Bike, Car Door and Not Crashing

Bon Jour,

what the heck are you doin in Paris? thats a little out of the blue if you ask me. i guess big plans happen when you dont have summers packed of sports and only 5 people in the home. But thats cool you guys are there have a good time.

This past week was great for us here in Philly. we didnt have too much success as to our investigators coming to church and all but i taught the class in Principios del Evangelio and it was great. we are gaining a lot of trust from the members here in the ward that was lost when i got here. tonight we're going on splits and have other members coming out later this week.

I had my last interview on tuesday with President Murray and Sister Murray. It was really good and they are awesome. I think one day when i go to a Gonzaga basketball game with Kroup or other friends that im going to invite President Murray. but I asked Sister Murray her last words of advice for me and she told me to "marry well." " marry well with a long courtship and short engagement." so i thought that was pretty funny but i wont be thinking about that for a while.

We have had a great week so far and have really tried to push ourselves more and more. We have found some people who have a lot of questions that we have the answers to with the restored gospel. also i have strengthened my testimony of the Restoration by learning about other religions and how confused people really get when there is no Prophet in the earth. last night we talked to some people from Palestine and learned all about Islam. We gave them some pamplets and they told us to look up islam on the internet. but we were talking about the plan of salvacion and they have such a broad, unclear understanding about it. It was a great culture learning experience and am grateful for the many blessings i have from being born into the Church.

Last week though i had an incident with the bike and a car door. we were riding along pretty good speed going back to the apartment and then a black lincoln navigator opened its door about two feet in front of me. i swerved but caught the side of it with my handle bar. i was wiggling back and forth and then my front tire caught the back of a car driving past us. i then got my balance back a little bit and skidded to a stop. but it was pretty intense and no one got hurt so all was well. but we now ride a little off from the parked cars and still cruise along.

All is going well though and we are working hard. we have really tried to talk to everyone lately and through our extra efforts we are finding more Mexicanos and more humble people. Thanks you guys for your help and have a good trip.

faith hope charity and love

norman

Drug Deals and Real Joy in Life

hola hola hola,

North philly is wet and cool. we had a big rain storm yesterday and i was soaked through my garments so it was an interesting and weird day. we saw some drug deals in the morning and then on our way to a one oclock appointment someone had gotten shot and there was the crime scene policemen and helicopters so it was crazy. things are really good though and we have found some awesome people through stopping our bikes and talking to them on the sidewalks, knocking doors, and english elders efforts.

but no we dont teach english people. we teach mostly Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans. there are a ton of puerto ricans here and a lot of them speak both english and spanish so sometimes in our lessons we have to explain more in depth to them in english. but if they speak english they will always talk to us in english even if we keep talking to them in spanish. so we have to ask them if we can practice our spanish and talk in spanish with them and then they speak spanish.

The apartment is big and the only bad thing is it smells funny. but its really good. we live by ourselves and its located right in the middle of our area. we went out to eat last week for our year mark at a puerto rican restaurant and it was ok but we dont eat out so i dont know. The heat isnt too bad but its just rough some nights because you get hot. but the heat isnt bad. my garments are good and i havent got the taco pits yet so all is well. the ward is great and we have a lot of great members but the only problem is basically everyone lives up out of our area in the other elders area. there are 4 missionaries in this ward and all the pro active members live far away from us. we have had trouble getting member presents lately and so thats what we're focusing on now.

President and Sister Murray leave the 29 so they are saying their lasts for this transfer. Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was awesome. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about myself and what i can do to improve my life. it was an awesome experience though and i was able to grow more. we arent going to have a party though, nothing special just a good bye and hello President Schafermeyer. but im really looking forward to my interview with president this next week so it will be great.

but things are going really good and we have had some great experiences here in Philly. I think this next year is going to fly by and a lot of stuff is going to happen. I have been able to look back on past experiences and points of view and seen the change in me. this has brought me a lot of joy and i am grateful for all the many experiences i have had in my life. life is good though and i dont have anything to complain. the gospel will bring us more joy than winning the state championship in football or shooting a big buck. i have a clear mind now and am enjoying life as a missionary. The Plan God has for us is real and we have all these commandments to help us feel happiness in our lives. Repentance is key to this Plan and only through it can we receive the promised blessings. congradulations on finishing your year of school. have a good summer and make the most of it. try new stuff and dont do anything that will bring you guilt. all is well and its gonna be a good summer. love you guys, thanks for the cookies they were good. my companion really liked em.

norman

oh did you guys ever receive that package i sent to you? let me know if you did

HUMP DAY!

hey family,

This past week has been great. It has been a rollercoaster of many ups and downs. we had a great sunday with an actual ward and i didnt have to teach or bless or tell anyone to do anything so it was good.

the heat is not too bad but i am always thirsty and even though i drink a ton of water i still have that urge for water. im sweating a ton though. the bikes are great though and the only problem is my crotch gets sweaty from sitting on the hot seat and then riding gets a little rough.

but we went on exchanges earlier this week with the other elders in the district and i got to reunite with south philly. i was with an Elder Hansen and he is a stud. we're basically brothers and get along really well. hes from wyoming, star valley and is about 6'5 270 so hes a big boy. i didnt try and wrestle him cuz he'd just sit on me and it'd be over. but we had a great exchange and taught great together.

South philly is so much better though than North Philly. the puerto ricans up here are really hard hearted and its has been hard finding people that want to do good in their lives and listen to us. yesterday was a great day. we had two lessons in the morning that i just wanted to slap the people because they were so stubborn and tried to contradict everything we said. then in the afternoon we met with one guy from guatemala who was rough. he tried to prove us wrong and make us feel stupid with his limited knowledge of the Bible. but he was trying to tell us how God only cares for the people who do good and that he distances himself from those that dont choose the right. he asked me if that was right and i said no, youre wrong God is a loving God and he doesnt care what you've done, he still loves you and is always there for us. he just kind of sat there blank starred and then started rambling about something else. but after i said that i felt that God really does love us and he is always there for us. it was an inspiring feeling to know that my Heavenly Father is there and with me in this work. so i know that God lives and that He loves each of us. I know that we can always repent and come unto Him and He will accept us with open arms. Im grateful for that experience and how my mission is so beneficial to me.

but funny story about yesterday. we went looking for mexicans in another part of town, mexicans are a lot easier to teach than puerto ricans, but we found this house by looking at their dish tv satellite and it had 3 prongs instead of 1 for spanish. so we go over there and knock the door and its a black lady. but we aske her if there are any hispanics on the street and she points to one across the street. we go over there and knock on the door. a kid in the window of the door waves at us like he knows us. so we're a little confused, but then the dad answers the door and hes Dominican. he opens the door and invites us in. we see a families can be together forever poster thing on the wall and finally figure out that theyre members. so after we got talking and getting to know them they got us some juices from the fridge. they gave me a fuze juice and my companion a glass bottle juice. i open mine and start drinking it, the dad goes back into the kitchen, i look over at my companions drink and see that it says Parrot Bay on it. i remembered seeing that somewhere and hearing about it but wasnt quite sure . my companion takes a swig and then i tell him i think that his drink has alcohol in it. we look at the bottle and its got 4 percent alcohol in it. haha we told the member we couldnt drink it because it has alcohol in it and he gets all embarressed and goes and throws it away. they had gotten the bottle from a barbeque they went to the day before and so they didnt know. but im glad i told my companion about that and knew what parrot bay was from the friends i had had.

but things are going really good and we are excited for this next year. its been a great year and ive learned the most in the past 12 months than in my entire life. thanks you guys and have a good week.

love

norman

Moved to North Philly

Hola,

what up what up. so guess what? im not in south philly anymore. can you say "ya tu sabe papi" haha im in north philly now with Elder Bunker from Camas, Washington and all the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Im still in the same district and still district leader but just changed areas. my new address is 1302-12 W Cumberland St Apt 2B Philadelphia, PA 19132.

man i wish you guys could see what i have seen the past few days. it has been an incredible week. Sunday was my last sunday in South philly so we went around and said good bye to everyone and had to say goodbye to everyone at church. it was a good experience though talking to people and learning that i had actually helped them in their lives.

but so then i get here in North philly on monday and things have just been good ever since. my companion is a stud and we get along great. he played soccer in high school and went to Byu Idado but is a great missionary. i actually have a companion that i dont really have to baby sit or be the decider in everything we do. it has been great to improve my spanish skills by talking with him everywhere and then letting him lead me around the area.

oh and also things are good too because we have bikes now and i have a trek 4300 mountain bike that is all black and so ive been getting good practice bunny hopping all the trash in the streets. but the bikes are awesome and its like old times in reading again of flying down the streets and racing my companion.

but the area up here is the ghetto. its pretty rough and full of trash and people who just look lost and dirty. lots of people have chicken coups in their backyards and also its the capital of the world for cars with big rims. ive never seen so many vans with 22 inch rims on em. but also its hard because the women here are very open and dont like to wear much clothing so its hard keeping your eyes from wandering into stuff you dont want to see. but also people are crazy with motorcycles, four wheelers, and anything that has a motor. they cruise around the streets on those things like its sand mountain. theyre always wheeling down the block and flying through stop signs almost hitting people. its pretty crazy.

but the people we have to teach and the members are awesome. we dont really have a teaching pool so thats kind of my job of being here is to start this area back up. the elders in the past taught people just because they were friends with em but they never kept commitments. so we've had to drop some people and are starting from about 3 people. This area and the area above us is together in the only spanish ward in the mission so this is going to be great working with members and people that actually do stuff. The members are great though and we dont have too many proactive members in our area so its rough but weve been contacting members from up north to come down with us. our area goes from Allegheny street all the way down to Market Street in Center City. so after the next six weeks im going to know philadelphia all around, north and south. i just need to try out west, but its basically outer darkness over there from what ive heard. some missionaries in west philly area got a gun pulled on em about 2 weeks ago and got their phone stolen but they're good to go now.

the heat isnt that bad though, its the sweating that kills me. after working out in the mornings, oh we run every morning down through Temple University campus every morning, i am drenched in sweat from the humidity. we are drinking a lot of water and feeling good. last night we raced home from an appointment on our bikes and i was sweating like crazy so i had to take a cold shower. then when i was changing i started sweating again just from putting my clothes on, and no thats not because im fat or its hard for me to put my pants on. but things are good and we have a baptismal date so this is going to be a crazy summer. sounds like you guys are doing good though. keep up the good work and have a good week.

con el amor de fily.

norman

Birthday Activities

hola,
sarah what were you thinking? (Sarah crashed into dad's red car, Roxanne) patience is a virtue and cowards crumble in the clutch. President Uchtdorf's talk on patience might be useful. but sounds like you guys are having a good time and doing lots of stuff.

i actually got your letters today before we left to go write so i had a chance to read them. but that'll be fun going camping, we have a balcony on our apartment and sometimes i look at the stars and the big buildings and think about what it would be like to be in the mountains, but then an ambulance flies by and i lose the thought. but this past week was great except for sunday.

we had two investigators who came to church before any members showed up so it was a little frustrating sitting in the english side and no spanish members responsible enough to get there on time. but we had a good experience and those investigators are doing pretty good.

for my birthday we (the english elders who are basically our companions and us spaniards) went to our buddy's taco place and i had the best sandwich. its called a cemita and you would love it mom with all the avocado. but it was cool because that taqueria is on 9th street where the italian market is, and it was italian market festival so there were tons of people there and lots of food so it was almost like a party setting, except we ate inside. but thanks for the packages and i really appreciated all the meat and that was a great card blake, good job. but we had a good time and then went back out teaching. that night though my companion told the less actives we went and visited that it was my birthday and so they made us come back later because they left and bought me a big tres leches cake. it was pretty good and i felt really grateful for their love.

things are going good though, i wont be getting transfered this next week so ill be here until President Murray leaves. we had interviews on friday and that was really good. President is the man and we have a personal relationship now so its fun. but Sister Murray is great too and she told me that they saw us in south philly walking across the street while they were on their way to a phillies game. oh by the way everyone is crazy for the phlyers right now. the other night when they won game 7 people were honkin their horns everywhere and lighting off fireworks. philly is a great sports town.

For my favorite scripture i dont know what to tell you but i found a great one the other day in Moroni 9, i think 28, it invites us to come unto Christ. Favorite person im not sure who but President Boyd K. Packer is the man. A good quote President Murray told us a while ago that i really like is from a Phillies player and he says, "Everyone has a reputation, it all comes down to how you run to first base." Something that gets me excited or energetic is when i think of that commercial by nike to the song I got soul but im not a soldier and then i feel like going and grrrwwwhhh like getting a big rebound or nailing someone in football.

but things are good and time is flying by. im already 20 years old and its almost getting close to memorial day. have a good week you guys and mantengan su fe para ayudar a las personas en sus vidas. estoy agradecido que tengo el privilegio de hablar espanol y aprender de los latinos. muchas gracias y espero que les gusten el paquete. con todo el amor de philly y mexico.

norman

Families

Hey Nielsons,

So it seems like i was just talking to you and didnt recognize Brooks or Blakes voices, but i guess ill let you in on a little more of whats goin on. It was great talking to you guys and seeing how you all are doing. im grateful to have a family that is involved in all aspects and how we are not a boring family. also that we are a family and actually like being around one another. its really hard to teach people when you start talking about how important the family is and how blessed it is when we have the gospel in our families, but then the person tells you that they dont have a family or they dont like their family. its really pretty cool that we have this unit of a family and experience fights and negativity, but still we are able to look past them and see that the good outweighs the bad.

But to answer the question about who i would like to become, my favorite scripture, my favorite saying, and something that inspires me, ill have to wait till next week. but for now i would say the quote by President Uchtdorf which says something like , "what you think and do determines who you are and what you will become." ill have the answers for you though next thursday.

on tuesday and wednesday i was up in north philly on exchanges and it was pretty fun. we had a great exchange and i was reunited with the art of missionary bike riding. the elder who i was with is pretty cool and a good worker but he thought i was a goon for trying to do tricks on the bike. it was a trek 430 or something to answer your question brooks. but it was a good exchange and we had two great lessons with some important investigators they have. in the morning we went for a run and the elder got mad at me because we ran 2 miles down and around Temple campus. it was pretty cool and they have a nice, big campus. a lot bigger than utah state.

but things are going good here in PA. today we are going to go down to Pats and Genos and get a cheesesteak and then go across the street and play basketball with whoevers there. it should be a good day and we are going to be going on splits tonight so it will be a good day. tomorrow we have interviews with President Murray so that is always great. but all is well and thanks for your guys support. have a good week.

buenas tardes, cuidense, hasta luego, nos vemos, adios, orale, chow, pasan buenas tardes, tengan una buena semana.

with a little bit of South Philly love,

norman

you need to go camping sometime when you get the chance and get enrolled in hunters safety boys, to actually use those nice guns you got

It's a Small World After All

hola,
So concerning this Sunday, i dont think we are going to have time to talk. i dont have any time to talk to you guys and the phones we have are running out of minutes so sorry but we'll have to wait until December ok? haha not really, chiste, ill call you guys at 8 or 9 o'clock my time so 5 or 6 your time. so dont worry about calling ill call you guys and the phone number is 267 242 7357.

but thats cool you guys are having winter weather over there. we have been burning up and sweating a lot. ill weigh myself in the morning and then at night ill weigh myself again and ill be about 4 pounds heavier with all the water we've been drinking.

it was a great past week and we had some sweet lessons with people. we had one of our investigators teach us about eternal families and then discuss how she and her boyfriend need to get married so that she can be baptized. then another lesson we brought an old member with us and he drives around in an electric wheel chair and doesnt speak spanish. but we took him with us and had to lift him up the 5 or 6 stairs into the house to have the lesson. it was a little dramatic getting him in there because hes really skinny and was worried we might drop him, but we got him in safe and sound. then we found a new investigator last week who we saw this tuesday and he doesnt believe in God. it was an interesting conversation and good to help him see all the good things that he has in his life after a lot of bad has happened.

then this sunday we had our own little sacrament meeting where i was the presiding authority and we only had 10 people show up because there was a marathon going on outside of the church on the main street. but it was an awesome sacrament meeting. we had two visitors who were white and didnt speak spanish and the crazy thing was it is a small world. the one guy showed up to the church hoping to go to the english services but didnt know they had a special meeting in a different town with a member of the 70. but he was from beaver utah and was out here for a medical conference. we got to talking and he was a goof. but i asked him if he knew the petersons cousin, i dont know if hes our cousin, tyler schena. he said he did and that he coached wrestling with him at the high school. so that was pretty cool
then the other visitors were a family from new york who were here for a conference also. they both were from boise and one graduated from centennial and the other from meridian. so it was funny talkin to them and seeing who we knew and stuff. i dont remember their last name but i didnt know them. the one who went to centennial lived by edna and ustick and his parents still live there. but it was a great sacrament meeting and even though there were spanish and english and me translating to english in the back, it worked out great and we had a good experience.

so things are going good and nothing crazy has happened lately, just we realizing that President Murray leaves pretty soon. July 4. but we'll talk on sunday and you'll see how i dont have a mexican accent, just a philly slur. so have a good rest of the week and recuerdan sus preguntas para que utilizemos nuestro tiempo sabioso. muchas gracias por su ayuda y amor. ustedes son la mejor familia que yo conozco. cuidanse

normandy