Baptism of Maria, Silvio, and Carla December 26, 2009.
The local ward's Bishop far left and Jord far right.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Baptism
Baptism of Maria, Silvio, and Carla December 26, 2009.
The local ward's Bishop far left and Jord far right.
Jordan's December 28, 2009 letter
Dear Family,
Hey there! Woo! Another great P-Day in Argentina! I was so happy to call you guys on Christmas - thanks for the great phone call! It was the best! I love you all so very much, and I was really happy to be able to call you on Christmas day and tell you about everything that´s going on here in Argentina with Christmas and everything else. You guys are the best family ever!
I´ll tell you about my Christmas. It was good! Christmas here revolves around the night of the 24th up to 1200am - when it hits 12, there´s a bunch of fireworks that the people let off for a long time, people will put these fire thingies inside balloons that float up in the air and light up parts of the sky, there´s a load of drunk people (Brother Turner wasn´t lying when he said Christmas here is drunk people and fireworks except for the Mormons!), and yeah! It was great! We ate dinner with the Bishop´s family the night of the 24th, and it was great. The Bishop is so cool! We talked about music we liked forever, and he said he likes Joe Satriani and Van Halen and some other music that´s from the 80´s too. He also played in a bunch of bands when he was younger and said it was way fun. Man, the Bishop rocks!
I woke up Christmas morning, the 25th, to open up my presents. Thanks for the garments Mom! That´s what I needed, and with the goodies and other stuff that I got, man it was perfect! I had a great Christmas, and I definitely realized that the happiness doesn´t come with the presents, but from spending time with people and having fun and remembering our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was really sweet, and I loved it.
After waking up, we went to Merlo to spend the whole morning with our Zone. It was awesome! We ate some food, played ping-pong (Elder Sureda won out of everyone), and played soccer. It was a rocking time. And there was like nobody outside the morning of the 25th, because everyone was sleeping. It was crazy, but crazy good! Especially being able to talk to my family! And I delivered Crepes to Patricia Luna (she is single with five kids) to give them a yummy dinner. I bought caramel to put inside the crepes and a thing of cider that they could drink. I felt really good, and all the kids were happy. Patricia doesn´t like crepes, but she said that her kids loved them. Yay!
We had 3 baptisms on Saturday! Woohoo! And GUESS WHAT? I got to baptize for the first time in my whole life! The Bishop baptized Maria and Silvio, and I baptized Carla. It was so awesome! I have pictures and I´ll be sure to send them to you all. I felt so good! It was a great day and they were all really happy, and I also brought crepes to serve as snacks for afterwards, and guess what? They were a hit! Everyone was amazed and asked me for the recipe, and Carla (who is an amazing cook) said that I make them better than she can! Not to be proud, but it was a pretty awesome moment - thanks Mom for showing me the ways of the crepes! I´ve been able to share the yumminess with the people here, thanks to you and the wonderful little book you made me of recipes.
Elder Sureda has some pretty rocking Christmas songs that come from the Mission Playlist, and guess what some of those are? We have Feliz Navidad (the version Dad likes), drum boy or whatever it´s called, joy to the world (a version that David Archiletta sings), and a song by Michael Buble (it´s called my Christmas list or something like that). It´s pretty awesome. I´ve had fun listening to them. Maybe later in the future I might save up money and buy an MP4 - they have them here for about 250 pesos, and I could put the mission cd on it and have some great music to listen to throughout my mission. We´ll see on that though - it woudn´t be for a while, that´s for sure!
Thanks for telling me about everything that´s going on back home - I´m so thankful for your letters and all the information that you´re giving me! But I don´t know Dad´s calling yet - what is it? I´m excited to hear it!
Today I bought myself an alarm clock that rocks and has batteries, and dictionary that´s got tons of words. I´m excited to use them!
Oh, and I must tell you about the kitties. There are two that I really love. One is named Luly, and she is a calico kitten that lives with Maria, Carla, and Silvio. She is so sweet! She likes to play with me, and man she purrs so loud! She is like a motor boat! She likes to play bite, but she´s starting to get bigger and therefore it hurts more sometimes, but it´s okay. Luly is so cool!
The other is named Olivia, and she lives with Damian, the kid we thought we´d baptize (it will happen...someday...hopefully with me!) She is older than Mitzy - I think she´s like 20 years old is what I heard. But she´s always really happy to see me! I think it´s because no one else at the house ever gives her loves, but when we get to their house she runs up to me and meows a lot and I pet her. She looks like a mix between Muffins (the old cat that lived with Grandma Gammon) and Mitzy - she is so awesome!
Thanks for the Superfly Monkey - I play with him lots in the apartment!
I´m pretty sure that´s the bulk of things...I love you all so much! Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, and I´m glad that you all had a great Christmas too! I prayed for you all a ton all Christmas Day - my biggest wish is that my family could have the best Christmas ever, and if that was the case, I would be happy. I´m glad to hear that things went well and that you had a great time together. I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers, and I know He listens to us and wants us to be happy. Prayer is something that is so simple but so powerful. I am learning to pray more and more out here in the mission field, and I really know He answers me, loves me, and is helping you all out right now. Keep praying to Him, as a family and individually, and I know you´ll all be blessed. I will continue praying like a madman for you all, because I love you all so much! Merry Christmas once again, and this week it´ll be a Happy New Year! Make sure to make individual goals and, if you can, goals as a family too - it´ll help you all to measure your success throughout the year and have things to aim for throughout the year. You are the best family I could have ever asked for! I love you and I can´t wait to hear from you!
Love,
Elder Nuttall(and Superfly Monkey!)
Hey there! Woo! Another great P-Day in Argentina! I was so happy to call you guys on Christmas - thanks for the great phone call! It was the best! I love you all so very much, and I was really happy to be able to call you on Christmas day and tell you about everything that´s going on here in Argentina with Christmas and everything else. You guys are the best family ever!
I´ll tell you about my Christmas. It was good! Christmas here revolves around the night of the 24th up to 1200am - when it hits 12, there´s a bunch of fireworks that the people let off for a long time, people will put these fire thingies inside balloons that float up in the air and light up parts of the sky, there´s a load of drunk people (Brother Turner wasn´t lying when he said Christmas here is drunk people and fireworks except for the Mormons!), and yeah! It was great! We ate dinner with the Bishop´s family the night of the 24th, and it was great. The Bishop is so cool! We talked about music we liked forever, and he said he likes Joe Satriani and Van Halen and some other music that´s from the 80´s too. He also played in a bunch of bands when he was younger and said it was way fun. Man, the Bishop rocks!
I woke up Christmas morning, the 25th, to open up my presents. Thanks for the garments Mom! That´s what I needed, and with the goodies and other stuff that I got, man it was perfect! I had a great Christmas, and I definitely realized that the happiness doesn´t come with the presents, but from spending time with people and having fun and remembering our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was really sweet, and I loved it.
After waking up, we went to Merlo to spend the whole morning with our Zone. It was awesome! We ate some food, played ping-pong (Elder Sureda won out of everyone), and played soccer. It was a rocking time. And there was like nobody outside the morning of the 25th, because everyone was sleeping. It was crazy, but crazy good! Especially being able to talk to my family! And I delivered Crepes to Patricia Luna (she is single with five kids) to give them a yummy dinner. I bought caramel to put inside the crepes and a thing of cider that they could drink. I felt really good, and all the kids were happy. Patricia doesn´t like crepes, but she said that her kids loved them. Yay!
We had 3 baptisms on Saturday! Woohoo! And GUESS WHAT? I got to baptize for the first time in my whole life! The Bishop baptized Maria and Silvio, and I baptized Carla. It was so awesome! I have pictures and I´ll be sure to send them to you all. I felt so good! It was a great day and they were all really happy, and I also brought crepes to serve as snacks for afterwards, and guess what? They were a hit! Everyone was amazed and asked me for the recipe, and Carla (who is an amazing cook) said that I make them better than she can! Not to be proud, but it was a pretty awesome moment - thanks Mom for showing me the ways of the crepes! I´ve been able to share the yumminess with the people here, thanks to you and the wonderful little book you made me of recipes.
Elder Sureda has some pretty rocking Christmas songs that come from the Mission Playlist, and guess what some of those are? We have Feliz Navidad (the version Dad likes), drum boy or whatever it´s called, joy to the world (a version that David Archiletta sings), and a song by Michael Buble (it´s called my Christmas list or something like that). It´s pretty awesome. I´ve had fun listening to them. Maybe later in the future I might save up money and buy an MP4 - they have them here for about 250 pesos, and I could put the mission cd on it and have some great music to listen to throughout my mission. We´ll see on that though - it woudn´t be for a while, that´s for sure!
Thanks for telling me about everything that´s going on back home - I´m so thankful for your letters and all the information that you´re giving me! But I don´t know Dad´s calling yet - what is it? I´m excited to hear it!
Today I bought myself an alarm clock that rocks and has batteries, and dictionary that´s got tons of words. I´m excited to use them!
Oh, and I must tell you about the kitties. There are two that I really love. One is named Luly, and she is a calico kitten that lives with Maria, Carla, and Silvio. She is so sweet! She likes to play with me, and man she purrs so loud! She is like a motor boat! She likes to play bite, but she´s starting to get bigger and therefore it hurts more sometimes, but it´s okay. Luly is so cool!
The other is named Olivia, and she lives with Damian, the kid we thought we´d baptize (it will happen...someday...hopefully with me!) She is older than Mitzy - I think she´s like 20 years old is what I heard. But she´s always really happy to see me! I think it´s because no one else at the house ever gives her loves, but when we get to their house she runs up to me and meows a lot and I pet her. She looks like a mix between Muffins (the old cat that lived with Grandma Gammon) and Mitzy - she is so awesome!
Thanks for the Superfly Monkey - I play with him lots in the apartment!
I´m pretty sure that´s the bulk of things...I love you all so much! Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, and I´m glad that you all had a great Christmas too! I prayed for you all a ton all Christmas Day - my biggest wish is that my family could have the best Christmas ever, and if that was the case, I would be happy. I´m glad to hear that things went well and that you had a great time together. I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers, and I know He listens to us and wants us to be happy. Prayer is something that is so simple but so powerful. I am learning to pray more and more out here in the mission field, and I really know He answers me, loves me, and is helping you all out right now. Keep praying to Him, as a family and individually, and I know you´ll all be blessed. I will continue praying like a madman for you all, because I love you all so much! Merry Christmas once again, and this week it´ll be a Happy New Year! Make sure to make individual goals and, if you can, goals as a family too - it´ll help you all to measure your success throughout the year and have things to aim for throughout the year. You are the best family I could have ever asked for! I love you and I can´t wait to hear from you!
Love,
Elder Nuttall(and Superfly Monkey!)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Jordan's December 14, 2009 letter
December 14, 2009
Dear Mom, Dad, Carson, and the Cats (and Grandma Nuttall!),
Hey there! I´m in the sweet internet place we went to last week - this place rocks! There is air conditioning, lots of computers, it´s way nicer and actually cheaper than the other place, and I never have to worry about it logging me off like the other place did a lot. It´s further away, but man it´s worth the walk! Yay good internet place!
Thanks for all the updates with Grandma, the Christmas tree, with everything Carson and my cats are up to, and with Dad´s work. I´m glad to hear your work is going well Dad! That´s good to hear, especially around the Christmas season. It´s hard when work is bad around the holidays, because it´s harder to enjoy them when you have lots of stress. Hopefully it´ll stay that way! I keep praying for you all during the whole day every day, so I´m glad that my prayers are being heard!
That´s great news about Grandma Nuttall - I am very thankful that she is doing better. I did a lot this last week to ask Heavenly Father to bless her and help her out and comfort her, and obviously my prayers (and all of yours) were answered! What a great knowledge we have, that we have a loving Heavenly Father who really does answer our prayers and blesses us in our times of need. I know He really does live and love us, and that He wants us to be happy and feeling better. I´m glad to hear you´re doing better Grandma! And I bet you´re happy that you can start eating something other than ice soon! :)
Speaking of feeling better, I got sick this past week! :( It´s not fun. Elder Sureda was puking, and luckily all that I got was basically a bad head cold. I still feel pretty bad right now, but I bought a load of Halls to suck on during the day and I try to go to bed right on time or a little early every night to get my strength back up. I´m doing alright though :) I just hope I get feeling better soon!
It is starting to get HOT!! The summer here begins officially the 21st of December...I thought the weather here was summer already, but apparently it´s going to get worse. Dang it! That´s okay. These next few days are going to stink though because I only have long-sleeved shirts right now (the short-sleeved ones are being cleaned). Double dang it! But that´s okay, all is well! Holy cow!! Home is so much different than here! Right now it´s really sunny and really hot, with lots of humidity and mosquitoes.
There´s Christmas trees here and lights - maybe I´ll buy some lights before we head back to our apartment. Christmas stuff is the same here (more or less) as it is there, except not nearly as many people decorate here. I miss playing my Christmas bells! I hope you´re enjoying the bells music over there!
A bunch of people have been saying that I´m losing weight - yay! Double yay! I´m trying to eat better (healthier and less food), and obviously it´s been paying off. Also the summer should help me to shed some pounds too, because I want to look good and also feel better. It´s hard to walk around all day with more weight than I need. And Mom, I´m eating vegetables- yay! Usually just a couple or three times a week, but I´m doing it. I have a question for that - does creamed corn count as a vegetable? I have mostly corn right now and I hope it counts.
Other details...this place is pretty different than the United States, that´s for sure! Definitely a lot less money and such here. There are definitely rich people here, with nice big houses, but I saw lots more in the US than I do here. Most people live moderately or poorly.
The streets here are different too - there´s more pavement in the more money-money part of our area, but down below it´s all dirt roads. There´s lots of rocks and trash everywhere, and there´s "gutters" that have really nasty water that´s swimming with trash. And there´s dogs everywhere - I stepped in a pile-of-fun from a dog yesterday, and I vowed that I will never own a dog; only kitties…at least for now. I hate that, having to clean my shoes and all. There are millions of dogs it seems, and luckily I haven´t had any bad encounters for a while. That´s really good.
The apartment is like any other apartment - the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen is basically all we have. We don´t have a microwave, so if we have to heat something up we use the oven. And everything is gas-lit, so we use matches a lot to cook stuff. Not as nice as ours at home, where all you have to do is turn the dial. But it works!
I´ve been eating crepes, pasta, apples, food that the members give us, soda, and stuff like that. I haven´t eaten anything horrible yet. The worst thing I´ve had was what appeared to be a sausage, but apparently wasn´t. That was pretty gross. Other than that, everything is really yummy here! They don´t have loads of chocolate here (like plain chocolate bars), but they have candies and such that you can eat. It´s pretty yummy. It´d be easy to pack on pounds with that stuff, because it tastes good and is generally cheap. Oh and I started eating tuna and I still have the Nutella I bought a while back (I´m going to buy another one tomorrow probably). I think that´s about it with what we eat.
I really dislike the youngsters here - there´s lots who try to talk to me and make fun of me because I´m the "Yankee". Usually the only phrases I hear are "hello", "how are you", and "are you gay." I just think, wow, you really learned some useful vocabulary. The first two might seem harmless, but I can tell the way they say it they´re just trying to bug me. Sometimes they´ll just call me names in Spanish too, but I try to ignore them. I don´t want to get upset or anything.
I bought a towel today as another Christmas gift - yay! I know I have two, but it usually ends up that I use one for a whole week and use the other while the used one gets washed, so now that I have another I´ll be able to use it too. But I´m going to put it under the Christmas tree so I can have something to open on Christmas.
With my Christmas tree, only like five of the lights work - is there a way to fix them?
My piano playing is getting better - I´m almost to the point where I don´t have to use the simplified version! Woohoo! I played pretty good yesterday, so I was happy. The piano rocks - I want to continue to learn when I get home from my mission.
Our three star investigators are doing fantastic! They are progressing really well (Maria, Carla, and Silvio). They all went to church yesterday and they are all firm in their date to be baptized the 26th of December. Woohoo! They are the first people of my mission that I consider "star investigators" - the rest of our investigators are "too busy", or are never home, or don´t want to talk, etc. I´m really grateful for them, and man, the Atonement is real. I can see it working them over and helping them become better people. When we first met them, everything was pretty chaotic, but now they are all very calm and peaceful, and continue being this way! It´s a testimony to me that this gospel really is true and that the Atonement really can help us out with whatever problem we might have.
A recent convert had her baby this past week, but the baby is really small and she has to stay in the hospital while her mom is at home. The mom is called Cyntia, and she is really sad because she can´t be with her baby :(. We´re praying for her that her baby can be okay and that she can be reunited with her girl soon.
We´re going to be doing a special musical number this upcoming week on Sunday where I have to play the piano - I´ll do my best! It´s some arrangement, so hopefully it´s not too difficult. I´m learning to simplify music on the fly really well out here on the mission, so if I have to do that to make it sound good, I will.
That rocks that you both are going to have glasses! That´ll be tight to see Dad with glasses - you rock Dad! And Mom! I´ve wished at times that I could have glasses (kind of a weird wish, but oh well :), but nope, not yet! I´ll be excited to hear about and see you two both with glasses when I get home!
Elder Sureda´s full name is Elder Cristian Sureda (for the package) - he says thanks a million for doing this for him!
Umm...thinking...missionary work rocks! I´m starting to get into it more and be sad less. The language is coming along - tell Braden thanks for the advice and that I´m definitely looking forward to the moment when I can understand and speak without difficulty. I´m doing loads better - I don´t have to think too much, but there´s still phrases and things people say that at times confuse me, but I´m studying and praying hard that I can overcome that all soon.
I love you all very much! And I love you Grandma Nuttall! And I hope you get feeling better soon, because I want you to be happy! I hope you all have a great week and I´m sure excited to talk to you on Christmas Day! Have a great week family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Dear Mom, Dad, Carson, and the Cats (and Grandma Nuttall!),
Hey there! I´m in the sweet internet place we went to last week - this place rocks! There is air conditioning, lots of computers, it´s way nicer and actually cheaper than the other place, and I never have to worry about it logging me off like the other place did a lot. It´s further away, but man it´s worth the walk! Yay good internet place!
Thanks for all the updates with Grandma, the Christmas tree, with everything Carson and my cats are up to, and with Dad´s work. I´m glad to hear your work is going well Dad! That´s good to hear, especially around the Christmas season. It´s hard when work is bad around the holidays, because it´s harder to enjoy them when you have lots of stress. Hopefully it´ll stay that way! I keep praying for you all during the whole day every day, so I´m glad that my prayers are being heard!
That´s great news about Grandma Nuttall - I am very thankful that she is doing better. I did a lot this last week to ask Heavenly Father to bless her and help her out and comfort her, and obviously my prayers (and all of yours) were answered! What a great knowledge we have, that we have a loving Heavenly Father who really does answer our prayers and blesses us in our times of need. I know He really does live and love us, and that He wants us to be happy and feeling better. I´m glad to hear you´re doing better Grandma! And I bet you´re happy that you can start eating something other than ice soon! :)
Speaking of feeling better, I got sick this past week! :( It´s not fun. Elder Sureda was puking, and luckily all that I got was basically a bad head cold. I still feel pretty bad right now, but I bought a load of Halls to suck on during the day and I try to go to bed right on time or a little early every night to get my strength back up. I´m doing alright though :) I just hope I get feeling better soon!
It is starting to get HOT!! The summer here begins officially the 21st of December...I thought the weather here was summer already, but apparently it´s going to get worse. Dang it! That´s okay. These next few days are going to stink though because I only have long-sleeved shirts right now (the short-sleeved ones are being cleaned). Double dang it! But that´s okay, all is well! Holy cow!! Home is so much different than here! Right now it´s really sunny and really hot, with lots of humidity and mosquitoes.
There´s Christmas trees here and lights - maybe I´ll buy some lights before we head back to our apartment. Christmas stuff is the same here (more or less) as it is there, except not nearly as many people decorate here. I miss playing my Christmas bells! I hope you´re enjoying the bells music over there!
A bunch of people have been saying that I´m losing weight - yay! Double yay! I´m trying to eat better (healthier and less food), and obviously it´s been paying off. Also the summer should help me to shed some pounds too, because I want to look good and also feel better. It´s hard to walk around all day with more weight than I need. And Mom, I´m eating vegetables- yay! Usually just a couple or three times a week, but I´m doing it. I have a question for that - does creamed corn count as a vegetable? I have mostly corn right now and I hope it counts.
Other details...this place is pretty different than the United States, that´s for sure! Definitely a lot less money and such here. There are definitely rich people here, with nice big houses, but I saw lots more in the US than I do here. Most people live moderately or poorly.
The streets here are different too - there´s more pavement in the more money-money part of our area, but down below it´s all dirt roads. There´s lots of rocks and trash everywhere, and there´s "gutters" that have really nasty water that´s swimming with trash. And there´s dogs everywhere - I stepped in a pile-of-fun from a dog yesterday, and I vowed that I will never own a dog; only kitties…at least for now. I hate that, having to clean my shoes and all. There are millions of dogs it seems, and luckily I haven´t had any bad encounters for a while. That´s really good.
The apartment is like any other apartment - the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen is basically all we have. We don´t have a microwave, so if we have to heat something up we use the oven. And everything is gas-lit, so we use matches a lot to cook stuff. Not as nice as ours at home, where all you have to do is turn the dial. But it works!
I´ve been eating crepes, pasta, apples, food that the members give us, soda, and stuff like that. I haven´t eaten anything horrible yet. The worst thing I´ve had was what appeared to be a sausage, but apparently wasn´t. That was pretty gross. Other than that, everything is really yummy here! They don´t have loads of chocolate here (like plain chocolate bars), but they have candies and such that you can eat. It´s pretty yummy. It´d be easy to pack on pounds with that stuff, because it tastes good and is generally cheap. Oh and I started eating tuna and I still have the Nutella I bought a while back (I´m going to buy another one tomorrow probably). I think that´s about it with what we eat.
I really dislike the youngsters here - there´s lots who try to talk to me and make fun of me because I´m the "Yankee". Usually the only phrases I hear are "hello", "how are you", and "are you gay." I just think, wow, you really learned some useful vocabulary. The first two might seem harmless, but I can tell the way they say it they´re just trying to bug me. Sometimes they´ll just call me names in Spanish too, but I try to ignore them. I don´t want to get upset or anything.
I bought a towel today as another Christmas gift - yay! I know I have two, but it usually ends up that I use one for a whole week and use the other while the used one gets washed, so now that I have another I´ll be able to use it too. But I´m going to put it under the Christmas tree so I can have something to open on Christmas.
With my Christmas tree, only like five of the lights work - is there a way to fix them?
My piano playing is getting better - I´m almost to the point where I don´t have to use the simplified version! Woohoo! I played pretty good yesterday, so I was happy. The piano rocks - I want to continue to learn when I get home from my mission.
Our three star investigators are doing fantastic! They are progressing really well (Maria, Carla, and Silvio). They all went to church yesterday and they are all firm in their date to be baptized the 26th of December. Woohoo! They are the first people of my mission that I consider "star investigators" - the rest of our investigators are "too busy", or are never home, or don´t want to talk, etc. I´m really grateful for them, and man, the Atonement is real. I can see it working them over and helping them become better people. When we first met them, everything was pretty chaotic, but now they are all very calm and peaceful, and continue being this way! It´s a testimony to me that this gospel really is true and that the Atonement really can help us out with whatever problem we might have.
A recent convert had her baby this past week, but the baby is really small and she has to stay in the hospital while her mom is at home. The mom is called Cyntia, and she is really sad because she can´t be with her baby :(. We´re praying for her that her baby can be okay and that she can be reunited with her girl soon.
We´re going to be doing a special musical number this upcoming week on Sunday where I have to play the piano - I´ll do my best! It´s some arrangement, so hopefully it´s not too difficult. I´m learning to simplify music on the fly really well out here on the mission, so if I have to do that to make it sound good, I will.
That rocks that you both are going to have glasses! That´ll be tight to see Dad with glasses - you rock Dad! And Mom! I´ve wished at times that I could have glasses (kind of a weird wish, but oh well :), but nope, not yet! I´ll be excited to hear about and see you two both with glasses when I get home!
Elder Sureda´s full name is Elder Cristian Sureda (for the package) - he says thanks a million for doing this for him!
Umm...thinking...missionary work rocks! I´m starting to get into it more and be sad less. The language is coming along - tell Braden thanks for the advice and that I´m definitely looking forward to the moment when I can understand and speak without difficulty. I´m doing loads better - I don´t have to think too much, but there´s still phrases and things people say that at times confuse me, but I´m studying and praying hard that I can overcome that all soon.
I love you all very much! And I love you Grandma Nuttall! And I hope you get feeling better soon, because I want you to be happy! I hope you all have a great week and I´m sure excited to talk to you on Christmas Day! Have a great week family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, December 7, 2009
Jordan's December 7, 2009 letter
December 7, 2009
Dear Family,
I am sad to hear about Grandma - I miss her so much! She will be getting a letter for sure, don´t worry about that :) I love you Grandma!
The work is going pretty good. This week was harder - we didn´t teach as much as I would´ve liked to, but guess what? We had three people come to church, and all three of them now have baptismal dates for the 26th of December! Woohoo! I am really excited for them! Their names are Maria, Carla, and Silvio - Maria is the mom, and Carla and Silvio are two of the kids. Maria has twelve kids - holy guacamole! That´s a lot of kids - ginormous you might say! And check this - Silvio is 38 years old...when I heard that, I thought wow he´s almost the same age as Dad! It was insane. They are all really cool though! I love them very much and am excited for the steps they are starting to take - they loved the church service and are excited for everything. We gave them the challenge to pray about their baptismal date and to start/keep reading the Book of Mormon. I hope they all follow through with everything, because I would just love to see them make changes in their life that truly bring happiness that lasts forever! Oh and they have a kitten that is way fun to play with, and they feed us a lot of food when we go over...yikes! They are way cool though :).
Those three are the only ones I really have hopes for right now - everyone else either isn´t home, doesn´t want to talk to us, or just keeps on bailing on us. Hugo and Veva (Hugo is the Argentine Troy) left for the holidays, and man we wanted to see them get baptized this transfer but it´s not going to happen. That´s okay - I´ll see if there still interested when they get back. They were progressing really well and loved the church, so hopefully they don´t change over the holidays!
So some cool stuff! There is a guy in this mission that went to Orem High and he´s in my zone! His name is Elder Holst and he did marching band the year of “Way of the Warrior.” Cool, huh? He couldn´t remember me for a while but eventually he remembered.
Also, THIS PART IS FOR GAVIN!!! Do you know an elder Moody? I met him at a zone conference, and he said he knows who you are and that you are a rocking drummer! I told him that we played in a band while I was at BYU and that you (Gavin) are continuing to shred the drums and all percussion at the maximum. I thought that was pretty cool stuff - another guy who knows the legend of Gavin Ryan!!!
IMPORTANT FOR MOM AND FAMILY: you need to make a list of questions for me for when I call on Christmas so we can make the best of the time that we have to talk! I´m going to do the same. I think it´s a good idea, and boy am I excited! I hope my card works here, but I´m going to buy one here too just in case - it´s only ten pesos. But yeah, if you could do that that´d be great!
I love missionary work! At times I get really frustrated and at times I feel like I just want to go home, but I´m pressing on and doing my best. I sure miss my family, my cats, and my videogames, but man I don´t want to be anywhere else right now! I know this is the Lord´s church. He truly is the captain of our salvation, and he directs this church, and it is the only true church of Jesus Christ on all the earth. I hope all my family, immediate and extended, can come to know this. It is the truth! And this gospel solves all questions about life and helps us through all problems that we have, no matter how big or small - because the gospel of Jesus Christ is so perfect! It is perfect and beautiful, and it provides the hope that we all need.
I also know that my Savior lives, that He died for us, and as Alma teaches us (Alma 7:11-13) the Lord knows how to succor us also in our infirmities and our afflictions, and all things that are hard to endure. Why? Because, he has already borne all these things! I know that He suffered and died for us because He loves us, and He wants us to be happy. He paid the price, and if we have faith in Him and believe in Him, He will be with us always and help lift us up when times are hard. I know this is true. I know He is our Savior, and that nothing is impossible for Him.
Grandma! This part is especially for you! I want you to know that I love you so very much - I was really sad to hear about all the physical problems that you´ve been going through lately. It doesn´t sound like it´s fun at all! I want you to know that I love you so very much, and more importantly that your Heavenly Father loves you. I know He wants you to be happy and wants you to return back to Him and live together forever in happiness. I imagine that you probably don´t feel very good right now, but I know that you can receive miracles, blessings, and the love and support you need to endure these trials through praying to your Heavenly Father. I have prayed to Him a lot about you, and I will continue to do so. I know He loves you, because I have felt it. And I know that He will take care of you :). I hope you get feeling better so that you can be happier! Know that I´m praying for you and thinking about you! Also maybe my mom can bring you one of my old kitties so that you can have a friend with you all the time...kitties always help me to be happy! Yay kitties! I love you Grandma! I hope you get feeling better soon!
Well that´s about it for now - everything is going great. Sometimes people make fun of me because I don´t speak Spanish the best or because I can´t understand all the time, but I´m praying for strength and the help of the Lord, because I know He will help me. Overall though, the Spanish is going really well! The church is true! And the Book of Mormon is the word of God - we all need to be reading that book daily, because it provides strength and comfort that can´t be found anywhere else.
I hope you all have a great week! I´m excited to hear back from you in a week to read about everything that´s going on! Hopefully it doesn´t snow too much, huh? At least you have the chance of having a white Christmas! It´s going be a really hot one for me! Have a great week and I love you all very much! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Dear Family,
I am sad to hear about Grandma - I miss her so much! She will be getting a letter for sure, don´t worry about that :) I love you Grandma!
The work is going pretty good. This week was harder - we didn´t teach as much as I would´ve liked to, but guess what? We had three people come to church, and all three of them now have baptismal dates for the 26th of December! Woohoo! I am really excited for them! Their names are Maria, Carla, and Silvio - Maria is the mom, and Carla and Silvio are two of the kids. Maria has twelve kids - holy guacamole! That´s a lot of kids - ginormous you might say! And check this - Silvio is 38 years old...when I heard that, I thought wow he´s almost the same age as Dad! It was insane. They are all really cool though! I love them very much and am excited for the steps they are starting to take - they loved the church service and are excited for everything. We gave them the challenge to pray about their baptismal date and to start/keep reading the Book of Mormon. I hope they all follow through with everything, because I would just love to see them make changes in their life that truly bring happiness that lasts forever! Oh and they have a kitten that is way fun to play with, and they feed us a lot of food when we go over...yikes! They are way cool though :).
Those three are the only ones I really have hopes for right now - everyone else either isn´t home, doesn´t want to talk to us, or just keeps on bailing on us. Hugo and Veva (Hugo is the Argentine Troy) left for the holidays, and man we wanted to see them get baptized this transfer but it´s not going to happen. That´s okay - I´ll see if there still interested when they get back. They were progressing really well and loved the church, so hopefully they don´t change over the holidays!
So some cool stuff! There is a guy in this mission that went to Orem High and he´s in my zone! His name is Elder Holst and he did marching band the year of “Way of the Warrior.” Cool, huh? He couldn´t remember me for a while but eventually he remembered.
Also, THIS PART IS FOR GAVIN!!! Do you know an elder Moody? I met him at a zone conference, and he said he knows who you are and that you are a rocking drummer! I told him that we played in a band while I was at BYU and that you (Gavin) are continuing to shred the drums and all percussion at the maximum. I thought that was pretty cool stuff - another guy who knows the legend of Gavin Ryan!!!
IMPORTANT FOR MOM AND FAMILY: you need to make a list of questions for me for when I call on Christmas so we can make the best of the time that we have to talk! I´m going to do the same. I think it´s a good idea, and boy am I excited! I hope my card works here, but I´m going to buy one here too just in case - it´s only ten pesos. But yeah, if you could do that that´d be great!
I love missionary work! At times I get really frustrated and at times I feel like I just want to go home, but I´m pressing on and doing my best. I sure miss my family, my cats, and my videogames, but man I don´t want to be anywhere else right now! I know this is the Lord´s church. He truly is the captain of our salvation, and he directs this church, and it is the only true church of Jesus Christ on all the earth. I hope all my family, immediate and extended, can come to know this. It is the truth! And this gospel solves all questions about life and helps us through all problems that we have, no matter how big or small - because the gospel of Jesus Christ is so perfect! It is perfect and beautiful, and it provides the hope that we all need.
I also know that my Savior lives, that He died for us, and as Alma teaches us (Alma 7:11-13) the Lord knows how to succor us also in our infirmities and our afflictions, and all things that are hard to endure. Why? Because, he has already borne all these things! I know that He suffered and died for us because He loves us, and He wants us to be happy. He paid the price, and if we have faith in Him and believe in Him, He will be with us always and help lift us up when times are hard. I know this is true. I know He is our Savior, and that nothing is impossible for Him.
Grandma! This part is especially for you! I want you to know that I love you so very much - I was really sad to hear about all the physical problems that you´ve been going through lately. It doesn´t sound like it´s fun at all! I want you to know that I love you so very much, and more importantly that your Heavenly Father loves you. I know He wants you to be happy and wants you to return back to Him and live together forever in happiness. I imagine that you probably don´t feel very good right now, but I know that you can receive miracles, blessings, and the love and support you need to endure these trials through praying to your Heavenly Father. I have prayed to Him a lot about you, and I will continue to do so. I know He loves you, because I have felt it. And I know that He will take care of you :). I hope you get feeling better so that you can be happier! Know that I´m praying for you and thinking about you! Also maybe my mom can bring you one of my old kitties so that you can have a friend with you all the time...kitties always help me to be happy! Yay kitties! I love you Grandma! I hope you get feeling better soon!
Well that´s about it for now - everything is going great. Sometimes people make fun of me because I don´t speak Spanish the best or because I can´t understand all the time, but I´m praying for strength and the help of the Lord, because I know He will help me. Overall though, the Spanish is going really well! The church is true! And the Book of Mormon is the word of God - we all need to be reading that book daily, because it provides strength and comfort that can´t be found anywhere else.
I hope you all have a great week! I´m excited to hear back from you in a week to read about everything that´s going on! Hopefully it doesn´t snow too much, huh? At least you have the chance of having a white Christmas! It´s going be a really hot one for me! Have a great week and I love you all very much! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday November 30, 2009
November 30, 2009
Dear Family,
Thanks for all of your great letters - I love reading my letters and the updates from you guys! It is the best! I have lots to write to you about today because lots of great things went on this week! Woohoo!
Thanks for the info on Thanksgiving - I sure missed you all! But I was happy to be here and to be able to have a good Thanksgiving Day. My companion was totally out of money last week, so I ended up paying for our Thanksgiving feast but it doesn´t matter - it was yummy! We had empanadas, soda, and a caramel pie for our feast. It was good! Except the pie made me sick - I had stomach pain for a couple of days, and it hurt pretty bad. I consumed more than half of the Tums that I have, so hopefully I don´t get more stomach pains any time soon, because I don´t have much left! But I´m feeling better now :) but yeah, it was a fun day! We still worked basically all day (Thursday is the big three-hour planning day, and it worked out nicely for Thanksgiving), so yeah, it was a good Thanksgiving Day! And it sounds like you all had a good Thanksgiving too.
The work is going good - we dropped an investigator this last week, which was kind of awkward and sad. He´s just too big into worshipping Mary, and we kept inviting him to read and pray, but he never did - just kept on worshipping his statues. So, we had to drop him. He told us thanks, though, and that we are his friends and he enjoyed our visits. Maybe sometime in the future he´ll turn things around - we´ll see.
We have one person with a baptismal date for the 26th of December - hopefully she follows through! Her name is Maria. She is a sweet lady, but she has lots of family problems. She is older and her family I guess just doesn´t respect her very much, and they´ve had lots of communication problems. Also one of her sons is in prison right now (for his second time), but he isn´t guilty of the charges - he´s in just because he was charged before so he appeared to be the guilty one. But yeah, she is doing good. We´re going to give her a giant Book of Mormon so she can read it easier, and yeah! She´s cool!
Our star investigators right now are Beba and Hugo (Hugo is the Argentine version of Troy - and a painter too! How crazy and cool is that?) They are taking the lessons very well, are reading, praying, and they want to be baptized! Woohoo! Except there´s a problem...they´re going out of town for the whole month of December to be with family for the holidays and such. Dang it! They´ve gone to church one time, so they only need two more times to qualify, so hopefully after the holidays (possibly with another companion), I´ll be able to see through that they get baptized. We´re excited for them and they are praying about whether they should be baptized our not, so hopefully they stay strong during the holidays. They don´t have any problems with drinking or smoking or anything else from what we´ve been able to see, so hopefully it stays that way. Oh, and Hugo is Beba´s son if I didn´t mention that.
Damian still hasn´t been baptized because he just doesn´t want to pray, read, or go to church. It´s kind of frustrating at times. He´s a really awesome kid, and I like him a lot, but he just doesn´t want to do this stuff I guess. His friends aren´t the best friends either, and he´s a member of a soccer club that plays every Sunday morning I believe. I´d hate to see his friends drag him down - we´ll keep trying though, because boy, he could sure use the sweet companionship of the Holy Ghost! He really needs the blessings that come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There was one contact I did that was with this weird guy who´s formed his own "church" in his house. The weirdest part was after we taught about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, because we ended with a prayer (like usual) but after we said "amen," they started like doing their own weird prayer immediately after us, and it was pretty awkward. And during the time we were praying they were muttering phrases to themselves - it was kind of awkward. Probably won´t visit them anytime soon. But oh well! We´ll find people who really want to listen right?
Oh and another factoid - there´s lots more Jehovah´s Witness and Evangelicals here than what I thought there would be. Man, those people are like just angry! And when we think they´ll actually listen, they end up lying to us about their address or something. Luckily, my companion knows the area enough that he can tell when they´re lying. Yeah, it´s kind of frustrating, and the Jehovah´s Witnesses have changed their Bible so much it´s like impossible to teach them. Yeah. It would be easy to get angry with them, but the spirit of contention isn´t of the Lord, so I just testify and let them go basically. I´m not here to Bible Bash.
This week was a kitty week! Holy cow, I was in heaven! Almost every day I was able to be in contact with sweet little kittens and cats, and it was just awesome. One day at lunch with a member, they had bought themselves this awesome new kitten that is way cool! It wanted to play with me, so I played with it for a while, and then it decided to take a nap on my lap for like thirty minutes. It was awesome! It reminded me of my beastly cats at the house...I sure miss them! It´ll be great to give them lots of pets when I get back home - hopefully they don´t think I´m a stranger!
But yeah, I think that´s about it! I´m doing great, my health is better, and I´m learning tons of great lessons. There have definitely been times when I´ve thought "Why the heck am I out here on a mission?" But then I think of everything I´m learning and all the blessings you guys are getting, and then I realize the reason why I´m here. I´m grateful for the Lord and His mercy towards all of us, and for all the blessings He´s giving us. I want to push forward with more energy and be a better missionary for Him, so I can help Him with the work as much as possible and so that He can bless you all even more! I sure love you all, and I miss you, and I know that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It´s perfect and without flaw! I know that by living the principles taught by our Master will bring peace and happiness that, truly, no one else can know without. Have a great week, I´ll be sending some pictures, and I hope you are having a great day! I love you all!!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
From Carson’s letter:
The language is going good here - I´m starting to think in Spanish now, and to be honest, English is getting harder to write and to speak! The gift of tongues is real, and it comes with the work - if you study, pray, and work hard, all gifts from God are possible :). Also, the storms here are incredible! I have some pictures of the storms, and they´re pretty insane. I hope you like the pictures. The rain comes down super hard and in loads, and basically there are mini rivers in the streets! And at some intersections, literally the entire intersection is flooded - the storms here are crazy. It´s kind of fun to be in one, though, except that the wind blows super hard and you get soaked.
Dear Family,
Thanks for all of your great letters - I love reading my letters and the updates from you guys! It is the best! I have lots to write to you about today because lots of great things went on this week! Woohoo!
Thanks for the info on Thanksgiving - I sure missed you all! But I was happy to be here and to be able to have a good Thanksgiving Day. My companion was totally out of money last week, so I ended up paying for our Thanksgiving feast but it doesn´t matter - it was yummy! We had empanadas, soda, and a caramel pie for our feast. It was good! Except the pie made me sick - I had stomach pain for a couple of days, and it hurt pretty bad. I consumed more than half of the Tums that I have, so hopefully I don´t get more stomach pains any time soon, because I don´t have much left! But I´m feeling better now :) but yeah, it was a fun day! We still worked basically all day (Thursday is the big three-hour planning day, and it worked out nicely for Thanksgiving), so yeah, it was a good Thanksgiving Day! And it sounds like you all had a good Thanksgiving too.
The work is going good - we dropped an investigator this last week, which was kind of awkward and sad. He´s just too big into worshipping Mary, and we kept inviting him to read and pray, but he never did - just kept on worshipping his statues. So, we had to drop him. He told us thanks, though, and that we are his friends and he enjoyed our visits. Maybe sometime in the future he´ll turn things around - we´ll see.
We have one person with a baptismal date for the 26th of December - hopefully she follows through! Her name is Maria. She is a sweet lady, but she has lots of family problems. She is older and her family I guess just doesn´t respect her very much, and they´ve had lots of communication problems. Also one of her sons is in prison right now (for his second time), but he isn´t guilty of the charges - he´s in just because he was charged before so he appeared to be the guilty one. But yeah, she is doing good. We´re going to give her a giant Book of Mormon so she can read it easier, and yeah! She´s cool!
Our star investigators right now are Beba and Hugo (Hugo is the Argentine version of Troy - and a painter too! How crazy and cool is that?) They are taking the lessons very well, are reading, praying, and they want to be baptized! Woohoo! Except there´s a problem...they´re going out of town for the whole month of December to be with family for the holidays and such. Dang it! They´ve gone to church one time, so they only need two more times to qualify, so hopefully after the holidays (possibly with another companion), I´ll be able to see through that they get baptized. We´re excited for them and they are praying about whether they should be baptized our not, so hopefully they stay strong during the holidays. They don´t have any problems with drinking or smoking or anything else from what we´ve been able to see, so hopefully it stays that way. Oh, and Hugo is Beba´s son if I didn´t mention that.
Damian still hasn´t been baptized because he just doesn´t want to pray, read, or go to church. It´s kind of frustrating at times. He´s a really awesome kid, and I like him a lot, but he just doesn´t want to do this stuff I guess. His friends aren´t the best friends either, and he´s a member of a soccer club that plays every Sunday morning I believe. I´d hate to see his friends drag him down - we´ll keep trying though, because boy, he could sure use the sweet companionship of the Holy Ghost! He really needs the blessings that come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There was one contact I did that was with this weird guy who´s formed his own "church" in his house. The weirdest part was after we taught about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, because we ended with a prayer (like usual) but after we said "amen," they started like doing their own weird prayer immediately after us, and it was pretty awkward. And during the time we were praying they were muttering phrases to themselves - it was kind of awkward. Probably won´t visit them anytime soon. But oh well! We´ll find people who really want to listen right?
Oh and another factoid - there´s lots more Jehovah´s Witness and Evangelicals here than what I thought there would be. Man, those people are like just angry! And when we think they´ll actually listen, they end up lying to us about their address or something. Luckily, my companion knows the area enough that he can tell when they´re lying. Yeah, it´s kind of frustrating, and the Jehovah´s Witnesses have changed their Bible so much it´s like impossible to teach them. Yeah. It would be easy to get angry with them, but the spirit of contention isn´t of the Lord, so I just testify and let them go basically. I´m not here to Bible Bash.
This week was a kitty week! Holy cow, I was in heaven! Almost every day I was able to be in contact with sweet little kittens and cats, and it was just awesome. One day at lunch with a member, they had bought themselves this awesome new kitten that is way cool! It wanted to play with me, so I played with it for a while, and then it decided to take a nap on my lap for like thirty minutes. It was awesome! It reminded me of my beastly cats at the house...I sure miss them! It´ll be great to give them lots of pets when I get back home - hopefully they don´t think I´m a stranger!
But yeah, I think that´s about it! I´m doing great, my health is better, and I´m learning tons of great lessons. There have definitely been times when I´ve thought "Why the heck am I out here on a mission?" But then I think of everything I´m learning and all the blessings you guys are getting, and then I realize the reason why I´m here. I´m grateful for the Lord and His mercy towards all of us, and for all the blessings He´s giving us. I want to push forward with more energy and be a better missionary for Him, so I can help Him with the work as much as possible and so that He can bless you all even more! I sure love you all, and I miss you, and I know that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It´s perfect and without flaw! I know that by living the principles taught by our Master will bring peace and happiness that, truly, no one else can know without. Have a great week, I´ll be sending some pictures, and I hope you are having a great day! I love you all!!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
From Carson’s letter:
The language is going good here - I´m starting to think in Spanish now, and to be honest, English is getting harder to write and to speak! The gift of tongues is real, and it comes with the work - if you study, pray, and work hard, all gifts from God are possible :). Also, the storms here are incredible! I have some pictures of the storms, and they´re pretty insane. I hope you like the pictures. The rain comes down super hard and in loads, and basically there are mini rivers in the streets! And at some intersections, literally the entire intersection is flooded - the storms here are crazy. It´s kind of fun to be in one, though, except that the wind blows super hard and you get soaked.
District Meeting November 18 2009
Here is a picture from a recent district meeting in Buenos Aires. It looks like a couple of the Elders are ready for battle. Jordan giving the thumbs-up once again.
Friday, November 27, 2009
November 23, 2009
Dear Family,
Time for the weekly report! Sorry it is so late again - today was transfer meeting, so I got to say goodbye to the Elders that are leaving from our zone (the whole mission met together to have a big long meeting) and it was really good. I´ll sure miss them, but luckily I´ll be able to see at least one of them at BYU, maybe the other if he decides to transfer! They are great guys and great examples for me.
The work is going good. This week wasn´t as good though - the weather wasn´t very good. Lots of rain, and because there was lots of rain that means that there weren´t lots of people on the streets to talk to. We´re supposed to be doing twenty contacts a day, and we didn’t make it. We´re definitely going to do better.
We had two people come to church this last week - yay! It was another special conference, with Elder Snow from the Seventy and his wife there. Wow! It was powerful. He centered his teachings on the family, and boy it was great! And it was awesome that a couple of our investigators were able to hear that, and they both said that they felt good about the meeting. This is something that applies to my family as well! He emphasized reading the Book of Mormon and praying together daily, having family home evening, and having fun family activities on a regular basis. I hope you´re all doing that! Because I sure miss you all, and family time is always fun! I love my family! It´s the truth though - from your great examples to me, I´m now on a mission! It´s sure an important thing to do - I want to be as good of a parent as you two have been for me for my kids, because all the experiences I have from you guys are the best, and I wouldn´t want to trade those relationships and memories and great teachings for anything! :)
Elder Bednar came last Thursday to talk to us - woohoo! Also very powerful! It was an interesting meeting - it was basically just asking questions to him, and he asked a few to us, and it was really great. There were a few missionaries who answered pretty weird questions, though, about like obscure doctrine and stuff like that - Elder Bednar answered awesomely, though, and basically brought the point across of "who cares?" That´s the truth! Who cares about the fine points of the gospel? The important thing is to have a testimony in Christ and of the basic principles of the gospel, like outlined in the Articles of Faith. If we are strong in these things, everything is going to be taken care of, we´ll be happy, and if we continue to live these things we´ll eventually be led back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. What a great blessing!
The rest of the work is going good - I´m trying my hardest. I´m really trying. To be honest, it´s not easy - this is the first time that I´ve had to be basically 100% independent, and at times I feel really alone and really helpless in all this. I´m sure praying a lot more than I ever have in my life, because I can´t do this on my own. Thanks for your great counsel Dad - I´m using it! Reading my scriptures and praying my heart out, and going to work, are the ways in which I´ll conquer my fears and not feel lots of heartache and homesickness. I´ll continue to work and do my best, because I know it´s what the Lord expects and that you guys and I will be blessed for it.
Hey Grandma Nuttall! This part is for you! I love you so much, and I sure miss you! Man, I loved coming over to your house basically every Sunday to visit with you all and talk about everything...I sure miss those days! I have pictures of when Carson and I were building our Lego guns, some of my birthday pictures that were taken at your house...they really bring back good memories! I´m sorry that you´re not feeling well - know that I´ve been praying for you every day, and that I hope you get feeling better soon! Also, tell Troy and Amy and Grandpa hi for me, and that I miss them and love them very much! It´ll be great to be able to visit with you all lots more when I get home and tell you about everything! I hope life is going great for all of you and that you´re enjoying yourselves :) I sure love you all!
I sure love missionary work! I´m setting goals to work even harder this next transfer - wow! Isn´t that crazy to think that I´ve already been out a transfer? Insane! I´m really going to work my tail off though - I want to work hard for the Lord, because I know if I do that I won´t have any regrets and that I´ll feel great, and that all of you will be blessed for it :) Aren´t we blessed to have this great knowledge of the gospel? I love you all so much, and I know that these things I´ve been taught from you are true, and I am so thankful for your wonderful examples and for all the great things you do for me. I am blessed more than I can comprehend to have such a wonderful family who has done so much for me. I love you all very, very much! Have a great week, continue doing the right thing, thanks for your letters and we´ll be writing again in a week! I love you very much Family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
PS I´ll be buying a map, backpack, and a cheap wallet this week probably - I could use all three. Tell Carson the Spirit of America (MoTab) cd is pretty cool. I wrote him a nice big letter. Oh and I´m going start saving for our scripture covers, and ask him if he has a favorite scripture.
Time for the weekly report! Sorry it is so late again - today was transfer meeting, so I got to say goodbye to the Elders that are leaving from our zone (the whole mission met together to have a big long meeting) and it was really good. I´ll sure miss them, but luckily I´ll be able to see at least one of them at BYU, maybe the other if he decides to transfer! They are great guys and great examples for me.
The work is going good. This week wasn´t as good though - the weather wasn´t very good. Lots of rain, and because there was lots of rain that means that there weren´t lots of people on the streets to talk to. We´re supposed to be doing twenty contacts a day, and we didn’t make it. We´re definitely going to do better.
We had two people come to church this last week - yay! It was another special conference, with Elder Snow from the Seventy and his wife there. Wow! It was powerful. He centered his teachings on the family, and boy it was great! And it was awesome that a couple of our investigators were able to hear that, and they both said that they felt good about the meeting. This is something that applies to my family as well! He emphasized reading the Book of Mormon and praying together daily, having family home evening, and having fun family activities on a regular basis. I hope you´re all doing that! Because I sure miss you all, and family time is always fun! I love my family! It´s the truth though - from your great examples to me, I´m now on a mission! It´s sure an important thing to do - I want to be as good of a parent as you two have been for me for my kids, because all the experiences I have from you guys are the best, and I wouldn´t want to trade those relationships and memories and great teachings for anything! :)
Elder Bednar came last Thursday to talk to us - woohoo! Also very powerful! It was an interesting meeting - it was basically just asking questions to him, and he asked a few to us, and it was really great. There were a few missionaries who answered pretty weird questions, though, about like obscure doctrine and stuff like that - Elder Bednar answered awesomely, though, and basically brought the point across of "who cares?" That´s the truth! Who cares about the fine points of the gospel? The important thing is to have a testimony in Christ and of the basic principles of the gospel, like outlined in the Articles of Faith. If we are strong in these things, everything is going to be taken care of, we´ll be happy, and if we continue to live these things we´ll eventually be led back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. What a great blessing!
The rest of the work is going good - I´m trying my hardest. I´m really trying. To be honest, it´s not easy - this is the first time that I´ve had to be basically 100% independent, and at times I feel really alone and really helpless in all this. I´m sure praying a lot more than I ever have in my life, because I can´t do this on my own. Thanks for your great counsel Dad - I´m using it! Reading my scriptures and praying my heart out, and going to work, are the ways in which I´ll conquer my fears and not feel lots of heartache and homesickness. I´ll continue to work and do my best, because I know it´s what the Lord expects and that you guys and I will be blessed for it.
Hey Grandma Nuttall! This part is for you! I love you so much, and I sure miss you! Man, I loved coming over to your house basically every Sunday to visit with you all and talk about everything...I sure miss those days! I have pictures of when Carson and I were building our Lego guns, some of my birthday pictures that were taken at your house...they really bring back good memories! I´m sorry that you´re not feeling well - know that I´ve been praying for you every day, and that I hope you get feeling better soon! Also, tell Troy and Amy and Grandpa hi for me, and that I miss them and love them very much! It´ll be great to be able to visit with you all lots more when I get home and tell you about everything! I hope life is going great for all of you and that you´re enjoying yourselves :) I sure love you all!
I sure love missionary work! I´m setting goals to work even harder this next transfer - wow! Isn´t that crazy to think that I´ve already been out a transfer? Insane! I´m really going to work my tail off though - I want to work hard for the Lord, because I know if I do that I won´t have any regrets and that I´ll feel great, and that all of you will be blessed for it :) Aren´t we blessed to have this great knowledge of the gospel? I love you all so much, and I know that these things I´ve been taught from you are true, and I am so thankful for your wonderful examples and for all the great things you do for me. I am blessed more than I can comprehend to have such a wonderful family who has done so much for me. I love you all very, very much! Have a great week, continue doing the right thing, thanks for your letters and we´ll be writing again in a week! I love you very much Family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
PS I´ll be buying a map, backpack, and a cheap wallet this week probably - I could use all three. Tell Carson the Spirit of America (MoTab) cd is pretty cool. I wrote him a nice big letter. Oh and I´m going start saving for our scripture covers, and ask him if he has a favorite scripture.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Almost one month in the field!
Dear Family,
Time to report for the week! Woo hoo!
Everything is great - no more baptisms unfortunately. We´re really trying to get to this boy Damian. He´s a good kid, he´s 10yrs old, but he doesn´t like church because it interrupts his soccer time. I understand him liking soccer, but it´s like it´s only three hours once a week. His grandma is a member and she always goes, but yeah, it´s kind of frustrating. I love the kid very much and I want him to find the happiness I´ve found, but we´re working with him. We have a "soft commitment" for the 21st of November to baptize him, but we´ll see if it holds out or not.
We´re teaching quite a bit here, and yes, it is hot outside! Today and for the past few days it´s actually been kind of cool, but it definitely heats up at times. I´m sure I´m in for more hot days here. For contacting...it´s a lot different than at the MTC!! Most people don´t want to listen, EVERYONE is "busy" and "works", and yeah - we basically just go up to people, introduce ourselves and testify of the message of the Restoration and how it can bless their lives. Sometimes people are interested, and other times not, and with some people it´s nearly impossible to get to meet with them. We´re trying and we have hopes for people, but yeah! It´s hard to explain over email, that´s for sure.
I definitely love the work! It´s difficult, that´s for sure - it´s physically difficult at times, but more so it´s a mental difficulty, with the language, getting doors slammed in my face (I had that happen for the first time last week- first door slam), people just completely rejecting the glad tidings of great joy, and yeah. I feel bad that people reject this stuff, because it´s the truth and man, they could be so much happier if they would accept it and just listen. Oh, and if they would pray and do their reading assignments...that´s been a problem. We´ll leave them with commitments, but most people either just read a little bit or not do anything at all. We´re trying, though. We definitely worked harder this week than past weeks, and we´re seeing improvements! Yay! We were a little low on contacts for this week, but higher than every other previous week and we´ll continue to boost those up. Missionary work rocks!
I haven´t been robbed yet! That´s the good news. But if I do, who cares, right? There have been times when we´ve had to walk really fast because we could tell that a pack of up-to-no-good guys/youngsters were kind of following us, but other than that nothing bad. It´s mostly because people can tell I´m from the United States...they´ll yell at me and start asking me questions, but we just say that we gotta go and walk fast! But yep, nothing too scary! Hopefully nothing scary ever happens right?
I had a good morning this morning - bought myself a jacket (70pesos, like 30 American dollars) and a sweet adapter that can use any type of camera card, so I don´t have to carry my camera with me to send pictures :) yay! Because I don´t want to get robbed - there´s been a couple of not dangerous, but kind of like "run away" experiences here that I´ve had. There´s a bunch of kids who are up to no good here, and I have to watch out for them. I guess this is a little more dangerous of a mission, but at least it´s not dangerous like Chicago right?
Sending information or packages- it goes to this address (the mission home):
La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días (or Iglesia S.U.D.)
Elder Gary Jordan Nuttall
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
1702 Ciudadela
Buenos Aires, Argentina
I talked to my District leader, and he got a package with medicine, pills, a bunch of other stuff, and yeah it was only $50 for his mom to send it. Maybe she went through BYU bookstore? I don’t know. BUT...If it´s possible, please send more meds (claritin) and deodorant with the hymn book- that´d be great. Let me know what you decide.
So there´s Nutella here!! Woo hoo! I´m totally buying some either today or tomorrow - it´s kind of expensive, but at least it´ll give me something else to eat besides cereal.
Some other details about the work...we don´t usually knock on a lot of doors. To be honest, we´ve probably knocked… (which here it´s actually clapping - crazy huh? They don´t knock doors like in the US, it´s always clapping or at times they´ll have a doorbell and we can use that, but mostly clapping) two houses in total, so yeah...not too much of that. And for clapping, we just stand outside the person´s house and clap like ten times or something, and then if they´re home they´ll answer! It´s pretty interesting :).
The members are great! And I love the Bishop! He´s a great guy, along with all the members. His daughter is learning the piano - she´s only been playing a month, and now I´m starting to give "mini lessons" to his daughter every Sunday after church. Cool huh? My music theory and lessons with Ron and Jay are paying off! She can´t read music very well, so we´re working on that for starters. The hard part is that I have to do it in Spanish! Yikes! Sometimes it´s hard enough in English, but in Spanish?!? But it´s working. She is happy and learning (her name is Tamara). Her goal is to get good enough that she can play piano for the ward when the missionaries can´t, so yeah. I think it´s pretty awesome that I´m able to implement my talents and everything I learned at BYU out here on the mission! It´s pretty great, and I´m sure thankful for the great instruction I´ve received from Ron and Jay. Thanks you two! Your great mentorship is paying off!
Speaking of which, there´s some pretty sick music here...it´s fun to listen to while I´m walking along the streets. There’s lots of music with congas and bongos, and lots of tango. The music is cool here! And the people here think it´s cool that I know how to play the bongos and congas - thanks again Ron and Jay!
Well, I think that´s about it for now! This work is amazing - I sure love it. Even when people completely throw it back in my face, I´m just grateful that I have it in my life, that my family has it, and that because we have everything we need we have the opportunity to have happiness and joy in this life and the ability to live forever as a family in the next life, with our Father and Jesus Christ too. What a sweet message! This is what makes me wonder why people wouldn´t embrace such a message! I feel sad for them, but it is their choice. I´m doing my best to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that will appeal to them, and with the Spirit. I´m trying to testify more of the truths I know, and my desire for them to know it as well. This church is the church of Jesus Christ, the one and only on the face of the Earth. We are truly blessed to have this knowledge - it is something we should all be grateful for.
I love you all family! Thanks for all your great letters - I love reading about everything you´re doing! Thanks for all your love and support, and I hope you all have a great week! I love you so much! Talk to you in a week!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Time to report for the week! Woo hoo!
Everything is great - no more baptisms unfortunately. We´re really trying to get to this boy Damian. He´s a good kid, he´s 10yrs old, but he doesn´t like church because it interrupts his soccer time. I understand him liking soccer, but it´s like it´s only three hours once a week. His grandma is a member and she always goes, but yeah, it´s kind of frustrating. I love the kid very much and I want him to find the happiness I´ve found, but we´re working with him. We have a "soft commitment" for the 21st of November to baptize him, but we´ll see if it holds out or not.
We´re teaching quite a bit here, and yes, it is hot outside! Today and for the past few days it´s actually been kind of cool, but it definitely heats up at times. I´m sure I´m in for more hot days here. For contacting...it´s a lot different than at the MTC!! Most people don´t want to listen, EVERYONE is "busy" and "works", and yeah - we basically just go up to people, introduce ourselves and testify of the message of the Restoration and how it can bless their lives. Sometimes people are interested, and other times not, and with some people it´s nearly impossible to get to meet with them. We´re trying and we have hopes for people, but yeah! It´s hard to explain over email, that´s for sure.
I definitely love the work! It´s difficult, that´s for sure - it´s physically difficult at times, but more so it´s a mental difficulty, with the language, getting doors slammed in my face (I had that happen for the first time last week- first door slam), people just completely rejecting the glad tidings of great joy, and yeah. I feel bad that people reject this stuff, because it´s the truth and man, they could be so much happier if they would accept it and just listen. Oh, and if they would pray and do their reading assignments...that´s been a problem. We´ll leave them with commitments, but most people either just read a little bit or not do anything at all. We´re trying, though. We definitely worked harder this week than past weeks, and we´re seeing improvements! Yay! We were a little low on contacts for this week, but higher than every other previous week and we´ll continue to boost those up. Missionary work rocks!
I haven´t been robbed yet! That´s the good news. But if I do, who cares, right? There have been times when we´ve had to walk really fast because we could tell that a pack of up-to-no-good guys/youngsters were kind of following us, but other than that nothing bad. It´s mostly because people can tell I´m from the United States...they´ll yell at me and start asking me questions, but we just say that we gotta go and walk fast! But yep, nothing too scary! Hopefully nothing scary ever happens right?
I had a good morning this morning - bought myself a jacket (70pesos, like 30 American dollars) and a sweet adapter that can use any type of camera card, so I don´t have to carry my camera with me to send pictures :) yay! Because I don´t want to get robbed - there´s been a couple of not dangerous, but kind of like "run away" experiences here that I´ve had. There´s a bunch of kids who are up to no good here, and I have to watch out for them. I guess this is a little more dangerous of a mission, but at least it´s not dangerous like Chicago right?
Sending information or packages- it goes to this address (the mission home):
La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días (or Iglesia S.U.D.)
Elder Gary Jordan Nuttall
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
1702 Ciudadela
Buenos Aires, Argentina
I talked to my District leader, and he got a package with medicine, pills, a bunch of other stuff, and yeah it was only $50 for his mom to send it. Maybe she went through BYU bookstore? I don’t know. BUT...If it´s possible, please send more meds (claritin) and deodorant with the hymn book- that´d be great. Let me know what you decide.
So there´s Nutella here!! Woo hoo! I´m totally buying some either today or tomorrow - it´s kind of expensive, but at least it´ll give me something else to eat besides cereal.
Some other details about the work...we don´t usually knock on a lot of doors. To be honest, we´ve probably knocked… (which here it´s actually clapping - crazy huh? They don´t knock doors like in the US, it´s always clapping or at times they´ll have a doorbell and we can use that, but mostly clapping) two houses in total, so yeah...not too much of that. And for clapping, we just stand outside the person´s house and clap like ten times or something, and then if they´re home they´ll answer! It´s pretty interesting :).
The members are great! And I love the Bishop! He´s a great guy, along with all the members. His daughter is learning the piano - she´s only been playing a month, and now I´m starting to give "mini lessons" to his daughter every Sunday after church. Cool huh? My music theory and lessons with Ron and Jay are paying off! She can´t read music very well, so we´re working on that for starters. The hard part is that I have to do it in Spanish! Yikes! Sometimes it´s hard enough in English, but in Spanish?!? But it´s working. She is happy and learning (her name is Tamara). Her goal is to get good enough that she can play piano for the ward when the missionaries can´t, so yeah. I think it´s pretty awesome that I´m able to implement my talents and everything I learned at BYU out here on the mission! It´s pretty great, and I´m sure thankful for the great instruction I´ve received from Ron and Jay. Thanks you two! Your great mentorship is paying off!
Speaking of which, there´s some pretty sick music here...it´s fun to listen to while I´m walking along the streets. There’s lots of music with congas and bongos, and lots of tango. The music is cool here! And the people here think it´s cool that I know how to play the bongos and congas - thanks again Ron and Jay!
Well, I think that´s about it for now! This work is amazing - I sure love it. Even when people completely throw it back in my face, I´m just grateful that I have it in my life, that my family has it, and that because we have everything we need we have the opportunity to have happiness and joy in this life and the ability to live forever as a family in the next life, with our Father and Jesus Christ too. What a sweet message! This is what makes me wonder why people wouldn´t embrace such a message! I feel sad for them, but it is their choice. I´m doing my best to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that will appeal to them, and with the Spirit. I´m trying to testify more of the truths I know, and my desire for them to know it as well. This church is the church of Jesus Christ, the one and only on the face of the Earth. We are truly blessed to have this knowledge - it is something we should all be grateful for.
I love you all family! Thanks for all your great letters - I love reading about everything you´re doing! Thanks for all your love and support, and I hope you all have a great week! I love you so much! Talk to you in a week!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Friday, November 6, 2009
Buenos Aires Temple
Jordan, Elder Sureda (his comp far left), and two other Elders went to the Temple two weeks ago. I do not know what is up with the thumbs-up in just about every photo, perhaps it is the "in" thing?
Mission Update
Hey all,
I will start posting Jordan's mission emails and pictures at this site.
Hopefully it will be easier for people to get his updates here - especially those whom I do not have an email address for.
-Gary
I will start posting Jordan's mission emails and pictures at this site.
Hopefully it will be easier for people to get his updates here - especially those whom I do not have an email address for.
-Gary
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