Hope you all had a great 4th of July! I think I`ve come to find out since I`ve been on my mission that 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! I just love summer, bbq`s, wiffle ball, and fireworks! What a great combo right? :) What a blessing it is to be serving here though in Argentina! Argentina has their independence day tomorrow! Aguante Argentina!
This week went by super fast! We got to go over to Bragado (city about 40 mins from here) to a zone meeting. Got to see good ol Elder Wilson and the rest of the zone! It was fun to be with other missionaries because I`m not with them too very often (like...never!)
Some quick updates on gators...
Jorge and Laura are awesome. We went with Laura this past week to the civil registry to find out about her divorce. She`s kinda sorta blind so my comp was escorting here like a gentleman and the guy at the registro thought my comp was her husband. Awkward...but it`s ok! :) We found out that she`s gotta go with her ex to the registro and sign some papers. We were worried about what the ex would say but that same night she talked to him and he doesn`t have any problems! Yes! Answered prayers? I think yes! They`ve got plans to go this next week to get the divorce. We`ll then get things going for a wedding! Woo! Who ever thought that I`d be getting people married here on my mission? Not me!
As far as other investigators...
Marta and Antonio are doing all right. We only got to teach them once this past week, but they had read their pamphlet and had questions. We tried to set baptismal dates with them but they rechazared me pero mal 2 veces. ¿Què va a hacer? Whoops...spanish take over there. Perdònenme :)
We had a really awesome sacrament meeting yesterday and I felt the spirit super strong. We were only 16 people and the pianist and chorister didn`t show up so I led the music as we sang acapella. Before we partook of the sacrament we sang the hymn `I know that my Redeemer lives`. I was almost moved to tears as we sang, all 16 of us, off tune and not well coordinated, and the spirit touched my heart. I feel so blessed to be here serving with this faithful group of saints. What a marvelous blessing.
Well, whether we want to talk about it or not...I´ve officially got 6 months left. Not very much time left at all. It´s often said that the last 6 months of a missionary´s mission is their time to shine, and so that´s what I intend to do. The word ´brillo´ in spanish means ´shine´ (that´s where the title of this email comes from). Play on words there, you like it? It´s ´time to shine´, but also ´show time´. Gosh I´m clever :)
I´ve thought a lot this past week about what I want to do with this time, what things I want to improve, what things I want to stop doing, etc. As I reflected about all of this, I read a couple scriptures in D&C that I just loved. The first one is in DC 60:13 and says ´Thou shalt not idle away they time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.´ The lesson is simple. There´s no time to waste. I know from my patriarchal blessing that I´ve been given talents to be able to use them and build up the kingdom of God, so I sure can´t hide what I´ve been given. The time is now to use them in order to do God´s marvelous will here in Argentina. Absolutely no time to waste. Makes me think of a talk I heard from Elder Holland way back in the MTC when he said, quite emotionally, ´Capitalize your...time. You´ll NEVER have it again...Don´t you DARE waste this time.´
The other scripure that I read is in DC 64:33 and says, ´Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedth that which is great.´ I read this and fell in love with it. I feel like it applies so well to me. I feel like lots of the moments when I´ve been discouraged here in my mission have been when I feel like I´m doing things how I need to be doing them, but yet I see no result/blessing. Well, this verse essentially answers any doubt about that. I´ve been doing my best for the past 18 months and whether I´ve realized it or not, I´ve been laying a sure, steady foundation for what lies ahead (both here on the mission and after). I love how this verse translates to english from the spanish DC, ´don´t get tired of doing good because you´re putting the foundation of a great work. And from the little things proceed the great things.´ I´ve been seeking to do the good and now I´m confident that I´ll be able to reap the rewards here in the last 6 months. I´m so excited for what lies ahead of me.
I´ve waited my whole mission (in vain!) for things to get easier. I know that these next 6 months things won´t be easy. I´ll still face the normal challenges and stresses of missionary life, but come on! I´ve been taught, trained, I have experience, and now I´m ready to go! It´s just all about putting it all on the table, giving my all, and losing myself in this work. I´m reminded of a great EFY song when I think about all this...
I wanna look back on this time,
and be proud of the person I´ve been.
I wanna know the choices I´ve made,
won´t leave me wishing I could make them again.
But during these year my devotion was set,
I wanna look back on this time with NO REGRETS.
Now´s the time. Let´s do it. Buckle up. It´s gonna fly.
Shining as I start these last six,
Elder Nilsen
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