
1 camel pack
2 addresses
3 mountain dew they have not caffeine and I am dying
4 envelopes for memory card
5 pictures of home and friends and family
6 bcs ranking, Montana tech, and hillcrest
7 lemonade mix
8 more letters!!!! I love it, I get depressed when I don't get anything
I'm so glad I decided to go on a mission. It has blessed my life already. I have made such good friends. But I still miss my friends and family at home. Love you all. Oh and Elder Stewart acts just like Gren (friend from high school football) did. Ha that brings me comfort.
I had the opportunity to play an investigator and I chose Bubba. I hope one day I am able to teach him what I know. The spirit teaches so quickly and effectively. Well I love you all, remember send lots of letters and pictures and of course packages. Oh and grandma, good job they loved them although we changed the name to gooberroos. (Grandma sent Dustin's all time favorite treat...scotcheroos)
Well love you.
Love,
Elder Nellesen
