Elder Nelson's 1/2 Way.....Happy 1 year! August 13, 2009
Very first companion....in the MTC...Elder Bastien
learning spanish in the MTC
The sunsets in Chile are the most beautiful ever!
apartment in El Belatto
I love the people here...they're amazing!
The friendly smiles we get... 
Vina del Mar....one of the most beautiful cities in the world.I'm so glad that I got to actually serve in the city.
We can hardly believe that 1/2 of his mission is already done! Just a short year ago today...we had bitter-sweet tears as we left him at the MTC in Provo, UT.
We have loved being a missionary family and are grateful for all of the blessings the Lord has blessed him (and us at home) with during this past year. We are especially grateful for Jaren and his desire to serve a mission and to be the best missionary in the world. "Thank-you" to the people in Chile for feeding him and the kindness and friendship shown to him there. We look forward with great anticipation for his Monday emails and are so thankful for the technical gift of the internet and email where we can get a fast "letter" and also chit-chat back and forth. We love to hear his stories about all sorts of things from dog bites to baptisms. We especially love hearing his voice on the holiday phone calls and all of the pictures that he sends each week.
We love to see pictures of him as a missionary, his new companions, the area, the members, the food and yes, even the perfect stack of juice cans that he and Elder Tondevold drank during a 6 week exchange.
We love the instant pictures like when he had a bad hair cut and he said..."wait just a minute....I'll send a picture and show you." or the "Good Morning Mom!"
So...we're reliving a few great memories from this past year today on his blog with some favorite pictures....we're excited for this next year and of course, we're counting the days til he's home. If this next year goes like the last one...it will be here in a flash. Thank-you to all of his family and friends for the letters, donations, reading his blog, asking how he's doing and all of your love and support.
