Surprise transfer!

Well, this week has been one of the most unique and one of the best weeks so far! It's been one big ride from last week, but I'll try to share as much as I can!

First cool thing was Christmas! Christmas was amazing, this has been the most unique Christmas so far in my life. On Christmas Eve, we taught a lesson with an investigator and then came home and unwrapped some presents Elder Kaesler had for us. Christmas Day was a pretty normal day, except that evening was Brother Fukushima's birthday, so we had dinner with him at the church. For dessert, we ate a cake we made in the rice cooker. It honestly was a way simple Christmas, but definitely one of my favorites.

On Sunday, one of my favorite things so far on my mission happened. Brother Fukushima received the Priesthood! It has been so amazing to have seem him come this far. The Spirit has been working overtime without him, he's such an amazing and humble person. Knowing him has blessed my life so much, getting to see the power of Christ's atonement working every day. I can testify that I know that God and Jesus Christ live, and that they really do love each of us, even those of us who feel like we don't deserve that love or somehow can't receive it. Do your best everyday to live worthy of the Spirit, and I promise you that God will pour out His love on you.

Something pretty special happened yesterday, I got a call from the mission office. They told me that I'm being emergency transferred! I left Fuchu this morning, and now I'm sitting in the Atsugi church
building. I had to pack everything up last night and head over here this morning, but I'm here now! My new companions name is Elder Ayala, and he's from Georgia. He speaks English, Spanish, and Japanese, so he's a total beast. This is going to be an awesome transfer, I can feel it in my bones!

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS Skyping on Christmas was awesome! Shout out to the best family out there!
PPS I ate something called Oyakodon, which means mother and child. So, I ate chicken and eggs on rice.
PPPS This week I learned koalas are not bears.

Brother Fukushima's birthday

Starting off the transfer right!

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe it's already past half way through December! So, have a Merry Christmas, and also wish my brother Spencer a happy birthday! He's getting old!

So, last week I wrote about Fukushima San, and how amazing a change that has been brought into his life. Well, this past Saturday, he made a huge step in his life, and was baptized! His baptism went great, and he received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday on Sunday. I guess we now have to start calling him Brother Fukushima! It's been an amazing experience to be able to go with him every step of the way, from talking with him on the street to witnessing him enter the water, I had the privilege of seeing him makes those changes in his life. It's something that I don't think I appreciate enough, that as a missionary my purpose is to help people makes promises with God that will allow them to return to His love and presence. I'm so glad that our Father sent us his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to help us overcome our sins, our sadness, our pains. It's through Him and His Atonement that we
really can return to live with our Father again. This gospel has brought so much peace and joy into my life, and I know that it can bring the same into your life as well. My hope and prayer is that all
of you take this Christmas season to spread the love and joy of the Savior and His Gospel. Reach out and serve Him the best you can, and the Lord will magnify your efforts.

I love you all! Have a fabulous Christmas season!

Elder Nelson

PS My two companions are Elder Kaesler, the far left, and Elder Brown, the one right next to him. Elder Takahashi was in the area while we were teaching Brother Fukushima and hey became friends, so he brought his companion in from where he got transferred.
PPS Elder Kaesler is from Australia. So that's fun.
PPPS Fun fact, I've had to eat 6 meals straight from either 7-11 or McDonalds. I don't want you to think I'm being too healthy.

Transfer week thing!

Well, I've officially done it. I'm done being a trainee! We're moving on to transfer three this week, so I'm now all grown up and stuff. We got transfer calls this week, and it looks like I'm still studying in
my beloved Fuchu area. But! Things are changing a bit. I'm staying companions with Elder Brown, but we're combining the two Fuchu Elder's areas together, and becoming a triple Elder companionship. So, I'm companions with both Elder Brown and Elder Kaesler starting on Thursday. I've been living in the same apartment with Elder Kaesler since I began my time in Japan, so I'm looking forward to working this transfer!

There have been some cool experiences with the Spirit this week that were way cool. We stopped and talked with this guy on a street corner by the church, and shared a quick lesson with him. Times rolls on, and a week later we're walking down a completely different neighborhood, when we get this feeling to go down a different side path. We get going, and we suddenly run into the same guy! In a city of over 16 million people, that doesn't just happen! It's a testimony to me of how much Heavenly Father must love that man, giving him as many opportunities as possible to come unto Him.

We've been teaching this man named Fukushima San, and his story so far has been amazing. When we met him, he was one of the saddest, most down on his luck guy I've ever met. Like, seriously, I didn't see him smile for several weeks. But, we've been teaching him about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and Their love for him. It's been several weeks now, and now their isn't a day I see him where he doesn't smile or crack a joke with us. The transformative power of the gospel and of the Spirit is so real. Being a missionary gives me such a great opportunity to see these large changes in people's lives, but these things don't happen just on missions. I can testify that these changes, these opportunities to come closer to Christ, can be seen in all aspects of life. Maybe it's a friend who needs a lift, maybe a sibling who needs some love, or maybe it's yourself. This week, try and look for the miracles, the changes you see in the lives of those around you, and in yourself. I promise if you strive to be the best person you can, and rely on the Lord, you will see God's hand over you and your loved ones.

Have a great week everyone! Love you! Merry Christmas!

Elder Nelson

PS I gave myself a haircut this week, and now I look like a gerbil. Therefore, no photos this week.
PPS Health update: I ate a mini orange thing today. I do t know what they are called, but I actually liked it. What is happening to my taste buds?!?

Another Temple Day!

Man, it feels like just yesterday that I went to the temple in Japan for the first time, and now it's time to go again. Time has really flown this transfer, that is for sure! The temple was awesome today! I mean, it's always awesome, but today was great. It might have something to do with getting to go a lot less frequently than when I was at home, or now just being a missionary makes the temple better, but going to the temple now is a wonderful, spiritual experience. If you live in a place where you can attend the temple regularly, I would highly recommend it! It will bless you life a ton, I can promise that!

There was a really cool experience that happened this week. Elder Brown and I had taught this man on Monday evening, we listened to our message and took a Book of Mormon, and we thought he was interested. Turns out, he's not really and his family is pretty against him meeting us. We talked on the phone for about an hour on Tuesday and Wednesday night, resolving is concerns and stuff, but he still wasn't all that into it, so we just said we'd give him some time. But, while while Elder Takahashi and I (we were on splits) were waiting at church for a different investigator, the uninterested man's sister walks in, wanting to return the Book of Mormon. Well, we weren't just going take that lying down, so we're started talking, and eventually just started teaching a sit down lesson about the restoration. We bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and challenged her to take it back and read it. And she did! She took the Book of Mormon she had meant to return back home because she wanted to read it now! That was a big testimony builder for me about the power of your testimony, the Book of Mormon, and of course the Holy Ghost. The way it can soften someone's  heart, and help them choose to follow the Savior is amazing. So, my challenge for everyone this week is to go and bear your testimony to someone. It doesn't have to be anything special, in fact, in my experience, the simplest testimonies are by far the most powerful. Just let someone know about your love for our Heavenly Father and Christ, the atonement, Joseph Smith, anything really. Just a simple, heartfelt message has the power to change lives, of that I can testify.

Because we went to the temple today, running, I'm running short on time. I'll try to write everyone back, but if I don't get to you, rest assured it will happen next week!

Love you all!

Elder Nelson

PS Despite going to the temple, I didn't get a picture there. But I did get a picture of some soap I bought.

Christmas time is here!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the official best time of year, Christmas time! A whole season dedicated to celebrating Christ's  does not get better than that! I love Christmas!

This past week was way good, it was probably the busiest one so far. A lot of crazy encounters with people happened. For example, we were biking down the left side of the road. Biking in the same direction down the right side of the road was a kid around 18 years old. So, we catch up with him, and just kinda start talking/yelling to him from across the road. Apparently that was enough to catch his interest, so we talked for a while, and got some contact info, and set up a meeting with him later. It was way cool, Heavenly Father was definitely working out the details of that one.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had our Zone's Christmas conference. It was way good, there was so much that was said about raising your vision to what God's vision is. We have no idea the potential we have, even in this life. Like, we know that we can become like God in the life to come, but what about now? What does tomorrow hold in store for our potential? To quote Elder Uchtdorf's talk "A Summer with Great Aunt Rose", "Now is part of eternity." Every day, we can rise to our Father's standard for us. For example, maybe today God wants you to be a bit more patient, a bit more loving, show a bit more faith in Christ. Fulling God's will for us everyday is how we prepaid to fulfill it for eternity. So, this week try just s bit harder, when you feel like you can't go anymore, just keep trying, I promise Heavenly Father and Christ can make up the rest.

Keep up all your good work! I love you all, and appreciate all of your letters! Have a fantastic Christmas season!

Elder Nelson

PS Thanksgiving dinner was a bowl of instant curry made in our apartment. Needless to say, 'twas delicious.
PPS Today I was an adult. I clean a drain.
PPPS In Japan, it's pretty common to have business cards for yourself. This week I got mine! I think I'm one of the first missionaries to put his Instagram on his cards. Call me Elder Trendsetter

I'm not creative enough to make a good email title.

I hope you all had as good of a week as I did, cause that would mean you all had a fabulous week!

First off, we had stake conference! It was way good, my favorite part was they had a priesthood session which I got to go to. There were quite a few missionaries at that one, so I think they used some slightly slower, easier Japanese, but I understood a good 95% of what went on that meeting. It was way good! I can't promise that I understood a lot during the normal session of Conference when there were a ton of native Japanese speakers.... But it was good anyways! The people here in Japan are way better members than I am. Most of the talks in priesthood session focused on member missionary work, and the people in the ward are way more helpful than I ever was. So basically,
I need to pick up my slack! Member missionary work is way important! So, if you have any way you can help your local missionaries, do it! You'll make there day and hopefully move the work of the Lord further!

This week was crazy, we had three days in a row where our investigators bailed on our lessons, but rescheduled at later times in the day. It was great that we got to meet with them all, but since some rescheduled, and then came a bit late to our lessons, they overlapped with another persons lesson! So, we kept going on splits with the other Elders in our area to cover everyone. It was way stressful, but way good! Lots of going off the fly and just following the Spirit to make everything work out!

I was studying from Preach My Gospel the other day, and a way cool line jumped out at me. It says, "Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home." That made me stop and think for a while, and I noticed that everything in the gospel is there to help strengthen our family relationships and make them last into eternity. Through Christ and His atonement, we really can live together as families forever. I'm so grateful for this gospel and the happiness it brings to me!

I hope you all have a great week! Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving this week!

Elder Nelson

PS For people at Timpview, I ran into Elisa Toma at Stake Conference. Pretty cool!
PPS A little glimpse into how Japanese I am. I didn't know what to make for breakfast, so I just cooked some rice and poured milk on it. Yum.
PPPS I got to get stuffed in a train the other day. Way fun!

What are the chances you run into someone from Provo in Tokyo?

Hello everyone! I hope you've had a great week. Like, at least a level 12 kind of week!

First things first, the coolest thing I the world happened on Saturday. Elder Brown and I were up in Chofu, a neighboring city to Fuchu, and were handing out fliers to our free English class. While I
was doing that, out of no where walks Kisho Noda! Some of you people might remember him from Provo, he did a 10 month long exchange program, so he got to know quite a few people in Timpview. Way cool miracle! We are almost never in Chofu, and he said he never walks the way he did, but we both ended up there at the right time. Heavenly Father had His Hand over us that day, making everything work out so we could meet. It was way great!

We had splits with the Zone Leaders this week, so I got to send Elder Brown off and work with Elder Jesperson for a day. He is a way great guy, and way funny. He and I did some streeting for a couple hours on our way to a potential investigators house, and met some awesome people. One kid was in high school, and had an umbrella disguised as a sword. So, you now, Japan.

There was so much rain over the past 3 days. We were biking home from Chofu, and when we got to our destination, every part of us was soaked. But, since I had the rain coat of Champions, I wasn't nearly as wet as Elder Brown. Let me say, getting rain on and having a helmet on gives you some wacky hair styles. Way fun, I was grinning like a dork the whole time because of how both cliché biking in the rain is for missionaries and just how much fun it was to be out.

This week, I was reading from the Book of Mormon, and read from the Book of Helaman. In chapter 9:4-5, the Lord says some amazing things to Nephi. I would recommend reading those verses, and ponder how you can be like Nephi, how you can be better in your life and have access to all those blessings. I know that it's helped me so far, and I will definitely keep trying to improve myself. That's what this is all about, improvement and become more like our Savior.

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS There are a ton of Christmas lights all over the place, pretty much the best thing ever.
PPS Much like PS, I have found the Christmas Spirit.
PPPS At McDonald's here, the have a thing called Shaka Shaka Chicken. It is amazing.

Aaaaaaaaand we're off to another transfer!

So, transfer week has come and gone! Elder Yamada has left my side, and in his place I now have Elder Brown. He's a way cool guy who loves to work hard ands how is getting a lot of good things done. He's from Spanish Fork, Utah, and went to Berkley for a year studying Physics.
So, things are going great here!

This week has been way good for me, for several reasons. One, with Elder Brown, we are stopping and talking like crazy with everyone, and already found some new people who have some interest. Way cool! I think the best part of all this contacting that we are getting done is that we have plenty, little opportunities to share our testimonies with people we just met. Like, in one hour, I get to share how I feel and what I know about our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon. It's crazy! That's probably one of the best parts I've seen about serving a mission so far, just getting to bear my soul out to people, and every time, without fail, getting a little reassurance from the Holy Ghost that what I said was true. I read an amazing talk about this called Candle of the Lord, by Elder Packer in the January 1983 Ensign. It's very inspiring and I'm so glad I get to apply all those principles in my daily life.

One of the coolest moments I've had with an investigator lesson so far happened on Sunday. We are teaching a man named Fukushima, and we're talking about faith in Christ, and we showed him the video of Christ healing a man blind from birth. I felt like I should ask him if he had ever needed something like that in his life, some help from God. He just broke down and told us all about his struggles and everything that he's had to go through. The amount of love I felt for that man was indescribable at that moment. I know that this work is the Lord's work and He wants us to help all His children come back to him, and partake of His love. I'm so glad I get to go along for the ride as the
Lord's servant and give all I can to this work.

I love you all, and hope you have a great week! Have fun listening to Christmas music on the radio!

Elder Nelson

PS They say you change on your mission, and now I can report that this is true. I now eat veggies. What.
PPS I found a good place to buy donuts. Yes.
PPPS Time flies, like, it's already November. What is life.
PPPPS I found a thing called hair wax. Not hair gel, hair wax. I now understand how anime characters style their hair. This stuff is amazing, my hair game has never been so on point.

Elder Brown just doing his thing

Miracles up the proverbial woozza

Man, this has felt like the fastest week in my whole mission. Such a good week!

So, a lot of this transfer has been Elder Yamada and I just trying to find some people to teach. We have a good number of potential investigators, but no one who really wants to hear our message right
now. Well, something finally happened! We were out trying once again to contact this guy in his house who Elders had found the previous transfer, but haven't been able to contact since. We knocked on his door, and talked with him for a good long while. We taught him about who a God is and how he can talk to him through prayer. He said he didn't really know about God, and looked me square in the eyes, and asked, "How do you know is even real?" Let me tell you, when the scriptures say that you will be given what you need to say in the moments you need it, they were not kidding. I looked him right back in the eyes and bore him my testimony of God, of Christ, and of the power of prayer. Apparently, the Spirit worked through my broken Japanese enough to get to him, because he really started listening, and we eventually set up another lesson with, which went way well. It's so
nice to be working with him!

Another cool finding experience was running into this older man while housing. He was really cool, and we had a great lesson about the apostasy. It was another experience where both Elder Yamada and I felt really good about meeting him, and we're super excited to work with him. We know that the gospel will be a huge benefit in his life.

So, this week I've been thinking a lot about testimonies and how to grow ones faith. What I've found is that the act of bearing ones testimony is the best way to actually grow one. As someone said in a
talk that I read, was that part of sharing is testimony is staying strong to what you know and hoping for what you don't know. Don't be afraid to share something that you only hope is true, as that is the
leap of faith that our Heavenly Father requires of us. That is my challenge for everyone this week, take that step, and let our loving Father  fill in the space. Part of finding is giving, and in the act
of giving, you will find.

Love you all! Have a good week!
Elder Nelson

PS I went to the DI equivalent of Japan today, just to look around and see if there was anything that I wanted, and it turns out that Nintendo stuff is way cheap here. Like, I walked up, and there was a
box full of Nintendo Wiis, Gamecubes, Gameboys, DS, anything. All of it was super inexpensive.
PPS I ate at a restaurant that all it served was cabbage pancakes. It sounds weird, but it actually was really good. The Japanese translation of the pancake stuff is "anything you like, fried". So, cabbage pancakes with almost literally anything.
PPPS My ward has so many cute Japanese babies. Like, so many. It's ridiculous.
PPPPS For exercise, I've convinced the entire apartment of Elders to do ab workouts. Now, every exercise day is ab day. Yes!

Also, an experience that I just remembered from this week that I have written down. This last Fast Sunday (yesterday) was a very good one for me. My whole life I've been trying to make Fast Sunday's the joy that we're promised they should be, and it actually happened this week. For the first time, I fasted for a specific blessing, or a specific investigator who I have great faith in, and I want to see him progress like I know he can. So, I dedicated this fast to him receiving his answer to his prayers, and that I would best know how to help him. Every time today I was hungered, or tired, or my body hurt, it just served as a reminder that I was doing this to help someone else, and it just put a huge smile on my face and a prayer in my heart.

Love you all!

A park that we ran into today in the rain.

Temple Trip

Hey, so this is going to be a short letter, because my iPad decided to eat my email I was writing and delete it before I sent it. Sorry.

I went to the temple this week, it was way awesome! I got to listen to it in Japanese with an English headset, so that was way cool. I just thought a ton about how God loves all of his children, regardless of where they are from.


I had this thought about faith this week, and it's all about being centered on Christ. If we stay focused on Him, and the power of his Atonement, and His love, everything will come out right. Everything will work out how it should and you will grow so much through the trials that Christ helps you to overcome. He is so loving and is always reaching out to help everyone, so let Him help you! He loves you and wants to help you so much!

Much love everyone!

Elder Nelson

I took a picture Yes!

Elder Yamashita visited!

This week has been awesome, especially as Elder Yamada and I have been working with the ward members here in Fuchu. The ward has about 100 people in it, and a lot of them are super fired up about missionary work. We try to meet with several members and less actives through out the week to strengthen them and give them chances to do missionary work with us. The best thing is when they have referrals, like that seriously makes your whole day. Like someone has a huge bag of
Skittles and tells you to eat them all. It feels that good.

This week we had a zone conference with Elder Yamashita, who is in the first quorum of the 70, and he is a spiritual giant. We had such a good conference, where we talked a lot about being bold and using the first 7 chapters of 1st Nephi to help someone along their path of conversion. President Wada (mission president) likes to all it "Helping people find their own golden plates" as we help them accept the Gospel of Christ. It was amazing and really opened up my mind to being more open to spiritual promptings and doing whatever the Lord tells you, even if it's a scary experience or something that makes you uncomfortable. Just do it! That's the best advice for how to receive more spiritual promptings, follow the ones you get now with exactness, especially if they scare you or you really don't want to. That's Satan trying to stop you from doing good! You tell him to skeedaddle and
follow the Lords work!

I've been learning a lot from the Book of Mormon on how to be bold and loving at the same time. Pretty much, as far as I can tell, if you love someone, you can't be too bold! Just follow the Spirit as it
directs, let the person know you love them and be bold.

The challenge I want to share with everyone is learn to dig into the Book of Mormon, there is seriously an infinite amount of good stuff in there. That's not something that I embraced when I was at home. Learn to get answers from the Book of Mormon and follow those answers. Something President Wada shared is to "Read, Ponder, Liken, and Apply" Every single time you read a scripture, stop and think of how it applies to you. How can this be an analogy of what you going through or how am I like this person are great questions to always be asking yourself. If you do that, I know you will have an enormously different spiritual experience with the scriptures, and with the Lord. He loves you and wants to help you, so let Him help, and read!

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

Have a great week!
PS I burned y tongue on a hot squid ball. Worth it
PPS I named my bike Shasta. It's pronounced Shaaaaaaaaaastaaaaa

I ate sushi! And I cut my own hair this week! Yes!

Claimed Mt Takao on Pday. Way fun!

this passed by my apartment. 

I rode a train today

Man, what a week. There has been a lot of learning and growing that went one this week. I'm lovin it! (Don't tell McDonalds)

This week I spent a lot of time on trains going places. On Tuesday, we had a zone meeting about an hour away. It was really good, we went to the park where Japan was originally dedicated for missionary service and did some training stuff. We talked a lot about some Japan specific training stuff, like simply teaching people who God and Jesus Christ are. It's really simple and I love it! Often, I've found, that the simple doctrines are the best teachers and can be the most moving. We also rode a train out again on Friday for some iPad training. I'll be getting to use Facebook soon for missionary work! I'll be posting on my wall in a couple days explaining things better, but simply put, I'm using Facebook to fellowship and find more of God's children online. So, my posts will be both in Japanese and English, so that's fun! But still, if you want to reach me, still just email me. I can read emails at any time in the week, so if you want to tell me something that day, go for it! I'll only reply on Pday, but I'll read me as they come ✌

It's finally getting a bit cold at nights now, but still really nice. The leaves are changing and some streets are looking amazing! Fall is coming! I love it!

The absolute best part of this week was getting to watch General Conference! This conference was my absolute favorite one yet! There were co many great talks that hit home for me. I tried something different this year that made all the different, I went in with several questions written down that I looked at while every speaker spoke. By doing this, every single one of my questions were answered. After all the sessions, I went through and re read all the info and rewrote everything important. It's been such a good changing experience for me.

My challenge for everyone this week is to do as so many of the speakers invited and receive spiritual confirmations from our Father and then follow those promptings. Doing this will increase your daily spiritual life and keep you nourished. Day after day of doing this, you can promise you will receive more and more light until you come
into that perfect day, and feel fully and always of a Gods love.

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS I ate a fish sausage. I don't recommend
PPS I've begun my Batman training. Ice cold showers to give me self control 
PPPS I ate something called shabu shabu. It's dipping meat in boiling water and then in a sauce. Shabu shabu is the sound the water makes. My preferred sauce was the raw egg. Surprise delicious!! Who knew? (Don't try it with American eggs, I think they did something to prep it so I wouldn't die)

A whole week has gone by?!

Man, time is flying by. I hope everyone had a great time, and is enjoying Conference! I don't get to see it here until next week, so you all get to see it before me! You lucky mongeese!

Man, so much has happened this past week. Elder Yamada and I have been hitting it pretty hard this week. We did a ton of finding activities this week, which has lead to some really cool miracles and
experiences. Firstly, though, I just want to talk about Japan and the people. The people here are so fun! Like, I'll be walking down the street and see this Japanese man walking the other direction. He will glance up, see a huge white guy smiling at him and walking straight at him, and he will do one of two things. One, he's put his hand up, like he's trying to use the force to stop you, and then you kind of just let him go by, because they won't stop and listen to you. But, they might be to scared to do that to a big guy like me, so in their moment of confused silence, I jump and and start talking! I've talked with some great people, so less interested than others, but still having a blast anyways.

So, this place. I'm in a really urban area, so I'm always on the streets and sidewalks. I love it! It's really cool seeing all these building tower over you on all sides and walking by literally thousands of people each day. I do really miss seeing the mountains from home, but hey, that's just something that I'll get used to. Buy, the weather is perfect right now here, with everything being a mild 70ish degrees and it's not too humid. The rain has only fallen a couple times, but when it has I've loved it. The only downer is it's hard to talk to people in the rain, but otherwise it's still super cool.

One of the biggest miracles that happened this week happened while Elder Yamada and I were out trying to contact a potential investigator. We didn't find iim, but a less active lady stopped us
and talked to us for a while. We talked and eventually set up a teaching appointment with her and her non-member husband. It went really well, and we're going to hopefully continue meeting her. It's
just amazing to both of us that she stopped and talked to us in the first place. She must have listened to the Spirit and really made a turning point in her life.

One spiritual thought that I want to leave is that God loves everyone. Here in Japan, many people have never heard of God or Jesus Christ, or have very different versions of who they are. So, something that we're trying to really focus on God's and Christ's character while we teach.
Who they are, what's they want from us, and why it matters to us. And everything that I study always points back to the fact that God loves us, so deeply and intently. He weeps with us in our trials and
rejoices in our victories. Try to keep Him in mind this week as you go along with your day to day life and really focus on how much you love Him and how you an show that love by serving those around you.

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS There was a wind storm that hit while we were biking, and it was blowing us all over and throwing trash in the streets. It was so fun! I had this big huge dorky grin on my face the whole time.
PPS If anyone tells you you can't learn the mission language in the MTC, they be dang wrong. You won't be fluent, but I can stand as a witness that you can talk with the people, you just have to try your hardest in the MTC and rely on the Gift of Tongues.
PPPS If you thought Frozen was big in America, you ain't seen nothing yet. People here love it. I see Frozen stuff all the time, and that movie has been out for almost two years.
PPPPS I keep eating weird food and liking it. It's strange.

I'm in Japan! I've become a giant among men!

It's finally happened! I am in the land of the Japanese! And I love it here! The people are friendly (in a manner of speaking) and the food is good (when someone else makes it). There is so much going on all the time, but it's so fun being out and about doing actually missionary work.

There have been some many learning opportunities this past no also a lot of humbling opportunities. First, the language. I actually learned more in the MTC than I thought I did, but nowhere near enough to say everything I need to. There is a lot to learn, but it's coming. That's a large part of where humility is coming in for me right now, I've accepted the fact that I have no power to do any of this work on my own. It's got to be all on God or nothing. Same with the language, same for teaching, same for even walking around during the day.

I've been reading a lot of awesome things in the Book of Mormon. I've read Alma 31-33 and there is great stuff in there. In those chapters, it talks about how the Zoramites main problem was pride. So, humility and faith are huge sections that Alma talks about. The first half of Chapter 32 is all about humility, and how much better things are when we choose to be humble before the Lord. I know that that is true, and there are so many blessings that come when we strive to achieve this Christlike attribute.

I love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS Almost everyone in this country comes to about mid chest for me. I feel tall.
PPS A lot of people think that I look like an American movie star. I ain't saying he's wrong
PPPS I have what people are calling "greenie Fire" and "gaigin powers". I try to literally talk to every single person I see, and chased after a person. Apparently when a big white guy runs up to you
to talk, that's a no no. So, I learned a lesson that day. But honestly, it's so fun to talk to everyone and see them freak that a white giant wants to talk about Christ to them.
PPPPS I ate some weird food, like this weird herbal tea that tastes like dirty, which every loves for some reason, and some nato, or fermented soybeans. I would recommend not eating that, if the
opportunity arises. Just take my word for it.
PPPPPS The Japanese toilets are so much fun

Me and the comp. Elder Yamada

Arrival: Photos and Map

September 25, 2015

Dear Brother and Sister Nelson:

Your son arrived in the Japan Tokyo South Mission on Tuesday, September 22nd, in good spirits and ready to commence his proselyting assignment. We had a wonderful time with him.

Elder Nelson has been assigned to work with Elder Yamada and they are serving in an area called Fuchu.

Your son can receive his mail at the following address (Mission Home address):
Elder Joseph Brent Nelson
Japan Tokyo South Mission
1-7-7 Kichijoji, Higashi-cho
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0002
Japan

Attached is a picture of your son with Sister Wada and me, of himself, his companion, and a group picture of the new missionaries, trainers, and Assistants. We have also included a map showing the locations of the various areas in the mission. You can use it as a personal record of his assignments.

By the time you receive this letter, Elder Nelson should be adjusted to his new proselyting area. The positive sustaining support he gets from you at home will be a great blessing to him. May the Lord bless you and your family as you share in your son’s mission experience.

Sincerely,
President Takashi Wada

View the Mission Map here.

Safe Arrival

Dear Parents,

We just want to send you a quick note to let you know that your missionary arrived safely in Japan on Tuesday, September 22, 2015.

President and Sister Wada had dinner with the missionaries, visited shortly, and then sent them to bed for a much needed rest.

Today, Wednesday, is orientation and training day. On Thursday they will meet their new companion who will be their trainer. In the afternoon they will be off to their new area to begin their missionary work. Pictures will be taken and you will receive another email with pictures attached.

Our Mission’s preparation day is on Monday. This is the day missionaries can email family and friends. When missionaries have a temple day, which is normally on a Tuesday, this becomes their preparation day. Please have your missionary let you know when temple day is so you will know of the change.

Thank you for entrusting your missionary to us in the Japan Tokyo South Mission. We so appreciate all you have done to get your missionary ready for this experience!

Sincerely,

Sister Yamashita
Japan Tokyo South Mission Secretary

Almost there!

Hey everyone! I can't believe it, but I'm almost done with my final week in the MTC! Eight weeks sounds like a long time, but honestly it has flown by for me. Something fun that happens in your last week is that you get your Japanese Katakana name tag and flight plans. I head out early Monday morning!

A bit of sad news about my companion. Elder Burnham has had a pretty rough spell with his health. First, head thought he had pink eye, so we got to leave the MTC campus to head to the BYU health clinic. Turns out, he doesn't have pink eye, but he does have in ear infection! Yay! He got some antibiotics and that's going fine now. The day after, we were running up the stairs during our service assignment and he had a little spill. So, we got to go the health clinic again, and it turns out he has a sprained ankle, so that's no fun. He's doing fine besides that, and he should have no problem heading out at the end of this week.

Sunday and Tuesday were both sweet, as usual. The devotions were really good and I had some good study time. I read one of my favorite talks of all time, "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson. Seriously, it was so amazing and puts a change on my perspective about my life. I would highly recommend reading it if you ever have spare time. On Tuesday evening, Sister Wixom came and spoke. She said a ton of great time, but my favorite was all about Nephi, Sam, Laman, and Lemuel. All four of them could said they served a successful mission, they all returned with the plates. However, it wasn't the doing of the mission that helped them, it was their reliance and faithfulness on the Lord that made the difference. Nephi and Sam did everythign with the right attitude and Spirit, while Laman and Lemuel just did the steps. Their differing attitude made all the difference, and eventually shaped the rest of their lives, with Nephi become on of the most inspriing prophets in the Book of Mormon, while Laman and Lemuel become just the opposite. Don't do this life just by following the steps because you have to. Do everything that Lord asks because you love Him. If you do this, i can testify that it will make you and your families better, happier, and able to return to our Loving Heavenly Father someday.

God loves you and so do I!
Elder Nelson

PS I super duper love all of the amazing rain that we've gotten! So awesome looking out the window and seeing it just dump buckets
PPS If anyone knows Elisa Toma, I got to talk with her on Skype TRC last night. She lives in my mission, so I'll probably be seeing her later in the mission!
PPPS This was the final Wednesday in the MTC, so I pulled out my dork dot and put it on. I got a ton of "Welcome to the MTC" comments, and I just pretended I didn't speak English and spoke Japanese to them. T'was fun indeed

The dope swag name tag!

Only 11 Days Left Until Japan!

This week has been quite the week, so much stuff has happened!

Sunday was a busy busy day. First, I read this really amazing talk by Elder Chirstofferson called "When Thou Art Converted". It was super good, al about combating pride and growing your relationship with God. I would highly recommend reading it to anyone! This Sunday was Fast Sunday, so we had a mission conference, which meant we got a bonus devotional. Yes! There was a lot of good talks, but my favorite line was, "The World says give me a sign, and I'll show my faith," but the Lord says "Show me your faith, and I'll show you my miracles". I love that sentiment, and i've really seen that happen in my life so far.

The Sunday evening devotional speaker was President Ashton, from the Provo Temple. He spoke about opening your mouth and speaking with the confidence of the Lord. The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God, but that word won't be heard until you open your mouth and talk! If you ever get the Spiritual prompting to open your mouth, do it!

Right now, I'm kinda going back and forth on what to say. But, I think that this is something good that everyone needs to hear. Yesterday, we talked about guilt and the light of Christ. Guilt is like your spiritual nervous system. If you touch something burning hot, you'll feel pain. The pain itself isn't bad, but it is telling you the burning object is. The same thing is with guilt, for our spiritual health. Guilt is our spiritual pain. It helps you recognize that you need to make changes. I'm not condoning sin, but if you feel guilt for something you've done, good! It means you still have the light of Christ! It's there to help you change for the better, so let it help you! God love you so much, He lets you feel this way out of love for you. It's how He helps you realize that you need to make a change to come back to Him. His hope and peace can envelope you so much and it's all thanks to Christ. I can testify to you that both of them love you so intensely!

Love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS I always end up choosing the music in class, so it's been Christmas for the past week, every day. Yes
PPS Fun story, I found out that you shouldn't throw your notebooks down the hall. I did that when I threw them into a door to call dibs on using that room, and it just so happened to do that in front of the Branch President. Whoops. So, don't yell and throw your crap around
PPPS It was an Elder's birthday yesterday, so we had a party of sorts. And when I say we had a party, they had one without me because we live in seperate rooms. So, I think they had fun.
PPPPS I know I've talk about the water before, but it seriously gets so hot. Like, it steams and burns you when you touch it. Boiled on the sun, that's what it is

I ACTUALLY TOOK PICTURES FOR ONCE whoops caps lock was on

Round two: The selfie game is strong

One Transfer Length in the MTC!

Holy cow, every week feels so short, but when I look back, so much has happened!\

One of my teachers, who also happens to be one of my favorite people, has started BYU this weeks. So, he won't be teaching anymore. He stops by every once in a while, but for now, he's pretty much gone. That bums me out, but I learned a lot from him while he was here so it's alright. I love our new teacher, he's such a fun guy, and has a different Japanese accent than the rest of out teachers, so more listening practice!

Talking about Japanese practice, my district has been making a big push for everyone to SYL (Speak Your Language) all the time. So, I haven't had a full English convo in several days (except one cheat day while I spoke to Elder Noah Brown in English for a while) and it has honestly been helping so much. The MTC promises that SYL us how our Heavenly Father wants us to learn, so using it is showing faith in that promise and shows our desire to to receive the Gift of Tongues. It's pretty sweet!

Last night, we had Skype TRC. TRC is teaching a member of the church every week just a short lesson and leaving them with a commitment. So, yesterday, we got to Skype with a lady in Japan. It was so cool! Like, I've only been learning Japanese for 6 weeks, but I could have a full on Gospel conversation with her. It was super slow, obviously, but it was so much fun, It got me super pumped up to head out. Only 2.5 weeks to go!

Another huge highlight of this week was Elder Oaks came and spake in the devotional on Tuesday night. I'm super blessed to have been here for two apostles devotionals. He spoke a lor about the principle and teaching in Preach My Gospel, and how to teach through the Spirit. One huge way we can always have the Spirit to be with us is through the Sacrament. Sometimes, I feel like everyone kinda under-appreciates the Sacrament because it's so commonplace. However, despite it being so commonplace, almost no one has it memorized. So, this is the challenge that Elder Oaks gave, a I want to pass on. Memorize the Sacrament prayer (They are also found in the Book of Mormon, the bread here, and the water here)  and think about it often. It's one of the best ways to have the Spirit to be with us always, and what better way to live than through the Spirit?

I love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS We got some new missionaries in the Zone this week, so that's fun. My district is now a grandpa district

PPS When new missionaries came in yesterday, some Elder put on their dork dots. I'm still saving my for when it's my final week, just for kicks and giggles.

PPPS Timpview Reunions are real in this place

PPPPS My new teacher is a recent RM, and watches a ton of Naruto, cause it's all Japanesee. So, in class, we sometimes have chakra battles, and throw ninja justus at each others. Pretty fun!

Friends from High School- probably one of many Timpview Reunions

Cousins- Elders Nelson and Woffinden

Week 5, Stayin Alive

Hey, how's everyone doing?

Another week is gone and done. And what a crazy week it was. The language and the spiritual knowledge are growing at such a fast pace, it's really amazing what 5 weeks can do.

So, I've been teaching an "investigator" for the past few weeks. He's been having a hard time understanding his role in life and how he can be successful. We asked him to be baptized a couple weeks ago, but he said he wanted to learn more about the commandments and his role first. On Saturday, we had a really powerful lesson, and asked him again if he would be baptized, and he said yes. So now we have to teach him the rest of the docrtine to prep him for baptism. It was so amazing to be teaching like that, I felt God's love and know of God's love for our investigator, and in that moment, I loved him so much as well. It's astounding what the Spirit can do.

The devotionals were on point this week. The speakers were good, but my favorite talk was actually during choir practice. The choir director is so funny, but he also give the best spiritual thoughts I've ever seen. If you are entering the MTC soon, I would highly recommend singing in the choir. But anyways, he wanted to show all of us how much love we should feel for the Savior, so he told us this story/parable:

Imagine that you are doing a study abroad in a foreign country. Your roommates tell you about this tradition that foreigners do, that they spray paint their names on this wall. The government always repaints it, and then you can just do it again. You feel like you shouldn't do it, but you eventually cave and head over to the wall. All over the wall are signs saying "Do not paint on this wall". You really don't want to, but you do it anyways because everyone else is. As you finish, bright lights turn on and the police take you into custody. The are so sick of people painting this wall, that they decide to make an example out of you. You are now supposed to stand at the wall forever, to stand as a warning for others. In fact, not just stand by the wall, they are going to nail your hand to the wall. You freak out, but you know that you broke their law and they have every right to do this. They do, however, give you a way out. If a blood relative comes and takes your place, gets nailed to the wall and then rips his hand off the wall, both of you may return home. You're family hears this, and someone volunteers to take your place. Your older brother flies out to the country, and you meet him as he's coming off the airplane. How do you feel when you see him? Ashamed? Love? Like you want to fall down at his feet and thank him? As he walks down the stairs towards you, officials jump on him and start kicking and beating and spiting on him. You run up, but they tell you that this is just party of the process. As they take him to the wall to be nailed, they humiliate and degrade him. He, without a murmur of anger or contempt, goes forward and is nailed to the wall. He is nailed there for your mistake. He takes his hand and rips it from the wall, and he takes you in his arms and take you home. How do you feel about your brother now? How could you ever repay him? How could ever doing anything that would betray his trust and love in you? When you return to your country, you want to tell everyone about how amazing your brother is, how loving and tender his sacrifice for you was. However, people in your country don't really like your brother. They don't like his teachings, and don't appreciate what he did. In fact, they take his name and turn it into a common swear word. How would you bear this? Wouldn't you stand up and defend him with your life? let the world know that he is the best person you have ever met and would never, ever take his name in vain?

This is how we should feel about our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. I know that He is the Savior of the World, and the Savior of you, personally. He loves you so much and want you to return to him so he can live with you forever. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and exhort anyone and all of you to grow closer to him, to partake of His love and find peace in this life, and joy in the life to come.

I love all of you!
Elder Nelson

PS I said the sacrament prayer in Japanese, and the opening prayer in Japanese for sacrament meeting. Pretty fun!
PPS I saw Elder Noah Brown when he came into the MTC. made my day!
PPPS My room is now home to the triple ladder

That is one February length month down

Hey everybody!

How's everyone doing? School has started up for a lot of you, so that's awesome! I'm praying for you, both the Timpview kids and whatever colleges you all are heading out to! I bet that you'll have an amazing year of school. Just rely on the Lord and He can turn any trial you have into the greatest blessing of your life!

This week has had a lot of amazing things happen. Firstly, our Sunday Evening Devotional was different than normal, we had the Nashville Tribute Band come and play for us. I've been told that they have some less spiritual songs, but the ones that they played for us really brought the Spirit. We (the choir) got to sings along with two of the songs, John's Song and I Was Born. It was honestly so amazing and so much fun.

On Tuesday we had a speaker named Elder Echo Hawk and his wife come speak. They both gave awesome talks; Sister Echo Hawk spoke on how being good enough is now, and never was, good enough. We really have to strive to be perfect in our discipleship towards Christ. It's not just enough to have a testimony that the gospel is true, we have to become converted. Elder Echo Hawk spoke and said we must make good and correct choices from the beginning, so that when difficult or dangerous choices roll along, we will be ready and know what we should do. He also shared that we have no idea the eternal impact each and every one of us has. Probably the best Tuesday devotional I've had all week.

Ok, so I probably had the most spiritual experience of the my MTC stay so far yesterday evening. Our teacher, Brother Panganiban, told us about his life story, about his challenges and fears, and then told us to use our divine gift as missionaries to teach him and help him feel the Spirit. The Spirit in the room was incredibly strong as 11 missionaries tried with all of their might to help and teach someone they loved. We all felt such charity for him and earnestly wanted to help him. Brother Panganiban told us, when we finished, that this is how teaching investigators should feel. So this is my challenge. Love everyone. Try to sincerely feel that charity that God has promised to his children, and let that make the biggest change in your life. You will not regret it.

I love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS Divine Swagger: Knowing that God is on your side, so you walk around that you can do anything
PPS I have discovered that Japanese Rap is super legit.
PPPS The water in the MTC comes from two places, the sub-arctic tundra and Mordor. It's either ice water or it will melt your skin off, no in between room.

Blue Tie Tuesday

Elder Means and Elder Nelson

(great friends from high school, both going to Japan but in different missions)

Week Three: Done-zo

Hey everyone!

This week has been so much better than last week. The language is actually coming along really well. My sensei got me all set up with a better studying method, so now I'm learning a lot faster. All our lessons are much better now more than ever. We've found that focusing on the Spirit and the investigators needs makes the lesson flow much easier than just focusing on what I can and can't understand in Japanese. When I don't focus on the language, things roll along much smoother and the Japanese comes much easier. Funny, huh? The Gift of Tongues is legit a thing, and it really helps with teaching and learning.

The best part about being in the MTC is how the Spirit is always here. Literally everywhere you look there are people praying in groups, companionships, or solo. And for the most part, people are being reverent and doing things that invite the Spirit. Being in this atmosphere is wonderful, and it really makes you want to be a better person. Which reminds me of something my sensei taught the class. It was all about going back through Preach my Gospel and really learning everything. Learn it to the point where you are passionate about it and want to share it with everyone. I'm tryign to go through and learn all about Christ-like attributes and working to gain them. So this is my thought for the week. Pray for and learn to gain charity, the pure love of Christ. Pray to gain Christ's love for other people, so you don't even focus on yourself and instead love and help everyone else around you. I can testify that that will make all the difference in the world.

I love you all!
Elder Nelson

PS I got to host new missionaries on Wednesday. It was way fun, and it reminds me of my first day. It feels both super recent and also like a lifetime ago. Strange feeling

PPS Apparently eating vegetables and stuff like you healthy, and it makes working out more effective. I wish someone would have told me that before I came in here.

PPPS Looking back, last weeks letter sounds kinda whiney. Don't listen to last week Joseph, he's a stinker. We won't talk about him. This weeks version is totes better

Elder Nelson's mom here: Elder Nelson had his haircut by my friend at the MTC barbershop this week.  She sent this picture.