March 22, 2010
Dear Family,
Woohoo!!! Missionary work is the coolest thing in the world! Sometimes it´s hard, but it´s a blast - I love the mission.
So I´ve got some sweet news - there is a sweet awesome need-to-go-to-or-order-something Argentine shop opened up in Salt Lake City, that sells the SAME STUFF that I´m eating here in Argentina!!! How sweet is that? The meat, the facturas (mom would LOVE those!), dulce de leche that you guys have heard about...like everything! I´ll give you the address right now:
PAMPAS BAKERY
2156 Highland Drive (in the heart of Sugar House)
Mon-Th 8AM-7PM
Fri-Sat 730AM-900PM
1-801-738-8058
These guys are legit Argentines and they make stuff just how it´s done here in Argentina - I got hooked up with the reference from a member that actually lived in Utah for like a year and then came back to Argentina. Cool huh? I highly recommend the place - you guys will be able to taste the sweetness of Argentina! And they do delivery too, I believe :).
My deoderant totally rocks - the stuff you sent me that´s like a green stick stuff? Speed Stick? You should get me more if you can, because I love it! It works wonderfully :) Thanks Mom!
We have two rocking investigators right now, Bryan and Daniel, who are actually friends (we didn´t know that before). They are both 16 years old, both go to the same school and are classmates. Bryan is the son of a recent convert and Daniel is a friend who´s really excited about being baptized APRIL 10th!!!!! My birthday!!! WOOHOO! It´s too bad I´ll probably not be in the area (I´ll be in another I think), but it´s still rocking igual. (huh?) They are rocking guys, and I love them a lot. They are really respectful and are really interested in the Church, and we´re really going to work well with them and teach them the best we can. The Lord has truly blessed us with them.
So yeah, in a week I´ll probably be writing from my new area! We´ll see - the President told me that I´ll probably be heading out, but there´s a chance that I might stay one transfer more...we´ll see what happens. I´d sure love to stay! This is an awesome ward!
There´s this family we visited last night - their names are Patricia (mom), Tatiana (daughter), Milagros, Miguel, and Morena (in order of age - Morena is almost two years old) - they are so awesome! Poor little Miguel - he´s nine years old, and it hit him last night that in a week I´m not going to be here anymore (most likely). He gave me a big hug and started bawling a little bit. I felt bad for the poor little guy - I sure love Miguel! I love that whole family. The people here, especially the members, really do become your family out on the mission. I love them a lot!
It´s going to get cold. I´ll be alright though, now that I´ve got a jacket and sweaters from Mom! Woohoo! Yeah, the weather is definitely cooling down right now - it is officially the end of summer and right now we are in Autumn! So yeah, it´s cooling down a lot more… still not freezing, though, but it´s chilly in the mornings.
We were walking by the other day and this punk started threatening to fight me and saying a bunch of crap, but I just kept walking on with my companion. It was kind of a nervous moment, but I tried not to let anything get on my nerves and just kept pressing on. Nothing bad happened - if it did, that´s why we´ve got companions, right? I´m glad nothing has happened, and I feel bad that there are people who act like that. It also shows that there are definitely people in this world that have issues against Americans - it´s good advice to keep on your feet.
I´m successful only because the Lord is helping me. I pray all day long, way more than I´ve ever prayed in my life, for Him to be with me to help me in my teaching and to help me be a good representative of Him. I try to always be humble and recognize that I can do what I do because of Him. And I´m always praying for you guys all day long too :) Yay! I want to be an excellent missionary, and boy I want to teach as many Priests when I get home as possible to head on the mission. It was hard for me, but I´ll be able to testify to them that it´s something they need to do, and that they´ll be blessed for it. I sure hope Carson goes - I´m trying to help him get out here too.
That´s insane that Joey is married - congrats Joey! I´ll be excited to see you and your wife/family when I get home!
That´s about it for now! I love you guys a ton and I´ll be writing another big letter again in a week! I love you!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, March 22, 2010
March 15, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Hey thanks so much for your letters! And the package!! I´m so grateful for you guys - you´re all the best! Thanks for taking care of me and helping me to keep on working out here in the mission field - I´m so thankful for everything! I was so happy when I got your letters and the packages - thanks a million!
That stinks about Carson´s computer being broken - hopefully you guys can get it fixed soon. Those computers are the best! Hopefully something can be done to save it so he can continue working with it more :).
(Gary told Jordan about seeing Jordan Rose playing with BYU’s pep band on t.v. last week.) I miss those guys in percussion - when I get back, it´s a shame that all of them will be gone. Gavin, Matt Slack, Jordan, Andrew Toleman...they´ll all be gone! I´ll have to see if I can get some gigs with Andrew Wangeman or something.
Everything is pretty good here in Libertad - I only have two more weeks here and then I´ll be transferred to another area! It´ll be a big surprise if I don´t get transferred, that´s for sure.
I wrote to Carson about some of the awesome weather we get here. The other day it was a clear sky at like 7 at night, but with this massive white cloud that had tons of lightning bolts shooting through it and everything. It was awesome!!! I´ve never seen stuff like that in Utah before, that´s the truth. Too bad I couldn´t take a picture - but then again, it´s hard to capture those moments well with a camera too.
And so you know, yeah, we´re using the new Principles of the Gospel book out here - called Principios del Evangelio en Spanish, right? I got one for myself so I can study out of it if I want to - I think it´s a really great book!
The work is going pretty good - we´ve got one kid with a baptismal date, but it´s for after this transfer so I won´t be around to see it happen. He´s got 16 years old and is a good kid, but we need to see how dedicated he is - he didn´t come to church and we confirmed a million times what time in the morning we were going to pass by, and we passed by two times but never answered. We´ll see if he holds out much more longer - I sure hope so! Everyone needs the waters of baptism, so I hope he´ll get the desires and interest to truly follow the example of Jesus Christ in his life.
Sorry my letter isn´t too huge this week - we´re still working hard, but right now we´re trying to find good people to get ready for baptism, because some people we thought would work out bailed on us so now we´re back to the drawing board in finding who could be possibilities out of the many that we´ve taught and talked with so far.
Thanks for all you are doing for me family!!! I love you all very much, and I´m thankful for your support you´ve shown me all this time. It´s an honor to be your son, Mom and Dad, and to be brother of the best brother in the world, Carson! I love the mission and I love the Savior, and I´m honored to be able to bear His name for two years. I love you and I´ll be writing another one of these in one week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Hey thanks so much for your letters! And the package!! I´m so grateful for you guys - you´re all the best! Thanks for taking care of me and helping me to keep on working out here in the mission field - I´m so thankful for everything! I was so happy when I got your letters and the packages - thanks a million!
That stinks about Carson´s computer being broken - hopefully you guys can get it fixed soon. Those computers are the best! Hopefully something can be done to save it so he can continue working with it more :).
(Gary told Jordan about seeing Jordan Rose playing with BYU’s pep band on t.v. last week.) I miss those guys in percussion - when I get back, it´s a shame that all of them will be gone. Gavin, Matt Slack, Jordan, Andrew Toleman...they´ll all be gone! I´ll have to see if I can get some gigs with Andrew Wangeman or something.
Everything is pretty good here in Libertad - I only have two more weeks here and then I´ll be transferred to another area! It´ll be a big surprise if I don´t get transferred, that´s for sure.
I wrote to Carson about some of the awesome weather we get here. The other day it was a clear sky at like 7 at night, but with this massive white cloud that had tons of lightning bolts shooting through it and everything. It was awesome!!! I´ve never seen stuff like that in Utah before, that´s the truth. Too bad I couldn´t take a picture - but then again, it´s hard to capture those moments well with a camera too.
And so you know, yeah, we´re using the new Principles of the Gospel book out here - called Principios del Evangelio en Spanish, right? I got one for myself so I can study out of it if I want to - I think it´s a really great book!
The work is going pretty good - we´ve got one kid with a baptismal date, but it´s for after this transfer so I won´t be around to see it happen. He´s got 16 years old and is a good kid, but we need to see how dedicated he is - he didn´t come to church and we confirmed a million times what time in the morning we were going to pass by, and we passed by two times but never answered. We´ll see if he holds out much more longer - I sure hope so! Everyone needs the waters of baptism, so I hope he´ll get the desires and interest to truly follow the example of Jesus Christ in his life.
Sorry my letter isn´t too huge this week - we´re still working hard, but right now we´re trying to find good people to get ready for baptism, because some people we thought would work out bailed on us so now we´re back to the drawing board in finding who could be possibilities out of the many that we´ve taught and talked with so far.
Thanks for all you are doing for me family!!! I love you all very much, and I´m thankful for your support you´ve shown me all this time. It´s an honor to be your son, Mom and Dad, and to be brother of the best brother in the world, Carson! I love the mission and I love the Savior, and I´m honored to be able to bear His name for two years. I love you and I´ll be writing another one of these in one week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Friday, March 12, 2010
Jordan's March 8, 2010 letter
March 8, 2010
Dear Family,
Hey there! I´m so happy for your letters - it sounds like it was a very good week! Even though there were some close moments, like when Carson almost missed his jazz festival! That´s cool that you were able to play so well- it shows that you really have lots of talents in music, and really you´ll be able to bless the lives of lots of people in your abilities in music. Even if you don´t want to do it as like a job, keep it up! It´s a great talent that you have, and it´s something that really blesses the lives of everyone around you, including our family. I´m glad you´re such a rocking bass player! Keep it up!
Thanks a million for sending me packages!!! I´m excited for them! My first two haven´t come yet, but I´m sure they´ll be coming either this week or the next - from what I hear, it´s usually like four weeks to get packages, so they should be coming soon! Yay! Thanks Mom and Dad! You guys are the coolest parents in the world, really!!!! I´m very excited :).
There´s some pretty sweet music here in Argentina - usually it´s stuff called Regatón, and I think it kind of stinks (because it´s like the Rap of Argentina and some other countries here too - maybe it´s all of South America), but the Tango and Salsa music, stuff like that, is awesome! It reminds me of working with Jay in the salsa band and learning with Ron in the world percussion class - it makes me want to play my congas. But for now I´ll just listen as I walk by and hit the congas when I get home!
No baptisms this week - we might be looking at a no-baptism transfer, which is a little bummer but we´re trying. One kid is named Luciano, and he´s a great kid and really getting ready for baptism, but he doesn´t have parental support. He really needs his parents at church (they are inactive, they´re actually his grandparents, they´ve started drinking and smoking, going to the Catholic or other churches at times, etc.). Yeah, it´s not the best situation with him. I talked with the Bishop about it and he said that this type of stuff has been going on a lot with them for years, and that the situation is that they´re offended at somebody or something in the church and that they don´t want to come back because of that. So what we´ll be doing with Luciano is teaching him still and bringing him to church, but we´re going to wait on the baptism so he can make the decision when he´s older, because right now if he got baptized he´d have the possibility of doing the same as what his grandparents are doing and that´d be bad. We´ll keep working with all of them to try and fix things up a bit.
The other two possibilities are Celeste and Daniel. Celeste is 18 years old and seems really good and interested, but her family is all Catholic and it´s kind of a problem. I called their house Saturday night to see if she was home and her mom answered me - she was really nice and told me to call in the morning because Celeste had left the house, so yeah I called in the morning and this time her grandma picked up. She told me nice and strong how they are Catholics and Catholic this and Catholic that, and that they (it really seems like "she") don´t want us to come in the house or anything. I told her that´s fine if they don´t want us in the home, and that we can visit outside and all is well. After that she just hung up. I was bummed after that, but we´re going to pass to see what Celeste has to say about it all. She´s 18 now so she doesn´t need parental approval to be baptized or receive the lessons, so we´ll see if she´s still interested or not. She had a baptismal date, but she didn´t come to church this week so we´ll have to push the date back a week if she still wants to do it.
Daniel is like a golden investigator from what we´ve seen - he is 15 years old, he loves the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon - he told us that they really help him feel better in his life and that he wants to be baptized. Woohoo! This is rocking, but he wasn´t able to come to church on Sunday because someone close to him died and he was at the funeral Sunday morning. So we´ll definitely keep passing by his house to see if we can keep him on the "path of righteousness" (as said in Emperor´s New Groove :).
One other is named Alma, and she is nine years old. Her mom is a member, so now we´re teaching her the lessons to see if she wants to get baptized. The dad, who doesn´t live with them, is Catholic, so we might be battling with that but for now things are looking really good, because we have some great member support in helping her make the decision. Yay!
Other than that, everything is pretty normal. I´m going around and getting people to sign my signature book, because in three weeks from today I´ll be in Ramos Mejía heading out to another area I think! So yeah, I´m doing lots of that too. Thanks for all your letters, love, and support! I love you very much and I´ll be writing another ginormous letter like this in a week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Dear Family,
Hey there! I´m so happy for your letters - it sounds like it was a very good week! Even though there were some close moments, like when Carson almost missed his jazz festival! That´s cool that you were able to play so well- it shows that you really have lots of talents in music, and really you´ll be able to bless the lives of lots of people in your abilities in music. Even if you don´t want to do it as like a job, keep it up! It´s a great talent that you have, and it´s something that really blesses the lives of everyone around you, including our family. I´m glad you´re such a rocking bass player! Keep it up!
Thanks a million for sending me packages!!! I´m excited for them! My first two haven´t come yet, but I´m sure they´ll be coming either this week or the next - from what I hear, it´s usually like four weeks to get packages, so they should be coming soon! Yay! Thanks Mom and Dad! You guys are the coolest parents in the world, really!!!! I´m very excited :).
There´s some pretty sweet music here in Argentina - usually it´s stuff called Regatón, and I think it kind of stinks (because it´s like the Rap of Argentina and some other countries here too - maybe it´s all of South America), but the Tango and Salsa music, stuff like that, is awesome! It reminds me of working with Jay in the salsa band and learning with Ron in the world percussion class - it makes me want to play my congas. But for now I´ll just listen as I walk by and hit the congas when I get home!
No baptisms this week - we might be looking at a no-baptism transfer, which is a little bummer but we´re trying. One kid is named Luciano, and he´s a great kid and really getting ready for baptism, but he doesn´t have parental support. He really needs his parents at church (they are inactive, they´re actually his grandparents, they´ve started drinking and smoking, going to the Catholic or other churches at times, etc.). Yeah, it´s not the best situation with him. I talked with the Bishop about it and he said that this type of stuff has been going on a lot with them for years, and that the situation is that they´re offended at somebody or something in the church and that they don´t want to come back because of that. So what we´ll be doing with Luciano is teaching him still and bringing him to church, but we´re going to wait on the baptism so he can make the decision when he´s older, because right now if he got baptized he´d have the possibility of doing the same as what his grandparents are doing and that´d be bad. We´ll keep working with all of them to try and fix things up a bit.
The other two possibilities are Celeste and Daniel. Celeste is 18 years old and seems really good and interested, but her family is all Catholic and it´s kind of a problem. I called their house Saturday night to see if she was home and her mom answered me - she was really nice and told me to call in the morning because Celeste had left the house, so yeah I called in the morning and this time her grandma picked up. She told me nice and strong how they are Catholics and Catholic this and Catholic that, and that they (it really seems like "she") don´t want us to come in the house or anything. I told her that´s fine if they don´t want us in the home, and that we can visit outside and all is well. After that she just hung up. I was bummed after that, but we´re going to pass to see what Celeste has to say about it all. She´s 18 now so she doesn´t need parental approval to be baptized or receive the lessons, so we´ll see if she´s still interested or not. She had a baptismal date, but she didn´t come to church this week so we´ll have to push the date back a week if she still wants to do it.
Daniel is like a golden investigator from what we´ve seen - he is 15 years old, he loves the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon - he told us that they really help him feel better in his life and that he wants to be baptized. Woohoo! This is rocking, but he wasn´t able to come to church on Sunday because someone close to him died and he was at the funeral Sunday morning. So we´ll definitely keep passing by his house to see if we can keep him on the "path of righteousness" (as said in Emperor´s New Groove :).
One other is named Alma, and she is nine years old. Her mom is a member, so now we´re teaching her the lessons to see if she wants to get baptized. The dad, who doesn´t live with them, is Catholic, so we might be battling with that but for now things are looking really good, because we have some great member support in helping her make the decision. Yay!
Other than that, everything is pretty normal. I´m going around and getting people to sign my signature book, because in three weeks from today I´ll be in Ramos Mejía heading out to another area I think! So yeah, I´m doing lots of that too. Thanks for all your letters, love, and support! I love you very much and I´ll be writing another ginormous letter like this in a week!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, March 1, 2010
Jordan's March 1, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Hey there! Everything is going great, just so you know - we didn´t feel anything from the earthquake here in Buenos Aires, but yeah, I heard that a whole lot of people in Chile did! The Elders from Chile had the opportunity to call their families to make sure that they are all okay - from what I´ve heard, some of their families live really close to where everything went down, so we´ll hope that everything is alright and that there aren´t any problems with them. I´m sure the Lord is watching over them, because in every aspect He watches and blesses His missionaries and their families!!! :) :)
Thanks a million for your great emails - I was really happy to read them!! You guys always write the best letters in the whole world. I´m so grateful for your love and support for me in the mission, because I know there are many who don´t have such support (like the Elders who are the only members of the Church in their families). I´m sure blessed to have you as my family!!
Yesterday (Sunday) in Elder´s quorum they were talking about Elder Bednar´s talk from the last conference, about having strong relationships in the family and stuff like that. Franklin, the Elder´s Quorum President, asked me to share my experiences with you all with family home evening, because it´s a little different in the US than here (in some aspects, that is). I know we didn´t do it tons, but I told them about how much fun it was and all the great things I learned. I talked about all of you, and how it was fun to have lessons given by Carson or me, and Mom and Dad too, and that we´d learn good things from the scriptures and do a fun activity with the family afterwards, like buying ice cream or snowies. It brought back such good memories!! Everyone in the room was really happy to hear about how happy our family is and all the good memories for me that come from our Family Home Evenings. I´m very grateful for your great examples towards me, and for doing your great job in raising my brother and I. You´ve really raised us up in the light and in the truth!! (D & C 93:40).
So this week was good - we worked really hard, and had lots of success!! Our baptism fell through - the girl didn´t show up for the interview, and we called her and she told us that she didn´t want to get baptized any more, that she wants to keep drinking and drugging up and stuff, etc. So yeah, she´s kind of out of the picture now. We saw her yesterday and asked how she was doing, and she told us "Everything is great except I haven´t been baptized yet..."- that kind of fried my companion. He wasn´t very happy, but we told her if she needs anything just to call us. So yep!! No baptism, but that´s okay because it´s better that she does those things without the covenant right? If she would have returned back to all of that after being baptized, that would have been bad.
So I placed a new record in contacts!!! I did 56 contacts all by myself in one day - more than Elder Reyes has ever done, and my Zone Leaders were impressed by it. Not something to brag about, but I felt really good about that day - I did that and 12 lessons in one day. Cool huh?
And guess what else? I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish!!! Woohoo!!! I´m reading it over again to mark it up nice and good and really study it hard. I sure love the Book of Mormon. I know it´s the word of God and that it really brings us more peace and happiness than any other book on the earth. It is truly a wonderful book!!
We did a load of service this Saturday! Five and a half hours we used in helping Patricia (the lady with her kids who has a house made out of cement, planks of wood, and sheets of metal for a roof) in fixing up her house. It was a ward project, but only us and like eight other people showed up. We cleaned out a LOAD of garbage and nasty stuff - Mom, you wouldn´t BELIEVE the giant spiders, cockroaches (sp?), worms, and other crazy insects we found buried under this stuff!!!! There were some spiders big enough that they looked like animals, and there were lot of toads too. Isn´t that nasty??? I´m glad we helped her clean things out, though, because now it´s much more clean!!!! We´re doing this because eventually they´re going to build a new, clean house next to where the one they´re using right now is. Yay!!! We´re very happy for them and that they´re finally going to have a nicer house to live in. With the conditions that are coming (it´s starting to cool off now - yay!), it would be very hard on her kids, because they´re all pretty young and the living conditions right now that they´re in aren´t good. We´re grateful that we could help and that we´re going to continue helping them out.
Mom...I am so happy for you!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Yay!!! You have social security now!! I´m so grateful for this news - that you don´t have to worry about working, but rather just worry about getting better and getting some nice rest. I´m so happy for you!! Heavenly Father is really blessing you and the family, I am sure of it. I´m grateful that you have this wonderful news, and that finally our patience and prayers are paying off!! Yay Mom!!!
As for packages, they get to me when they get here. We have District Meeting every Tuesday, and that´s when mail comes, so once the package gets here I will get it on a Tuesday without a doubt. That´s how the system works, both for mail and for packages. As to what I could use...with the cold weather coming, I could use maybe some hot cocoa!!! Or something yummy like that that´s hot :) :) yay!! And also some cold medicine - I got a cold and the best I could do for medicine was Halls. Maybe you could get me some Dayquil/Nyquil or Sudafed or something like that? Music would be rocking too (classical stuff), and possibly some Dr. Shoells - I´ll be sending you pics of my shoes here in a bit. Don´t feel pressured for any of this, but that´s kind of my list of stuff I need or want right now. Thanks mom!!! You´re helping me out so much I can´t even explain it!!
That´s awesome with the Olympics!!! And also with inviting Grandpa, Amy and Troy over - that´d be fun if I were there to enjoy it too!! I loved it when they could all come over to our house - it usually didn´t happen to often but when it did it was the best!!! I love you all so much!! And that´s sweet with all the Olympics - sounds like the good ol´ USA is rocking the house in the winter olympics!! Woohoo!!
I think that´s about all for this ginormous letter - sorry about writing so much. I love you all so very much and I hope you enjoy this letter!! That´s about everything that went on this week - it was insane!! I love you and I´ll write another one of these in week!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Hey there! Everything is going great, just so you know - we didn´t feel anything from the earthquake here in Buenos Aires, but yeah, I heard that a whole lot of people in Chile did! The Elders from Chile had the opportunity to call their families to make sure that they are all okay - from what I´ve heard, some of their families live really close to where everything went down, so we´ll hope that everything is alright and that there aren´t any problems with them. I´m sure the Lord is watching over them, because in every aspect He watches and blesses His missionaries and their families!!! :) :)
Thanks a million for your great emails - I was really happy to read them!! You guys always write the best letters in the whole world. I´m so grateful for your love and support for me in the mission, because I know there are many who don´t have such support (like the Elders who are the only members of the Church in their families). I´m sure blessed to have you as my family!!
Yesterday (Sunday) in Elder´s quorum they were talking about Elder Bednar´s talk from the last conference, about having strong relationships in the family and stuff like that. Franklin, the Elder´s Quorum President, asked me to share my experiences with you all with family home evening, because it´s a little different in the US than here (in some aspects, that is). I know we didn´t do it tons, but I told them about how much fun it was and all the great things I learned. I talked about all of you, and how it was fun to have lessons given by Carson or me, and Mom and Dad too, and that we´d learn good things from the scriptures and do a fun activity with the family afterwards, like buying ice cream or snowies. It brought back such good memories!! Everyone in the room was really happy to hear about how happy our family is and all the good memories for me that come from our Family Home Evenings. I´m very grateful for your great examples towards me, and for doing your great job in raising my brother and I. You´ve really raised us up in the light and in the truth!! (D & C 93:40).
So this week was good - we worked really hard, and had lots of success!! Our baptism fell through - the girl didn´t show up for the interview, and we called her and she told us that she didn´t want to get baptized any more, that she wants to keep drinking and drugging up and stuff, etc. So yeah, she´s kind of out of the picture now. We saw her yesterday and asked how she was doing, and she told us "Everything is great except I haven´t been baptized yet..."- that kind of fried my companion. He wasn´t very happy, but we told her if she needs anything just to call us. So yep!! No baptism, but that´s okay because it´s better that she does those things without the covenant right? If she would have returned back to all of that after being baptized, that would have been bad.
So I placed a new record in contacts!!! I did 56 contacts all by myself in one day - more than Elder Reyes has ever done, and my Zone Leaders were impressed by it. Not something to brag about, but I felt really good about that day - I did that and 12 lessons in one day. Cool huh?
And guess what else? I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish!!! Woohoo!!! I´m reading it over again to mark it up nice and good and really study it hard. I sure love the Book of Mormon. I know it´s the word of God and that it really brings us more peace and happiness than any other book on the earth. It is truly a wonderful book!!
We did a load of service this Saturday! Five and a half hours we used in helping Patricia (the lady with her kids who has a house made out of cement, planks of wood, and sheets of metal for a roof) in fixing up her house. It was a ward project, but only us and like eight other people showed up. We cleaned out a LOAD of garbage and nasty stuff - Mom, you wouldn´t BELIEVE the giant spiders, cockroaches (sp?), worms, and other crazy insects we found buried under this stuff!!!! There were some spiders big enough that they looked like animals, and there were lot of toads too. Isn´t that nasty??? I´m glad we helped her clean things out, though, because now it´s much more clean!!!! We´re doing this because eventually they´re going to build a new, clean house next to where the one they´re using right now is. Yay!!! We´re very happy for them and that they´re finally going to have a nicer house to live in. With the conditions that are coming (it´s starting to cool off now - yay!), it would be very hard on her kids, because they´re all pretty young and the living conditions right now that they´re in aren´t good. We´re grateful that we could help and that we´re going to continue helping them out.
Mom...I am so happy for you!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Yay!!! You have social security now!! I´m so grateful for this news - that you don´t have to worry about working, but rather just worry about getting better and getting some nice rest. I´m so happy for you!! Heavenly Father is really blessing you and the family, I am sure of it. I´m grateful that you have this wonderful news, and that finally our patience and prayers are paying off!! Yay Mom!!!
As for packages, they get to me when they get here. We have District Meeting every Tuesday, and that´s when mail comes, so once the package gets here I will get it on a Tuesday without a doubt. That´s how the system works, both for mail and for packages. As to what I could use...with the cold weather coming, I could use maybe some hot cocoa!!! Or something yummy like that that´s hot :) :) yay!! And also some cold medicine - I got a cold and the best I could do for medicine was Halls. Maybe you could get me some Dayquil/Nyquil or Sudafed or something like that? Music would be rocking too (classical stuff), and possibly some Dr. Shoells - I´ll be sending you pics of my shoes here in a bit. Don´t feel pressured for any of this, but that´s kind of my list of stuff I need or want right now. Thanks mom!!! You´re helping me out so much I can´t even explain it!!
That´s awesome with the Olympics!!! And also with inviting Grandpa, Amy and Troy over - that´d be fun if I were there to enjoy it too!! I loved it when they could all come over to our house - it usually didn´t happen to often but when it did it was the best!!! I love you all so much!! And that´s sweet with all the Olympics - sounds like the good ol´ USA is rocking the house in the winter olympics!! Woohoo!!
I think that´s about all for this ginormous letter - sorry about writing so much. I love you all so very much and I hope you enjoy this letter!! That´s about everything that went on this week - it was insane!! I love you and I´ll write another one of these in week!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Monday, February 22, 2010
"I'm singing in the rain...."
Buenos Aires has been flooding all last week- parts of the city have waist-deep high water. Thankfully, Jordan says in his area it only gets knee-deep. He's trashing his shoes, though! He thinks the lightning is amazing- much more spectacular than in Utah. He's loving missionary work in Argentina!
Jordan's February 22, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Heyyyy!!!!!! It´s Elder Nuttall, now emailing in the internet kiosk near his apartment, while it is raining INSANELY heavy outside, and there are HUMONGOUS thunder claps that sometimes hurt my ears and shake everything, and last week I was in the middle of a flood that was way cool, and yeah!!! Basically, the mission is the coolest thing in the world - I´ve experienced lots of hardships and difficulties, but I am having a blast out here and there is no other place I´d rather be in the whole wide world. I miss you guys, but I sure love the people (especially the members) here and it is just so cool to be here out on the mission. I sure hope Carson goes on a mission! He would love it - go on a mission Marsh!!
Thanks a million for all of your emails - I am very grateful for them. I love long emails! It´s good to read about everything that you´re all doing and the many activities that are going on back home. Carson - WAY TO GO!! You got into BYU!! Go where you want to go (as directed by the Spirit, of course), but man, I´d love to see you go to BYU. I´m positive you´d still get a great military experience, but the environment of BYU is like that of no other school, in the fact that it is a wonderful environment with great students, awesome professors who rock at what they do, and it´s very safe, fun, and lots of gospel principles are taught. And it´d be sweet if we both went to the same school! Think hard about it, but if you want my vote it´s for BYU, haha, because that´d be the coolest!
Thanks for all the information - and guess what? In only five minutes of sitting here in the internet place, the streets are already filling up and flooding!! How awesome is that? The mission rocks. It´ll probably kind of stink to run back to the apartment, though. But fun too haha.
Thanks for all the info on the jazz festivals, on Carson and Kendall and Spencer hanging out (that is rocking news), for Gavin´s recital - hey Gavin, great job! I wasn´t able to be there, but my parents said you really tore up everything and even had some Stefon Harris in your recital...that makes your recital holy if you have Stefon in there haha. Great job man! I really miss the drums and the vibraphone, but man I´m so happy to be out here. The experiences that I´m having are priceless.
This week was great! I´ll start going through my list I´ve made here. First, a sister in the ward is going to buy me a mate cup and straw as a present from my first area! How sweet is that? They are such cool people - I´m very grateful for all of them.
Second, I´m going to need to do some shoe repairs here in a little. The insides are getting damaged pretty badly, so I might find a shoe shop and see if they can do something about it. I was also thinking - maybe in a future package you guys could send me a pair of Dr. Shoell´s inserts to put inside of my shoes? That would probably help me to walk without too many problems and all. They outsides are doing great, but the insides not so much. Also, it might be a good idea in a month or two to send some meds, because I got a cold and winter will be here in a few months, and it´d be nice if I had Nyquil and Dayquil to help me if I catch a cold. Let me know what you can do - this would be something to send in like two months, so yeah. Oh yeah, and a mini Spanish Bible would be rocking!!! Thanks Mom!
Also, classical cds would be tight too - whatever you guys have in classical music I´ll listen to, because right now I don´t have much music. I downloaded some music from the Mission, but something went wrong with the computer while it was downloading and I couldn´t download much, but I´ll try here tomorrow to see if I can try once more to put more music on there. I hope I can!
I cleaned the apartment really well today - yay!! I got up at 6:30, showered, then washed a LOAD of dishes, then pulled everything apart to sweep, cleaned off the kitchen surfaces, and when I get home I´m going to clean the bathroom. Hooray! I love having a nice, clean apartment - thanks again Dad for your great cleaning example!! I´m still being blessed from everything you taught me, and I think about you and all the days before my mission when you had Carson and I clean, and boy am I grateful for you and your example!! I´m starting to see how important it is to keep everything nice and clean, and I´m really being blessed from it and blessing my companions through your teachings. Thanks Dad!
Everything is pretty well with the work - this week we´ll have the baptism of Yohanna!! (pronounced Joanna in English) That is way cool. We had to work hard with her, because she was really down low. She´s gotten into drugs, smoking, drinking, and a whole lot more, but thankfully she´s really changed things around and is doing great, and she´s going to get baptized! Yay! She´s 16 years old and already has a sweet daughter Mía, who is almost 1 year old. Crazy, huh? Her boyfriend is in prison, but yeah they´re not hooked up anymore. We´re really excited for her and what she´s about to do this Saturday!
Some bad news is that Silvio, who got baptized this last month, has done a 180 turn for the worst. He is a Schizophrenic (however you spell that), and he has to take pills every night to be okay and be the good guy he really is. For some reason, he stopped taking the pills and started having attacks, and it´s really affected Maria and Carla (who also were baptized with him - I baptized Carla- my first baptism was her) and the rest of their family, because he basically destroys everything when it happens. They called the police on him once and he got scared when they came by, and thankfully started taking his pills again (at least for a while). And what stinks is now he´s hanging with his bad friends again, and he´s started smoking and drinking once again. I was really depressed to see that. At first I was a little afraid to say something about it when I saw it, but then I thought the simple phrase: "What would Jesus do?" So I told him about it and told him that I know that it´s hard, but that he has the power to stop smoking and drinking and that he shouldn´t be doing those things. I don´t know if he´ll actually do it, but I´m glad I stood up for the doctrines that I´m teaching and that I did as I believe Christ Himself would do if He were in my position. As a representative of Him, I shouldn´t be afraid to counsel against sin, right?
I´m learning to really have more respect for my sweet Mom, because I love you so much Mom!! I´ve seen lots of people here who have zero respect for their mothers, and really it breaks my heart when I see what some people do to their moms or how they treat their mothers. That´s something that I´m going to stand up for the rest of my life - no one should ever disrespect their mother, and we should all do our best to build our lives on gospel principles and love, so that great family relationships can be strong, loving, and enduring through trials. I´ve really gained a testimony of this as I´ve seen the situations of many families who, unfortunately, are broken right now. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does strengthen family relationships, and that all of us should always have respect for our parents.
The language is going great - I´m feeling really good about it. I´m going to try to get some extra studies in today so I can learn even more. I think I´m going to make P-Day like Language day, because man I want to be a master of the language!! I know I won´t be the complete master by the end of my mission, but I want to reach the highest potential in every category of the mission before I head back home. I just want to be a good missionary and learn as much as I can in the time that I´m here, because it´s wrapping up fast - I´ve already got less than 18 months here, which is way fast for me.
My studies are going great too. I´m in Ether in the Book of Mormon right now - yay! I´m going to finish it here soon and read it one more time, and then put my efforts into the New Testament so I can study up more on the life of the Master and His teachings. I´m really excited with all that I´m learning through my studies out here.
And so you know, my fan is okay. There is a part that doesn´t work anymore (it´s something that rotates to blow the air in different places - it´s kind of hard to explain), but the fan itself works fine still. I just put the moving part in one place where I like it, and then just use the fan. I´m glad I have that thing - there´s some nights where it would be unbearable to not have a fan. Oh and I also got a Vanilla perfume from Spain from a sister in the ward - I don´t know what I´m going to do with it, but I thought it was cool. Maybe I´ll spray the apartment with it if it smells bad or something haha.
Everything is way great out here!! Yeah! The mission rocks - sometimes it´s hard, when people don´t want to listen, when I´m tired or hungry or something else like that, but man everything I´m learning out here is way worth the time, and I´m very grateful to my Heavenly Father that I was born of "goodly parents" (the best family in the world, really) and that I was raised in the gospel and with all the blessings that come from the knowledge that we have. It´s such a great blessing! I love the mission and I love the gospel, and I´m happy that I have the chance to share it with others. I hope you´re all doing great!! It sounds like you are!! I love you and I miss you and hope you all have a fantastic week!! I love you family!!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Heyyyy!!!!!! It´s Elder Nuttall, now emailing in the internet kiosk near his apartment, while it is raining INSANELY heavy outside, and there are HUMONGOUS thunder claps that sometimes hurt my ears and shake everything, and last week I was in the middle of a flood that was way cool, and yeah!!! Basically, the mission is the coolest thing in the world - I´ve experienced lots of hardships and difficulties, but I am having a blast out here and there is no other place I´d rather be in the whole wide world. I miss you guys, but I sure love the people (especially the members) here and it is just so cool to be here out on the mission. I sure hope Carson goes on a mission! He would love it - go on a mission Marsh!!
Thanks a million for all of your emails - I am very grateful for them. I love long emails! It´s good to read about everything that you´re all doing and the many activities that are going on back home. Carson - WAY TO GO!! You got into BYU!! Go where you want to go (as directed by the Spirit, of course), but man, I´d love to see you go to BYU. I´m positive you´d still get a great military experience, but the environment of BYU is like that of no other school, in the fact that it is a wonderful environment with great students, awesome professors who rock at what they do, and it´s very safe, fun, and lots of gospel principles are taught. And it´d be sweet if we both went to the same school! Think hard about it, but if you want my vote it´s for BYU, haha, because that´d be the coolest!
Thanks for all the information - and guess what? In only five minutes of sitting here in the internet place, the streets are already filling up and flooding!! How awesome is that? The mission rocks. It´ll probably kind of stink to run back to the apartment, though. But fun too haha.
Thanks for all the info on the jazz festivals, on Carson and Kendall and Spencer hanging out (that is rocking news), for Gavin´s recital - hey Gavin, great job! I wasn´t able to be there, but my parents said you really tore up everything and even had some Stefon Harris in your recital...that makes your recital holy if you have Stefon in there haha. Great job man! I really miss the drums and the vibraphone, but man I´m so happy to be out here. The experiences that I´m having are priceless.
This week was great! I´ll start going through my list I´ve made here. First, a sister in the ward is going to buy me a mate cup and straw as a present from my first area! How sweet is that? They are such cool people - I´m very grateful for all of them.
Second, I´m going to need to do some shoe repairs here in a little. The insides are getting damaged pretty badly, so I might find a shoe shop and see if they can do something about it. I was also thinking - maybe in a future package you guys could send me a pair of Dr. Shoell´s inserts to put inside of my shoes? That would probably help me to walk without too many problems and all. They outsides are doing great, but the insides not so much. Also, it might be a good idea in a month or two to send some meds, because I got a cold and winter will be here in a few months, and it´d be nice if I had Nyquil and Dayquil to help me if I catch a cold. Let me know what you can do - this would be something to send in like two months, so yeah. Oh yeah, and a mini Spanish Bible would be rocking!!! Thanks Mom!
Also, classical cds would be tight too - whatever you guys have in classical music I´ll listen to, because right now I don´t have much music. I downloaded some music from the Mission, but something went wrong with the computer while it was downloading and I couldn´t download much, but I´ll try here tomorrow to see if I can try once more to put more music on there. I hope I can!
I cleaned the apartment really well today - yay!! I got up at 6:30, showered, then washed a LOAD of dishes, then pulled everything apart to sweep, cleaned off the kitchen surfaces, and when I get home I´m going to clean the bathroom. Hooray! I love having a nice, clean apartment - thanks again Dad for your great cleaning example!! I´m still being blessed from everything you taught me, and I think about you and all the days before my mission when you had Carson and I clean, and boy am I grateful for you and your example!! I´m starting to see how important it is to keep everything nice and clean, and I´m really being blessed from it and blessing my companions through your teachings. Thanks Dad!
Everything is pretty well with the work - this week we´ll have the baptism of Yohanna!! (pronounced Joanna in English) That is way cool. We had to work hard with her, because she was really down low. She´s gotten into drugs, smoking, drinking, and a whole lot more, but thankfully she´s really changed things around and is doing great, and she´s going to get baptized! Yay! She´s 16 years old and already has a sweet daughter Mía, who is almost 1 year old. Crazy, huh? Her boyfriend is in prison, but yeah they´re not hooked up anymore. We´re really excited for her and what she´s about to do this Saturday!
Some bad news is that Silvio, who got baptized this last month, has done a 180 turn for the worst. He is a Schizophrenic (however you spell that), and he has to take pills every night to be okay and be the good guy he really is. For some reason, he stopped taking the pills and started having attacks, and it´s really affected Maria and Carla (who also were baptized with him - I baptized Carla- my first baptism was her) and the rest of their family, because he basically destroys everything when it happens. They called the police on him once and he got scared when they came by, and thankfully started taking his pills again (at least for a while). And what stinks is now he´s hanging with his bad friends again, and he´s started smoking and drinking once again. I was really depressed to see that. At first I was a little afraid to say something about it when I saw it, but then I thought the simple phrase: "What would Jesus do?" So I told him about it and told him that I know that it´s hard, but that he has the power to stop smoking and drinking and that he shouldn´t be doing those things. I don´t know if he´ll actually do it, but I´m glad I stood up for the doctrines that I´m teaching and that I did as I believe Christ Himself would do if He were in my position. As a representative of Him, I shouldn´t be afraid to counsel against sin, right?
I´m learning to really have more respect for my sweet Mom, because I love you so much Mom!! I´ve seen lots of people here who have zero respect for their mothers, and really it breaks my heart when I see what some people do to their moms or how they treat their mothers. That´s something that I´m going to stand up for the rest of my life - no one should ever disrespect their mother, and we should all do our best to build our lives on gospel principles and love, so that great family relationships can be strong, loving, and enduring through trials. I´ve really gained a testimony of this as I´ve seen the situations of many families who, unfortunately, are broken right now. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does strengthen family relationships, and that all of us should always have respect for our parents.
The language is going great - I´m feeling really good about it. I´m going to try to get some extra studies in today so I can learn even more. I think I´m going to make P-Day like Language day, because man I want to be a master of the language!! I know I won´t be the complete master by the end of my mission, but I want to reach the highest potential in every category of the mission before I head back home. I just want to be a good missionary and learn as much as I can in the time that I´m here, because it´s wrapping up fast - I´ve already got less than 18 months here, which is way fast for me.
My studies are going great too. I´m in Ether in the Book of Mormon right now - yay! I´m going to finish it here soon and read it one more time, and then put my efforts into the New Testament so I can study up more on the life of the Master and His teachings. I´m really excited with all that I´m learning through my studies out here.
And so you know, my fan is okay. There is a part that doesn´t work anymore (it´s something that rotates to blow the air in different places - it´s kind of hard to explain), but the fan itself works fine still. I just put the moving part in one place where I like it, and then just use the fan. I´m glad I have that thing - there´s some nights where it would be unbearable to not have a fan. Oh and I also got a Vanilla perfume from Spain from a sister in the ward - I don´t know what I´m going to do with it, but I thought it was cool. Maybe I´ll spray the apartment with it if it smells bad or something haha.
Everything is way great out here!! Yeah! The mission rocks - sometimes it´s hard, when people don´t want to listen, when I´m tired or hungry or something else like that, but man everything I´m learning out here is way worth the time, and I´m very grateful to my Heavenly Father that I was born of "goodly parents" (the best family in the world, really) and that I was raised in the gospel and with all the blessings that come from the knowledge that we have. It´s such a great blessing! I love the mission and I love the gospel, and I´m happy that I have the chance to share it with others. I hope you´re all doing great!! It sounds like you are!! I love you and I miss you and hope you all have a fantastic week!! I love you family!!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
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