Week #44 - Just Around the Riverbend

Family :) Look at me, using a Pocahontas (sp?) quote for the title of the email. Aren`t I nifty? :)` I`m so glad that you got the letter I had written you and that you enjoyed it! Brought the tears baby! Woo! :) Hope you all felt just a little bit of how much I love you... This week was pretty fun. It was a fairly smooth week considering it was a baptism week. I guess when you have a stud investigator/recent convert there`s not too much to worry about. Derek`s baptism went super smooth. The only glitch was that when we first got to the church the power was out, but we were going to have the service anyway! Luckily, when we were changing into our white clothes the lights came on! Symbolic? New light coming into Derek`s life? Could be! :) Derek is such a great guy and I love him so very much! After the baptism when we were changing back into dry clothes Derek started to cry and he just kept saying `I did it! I did it!` He`s so great. He didn`t get confirmed quite yet because we had stake conference, but he`ll be confirmed this Sunday. Once again, I`ve just loved seeing the change in this young man`s life. He`s done a complete180 from the time when we first met him. He feels confident in the fact that God loves him and that he has a plan for him. What a difference it makes knowing those 2 simple things! I think back to the first day when we met him and I just thank God for guiding us to him. We weren`t even looking for him when we found him! We were looking for his brother! Just a testimony builder to me of the divinity of this work and the love that God has for each and every one of His children. We`ll find those that are ready!

Divisions with Elder Moore were so great. I went over to his area for a few days and we just did some serious work! It didn`t matter that it was 35 (96ish in farenheit) degrees and probably 100% humidity! The work shall go on! We found and taught so many people and it was so great! It was a great little spiritual recharge for me to be with him. He`s a great Elder. I`ve been blessed with some awesome Zone Leaders to help me through these last 2 transfers. What a blessing. Not an accident though, that`s for sure! They`ve been put in my path to help me! So ya, it was so great. The best part of divisions was the last night when we slept outside on their roof :) Their roof is HUGE and we call it a 3rd floor. We brought our blankets and sacked out up there. So great. I woke up an hour early because the sun was rising and I just was caught up in the beauty of this world! God created such a beautiful world because He loves us so much!

Yesterday was the best day of my week for sure. First off, we had stake conference and got to hear from the Buenos Aires temple president. I wasn`t paying the best attention because I was busy praying that some investigators would arrive. I kept looking at the door every 3 seconds (literally, no joke) hoping to see familiar faces coming in. Unfortunately, no one came :( It`s all good though. After conference some guy that looked super american came up to us and he had a little american flag pin on his jacket. I started talking to him in spanish and I complimented his little pin. The conversation went a little like this: `¡ey! me gusta la banderita de los estados unidos eh!` `thanks man, pretty cool huh?` `¿usted habla inglès? `Ya, I`m from Logan.` Haha, so funny! He had served here about 20 years ago and had come back to visit. He had 2 backpacks full of american goodies and I was so happy when he whipped out a box of Mac and Cheese for me and Elder Hutchings :) So great. How lucky! That was a fun little surprise for sure. We had interviews with President right after conference and mine was SO great. It was the best, most tranquilo, confidence boosting interview I`ve ever had with him. For the first little bit we talked about some of the challenges that I have faced during the past two transfers. I told him that I`ve learned a lot and then he told me that he`d be using the knowledge and skills I`ve gained in the future. We were talking about all this and then out of nowhere he just said, `Elder Nilsen, I love you.` He said it so sincerely and it made me feel so loved! He said that he wished he had 50 more missionaries like me in the mission. I was blown away! Wow! What a compliment! I really don`t consider myself all that special. I just do what is required of me to do and I do it to my best ability. I was just flattered and I thanked him so much. He really boosted my confidence when he said that. He then asked how the family was and I said they were good, and gave him a few updates about you guys. Then we started talking about sports! It was so great! Talked about USC football (found out he likes UCLA...boo!), baseball, NFL...it was so great! After we had talked about sports for about 10 mins he brought the focus back and we finished the interview. It was so great! It was my first interview with him where I was just relaxed and joking (at the right time of course) and talking sincerely with him. So wonderful.

When I was talking to him I all of a sudden just got an overwhelming feeling that great things are just up ahead for me here on my mission. From what President Carter said, it sounds like I`ll be getting a great companion next week. I feel like this next companion, whoever he is, is going to be that companion that I imagined having before the mission. That companion that ends up being one of your best friends for the rest of your life. I just feel it. It`s going to be so great. The best is yet to come! I am so excited for what`s up ahead! Great things are waiting for me and my next companion around the riverbend (ah, there`s the title :) ). I just was overcome with that feeling of `the best is yet to come.` Man I`m pumped. I hit 10 months yesterday! I told Elder Wilson yesterday that it was my 10 month birthday and he said something that made me think. He told me something along the lines of `wow! The 2 years you`ve been waiting and preparing for for your whole life is now already 10 months over with! Kind of a sad/scary thought huh?` Weird isn`t it? Crazy how fast time goes. Time is about to start moving real quick too. Real quick. I`m determined to just lose myself in this work right NOW! Now`s the time and I`m so excited! I love you all so much! Good things comin`, Elder Nilsen