Week #42 - Need It Back

Hello Family,

This is going to be somewhat of a short email due to the fact that I`ve been emailing all of you back and forth, so I guess I need to apologize to all my friends and other family that will read this short email. Sorry! I needed a little encouragement and love from my good ol` family y por eso...and that`s why this email will be a tad shorter than normal.

Fabian got baptized! Alejandra got interviewed for baptism and everything, but just didn`t feel ready quite yet. We`re going to work with her to be ready for the 24th of November when we have our stake/zone baptism. It`s going to be so great! Anyway, Fabian`s baptism was great. The only minor problem we had was when we filled up the font and...well we may have forgotten about the running water. We MAY have flooded half the church and the bathrooms. Unplanned act of service! We got to clean the church :) We quickly squeegeed the water down the drains and it all worked out ok. Luckily the only carpet in the church buildings here in Argentina is in the nursery and the water didn`t quite reach that far. Phew! :) Anyway, Fabian`s such a tranquilo guy and he`s told us how good this has been for him. I love to see to change that the gospel does for people. It`s so wonderful!

Fabian`s baptism was just about the only exciting thing that happened this week. We didn`t have great success as far as our numbers go, and I know that it`s because that we were lacking the Spirit a little (ok a lot) bit in our companionship this week. Let me just make this fact known: sarcasm is a spiritual assasin. Sarcastic remarks, jokes, comments, etc immediately drive the Spirit away. Dad always tried to teach us to not be sarcastic, and he is so right! Sarcasm kills. End of story. Sarcams kills, sincerity...thrills? Tried to make a cute little saying/rhyme right there but I don`t think it turned out so well. Darn. Maybe next time! So yes, I have a strong testimony of the divinity of this work, and since this work is divine, it requires a divine helper: the spirit. Without the Spirit, this work is extremely hard to do. Be sincere, and have success. It`s that simple. I need the Spirit back!

I hope you all know how much I love this work. Right now, quizàs, it`s hard for me to say that I love the work, but I know that every experience, trial, tribulation, etc. that I go through is necessary for me and my personal growth. I can`t see it right now, but I know that I will appreciate this experience and I know that it will be oh so worth it. I hope none of you think that I`m a downer. I try to be upbeat and positive, but I`m going to be realistic and share with you my feelings too. Just know that I`m happy...ish, and that I`m striving to be the man that I know I can be and the man that my Heavenly Father wants me to be. I`ll be there one day!

I`ll end this short email by sharing something I really liked as I read good ol` Elder Michael Stewart`s letter (oh man, if we could be comps...). He just quickly mentioned that some of the best growth the church had every experienced and some of the best revelation the church received came right after Joseph`s experience in Carthage Jail. He also said that the suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary came before the glorious Resurrection. The trials come right before the success and true happiness! I really liked that. In fact I loved that. I love that guy Michael Stewart ;)

I love you all so much :)

Seeking to regain the Spirit,

Elder Nilsen