To Sister Missionaries everywhere!

This letter was written to a very good friend of ours by my daughter in law who served a mission to Chile.  Hermana Guerrero is currently serving a mission in Mexico.  Megan (my daughter in law) wrote this letter to Sophia in hopes of encouraging her and helping her deal with the struggles of learning a new language in the mission field.

Hola Hermanita!

Your mission sounds amazing, humbling and difficult!  I am writing this letter to you in hopes that it will help lift your spirits.  

I can honestly say that I know exactly what you are going through right now.  I left the MTC thinking that I knew spanish.  I knew that I wasn't an expert by any means but I felt like I understood my teachers for the most part when they spoke spanish and I felt confident that I would be able to talk with people and share my testimony.  And man was I so wrong!  I got to Chile and the trainer I was assigned to was from El Salvador and didn't speak a lick of english, and we lived alone.  It was more difficult than I anticipated.  I wasn't able to understand not only her but anyone else we talked to.  I couldn't speak spanish enough to express myself.  I couldn't teach in our lessons, or even have a basic conversation to contact someone in the street.  I quickly lost all the confidence I had in my spanish and knew that I had a long way to go before I would be fluent. But not only did I lose my confidence, I felt so alone.  I mean I couldn't even have a normal conversation with my companion!  She thought I was so quiet but in reality it's just because I had no idea how to say things in spanish!  I felt like I wasn't serving my purpose as a missionary to Invitar a otros a venir a Cristo.  how could I invite someone to come unto Christ without being able to speak to them?  I never wanted to go home and leave the mission, but I felt useless and questioned why I was there if I couldn't do anything to help.  I cried more in those first few months that I have in my whole life.  I never prayed and pleaded so much with my Heavenly Father for help than in those moments.  

It was in my first 2 months as a missionary that I really learned a few important points of the gospel.  

1.  Hermana Guerrero, remember that your Heavenly Father loves you, so much.  More than we will ever be able to know.  He has not left you alone no matter how alone you feel right now.  You have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost so now is the time to use it!  Get down on your knees every morning and night and ask for comfort, strength and the knowledge of His love for you.  I promise it will come to you.  The following is an experience I had during this time.

There was one night, I was sitting on my bed after a long day.  I had maybe understood about 10% of what was going on that day.  I was so frustrated because my companion had asked me to participate in a lesson.  So, I told her I would say the first vision.  I practiced all day.  I went over it in my head time after time when finally the moment came to do it in the lesson.  I was a little nervous but I started, and after the second line, I completely forgot the order.  I started saying it all wrong and finally just jumped to the end and finished it.  I was not only embarrassed but so upset that these people needed to hear the message we had and I knew how important the first vision was in this moment, and I blew it.  I completely butchered it.  But that night as I sat on my bed writing in my journal, I decided to get down on my knees and pray, I poured out my whole soul, and of course that was accompanied by tears.  But near the end of the prayer, I felt as if someone had put their arm around me and I felt a warmth come over my heart.  I remember knowing that it didn't matter that I had messed up, my Heavenly Father loves me and is here for me no matter what.  And despite the frustration day  after day with Spanish, I felt at peace knowing that one day it wouldn't be like that!

2. Along with your Heavenly Father loving you, he didn't send you to Mexico to fail.  He would never set us up for failure.  Like it says in 1 Nefi 3:7, the Lord always prepares a way for us.  He has prepared a way for you!  You have been called to serve at this time and in Mexico because the people need you. But he never said the road he prepared would be easy.  You will struggle day in and day out to learn spanish, but once again like it says in the scriptures, you learn line upon line, precept upon precept.  One day you will understand a little bit more. or you will be able to speak a little more, until one day you will be walking along and realize, oh my gosh, I just participated in that whole lesson and you didn't even realize it!  There is light at the end of the tunnel I promise!!

3.  Preach My Gospel is amazing!  Read Chapter 7, it's all about Learning a Language.  And it gives you great ideas!  It talks about creating a language study plan!  Make daily, weekly and monthly goals. I started small, like writing down words I heard that I didn't understand and then at night before I went to bed I would look them up and try to memorize them the next day.  I also made it a goal with my companion to look at our scheduled lessons and make sure I had a part going into it.  That way the days leading up to it I could prepare.  For example, if we were going to teach the Restoration, I would say ok I want 2 parts.  so, she would assign me to teach profetas and the book of mormon. Then I could prepare, write down how I would explain things and then practice them with her!  I would practice them like 3-4 times a day with her.  Practice practice, practice!  Practice until you want to cut your tongue off haha!! Also, when you have a plan, the Lord is more able to help you!  Say a personal and a companionship prayer before going into a lesson and specifically ask for help with the language and that the spirit will prompt you to remember the things that you studied.

4. Remember how many people are praying for you.  Think about all the people in Sacramento that love you and are praying for you everyday.  Think about us in Utah.  Think about how in every temple session, they pray for the missionaries. Now think of how many temples there are in the world and how many sessions they do a day! Remember all of the families in the church that pray for missionaries on a daily basis.  You have millions upon millions of people praying for you every day!  That is truly amzing. Michael and I have put your name in the temple so that is only added prayers coming your way!  We are all here for you and helping the ways that we can.

5. I'll end with this for now.  In chapter 6 of PMG(Preach my gospel).  Man this chapter is the chapter of all chapters!  I loved this one.  Under the Christlike attribute Faith it says, "Faith is a principle of power.  God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in response to faith.  He works ACCORDING to the faith of His children. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith.  "Put your faith and trust in the Lord that he is going to help you. Study and practice the language.  Do all that you can and then put it back on Him.  Pray, and say, Heavenly Father, I have given 120% today in learning the gospel and everyday for that matter, so please help me today.......You will be amazed at what you say!  I promise you, that if you put your faith in the Lord and don't doubt, he will bless you with the gift of tongues.  You will be able to understand people more clearly and speak without thinking about it.

Never stop trying!  I know it is rough right now, but it will get better I promise!  Just keep trusting the Lord, remember how much he loves you and how much all of us love you.  We are all supporting you and the Lord will make sure that you are successful!  

Ciao Hermana! Te quiero!

Megan

3 Weeks Notice

     I've been thinking so much about the time I spend at work these days.  I am here roughly 40 hours a week.  Not to mention the time to prepare and the stress I endure on any given day.  My job has been a blessing in a lot of ways.  It seemed to fall into my lap at the perfect time.  I have been treated well and it has been a pleasure working with the many patients that I have met through my job!  However, the longer I am here the stronger I have learned and have developed the person that I am.  And I have come to see somethings that no longer fit how I want to spend my time on a daily basis.  

    Then a couple of months ago Mike and I received callings to be ward missionaries.  This greatly pleased me and I was excited to serve in this calling.  However, I have found it increasingly difficult to serve the time and hours that the calling should require due to the amount of hours that I work.  So, this has promoted much contemplation and some uneasiness about whether I should continue in this job or try to find something more suitable for who I am and what my lifestyle should be.  Well, one thing has led to another over the past several weeks and I finally found myself in a state a couple of Friday's ago after work, where I just felt so strongly that I should quit.  There were additional reasons that this feeling came over me and I struggled somewhat to just call it quits.  But deep inside was a nagging feeling that this is exactly what I was supposed to do.  I went home that weekend and  talked it over with my family and I prayed about it and took it with me on Sunday as I attended my church meetings. Even during our Sunday school lesson as we talked about faith I could hear the spirit whisper to me that I needed to exercise mine. It was interesting how the teacher was comparing the experience Moses had with the experience Joshua had of the parting of the red sea to Joshua having to go "into" the water before the way was made by the Lord for his people to cross.  This was likened to having the kind of faith that follows the spirit even though we may not see the end from the beginning.  Even if we have to walk into a dark place before we recieve sight!  This really made me contemplate on following the spirit in my situation.  I found myself thinking "But I have a missionary out!  We need the money!  What am I gonna do?" But still the feeling that I should quit my job and I needed to do it now while things are still pretty good, came to my mind.  

    So, on Monday May 19th I woke up with a pit in my stomach and a letter ready for me to hand to my boss.  I had no appetite and I didn't sleep but maybe an hour the night before.  So, I left for work.  When I got to work I looked at the schedule and found an open spot to hand my boss the letter.  It was within the first hour of the day and I figured if something stopped me I wouldn't do it.  But nothing stopped me and I found myself handing the letter to my boss.  He opened it and read it and then closed it and asked why.  I had a million reasons why. But what I had finally decided to tell him after tossing and turning all night, was that I needed a change and that I didn't want to work so many hours anymore. I also said that I wanted to get a job closer to home.  It was perfect and actually true considering the reasons I ever started thinking about quitting in the first place. 

     After I put in my 3 weeks notice I proceeded to get a headache. And that headache led to a terrible day for me.  I have to admit that I wondered if I had done the right thing since I felt so crappy!  I went home that night and ate dinner, sat down to watch TV and then I went to bed early.  I woke up in the middle of the night and felt a bit heavy hearted.  Mike was out of town working and Bryce and I had not prayed or anything before going to bed.  I felt strange.  But in the morning when I woke up, I felt an incredible feeling of freedom and vigor!  I knew that I had done the right thing!  And I felt so empowered by this new position I had put myself in.  My life was about to discover a new adventure! I had walked into the dark and now, after following the spirit, the Lord was parting the way for me to go on and do what He wants me to do.

     So, here I sit on the eve of my last week of work.  It's Sunday and I have had a very nice relaxing weekend with my family.  I feel invigorated by the new opportunity I have to serve my family, and my Heavenly Father.  I have loved my job and especially the people I have met through it.  I have learned to love myself more for who I am and what I have been able to accomplish there.  I also know that I am ready to embark on a challenging but rewarding time in my life.  I will own it.  I will embrace it and I will tackle it with faith.    

   

A letter to a Missionary from his Return Missionary brother

The following is a letter that our oldest son wrote to his younger brother who is currently serving a full time LDS mission in Tampa Florida.  Michael (our eldest son) served his mission in Sydney Australia between 2009-2011.  Elder Nelson sent a request to his older brother for advice regarding the ups and downs of the mission.  This was Michael's reply. 

Elder Nelson,

I have been thinking a lot about your email. Both your emails actually (the one you sent to the family and the one you sent directly to me). Your emails are always uplifting and thought provoking. First, I want to clarify what you want advice on. Is it simply that you feel like you are NOT continually progressing as a missionary? Is it that you feel some days are good and some days are not? Is it that you feel like you are not successful as a missionary? Is it that you are feeling inadequate about your new calling as a zone leader? And maybe struggling with juggling(cool rhyme alert) being a zone leader and still keeping up with your own area? Or all of the above?! Let's pretend it is all of the above and we'll go from there.

(I prayed that I would have the spirit as I replied to your email. I have faith the Lord will give me the words to say.)

WARNING: This email will be long. I hope you can return to it throughout the rest of your mission.

1. Some days are good and some days are not

Someone once told me that your mission is a foreshadowing for the rest of your life. This goes hand in hand with "your mission should not be the best two years OF your life but FOR your life."  This means, who you are as a full time missionary should tell you a lot about who you will be for the rest of eternity. On your mission you are building a foundation of SELF. You want to create a steadfast and immovable foundation of a disciple of Christ with a clear vision of your mission and calling because HIS mission becomes YOUR mission. I believe the mission is like a "boost button" on your personal pathway to your divine potential. This of course comes from the most crucial conversion story of your mission--yours. As you now know conversion is not one single moment in your life. It is a continual process. A refining process. Where are you at with your conversion? If you are struggling with trials and adversity, how are you using them to carry you forward in your conversion process?

What was one of the most important teachings that the prophet Lehi taught us in the Book of Mormon about the Plan of Salvation? In 2 Nephi 2:11 he writes- "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, it must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility." I think the most important thing we can learn from this scripture is that without opposition RIGHTEOUSNESS COULD NOT BE BROUGHT TO PASS NOR HOLINESS. For us to truly understand joy we must understand sorrow. This is not to say that we should look for sorrow and then expect joy, life will take care of that for us. But, we must understand that we are spiritual beings having a mortal/temporal experience. Perhaps, in these difficult times our spirits are crying out for peace and solitude that we desperately miss from the Premortal Existence but we must understand that we asked to come here and that we understood that we would have to be tried and tested to be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father and to become as He is. 

In other words expect to have bad days. Think of Alma and the Sons of Mosiah. Do you think every day they witnessed baptisms and success? They spent years proselyting until they saw success. Also, think about the Lord's ministry. The Master Teacher. Do you think everyday of his ministry was fruitful? He explained this himself with the Parable of the Sower. Sometimes the seed falls among fertile soil but sometimes it falls among thorns, rocks and dry ground. 

One of mine and Megan's favorite scriptures is Alma 26:27 "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."

2. Feeling like a successful missionary

This was one of my favorite things to talk about in Zone Meetings while I was a Zone Leader. Preach My Gospel gives us wonderful insight about the criteria of a "successful" missionary. In chapter 1 of My Purpose it says, "Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your COMMITMENT to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost." This was especially comforting in a mission like mine where some missionaries went their whole mission without baptizing one person. The same goes for Megan's mission. I know that in missions like Russia and Italy many missionaries go two years without seeing one person get baptized. 

My last three transfers I had to opportunity to train Elder Vaivela. I was humbled by the experience to train, especially someone who was so new to the gospel. It also caused me to have great anxiety that we had not baptized one person the first two transfers. In fact we did not really have any progressing investigators. We were teaching one tongan guy who was cousins with some of members and we taught him the lessons. When we asked him if he would be baptized we found out he was already a member. We had been told otherwise before teaching him. At first I felt like I had failed. I had failed to provide Elder Vaivela with the rich blessing of witnessing a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father be baptized in the Restored Church. However, later on I thought of the progress we had made with this wayward, less active son of our Heavenly Father. We had helped him to truly understand the Restoration of the Gospel and we also helped him to quit smoking. Although we had not helped him to be baptized we had helped him to be converted. And isn't that what it is all about?

You can imagine how ecstatic I was when we found Jay Nathan. We spent countless hours contacting. Most of our days were spent contacting on the streets and then visiting less actives. We fasted and prayed for someone to teach. I was at the end of my mission. Elder Vaivela was just starting. We still had not baptized one person. It was the last two weeks of my mission when we gave Jay Nathan a pass-a-long card. She was very standoffish and she did not seem interested. We received a text from her a couple days later. At first I thought Elder McConkie was pranking us because the text was too perfect. She said something like, "Hey, is it too late to learn about God? I am not in a good place and I want to be happy. Can you teach me?" I was like YEEEAAAAAAHHHHH! But really I was so excited. We met her and the first lesson went okay. She did not like to be asked questions during the lesson. She was very shy and she seemed to be a little embarrassed to be sitting at a park bench with two missionaries when we first taught her. We left her with a commitment and told her we would meet with her a couple days later. We followed up on our commitment and she had done everything we asked and more. We gave her 3 Nephi 11 to read and she read a few more chapters too. We asked what she liked about what she read and she recounted the story of the Lord visiting the Lamanites very well. We asked if she had prayed and she said she had. We asked if she got an answer and she said, "I know it is true." We invited her to be baptized and she said YES! I was on cloud 9. I truly felt like Ammon when he said, "my joy is full, yea my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God(Alma 26:11)." Jay was baptized on my last saturday and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on my last sunday. I left the next day.

I believe my joy was so intense because I had remained faithful and diligent through this great trial of patience and perseverance. "bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

I am not gonna lie I was discouraged at times. I learned to fight discouragement because discouragement is Satan's favorite tool to break down our Faith. It is our faith that gives us power. 

This scripture also motivated me 2Nephi 31:20 - "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, ye must press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

3. Being a Zone Leader

I was literally a Zone Leader for half of my mission. 12 months exactly if I remember right. I'll be honest, being a Zone Leader was one of my favorite things about my mission. I learned to love my fellow missionaries and to desire their success as well as my own. In fact as a zone leader (as a leader in any stewardship) I learned that I needed to put the success of those I lead above my own. "He who is the greatest among you, let him be your servant." This was hard at times especially when my mission president was encouraging us to have an "example" area for the rest of our zone. I learned to exercise my faith because it was only the Lord that could bring to pass the miracles necessary for our area to thrive and be an example area as my mission president desired. Time after time I saw miracles in my own area as I put my zone's area's first.

I have more to say but Elder Bednar says it better than me. For the sake of time I won't expound my thoughts but listen to Elder Bednar's talk from conference. He talks about Alma and his brethren asking the Lord to ease their burdens. They were slaves to the Lamanites. Did the Lord take their burdens from them? No. "He did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease and they did submit cheerfully."

Also read Elder Bednar's talk called "The strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement" This talk changed me as a missionary and played a HUGE part in shaping me into the man that I am today.

4. Continually progressing

This email has gone on long enough so I won't spend much time on this vast topic of progressing. I just want to make one point. While I was in Alaska I had a lot of time to ponder on my mission and discover more about myself. I read one of Neal A. Maxwell's books (I can't remember the name and his books are SO hard to read because he is a genius) and there was one sentence that has stayed with me. He said, "It is the plateaus of life that allow us to ponder on how far we have come." Whenever I think I am not progressing or I am looking for reassurance I remember that sentence. I think of how I was before my mission, who I was on my mission and who I am now. After that all I can do is express my gratitude for all the miracles and blessings the Lord has showered on me. And after I sincerely express my gratitude to the Lord I feel peace in where I am. I think we don't express our Gratitude for the Lord enough. They also addressed that in Conference. The Lord made it a commandment to express our gratitude to Him. Why? Because he knew it would only strengthen and comfort us.

That must be why the Lord says REMEMBER so many times in the Book of Mormon.

Finally, I want to say that Abinadi has always been my favorite Book of Mormon prophet. The way he laid down his life for the Lord and how he stood up to the wicked King Noah. I mean he had a Hammer Time moment! "Can't touch this..." One of the most inspiring things about his story is that he did not witness one conversion. Neverthelss, Alma heard his words and believed. And look what happened. Thousands were baptized because of Abinadi's unwavering testimony.

Love you Elder,

Michael

My 3 boys 

 Michael, Elder Stephen Nelson, and Bryce