August 13, 2012- These Things are True

Hey Everybody!!

This last week was such an incredible week!! It flew by super fast but it´s because we were sooo busy. The main highlight of this week was on Thursday when Elder Carlos Godoy of the 1st Quorum of the 70 came and gave an amazing training!! The Spirit was very strong and he really helped all of the missionaries gain even more energy and desire to work hard and put in practice the things we learn in Preach My Gospel. I loved the training so much but at the same time I was just thinking, "Why couldn´t he have come a few months earlier so I could actually put these things in practice??". It was still an unforgettable experience tho! I´ve been trying to think about the end of my mission as little as possible these last few days, but now the end really has arrived and I´m super excited for the next part of my life!! This time that I´ve had to represent the Lord for these last 2 years has been a life changing and life shaping experience. One of the most precious gifts I´ve adquired has been my testimony that Christ has His true Church on the earth again and the Book of Mormon is the evidence of this. God loves all of His children and He invites all of them to learn of him, come unto Him and through the small and precious truths that we learn in the Book of Mormon we can truly return to His presence someday. I´m forever grateful for this knowledge and I know that anyone with sincere desire can know of these things. I love you all and thank you for all of the support that you´ve given me in these last 2 years and I´m excited to see all of you so soon!!! No need to give the little ones any more loves for me, I will be able to give them myself!!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

August 6, 2012- In the Brasil

Hey Everyone!!

This last week was a super great week!! We got to work a ton and it has just been sunny, beautiful, warm weather so hopefully it continues!!! We are super excited for this next week, too because Elder Godoy from the Quorum of the 70 is coming to do a conference with our mission so it should be a great learning experience! Everything here is great and I hope everything back home is even better for you all!! Give the little ones some loves!!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

Pics from a hike they went on that week:

 

July 30, 2012

Hey Everyone!

  That´s so cool that you all are in AZ!! That´s pretty brave for you guys to go out there during the Summer but it sounds like the weather isn´t too hot. I will definitely have to go and visit Tahnee and Tyler sometime so that I can visit some people in Chandler! So we did a bunch of traveling this week and only spent about 2 days in the mountains and I even got to leave the state!! It was really cool because where I went is a lot different from the other places in our mission. We, too, saw a massive car accident along the way, it happened right in front of us...just goes to show the importance of being careful on the highway. Today we are in Floripa because President asked us to come back for a few days because he´s going to do some activities with us and then afterwards we will go to a city close to the border of Argentina! We just found out that next week Elder Carlos Godoy of the first quorum of the 70 will come to the mission so Elder Eide and I will have to receive him and President Fernandes in the city close to Argentina, it should be a really great experience!! I hope you guys have a great trip and that you make it home safely!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

July 23, 2012- The Trio

Hey Everybody!!

This week was another solid week full of lots of great and interesting experiences!! We had many spiritual experiences where we saw our investigators open up and feel the Spirit testify that the things which we preach our true. We also had a missionary who injured his knee and can´t work for a few weeks so we are in a trio with his old companion until President finds another solution. The missionary with us is from Chile so we talk a lot in Spanish, but mainly just joke around in Spanish. Well, we are all safe, healthy, and excited about the work here!! I love you all and hope you give the little ones some loves for me!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

July 16, 2012- Festa Julina

Hey Everyone!!

  This week was a pretty great and entertaining week!! We got to teach a lot of lessons and go on a lot of splits with the young men who are preparing to serve missions. The weather was bitterly cold so it was almost impossible to talk with people outside but we got into a lot of homes so it worked out great! I told you guys about a really cool family that we found a few weeks back and they are still going strong!! They are reading the Book of Mormon a lot and they know that it´s true and are talking to all their family and friends about the church now!! This Saturday we had a party at the church, it´s called ´Festa Julina´ and the entire country of Brasil has this party either duirng the month of June or July. Basically everybody dresses up as a hick and they do square dancing all night long and there is tons and tons of food! I will try to attach a video if the computer lets me. I love you all and hope that all is going great!!! Give the kids some loves!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

btw the video wouldn´t download but here is one photo all everyone dancing and one photo of my companion and I

 

July 9, 2012- Church Horns

Hey Everyone!!

This week was the start of the new transfer and the 2 other Elders living with us both got transferred and the 2 new Elders arrived so we´ve been helping them get to know the city out here. Out of nowhere we went from having hot hot weather to super cold weather and the forecast is to pretty much stay cold forever now. We had a really obnoxious situation at church this last week. The Church is located on the city´s main street and a local church has a tradition every year on this Sunday that all the truckers from the nearby cities come and line their trucks up for miles and miles on the main road and for an hour in the morning they go to their sermon and then they come back at 9am and just drink, party and honk their truck horns until noon...our church meetings are from 9am till noon and it was so loud the entire meeting. I had to play the organ for Sacrament meeting and I turned the organ up as loud as I could to block out the noise but we could all still hear the honks and background music...o man, it was quite a memorable meeting haha We are doing great out here, tho, and realy excited for these coming weeks that we have! Our 4th of July went great, too!! We ate lots of hot dogs and hamburgers and sang lots of patriotic music and really enjoyed ourselves!! I hope you all are safe and that you give the little ones some loves!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

July 2, 2012- The High and Humble

Hey Everyone!!

This was a really cool and busy week! We had Zone Conference and a man named Carlos Martins came and spoke to us. You´ve probably never heard of him but he started off as the owner of an English school called Wizard and since has expanded his businesses to several countries and has become the largest employer in all of Brasil and he´s a member of the Church (he was a Mission President a few years back, too). I got to talk with him for a little bit and he is a very normal man, it took me by complete surprise. I then realized that only the true gospel of Jesus Christ can turn a multi-million dollar man into a humble, down-to-earth person. Later that night he gave a free lecture to the community (in the chapel) on the 7 keys to becoming a millionaire. He gave a lot of great advice and I took a ton of notes and then he arrived to the 7th and final key. I was really anxious to find out what would it would be and was really impressed by what he said. The 7th key to become a milionaire is ´Find your Divine Origen´ and he began to tell how we are nothing without God and how we must have a healthy relationship with him to be able to have a successful life. He then took the opportunity to bear testimony on how he knows that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Christ´s true Church here on the earth today. He bore testimony for about 10 mins and then invited everyone in the crowd of more than 500 people to take time out of their schedule to meet with the missionaries and learn more about the Church. It was such a cool experience!! The Church really is such a grand blessing in our lives, it is the only place on the face of the earth where we can go to learn the true eternal Plan of our Maker. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints truly is the Lord´s kingdom established here on the earth and that anybody who has real desire to know if these things are true can know for themselves. I hope you all have a great week and a great 4th of July!!! Give the kids lots of loves!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

This is a photo of President, his wife, my companion and I with Carlos Martins.

June 11, 2012- For All Eternity

Hey Everyone!!

So Winter decided to show up a little early this year and this week we saw the temperature drop SIGNIFICANTLY. It was a really busy week and we were blessed to find a new family who is really excited about the gospel of Jesus christ and the fact that His church has once again been restored on the earth. We also got to watch the dedication of the Temple in Manuas. It was a great experience as both Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Cook were there conducting and presiding at the dedication. The Temple is such an incredible blessing in our lives,it being the only place on earth where a couple or family can be united for all eternity! We taught another family this week about the blessings of the Temple and the Spirit was incredibly strong! I hope everything is great back home!!! Happy Birthday to Mom, too!!!!!! I hope you guys have Grasshopper pie!!!!! Give the little one some loves!!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson


June 18, 2012- Attending Church


Hey Everyone!

Yesterday we had that really cool family that I mentioned last week come to Church and they loved it! Our ward here is needing to grow so they will make a great addition! We also had an activity on Saturday night where we watched "17 Miracles" and the turnout was great and everybody loved it! Have a great wekk and love the children for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson


June 25, 2012- Back to College


Hey Everyone!!

This week was another really rushed/busy week which is great! We had a really cool experience this week tho. We were on the local bus the other day and a young woman approached us, told us how she is a member of the Church and aske dus if we could go to her Nursing course at the local University and respond to questions about the Church´s position on some health matters. So we went and they asked questions like "In the Church´s eyes, what is health?" , "What do you believe sickness is?" , "What is the cure to sickness" and we were able to respond really simply to the questions. They kept asking questions i regard to health until they just started asking all sorts of questions which gave us the chance to teach them about the Restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ and how the Book of Mormon came about. They LOVED what we taught and many of them asked for Book of Mormons and the professor even gave us his address so that we could stop by his house and teach him more! It went super well! I hope you all had a great week tho and enjoy Summer vacation as school has ended!! Give the kids lots of loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

June 4, 2012- June, Already?

Hey Everyone!!

This week was a REALLY hardworked week! We got to teach a lot of lessons and talk with a lot of new people on the streets and in their homes. Everything is going great out here tho and there´s a lot of great energy out here!! I hope the cruise went great and that you give the little ones lots of loves!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

May 28, 2012- Back to Kobrasol

Hey Everyone!!
  This week was both a cold/rainy and hot/sunny week! We still worked when it was pouring tho and we ended up meeting some new people who really like our messages of the gospel of Jesus Christ which we bring. We also had Stake Conference in my old area of Kobrasol yesterday and it was great to see lots of old faces! Everything is going well out here tho and we are safe and healthy! I love you all and hope someone gives the little ones some loves for me!!!
Love,
Elder Michael j. Neilson

May 14, 2012- Mother's Week

Hey Everyone!!

This last week went really well!! We had the chance to share the gospel with a lot of new friends out here and see just how much peace and joy the gospel brings to people´s lives. We are happy, working hard, helathy, and safe out here so we hope and pray that things continue to improve!! It was great to talk to the family yesterday for Mother´s Day and it crazy to see how much the little ones have grown!!! Give them some loves!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson


May 21, 2012- Missionary Work

Hey everyone!!

This last week went really well!  I got to spend some time working with Elder Eide who was in my MTC group and arrived in Brasil with me  and it was a lot of fun and we visited some great people!  I hope everyone is happy and healthy back home! Give the little ones some loves for me!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

April 30, 2012- The Wise Tooth

Hey Everybody!

This week was a pretty rushed week but it went really well! We had some great lessons with some of our friends who are currently learning more about our faith. One of those lessons was with a woman and her son who invited the family next door to join in on our lesson. We taught about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and they loved it!! The Spirit was super strong and they were very gracious to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. We also went and visited a lady whose son is baptized and the only reason why she isn´t is because she is addicted to smoking. The past missionaries stopped visiting her because they said that she is really hard to find at home but we were able to find her home twice this week! We put her on a plan to stop smoking a pack and a half per day and by the 3rd day she was already down to 6 cigarretts (where she is still at today)!! She says that this time she is going to be able to overcome the addiction and be baptized, so cool! Also today I got my wisdom tooth pulled! Unlike in the states the keep you awake during the pulling, they just numb you a little bit. The dentist pulled it out and showed me and it was a pretty big tooth! It´s not hurting too bad so that´s good news but it looks like I´m just gonna have to drink milkshakes for a day or two!! I hope you all have a great week and to hear from you all soon!! Give the little ones loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson


May 7, 2012- Mother's Day

Hey everyone!!

This week went really well and hot out here in Floripa!  We were able to visit a lot of people and even make some new friends thru doing street contacting and tracting.  We met one couple where the guy was super happy to let us into their home.  We sat down and presented ourselves  and told them about our work and then asked them about their religious background.  The guy, Carlos, told us how when he was 15 years old he attended the “Mormon church” and wanted to get baptized but his parents didn’t let him…we looked at them and informed him that the “Mormon church” would be the nickname of the church that we represent.  He got super excited and told us how he wants to start going back to church again and wants to be baptized! It was a pretty funny moment that got us excited haha the couple has to get legally married first before being baptized so we are going to help them do that!  I hope you all have a great week and great Mother’s Day!!!!Give the little ones some loves for me!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

April 23, 2012- Arrived In Tijucas!!

Hey everybody!!

So this week I arrived in my new area, Tijucas, and since we are opening the area we both were a bit lost for the majority of the time but the members are helping us out a lot! Tijucas is a very relaxed town that is growing a ton, but has a very South American feel to it, I love it! We have 7 other cities in our area so we will have to do some traveling, including this week when we have to go back to Floripa for doctor appointments, etc. The weather is really starting to cool down, too, yesterday it was freezing so we worked in our suits the entire day. We are super excited to be here tho and to see how this area will grow here in the coming weeks!! I love you all and hope you have a great week and that Tahnee has a great birthday!!! Give the little ones some loves for me!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

April 16, 2012- Goin to the Beach

Hey Everyone!!

  So I got transfered this last Wednesday and spent the week (and will spend the majority of this next week) in the mission office. I got to go back to my first area in Rio Tavares on Saturday to see a baptismal service and then I went to church there on Sunday so it was a lot of fun to see everybody again!! That place is such a beautiful area and I know I will have even more opportunities to go back there before the end of my mission. I will be going to my  new area, most likely on Friday, which is called Tijucas. It´s an area that has 7 cities within it´s boundaries and is known for having, arguably, the prettiest beach out here in Florianópolis....I got another rough area haha. What´s cool is that I´ve basically spent my entire mission serving in Floripa beach cities so it will be easy and convenient to visit everybody when Mom and Dad come! My new companion is Elder Sena, he´s from Brasilia and he´s a super good missionary so hopefully we are blessed with great success!! I love you all and hope you give the kids lots of loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

April 9, 2012- Feliz Páscoa!!

Hey Everybody!!

This week of Páscoa (Easter) went super well! We got to invite lots of people to come and worship with us this Sunday and there were some who came, even for the very first time! During English class this week we made French Toast and the people went crazy for it! I had to hide my bottle of maple syrup because everybody wanted to take it home with them haha and we were able to have a super grewat lesson on the gospel and the Book of Mormon with some of the students! Yesterday we received sooo much chocolate, I couldn´t believe it! This week we will probably get a ton more. We had a great class in Church tho about the Ressurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and it was incredible. We truly do receive so much peace, comfort, and hope in knowing that death has been conquered and everyone of us will live forever. Now in this life is time to act and do what the Lord commands so that we may live in happiness with our families forever. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!! Give the little ones some loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

March 26, 2012- Conference Prep

Hey Everyone!!

This week went super well!! Our friend João Pedro got baptized on Saturday and his mom who has been less-active in the church came to the baptismal service and to church on Sunday so we are hoping to be able to help her get back on track to receiving the blessings that come from activity in the gospel!! We had another lady, Ana and her son, Miguel, come to church yesterday, too and they loved it!! They want to get baptized but Ana has to work a lot on Sunday so a member in the ward is going to help her find a new job this week and perhaps she will get baptized in the coming weeks. Everybody here is getting really excited for General Conference! It seems like there has been given a lot of emphasis on preparing ourselves spiritually for this great conference. Everything is still going great and we are enjoying each day that we get to serve with all of our might!! I love you all and hope you give the little ones some loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

April 2, 2012- Conference is the Best!

Hey everyone!!

Conference was SO incredible this weekend!! One of our friends investigating the church, Abilio, attended all of the sessions and was awe-struck at the end and told me that ‘everybody in the world needs to watch at least one of these conferences to understand what the Church is about’.  I loved all the talks and especially Elder Hallstrom’s when he talked about the importance of being active in the gospel AND in the church.  It was a great week and weekend tho and we are all pretty charged up to go out and work even harder now!!  We are going to spend a lot of time this week looking for new people to teach and bring this beautiful message to and hopefully we can help them enter the waters of baptism like so many of the speakers at conference talked about!!  I love you all and wish you a Happy Easter and that we may all remember just exactly what the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, means for each and every one of us.  Give the little ones some loves for me!!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

March 19, 2012- The Winter Wind Blows

Hey Everyone!!

This week went really well out here and the weather is already starting to cool down for the winter season! I always thought that a Brasilian Summer would be really brutal but it was definitely the coolest Summer I´ve ever experienced. This week we had a handful of people accept the invite to be baptized and one of them, João Pedro, will be baptized this Satruday so we are really excited for him! Our English class out here is going super well, too, it´s consistently bringing 20 people every class and a few people are gaining interest in the church. Everything else is going great and everyone here is just getting ready for Easter which means we are going to get lots of chocolate in the coming days!! I love you all and hope you ive the little ones some loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

March 12, 2012- Transfers

Hey everyone!!

  This week flew by, but it was another super busy and great week! I went to go and get my new companion from the mission office on Wednesday. His name is Elder Correia and he is from Rio de Janeiro (he says he doesn´t remember and Elder Neilson (Skylar) passing thru his ward tho) and he´s a great missionary full of desire to work hard and be obedient so I´m really excited to be with him! My last companion, Elder Banner, went to get his new companion on Wednesday, too, but his companion sisn´t show up and will get here this week so Pres Fernandes had him spend this last week was us here in our area. It was actually a lot of fun having 3 missionaries at all of our appointments, and whatnot but he is leaving tomorrow so we will be back to 2. In our house we have 2 other Elders who live with us and one of them is from Argentina so it´s fun to practice Spanish with him and he likes to practice his English with me. Also we have a mission conference with Elder Godoy of the 70 this week so it should be a great expereince!! I love you all and hope and pray you are all happy and safe!!! Give the little ones some loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

March 5, 2012- Storm Watch

Hey Everyone!!

  This was the last week of our transfer and it went really well!! We had quite an eventful week that kept us really busy which is always a blessing. I got to go on a division in one of the more ghetto areas of our mission and it was a great experience to see how humble of circumstances that some people in this world have. It was a great day and it really made me appreciate the blessings which I have in my life. Also on Wednesday night we went out to make some visits with a member. We parked his car and went to make the visits and as we were making our way back to the car, all of a sudden out of nowhere the sky fell on us! It literally just started to pour down rain without even a sprinkle of warning, I´ve never seen anything like this in my life! We had to take shelter under a bus stop but we were still getting pounded by the rain because the winds were exceeding 100 KPH. After about 10 minutes we made a dash to the members car and got completely soaked from head to toe. It was a super crazy storm to where all the cars on the road were going about 5mph due to the fact that we couldn´t see out of the windsheild! We still went and made another visit before going home and as we were going home we saw all the destruction that had taken place and nobody in the city had power. We drove to our apartment tho and our apartment and a few more houses on our street were the only places with power in the entire city!! We got inside our apartments and saw how our things got a little bit wet because we left the windows open, but it was a cool experience! We found out last night that my companion, Elder Banner, is getting transfered this week and I still don´t know who my new companion is but I´ll find out soon!! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!! Give the little ones some loves for me!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson

February 27, 2012- The Waters of BAPTISM

Hey Everybody!!

This week went really well out here in FLoripa!! 2  of our friends, Ana and Su (mother and daughter) were baptized this Saturday and their baptismal service was incredible! There were about 50 members there and they brought a lot of family and friends too so it was a great show up! The talks, music, and everything at the service was beautiful and the Spirit was super strong! They were super prepared to be baptized and are already sharing the gospel with everyone that they know! Funny story tho, we couldn´t get the baptismal font to drain after the baptism so the water stayed there until yesterday (SUnday). Since nobody had the key to lock the font doors we had to find a way to get the water out   so that no little kids would accidently find the water. Our bishop ended up diving into the water with regular clothes on and spent about 20 minutes trying to get the plug to come out. He finally was able to do it and he quickly changed back into his suit in time for the start of the 3rd hour of church! The members are all really excited here and are gaining lots of fire for doing missionary work!! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!! Give the little ones somes loves for me!!!!

Love,

Elder Michael J. Neilson