Elder Nelson

Whew, another week has come and gone, and WOW…time really is going by too fast. I was talking to Sis the other night, and we were talking about how fast march is going to go by…we have our zone trip on Monday, then a week or two after that we should be heading to Singapore, then a week or two after we get back transfers should be happening… and the clock’ll keep ticking, and the time I’ll be spending in this once-in-a-lifetime country will be up…I really need to stop focusing on that tho…sorry! I just can’t believe how fast time really DOES go by when you’re serving God.

So this week was definitely the worst week for us as far as numbers go, but it was SUCH an amazing week! Especially with Elder Nelson…here’s what happened…Friday morning we went to the church early to practice a song we were gonna sing for zone conference, and then it was instructions from President about what was going to happen when Elder Nelson came, and then we waited…and the second Elder Nelson came over to all of us missionaries, I could literally feel the different spirit that was with him. I was talking to someone else at the time, but I felt something different, so I turned and looked, and there he was…it really was an incredible feeling.

After we took a picture, we all got to shake his hand individually, and that was really nice… but I quickly realized that when he looked at me, I couldn’t keep his gaze very well because THE MAN LOOKS INTO YOUR SOUL! LITERALLY! I could feel it! And I felt totally and completely unworthy…the entire weekend, we talked a few times, and each time I would LOVE to hear him speak, but the second his attention was focused on me, I didn’t feel worthy to keep eye contact…which really can be compared to how we’re going to feel in the Lord’s presence at judgment. This was certainly the closest I’ve ever come to feeling that kind of inadequacy, and it has made me better appreciate the gift of every day repentance that we’re given here on earth…something that I REALLY do need to improve on.

Anyways, so all the talks at Zone conference were great…sis Marchent focused on the need for everyone to repent, especially missionaries (which I leaned over to Sis Rhondeau and said that that was an interesting subject to focus on with an apostle there to witness…but then when Elder Nelson talked, he actually focused A TON on her words, which only made me realize that it doesn’t matter what we teach with whomever…it’s what the SPIRIT tells us to teach that’s important…and for sis Marchent, that was repentance), and Pres’s words on being more brave were REALLY great to hear. Elder Nelson was accompanied with the Elder Perkins, a member of the 2nd quorum of the seventy (I think…) who is over the entire Asia area, and who is possibly up there with Elder Holland for one of my favorite speakers…he was INCREDIBLE. I wonder if he’s ever given a talk in Conference…if not, hopefully he will soon, cuz he really was POWERFUL. So he and his wife talked next, then Sis Nelson spoke (mom and Kel, do you remember when she came and talked with Sheri Dew for some relief society thing in the stake? I didn’t realize it was her until she started talking about how her life had been led several times by questions she’s asked at conference…she was supposed to marry some guy, but from conference felt that she shouldn’t, and a few years later found out he was NOT a good person? Remember that? Ya…she’s an incredible speaker too!), and then Elder Nelson. He spoke about so many different things, but basically what both he and Sister Nelson focused on were that miracles COULD be done in Indonesia, and that we needed to believe in them. They both actually shared my 2 favorite scriptures… 3 Nephi 5:13 and D&C 31:3. and that’s how I know I pick good scriptures to be my favorite :)After zone conference, we headed to Ancol to meet with Chern and Bro Hunter…and MAN was I nervous, cuz this was the meeting that I was going to challenge Chern to baptism. We talked about the atonement, and it was REALLY nice to have Bro Hunter there, cuz he knows how to explain things so Chern will understand better, and it was a REALLY productive meeting. And, when the timing felt right, we read from Acts about how we can show Christ that we accept His atonement…and after she answered by being baptized, I LAYED IT OUT THERE. Yup…my first one on the mish, and holy cow, her reaction was actually pretty awesome (even Bro Hunter told me after that it surprised him, and it was the first time she’s ever acted like that before…which I take to be a good thing!). I asked if she would make March 14 her baptism date, and her eyes got HUGE and she said “March 14?” and I said yes, and then she sat up in her chair and said, “oh no… NOW I’m REALLY scared.” I’m not trying to push her, but I wanted to put a date out there so she’d start REALLY thinking about a date, so I told her to pray about the date, then afer that, we went over a few other scriptures, mostly the talk from Alma to the people in Mosiah telling them what is required before you’re ready to be baptized, and when she said that she wanted all those things, we read the scripture that says something along the lines of, then why not be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost? That seemed to calm her down a lot, and she was smiling when we left…so we’ll find out tomorrow when we meet again what she wants to do, and then Sunday Bro Hunter wants us all to fast with her. So that should be good.Saturday night we had relief society meeting with Sister Perkins and Sister Nelson, and it’s really funny how these meetings go with translators, cuz some people don’t understand/answer questions in the way they’re meant, or the translator starts bawling halfway thru the lesson, or someone else answers who just likes to talk and goes on in Indonesian for 20 minutes…to which the translator starts translating into Indonesian. Haha. It was REALLY funny, but also very inspiring. We learned about having questions so we can receive inspiration to answer those questions. It was really good.

At the adult session Saturday night, PJ came but Cherie was “out with friends” and Sister Orton and PJ were both pretty upset about that…but I still feel like PJ needs to keep showing Cherie that he’s serious about becoming active in the church again, and if that means he has to come to meetings alone, so be it. Besides, I think that meeting was almost better for PJ to be there alone to listen to. Chern came with Bro Hunter, but they had Torin there too, so Bro Hunter volunteered to stay downstairs with him so Chern could focus on the talks upstairs…which was SOOO good. I actually made a few people mad making them move around so there would be seats for Chern (one guy said he HAD to sit on the end so he could leave early…then we sat behind him and he stayed the whole time which kinda ticked me off cuz he was so rude about it but…[exhale] it’s over now, so whatevs). She stayed upstairs the whole time until Elder Nelson got up to speak…which was for over an hour, so I was ok with that. I don’t think she would’ve normally done that, but she seemed to REALLY be listening, which I’ve never seen before cuz she’s always so busy with Torin. Who knows there!

Sunday was incredible as well…Cherie came to that, but was taking care of Gale the whole time so said she didn’t get much outta the meeting (but at least she was there?). I talked to her, and we’re now going to meet every week, whether PJ can meet or not. I’d actually prefer to work with her on her own, like I’ve done with Chern, cuz I think she can be more free to ask questions and have the lessons more directed towards her if we do it like that, and she can also feel more free to voice concerns or whatever she’s feeling. So I’m excited to meet with her on Saturday! Chern was there with Bro Hunter too, so it was a good showing. I also had one of the people that I contacted show up… we’ll see how that goes. He is a bit of a “lost boy” – he sings on buses for his living, and lives on the streets. However, from Saturday night to Sunday morning, he said he read the BofM from the beginning to Alma 26. I sure hope the elders are taking good care of him… he was SO excited about everything…but ya know, sometimes I hafta worry about some of the elders, so we’ll see how it goes. Man I wish I could teach men myself sometimes!Yesterday we went ice skating for Pday, and sis lie fell SOOOO hard… I think she broke her tailbone. So that’s been fun the last 24 hours to hear. Haha. Pretty funny actually, but I do feel bad too. I told her to carry around a pillow on the buses, but she wouldn’t…although I feel like that might change tomorrow, cuz today she hasn’t enjoyed going around on buses. The bumpiness isn’t so great for a broken tailbone.

Anywho, that’s about it for the news here. Dad, I had a personal run in with Elder Nelson, where he asked me if I played basketball…to which I replied rushed and nervously (remember what I said about him piercing to your soul with his eyes…I really felt so stupid…) “yes, and you operated on my grandpa, and my dad dated your daughter, Emily.” Haha, he just looked at me, and said something about how he thought I might be “from that line” and then talked about some other things… then before he walked away, he said “Charles Hewlett, right?” I was a bit shocked (changed subjects PLUS remembered the name), and said yes before he was ushered upstairs to start the meetings for the night. He also brought up Margaret Ann Sara Hewlett later that night…after his wife asked what my first name was, and said we were related. Which Margaret Ann is that? Anywho…yes, it was a good weekend, and seems to have carried over pretty well to me and Sis Lie this week. We get along better and better with almost every week, so that’s been really good. This broken tailbone also gives me a good chance to serve her, so I’m grateful for that as well.

Anywho, this is already too long. I love you!

Loves~Sister Sara