8 de Julio and the Big Dog Attack

Just one of the friendly smiles we usually get.

The creapy dogs here..

Hi everyone how are things going?
Well I am now in the last week of my 4th change! Crazy! I must say that I have had better weeks than this past one. My companion, Elder Neilson, and I were walking down to confirm an appointment in a neighborhood called 8 de Julio (July 8th). It is like the slummy part of our sector and is kind of known to be a bit more dangerous. Well we were walking and as we came around the corner, there was this big black pitbull. It started growling at us so we kinda backed up to go around it but it barked louder and out came a big Rottweiler from a yard. They both started getting mad and coming closer. Both my comp and I took off our backpacks to hit them with if we needed to. I kinda backed up fast when they both started coming. Elder Neilson didn't really and they both went for him. Well he ended up getting bit on the butt by the pitbull. Not hard but it did cause a little bit of bleeding. It looked like a scrape more than anything. He got two holes in his pants. It was kinda scary. It happened so fast too. I was going to throw a rock at the dogs but didn't want to hit my comp either so didn't. they backed away after they bit him too. Today we went to the flea market and I found a night stick that the cops use. It was like 5 bucks. I will keep that in one of the side pockets of my backpack from now on...dumb dogs.
The weather here is cooling down at night. I had to go back and get my jacket in the evening. The time change here is no good for missionary work. It is completely dark at 7:30pm. When we try and do contacting during that time, people come to the door and say they are in bed already.... It is kind of annoying but we need to change and do contacts earlier and set appointments for the night time I guess. Our contact Nicole, who was going to get baptized this coming Saturday didn't come to church yesterday because she had to work in her dads little business. This means that she doesn't have 3 times of going to church and at the first part of april she is going to be leaving to enter the army.
Well that's about all that has been going on here this week. take care everyone!
Chao Elder nelson

Lovin' it in Chile!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My mom's favorite picture.

Me & my little Sis & Bro at the ice-caves in July '08 before I left...good memories

Hello everyone!
so this week has been a busy one. both me and my companion were sick for a few days. We didn't let it get us down and still were able to get out.This morning i began the paperwork for my carnet. That is my identification card for chile. it is kind of a long process and the offices that do it are very slow. We are still working with nicole. she is sceduled to get baptized the 28th. she is excited and cant wait. right now we are busy looking for people to teach. we are doing a lot of contacting. this week we were contacting a guys house and he came to the door hobbling. he said that he cant really stand and talk to us so i just flat out asked if we could come in to talk to him. he said sure. we have an appointment to go back this week. he will be home for the next 3 months straight because he broke his leg and cant work. he seems really good and is open to us. when we came in his house he said how nice it was to see two young people with short hair and a clean shaven face. i guess the appearence thing is important afterall...but of course, the mullet has taken over chile so when someone doesnt have it it is a nice change too. ;) So i completed 7 months this week. wow. time is flying. i am over halfway done with this change too which is weird to think. well know that i am doin fine and lovin it down here.
take care everyone and talk to y'all next week chao elder nelson

Summer vaction in Ovalle is OVER!!!

Elder Neilson & ALBA
a BBQ with Carla's family & friends

Hey everyone!
How are things going? So this week was alright. First of all, I went on intercambios this Tuesday which I did not enjoy it at all. The elder just flat out bugged me. We have had problems with our investigators neither of them could be found this weekend nor went to church yesterday. We will have to work a bit harder this week I guess to get them to come to church. SO school is now finally back in down here. I have been in Ovalle for all of the summer vacation! I am so glad its over. People are now in their houses. In Chile they don’t exaggerate on the word vacation. They are gone for like months at a time it seems. Many people we were able to find said that they were leaving for the month or something. Very hard to find people to teach when everyone is gone. Well my comp has this little dog whistle that is electronic. Its pretty funny to play with while we are walking through the streets. Its like a little remote that makes the high pitched sound only dogs can hear. Some dogs do the funniest head tilt. Some just get really mad. Well everyone take care this week. Talk to ya next week. Chao Elder Nelson

Jonathan loves French Toast!

Jonathan Farias - Our returned missionary friend from Chile.

He goes out teaching with us. He is NUTS!!! about French Toast

Hey everyone!
Hey how are things going? So this week has been a good one and surely better than the previous week. We found two people to teach who have a baptismal date for march. The first one is a friend of the girl we just baptized a couple weeks ago. Her name is Nicole and is 20. The other is an older lady named Benilda. Both of them came to church with us yesterday which was cool.
Well the weather is getting a bit nicer for me. Not so hot. It still gets up there but this past week there has been a pleasant breeze that has been nice and cool.
This morning we made French toast and omelets for a member (Jonathan Frias) who has helped us out quite a bit. He is nuts about French toast. He is actually going to study in the states this april. He is excited to go and I have left him with a bunch of things to try and places to go eat.
Things are still goin strong down here. Hope all is well in the north. Take care everyone and talk to ya next week. Chao Elder nelson