Wow! Sam is engaged! That's awesome! That will be cool to come back to. Happy to add Lauren to the family! Wow. A real sister...
This week was busy. Things have slowed down in the office quite a bit but whenever we have any free time we will proselyte as much as we can. We are baptizing 2 people this week.
Another amazing experiences. We went to Issac's house yesterday and he came down the stairs to his house very excited. He yelled to us "Get up here brothas, I got somethin to show you!" So elder Ott goes up first and goes inside, then out of the window I hear, "Brotha Nelson get in here my brotha, I'm tellin you. I am an anointed one!" So we go upstairs and he told us a long story about how he was almost robbed a couple nights ago. He ends up going through the whole house and showing us everything the robber could have taken. Wifi Router, DVD player. His 2 phones, computer. Everything. Nothing was even touched. I guess what happened was that he forgot to bring his clothes in from drying outside. So that night a Cambodian man saw it and went to go steal his clothes. Then he the found the door wasn't locked and came in to steal everything. He had taken one of Issac's shirts, laid it on the floor, and then started putting all speakers and things in order to wrap it up and get out. And then he went into Issac's room and started going through Issac's stuff. At which point Issac says, "God woke me up!" and when he opened his eyes the thief turned around and fled it out the balcony and off the 18 foot roof, and ran away. Pretty crazy story. Issac still can't believe nothing was stolen. He had to have been in the house for over 10 minutes and didn't put anything in his pocket. Even his wallet his 2 phones his passport were still there.
He is so awesome. I love Issac so much. His faith is incredible. I will not be surprised if he ends up being a general authority someday. He is so excited about being baptized.
One thing. If you could keep Darhnin Amil and Morali in your prayers it would be so nice. They are the refugees from Sri Lanka. They have such great faith. They are a week late on their house payment and literally have no money. It could be taken away soon. They faithfully read their Book of Mormon everyday. They show up to church in a white shirt and tie. (though I don't know where they got them) And they are great member help. It makes me sad to see such great people struggle to that degree. They are remarkable members of the church.
Love you guys!
Elder Nelson
Hey family,
Almost done with our road trip adventure. Right now, we're in Kampong Cham. It's a province about 3 1/2 hours from Phnom Penh.
It's been a wild week. In 5 days we worked with the zone leaders in 4 different provinces. It's a unique experience because we are able to see the entire mission, which is also the entire country! I've been able to work with a lot of the guys I was with at the MTC. Its AMAZING to see how far we've all come. I can still remember being in my first area with my MTC companion and moaning about how we'll never be any good at the language. Now, over a year later, we are seasoned missionaries speaking Cambodian up a storm! Super cool!
I had the chance to go back to my first area, Siem Reap this week. BY FAR one of my favorite days of the mission! Some of the people I worked with there talked a lot about when I first came to the country I didn't know Khmer at all, but now I'm speaking very well. They thought it was super funny for some reason. They said I unfortunately lost my Siem Reap accent and I talk like a city person now. (I imagine its similar to the difference between a New York accent and a Southern accent). When we first got there, Poo Tre couldn't take me seriously. But that night we met with him. After we said the opening prayer I invited him to share a spiritual experience where he felt the love of God. We then continued to have a very spiritual lesson which ended with him committing to pray as a family every night. (That's a big deal because he and his wife were separated from each other for a while) and to go to church the next week. It was awesome. I can't wait for you guys to meet them. You'll absolutely love them.
Another cool experience: we had just finished a lesson in Battambong and started to leave. Before we left the Elders quorum president came up to me and asked me how to spell my name. He took a ball point pen and scribbled it on his hand. It was kind of awkward for a couple seconds because he just stood their smiling. Then suddenly he said, "Elder Nelson, I know that i have never met you before. This is my first time meeting you. But when I heard you teaching today it made me feel like I have known you for a very long time." It was a very touching thing for him to say to me. I would love to serve in Battambong before the end of my mission.
The stories could go on and on... But, we gotta go catch a bus. I'll be able to email again when I get back to the mission home but It will probably be pretty late for you!
I love you all with all of my heart!
Have a great week!!
Elder Nelson
It was another fun week. We had 2 baptisms last Sunday. We baptized Issac, the man from Nigeria and Patro, the man from Mexico. Issac has learned for 3 weeks, and Patro has learned for about 6 months. It's interesting how the teaching process is different for different people. It was a special service. The Spirit was very strong. It was also cool performing the ordinance in English. It was funny because right before I was to baptize Issac we were standing behind the font in the hallway. He was getting pretty pumped, swaying back and forth and clapping his hands. It reminded me of what I used to do in High school before football games. I suddenly realized I didn't know his full name. So I quickly asked him, "Issac, what's your full name?" He looked at me, snickered and said, "Don't worry about it my brotha Nelson, just call me Mr. Isaac". I thought that was funny, but I insisted I needed it to properly perform the baptism. He told me his name was Issac jeh-tae-fook-ae-goo-guo. I don't know much about the language in Nigeria but I'd say I learned a little bit that day. The first time I said it he was like, "nah brotha, that's not it. You gotta get some rhythm in it." He started bobbing up and down nodding his head and saying his name while using his hand to pronounce it more clearly. Then we started going back and forth and saying it back and forth, and every time he said it a little bit louder until I was saying it right. Funny stuff right before a baptism in the hallway while everyone was waiting. I love Isaac.
We went out to "USA Doughnut" yesterday. Its run by someone who used to work in the U.S, came back to Cambodia and opened his own shop. He sells good tasting doughnuts and burgers. On this day, I decided to get the club sandwich for a change. It looked pretty good, and when I got it, I have to admit, I was pretty excited. Right before I took the first bite, I had a thought to see what exactly they put in this sandwich. I paused, put the sandwich in front of my face and looked through it for a little bit. While I was looking, I saw 2 little, wiggling antennae sticking out one end. I chuckled and turned to Elder Ott and said "Hey Elder, check this out, glad I didn't eat my sandwich right away!" I thought It was just a little bug or something, Not that big of a deal. Certainly not enough to stop me from eating it once it was pulled out. Elder Kuhn said, "Hey, let me check that out." We were surprised to see when I unfolded the lettuce there was a 4 inch centipede in my sandwich! I guess that's where I draw the line. I showed the lady that worked there and told her I wasn't hungry anymore. She understood. The restaurant owner came out and told me he would buy me a donut. I insisted that I wasn't hungry anymore and we left. I'm pretty sure he put it in there on purpose. The lettuce was washed, but somehow there was a centipede with red legs, tucked neatly in the middle of my carefully folded lettuce. Confusing.
Everything is going well. AP life is a lot different.
This week Elder Ott and I are heading out to the Provinces so we leave Monday and get back Saturday. We take buses and stay at elders houses. It will be a blast. We will go to Battambong, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham, and Kampong Thom. An adventure. It will be fun to proselyte in my first area.
I love you all
Elder Nelson
Wow! Sam is engaged! That's awesome! That will be cool to come back to. Happy to add Lauren to the family! Wow. A real sister... 
