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