Xitle

 Hola, 

This is going to be super short.

This week I had two exchanges one with Elder Sandoval on Wednesday and another With Elder Valenzuelaon Saturday. Both were great. With Elder Valenzuela we went to a baptism for a investigator that he taught in an old area and I also had a baptisimal interview with an investigator I meet while on exchanges with Elder Sandoval. 

This pday we went to the volcano Xitle. Super cool. We got to hike down into the caldera. 

Hasta la Próxima, 

Elder Neilson 

Pictures: 

Los Dinamos

 Hola, 

Three big highlights this week: 

First on Thursday we had Zone Confrence.  It was great, President Lyman taught the importance of teaching about baptism and confirmation. It is what Jesus did. We need to teach about baptismal confirmation not just when we feel that one of our friends is ready but all the time.

Than Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Confrence. Elder Félix Conde of the Seventy came on assignment form the Quorum of the Twelve. The adult session Saturday night he taught about the purpose of Sacrement meetings. They are to testify and teach about Christ. It is not a meeting of stories and thank yous, everything that is said and done is to help us come close to Christ and learn of him. Then in the general seccion he touched on staying in the church. When times get tough and challenges come that is not when we take a break form the Church, but when me make the effort to go. "Don't stop going to Church!"

Final this Pday: we went to Los Dinamos, a nature park in Alcaldía Contreras. It is super pretty, we walked along the river the entire time, staying down in the valley. It is the greenest part of Mexico City that I have seen. 

Hasta la Próxima, 

Elder Neilson 

Redmond and I 

Los Dimanos

Conferencia de Zona 

The Boyz

Looking to the mountains in the south 

Week one of Training

 Hola todos, 

My first week here in Bosques was a little crazy. 

It all started out normal:

Wednesday, district counsel in the morning than a normal day of work

Thursday was again all normal, and we got one of our friends on baptismal date, a great day.

Friday was when it started to get crazy. We had exchanges with the Zone leaders. I went to Contreras with our ZL Elder Michaelis, we had a late start due to weekly planning and a few calls that the ZL's had to make, then getting to Contreras was a long bus ride due to some really bad traffic. Once there we had some studies and then a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with one of their investigators there. To end we went and visited people, the only thing is that it started to rain cats and dogs. We weren't going to call it quites so we soldered on and got completely soaked. We were able to have one lesson with a member family, and it was great. To end the day after getting dry we had some tacos al pastor, and absolute win!

Saturday, I had a training by Zoom for district leaders. We focused a lot on district counsel. One of the big things was that it is supposed to be a counsel not a lecture, and like all meetings in the church a revelatory experience. It gave me a lot of things to think about and implement to make my district councils as good as they can be. 

Sunday morning we had church but before that, the Elders of Hidalgo had to go to the hospital because the night Before Elder Lee cut his finger. I helped his bandage it up, but it wasn't until the morning we took the bandage off that we realized how bad it was and that stitches would be necessary. Church had a great fast and testimony meeting. Tons of powerful testimonies on conference. 

Monday morning, Elder Redmond and I had to go to Acoxpan for a rehearsal of the special musical number for this transfer's Zone Conference. We got back to Bosques in time for lunch. And had a great day after that. 

Tuesday, for P-day we went to the Biodiversity Museum at UNAM, as a district. It was epic, tons of taxidermies, and even a preserved Vaquita, the highly endangered porpoise endemic to the Gulf of California. 

Hasta la próxima,

Elder Neilson 

The museum of Biodiversity 

Exchanges and Elder Michaelis

Muhammed, my camel spider that died

A fuzzy caterpillar we found

The house getting blizzards 

Conference & Training

 Hola, 

My final week in Tlaltenco has come to an end, but it was a ride. 

The week started off with exchanges with the LZs. I got to spend the day with Elder Harris in Tlaltenco. He is for San Clemente CA, and for those back in Bronx Westchester he is the grandson of the late Brother Garf. We spent a majority of the day in the street visiting people with a workable addresses. We were able to find a few and set up lessons. That night the secretaries told us that Elder Basauri and I would be moving houses the next day. So to finish the exchange I packed all my bags. 

Thursday we spent moving to our new apartment, and regretting our decision to live on the third floor. The new apartment is super nice. One of, if not the best in the mission. 

Friday morning, Presidente Lyman called me to ask if I would train for this new transfer. I said yes. This will be my first time training, a new experience!

Then we had General Conference. It was a great conference, one of my favorite talks was Elder Bednar's. The parable of the Wedding of the King's Son, has confused me, so the additional explanation was fantastic. The message, we chose if we will be one of the chosen. God doesn't have a list and if you're not on it there's nothing you can do, but it is up to each one of us, to be on the Lord's team. 

Then Monday, and transfers, came around. I never unpacked from our move so the easiest time packing I've had in a while. Drum roll. My new area is Bosques, I've finally left the east side of the mission. My new Companion is Elder Redmond, from the Dallas area. He is a powerhouse and I look forward to finishing his training.

Hasta la próxima,

Elder Neilson

General Conference Lunch

Elote 

Lago de los Reyes

taxi to the stake center

ME

Moving with the secretaries

Elder Harris and I 

One of the stuffed bulls that hung in the old apartments entryway

The old bedroom

The old apartment

The old Bathroom 

The new apartment (this is the apartment on the 2nd floor the our apartment is on the 3rd, but the look almost exactly the same) 

The new apartment Building

Elder Redmond and I