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

The new duo: NEILSON - NELSON

Elder Neilson & Elder Nelson Ochoa family says a teary "Good-bye" to Elder Tondevold

"Sweet Ties" Elders: Blood, Owen, Tondevold & me

Ovalle at twighlight

hey everyone how is it going? well i dont have that much time to write this week...i had a nice birthday. we had companion changes that day as well. elder tondevold got changed to Villa Alemana and i am staying here in ovalle for another 6 weeks. people here are pretty upset that he is leaving but hey, its the mission...my new companion is elder neilson. Yes, NEILSON...they will have fun trying to keep our names straight. he has 18 months in the mission. he is cool and we should have a good time working together. well gotta get goin. talk to ya next week. take care! chao elder nelson

Happy Birthday Jaren!....and you hit your 1/4 mark

Happy Birthday! Mom sent me my favorite...a Funfetti B'day cake mix! Not sure if the oven would bake it or not as it has 2 settings: On & Off! But it was great!

Carla Vega's baptism - 2/14/09
Yep! That's me stuffing it.

hey everyone how are things going? things are going good down here in Ovalle. i am a little sick with a sore throat but its not too bad...Today is the last day of the third change of my mission. Tonight we have changes. i really have no idea if i am staying or leaving. honestly either one works for me. i love the people here and the weather should start getting a bit more mild after this past month and a half of scorching weather.
So this week has been a busy one. this past week we had a zone conference. the mission president couldnt be there. it was only our zone and the assistants. it was a good conference. The baptism was at 6 and was really nice. we made homemade raspberry-blueberry cheesecake and brownies for the baptism which turned out really good. they were both a huge hit and when we brought them out, immediatly like 4 ladies from the branch were asking us how to make them and the recipe. they went nuts. that evening we played basketball with a few guys who thought they were pretty hot stuff.
this sunday i confirmed carla. it was a good experience for me. later that evening we went on divisions with a couple members from the branch. it was a good time.
This morning i got all packed just in case i leave i can visit people this evening. our president told us that we should be able to pack in 30 minutes if we needed to so i practiced this morning...didnt do it in 30 minutes but got it done...thanks to those of you who wrote me this week. take care and next week i guess we´ll see where i´m at...chao.

Chile Soccer Cup - Congratulations Ovalle!

Cheesecake we made - YUM!!!!!!!
You know I love it!
I make an awesome omlet too!
KATA a member in our branch and her cool shades!

Our Zone Activity....a day off...kinda

and Mexican Food at El Relajo!

We meet again....Elder Owen from the MTC now in my area.

Hey everyone how are things going? its all going good down here! its hard to believe that its the last week now of the change. We are having a baptism this saturday! Carla passed her interview on saturday and went to church on sunday so she is all ready. She has found a happiness in her life with the gospel. This week we are going to have a conference and interviews with the Mission president in La Serena. It should be fun.
So there is a big soccer tournament going on in chile called the chile cup. anyways, the New York Yankees of the league down here, Colo Colo, lost to OValle! haha ovalle is a div. 3 team that beat a pro team. how embarassing.
Well gotta go. Thanks for all the emails. Next week i´ll do a little recap of the change.

Chao - Love, Elder Nelson