Dear Family,
Thanks very much for the great letters I got from you all about Grandma´s funeral and everything else that´s taken place. I am feeling much better and much more comforted now than I was a week ago, that´s for sure. Thank you for thinking about me and praying for me - I know your prayers have been heard, because I´m feeling a lot better, the work is good, I´m healthy, and we had a wonderful baptism of Damian Ezekiel Lisarde this Saturday. Yay! I´ll be sure to tell you about it!
I guess I´ll start out with the baptism. It took place on this last Saturday, the 23rd of January. I was the one who baptized him, and it went really great! I got changed into my all-white outfit after having picked Damian up in a Taxi, and I played the piano for the service, and after the talks and all that Damian and I headed out before everyone so that I could show him to the font. He was really excited to be baptized but a little nervous, but he was ready for everything. The water was freezing - it was really cold, but after standing in it for a while it seemed alright. The baptism was perfect; he was happy (it took place at about 7:00pm here, so like 3:00 back there) and was confirmed on Sunday. Yay! I am very happy for him, and I know that he and his grandma are very happy about this decision he took. They are wonderful people. His 9yr. old sister was there too, and she was really happy to see her brother be baptized and was emotional. They live in a different area, but we hope that through Damian´s example that she will make that choice too!
The rest of the work is good right now too - nothing really out-of-the-ordinary or anything. Elder Reyes likes to mess with the dogs but more especially with the cats here (he doesn´t like cats), and it´s pretty funny. He is a rocking Elder and I´m sure glad to be with him here in Libertdad!
Mom! You are the best Mom in the world! I was reading over the recipe book that you gave me with all the very yummy choices of things that I can make here in the mission to eat. Thank you so much for that recipe book! I´m going to try the potatoes idea and the french toast stuff sometime this week - they sound yummy and the fact that they can last a long time rocks as well. I was wondering (if it´s not possible don´t worry about it) - there aren´t many measuring items here, and if there are everything is different because it´s in liters and other weird measurements. Do you think you could send some measuring items with my package too? Like tablespoons, teaspoons, cups, stuff like that. If not, that´s alright - I´ll just have to guess! Let me know if it´s possible :).
Oh and maybe if you have one more angel-food cake mix that you could send...that´d be yummy too. If not that´s all right. There´s a lot of stuff like that that´s not made/sold here, so that´s why I ask!
I bought a towel today, so now I have two regular towels. I like my microfibers because they´re small (they´re good for divisions, when I go to another area to work and I need to bring a towel), but they´re not the most comfortable thing to use to dry off with. So now I have two good towels that I can use throughout my mission, one green the other blue, just like the ones I have at home. Yay!
Thanks for all the info on Carson - I feel bad for the guy. It´s definitely hard to be alone and not have a lot of free time, so I´ll be writing him a nice Carson letter. Tell him thanks for writing a few comments to me and that I loved his mini letter!
Besides all this, everything else is going great. We´re trying to find more people to prepare for baptism - we passed by Hugo and Beba yesterday morning, and it is obvious that they have finally returned from their vacations back to their house. Yay! I just hope they haven´t changed their mind about the church or anything, so we´ll be passing in the week to see if we can talk with them and get them coming to church again. If they are the same as how they left, they are two more golden investigators. I hope that´s the case! Especially with the loss of my beloved Grandma, I see now more than ever how important this Gospel of Jesus Christ really is. Everyone needs to be baptized unto repentance and take the necessary steps to be able to return back to Heavenly Father. I know it´s possible if we just put our faith in Jesus Christ and do everything that He and our Father ask of us, and I know that we´ll receive more happiness from this than any other thing. The gospel surely is beautiful!
The Land-Lady cleaned up our apartment for us a little bit - I kind of felt bad, because the bathroom and some other parts were pretty messy. I talked with my companion about it and asked him if he could help me more, because it´s hard to take care of the apartment just by myself (which is how it was the whole time with Elder Sureda). Elder Reyes rocks, but yeah we need to do a better job cleaning. That´s going to be a new goal of mine - always have a clean apartment so I don´t have to have Patricia come and clean it for us. It was so sweet though! She came and did it just to be nice, so we´re going to make her something yummy to tell her thanks. She is awesome! And I want to hold up Dad´s good name when it comes to keeping things clean :) my Dad is a very clean dad! It´s too bad I don´t have your steam cleaner here on the mission Dad- that´d rock!
Other than that, all is well! I hope you´re all doing fantastic - I´m working hard, praying and pleading all the time that you all receive the blessings that Heavenly Father has prepared for all of you. You are all the most important people and things in my life, and I want you to all be as happy as possible. For that, I´m always going to work hard so that you can all be blessed :) and I am going to work hard and dedicate my mission to my Grandma Nuttall, so she can know of my love for her by how I work in the mission. I love you all so much! You are the best family ever, and man it´ll be great to give you all big hugs once more! Have a great week and we´ll talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Jordan's January 18, 2010 letter
Jordan did not send us a letter this week. His Grandma Nuttall passed away early Sunday morning. We were able to talk to Jordan on the phone, and he sent the following letter to be read at his Grandma's funeral. Jordan is devastated by the loss of his Grandma, but his testimony is strong and he has an increased desire to bring others to a knowledge of the gospel and the Great Plan of Salvation. Please pray for Jordan as he is away from family right now, and his heart is hurting. He is receiving tremendous support from his mission president, zone president, district leader, and companion. He was blessed to get a new companion two weeks ago who is a "kindred spirit" to Jordan, and this was a tender mercy from the Lord at this time. We are proud and grateful to have such a son! -the Nuttalls
Jordan's letter to his Grandma Nuttall for her funeral
January 18, 2010
This is for my Grandma.
It is hard for me to believe that I won´t be coming home to my Grandma Nuttall after my mission - I loved her so dearly, and I´m going to miss her a lot, but I know that I am in the right place doing the right thing at this time in my life.
I first want to say the reason why I am on a mission. I´ve asked myself this question many times in the past five months, but I know now more than ever why I am here. I am here to help bring others to the same hope that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enjoy - the hope for eternal life, to live forever and ever with our families and to return to that God who gave us life.
We read about this from the prophet Moroni, in Moroni 7:41 (read this verse). I know that my Grandma Nuttall was and is a living testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ - she lived that which she knew. And I know that she has been received into the loving arms of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and has returned back to live with our Loving Heavenly Father. This is the hope that I have, and this is the hope that most of the world does not know - and that is the reason why I am teaching here in Argentina, to help others receive the same hope that we all enjoy.
I had many wonderful experiences with my Grandma Nuttall, all throughout my life. One experience was that of always going to her house to visit with her on Christmas morning. Every Christmas of every year, I was always so excited to go visit my Grandma and show her what Santa had brought me for Christmas. I can still feel the love and happiness that came from pulling up on her driveway, going through her front door, and immediately running up to give her a nice big Grandma hug on Christmas morning. They are memories that still flood me with feelings of love and happiness with my Grandma Nuttall.
I especially cherish the memories I had with her before leaving on my mission. During my second semester at BYU and all throughout the summer, I remember feeling unusual desires to visit my Grandma. Visiting her on Sunday nights was normal, but about three or four months before my mission, every Sunday night that came felt like one that needed to be spent with Grandma. Those months before my mission I also used to really talk with her and Grandpa a lot more than usual, and now looking back on it, I know that these desires came from my Heavenly Father. I never knew that my Grandma was going to pass away during my mission - it never really crossed my mind. I thank my Heavenly Father, who I know loves me, so very much for impressing upon me the need to visit my Grandma Nuttall those few months before my mission. I love her so very much and I will be eternally grateful for my Father in Heaven´s inspiration for me to visit my Grandma every Sunday before leaving for my mission.
I feel broken, but I know that my loving Grandma Nuttall has returned to her loving Heavenly Father, and is now resting from all her troubles and cares. Thanks to Heavenly Father, she was able to pass away peacefully. I know that Heavenly Father had angels watching over and comforting my grandma, and that my Savior Jesus Christ was with her the whole time. [D+C 24:8]
"I know that my Redeemer lives - what comfort this sweet sentence gives...He lives my mansions to prepare, He lives to take me safely there." I know my Grandma Nuttall has been carried away safely to dwell in peace from the difficulties and trials of life, and that she has been received into the Savior´s arms of mercy. Jesus Christ lives, and loves us. As He has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), I know that I will also once again be able to be with my Grandma Nuttall and give her another big Grandma hug, along with the rest of my family. I love my Grandma and I will miss her my entire life, but I have the hope and confidence that I will once again be with her. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
This is for my Grandma.
It is hard for me to believe that I won´t be coming home to my Grandma Nuttall after my mission - I loved her so dearly, and I´m going to miss her a lot, but I know that I am in the right place doing the right thing at this time in my life.
I first want to say the reason why I am on a mission. I´ve asked myself this question many times in the past five months, but I know now more than ever why I am here. I am here to help bring others to the same hope that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enjoy - the hope for eternal life, to live forever and ever with our families and to return to that God who gave us life.
We read about this from the prophet Moroni, in Moroni 7:41 (read this verse). I know that my Grandma Nuttall was and is a living testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ - she lived that which she knew. And I know that she has been received into the loving arms of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and has returned back to live with our Loving Heavenly Father. This is the hope that I have, and this is the hope that most of the world does not know - and that is the reason why I am teaching here in Argentina, to help others receive the same hope that we all enjoy.
I had many wonderful experiences with my Grandma Nuttall, all throughout my life. One experience was that of always going to her house to visit with her on Christmas morning. Every Christmas of every year, I was always so excited to go visit my Grandma and show her what Santa had brought me for Christmas. I can still feel the love and happiness that came from pulling up on her driveway, going through her front door, and immediately running up to give her a nice big Grandma hug on Christmas morning. They are memories that still flood me with feelings of love and happiness with my Grandma Nuttall.
I especially cherish the memories I had with her before leaving on my mission. During my second semester at BYU and all throughout the summer, I remember feeling unusual desires to visit my Grandma. Visiting her on Sunday nights was normal, but about three or four months before my mission, every Sunday night that came felt like one that needed to be spent with Grandma. Those months before my mission I also used to really talk with her and Grandpa a lot more than usual, and now looking back on it, I know that these desires came from my Heavenly Father. I never knew that my Grandma was going to pass away during my mission - it never really crossed my mind. I thank my Heavenly Father, who I know loves me, so very much for impressing upon me the need to visit my Grandma Nuttall those few months before my mission. I love her so very much and I will be eternally grateful for my Father in Heaven´s inspiration for me to visit my Grandma every Sunday before leaving for my mission.
I feel broken, but I know that my loving Grandma Nuttall has returned to her loving Heavenly Father, and is now resting from all her troubles and cares. Thanks to Heavenly Father, she was able to pass away peacefully. I know that Heavenly Father had angels watching over and comforting my grandma, and that my Savior Jesus Christ was with her the whole time. [D+C 24:8]
"I know that my Redeemer lives - what comfort this sweet sentence gives...He lives my mansions to prepare, He lives to take me safely there." I know my Grandma Nuttall has been carried away safely to dwell in peace from the difficulties and trials of life, and that she has been received into the Savior´s arms of mercy. Jesus Christ lives, and loves us. As He has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), I know that I will also once again be able to be with my Grandma Nuttall and give her another big Grandma hug, along with the rest of my family. I love my Grandma and I will miss her my entire life, but I have the hope and confidence that I will once again be with her. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Jordan's January 11, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Hey there! Wow! Holy Cow!! Holy Mitzy-flying Lucky-jumping kitties! I´m so happy to hear about everything that´s going on back home! Wow! Sounds like a lot! And with Carson?....that is amazing!!!! Tell him congratulations for me! Man, he is the coolest brother in the whole wide world. He is the coolest best friend I could ever ask for; I´m so grateful for him! Tell him congratulations a million times and that I am sooo proud of him, and that I am very honored to be his brother and that he is the best in the whole world. I hope you all can celebrate or something too! You should go to a yummy restaurant and have a nice family meal together and celebrate his success if you get the time!!
Wow - Elder Reyes, my new companion, rocks! We taught 50 lessons this week, we have 46 new investigators, three with baptismal dates, and we did 177 contacts. Wow! It was a great week! We´re working hard and we´re going to keep working hard, because it feels great and we know that we´re helping the people out with something that they´re going to value the rest of their lives, should they choose to accept it.
We did as you advised, Dad - we visited with a bunch of members the first couple of days, because yeah, it´s been harder to plan and do things like that because I don´t know the area as well. I´m starting to recognize things better now, though, and I´m learning the streets better and yeah I´m improving every day! It rocks. I´m not scared or sad like I was last week - I feel loads better! I´ll try to send a picture of me and Elder Reyes next week - I still need to take one with him and me. He is a rocking guy, though, that´s for sure!
I´m happy to hear that Grandma is back home! I prayed a lot for her that she could be helped back to recovery and back to her more comfortable home - I´m so glad to hear that that is the case! And yes, thank heavens for the priesthood that we have in the home. It is such a tremendous blessing to have! I´m sure glad I have a wonderful Dad who is a fantastic example for me on how I should be with my priesthood. I know I´ll be eternally grateful for the great example that he is and how he´s shown me the great blessings that come from being a worthy priesthood holder. I love you so much Dad! Thanks for all that you do!
Grandma! I´m so happy that you´re home! Definitely keep doing what the doctors say, with drinking enough liquids and all that - I want you to get feeling better! I hope you have lots of good books to read and movies to watch! That´s something I always liked to have when I was sick - it helped me to not think about being sick as much. Plus there´s a bunch of awesome movies like Up that would be the best to watch! Are you happy to be home? I know I would be! Oh and a kitty never hurts to have by your side :) Kitties are the best! Have my mom put another stuffed cat in your house so you can have a little kitty full of love to be with you all the time! I love you grandma!
Hey Marsh! Thanks for your great letter - wow! That is soooo cool! Sounds like you´re tearing it up back home, once again! And yes, I would have to agree with you; all the praying, reading the scriptures, and being righteous is paying off. They are all definitely blessings from the Lord to you, and that is so cool! Make sure to give Heavenly Father lots of thanks for all these blessings - I am extremely happy to hear all the blessings you are receiving. That is the greatest! Thanks for your great letter Carson! I sure love you and miss you a lot, but I´m grateful for the great experiences and all the wonderful things that I´m learning here in the mission. I sure hope you decide to go on a mission too! It is great, and although it is hard at times, all the things that you learn are fantastic, and the people you meet (converts and members) are people and memories that you could never find in any other place. There is no other place I´d rather be right now, without a doubt. Missions rock!
The work is really great - I love Libertad! I´m sure going to miss everyone when it´s time for me to leave, especially the members and the converts - they are all such great people! I love them all very much. Sometimes I think about how it would be nice to be back home when life is a little nicer, but then I remember all the great people I´m meeting and the great experiences I´m having, and man it´s all worth it! I love the mission, and I know the Lord is shaping me into the person I was meant to be. I have my imperfections, but I know He is helping me to grow and that through him I can do anything.
The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth again, through the prophet Joseph Smith, and we are all able to enjoy the great blessings that come through Priesthood power and the saving ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a great blessing! I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to hear the gospel as I was growing up, and that I was blessed with the best family ever to teach me how to live the gospel and be truly happy because of it. Thank you all so much for your great examples family - I hope I can be as good of a person as you all are! You really are examples to me and I thank Heavenly Father that He has given me two wonderful parents and the best friend and brother that I could ever hope to receive. I love you all so much! Thanks for all you do, and I hope that you all have a great week and that you have some time to do fun things as a family and celebrate the success of the "Marsh" (like Five Guys or something...yum!)! I love you all very much! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Hey there! Wow! Holy Cow!! Holy Mitzy-flying Lucky-jumping kitties! I´m so happy to hear about everything that´s going on back home! Wow! Sounds like a lot! And with Carson?....that is amazing!!!! Tell him congratulations for me! Man, he is the coolest brother in the whole wide world. He is the coolest best friend I could ever ask for; I´m so grateful for him! Tell him congratulations a million times and that I am sooo proud of him, and that I am very honored to be his brother and that he is the best in the whole world. I hope you all can celebrate or something too! You should go to a yummy restaurant and have a nice family meal together and celebrate his success if you get the time!!
Wow - Elder Reyes, my new companion, rocks! We taught 50 lessons this week, we have 46 new investigators, three with baptismal dates, and we did 177 contacts. Wow! It was a great week! We´re working hard and we´re going to keep working hard, because it feels great and we know that we´re helping the people out with something that they´re going to value the rest of their lives, should they choose to accept it.
We did as you advised, Dad - we visited with a bunch of members the first couple of days, because yeah, it´s been harder to plan and do things like that because I don´t know the area as well. I´m starting to recognize things better now, though, and I´m learning the streets better and yeah I´m improving every day! It rocks. I´m not scared or sad like I was last week - I feel loads better! I´ll try to send a picture of me and Elder Reyes next week - I still need to take one with him and me. He is a rocking guy, though, that´s for sure!
I´m happy to hear that Grandma is back home! I prayed a lot for her that she could be helped back to recovery and back to her more comfortable home - I´m so glad to hear that that is the case! And yes, thank heavens for the priesthood that we have in the home. It is such a tremendous blessing to have! I´m sure glad I have a wonderful Dad who is a fantastic example for me on how I should be with my priesthood. I know I´ll be eternally grateful for the great example that he is and how he´s shown me the great blessings that come from being a worthy priesthood holder. I love you so much Dad! Thanks for all that you do!
Grandma! I´m so happy that you´re home! Definitely keep doing what the doctors say, with drinking enough liquids and all that - I want you to get feeling better! I hope you have lots of good books to read and movies to watch! That´s something I always liked to have when I was sick - it helped me to not think about being sick as much. Plus there´s a bunch of awesome movies like Up that would be the best to watch! Are you happy to be home? I know I would be! Oh and a kitty never hurts to have by your side :) Kitties are the best! Have my mom put another stuffed cat in your house so you can have a little kitty full of love to be with you all the time! I love you grandma!
Hey Marsh! Thanks for your great letter - wow! That is soooo cool! Sounds like you´re tearing it up back home, once again! And yes, I would have to agree with you; all the praying, reading the scriptures, and being righteous is paying off. They are all definitely blessings from the Lord to you, and that is so cool! Make sure to give Heavenly Father lots of thanks for all these blessings - I am extremely happy to hear all the blessings you are receiving. That is the greatest! Thanks for your great letter Carson! I sure love you and miss you a lot, but I´m grateful for the great experiences and all the wonderful things that I´m learning here in the mission. I sure hope you decide to go on a mission too! It is great, and although it is hard at times, all the things that you learn are fantastic, and the people you meet (converts and members) are people and memories that you could never find in any other place. There is no other place I´d rather be right now, without a doubt. Missions rock!
The work is really great - I love Libertad! I´m sure going to miss everyone when it´s time for me to leave, especially the members and the converts - they are all such great people! I love them all very much. Sometimes I think about how it would be nice to be back home when life is a little nicer, but then I remember all the great people I´m meeting and the great experiences I´m having, and man it´s all worth it! I love the mission, and I know the Lord is shaping me into the person I was meant to be. I have my imperfections, but I know He is helping me to grow and that through him I can do anything.
The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth again, through the prophet Joseph Smith, and we are all able to enjoy the great blessings that come through Priesthood power and the saving ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a great blessing! I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to hear the gospel as I was growing up, and that I was blessed with the best family ever to teach me how to live the gospel and be truly happy because of it. Thank you all so much for your great examples family - I hope I can be as good of a person as you all are! You really are examples to me and I thank Heavenly Father that He has given me two wonderful parents and the best friend and brother that I could ever hope to receive. I love you all so much! Thanks for all you do, and I hope that you all have a great week and that you have some time to do fun things as a family and celebrate the success of the "Marsh" (like Five Guys or something...yum!)! I love you all very much! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, January 4, 2010
Jordan's January 4, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
All right - I´m going to write a speed letter today! Weeeee!
Sorry for writing so late - we had transfers today; that´s the reason why I'm late. I have an awesome new companion named Elder Reyes (spanish for Kings) - he is awesome! However, I´m pretty shocked to be on my own having to direct things right now. I´m scared and sad. This is hard for me to do. I don´t know what to do :(.
Elder Reyes is from Panama City, Panama. He is a rocking guy! He is really excited to work here, and his former companion (Elder Horrocks, cousin of Emily Bingham Horrock's husband) said he really works hard and likes to work. He speaks pretty good English too - it´s obvious he´s been working hard at it. He said he wants to continue to work hard at it and all, so that´s way cool. We´ll be hard-working missionaries!
We went to Ramos Mejía this morning for the Transfer Meeting. It was super! There were great talks given by the President and his wife, and I got more desires to work harder and be a better person and missionary. I am very grateful for the words that were spoken. It was exciting to see who was going to be paired up with who, who was being moved up to leadership positions, etc. It was kind of sad to see Elder Sureda leave. I´m sure I´ll dig Elder Reyes though - he is a super guy and he has 17 months in the mission, and has the same number of people in his family as us (4!!), he is also the oldest, and he loves missionary work. I am excited to work with him! I´m grateful to have him and his positive attitude for the work out here, and it´ll be great to get to know him and be able to learn tons of other great things from him.
Thanks for the package - I got everything fine, and Elder Sureda said to tell you thanks for his package too. After the Transfer meeting, we went to Elder Reyes´ area (it took like an hour and a half to get there), got his stuff, called a taxi, loaded it up, and I had to direct the taxi driver in spanish to the apartment in Libertad. Talk about a little nerve-racking. Then when we got there, we unloaded the stuff, and Elder Sureda happened to be at the apartment so he ended up taking the same taxi. And he left his backpack in the apartment...I´ll have to return it to him somehow. And yeah, then I paid the rent (they give us the money to do it), ate something fast, and now here I am!
I guess it´s mostly that I´m just nerve racked. And I don´t know why I´m sad, but I´m just kinda shocked at how fast things are flying, how much I've got to do on my own now...it´s crazy. I will be praying more than I have in my whole life this week.
New Year´s Day was good - sounds like yours was better, but that´s alright! There were lots of fireworks again, and Elder Sureda and I drank cider. That was about the extent of our partying in the mission field. We also had dinner with the Bishop and his family, so that was cool. He cooked grilled chicken with potatoes and vegetebles, and man it was great!
I was able to write down goals for this year that I want to accomplish - I´m sure excited to be able to start afresh one more time to try and do things as the Savior would do. I want to work really hard this year so that I can feel the joy and happiness that comes from working hard in the mission field.
How was the break? Thanks for your great letters - I always love reading your letters! It´s fun to hear about what you´re all doing back at home. It sounds like it´s a blast! That´s awesome you all went to the McCabes to have a New Year´s celebration. They are great people. And, for Carson, I´m glad that he was able to have a party at the house with friends. That is so cool!
I finished reading "Jesus the Christ" before the new year started, and then two days later I finished "Our Search for Happiness." That was a lot of reading. I basically studied every spare minute I had to be able to do that. I´m going to start reading "True to the Faith" now - I know it´s a study guide, but I figured I could learn some really great doctrine by studying the whole book. I love to study!
I love you all so very much! I´m so grateful for all the love and support you all show me. Things seem harder than ever for me right now - with being the official ¨guide¨ of the area, not being a "master" of the language yet, having basically everything change...it´s kind of tough. But I know that what I´m learning will be so valuable for the future, and for that I am very grateful. I´m definitely being humbled by the Lord - I need His support for all things, without a doubt, and I´ll definitely be praying my socks off as I try to further the missionary work here in Libertad.
I want to thank you all so much for all that you do - I can´t express it in words, that´s for sure. But I want you to know how much I love you and how much I miss you. I love you all very very much and I want the best for all of you, and really that´s a big big part of why I´m on a mission - for my family! Thanks for everything you do for me!
And also, thanks for the picture with Dad - he has rocking glasses! You look awesome Dad! It´ll be great to see you in person with glasses- they are so cool! Thanks for sending me the picture!
Have a fantastic week and I´ll be writing to you all in just one more week! Woohoo! And by the time I write, I´ll be one day away from having 5 months in the mission...wow! That´s crazy! I love you and I´ll write to you then!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
All right - I´m going to write a speed letter today! Weeeee!
Sorry for writing so late - we had transfers today; that´s the reason why I'm late. I have an awesome new companion named Elder Reyes (spanish for Kings) - he is awesome! However, I´m pretty shocked to be on my own having to direct things right now. I´m scared and sad. This is hard for me to do. I don´t know what to do :(.
Elder Reyes is from Panama City, Panama. He is a rocking guy! He is really excited to work here, and his former companion (Elder Horrocks, cousin of Emily Bingham Horrock's husband) said he really works hard and likes to work. He speaks pretty good English too - it´s obvious he´s been working hard at it. He said he wants to continue to work hard at it and all, so that´s way cool. We´ll be hard-working missionaries!
We went to Ramos Mejía this morning for the Transfer Meeting. It was super! There were great talks given by the President and his wife, and I got more desires to work harder and be a better person and missionary. I am very grateful for the words that were spoken. It was exciting to see who was going to be paired up with who, who was being moved up to leadership positions, etc. It was kind of sad to see Elder Sureda leave. I´m sure I´ll dig Elder Reyes though - he is a super guy and he has 17 months in the mission, and has the same number of people in his family as us (4!!), he is also the oldest, and he loves missionary work. I am excited to work with him! I´m grateful to have him and his positive attitude for the work out here, and it´ll be great to get to know him and be able to learn tons of other great things from him.
Thanks for the package - I got everything fine, and Elder Sureda said to tell you thanks for his package too. After the Transfer meeting, we went to Elder Reyes´ area (it took like an hour and a half to get there), got his stuff, called a taxi, loaded it up, and I had to direct the taxi driver in spanish to the apartment in Libertad. Talk about a little nerve-racking. Then when we got there, we unloaded the stuff, and Elder Sureda happened to be at the apartment so he ended up taking the same taxi. And he left his backpack in the apartment...I´ll have to return it to him somehow. And yeah, then I paid the rent (they give us the money to do it), ate something fast, and now here I am!
I guess it´s mostly that I´m just nerve racked. And I don´t know why I´m sad, but I´m just kinda shocked at how fast things are flying, how much I've got to do on my own now...it´s crazy. I will be praying more than I have in my whole life this week.
New Year´s Day was good - sounds like yours was better, but that´s alright! There were lots of fireworks again, and Elder Sureda and I drank cider. That was about the extent of our partying in the mission field. We also had dinner with the Bishop and his family, so that was cool. He cooked grilled chicken with potatoes and vegetebles, and man it was great!
I was able to write down goals for this year that I want to accomplish - I´m sure excited to be able to start afresh one more time to try and do things as the Savior would do. I want to work really hard this year so that I can feel the joy and happiness that comes from working hard in the mission field.
How was the break? Thanks for your great letters - I always love reading your letters! It´s fun to hear about what you´re all doing back at home. It sounds like it´s a blast! That´s awesome you all went to the McCabes to have a New Year´s celebration. They are great people. And, for Carson, I´m glad that he was able to have a party at the house with friends. That is so cool!
I finished reading "Jesus the Christ" before the new year started, and then two days later I finished "Our Search for Happiness." That was a lot of reading. I basically studied every spare minute I had to be able to do that. I´m going to start reading "True to the Faith" now - I know it´s a study guide, but I figured I could learn some really great doctrine by studying the whole book. I love to study!
I love you all so very much! I´m so grateful for all the love and support you all show me. Things seem harder than ever for me right now - with being the official ¨guide¨ of the area, not being a "master" of the language yet, having basically everything change...it´s kind of tough. But I know that what I´m learning will be so valuable for the future, and for that I am very grateful. I´m definitely being humbled by the Lord - I need His support for all things, without a doubt, and I´ll definitely be praying my socks off as I try to further the missionary work here in Libertad.
I want to thank you all so much for all that you do - I can´t express it in words, that´s for sure. But I want you to know how much I love you and how much I miss you. I love you all very very much and I want the best for all of you, and really that´s a big big part of why I´m on a mission - for my family! Thanks for everything you do for me!
And also, thanks for the picture with Dad - he has rocking glasses! You look awesome Dad! It´ll be great to see you in person with glasses- they are so cool! Thanks for sending me the picture!
Have a fantastic week and I´ll be writing to you all in just one more week! Woohoo! And by the time I write, I´ll be one day away from having 5 months in the mission...wow! That´s crazy! I love you and I´ll write to you then!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
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