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Elder Nelson - It's Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

Dear Family,

Mission News
Monday night we got together with the 6 other mission couples, the mission president and his wife and the first counselor and his wife and a non-member neighbor couple for dinner, singing and some
thoughts. Mom was asked in-prompt-to give a spiritual thought. She told how Aunt Barbra was
thankful that she had lots of opportunities to talk with non-members about the Gospel when she badly
broke her femur while at a service project. The non-member lady that was being helped in the service
project went to Church last Sunday.

My project to increase the number of conversion stories is gaining a little momentum. I met with the
APs and talked with a half dozen missionaries. Everybody really likes the idea. Now we need a way to execute a plan. I hope you all got a chance to read the conversion story Mom sent out last week.
We went to our first Zone Conference on Friday. Most of the conference was missionaries sharing their experiences with concepts from Preach My Gospel about teaching – asking questions, helping friends find ways they can solve their problems, listening, etc. The missionaries shared many inspiring experiences. We have a lot of really sharp young missionaries.

The Second Counselor in the Mission Presidency has developed an addiction recovery program. It is
fairly different that the one sponsored by the Church. The counselor is an institute instructor and the
process is Gospel centered. However, the process teaches different doctrines and principles that
facilitate recovery. He claims that his process is more than twice as effective in helping participants
overcome addiction. I don’t know the process well enough to explain it quickly. I will just say the I think his ideas and process have merit.

Saturday, we slept in a bit. We went to a baptism at 11:00 that was very nice. The father joined the
Church about 2 months ago. He baptized his 10-year-old son a month ago and baptized his 13 year old daughter yesterday. He will be ordained an elder today and confirm his daughter. They are so excited about Gospel and the Church. They are so happy. It was both spiritual and fun. The wife is still hanging on to her Catholic roots. But she will succumb to the Spirit eventually. Mom was really good to talk with her after the baptism. Mom told her that she must be a great mother to have such good children.

After the baptism of the 10-year-old last month, the 7-year-old missed out on the donuts after the
baptism. For this baptism Elder Cook, a senior missionary, bought him a “Texas” donut. The donut was at least 12” in diameter. The 7-year-old carried that donut around for 20 minutes, showing it to
everybody, but he did not eat it.

 Fun Stuff
After the baptism, Mom and I made fudge and English toffee and watched White Christmas. Finally it is beginning to feel like Christmas. We will try to deliver them to our neighbors today.

 WES
I did a video conference with the team was WES. We were able to give them a little Christmas bonus
and thank them for making a nice profit the last 6 months.

Family News
Chelsea, Keri, McKay, Elizabeth and Margaret Marie are all at Kent’s for Christmas. Kent has a full
schedule. (He assures me that it is a schedule and not a docket and no chore list.) Last night after
everybody arrived, they went to the park while Chelsea finished dinner and then they went to Tuacan
for a nativity program.

Emma did a pixie delivery and the receiving family saw her running away. They were sure is was a blond boy that left the goodies on the door step. Good job Emma for being a tricky Pixie.

Love,
Dad

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