Monday, May 30, 2011

May 30, 2011: Second Email from Eric Home

hey guys again, i am super sorry i couldnt really email you guys! i got emergency transferred in here on Saterday and due to the fact that it is Memorial day, all the Libraries are closed.. so we, as a district are all at the apple store in the mall, trying to email all of our families and everything! trying to email as long as we can for an hour... well if that.. we just have to email as long as we can, until we get kicked off! haha! and right now theres a dude that keeps talking to me, and i may have to log off soon, but next week, i will be at the library in tucker, and will be able to write back to everyone on monday :) so again i am very sorry for the inconvenience i have caused.. and i love all of you guys! until next week!
I will work hard in this area!

Love Always,
Elder Eric Dean Nelson

May 30, 2011: Emergency Transfer-Letter Home

hellooo!!! its so good to hear from you guys again! i am no longer in Marietta Georgia! On saterday morning i got a call and President Satteffield was on the other line! he said "Elder Nelson, I have a special assignment for you!?" "I really need your help!?" I said okay, what do you want and i will do it! President told me how there have been some elders in a ward called Brockett, in Tucker Georgia... and they have been "getting with" a youth (14yr old) girl in the ward.. they were completely dissobedient! and were not doing any missionary work really at all! and breaking the COMMANDMENTS! ecspecially the law of chasity! They were horrible elders and the members in the ward really hated missionaries! they didnt have any respect for the missionaries anymore! and the respect for missionaries was shot! and there was no respect there! One of the missionaries was sent home, and
d the other was transfered out to linnett georgia! it is crazy! one of the elders only stayed in the mission because he has 4 weeks left! crazy huh?! anyways enough talking about these disobedient elders! President gave me TWO assignments! 1.) Show the ward that missionaries are there to work! and number 2.) RECLAIM the ward at all costs! gain their trust and love and completely stay away from the "Gallagher family" do not talk to them.. i have permission to rebuke them if they try to talk to me! crazy right?! i am with an ELDER HORNER, he was transferred in here last week .. the 18th of may! and was with one of the disobedient elders for a week and a half! so he barely knows the area! there is no work dont here, so we basically reopened/whitewashed the area!! yesterday we were flying around talking to everyone doing tons of work! showing the members we are there to work!
we worked so hard! and it has been so crazy here! it is a car area! and elder horner is wonderful! he use to be really disobedient but he has been changing around! and is now the DL!! he is a really good elder! president wants me to keep him straight! in our district, we have the Vietnamese elders! which are sweet! they can go to all the southern states! so we are going to be going down to Atlanta today! but since it is memorial day, our library we go to is closed, Tucker is a subberb of Atlanta! it is pretty much NE Atlanta! Its way neat! since being here, we had 10 invesitgators at sacrement, 4 with a baptism date and are working our butts off! our library is closed, so we are in the Apple Store Emailing you guys! so i dont really have time to email all you guys, or answer your questions! i am very sorry! we need to get going soon! but i wanted to let you know what happened to me! and where i am now, and how much trust President Satterfield has in us to "Reclaim this ward" :) :) :) :) we will go and do (1 nephi 3: 7)

love always, elder nelson

Sunday, May 29, 2011

May 29, 2011: Dad's Letter to Eric

Hello Elder,
We get to see your picture in the church hallway now and it looks quite handsome. We are so happy you are out and learning ever more so day by day how to show love for the people by studying more about your Savior and serving those you come in contact with.
I received the forwarded memo from your president. It is an exciting document he has written and wants to share with so many. I have not officially begun to read but will start this round tomorrow and am excited at the results of reading it fast. In the past I have always read slowly, studying as I go but can get the whole picture more quickly now this round.
Kevin has already started communications about deer hunting. The applications are due the middle of June. If money allows we may put in for hunting the Kiabab which is North of the Eastern end of the Grand Canyon. They have some huge muleys up there.

We will be seeing grandpa tomorrow at the cemetery. We should have fun doing that.
Gina asked today at church if she could see you and knows you are in Georgia. She was thinking about you about 1:10 pm.
Taft is coming home Wednesday. I'm sure he is excited and probably quite sad. That huge object of a goal or accomplishment or frontier is now almost behind him and oh so quickly. Nineteen years of anticipation, two years of work, and over. A good thing to have ready for your return is an in depth plan of what you want to do after the mission. I didn't have a plan per se accept work a little, og to school to get some basic classes out of the way and then decide what I wanted to do. I really didn't know what I wanted to do as a career choice But then again it can be quite hard to know what might suit a person. It's okay if you don't know, I just thought it may help with post mission life adjustment but then again that is quite a ways off and you don't even need to think about it now.
Hope you are well and happy. Watch out always for Satan's suttle, tiny, almost unseen embarrassments he will laugh at you with called sins. Try always to see them coming. Obey all the mission rules and white handbook guidelines and learn all you can. Knowledge truly is power. Remember that to be tempted isn't yet sinning, it is holding onto that thought and not dismissing it that we find ourselves already conquered, embarrassed and looking ,begging, and pleading for forgiveness. The Spirit has been offended and has long since left and we are alone, scared, and feeling ill with cold looking for that warmth we are so comfortable with and happy is our guide and securer. Repentance can be quick as we quickly realize the Spirit has left and we feel to ask for forgiveness. Our Loving Savior is extremely quick to forgive and does. He worked hard to work out our Salvation and isn't going to keep forgiveness from any of us now if we work for it.
We are a people so blessed with a knowledge of our Savior and with the ability to make covenants with Him and with our Heavenly Father. We are so blessed to have the scriptures to help us to know them better and a living prophet to give us the current scripture we need today. That is being blessed is it not?
It is my prayer we endure to the end in the gospel covenant we have entered into and when we are not enduring that we quickly see our error and repent and assume our course back to our Heavenly Father.
I love you very much and love our Savior and Heavenly Father very much.
Talk to you soon again. Love, Dad

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

May 24, 2011: Eric's Letter to President

Dear President Satterfield,

Goals: 2 2 7 4 3 21 70
Actuals: 1 2 5 5 1 22 76

Hello President Satterfield! How are you doing this great day? We have been really busy here in the Kennesaw Mountain Ward! Everyday we have been out busy with missionary work! Even if the days we are having are really trying days, we still stay out harvesting the fields, or preparing them for the Second Coming of Christ to this beautiful Earth! We are disappointed to announce that we forgot our planners from last transfer, so the numbers we reported are to the best of our memory, and we apologize for that. We believe they are correct though.

Today, we went over the instruction the Lord revealed to you about our "plan of action" to baptize someone this transfer! We came up with the following: 1.) Every night when we plan, to faithfully ask for inspiration for the next day, and in the prayer, we will stop and listen for that inspiration to come to us. When we receive that inspiration, we will go to that area the next day and tract for one hour everyday with faith. 2.) TALK WITH EVERYONE! We will talk with everyone, even if they are out of our way, and we have to back track a little bit, we will talk with everyone. 3.) Teach with the Spirit in unity and in love and incorporate the Eight Lessons. 4.) Every night we will repent faithfully in our personal and companionship prayers and DO better the next day. 5.) When we find the person Heavenly Father wants us to find we will meet with them twice a week, and on the third lesson we will get them into a members home for a lesson and dinner. And number 6.) We will invite the investigator to be baptized in the first lesson. We know and promised with Heavenly Father that if we do these things with FAITH we will find that elect, hiding under the weeds and dirt in the vineyards. I know we can accomplish this as we exercise our faith and diligence everyday as we follow this guideline. It is such a blessing to communicate with Heavenly Father and receive revelation! Today, the veil felt so thin as we kneeled before him in prayer with faith. Thank you for this challenge, I believe and feel that we will accomplish this task given to us by Heavenly Father.

This week has been great! We have had so many spiritual experiences! One of which happened last Saturday, We had a rough day of being rejected all day and the warmth just made it the more enjoyable for everyone. We exercised our enthusiasm to the limits that day, and at the end of it I had this memory come to me, it is some advice my brother gave to me before leaving for my mission, he said "Lighten the blow of a bad day and buy a milkshake!" I consulted with Elder Paxman and he was totally in for the idea. We grabbed our backpacks, and set off to the Chick-Fil-A right by our home. Right before we got to our destination, we passed a teenage guy and girl outside of a Krystal, and they yelled at us some more... "Satanists!" and laughed at us. Heavenly Father knows me so well! He knew i was physically and mentally tired, and had placed this trial before us. I stopped, and looked over at Elder Paxman, who said, "Don't do it, lets just go!" and then i looked over to them and said, "Let's go and talk to them about Jesus Christ!" and started to walk across the parking lot to confront them. They ran inside and we walked up to a employee sitting outside and he said, "Those guys were jerks huh?" And we said ya and talked with him and talked about missions and the rejection we get, and then we started teaching him. While teaching I looked up and saw the two kids that yelled at us, and I smiled and waved at them, and they smiled and waved back also and continued to laugh. They must have been talking pretty loud, because another employee came out and he said, "Hey, I have some questions for you guys!" And we were like "Okay, hopefully we can answer them for you!" And we started talking about our basic beliefs and found where he was at spiritually and I felt inspired to ask, "How bad do you want to know if the true Gospel is out there?" He said, "Really bad!" And I said in response, "What would you do to find out for yourself?" He said, "I would do anything!" I glanced over to Elder Paxman with a smile and we taught about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon! and It was such a spiritual experience! As I recited the whole First Vision to him, I made eye contact the whole time, and the spirit was so strong! It was so real and vivid! He is an amazing guy! And he has text us since and told us how enlightening the Book of Mormon is! It is so cool to see how Heavenly Father prepared that whole day, just for that one experience! I know that Heavenly Father used us to find him, and planned it all out from the beginning of the day! It is so neat to see how he put us through a whole day of rejection, and really knowing us personally and knowing what we will do in certain situations! I love Heavenly Father so much! And am so grateful for that experience! I am so grateful for this experience! And thank you for being such a great Mission President! I want to include some fun facts every letter I write you, This weeks fun fact is... We were honked at 18 times from the last letter I sent you! HAHA!
Have a great week President! I love you! And thank you for everything you do!

Love Always,
Elder Nelson

Monday, May 23, 2011

May 23, 2011: Pics from the Field











May 23, 2011: President's Challenge

hey guys! please read this! and do this activity! it will bless your lives so much! I am doing it right now, i started the 18th of may and right now i am on page 80 of the Book of Mormon, and it has brought so much joy to me already! and has blessed me to always have his spirit burning bright, all day long! :) please do it! And we can talk about new things your learn, and how it strengthens your testimony so much! let me know if you are going to do it so i can talk with you guys about your progress.. (scriptures..thoughts..joy) I know it will come to your life! thanks


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Georgia Atlanta Mission
Date: Wed, May 4, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Subject: Presidents Reading Assignment
To: Steven H Satterfield


Dear Elders and Sisters,

As you know, the Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit is the most powerful resource in conversion. The most important person for you to convert is yourself! You can't do that without the Spirit, and you can't have the Spirit if you don't read the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Despite how many times you may have read it in the past, the most accurate place to read the doctrines of Christ is in the Book of Mormon. It will draw you closer to God than any other book. The Spirit will come into your hearts, and you will be strengthened against temptation, gain a stronger testimony of the Savior and his Restored Gospel, become a better example and servant in the Kingdom, you will have greater love for the Savior and greater resolve to live His commandments, and you will acquire the strength necessary to face the adversities that are ahead as we advance through these latter days in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Thus, I am asking you to read the following and PLEASE FORWARD this email TO YOUR PARENTS OR GUARDIAN or others you so desire to join you in this exercise.


MEMO: To ALL Missionaries of the Georgia Atlanta Mission, their parents, guardians, siblings, or other supportive people that may be invited by a Georgia Atlanta Missionary to join in this opportunity.

FROM: President and Sister Steven H. Satterfield

Beginning 18 May, 2011, you are all invited to participate in reading the Book of Mormon together over a 12-week period, concluding 9 August, 2011. Fundamental to the "restoration of the gospel" in this, the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, is the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. "The Book of Mormon is a powerful evidence of the divinity of Jesus Christ. It is proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith." PMG page 103

Here are the parameters of the assignment:

1. Begin reading by 18 May, 2011 and conclude no later than 9 August, 2011. This will require reading about 7 pages per day.

2. Before reading, kneel down and pray, asking for the Spirit to be with you as you read.

3. In your weekly emails (between missionary and those at home) to each other have "some" dialogue about something that impressed you about your reading of the Book of Mormon that week. Keep a sticky note or notebook handy to record those thoughts.

4. Obtain a new, inexpensive Book of Mormon and three different colored pencils to use in marking scriptural passages along with one blue pen. Use these three different colored pencils and pen to mark the following types of scriptures:

a. Colored pencil #1: Mark all passages that make reference to "Christ", His name, His words (often preceded by a prophet saying "thus sayeth the Lord", His mission and/or His atonement for mankind.

b. Colored pencil #2: Mark all passages that refer in anyway to the The Doctrine of Christ: Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, the gift or influence of the Holy Ghost and enduring faithfully to the end of ones life.

c. Colored pencil #3: Mark all passages that teach Doctrines of the Gospel (not included in "a" or "b" above) such as: prayer, resurrection, judgment, priesthood authority, forgiveness, the Fall, Gathering of Israel, etc., etc. Mark the scripture and write in the margin the doctrine taught.

d. Blue pen: Circle the word or various forms of the word "deliver" whenever it is used directly or as a metaphor to refer to the deliverance from sin and death the Savior will provide for ALL mankind. (This will include the vast majority of the times you see the word deliver or forms of that word.) In addition, circle the word "remember" or versions of the word such as "remembrance" and write in the margin what the writer is asking us to remember.

SUGGESTIONS: Use a new, inexpensive Book of Mormon. Do not worry about marking things neatly since you will need to read 7 pages a day and must "move along". Reading the Book of Mormon at this pace is different from studying individual verses. You want to get the "big picture" of the Book so DON'T SLOW DOWN. Read at least 7 pages a day and quickly mark scriptures. Save close study of individual passages or doctrines for another time and a different exercise.

Some years ago Sister Satterfield and I were invited to read the Book of Mormon three times in twelve weeks or once every 30 days! We both did that, and it was one of the great experiences of our lives. Heavenly Father seemed to "run interference" for us with our worldly cares, as we diligently prioritized to put Him first. When I finished the assignment on the 90th day, I remember setting down the Book of Mormon, turning to my wife and saying: "No WONDER they changed the name of the Book of Mormon to: 'The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ!' You CAN'T read that book without knowing Jesus Christ is our Savior."

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE. The Book of Mormon is the physical witness to the truth of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith. This we KNOW to be TRUE.

President and Sister Satterfield
Georgia Atlanta Mission


V/R

Elder Vernon H. McCoy
Georgia Atlanta Mission
Finance Secretary

May 23, 2011: Eric's Letter to Dad

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eric Nelson
Date: Mon, May 23, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: Beautiful May
To: Michael Nelson


Hello dad! Thank you for your wonderful letter! I thoroughly love when your write me letters/talks! They always encourage me to become better! Thank you! I am doing Fabulous over here! The girls are maturing so much! THanks great! I am so joyful to see Heavenly Father Bless them so much with a loving family and life to grow up into!
That thing my mission president sent was an assignment given to all of us missionaries here in GA and we are suppose to encourage our families to do the assignment also! Its about reading the Book of Mormon in 12 weeks, or 7 pages a day and use 3 colored pencils for highlighting special things! and use a pen to circle the words "Deliver" and "remember" but i would like to ask you if you could do this with me? I am only 6 days into it and i am on page 80 of the Book of Mormon, i am trying to complete the assignment in 5 weeks! i think i can do it! It has blessed my life so much! i feel the spirit constantly and have a great love for every person i come into contact with! it is so amazing to feel that spirit constantly the whole day in the Georgia Humidity haha! I encourage you to preform this assignment, okay? You get a big picture of the book of mormon as you read and it really helps so much! it is so great! With the first colored pencil, you highlight any reference to "Christ" so... "Lord.. Thee.. Holy One of Israel.. I.. His words.. His atonement.. his mission.. and all of that" you highlight all of that with your 1st colored pencil and The Book of mormon is so true! it is so littered with Him and his doctrine and the doctrine of the gospel! its the greatest blessing ever! i love it and i know that you can come to the same thurst i have right now for the scriptures! :) that is the assignment i would like your to do, and then on mondays when we write, we can talk about what we learned during our weeks studies! :)
I will be an examplt for others! and model for all others to come unto! those pictures you guys have and are sending i want so i can show members and companions of my background and where i come from so i can develop my relationships with them so much better.. do you think thats a good idea?
Thank you very much for the wonderful uplifting letter! I loved it! and really appreciate it! the Savior really has done everything for us, by grace we are saved.. yes saved so much, but to our best potential we must preform works and show Heavenly Father that we want to Prepare the foundations here on this earth and that we want the blessings we can recieve if we press forward faithful to the end and we when we get to the next life, that mansion will be placed upon that foundation that we built here on this earth! I Love him so much!
I love you so much! And have a great week! i cant wait to hear from you soon!
Love always, Elder Nelson

May 23, 2011: Eric's Letter to Mom

HELLLLLOO mother and family! THank you for the beautiful letter! :) i really enjoyed reading it! I will be here in Marietta Georgia for another 6 weeks! and am so glad i have the opportunity to serve/ spend it with elder paxman! I love him! i will be here until June 29th! and that is the next transfer! :) but that means i will be on a bike for another 6 weeks in the Georgia Humidity! :) hahaha! I am doing fabulous today!
I have a really coool story that happened the other day! We went out right after studies, and ate an early lunch and stayed out until like 7pm, because we didnt have a teamup or dinner, so we worked the hardest we could all day and took dinner really late! but anyways, it was really hot and i think because of that, it had everyone in really bad moods and everyone we talked to was reallly angry on the streets and doors were being slammed in our faces non stop.. we had a really tough/ long day and people were screaming at us all day and our spirits were pretty demolished later in the day.. i had a thought come to me when we got in for the night.. "TO SOFTEN A BLOW OF A HARD DAY, BUY A MILKSHAKE" hahaha! so i convinced e. paxman that we were gonna do that to cheer us up, and we started walking down to target area, right by a Chick-Fil-A to get a milkshake, and before we got there, we passed a Crystal and there was a teenager kid and girl outside of it and he yelled "SSSSSAAATTTAANNNN" and laughhed at us and all of that, i stopped, smiled, looked at him and e pax was like.. "No man, dont do it!" he knew i couldnt take anymore.. Heavenly Father knows my limits and he honestly knows me so well! better than i know myself! I started walking over to this kid that yelled at us and i was gonna tell him about how much Jesus loves him.. but he ran inside, and there was an employee outside that was like.. "what jerls huh?!" We were like "Ya, hahaha!" and started talking about mission work and the gospel and i looked up and saw the guy and girl inside starring at us and smilling, so i smilled and waved! haha! and they must have been talking, cause another employee came out and was like "you guys are mormon right? i have some questions for you! :)" we got all excited and we talked about his religious background and i felt inspired to ask... "How bad do you wanna know if the true church is out there?" he said, "I wanna know really bad" i said, "what would you do to know?" he said, "I would do anything" I smiled and started teaching about the Savior and his apostasy and the restoration and then when i got to the first vision i recited the whole thing while staring him in his eyes! not breaking contact! and the spirit was just so strong! and it was simple amazing! and then i told him about proof of that restoration was the Book of Mormon and he loved it! He was so excited to hear about it! and i promised him and bore solid amazingly guided testimony! it was so amazing! its so neat to see Heavenly Father guide me to him! He knows us so well, i think the whole day was prepared just so when that experience came i would do what he knew i was gonna do! I loved it! i loved being a vessel for the lord! it was amazing! we were so happy after it! :) we went and bought a milk shake! hahahah

We dont have to many plans today! :) we do our laundry as soon as we wake up, and i have been making elder paxman wake up every morning and i make us workout hard for like 45 minutes everyday! haha he is like physically dead all the time, we get in and he falls asleep hahah! I dont really have time to write letters though! i was barely able to write carrie akemon back that wrote me 2 months ago! haha i never really have time! i have lost weight because of the humidity and the working out so much! i am back down to 194! i was 191 when i left, and i got up to 204 a few weeks ago! but i am now at 194 :)
it has been in the really high 80s and some days have been in the 90s! and the humidity is starting to kick in! i can never dry off, you get out of the shower in the morning and you have beads of sweat drip down while your justy sitting there for p. study! haha its crazy! and when we go out biking, you never stop sweating all day until you find a house to teach in haha! 100 degrees of the AZ sun sure sounds fun compared to always being wet and in a sauna hahaha ;)COOL!! i am so excited to get that box! I will probably get it like thursday or friday! :) did you send it to my address i have been at for the past 3 months? thats where i will be for 6 more weeks! :)
thank you though for putting that together and sending it to me! it means so much to get a wonderful box from your family! it always helps you feel that love from your family again!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA little gina and the onion! thats freakin nasty! hahahah but so funny! that made me laugh! haha! just leave out her dinner, right in front of her door, so if she doesnt finish it, it will be the first thing she sees when she wakes up at night! ahaha :)thats halarious!
I am So EXCITED for Nicole! and her baptism! you guys have to send me a picture or two! :) I know that baptism is such a wonderful gift given to us that allows us to take that first step back to heavenly father!

Family Videos of us naked? WOW! hahahaha sounds like tons of fun! i miss gathering together watching those videos back home! :) i really dont have any more time, i gotta run! but know that i personally know that the church is true! and that "The Gospel of Jesus Christ is lived in the Do-ing" and that it brings so much joy and peace and comfort to us as we live it and earnestly give in to Heavenly Father! I know that it blesses every life that it comes in contact to! and that Heavenly Fathjer wants us to worship him on sundays at church for both of our benefits! :) I hope you guys are gdoing fabulous?! and know that i love you guys! have a great week! and i wish to Thank You for the wonderful package you guys are sending me! i know that the church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i know that our family is the house, and love is the cement! as we apply love, the bricks will stick to make a house of the lord! :) have a great week!
Love Always,
Your Son,
Elder Nelson

Sunday, May 22, 2011

May 22, 2011: Letter from Dad to Eric

How are you doing Eric? We are real busy now with the two cute little girls out of school. It is fun having them home but it can get pretty rough and tumble sometimes especially now that Gina can intimidate Nicole and chase her around.
You mentioned that we ought to work together on what you mission president had written you. I'm not sure what you mean or need by that. I only got the part where he is talking about you hanging in there faithful regardless the companion you may get. That is what needs be done. Even with the home pictures we are sending hoping not to get you trunkey, one always need keep his nose in the work. Yuo will probably be an AP soon so share with every missionary and non-member and member alike that humble zeal that bubbles out of someone with a testimony. Always keep it humble remembering who the great mediator is and Him pleading our case as a friend and not as a lawyer. Not a hireling but one a Savior who saves with His payment; a horrible price , that we may go on to greater heights without the same suffering, pain , or sorrow.( D & C 45: 3-5) His yoke is light compared to what it could be ie. that suffering He endured. That is the good news of the gospel that we can avoid such misery and banishment as He had to for us if we will but follow Him and keep His commandments, " His Yoke." ( Mosiah 16 ) We can only hope, work, and pray that all will come unto Him that they not have to take the hard way but can rest assured they are on the path arm in arm with Him returning to our Heavenly Father. ( D&C 19: 15-19 )

I started this letter late and need to head off to bed but have a great day and week. Taft is home in 10 days. Be so happy you are still out there and can find more "Mark"s. Work hard and rest well. Much love, Dad

(D&C 19:38)

Monday, May 16, 2011

May 16, 2011: Eric's Letter Home

date Mon, May 16, 2011 at 7:12 AM
subject Re: Middle of May!!!

Hello Familia! I am doing wonderful here in GA! Transfers are on the 18th! so on Wednesday, and we find out tonight if we are getting transfered and what all is going on though! I talked to Elder Fisher, my trainer the other day and found out that he is going to be the Assissant To the President! Crazy huh? We have 2 elders coming in this transfer, one from Belize and the Other from New Zealand, and a Sister from South Korea! Crazy huh?! We finished off the week strong! we had 4 investigators at church yesterday and 5 less actives! I have been working my butt off! I know for myself that this is the true Gospel that Jesus wants us all to join, and partake of the peace and happiness that it blesses our lives with! He want us to worship him because he wants to bless us and as we follow his commandments we can follow him and feel that joy that cant be matched by anything... especially money and worldy possessions...
I would wait to send that box out, because i dont know whats happening to me yet.. but next monday i will be in a new area possibly or whatever, and will be there for 6 more weeks, but i would just hate to have you guys sent it and have another elder get it and rip into it! and i wouldnt be able to see whats in it ya know? :) haha if you guys could send it next tuesday or something that would be great! i will tell you guys where i am and my new address possibly, next monday that will stick with me for the following 6 weeks! but i am so glad to have you guys be in my life and help me and bless me with these wonderful packages! I recently read your letters and especially when i saw that gina can now recide the alphabet,, i broke down into tears.. it is soooo great to have her progress this much! what a blessing! i love how Heavenly Father Is blessing her to do that! I know that it is because Heavenly Father that he has given her the ability to do that! It is so neat recognize those blessings from him so directly! It is so beautiful! I am so proud of her! tell her that! Thank you guys for everything!! i really needed that! It is so great to see that blessing! Keep me updated on her progress! :) You guys are the best!
Mark Jones is doing Wonderful! He has been activaly engauging in church and loves it more and more everytime he goes! :) I am going to have him record a 3 minute clip on my camera about his story and his change! because he cant write! :) i just wish i could send it to you guys! i may have to put it onto a CD or something! :) The members are so wonderful! they will look after him!
The weather has been heating up hardcore! haha it was in the 90s and the humidity was pretty high also, but during the summer it will be like 5x the humidity haha! its so crazy! like in the apartment i was just sitting there writting a friend and i was sweating! u honestly never stop sweating, only in AC haha! so when we bike 20 miles a day, you sweat non stop! all day! haha and when u get to an appt it looks like you are going to die and went on a 20 mile sprint haha!
Keep me updated on the kids and how their doing okay? :) i love to hear about them! and the progress Heavenly Father blesses them with! I remember the firefighters coming and spraying us! haha i bety shes gonna have so much fun! And the volcanoes they made are gonna erupt also?! haha what a party! ima have to celebrate that way when i hit my 6 month mark! its crazy! in 2 more weeks about, i will have been out for 4 months! crazy huh? its like a snowball that rolls down the hill! Its just going so fast!
Thats neat that kevins graduation went great! :) im proud of him that he now has a job and he is going to be working! thats GREAT! Mom, how did you like the temple? what did you feel when you were there? in your heart? i know it may have been alittle crazy with the kids, but what did you feel in your heart?
I will be praying for you guys and the work! With Faith All Things Are Possible, I have gained that knowlegde time after time! i had an elder from my district here with me for a few days last week and there was a guy that was broken down half way up a massive hill and we went and tried to push it for him.. it didnt move, and we had these feelings that something was gonna happen! and we both started to say individual prayers, i was on the passenger side, elder calcote was behind the car and we were saying silent prayers and were pusjhing with all of our might! The car started rolling, up the hill and we were doing all we could, but without the help of God we honestly couldnt move that car! The car was starting to move outta control and we got it to the top of the hill and we were phsically done.. once we do everything we can with faith, heavenly father will bless us! and we can feel that joy and happiness that is in store for us! Faith is everything! cool story right? we even ended up teaching the guy even though he was Athiest..
Thats so great that you were able to talk to your sister mom! How is she doing? i want you to call her once a month okay? for the rest of my mission.. mom will you do that?
YOU GOT THE MOTHERS DAY CARD?! yes! thats great! I was starting to think that you didnt! i sent it almost 3 and a half weeks ago! crazy huh? elder paxman said that his parent just got his, and he sent like 15 pictures home, but when they got it, it was in an envelope and only one picture was left in it!
I wrote Bro Bennett a poem and he taped it right in his front door! haha :)
I will let you guys know if i get transferred and whats going on the next time i get on to write.. so next monday! :)
But i will be praying for you guys! Again, Know that i love you! and you guys are the best family anyone can ask for! have a great week! oh ya, I sent Gpa nelson a letter with some pictures in it, can you make sure he got it? Thanks! I love you guys!

Love Always,
Your Son,
Elder Nelson

May 16th: Pics from the A.T.L.






Wednesday, May 11, 2011

May 11, 2011: President's Letter

om Eric Nelson
to Shaun Nelson
date Wed, May 11, 2011 at 6:16 AM
subject Re: Birthday

Hey man, i didnt have time on monday.. But i want to wish you and Kelly a HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry its alittle belated!

heres my letter to president:

President Satterfield,
Goal: 1 3 6 4 3 20 70
Actual: 1 3 6 5 2 28 64
Hello President Satterfield! How was your week? Is it warming up down there in Peachtree City also? Things here are going great! I love missionary work! It brings such a pleasure to me personally! I have worked on serving my companion even more! I know that through service we can feel Heavenly Father guiding us to polish up our Christ-like attributes. And trying to be an "example to all the unbelievers" has helped me develop such a love for the gospel. These past few days I have been reflecting upon a quote, "You will always miss one hundred percent of the shots that you don't take" and reflecting upon this has pushed me to become a more effective and efficient missionary. I am on exchanges with Elder Calcote right now and see that he is a great Elder, He is really knowledgable and I love him so much, he is quite the worker! We are going to try using Beginning Teaching in all of our contacts and teaching! I am excited to see the spirit testify to everyone! Elder Paxman and I have been doing great! He is such a great companion to serve with! He has taught me so much! Last Saterday was Mark Jones baptism, and it went great! The spirit was really strong and it testified to all of us of the change and progression he has made! It was truly magnificent, such a blessing to see him progress so much and change his life around and come to the knowledge of the Restoration of the Gospel! President, today I completed reading Preach My Gospel, and it was such a great experience to take part of, it has helped me learn honestly how to proclaim HIS gospel, and rely on him for everything. It has let me act upon faith constantly and always improve to become a better missionary. I hope you are having a great week! I wanted to thank you personally for being such a great example to look up to and to show us all how to improve! I am excited about this Book of Mormon assignment! I think it will help us re-build our foundations strong and immovable! I hope you are enjoying it out here in the mission field! Know that i love you and Sister Satterfield so much!
Love Always,
Elder Nelson

Monday, May 9, 2011

May 9, 2011: Pics from Atlanta











May 9, 2011: Eric's Letter to Mom

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eric Nelson
Date: Mon, May 9, 2011 at 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: So nice talking to you!!!!!
To: Lisa Nelson


Mother Dearest! It was so great hearing your voice and dad! it really was nice! :) i loved it! hahah at Christmas ima have to leave you guys a few more voicemails! :) haha! Im so glad that you had such a wonderful mothers day! im wondering if you got my mothers day card i bought for you and sent out a few weeks ago? Yesterday i went on over to the hopkins home for mothers day and i fingerpainted a mothers day card for her :) haha! we had ribs and steak for dinner with mashed potatoes! haha :) great southern food! and we had Klondike bars haha! it was sweet! tonight were gonna get brownies and ice cream!! :)
WOW! im way excited to get those pictures! :) i love getting pictures! because like everywhere you go you can take those pics! and like when transfers come up, i can take a picture and tape it to the back of planner i carry around everywhere, so then that way i can always have those good memories with me :) can you guys send that package out in 2 weeks? because then i will let you guys know that i am in a new area or whatever, so then i can get it faster :) cause if you send it here, i may be transfered and then i may not get it :( haha! but i will let you guys know my transfer results not next monday but the monday afer that :) cause transfers are on the 18th of the month! I would love church cds! i can never get enough of them! like the ones i have now get old fast cause thats all you can listen to, but those and tortiallas are the best! :) i would love the cds left behind, one church ones tho..
I was able to talk to shaun and kelly and josh and lisa and kevin :) it was great to talk to them! i gotta talk all i wanted! it was so sweet!
Thank you for the compliment :) i have grown so much! and am so thankful to have grown so much! I will stay safe, A mission is the best/safest place to be in this world of craziness nowadays! :)
I hope kevins graduation goes great! i will be praying for him! i cant wait to see the pictures of his graduation! i hope it goes all planned to schedule!
Joey skyped with his family? thats way cool! ima have to ask president about that for next time! that would be neat to do! It was great to hear nicole and gina! :) i hope they have a great summer! and have fun at gmas pool! :) we have a baptism for june 4th, but it will probaably fall through or we will have to push it back

I gotta run, but i hope you guys have a great week! i love you guys! and it was so great to hear you yesterday! i hope u guys have a blessed day ;)

Love Always, Elder Nelson

Monday, May 2, 2011

May 2, 2011: Mission Pics!

May 2, 2011: Eric's Letter to Shaun

hey man! i wanna thank you for getting me those addresses! I am so excited to call you guys in 6 days! when will be the best time to call you guys? write back asap man, i will get on this wed so i can forward you my letter to pres, but i wont write back, but lettme know what time i should call you guys, okay? :) i have some crazy stuff to tell you! lastnight we went to a ladies house that was possessed be the devil! freakin crazy intense man! i will tell you all about it on sunday! OSAMA is DEAD? no way! finally man! i wonder how all of that went down! i bet it was crazy to be in the position of those special forces guys! thats sweet though that hes finally taken care of! keep me updated okay man?

I recieved your guys box! THANK YOU guys for that box! it was freakin sweet! i love thet shirt man! im waring it right now, and were gonna go play disc golf after this! but thanks man! i love the book and cd too! i have listened to that cd at leaast like 20 times already haha! its freakin sweet! Hes such a good singer! i didnt know you were a ZL? i really loved your letter bro, it helped me so much! it helped strengthen me and build me patience with my comp! i loved the advice you gave me, i may have to impliment some techniques like the 1000000 dollar check hahaha! every door here in the south that has a "God bless" or "Bless our Home" door mat i make sure to use it against them if they dont want to have a prayer haha! :) i recently started to shout, "Its Jesus People" when we get the "who is it through the door" hahah and they usually open it! :) but then there are d bags that dont haha! the other day, we were on a corner of an intersection and a car full of teenagers was turning and the driver said to the passenger, "yell something at them" and the passenger was like "why?! i love jesus" hahaha it was sweet! :) everyone here loves Christ! everyone has religion though, which makes it hard! but its the best mission ever! i wouldnt change it ever! i wish i could change my comp tho haha! but i love him with all of my heart! and have learned so much from him!

Chris Browns bday doesnt mean much to me, thanks though! how has my FB been going? hahah i forgot about it! man, i am 1/8th done with my mission! crazy huh?!

I gotta run man! i hope you and kelly have a great week! oh, theres a girl in my ward that knows Carrie Akemon, she was her EFY counselor here in Georgia! haha crazy huh? :) her name is "ashley nichols" but ya man, i gotta run! my time is up! i will call u guys in 6 dias! thank you guys for the wonderful letter and package and shirt and cd and book! that book is sweet and also i wanna thank you for the tape measure haha i got a kick outta it :) haha i will use it, and report back to you! haha my arms have dropped to a 16 :/ but its for the lord and i can always get it back in 21 months! :) ahah cant wait to talk to you guys soon! thanks for the package again! have a great week!

Love Always, Tu Hermano,
Elder Nelson

Sunday, May 1, 2011

May 1, 2011: Dad's Letter to Eric

We have had a busy week and a tiring one. I have been getting up at 4:15 every morning to finish a portion of the TMC project. Phase 2 is now done.
Thanks for that interesting, fresh in the mind, story of that great Spiritual experience you had the night before you e-mailed us about your safety status. I'm glad you wrote when you did and that your feelings were still vivid in your mind. That was quite an experience. How is that guy coming along? Is your comp still sleeping through discussions? I did that once while sitting in a large, warm, soft chair, having recently arrived in Peru. I just couldn't help falling asleep! I was still getting over the time difference and work habit change and was exhausted. Spanish is all that was going on and all alien to me and I slowly and surely faded out waking just before my comp finished up the discussion. I was embarrassed and full of flea bites as the chair was infested with them. My comp didn't mind much and I think kind of understood.

We are doing well here and excited to talk to you in a week. It will be an especial great Mother's day for your Mom.
We hope the storms you are having continue to go around you at least those that could take your life! you have quite a future of service to render and I'm sure that as you follow the mission rules you will be protected. It was always comforting to me to feel I was following my mission rules. I didn't worry much about the things going on around me as far as climate or even human danger about.
keep on teaching all you can. That is always the most fun part of any mission and I hope yours is filled with lots of it.

I've had Cline Keele helping me some with some nearby work projects. He helps after school when he can. He's a good help. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts in our behalf. We are doing very well. I'm going to sign off now and hit the sack. Hope you are happy and your are moving forward.

Much love, Dad

May 1, 2011: Mom's Letter to Eric

Dear Eric,

First of all we are very happy to hear that you were not hurt
in the storms of last week! Did any tornadoes touch down
near your area? Was anyone you know hurt or had damage
to their homes or anything? I hope all is well and things will
improve for you folks there in the South!!

I don't remember in Ohio if we had those sirens or not.
If we did I don't remember them! I do know when we still lived
back there. There was a really horrible tornado that went thru a town
called Zenia I think. It was a mess. And took a long time for the
people to recover from.

So how has every thing been going for you these last few days?
Are you still riding the bike alot? we enjoyed the last pictures you
sent! It looks like a birthday party for somebody there? Was it
a member or investigator?

I guess you got the package we had sent last week. I hope the stuff arrived ok.
Were the tortillas still alright? Remember to keep them in the fridge.
Did you find any speakers for the cd player yet?

I think we have some Church cds or you do somewhere here at home.
If you need us to send any we can if u want!

Yesterday we took the girls up to Madera Canyon for a nice hike
and it was beautiful weather! Alittle windy but cool like in the low
80's! Anyways the kids were running way ahead of your Dad and me!
We thought they would get tired and Gina with her asthma would
start coughing but they had fun. And in school they each had gotten
these Pizza Hut reading certificates. So we got their little personal
pan pizzas and they enjoyed that!

Today there was a really cool breeze and it was like 73 . We had all the windows
open in our house it was great! But this week we are to warm up in the
low to mid 90's!! Summer will be upon us soon. I remember at your graduation
it was pretty HOT!
Nicole really loves to watch those National Geographic Wildlife shows now!
She watches some scary stuff on there and doesn't even get scared it's wierd!

We talked to josh and his nice family tonight. they are all doing well.
Hyrum and Josh will have birthdays this Friday and Saturday!
I guess Hyrum is having a baseball party! I told them to take some
pictures! We will try to call them this weekend too!

talked to Kevin he is doing well. He graduates on May 11th at 6:00 pm.
We are going to go up to Mesa that day and maybe spend the night too.
it should be fun. He told me tonite he has 2 dates most likely lined up for
this week! He says there are pretty girls up there! your Dad told Kevin
he needs to have 3 dates for the week! ha! ha!

Well we are looking forward to being able to talk to you in a few days!
Josh was saying in his ward the Bishop was saying the Missionaries
there could do skype and do the webcam to talk to there families.
Have you heard about that? Do you have a phone card to use or what?

One of these days we will send you some pictures. Sorry we haven't yet!
So tell me what you have been doing? Is your Companion getting better?
Anymore sleeping at the discussions? Well Taft and Mathan are going to
be coming home soon from their Missions soon. And then Alex Bosse
leaves I think June 4th or something. Time flies! I can't believe how
long you have been gone either, And school is out in 2 weeks!!

Well stay safe! And take a breather every now & then! Have a great week!
Talk to you soon, Love Mom and family