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